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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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[ Information ]
Name: Luke
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Magic: 0 / 0
Level: 68
[ Skills ]
Inventory (F)
Super Strength (B)
All Attribute Resistance (A)
[ Stats ]
Strength: 59 (+29)
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 0
Stamina: 10
Stat Points: 9
I felt pretty good after checking my status window right after the hunt.
Aside from it being anticlimactic and weak, it gave a lot of experience points, at least.
There are probably very few worlds where you can level up 9 times by catching a slime.
Naturally, I put all my stat points into strength.
Now my strength stat is 68, plus 34 from Super Strength, making it 102.
I don’t think the maximum is 99, but I’ll have to test how much my strength is later.
“Luke! Are you alright!”
Luna came running to me in a hurry as I stood there blankly checking my status window.
With Yui on her back.
“Yeah. I’m perfectly fine.”
Of course, I’m fine. It was a one-sided beatdown.
“That was a really outrageous way to hunt…”
“People are just too stupid.”
What’s so outrageous about it? I’m just smart and creative.
Is it better to struggle and catch it by swinging a hammer stupidly, or is it better to catch it easily like I just did?
Isn’t the answer obviously the latter?
And you guys are making too big a deal out of slimes.
“But don’t be too discouraged, Luna. Your opponent is me, after all.”
Humans are creatures of jealousy.
They always compare themselves to others, feel inferior, and push themselves.
But when the object of comparison is so far beyond their reach, they give up on everything.
Thinking, ‘I can never be like that.’
We’ll be together for a while, so she can’t just give up comparing her peanut-sized brain to my genius brain.
That would hinder her growth.
“…I wasn’t discouraged, though.”
“But why is she on your back?”
“Oh, this is magic exhaustion.”
“Magic exhaustion?”
“Yes. It’s a state of incapacitation after using up all of one’s magic.”
There was such a thing?
Just like the Crimson Demons from somewhere.
I told her to use all her magic, and she really did.
If I had known this existed, I would have told her to use her own judgment and leave at least 1 point.
“But didn’t you guys level up and regain some magic?”
“…Huh? Level up?”
“Hey, Yui. Wake up.”
“Huh…? I don’t have any strength in my body right now…?”
“How would you know without even trying? Just get up.”
Young people these days always say they can’t do things without even trying.
They lack effort.
Do you know how much effooooort I put in to be possessed by this novel?
Two years.
I invested a whopping two years without taking a single step out of my room.
If you’re going to say you can’t do something, you should at least show that much effort before saying it.
Luna, still suspicious, reluctantly bent down to let Yui get off.
Yui, claiming to have no strength, somehow managed to move, slowly getting down and landing properly on the ground.
“Huh…? What the…?”
“See, I told you.”
“H-how is this…”
Yui, not knowing what was going on, seemed quite flustered.
The principle is simple; the two who assisted in my hunt gained experience points like me and leveled up.
In the process, their magic recovered a little.
As long as they have 1 or 2 points, they should be able to move.
Clap, clap, I clapped my hands to gather the attention of the amazed Luna and Yui.
“Anyway, let’s gather the evidence now. So we can go back quickly.”
Evidence of slime hunting.
We just need to collect a part of the slime’s body.
Even though it evaporated, there were still traces of the body that splattered during the evaporation process and traces of failed divisions scattered all over the place.
Since the main body was dead, it didn’t move, but it was still bubbling, indicating that it still contained acid.
So, in preparation for the collection, I received a collection glass tube from Adela this morning.
I took it out and carefully scooped up the slime, making sure not to touch it with my hands.
A translucent liquid visible through the glass tube.
They all look the same to me, so how do they distinguish this from a regular slime?
I’m curious, but that’s not my jurisdiction, so I’m sure they’ll figure it out.
But acid…
Hmm…
“…”
“Luke? What’s wrong?”
“Oh. I was thinking of using this instead of selling it.”
“This…?”
“Yeah.”
Such a high concentration of acid is probably hard to find in this world.
If it can easily melt rocks, it will surely work on most B-rank monsters, right?
In addition to monsters, I’ve been getting into a lot of arguments with people lately, and if I pour a glass of this into their mouths each time, it might make it easier to start a conversation?
Since acid is useless on its own.
And even if I sell it, who would buy this? This isn’t Earth where science is advanced and acid has value.
‘Alright. I’ll use it.’
I filled the glass tube with just enough to submit and put the rest in an empty glass flask that I carry around personally.
Slimes, which are useless elsewhere, were very helpful in hunting.
“Then, I think we’re done, so let’s go back.”
We collected enough acid for evidence.
I also put all the acid I’ll be using in a plastic flask and stored it in my inventory, so all that’s left is to go back.
The problem is that the way back is looong.
It took at least half a day by carriage, and of course, there’s no way we can walk back to the empire in a day.
‘I knew this would happen, so I brought a tent, so we can camp.’
But camping isn’t exactly comfortable, so the answer is to leave as early as possible and arrive as early as possible.
“We just need to follow the path we took, right?”
Since we came in a straight line, even in a vast forest, as long as we find the direction, going back shouldn’t be too difficult.
So, as I took a step in the direction we came from to go back.
“Luke, that’s the opposite direction from where we came…”
“Ah-ha.”
***
After spending a night camping in the forest, the empire was so welcoming.
Honestly, everything I’ve been through since being possessed, including catching the King Slime, couldn’t be more difficult than camping.
Camping was just so uncomfortable.
First of all, my palate has become too refined.
My appetite was completely ruined after constantly eating at restaurants and then trying to eat roughly grilled meat.
The sleeping situation was also the worst.
The ground was hard, and I had to take turns keeping watch, so I couldn’t sleep properly, leaving me feeling extremely low.
And the most annoying thing about keeping watch is that nothing happens.
How great would it have been if there had been a monster attack?
I would have slowly tortured them without killing them and played with them until sunrise.
As a result of getting up early and moving, we were able to return to the empire just as the sun was rising.
“Haa… Camping is not something to do multiple times.”
“Is that so…? I think that was quite luxurious.”
“Only for you. Look at Yui.”
I pointed to Yui, who was trudging behind us.
Maybe it’s because she didn’t sleep well, but she was already a stick figure, and now she’s been downgraded to just bones.
“H-hey. Yui. Snap out of it.”
“Y-yes? I wasn’t dozing off!”
“See.”
“…”
Well, imagine a shut-in who’s used to rolling around in a soft bed every day suddenly working hard enough to experience magic exhaustion and then having to sleep rough.
How hard must it be?
If it were the diligent and earnest vampire queen Yui, it might be different, but our shut-in otaku Yui is like me; camping just isn’t for her.
“Next time, I’ll just beat up the coachman and keep the carriage.”
“Wouldn’t that put you on a blacklist…?”
Then a bed… No, should I just buy a whole house, put it in my inventory, and take it out whenever I need it?
“Wouldn’t a house be expensive?”
“…Huh?”
I can’t, I definitely need to rest today.
My body still feels stiff. I haven’t recovered properly.
Before that, we have to stop by the Adventurer’s Guild, so we headed straight there.
Even when resting, I need to get paid.
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
Since we came early in the morning, there weren’t many people at the Adventurer’s Guild yet.
Adela, seeing us enter, recited her signature line.
“I’m not really safe.”
“Huh? Are you hurt somewhere…?”
“My feelings are hurt.”
My feelings were hurt while camping.
“…I apologize.”
Suddenly, Luna apologized.
“…You’re still as strange as ever.”
Hey. I’m in a bad mood right now?
If you keep treating me like a strange person, who knows what I might do?
“Since you came here today, I assume the King Slime hunt was successful.”
“No, I told you, I’m not safe.”
My feelings are hurt!
Hmph! Pat me on the head!
“If you keep this up, I’ll deduct from your reward.”
I immediately bowed deeply.
“Gomennasai!”
From my upside-down view, I could just barely see Adela sighing in exasperation.
Even so, a deduction is out of the question.
It was a slime that I went through so much trouble for, so the reward must be huge.
“So, did you collect the evidence?”
“Hehehe. Of course.”
I took out three glass tubes from my inventory.
“As an apology, I’ll do some juggling~”
“P-please don’t…!!”
“Aww, it’s fine. I’m pretty good at juggling, you know.”
In my past life, I had nothing but time, so I used to sit in my chair and mindlessly juggle pens.
Doesn’t everyone juggle pens when they’re bored?
If you disagree, then I’m right.
Whoosh, whoosh, the three glass tubes rotated in a circular trajectory.
Adela followed the glass tubes with fearful eyes.
“Where are you looking? That’s just an afterimage of the glass tube.”
Then, I accidentally slipped and dropped one on the floor.
-Crash!
“Ah.”
-Sizzle…
The acid inside the glass tube spilled out and melted the wooden floor.
“…”
“…”
“Hehe. Accidents happen when you’re alive━━.”
“The repair cost for the floor will be deducted from your reward.”
“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
***
Since I broke one of the glass tubes meant for evidence, I had to submit one of the flasks I had stored for personal use instead.
I lost part of my reward and had to submit one of my hunting tools, truly adding insult to injury.
“Ah… Why are there tears…?”
“…It’s all your own fault.”
Adela received the evidence and handed us three iron adventurer’s tags.
She must have made them in advance, knowing we would succeed again.
“Then, how much is the reward?”
“25 silver coins per person, for a total of 75 silver coins. But with the 1 silver coin deduction for the repair cost, it’s 74 silver coins.”
Oh… That’s still a lot?
Is this why everyone risks their lives to become adventurers, getting this much income at C-rank?
Considering that the inn we’re staying at costs 10 silver coins per week, it’s a considerable amount.
Of course, it’s less than the Iron Golem, but that was an emergency request, so it was inevitable that the reward was higher.
“The floor repair cost is quite low.”
“How expensive can a wooden floor be?”
Well, it would be funny to charge a lot of money for just replacing a few planks.
If they charged several tens of silver coins for replacing planks, you’d have to replace the repairman’s brain.
“Oh, right!”
Then, Adela clapped her hands and said to me as if she had just remembered.
“Luke. There’s a designated request for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
I just became a C-rank, and there’s already a designated request?
My popularity knows no bounds.
“But I refuse.”
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