Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Gold Slime (3)
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007
2장. 골드 슬라임 (3)
8.
Adventurers entering a Mystic Gate always left marks on it.
But that didn't mean they always left marks unconditionally.
There were a few tricks.
For example, some adventurers deliberately left multiple marks. So others wouldn't touch it easily. After all, a Mystic Gate with many marks inevitably felt dangerous.
But even so, a Mystic Gate with many marks was undoubtedly dangerous.
If it had around twelve marks, it was truly perilous.
Of course, to El Pam, that was laughable. He had conquered Mystic Gates with over a hundred marks and even survived facing Hontail, the Last Adventurer.
‘It's a dangerous place.’
However, that wasn't a reason for El Pam to let his guard down.
Naturally, El Pam had prepared for various possibilities before entering the Mystic Gate.
‘Entry limit is five people. Not spawning overwhelmingly powerful monsters. Conquerable type. But high chance of a variant that grows even stronger if certain conditions are met.’
And he remembered one thing.
‘Could be a Gold Slime.’
Gold Slime.
A golden slime that appeared only as a boss monster in Red-grade Mystic Gates, but an exceedingly rare one.
El Pam had two reasons for considering a Gold Slime.
First, it was strong.
‘In Red-grade Mystic Gates, it's a nightmare.’
The other was that it was extremely powerful.
‘Its acidic fluid is insane.’
Basically, slimes were composed of potent acidic liquid.
Naturally, the moment their bodies were wounded, strong acidic fluid poured from those wounds, making them hard to hunt.
Especially for warriors, tanks, or melee dealers who had to fight up close—it was a nightmare.
In other words, they were vulnerable to ranged attacks.
So, it wasn't a monster that was inherently difficult to conquer. Just tricky.
But in the adventurers' world, nothing was ever easy.
‘Gold Slimes fire acidic fluid.’
The biggest reason Gold Slimes were a headache was their Acid Arrow skill.
Its power was stronger than expected.
Above all, its range was impressive.
A real pain for beginners in every way.
Of course, El Pam wasn't considering a Gold Slime just because it was strong.
‘If it's tough, just run.’
Most adventurers who came here aimed to secure items from the already-dead adventurers.
From their perspective, there was no need to fight a Gold Slime.
That's why he had it in mind.
‘But if it's a Gold Slime, it devours items too.’
A Gold Slime here meant the dead adventurers' items were practically unrecoverable.
But few knew that.
Even those aware of Gold Slimes could be counted on one hand among novice adventurers.
So the adventurers who came here must have wandered aimlessly.
Searching for items that the Gold Slime had already devoured, items that no longer existed.
El Pam also knew.
‘The more items it devours, the stronger it gets.’
Another reason Gold Slimes were dangerous.
Of course, this was just one possibility. El Pam had no certainty a Gold Slime would appear.
‘It's the one.’
But the moment he crossed into the Mystic Gate, El Pam saw it.
The traces of acidic fluid everywhere, those faint, unmistakable traces.
Sniff sniff!
The subtle scent of slime acidic fluid tickling his nose.
In that instant, El Pam was certain.
‘It’s a Gold Slime.’
The boss monster here was a Gold Slime.
‘Lucky me.’
And knowing that, El Pam stopped hesitating.
‘I can take it down easily.’
9.
“Damn it!”
The first to curse when the Gold Slime appeared was none other than Chev.
And for good reason—slimes were like rat poison to warriors.
One misstep could cost your life, and even if not, fighting up close inevitably exposed you to the slime's blood, its acidic fluid, leading straight to item destruction.
Meaning expensive gear ruined by a mere slime fight.
Of course, against a Gold Slime, such worries were irrelevant.
‘Of all things!’
The moment the Gold Slime appeared, survival became the only concern from then on.
‘Gotta watch out for Acid Arrow.’
What Chev considered fortunate was that he knew about Gold Slimes.
That was impressive.
Among monsters emerging from Mystic Gates, many didn't exist in the Maple World.
Even now, new monsters kept appearing.
Information on such monsters held far higher value than expected.
You had to pay for it.
Adventurers of decent rank didn't hesitate to pay.
But Chev was a 1st Circle adventurer, still tackling Red-grade Mystic Gates.
For him to know about Gold Slimes? Worthy of praise.
Thanks to that.
“Watch out for Acid Arrow!”
Pew!
As Chev warned, an Acid Arrow shot from the Gold Slime's body toward his companion in the tree, but the warning let the companion dive away and dodge it.
“Ugh!”
He sprained his ankle on the hasty landing, but compared to death, it was just a minor injury.
“Boss, you know what that thing is?”
The biggest effect was that Chev's companions gained courage from his words.
Knowing the strategy brought indescribable reassurance.
“It uses Acid Arrow. Assume getting hit means you're done.”
“Crazy.”
“Fortunately.”
“Fortunately? You have a way to beat it?”
“It needs a cooldown after firing Acid Arrow.”
So Chev gladly shared the strategy, and his companions' eyes changed.
With a strategy, they could hunt it!
That confidence was why.
“That means now…”
Pew!
They couldn't dodge the suddenly fired Acid Arrow.
“Gaaahhh!”
And seeing the hit companion scream and collapse, they couldn't react properly.
‘How? It should be on cooldown!’
Chev's knowledge wasn't wrong.
Normal Gold Slimes needed a cooldown after Acid Arrow.
But that was just for normals—Chev should have realized.
This was beyond a twelve-mark Mystic Gate.
There was a reason twelve parties had perished helplessly.
Of course, the realization came too late, and the price was brutal.
Pew!
“Gaaahhh!”
Another scream from a companion.
“Gaaahhh!”
Then another in quick succession.
Now only warrior Chev remained.
And all he could do was one thing.
“Ah.”
Resignation.
Pew!
The sound echoed in the ears of the resigned Chev.
10.
Gaaah!
Only after hearing the scream did El Pam, who had been holding his breath, start moving.
‘All cleared out.’
In a way, it was vengeance.
Righteous revenge against Chev's crew, who had wreaked havoc as rookie hunters.
But El Pam felt no particular emotion about it.
It wasn't for revenge.
Just the surest, safest way to deal with a group trying to kill him—like kicking a roadside pebble.
‘No loot.’
Moreover, El Pam couldn't recover items here.
He'd held faint hope.
That surviving adventurers, assessing the situation, might have ditched items to lighten up.
Gold Slimes didn't target items; they devoured corpses, incidentally swallowing items too. So if adventurers tossed them, those might remain.
‘With a monster like that, assume it ate everything.’
But seeing the Gold Slime spam Acid Arrow without cooldown dashed that hope to zero.
El Pam's sole expectation here was one:
‘In exchange, its magic stone is at least Orange-grade boss level, maybe even Yellow-grade.’
Securing the magic stone from a Gold Slime that absorbed over forty items—a massive mana clump.
Of course, as mentioned, that Gold Slime was very strong.
It hadn't wiped twelve parties here for nothing.
Not easier than an Orange-grade boss.
‘Slimes have high magic resistance.’
Slimes inherently had strong magic defense.
‘About palm-sized.’
El Pam's current Fire Arrow would penetrate only palm-length into the massive Gold Slime's body.
‘Around 25 centimeters?’
With a body nearly three meters long and a core in the center, it was like pricking skin with a long needle.
A wound, but not fatal.
Yet El Pam wasn't too worried.
He'd faced such situations countless times—hunting distant monsters.
‘Six shots should do it.’
No need to agonize.
“Fire Arrow.”
El Pam cast Fire Arrow.
Fired the first straight.
Directly at the Gold Slime.
Thuk!
The flaming arrow embedded in the Gold Slime's body, and instantly, an Acid Arrow launched from it.
Toward El Pam.
But El Pam, anticipating it, was already gone. He started running.
“Fire Arrow.”
While running, he cast again, firing once more.
This time controlled with Telekinesis, unlike before.
Thuk!
Another flaming arrow into the Gold Slime's body.
Deeper than the first—twice as deep.
Simple reason.
It hit exactly the same spot as before.
A sight that would horrify watching mages.
But El Pam wasn't horrified.
To him, this was routine—nothing more, nothing less. He'd lived a life where failing this meant death.
So at this moment, El Pam focused on one thing.
‘Four left.’
Countdown.
‘Three.’
It progressed steadily.
‘Two.’
Done.
‘One.’
Fwoosh!
The Fire Arrow hit the Gold Slime's core, and it exploded.
11.
Adventurers imagine it.
The moment they slay a boss beyond the Mystic Gate, cheering in triumph.
But reality differed.
No adventurer cheered as if everything ended after slaying a monster—especially a boss.
At least not veterans. They knew.
The real work started then.
“The first thing after downing a boss is finding the core.”
Most monsters had cores—magic stones that raised adventurers' circles.
Problem: Destroying the core destroys the magic stone.
Even destroyed, its power was fine. The issue was recovering it. Finding that gold-worth stone was never easy.
Not just magic stones—many monster parts were valuable.
True labor began post-hunt.
El Pam was no exception.
No, this case was worse.
The Gold Slime exploded on death, spraying potent acidic fluid everywhere.
Shattered core fragments scattered too.
Finding it there? Absurdly hard.
Yet El Pam worked methodically. Spot a fragment, Telekinesis it over, tirelessly, steadily.
Too familiar, and he knew.
Gulp!
‘Even fragments thicken my circle each time.’
How vital this was.
By the time he'd devoured all the Gold Slime's magic stones, the black line on El Pam's left wrist had noticeably darkened.
‘1st Circle, at the edge.’
Here, El Pam felt regret.
Undeniably amazing results.
But slightly denser magic stone mana, and he'd have reached 2nd Circle.
‘The gap between 1st and 2nd Circle is decisive.’
Huge difference.
Like one hand versus two—far bigger.
But he didn't dwell.
Too much left to do.
Most items here were eaten by the Gold Slime, but not all.
Fresh corpses had just spawned.
‘Chev.’
El Pam moved to recover them.
And in Chev's shoe, El Pam found it.
‘…A red magic stone this size is boss-grade, yet he hid it—on the cusp of 2nd Circle.’
A find that banished his regrets.