I tilted my head back and looked up at the enormous ink-black Slime.
Perhaps intending to threaten me, it continually writhed the tentacles it had created while gnawing on the steel brought by the other Slimes.
“Does that taste good?”
“Squeak.”
“……Can you understand me?”
“Squeak?”
What was I saying?
I had never heard of a monster understanding human speech.
Besides, knowing that it understood me would only make striking it more uncomfortable. It was probably better if it could not.
I released a quiet sigh and slowly raised my right hand.
The Slime stopped eating the ore.
Then it once again fired a mass of tentacles toward me.
‘As I thought, these do not hurt.’
I did not even need to use my right arm as a shield. Attacks of this level caused no pain.
Therefore, I decided to learn by taking the attacks again.
Just as I had done against the Guardian of the Tutorial Tower.
‘They are remarkably springy.’
That was what I thought as the Slime’s tentacles struck me head-on.
They were extraordinarily elastic.
No wonder the creature had remained unaffected no matter how hard I punched it.
I seized one of the incoming tentacles with my right hand.
“Squeak!?”
The Slime cried out in surprise when I caught it.
I lightly flicked the captured tentacle with the index finger of my left hand.
The tentacle trembled.
A moment later, the full force of the flick was transmitted into the right hand holding it.
“As I thought, it reflects impacts.”
Striking it would never solve the problem.
In that case……
“Shall I tear it apart?”
“……Squeak?”
The Slime abruptly stopped its barrage of tentacles.
Taking advantage of the pause, I tightly gripped another tentacle with my left hand and pulled it outward.
“Oh. It stretches well.”
The farther I pulled, the longer it stretched.
It seemed practically impossible to tear apart.
“Squeak.”
The tentacles began writhing again.
Even so, I did not release the one in my hand. Instead, I smiled faintly.
“Yes. It would be impossible.”
Had my hand been ordinary.
With a crooked smile, I pulled the tentacle in my left hand with all my strength.
“Squeak!?”
STRETCH—
It extended.
The tentacle stretched farther and farther.
Then, against the elongated tentacle—
“Hup.”
—I pressed one of Black Dragon’s sharp claws.
The tentacle was severed instantly.
The moment it separated from the main body, the firm, springy mucus lost its properties and turned soft and runny.
I shook the sticky mucus from my left hand and grinned.
“I found the way to defeat you.”
“S-Squeak……!”
“You certainly enjoyed hitting me earlier, did you not?”
The enormous Slime recoiled.
Massaging my shoulder, I took a step toward it.
“Why are you retreating? Have you become frightened?”
TREMBLE, TREMBLE.
The creature’s body, which had been overflowing with confidence moments ago, began quivering.
It was difficult to dismiss it as my imagination.
The Slime was shaking itself so violently that its gelatinous body rippled without pause.
I kicked off the ground and charged toward it.
Black Dragon’s claws gleamed as they reflected the sunlight.
Five daggers pointed toward the creature.
Five claws sharp enough to cut through anything rushed forward to tear it apart.
Upon seeing them, the Slime swiftly deployed its tentacles.
‘One, two, three…… Only three?’
Why?
Until now, the creature had created tentacles without restraint.
Yet it had produced only three this time.
That was a strange choice for a creature retreating in fear……
“Ah. I understand now.”
Grin.
I smiled at the Slime as its trembling suddenly ceased.
“You were not trembling from fear, were you?”
“……!”
The Slime stored every impact inflicted upon its body and reflected it.
Even the tiny vibrations created by trembling counted as impacts.
The creature had been storing those vibrations within itself, transferring them to the ends of its tentacles, and preparing to fire them at me.
However—
“Not a chance.”
STEP.
I moved one step to the side and narrowly avoided the tentacle shooting toward me.
It grazed my shoulder.
I thrust Black Dragon’s claws toward its slender body.
“One.”
SNAP.
The tentacle was severed.
Another tentacle immediately descended toward my head.
“Two.”
I lightly kicked off the ground backward and avoided it.
Once it struck the earth, I severed it with my claws.
Then I looked at the final tentacle and the Slime, whose body was trembling even more violently.
It created no additional tentacles.
It was gathering all its power into the single one that remained.
“Squeak!”
SHRIEEEEK!
The lone tentacle shot through the air.
The ink-black appendage flew directly toward the space between my eyebrows.
I did not evade it.
I merely pressed the fingers of my right hand together and thrust them toward the incoming tentacle.
“Squeeak!?”
BOOM!
The tentacle exploded.
Covered from head to toe in black mucus, I frowned and spat onto the ground.
“What kind of taste is this?”
It tasted metallic.
The inside of my mouth already tasted of blood because I had bitten through the flesh there.
However, the metallic stench of the mucus was incomparably worse.
I repeatedly spat out the mucus that had entered my mouth and walked toward the Slime.
The creature had stopped trembling entirely and merely stared at me in a daze.
“I am sorry, but this is farewell.”
SWISH.
I raised my right hand and swung my sharp claws toward the enormous ink-black Slime.
At that moment—
“Hm?”
POP!
The enormous Slime disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
My eyes widened, and I hurriedly looked around.
Where had it gone?
It had vanished without warning.
There was no possible way something that enormous could disappear in an instant……
“…….”
“…….”
I quietly looked down at my feet.
Where the enormous Slime had been, an ordinary-sized Slime was now bouncing like any other.
The only differences were its familiar ink-black color and—
“Hey.”
“Squeak!”
—the way it trembled whenever I called to it.
I stared flatly as the creature attempted to hide among the other Slimes.
I had never imagined that it could shrink its body.
Releasing a long sigh, I seized the creature with my left hand as it tried to disappear among the blue Slimes.
“Where do you think you are going?”
“Squeak! Squeeak, squeak!”
“I do not want to do this either, but I cannot reach the next floor unless I kill you. I am sorry.”
“SQUEEEAK!”
Besides, it had tried to kill me too.
It felt strange to say this, but the creature had attacked first.
This was unavoidable.
I raised my right hand toward the creature struggling within my grasp.
“I will make it painless.”
Farewell.
I thrust my right hand into the black Slime.
DRIP, DRIP.
Black mucus fell toward the ground.
It was over.
Releasing a long sigh, I glanced to the side.
[Synchronization Rate: 1.5%]
Ha.
I had finally done it.
That damned Black Dragon.
What was that?
It would take my body if I failed to reach 1.5%?
“To hell with that.”
This was exhausting.
Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of mental fatigue, I dropped heavily onto the ground.
[You have successfully achieved a Synchronization Rate of at least 1.5%]
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld is moderately satisfied by your actions]
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld says it will postpone taking your body]
What an insufferable bastard.
Do not postpone it.
Abandon the idea entirely.
I had obtained one troublesome skill, and now I was suffering endlessly because of it.
Surely other people did not endure anything like this.
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld instinctively takes a liking to this space]
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld presents you with a proposal]
[Conquer the Verdant Tower!]
A proposal?
My eyes widened.
It was not a declaration.
It was a proposal.
And the word proposal was usually used when asking for someone’s agreement rather than forcing them.
“……Since it is a proposal, does that mean I may refuse?”
[Correct]
[However, a reward will be granted upon success]
A reward.
I tilted my head, signaling for it to continue.
[Upon conquering the Verdant Tower, you will escape a mortal crisis once]
It would save me from death?
That was significant.
Outside the Tutorial Tower, the risk of death was always present.
It would protect me from such a crisis once.
There was no reason to refuse.
“What happens if I fail?”
[There is no penalty]
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld will merely be somewhat disappointed]
Disappointed……
“Very well. I accept.”
I had already intended to climb the Verdant Tower to the end, no matter how long it took.
There was no other reason.
Clearing the Verdant Tower would grant me another Unique Skill.
Therefore, even without Black Dragon’s proposal, I had always planned to reach the top.
Having decided to live as a Hunter, who would abandon an opportunity like this?
Now it was even offering me a single reprieve from death.
The proposal was practically free.
More importantly—
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld is greatly satisfied by your decision]
—refusing would almost certainly have disappointed Black Dragon.
Had I declined, there was a ninety-nine percent chance it would have imposed another absurd condition, such as reaching a 2% Synchronization Rate within one week, and forced me to climb the tower anyway.
Compared to that, accepting a proposal with no fixed deadline was far more convenient.
‘Setting that aside, it likes the tower?’
The system said Black Dragon had made such a generous proposal because it instinctively liked this place.
It felt as though Black Dragon knew something about the tower……
‘It would never answer even if I asked.’
It had refused to give me a proper answer about the Synchronization Rate.
There was no possibility that it would explain this.
Releasing a quiet sigh, I turned my gaze toward the other system message that had been floating there for some time.
[Defeat the Slime]
[1/1]
[Success]
[Moving to the next floor]
The system announced my success.
Apparently, that creature truly had been the Slime it wanted me to defeat.
Only then did I deactivate Black Dragon, which I had been using almost continuously—
“……?”
The instant the skill was released, I felt something damp in my left hand.
Tilting my head, I looked down.
There—
“……A snake?”
An ink-black snake with a strangely familiar color was trapped firmly in my left hand, struggling to escape.
What was this?
When had I caught a snake?
The creature I had been holding in my left hand was clearly that ink-black Slime……
“Do not tell me.”
My eyes widened as I stared at the snake.
“Were you that Slime?”
“Squeak!”
My mouth opened and closed in disbelief.
The color of its scales had seemed far too familiar.
I had asked merely because of that, yet it truly was the same creature.
“Why was a snake pretending to be a Slime?”
“……Squeak.”
Upon hearing my voice, the creature quietly averted its gaze.
Then it tilted its head as though telling me to look in that direction.
I blinked at it blankly.
‘What is this?’
Could it truly understand me?
Letting out a hollow laugh, I followed its gaze.
The Slimes carrying ore were wandering around in confusion after the disappearance of their leader.
“……You pretended to be the Slime king because they would bring you minerals?”
“Squeak.”
“This is absurd.”
It truly seemed to understand human speech.
This was unbelievable.
What was this creature?
I had never heard of a monster capable of understanding people.
And it had disguised itself as a Slime merely to survive comfortably?
“Is this really a monster?”
It was far too intelligent.
Wait.
If it was this clever, perhaps it knew something.
I was about to question the creature struggling in my left hand about the tower when—
“Ah.”
SHHHHH—!
Brilliant light rose from beneath my feet.
The sensation of weightlessness enveloped my body along with it.
Damn it.
Was there no way to stop this?
“Wait! Time out!”
I still had questions for this creature.
So stop.
Stop!
I desperately willed the system to halt.
Skills activated through will.
Therefore, I willed it.
I directed that will toward the system.
However—
[Fourth Floor]
[Find the World Tree]
[Incomplete]
—the damned system ignored me.
The sensation of weightlessness vanished as I arrived on the fourth floor.
Like the third floor, this place was also a forest.
It was an ordinary forest, with every Slime from before now gone.
Left standing alone, I ground my teeth and clenched both hands tightly.
“……Blegh.”
“……?”
Blink.
I stared stupidly at my left hand, where the sound had come from.
The ink-black snake hung limply from my grasp, its tongue dangling from its mouth.