This world was not like the world of humans.
Here, enormous dragons flew across the sky, terrifying monsters roamed the deep forests, and deep inside the mountains lived creatures whose names humans had never even heard of.
The name of this world was Alveria.
At one edge of the largest continent of Alveria stood a vast forest.
The forest was called Everdark Forest.
Even during the day, sunlight could barely reach the ground in most parts of the forest.
And beside a small swamp in this very forest lived a blue-colored slime.
His name was—
Ryu.
Ryu looked completely ordinary.
A small, round body, translucent blue skin, and two black eyes.
He had neither arms nor legs.
Instead of walking, he moved by bouncing around.
However, Ryu had one major problem—
He was extremely weak.
While other slimes in the forest could fight small monsters, Ryu could not even properly scare away a tiny insect.
One morning, Ryu was sitting on a small rock.
A red-colored fruit was lying in front of him.
Ryu stared at the fruit for a while without saying anything.
Then he slowly moved toward it and absorbed the fruit into his body.
Plop!
The fruit disappeared inside his body.
A few seconds later, a strange voice echoed inside Ryu’s head.
[Ordinary fruit has been consumed.]
[No new skill has been acquired.]
Ryu became disappointed.
—Nothing again!
Although he had no mouth, he could still speak.
He dropped his body onto the ground and complained,
—Other slimes can gain some kind of skill even by eating a rock.
But no matter what I eat, nothing happens!
Just then, a sound came from somewhere in the distance.
GROOOOWL!
Ryu froze.
His entire body trembled.
He slowly turned toward the sound.
The trees of the forest were shaking.
Something was approaching him.
Ryu immediately realized—
This was no ordinary creature.
He tried to run.
He jumped once.
Twice.
But before he could make a third jump, a huge black wolf appeared in front of him.
The wolf’s eyes were red.
A dark, smoke-like energy was swirling around its body.
Ryu froze when he saw it.
A Shadow Wolf.
It was one of the most terrifying monsters in Everdark Forest.
Ryu knew that he had no chance of surviving against such a creature.
The wolf slowly approached him.
Ryu backed away and said,
—Listen…
We can talk this out.
The wolf growled.
—Okay…
I understand.
You don’t want to talk.
Ryu turned around and started running.
But after only a few meters, the wolf appeared in front of him again.
Ryu ran in another direction.
Once again, the wolf stood in front of him.
—That’s not fair!
Ryu shouted.
The wolf suddenly leaped toward him.
Ryu closed his eyes.
He thought—
This is the end.
But at that exact moment, a strange voice echoed inside his head.
[An intense desire to survive has been detected.]
Ryu opened his eyes.
[Special skill activating…]
[ANALYZE]
Suddenly, the entire world seemed to change.
The moment Ryu looked at the wolf, information appeared before his eyes.
Name: Shadow Wolf
Level: 17
Type: Monster
Weakness: Light
Special Ability: Shadow Claw
Current Condition: Injured
Ryu was stunned.
—I…
I can see everything about it?
The wolf attacked again.
But this time, Ryu knew exactly where to strike.
He quickly moved aside.
The wolf’s claw slammed into the ground.
BOOM!
The earth cracked.
Ryu was still afraid, but this time he did not run.
His eyes became fixed on the wolf’s right leg.
There was an old wound there.
Ryu realized that it was the wolf’s weakest point.
He quickly moved underneath the wolf and hardened his body before striking directly at the wound.
THUD!
The wolf howled in pain.
But Ryu’s attack was not enough to defeat it.
The wolf opened its mouth and began forming a sphere of dark energy.
Ryu realized—
He wouldn’t survive this time.
He tried to use his power one last time.
Then, suddenly, blue light began to emerge from inside his body.
[Special skill ‘ANALYZE’ has been fully activated.]
[Enemy’s power analysis complete.]
[Enemy’s weakness identified.]
[Permission granted to activate the skill ‘ABSORB’.]
Ryu himself did not understand how he was doing it.
He simply jumped toward the wolf.
His blue body instantly surrounded the wolf.
The black smoke and blue light merged together.
The wolf let out a tremendous roar.
And then—
Everything became silent.
Ryu slowly returned his body to its original form.
He was panting.
Although a slime had no lungs, he felt as if he had run for miles and could barely breathe.
Once again, the strange voice echoed inside his head.
[Shadow Wolf’s power has been absorbed.]
[New skill acquired: Shadow Claw.]
[New skill acquired: Dark Resistance.]
Ryu remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he began bouncing around excitedly.
—I did it!
He jumped once.
—I really did it!
He jumped again.
—I’m not weak anymore!
But his happiness did not last long.
Because the Shadow Wolf was still alive.
The creature was lying on the ground, struggling to breathe.
Ryu looked at it and slowly approached.
He thought that he could finish the Shadow Wolf off if he wanted to.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he released some of his energy and applied it to the wolf’s wound.
After a while, the wolf slowly opened its eyes.
Ryu stepped back.
He thought the wolf would attack him again.
But it didn’t.
The Shadow Wolf lowered its head.
Then it sat down in front of Ryu.
Ryu stared at it in surprise.
—You’re…
not going to attack me?
The wolf slowly shook its head.
Ryu stared at it for a few moments.
Then he smiled and said,
—Then from today onward, you’re my friend.
The wolf slowly lowered its head and rested it against Ryu’s body.
That day, for the first time, Ryu understood something—
Being powerful did not simply mean defeating someone.
Sometimes, true strength meant having the power to save someone.
But Ryu still didn’t know—
This small incident was only the beginning of the greatest journey of his life.
Because that very night, deep inside an ancient temple far away from Ryu in Everdark Forest, a sealed door suddenly began to tremble.
Carved onto the door was the symbol of a blue slime.
And beneath it were the words—
“The day he awakens, the entire world will change.”
A deep voice echoed from behind the door—
—At last…
he has been born.