Big Slime Boss Battle
"It's the boss room already? We haven't gathered much slime epidermis or mana stones yet... Can't we do something about this once-a-day entry limit?"
As we kept hunting, we'd somehow reached the door to the boss room. An Jeong-hwa grumbled about the dungeon's entry restrictions, bummed that she hadn't scavenged much worthwhile loot.
"That's exactly the kind of thinking that got people killed in the early dungeon outbreaks, which is why the limits were put in place. Just accept it. Even I've cleared up to 7th-grade dungeons in the military, and here I am dealing with this."
"Hng. Fine~"
She grumbled, but she knew the deal, so she quickly accepted it and got ready to enter the boss room. I placed my hand on the door to the boss room, inwardly tense.
'No special event tied to my authority this time, right?'
Once was a fluke, but twice? Even An Jeong-hwa would get suspicious, and in the worst case, it could draw government attention. I'd acquired the [Information Concealment] skill, but it only worked on C-grade or lower awakeners stationed at local offices. If someone higher up got dispatched to investigate, I'd be exposed.
If another special event like last time happened and collapsed the dungeon, it'd be a huge problem. Tense, I opened the boss room door.
"It's not a maze this time?"
Thankfully, it was a normal boss room. As An Jeong-hwa said, sticking close to my side, the room was one massive cavern. It felt like where all the sewer waterways converged, with light streaming down from the ceiling onto the center.
And right there in the middle, sprawled out like it was sunbathing, was a gigantic slime.
"Big Slime. As the boss, it might strike first, so stay sharp. I'll take the front; you watch for openings and attack, Jeong-hwa. You know the weak point, right?"
"Yeah. That blue core, right?"
Unlike the small slimes we'd killed so far, this Big Slime—'Big' right in the name—was at least a meter tall even sprawled out. At the center of its massive body, a blue-tinged core swam through the fluid, along with the mana stone.
Slimes above a certain size all had that central core without exception. Lose everything else, and as long as the core survived, it could gather nearby fluids to reform its body. But flip that around: destroy or neutralize the core, and it was done for.
Kagagagak—
"Gruk?"
I could've ambushed it, but instead, I deliberately scraped the floor to make noise and draw the Big Slime's attention.
'Hunting solo would be faster, but since we'll be partying up going forward, I need to build Jeong-hwa's real combat experience.'
The role I envisioned for An Jeong-hwa was an agility-focused attacking vanguard. Dart in quick, relentlessly target enemy weak points, and draw aggro. Agility emphasis meant light armor, and in higher dungeons, enemy attacks were one-shots to humans. Dodging those while striking weak spots demanded solid prior knowledge of foes, plus the judgment and guts to dive into the fray at the perfect moment.
The first part came from study; the second, from endless real battles. Inefficient or not, that's the path I chose.
"Grurruk—?!"
Startled by the sound rising from the floor, the Big Slime jolted from its sunbathing, body rippling as it swelled in size. The sprawling mass contracted with elastic force, launching off the ground taller than a person.
"Incoming!"
The Big Slime's body was a weapon in itself. Mostly liquid, its heavy slams could shatter the stone sewer floor. But only if they hit.
I lightly kicked off the ground and slashed its epidermis with my sword.
Shwaak—
"Grurruk!!"
The D-grade sword from Abigail sliced through the tough epidermis—like cutting plastic—that could withstand the Big Slime's slam shock. Cutting something that massive put strain on the wrist no matter how sharp the blade, but this sword absorbed even that impact. Recalling its cutting power boost and shock reduction, I silently thanked Abigail.
Shk— Shwaak—
After one slam, the Big Slime stiffened briefly from its own impact. An Jeong-hwa seized the gap, closing in and slashing an X near the visible core.
"Huh? It's way too deep inside."
"Figure it out!"
Her dagger cut the epidermis, but only the surface. Too short to fully sever the thick, tough skin holding the weight. Plenty of ways to handle mid-sized slimes, but I didn't spoon-feed her the answer.
I had perfect aggro control, so I wanted her to think and find her own method. In heated fights, vanguards needed observation and judgment to spot lethal openings amid shifting chaos.
"Aigoo, all my party members are gonna die at this rate~ Jeong-hwa, how much longer?"
"Nngh...!"
"Grurrurruk—!!"
I shallow-slashed just enough for regen, prodding her along. When it tried shifting to her, I'd thrust near the core to yank aggro back—not slashing.
Meanwhile, she experimented.
"Hyah!"
Seeing my thrust, she rapid-stabbed the epidermis, trying to drain fluids. Shrink the volume, and her dagger could reach the core—or so she thought.
"Ah, regen?"
But slime regen patched dagger pricks fast. Fluid loss was minimal. And slimes reformed from ambient liquid around a surviving core, so spilled fluids reabsorbed on contact with the epidermis—wasting her stamina.
After more tries, exhaustion hit; she gave up attacking and hid behind me.
"Hah, hah. I give. Can you even catch this with a dagger?"
"Hm, gimme the dagger."
Thinking her low stamina needed fixing first, I took her dagger.
"Watch closely."
I gripped it one-handed like her and shredded the epidermis.
"Grurruk!!"
Furious from constant attacks, the Big Slime thrashed in place, irregularly whipping its body around. Slimes often weaponized their mass like this—most, barring special elemental variants. Slams, rolls, spreads to crush, ripples, acid sprays: standard patterns.
And all but rolls shared a weakness.
Ssk— Shwaaak—
"Grurrurrruk?!"
"See? Like this."
Slime epidermis was flexible yet rubber-tough. Meaning: extend part of the body to attack, and that stretched skin thinned—vulnerable.
I timed it, severing the lunging pseudopod entirely. Acid fluid gushed from the round hole.
Shwaak—
Dodging fluid, I sidestepped and lengthened the cut, widening the wound. Like ice cream bursting from a split condom when the rubber thins, the pressure blew the fluids out entirely.
"Grurrr..."
Through the spill, the core appeared. It writhed, desperately gathering fluids, but sans epidermis, harmless. Left an hour, it'd regrow from the core—but irrelevant now.
"How much for this?"
An Jeong-hwa, now in acid-resistant gloves, scooped the core into a desiccant jar and asked.
"Around 300,000 won? Comparable to a 10th-grade pure mana stone from a boss. Oh, and that epidermis looks like a good kg—another 200,000."
I donned my own gloves, extracted the 10th-grade pure mana stone from the skin, and took the core jar from her. Even just the core kept slimes "alive"—a faint twitch inside.
Handing off the core and cleaning up the skin, she asked curiously,
"But seriously, why's this a fringe dungeon? We're raking it in."
Big Slime loot alone hit 800,000 won—matching our total from Goblin's Tomb. Toss in trash mob hauls: about 1.2 million in byproducts. No wonder she wondered; fringe dungeons weren't supposed to pay.
"'Cause costs eat it up. Real profit? Barely 600,000 won."
"Eek?! Why?!"
"Acid-resistant suits alone: 200,000 won rental per person per use. Gloves are bought but disposable—50,000 a pair. Total 500,000, then taxes on conversion leave 600,000."
"Split two ways: 300,000 each... Yeah, now I get why it's fringe."
With just us two, sure—but more party members meant suit costs scaled, shrinking profits. Skimp on rear-guard suits, and injuries rack up medical bills.
"Plus, as you saw, Big Slimes are tricky for 10th-grade hunters. Profits mostly from bosses, but smashing the core loses that 300,000..."
"...Zero profit. Could even lose money."
"Fringe ain't fringe for nothing. Let's head out. You earned a solid lunch. Oh, training at the tech academy starts today, right?"
"Ugh, got it. Food first."
Grumbling at lunch and more exertion, the worn-out An Jeong-hwa opened the exit door behind the boss room and left.
"Gone?"
Confirming she'd fully exited the dungeon, I inverted the core jar, dumping desiccant and core onto the floor.
Shooo—
From the spilled desiccant, I picked up the Big Slime's core—its blue glow faded.
Wooong—
Utterly neutralized, it vibrated lowly in resignation. I approached the pooled, abandoned fluids nearby.
"Small slimes without cores turned to onaholes via fluid alone, but what about this one?"
Curiosity won; I tossed the core into the fluids.
"Gruk?"
"Hope you're useful with some solid skills or traits. [Onahole Transformation]."