The Nightmare of the Sewer, Slim
It wasn't that there were no rules. I simply didn't know them.
They say experience is the best weapon. That saying was no lie.
At first, Ahn Humin had been thrown off by the shadow slime's movements, but as he hunted them, he clearly saw the patterns hidden within.
The reason information on them was so scarce was simple: no one else hunted shadow slimes in such a reckless, brute-force way.
Why bother with something so difficult and dangerous when efficient area-of-effect fire attacks could take them down easily?
Ironically, that same inefficient and perilous hunting method had become an enormous help to him.
Most impressive.
“What is?”
Han Sowon, who had been watching from the side, asked after hearing Goblius’s murmur of admiration.
Originally, goblins and humans couldn’t communicate, but after becoming Ahn Humin’s minion, Goblius had naturally gained the ability to speak the human tongue.
She spoke to him with respect, while he addressed her comfortably. No one had ordered it; it had simply become natural.
I speak of our Lord. It seems he has already grasped every movement pattern of the shadow slimes. Otherwise, striking their future paths one step ahead would be impossible.
“Are you saying Humin has a gift for this?”
It goes far beyond mere talent. From my days as a gladiator slave in the empire until now, I have met countless masters, yet our Lord’s talent stands shoulder to shoulder with the greatest geniuses among them.
“Is it truly that impressive?”
If not, how could I stand here speaking so casually beside you?
“Ah……”
Only then did Han Sowon realize. At some point, Goblius had stopped using Typhoon.
There had been no need. Before the battle even began, before the sewer’s residents could swarm in…
Thud!
He had already slain the shadow slime.
“Minion of the Underworld.”
Squirm. Squirm.
While the shadow slime was reborn as a minion, I reactivated Radiance of Scorching Flames and glanced back at the shadow slimes pooled behind me like a dark puddle.
“That makes twenty in total.”
I had resurrected every usable corpse into minions and raised twenty shadow slimes. The remaining limit for Minion of the Underworld was now five.
This should be enough.
It had taken a full two hours to find the twentieth and final shadow slime. There was even doubt whether any more remained in the sewers.
Since five slots had to be kept open for the twentieth-floor boss anyway, I decided to head straight for its location.
That was when it happened.
“Humin! The current’s getting stronger!”
“……”
At Sowon’s cry, my gaze dropped naturally downward.
The water that had only reached my ankles was now flowing with noticeably greater force.
This was the warning sign. The terrain gimmick that began on the fifteenth floor. Three minutes after this phenomenon appeared, it would definitely…
Rooooooar!
A massive flood surged through the passage, filling it completely.
Normally, hunters would have already scouted the nearest stairs or ladder-equipped walls. At the first sign, they would rush to high ground to avoid drowning.
But!
“Wall.”
At my single command, the shadow slimes moved in perfect unison.
In an instant they linked together tail to tail, connecting floor, walls, and ceiling in one fluid loop before stretching and fusing into a single mass.
A colossal jet-black wall formed in the blink of an eye.
Boom!
The thunderous crash of the enormous flood slamming against the far side echoed through to us. I wasn’t worried.
Shadow slimes had –20% resistance to fire and light, but their other elemental resistances sat at 60%, physical resistance at 70%, and they were completely immune to darkness. After being summoned as my minions, their stats and resistances had skyrocketed. Their water resistance had to be at least 95% by now.
Simple math suggested it should have crossed 100%, but resistance had a hard cap of 95% unless it became full immunity. The flood couldn’t break through.
After a little more time, the water receded and the sewer fell silent once again.
“You can use shadow slimes that way too.”
“I told you they were useful.”
I recalled the shadow slimes that had finished their task and returned to their original forms, along with the goblin poison dart troopers and assassins.
“From now on, hunt down any creature carrying a key and bring it to me.”
The moment the order left my lips, the shadow slimes coiled around the goblin poison dart troopers and assassins.
Nineteen slimes, leaving one behind to protect Han Sowon.
I organized them into six teams of three—two assassins and one poison dart trooper each. Pouring every slime onto a single goblin would only increase surface area without boosting stats, so this was the optimal formation.
Kikik!
The pitch-black goblins, now armed with shadow slimes, scattered throughout the sewers in an instant.
Whoosh!
Poison dart troopers and assassins were already the fastest goblins. When they activated the slimes at full power, their speed became downright insane.
With the slimes creating platforms on the water’s surface, they could slide dozens of meters in a single leap.
Ordinary monsters couldn’t even register them passing by, let alone give chase.
The only risky moments were when they paused to use detection skills to track key-bearing monsters, but even that wasn’t a problem.
The presence of those wrapped in shadow slimes was extremely faint. Unless a monster was right on top of them or possessed unusually sharp senses, it was nearly impossible to notice.
And even when something did charge them…
Slice!
The two goblin assassins escorting each poison dart trooper instantly severed the enemy’s head.
How much time had passed?
Kick! Kikik!
“Good work.”
Less than thirty minutes later, the scattered goblins returned with all three keys.
That cleared the first gateway.
The second required locating the boss’s hidden chamber. Unlike Goblius’s fortress with its clear path, I had to find the secret room where Slim waited and insert the keys.
The clue is the sewer map fragments that drop at a low rate from champion monsters. I already collected every piece.
I moved quickly to the spot marked on the map.
Experience gain was capped anyway, and my backpack was so full of mana stones that hunting more monsters served no purpose.
“This is it.”
The wall looked no different from any other in the sewer. Without the map, I would have walked right past it.
But upon closer inspection, three perfectly aligned keyholes appeared near the bottom.
Click. Click. Click.
Rumble…!
When I inserted and turned the keys, a heavy sound echoed as the wall sank inward by a hand’s width and then slid aside, revealing a hidden staircase.
“Let’s head down.”
“Yes!”
Descending the stairs with Sowon, we emerged into a vast cavern.
Big enough to fit an entire soccer field.
In the center, a single slime sat motionless. The moment I spotted it, a message window appeared before my eyes.
You have discovered the Nightmare of the Sewer, Chimera Slime — Slim.
Unlike Goblius’s fortress packed with elite goblin soldiers and the three goblin knights, no other monsters existed here besides Slim.
It was a stark contrast to the monster-infested sewers just outside.
Yet every hunter who had faced Slim said the same thing: the other monsters weren’t missing because there weren’t enough. They simply weren’t needed.
Beep.
At that moment, as if it had finally registered our presence, the slime began to quiver and let out a strange sound.
“Goblius. You’ll know if I’m in real danger, right?”
Your command is my will.
There is no teacher better than real combat. I wholeheartedly agreed.
Hunting the shadow slimes had already sharpened me far beyond my previous level.
Increasing the number of powerful minions was important, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
To challenge higher floors and stronger monsters, I myself had to become stronger than anyone else.
“Radiance of Healing.”
Woooong…!
Boom!
Wrapped in the golden light of healing, I kicked off the ground with explosive force. The recoil was so powerful that a shockwave erupted from the spot I’d launched from.
My body stretched a long shadow behind it as I closed the distance to Slim at terrifying speed.
At that instant—
Shoooooooooot!
Slim fired the very fluids that made up its body toward me. Those fluids froze mid-air, transforming into razor-sharp spears of ice.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
I skidded to a halt and swung my sword rapidly.
The power behind the ice spears was so fierce that my hands throbbed with every deflection.
But that wasn’t the end.
Whoosh!
“Ice, then fire?!”
Another barrage of bodily fluid flew at me. This time they ignited instead of freezing, becoming blazing orbs of intense flame.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
I threw myself aside just in time. The orbs struck where I had stood and detonated violently.
Even after that, Slim remained rooted in place, relentlessly firing fluid after fluid.
They became ice spears, flame orbs, lightning arrows, and even diamond-hard stone projectiles.
This is the chimera slime… the master of the twentieth floor!
Shadow slimes boasted over 60% resistance to every element except fire and light?
Chimera slimes held over 80% resistance to all elements.
Even the 80% physical resistance that shadow slimes were proud of became 85% here, and it also possessed 85% magic resistance—something shadow slimes completely lacked.
On top of that, its ability to wield every elemental spell, even at the basic level, was an overwhelming advantage.
Then was its movement slow? Its strength weak?
“Night Crow!”
Raaaaash!
Slim slid aside, dodging the Night Crows that rained down from above.
The crows chased and struck, but the slime had already left the area long ago.
It glided across the ground like a water strider on a pond. Its speed was even greater than the shadow slimes’.
Swish!
The moment its focus was caught on evasion, I erased the distance in a single burst.
“Hup!”
With a short, power-filled shout, I swung my sword.
The one mercy was that the slime’s translucent body made its core—the nucleus that served as its weakness—perfectly visible.
Destroying that nucleus would end the fight.
The problem was…
Clang!
It was anything but easy.
Ugh! What kind of power is this?! It feels like five or six shadow slimes striking at once. This is…!
The moment my Clear Sky Sword met the tentacle that had been sharpened like a blade and hardened to steel, sparks flew and a tremendous shock ran through my arms.
Then—
Beep.
Swoosh!
Ten tentacle blades shot toward me as if by magic. An awkward smile rose to my lips.
Maybe… I should have just fought alongside Goblius from the start?