A Centipede and a One-Horned Rabbit were fighting before him.
[One-Horned Rabbit: A rabbit Demon Beast with a single horn on its head.]
The slime was looking at a Demon Beast.
'Why is a Demon Beast here?'
As far as he knew, this was the tutorial.
Demon Beasts were supposed to appear in the main game.
They were members of the demon race that had accumulated spiritual energy and awakened spiritual intelligence.
'Aren't Demon Beasts supposed to be absent from the tutorial?'
One-Horned Rabbits and One-Horned Rats were Demon Beasts commonly found in beginner hunting grounds.
Killing small animals quickly raised a character to level 10.
After evolving into a Demon Beast at level 10, players first tried hunting One-Horned Rabbits and One-Horned Rats.
'They're among the weakest Demon Beasts, but.......'
One-Horned Rabbits and One-Horned Rats looked like ordinary rabbits and rats with a single horn attached to their heads.
[The One-Horned Rabbit Horn contains spiritual essence.]
The horn was a kind of concentrated mass of spiritual energy.
Many legendary monsters and goblins possessed horns.
Unicorns, dragons, and demons had them as well.
Such horns were necessary for Demon Beasts to wield divine abilities.
They were also proof that a creature had become a Demon Beast.
'That's just game lore. They slapped it together without much thought.'
In keeping with a Chinese game, the creatures had been made with minimal effort.
Like the prefix attached to their names, a single horn allowed for many variations.
It was a way to create multiple characters from one model.
Put two horns on its head and it became a stronger Two-Horned Rabbit.
'A One-Horned Rabbit.......'
Killing a One-Horned Rabbit caused its horn to drop as an item.
The human race used those horns as materials for simple magical artifacts.
There was a fixed chance that a horn would grant a divine ability to a magical artifact.
'The probability is so atrocious that it's practically meaningless, though.......'
The odds were so low that 1 in 10,000 was an apt description.
Even so, a magical artifact with a divine ability was useful in the early game.
'That's true for the human race, but things might be different for me.'
Devouring a horn might allow him to gain its divine ability.
[One-Horned Rabbit Horn: Powerful Leaping. Charge.]
'That does make my mouth water.'
Powerful Leaping would be useful for ambushes.
Slimes were slow.
Fast creatures could avoid them easily.
Camouflage arts were useful to a slime because they allowed it to approach without being noticed.
If he gained Powerful Leaping as well.......
His targets would have difficulty evading the slime's attacks.
Charge had a similar effect.
It could deliver a fast, powerful impact in an instant.
'That would make hunting easy. Ha ha.'
A slime that lunged like lightning and used Devouring on its enemies was immensely appealing.
***
'Damn it. Why is a One-Horned Rabbit so strong?!'
The One-Horned Rabbit he had taken for a pushover was far too powerful.
Every time it rammed the Centipede, its horn tore through the carapace.
After several charges from the One-Horned Rabbit, the Centipede was torn apart and scattered across the ground.
The One-Horned Rabbit was chewing the Centipede into pieces.
'So it's still a Demon Beast, is that it?'
It was like a cultivator at the beginning of the Qi Refining Realm cutting down martial arts masters who were mere mortals.
In the immortal cultivation world, one became superhuman the moment one entered the beginning of the Qi Refining Realm.
It was a being that mortals could do nothing against.
'I have to run.'
He bullied the weak and cowered before the strong.
Even a pathetic One-Horned Rabbit was powerful to a slime that was no different from a mortal.
His formerly soaring confidence immediately shriveled.
While using Camouflage, he quietly crept backward.
'Oh! It looked this way!'
The One-Horned Rabbit raised its head from the Centipede it had been chewing.
Its red eyes stared in his direction.
'Ah... Qi Sense.'
Once a creature became a Demon Beast, it developed Qi Sense that could detect spiritual energy.
It instinctively sensed places rich in spiritual energy.
The human race cultivated in places with abundant spiritual energy.......
The demon race ate things rich in spiritual energy.
The One-Horned Rabbit considered the slime tastier prey than the Centipede.
'I'm fucked.......'
Greed seemed to ripple in the One-Horned Rabbit's eyes.
PTUI—
It spat out the Centipede's torso, which it had been chewing.
Strength gathered in the One-Horned Rabbit's hind legs.
It lowered its head and aimed its horn forward.
THUMP—
It leaped in an instant and rammed the slime's body.
TING—
WOBBLE—
The slime's Hard and Tough Skin and soft body repelled the One-Horned Rabbit's charge.
The One-Horned Rabbit bounced backward and looked dazed for a moment.
THUMP—
TING—
WOBBLE—
It regained its senses and used Charge with even greater force, but.......
The result did not change.
THUMP—
TING—
WOBBLE—
The One-Horned Rabbit resembled a man bouncing off a waterbed.
It was baffled by the prey it wanted to eat but could not.
'I might actually be able to do this.......'
A slime was a poor matchup for the One-Horned Rabbit.
The Hard and Tough Skin he had gained from eating the [Strong] Slime was extremely useful.
It was even springier than a bouncy ball.
'Let's go!'
The slime spread his body wide.
It grew large enough to wrap around the One-Horned Rabbit, which was the size of a medium-sized dog.
THUMP—
CLANG—
WOBBLE—
He completely enveloped the dazed One-Horned Rabbit after it rebounded.
SQUEAK—
'Stupid rabbit.'
Becoming a Demon Beast usually increased a creature's intelligence.
The One-Horned Rabbit, however.......
'Did all its spiritual essence gather in the horn?'
When defeat became obvious, it should have fled.
It was like an early Qi Refining Realm cultivator who underestimated a mortal and was defeated by a martial arts master.
The human race was also influenced by cultivation power and the interactions of the Five Elements.
The difference simply was not as extreme as it was for the demon race.
Unlike the human race, standing was not absolute among the demon race.
With a bad matchup, they could be eaten by a creature of lower standing.
WOBBLE—
WOBBLE—
The One-Horned Rabbit struggled inside the slime's stomach.
But the slime was elastic on the inside as well as the outside.
WOBBLE—
The slime absorbed the impacts by wobbling.
Acid and poison began taking effect.
As a Demon Beast, the One-Horned Rabbit would not die from attacks of that level.
'Even so, it can only hold out for a while.'
It gradually weakened.
It could not endure the continual drain.
'This is why Regeneration matters.'
Eventually, the One-Horned Rabbit's HP ran out.
'Thank you for the meal. Ah, wait... I need to save this separately.'
It was the One-Horned Rabbit Horn.
Devouring it might grant him a Demon Beast-level ability—the equivalent of a Qi Refining Realm spell.
However.......
'You have to pull things like this all at once. Ha ha.'
Whether he pulled them one at a time or saved them up.
The probability was the same.
'But it feels different.'
Pulling them all at once felt as though it improved the odds.
'There can't be only one One-Horned Rabbit here.'
He thought he understood why the developers had placed a One-Horned Rabbit in the tutorial.
'Some level 1 players always go straight to a level 10 hunting ground.'
The developers intended it to teach players how dangerous Demon Beasts were.
Even a One-Horned Rabbit, one of the weakest Demon Beasts, was effectively a final boss here.
It was meant to let players experience that danger in the tutorial.
'And a man like me who defeated the boss mob there.......'
The tutorial was far too easy.
***
'I knew there would be more.'
It was not a One-Horned Rabbit... but there was a One-Horned Rat.
[One-Horned Rat: A rat Demon Beast with a single horn on its head.]
[One-Horned Rat Horn: Powerful Teeth. Burrowing.]
Unlike the One-Horned Rabbit's abilities, these did not particularly appeal to him.
'Well, Burrowing isn't bad.'
A tunnel could also be used as a trap.
It would be useful when fleeing as well.
A clever rabbit dug multiple burrows.
There was no such thing as a useless ability.
'But... do these creatures have no intelligence?'
They underestimated the slime far too much.
Apparently, he looked like delicious prey rich in spiritual power and spiritual energy.
SLIP—
SLIP—
WOBBLE—
The One-Horned Rat Horn and teeth slipped off him.
The slime's Hard and Tough Skin was not easily pierced.
It even wobbled with the impact.......
The One-Horned Rat had no way to deal with him.
'Thank you for the meal!'
Its body was converted into nutrients and spiritual energy.
He stored the horn separately.
It was for gacha.
The spiritual power of a Demon Beast was undeniably strong.
He felt as though something inside him was filling to the brim.
'Was that the last one?'
Unfortunately... there were only three One-Horned Rabbits and two One-Horned Rats here.
'It doesn't feel like I'm gathering any more spiritual power.'
He had reached a kind of realm wall.
It felt as though he had reached the hunting ground's level cap.
'I need some kind of catalyst to break through the wall.'
It was time to leave this place.
It was time to finish the tutorial.
'Gacha should always come last.'
He decided to use Devouring on all five horns at once.
'Please, just give me one.......'
[......]
'What is this?!'
In the end, he got nothing.
'Luck-based shitshow!'
The horns were brimming with spiritual power and spiritual energy, however.
[You have fulfilled the conditions for Evolution into a Demon Beast.]
'Yes, that's it!'
He had gathered enough spiritual power to break through the wall.
[Evolve Medium Slime?]
[Please select the Demon Beast you wish to become.]
'All right, what are my options?'
Unlike the human race, the demon race possessed many different Evolution paths.
For the human race, it was akin to choosing the cultivation method they would make their primary focus.
[Horned Mud Demon Beast (Slime)]
'Why does it have to be a horn?'
Horns were necessary for Demon Beasts to wield divine abilities.
They were also proof that a creature had become a Demon Beast.
'That's just the standard option.'
It was a common, ordinary creature like a One-Horned Rabbit or One-Horned Rat.
'Don't you have a Special Evolution or Hidden Evolution?'
[We apologize. This feature is not available to free-to-play users.]
[Make a purchase?]
'Fucking game.'
They were definitely doing this on purpose.
'Agh. Fine, I'll do it. It'll work if I do, right?'
[Evolution into a Horned Mud Demon Beast will begin.]
'Did anything change?'
[The Mud Demon Beast Horns contain spiritual essence.]
'I already know that.......'
It was the standard message shown for horned Demon Beasts.
[Mud Demon Beast Horns: Mudfield Creation.]
'The others got two... and I only get one.'
Was the whole world griefing him or what? The game was unfairly shitting on him.
'I should still see what the ability does.......'
[Mudfield Creation: You can turn the surrounding environment into a mudfield.]
'Huh? What is this?!'
Depending on how he used it.
It could become a hidden ability.
'I hit the jackpot!'
An effective way to use Mudfield Creation came to mind.