Evergreen Tower (3)
Catch the slime.
How easy a mission is that?
And it's just one slime you have to catch.
Conditions this simple could replace the first floor of the Tutorial Tower.
"Come to think of it, there's no way it's a normal slime."
Even the Bloody Mantis had looked like just a mantis at first.
Who'd expect an exoskeleton that tough and a size that huge?
By that logic, this slime was probably far from ordinary.
"But something's off."
He'd taken some serious hits and wandered the forest for hours.
Yet strangely, he didn't feel the least bit tired.
"I definitely remember being wiped out when I got home."
Right now, it was shockingly fine. No fatigue, no hunger.
A body in ridiculously perfect shape.
At this rate, he could keep climbing the tower indefinitely.
That aside, I'm kinda curious now.
Evergreen Tower.
He'd originally seen it as just a place to boost his synchronization rate.
But after reaching the third floor, he was starting to wonder what lay at the end of this tower.
"No way the top is still a forest, right?"
Given what he'd seen so far, it was a real possibility.
Nodding seriously to himself, he stepped deeper into the woods.
* * *
Crunch, crunch.
Hours of trudging through the forest.
Letting out a long sigh, he plopped down on a rock, furrowing his brow as he glared at empty air.
"Where the hell are these slimes?"
No matter how far he walked, no slimes in sight.
Or more precisely...
"Pwing!"
He lightly kicked the slime rolling at his feet.
Not with his right hand—with his right foot.
Even that casual impact burst the slime apart.
Another one down, but the system still wouldn't send him to the fourth floor.
"This is bullshit."
He'd felt it after hours of roaming the woods.
This place was slime paradise.
Behind rocks, between flowers.
Even up in the trees.
Turn his head, and there'd be a slime—which he'd dispatch every time.
Yet the "slime" the system wanted never showed.
"What kind of slime is it looking for?"
Catching his breath, he scanned the area quietly.
Slimes rolling around everywhere in the forest.
He even wondered if he'd taken a wrong turn.
But he dismissed the thought right away.
Why?
"They're definitely getting more numerous."
The further he pushed, the more slimes appeared.
What started as occasional pop-ups were now swarming in greater numbers.
Look at them now.
"Pwing?"
Another one bumping into his foot while rolling along.
After two hours of this, he'd grown oddly fond of the little guys—they were starting to look kinda cute.
Killing them was pricking his conscience a bit.
But no choice.
He had to survive too.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he bent down and flicked his middle finger from his right hand.
"Sorry."
Pwing!
One flick, and it burst.
Another slime sent straight to... well, not heaven.
With Black Dragon's help, off to the great beyond.
Turning toward the direction where slimes were thickening, he pressed on.
"Let's hurry."
He wasn't physically tired.
Just mentally drained from nothing but rolling slimes, trees, grass, and rocks for two hours straight.
Standing from the rock, he headed where the slimes were densest.
Toward the source.
Then a sudden gust hit, and he reflexively raised his arms to shield his face.
Clothes whipping wildly.
In the gale strong enough to force his eyes shut, something caught the corner of his vision.
"Pwing!"
A dark-gray slime hurtling straight at him.
And on instinct, he...
"Pweek!"
Swatted it away with his right hand.
Splat! It slammed into a nearby tree.
As slime goo spread wide, cold sweat trickled down his back.
"......"
Something was wrong.
Why else would all the rolling slimes freeze and stare at him in unison?
Gazes from every direction.
Slimes staring him down from all sides.
But no malice or hatred in those looks.
Just...
Watching him.
He took a cautious step back.
Hey, I took it out.
Anyone could see that was a special slime—he'd just caught it.
Send him to the next floor already.
What the hell?
He yelled inwardly at the system.
But no response.
...No way that's not it either?
That one with the different color?
He widened his eyes at the slime.
The dark-gray one he'd smacked, now motionless.
It looked plenty special...
"......Pwing!"
Pwing!
A head popping up from the goo.
The spread slime gathered back into its flying form.
Yellow eyes fixed on him intently, then it turned.
Bounced lightly and—
"Ugh!?"
Shot back the way it came on a massive gust.
What the hell was that?
He stared blankly in the direction it vanished.
How fast can a slime even go?
One thing was clear, though.
"That's the one."
The slime he'd just encountered was what the tower wanted.
Couldn't let it get away.
He kicked off the ground and sprinted after it.
With every step, more slimes.
The density making the ground squishy underfoot.
Trees packed tight now—sky blotted out by leaves.
Dark as night.
Charging on, he spotted light ahead.
Reached it and—
"Holy shit... what is that?"
His jaw dropped in awe.
Eyes trembling, he stared at the massive thing in the distance.
A two-story building of dark-gray slime mass.
It stood there, mouth working nonstop.
Surrounded by hundreds, thousands of slimes.
"Wait, what the hell is it eating?"
Nom.
The giant dark-gray slime took something from a surrounding slime and chomped away.
Narrowing his eyes, he peered at the object.
"......Steel?"
Something gleaming silver.
And more—various ores brought one after another, all gobbled up eagerly.
"What the...?"
Slimes eating ore?
The ones he'd fought in the F-rank gate munched on grass.
"That's new."
Even if gates led to unknowable worlds, this was a first.
But whatever—this didn't change facts.
He had to kill it to advance.
Clenching his right fist tight, he stepped forward.
The encircling slimes parted left and right.
The giant stopped eating and stared.
Hoo.
Short breath out, he raised his right hand.
At that moment, tentacles erupted from the dark slime's body, surging toward him.
"Holy shit...!"
Why the hell does a slime have tentacles?
Eyes narrowing, he leaped back, dodging one slamming down.
But that was just the start.
One, two...
Soon dozens charging at once.
No dodging this.
The thought hit as they engulfed him.
"Hm?"
Nothing.
What?
He tilted his head, poking a tentacle lodged in his side with his left hand.
Squishy.
Ridiculously jiggly.
"Doesn't hurt at all."
This was supposed to be an attack?
Tilting his head, he looked at the giant dark slime.
It seemed flustered, triangular mouth flapping.
Guess it's still just a slime.
Big and different color had him wary, but slime's a slime.
Snickering, he strode forward and swung at its body.
And—
"Huh?"
Nothing happened.
Eyes wide.
He'd felt the punch connect with the squishy mass.
Yet the slime was unfazed.
Smoke
Must've unconsciously held back 'cause it was a slime.
Resetting his stance, he punched again.
And—
"......"
Still nothing.
Impossible to ignore now.
Eyes quivering, he looked up at the slime staring down blankly.
The Tutorial Tower guardian, the Bloody Mantis.
All equal before Black Dragon's fist.
But this one.
This giant slime of jiggly goo.
"......Fists don't work?"
Physical hits were useless.
He hadn't anticipated this.
Figured it'd be Bloody Mantis-level at worst.
No hostility, immune to physical damage—what now?
As he racked his brain, the slime's goo jiggled into view.
"......Jiggle?"
The dark-gray gooey body rippled violently.
As it settled, a tentacle sprouted from the torso and—
"That's my right arm—"
The tentacle, mimicking a familiar shape, lunged at him.
Instinct screamed.
Danger.
Block now.
Grinding his teeth, he raised his right hand to intercept.
"......!"
Unbelievable.
No way.
Stumbling back, he stared at his trembling right hand.
The hand that blocked Bloody Mantis.
Withstood the Tutorial Tower guardian.
Black Dragon's hand.
...Numb?
Shaking from the pain.
He'd thought physical hits didn't work.
Wrong.
It absorbed them.
Then hurled them back.
Gripping his still-numbing right hand with his left, he glared up at the slime.
It peered down at him—pushed back by the shock—with an inscrutable expression.
"Pwing."
No way in hell!
Was that deflating hiss from the slime mocking him?
Vision blurring, he bit the inside of his cheek to snap alert.
The giant slime spawning more tentacles.
But did it not see him as a threat?
Casually munching ores from the others.
One corner of his mouth twisted up.
Physical hits don't work?
Then rip it apart.
A low growl of laughter, he extended his right hand.
Sharp claws now tipped his fingers.