Everything shall burn—!
The fire spirit cried out from the heart of a volcano!
Flames of destruction that returned all things to ash.
Foolish mortals would have no choice but to prostrate themselves before that overwhelming heat.
I imagined that savage spirit as myself cloaked in the Blessing of Flame.
A slime wreathed in a red-hot fireball. The mere thought made my entire body tremble with excitement.
What more needed to be said?
The hunt began.
***
B5. Forest of Beginnings, Breakthrough Floor.
Dense ancient trees stood in rows like enormous barriers.
I gently erased my presence while concealing my transparent body among the leaves.
Below me, men wearing red armbands prowled around.
Their arrogant steps as they wandered through the forest like their own living room were quite a sight.
'Now then, shall I warm up a little?'
The Blessing of Flame boiling fiercely within my chest stimulated my core.
I pushed my round body off the ground and shot into the air.
My jelly body became a red-hot fireball and traced a smooth arc through the air.
In a merciless dive, I plunged directly toward the crown of the man in front.
"How long do we have to keep searching this damp forest?"
"Stop complaining and watch your surroundings......."
CRAAAAASH—!
Before he could finish speaking, a violent explosion shook the entire earth.
Red flames sprayed in every direction and engulfed them.
The barrier they hastily cast tore apart like paper in an instant.
Overcome by the scorching heat before they could even scream, they scattered into clouds of light.
The miscellaneous objects tumbling across the ground testified to their futile end.
[Slime (Common) has defeated Player Chen Lu (China).]
[Slime (Common) Player Liu Hai (China)......]
[Slime (Common)......]
[Running Wild!]
The system's cheerful notification pleasantly struck my ears.
'A new enemy. Heh heh heh, am I starting to get it?'
I sensed the presence of more Hunters approaching on the wind.
Leaving the clearing of ashes behind, I leaped atop an ancient tree again.
Flattening my body behind the leaves, I watched for my next prey.
"Hmm. I definitely heard an explosion from this direction."
"Hahaha, are you frightened? At most, it was probably low-level demonic beasts fighting over territory."
Japanese Hunters wearing cherry blossom emblems warily emerged through the forest.
The way they toyed with the hilts of their katanas was rather sharp.
But to my eyes, they were nothing more than lumps of experience.
FLASH—!
I kicked powerfully off a branch.
In midair, I drew up the Blessing of Flame and expanded my body.
I became a courageous yet adorable fireball and dropped toward their heads.
SWISH—!
"Danger! Above......!"
They did not even have time to draw their swords.
It was pure violence! The fireball crushed their formation in one stroke.
CRASH, BOOM—!
With a burning scrape, their bodies slammed helplessly into the ground.
It was a clean annihilation that left them without even the will to resist.
Blue particles scattered fleetingly among their shattered sheaths.
[Slime (Common) has defeated Player Ito (Japan).]
[Slime (Common) Player Murata (Japan)......]
[Slime (Common)......]
[Unstoppable!]
The uninterrupted chain of kills continued.
The forest's silence shattered, and noisy shouts erupted from all around.
Hunters began swarming like beasts as they tracked my presence.
But at that very moment.
The boss of the Black Tower's fifth-floor Breakthrough Area.
A monster standing upon two enormous feet, the Red Tiger Ogre, revealed itself.
The hide of a red tiger clung to its heavy, muscular body.
Red-hot sulfur flames rose like a heat haze from its nostrils.
The Hunters surrounding it held their breath and looked up at its majestic form.
"Th-that is the fifth-floor boss...... the Red Tiger Ogre!"
"It certainly deserves to be the boss of the Breakthrough Area! Its mana is on an entirely different level!"
'That brutally massive body never changes, no matter how often I see it.'
Sitting atop an ancient tree, I cast my gaze past the Red Tiger Ogre's shoulder.
With a roar, the creature slammed its enormous fist into the earth.
"Nobody retreat! Tanks, hold the formation!"
"Stay focused. We have to kill that thing to reach the sixth floor!"
I quietly lay among the leaves and waited as I watched their battle.
The Hunters' sharp sword energy and magic battered the Red Tiger Ogre's thick hide without pause.
The beast's violent roars and the fierce, bloody melee stained the forest red.
At last, the instant its health reached the bottom.
ROAAAAAR—!
The Red Tiger Ogre's fur turned bloodred, and an enormous storm of mana erupted.
The second phase began, and the rampaging beast's energy colored and overwhelmed the battlefield.
'Right now.'
"Heehee! Let me join in too!"
BOOM—!
I kicked off the ancient tree and hurled myself toward the crown of the Red Tiger Ogre's head.
A red-hot fireball rained mercilessly onto the beast's pelt.
Startled, the Red Tiger Ogre flailed both arms.
THUD, THUD, THUD—! CLANG—!
I used my flexible jelly body to smoothly let its sharp claws slide past.
Instead, I used the recoil to rise into the air and increase my speed.
The Red Tiger Ogre's rough breath passed perilously beneath my chin.
"Wh-what is that slime now?!"
"Impossible, a mere slime is fighting the boss?!"
CRUNCH—!
The Red Tiger Ogre snarled savagely and opened its mouth wide. Red-hot breath condensed and pressed heavily upon the air.
Its bloodshot eyes precisely located me as I hovered in the air.
'But I cannot lose.'
I scraped together every trace of flame mana from the depths of my core and drew it to its limit.
[You are unleashing the Blessing of Flame!]
Dazzling golden flames wrapped around my round body and burned fiercely.
The extreme heat seemed capable of drying the surrounding air in an instant.
I charged in a straight line toward the blazing breath emitted by the Red Tiger Ogre.
CRAAAAASH—!
"I-im-impossible......! A tiny slime like that, the Red Tiger Ogre's breath......!"
"Haha! I am the ruler of this area!"
SHWOOOSH—! FLASH—!
Flame collided with flame, creating an enormous firestorm.
The primordial flames pouring from my core overwhelmed and swallowed the creature's breath.
Golden fire pierced straight through the Red Tiger Ogre's chest.
A dizzying exhilaration. The difference in our strength was overwhelming.
The enormous beast's body collapsed and rose into the air as a thick cloud of dust.
Its flesh lost its form and began transforming into a waterfall of mana.
"G-get that slime first! It will steal the boss experience!"
"Re-form the ranks! Attack now!"
The panicked Hunters drew their weapons and charged at me.
Foolish moths.
The sight of them throwing themselves into the flames was almost pitiful.
I rebounded from the floor and slipped through the trajectories of their attacks as if mocking them.
Swords and magic sliced through empty air and produced nothing but meaningless noise.
Using my viscosity, I slid behind a rock.
A light rebound.
THWACK—!
"Gaaaaagh!"
I uppercut the jaw of a tank charging with his shield using my flame-clad jelly.
"You fools, I am not over there!"
I changed direction and drove into the rear formation where the mages had gathered.
A deadly blind spot.
"Th-this is insane!"
"I-it is an insane Fire Flying Slime―――!!!"
Terrified screams filled the forest.
Without mercy, I rained a blazing baptism of fire upon their heads.
HISSSSS—!
Explosions of flame burned the mages' robes and melted their barriers.
Their bodies scattered into blue particles with their final cries.
CRASH—! BANG, BANG, BANG—!
Before long, the battlefield had become my solo stage as I floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.
A blue trail slicing through the air, red flames heating the earth.
Overwhelming destructive power that inflicted mortal wounds with even the slightest touch.
The Hunters' formation had gone beyond collapse and descended into utter devastation.
The clearing where the Red Tiger Ogre fell was becoming their enormous grave.
"Spare me, please!"
"A demon! That thing is a demon wearing a slime's skin!"
I slammed merciless flames into the backs of those fleeing.
ROAR—!
With a violent explosion, the final man's legs buckled.
I slowly approached above his head and puffed up my jelly.
My transparent red form was reflected in his despairing eyes.
'You are still far from paying the price for betraying me—!'
"Gaaaaagh!"
With him gone, only an eerie silence settled over the clearing.
The remnants of the underbrush burned alongside acrid smoke.
Every obstacle that had blocked my way had been neatly cleared.
DING!
The system's cheerful notification tone cut through the air as a message appeared.
Golden letters praising my accomplishment filled my vision.
[Dominating the Battlefield!]
It was not over.
"Damn it, you monster!"
"If we cannot escape, we have no choice but to fight!"
The stragglers who arrived late gritted their teeth and raised their weapons.
But the result did not change.
Holding flames within me, I kicked off the ground.
CRASH—!
Breaking through their clumsy attacks, I plunged into their center.
An enormous pillar of fire soared and reduced even their final struggle to ashes.
Immense heat completely swallowed the battlefield.
[Avatar of the Battlefield!]
At last, silence returned to the forest.
It was a tranquil stage where every unwanted guest had disappeared into clouds of light.
My core trembled faintly in satisfaction.
"Hehe. That was fairly entertaining in its own way."
Blue particles scattered toward the earth and spilled out the loot.
The Hunters' legacies and Mana Stones piled up on the ground.
[You have obtained a Charred Hide (Common).]
[You have obtained a Broken Iron Sword Fragment (Common).]
[You have obtained a Minor Mana Potion (Common).]
[You have obtained a Scorched Antler (Common).]
[You have obtained a Tough Vine (Common).]
[You have obtained a Minor Recovery Potion (Common).]
FLASH!
The scoreboard floating in the air flickered dazzlingly.
It was proof of a brilliant record that engraved my existence upon the world.
[Legendary!]
The numbers on the scoreboard began convulsing madly.
The score of a Slime that had once been a lowly monster at the very beginning broke through its limits.
[ - ] Slime ( 0 GP ) (-)
The pitiful number where I had begun.
But each time I defeated them, its digits updated explosively.
[ 999th ] Slime ( 570,355 GP ) (▴)
The result of taking down the Red Tiger Ogre and slaughtering every last obstructionist.
The gauge continued surging toward its limit without stopping.
FLASH!
[ 1st ] Slime ( 5,535,325 GP ) (▴)
A staggering 5 million Goblin Points (GP)!
It was an astounding figure no monster had ever reached in the entire history of the Forest of Beginnings.
I proudly engraved my existence at the very top of the scoreboard.
An electrifying elation swept violently through my entire body.
First place by an overwhelming margin.
'Heehee, the Slime, no, Lord Yuri is coming through......!'
DING!
[A special reward will be issued for your dazzling achievement.]
A sparkling chest dropped out of the air in front of my jelly.
I rolled my round body elastically and broke the chest's lock.
[You have obtained a Burning Beast Fang (Rare).]
[You have obtained the 「Forest of Beginnings, Area 5」 Trophy (Special).]
[ Trophy ] 「Forest of Beginnings, Area 5」 (Special)
▸Effect: While active in the Forest of Beginnings, all attributes increase by 5%.
That was when it happened.
[The Forest of Beginnings Trophy is resonating!]
At last, I had completed the collection for every area of the Forest of Beginnings.
System windows overlapped, and a brilliant set effect filled my vision.
[ Achievement ] 「Forest of Beginnings, All Areas Cleared!」 (Unique)
▸Set Effect: While active in the Forest of Beginnings, all attributes increase by an additional 5%!
▸Comment: Your calm judgment was good, and that overwhelming finish was impressive. Well done!
BOOM!
'Heehee, a set effect? This is quite useful, isn't it?'
The corners of my transparent mouth naturally curved in delight.
I puffed up my jelly and raised the Trophy I had obtained high above my head.
The sweet sense of achievement spread through my core and across my entire body. It was a magnificent accomplishment earned as I graduated from the Forest of Beginnings.
And so.
Just as my delightful commotion was drawing to an end.
[You have fulfilled every Breakthrough condition for the Forest of Beginnings.]
[You are now qualified to advance to the next theme, the Crystal Cavern (6th floor).]
A system message leading me to a new stage appeared in the air.
On top of that, my blue body had begun emitting a brilliant light.
My vision flickered.
Mana whirled around my body and fiercely drew in the surrounding air.
Soon, a dazzling flash of pure white light surged and swallowed me whole.
Let us return.
Back to the nest where Airi and Adele were waiting.
My steps carried me home with new spoils in my embrace.
I could already see her face smiling languidly before my eyes.