Chapter 99
Chapter 99
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 99
Chapter Title: Black Slime, When the Server Goes Crazy
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[Due to a monster escape incident that collapsed the bridge at the <Yeonhae> Gate, the bridge was completed today. Hwaryeon announced that the gate would reopen just two days from now and posted the details online. In response, some are saying...]
Somewhere in a gloomy room.
The only light came from the flickering glow of five monitors.
Even that was covered in dark mode, making it hard to see any real brightness.
The man was dozing off in a chair tilted all the way back. He hadn't forgotten his eyemask either.
Why not just turn off the computer? Yeah, right.
Those are all money-makers.
Whirrr!
Mana circuits were running across the monitors.
Intricately designed circuits. The moment he shut down the computer or monitors, he'd have to redesign them from scratch.
The most annoying thing in the world.
That's why he'd even installed backup power for the PC. No way he'd turn it off himself.
Wonder when the orders will come in?
What a client with zero consideration.
Shouldn't they account for the time difference?
Who knows over there, but here it was dawn.
Creak!
To shake off some sleepiness, he cranked the speaker knob all the way clockwise.
[Opinions are circulating that they're trying to cover construction accident losses. With profit shares set higher than other gates, hunters are voicing complaints...]
The announcer's crisp voice blasted out loud enough to rattle.
His ears hurt a bit, but this was the only way to force himself awake.
Pshh... Crack!
Just in case, he pulled off his eyemask and cracked open a beer can.
Awakener black beer. Bitter enough to call poison.
"Ugh... Shit."
A bitter symphony flooding from mouth to brain.
It barely held onto his wandering mind before the smooth aftertaste washed over.
Yeah, this is the stuff.
That's why it had such a cult following among enthusiasts.
Non-awakeners even voted it "the beer you must try before you die."
Slurp...
He drained the can in no time.
Crumpling it casually, he tossed it toward the trash bin.
Clang... Clatter!
Predictably, a miss.
The can hit the rim, bounced off, and rolled across the floor—
"......"
The man paid it no mind and picked up his smartphone.
When the hell are they coming?
Should he just crash?
He had plenty of other gigs anyway.
Sure, hard to find ones paying this well, but sleep felt more important right now...
Ding!
Right on cue, the awaited message arrived.
[XXP: Ready?]
[Me: yes]
[XXP: Then get it started. You know what happens if you drag like last time?]
Ugh. What an asshole.
Always like this. Could be nicer about it.
What was it called? Rapport?
Build that up, and it's good for both sides.
They pay, so what?
Pshh... Crack!
...Fair enough.
Cracking another can, he chugged it down.
The whirlwind bitterness chased away sleep, and the following flavor topped off his dopamine—
Bzzz!
Finally, new mana rose from his fingertips.
Pure white mana, contrasting the dim room.
His rope began advancing toward the target.
Once caught, no escape even in death.
The more you struggle, the deeper it digs in.
That was the man's special ability.
Crunch!
The surprisingly thick barrier resisted fiercely.
'You'll break.'
No chance.
A few flicks of his fingers, and cracks spiderwebbed the barrier.
Faint fissures, but plenty wide for mana to slip through.
Crack!
The barrier soon crumbled away.
Now alone, the target. The man's rope began tightening around its neck.
**
Pong!
A black shape leaped up.
Impressive sound for such a low jump height.
Around my knee level?
Pathetic compared to a standard pudding slime.
Molrang could easily clear an adult's head.
I could guess why.
'It's small. Tiny.'
Only half of Molrang's size.
Expected, though.
Breeding's like that. Not cloning, so offspring make sense.
But...
"Why is it this black?"
Pong!
The pure blackness was weird.
A mutation?
Pudding slimes came in many colors, mostly pastels.
Black? Not even navy or brown.
Basically asexual reproduction... Shouldn't it match the parent's color?
Hard to dismiss as simple mutation.
I'd harvested 100 mini slimes total.
From 50 slime balls, 100 babies hatched.
Pong! Pong! Pong!
Wow. This one's black too, and that one over there.
Every single one was black.
If I had to force an explanation.
Not the black furball, but Kami's tentacles did it.
Black furball's a Kami fragment.
No matter how thick the fur, tentacles pack more punch.
High-nutrition super babies.
Pudding slime elite. My Blackies.
They'll mass-produce slime balls, right?
Pong!
Not a bad spin, but wishful thinking.
No guarantee these mutants could make Molrangtori.
"Isn't this a bust?"
Ha-young picked up one Blackie, tilting her head.
She poked its surface with a fingertip.
"Elasticity's lacking."
True.
Should bounce right back with premium squishiness.
Instead, it stayed dented.
More like ho-bbing than slime. Poke harder, and it'd puncture.
Pong!
"For now... Let's test properly. We don't know for sure yet."
Something felt off, so I fired up the experiment camera.
Then called the Blackies frolicking freely in the factory.
"Come on, everyone! Over here to me?"
No obedience, not even acknowledgment.
"Come here!"
Tried mana control, but useless.
No choice.
I wasn't red-string linked to them.
Domesticated slime livestock.
Aggression bred out, perfect for Molrangtori mass production.
Too domesticated—they ignored me.
"Kami."
Nyaaang?
"Any way? They were born from your mana."
Nyaaang!
Struck by inspiration, Kami spun in midair.
Kiiing!
Seolbaek immediately protested.
Like his signature spin—used for disguises—was stolen.
Kami wouldn't yield to that, though.
Nyaaang!
Kami spun once more, then spread his mana wide over my skin.
"......"
Similar yet different from Seolbaek's.
Seolbaek's transformed into anything; Kami's absorbed anything.
"Like this?"
Nyaaang!
Ah, layer my mana on top.
Hard to grasp the principle, but if Kami said so.
Bzzz!
I coated on my mana as suggested.
Body first, then...
Pong! Pong! Pong!
...Something's wrong.
Just upper body coated, and their eyes changed.
If only eyes.
The 100-slime army charged me in unison.
"Wha—whoa! Stop! Stop!"
Pong! Pong! Pong!
What's with them...!
Like worker bees swarming their queen.
Trapped motionless in their iron-bar cage of bodies.
"Eehehehehe! Stop! Stop!"
I endured their squishy love assault.
"Surrender! Surrender, I said! Ha-young unnie...! Help!"
"Pffhehehe... Looks fun."
You dare laugh?
Fine. Escape this, and you're next, Shin Ha-young.
"Whew... Thought I was done for."
Luckily, the Blackie siege ended quick.
They absorbed all my mana, dropped off with satisfied smiles.
Okay.
Brief chaos, but control method secured.
Next step.
"Blackie One. Stay put there."
Obeying? Or just drowsy?
Placed Blackie Two atop stationary Blackie One.
Infused them lightly with mana.
Not much—just trying fusion.
Fusion success meant combinable Molrangtori.
Failure meant fatal product flaw.
Fwaaash!
Oddly flashing, One and Two fused smoothly.
Success, but...
Porong!
"......Huh?"
Size unchanged.
Maybe microscopically different.
Added Three, Four, Five, and...
Fwaaash!
Up to 100, all merged.
Porong!
Still same size.
Only change: black deeper than before.
Hold up.
'Isn't this a huge discovery?'
Infinite fusion, no size growth?
Massive space savings in production.
Needed dedicated research time.
Tap tap.
Logged into Molrang Mall to buy that time.
Planned to post minimal Molrangtail production notice.
[Unable to connect. Please try again later.]
"What."
Wi-Fi shaky?
Switched to data, tried.
[Unable to connect. Please try again later.]
[Unable to connect. Please try again later.]
[Unable to connect. Please try again later.]
[Unable to connect. Please try again later.]
"......Huh?"