Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Bratsk's Refrigerator
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Han Sang-ah looked like she was about to sprawl out flat on her back any second now.
"You thinking of rolling out a blanket here and crashing?"
—No blanket.
Hearing Han Sang-ah's response, I hauled her back to her feet. What, you gonna flop over from this much?
Did you really expect some handsome hunk or hot babe to pop champagne welcoming us when we stepped into the Erosion Core?
We'd somehow managed to adapt to this shitty gimmick. Even if the roles swapped again now, I felt confident we could push through it somehow.
"One ball, three, five. There's a single button. No trap."
At my words, Han Sang-ah shot me a puzzled look.
—Not a trap, no monsters, just a button out of nowhere. Super suspicious.
"Agreed."
I had no clue what that button was for, but it was hard to believe it'd do us any favors. Still, this massive space showed no signs of any more surprises prepared for us—like it was all tapped out.
In the end, it looked like we'd have to hit that button.
The instant Han Sang-ah pressed it, my body got yanked away again, and I landed in a different spot.
"...What the hell is this now."
I quickly scanned my surroundings. Five massive stone slabs came into view. Each one a different color.
—Hey, can you hear me?
It was Han Sang-ah's voice. Looking closely, there was a small walkie-talkie-like device on the table at my waist level. I snatched it up and spoke.
"Yeah, I hear you."
—I'm facing off against some slimes right now.
No sooner had she finished than a clunking noise rang out, a huge hole opened in the ceiling, and slimes started plopping down one after another. Over ten of them, each in one of five colors.
Gripping my spear, I ignited Paradox Flame.
"Tell me your situation."
—There are five stone slabs, each engraved with a symbol. And... some weird equipment. Like thick pipes connected to a machine or something. What the hell is this?
I dodged the slimes' attacks while checking around. Was that big pipe connected to her machine the one I could see?
"Looks like the pipe on my side connects to yours."
Under the pipe was a slot for fitting something in.
A bit farther off, I spotted an empty barrel and what looked like faucets—five of them. Each faucet had a symbol engraved above it.
My head was starting to ache. What the fuck are we supposed to do here?
"I've got a barrel and faucets over here. Something's filling the barrel right now."
—Attacks aren't landing on the slimes. I can defend, but all my hits are getting nullified.
Figured as much. It felt like the gimmick from the Great Maze. But this wasn't some simple dice-matching game.
I racked my brain fast. The slimes' colors. The colors of the slabs on my side. The symbols on the slabs in Han Sang-ah's space.
"Fuck."
Couldn't help but curse. Already a headache dealing with slimes, and now this.
"You said five slabs with symbols. Describe the one on the far left."
She hesitated with a couple "uh"s before answering.
—Heart.
I checked the color of the slab on my far left. Blue.
I eyed the slabs in my space. One had a heart symbol.
Grabbing the big barrel, I placed it under the pipe with the heart symbol and turned the valve. Sticky liquid started filling it up.
—Any idea what we're doing?
"Handling business. Hang tight!"
Once the barrel was full, I hooked it straight up to the pipe. A gurgling sound followed as the pipe sucked the liquid in.
—Whoa, lights just came on over here by the equipment. There's a button—should I press it?
"Yeah. Hurry."
Soon, Han Sang-ah relayed more info.
—Machine's running. There's a gauge panel. It's divided into five colors. When I start it, the needle moves.
Got it, that's the play. I shouted right away.
"Stop the machine when the needle hits blue!"
—Got it.
Now I fully grasped the setup. I had to supply the right fuel to her machine matching the symbols in her space.
Then she'd run the machine and stop it when the gauge matched the color of the slab in my room.
Only if we nailed all that perfectly...
"Die, you squishy shits."
The slime matching that color took a solid hit.
—When I shut the machine off, the needle drops back down.
"No shit."
She had to keep flicking the machine on and off to hold the needle steady on the right color.
—Fuel's almost gone!
And I had to keep periodically refilling whatever her machine burned through. This was insane.
"They said rank 1 is a whole other level."
Never imagined the gimmick would be this bullshit.
Then I considered the worst-case and told Han Sang-ah.
"Heads up—this might cycle the symbols and colors periodically."
If they didn't match perfectly, no hits on slimes. Meaning if they swapped...
We'd have to readjust on the fly through constant comms. And sure enough, moments later, the slabs glowed faintly, and their symbols shuffled around.
"Why do my worst guesses always..."
Pan out perfectly? Absolute nightmare.
"Tell me the changes."
—Got it, gimme a sec to check mine too.
Han Sang-ah and I traded info nonstop over the walkie-talkies, no breaks. Otherwise, we were dead in the water.
—Fuel under 20%.
"Damn it, hold on. Filling it right back up."
A whipping tentacle grazed past my head. I kept calling out color changes as the slabs cycled.
"Colors shifted—what?"
—Sorry, tiny lag. We can hit 'em again soon.
How many times did we repeat fueling the right symbol and her tweaking the gauge? Slimes kept dropping from the ceiling, numbers not thinning at all.
"How long are these things gonna keep pouring in?"
—Fuel, clover...
I shoved the right fuel into the pipe, dodged a charging tentacle, then speared the slime. Paradox Flame torched its body, the blaze growing.
"You holding up? Sound winded."
—Still good.
Still. That word nagged at me. Obvious, but if either of us dropped here, game over. Couldn't solve this solo gimmick with one person.
That's why this damn Erosion Core limited entry to exactly two.
"Ha, with this..."
After hours of battle, we finally crushed the last slime. It lost form and melted like water, ending the fight.
"What's next."
A creaking sound echoed as a door formed in the blank wall.
—Before we go, mind a quick breather?
"Yeah, better idea. That next one's got a real shitty vibe."
Beyond the door, white frost streamed down. The mana leaking out was no joke either.
"Thought rank 1 Erosion Cores were bigger."
Hunters said the internal scale was leagues beyond rank 2.
—Bratsk's Refrigerator only lets two in. No need for extra space, right?
True—no point making it huge when what we just did was bullshit enough. Bet two strong hunters charging in laughing would've gotten wrecked in seconds.
"Feels like that's the finale."
Gut said so. The mana oozing from beyond dwarfed the slimes.
'Lowball it: wyvern. Highball: archdemon.'
Something getting that reception back home waited on the other side.
At my current level, it'd be a brutal scrap. After resting, I wrapped up talking with Han Sang-ah and headed through the open door.
"...Still no merge, huh."
Han Sang-ah wasn't here. Instead, one woman stood out.
Atop an intricate ice throne on the stairs sat a woman with snow-white skin. A crown carved from crystal rested on her silver hair; she wore a blue dress, eyes closed.
A doll-like figure on the throne, hands clasped, eyes shut.
—Dunno your side, but mine's got a massive slime over 30 meters. Bubbling and boiling, with human faces forming and vanishing in the goo—all screaming.
Lucky me—no visual assault at least.
"Someone shows up, and no greeting?"
My words barely ended when the doll-woman's eyes snapped open. Blue glow fixed on me as white frost whipped around, stealing my body heat.
"What the—"
A small thermometer appeared above my head.
The red liquid inside slowly dropped. What did this mean?
—Giant slime's shitting out little slimes like turds.
"Poetic phrasing."
Anyway, priority was figuring out this thermometer gadget.
"Gut says body temperature."
Kill her before it hits bottom? Pace suggested under three minutes till zero.
"Fuck."
As the gauge dropped slowly, I got it.
"It's my body temp."
Bottoming out probably meant death. The moment I realized, the throne woman extended a hand sideways.
Countless ice shards bloomed in the air, swiftly shaping into spears.
"Han Sang-ah, looks like you gotta do something on your end."
I lit Paradox Flame and spoke into the walkie-talkie.
—Again?
"My body temp's dropping by the second. Hits zero, I'm dead."
No way for me to raise it myself. So she must have the means to boost mine.
"This is pissing me off to hell!"
My spear whipped out a trail. I smacked aside and dodged the incoming ice spears in tandem strikes. But no sweat broke.
My body just kept cooling.
Proof my temp was fully under the thermometer's control. Then, the gauge above my head ticked up slightly.
"How'd you do that?"
—Killed one of the little slimes the big one shat out.
Simple enough this time? She handles slimes, I tackle this freak?
No way it'd be that easy.
"Control the kill count."
—Huh?
The initial gauge wasn't maxed—it sat midscale. Human body temp swings just one degree and shit goes wrong.
—So, moderate the slime kill rate to keep your temp steady?
"Exactly."