The dark mucus surging toward me was like a tidal wave.
An acidic slime that melted not only leather, but even stone.
If that thing swallowed me, there would not even be bones left to gather.
“Haaah!”
I rolled aside again.
I had thrown myself onto the stone floor several times already, yet strangely, it did not hurt.
Because I had no time to feel pain.
‘If that thing eats me, I’ll melt and die!’
The slime barely stopped before it smashed into the wall.
It turned back toward me quickly.
SQUELCH!
The slime lunged in with persistence.
I could not keep doing nothing but dodging.
At some point, it would eventually catch me.
‘I don’t have a proper weapon, but......’
To attack the slime, I had no choice but to strike it with my bare hands.
But Wer’s shield could protect my hand from melting.
‘Then I have to deal with it now, while I still have shields left!’
The best defense was offense.
This time, instead of dodging, I spread my palm wide and swung it.
CRACK!
Along with a crisp, satisfying sound, the sensation of striking a hard water surface rang through my palm.
The mucus flashed like lightning, and at the same time, red shard-like light scattered from my hand.
“Ritak! You must not drag this out!”
My palm was fine thanks to Wer blocking with his shield.
But after that, only one remained.
“Right. I need to settle this quickly.”
I tore open the packet containing the elixir.
The bluish powdered medicine dissolved in my mouth without even a sensation on my tongue.
The Low-Grade Elixir of Luck, which had the effect of increasing my luck stat by 2 for 10 minutes.
The increase was modest, but of course, something was better than nothing.
SLAP!
I struck the slime again.
At the same time, a brief light flashed.
It was the red light that appeared when a shield broke.
Wer lowered the arm he had stretched forward.
“......I have used up all my power now.”
“I know. It’s fine.”
The slime’s core was not visible.
It seemed luck had not followed me this time either.
“......Tsk.”
If something lost all its health, it died.
That applied to most monsters, but slimes were different.
Unless their core was destroyed, these bastards would gather back together and rush in again and again.
There were three main ways to kill them.
One was to crush them in a single blow, and another was to chop them to pieces until something happened to catch.
Both were methods you could only try if you could overpower them with a certain amount of damage.
‘In the end, there’s only one option I can choose......’
The last one.
Destroying the slime’s core when it revealed itself at a fixed probability the moment damage was dealt.
The probability set in the game was 25 percent.
‘It’s not an especially low probability.’
There were plenty of games where you had to break through a 1 percent chance, or perhaps even lower, to obtain the currency you wanted.
But 25 percent did not mean you would definitely succeed once after attacking four times.
Just as the chance of getting heads when flipping a coin was 50 percent, yet heads did not necessarily come after tails.
SHHHK!
The slime opened its mouth soundlessly and lunged.
The moment I barely slipped out of its path and swung my hand...
HISSSS......!
Agony raced through me.
Sour steam rising from my palm stabbed unpleasantly at my nose.
“......Kh.”
“Lord Ritak!”
“Stay there!”
Neras, who had been hurriedly trying to come down, stopped in place.
It would be nice to receive support, but well.
Could I really expect much help from Neras?
‘It’d be fortunate if they don’t get eaten.’
I had no mental room to protect Neras while fighting.
My hand kept trembling as I took out a Health Recovery Potion.
‘The core didn’t show this time either.’
When I drank the recovery potion, my red, inflamed palm slowly healed, and the stinging pain subsided.
However, the trembling did not stop completely.
“......I filled my health bar, so I’m fine.”
This was different from simply clicking away at a keyboard or mouse.
There was pain that the system had never told me about.
Even so, one fact did not change.
‘As long as the core shows, it’s a monster anyone can easily kill.’
I still had plenty of supplies.
The chance of the core appearing was 25 percent.
As long as the god of probability did not abandon me, I could kill it.
And as long as I did not give up.
Clench.
I bit my lip and swung my hand again.
HISS! HISS! HISS!
The gloomy-colored slime shone brilliantly each time I struck it.
Each time, my hand also burned in dazzling colors.
Clatter!
I hurriedly poured a recovery potion into my mouth.
This was already the fourth.
“Disgusting bastard......”
The thing rushed at me again and again without tiring.
It probably did not even understand whether the opponent before it was easy prey or not.
It was very much a monster that moved only on instinct, without a brain.
“Do your job already, luck stat!”
In the end, I was the one who had to put an end to this.
Gritting my teeth, I struck the hard mucus with all my strength once more.
CRACK!
The mucus shone brightly.
This time, the light did not go out.
The bastard, who had been moving quickly in a way unlike any slime the whole time, stood frozen in place.
“The core has finally been revealed! Now, Ritak!”
At the center of the light was a fist-sized core clumped darkly together.
I shoved my hand into the slime.
Tssss......
I could not get used to the smell of burning flesh at all.
But this was the end.
CRUNCH.
I clenched my fist.
The slime, its core crushed, could not maintain its form and flowed down.
“Haah, haaah.”
I had no reason to hold out anymore either, so I flopped down onto my back.
My hand was a complete mess, and my whole body began screaming in pain as though demanding repayment on a delayed debt.
It was because I had rolled around and slammed into everything.
“Lord Ritak!”
“Are you all right?”
I did not even have the strength to joke, Do I look all right?
Even though I had used every medicine I had made, and even emptied my shields, it had been a difficult fight.
A slime harder to face than the first calamity, a boss monster.
It was almost laughable.
‘If I’d had time, I could’ve found materials and made medicine to block acidity.’
But I could not always meet an enemy after preparing for it.
I needed at least a minimum defense.
‘I really do need at least one usable weapon......’
That was something to think about later.
First, I decided to proceed with recovery.
Clatter.
I emptied the recovery potions in my bag and drank them down.
My hand, which had melted so badly I had worried whether it would heal properly, slowly regained its shape.
Since I had drunk several, the amount of recovery was sufficient.
‘It would have been nice if I could drink several Elixirs of Luck too.’
Unfortunately, stat increase effects did not stack.
Meaning that drinking more would only be a waste.
“Whew.”
After roughly catching my breath, I sprang my upper body up.
Now it was time to check the result of my deadly struggle.
I appraised the fragment I had been gripping.
-Broken Acidic Slime Core. Melts objects it touches. Can be used as an item crafting material.
It was a rare material difficult to obtain at this stage.
Since it melted everything it touched with its terrible acidity, it would be difficult to keep holding it or put it in my bag, though.
“Here. Hold onto this.”
I handed the slime core to Wer.
If it was in his subspace, there was no need to worry about how to store it.
Wer accepted the item without complaint and put it away.
“Let’s head back soon.”
When I turned around, Neras approached hesitantly.
“It might be better for you to rest a little longer......”
“You left your sibling lying there alone. Shouldn’t you go check on them?”
“Th-that’s true.”
We quickly moved our feet, and the return path was much faster than when we came.
It was partly because we were hurrying, but also because there was no need to advance carefully anymore.
There were no threats ahead.
We soon reached the Four-Tail Grass habitat.
“Rah!”
Neras quickly picked up their sibling.
The child’s face, which had been mottled red with fever flush, was now rosy in a way that looked just right.
“Neraaas...... Is it morning already? I want to sleep a little more.”
“After I check your fever first. Are you not hurting anymore?”
“Mmm.”
Rah whined sleepily, as though annoyed by the hands turning them this way and that.
Only after quite a while did Neras’s busy hands finally stop.
“Ah, you really have gotten better......!”
“You worked hard. Both you and your sibling.”
“It’s all thanks to Lord Ritak’s efforts. Thank you. I don’t know how to repay this grace.”
Neras lowered their head again and again.
Their eyes, which had been wet the whole time, were now curved deeply.
“How else would you repay it? Just send Four-Tail Grass regularly.”
“Pardon? Goodness, Lord Ritak. That’s only natural. It’s something we promised.”
Neras waved their hands and burst into bright laughter.
So this fairy knew how to make a sound like that too.
“Then while you’re giving it to me, could you grind it finely and dry it for about ten days first?”
I decided not to let the chance slip by.
Neras readily nodded.
They seemed to be in very good spirits.
“I will! We have a little Four-Tail Grass powder at home too, so I’ll pack it for you. Of course, I’ll do the same from now on!”
What a windfall.
Of course, there was no reason to refuse medicinal ingredients I could use right away.
“Let’s hurry to the village.”
I promptly moved my feet.
Even the climb out of the well was exhilarating.
It was a little brutal, but since the result was good, everything felt fine.
“It is already dawn!”
Wer, who had left the well first, circled above my head.
Morning sunlight gradually reached even into the well.
“We ended up staying up all night.”
It seemed my sense of time had vanished because we had been underground.
Only now did fatigue slowly creep in.
Just as I naturally began to yawn...
“Wh-what should we do? We don’t have a bed suitable for you......”
“Hm?”
I had not meant to hint at anything.
Could I possibly expect a bed large enough for a human to lie on in a fairy village?
Especially in a village with no exchange with humans.
Just as I scratched my cheek awkwardly...
“Rather than finding a place in the village, it would be far better to send him somewhere comfortable for a human.”
A high-handed voice cut in.
A fairy with pale, long hair and fluttering clothes.
That fairy’s eyes were closed.
Their long eyelashes held a mystical air, as though they might tremble in the wind.
Neras spread both arms and blocked the fairy who was approaching us.
“What brings the Elder here in person?”
“Step aside, Neras.”
The Elder fairy let out a small sigh.
“As the leader of the village, I cannot help offering my thanks in person.”
“I cannot step aside......! Th-thanks?”
“The forest’s abnormality has suddenly disappeared. Coincidentally, it happened not long after this person visited the village.”
Neras awkwardly lowered their arms.
“Are you saying the forest has returned to normal?”
“It would be best to confirm it yourself.”
The Elder fairy turned around and flapped their wings.
The place we reached by following them was the Wind Forest.
Contrary to the words that flowers would bloom in an instant again once morning came, the forest was quiet.
“Has it simply died for good now?”
“No. Look here, Wer.”
I placed my hand on a rough tree trunk.
At the end of my gaze as I followed it upward, there was a tender shoot.
A single pale green sprout.
There was no sign whatsoever that it would grow in an instant.
“The ominous energy that had been swirling through the entire forest has disappeared.”
The Elder fairy placed one hand on their chest and bowed slightly.
Their hair slid down over their shoulder.
For some reason, they looked especially drained.
“I could not know where the strange phenomenon had originated, and now I no longer know where it disappeared to either.”
“It won’t come back, so don’t worry.”
“......Is that so?”
“And ask Neras how to treat the sick children.”
The Elder fairy suddenly raised their head.
“Has Rah gotten back up?”
“They’ll probably be flying around soon.”
“I-I see. I express my gratitude on behalf of the village.”
The face giving thanks looked rather complicated.
Something they had been worrying about all along had been resolved in an instant, but they were likely in no position to rejoice easily.
Since they did not know what had happened, it might not feel real, or the time they had spent suffering might feel hollow.
It would also be difficult for them not to worry about their authority as a leader.
Of course, that was not something for me to worry about.
“I appreciate the thanks, but I’d like to hear more about what you said earlier.”
“Pardon? What did I......”
“You said it would be far better to send me somewhere comfortable for a human, didn’t you?”
What I had to think about now was none other than the second calamity.
The preparations needed to defeat it.
‘I should take the bus where I can.’
And if it was not even an express bus...
If it was a hyperloop, it was only natural to grab it when I saw it.