Chapter 124: [Slime Hunting]

No matter how many times I think about it, I can’t figure out what’s wrong with the work I’m doing.

Even the brakes I prepared don’t stop me.

It means whether to proceed with the work depends on my judgment.

If I’m hesitating whether to do it or not, I should probably do it.

I continued with the tasks already in progress without stopping.

***

“Hmph.”

At the sound that slipped absentmindedly from between his lips, the young man clutched his head and writhed.

The middle school emo phase is a chronic issue.

It seemed cool at the time, but looking back later, it’s so cringe that it makes your fingers and toes curl. The wound is so deep that no matter how much time passes, it never quite heals.

If by chance you recorded a video and uploaded it to the internet, it becomes a permanent tattoo, haunting you for the rest of your life.

But the even worse part of this illness is that even if you think you’ve recovered, it pops back out again if there’s a trigger.

The line between cool and cringe is razor-thin.

An action that seems cool from a personal, subjective perspective often appears cringe from an objective one.

However, it’s incredibly difficult for a human to see themselves objectively.

In the end, you do it thinking it’s cool.

‘No, how am I supposed to resist this?’

To think I’m trying to dig up something I worked so hard to bury.

The Alchemy Slime who built Slime Land was definitely a demon.

Laying the groundwork with [My Own Story] makes it even worse.

Repeating [My Own Story] lowers your resistance to roleplaying.

In that state, the Alchemy Slime transformed Slime Land into the stage for a hunting game.

[Slime Hunting] has no set course.

The stage is the entirety of Slime Land.

As you wander around Slime Land, you can discover crystals.

Touching those crystals sucks you into another space.

Waiting for you in that space are enemies trying to invade Slime Land.

Players of [Slime Hunting] can transform into Guardians within the space inside the crystals.

Becoming a Guardian not only grants physical enhancement but also gives you things like HP.

If this HP reaches 0, you’re simply ejected from the crystal. There’s no worry of actually getting hurt.

Hunting enemies while strengthened like this allows you to obtain various rewards.

The rewards are mainly gold and gear.

Gold isn’t cash. It can be used to buy items like stamina recovery potions or enhancement potions while playing [Slime Hunting].

It’s another VR game following [My Own Story].

However, it’s quite different from [My Own Story].

[Slime Hunting] has continuity.

[My Own Story] also has continuity. What I do in one chapter can affect later chapters. But that influence is limited.

How much of a difference does something done in a previous chapter make later on?

That depends on how passionately the writer sets up the story and how much adaptation they allow.

If a writer values the story they created, the plot can’t be changed drastically.

No matter what you did in a previous chapter, it ends up as a mere comedic episode or as if it never happened.

On the other hand, there are writers who allow completely unrestricted plot changes.

This often leads to the plot going to the deep sea or outer space, which many people dislike.

The higher the freedom, the more likely the plot becomes a mess, and that’s inevitable.

Because what participants change isn’t something trivial like the protagonist’s lunch menu, but something significant that greatly affects the protagonist’s values. Even a small pebble can grow into a huge snowball, and if you detonate a bomb, the plot inevitably becomes strange.

In contrast, [Slime Hunting] has no story.

Hunt enemies, raise the Guardian’s level, and change gear.

Hunt stronger enemies, raise the Guardian’s level, and change gear.

It’s an infinite loop.

It’s the perfect game style for people who skip the story when playing games.

What kind of species are Korean gamers?

Aren’t they a species obsessed with the highest level and the best gear over story?

It was a perfect fit for the young man.

If categorized, [My Own Story] inherits the traits of story-centered games.

No matter how high the freedom is, there are limits.

Because of this, urging the writer to adapt and open the next chapter quickly is what original fans are doing these days.

[Slime Hunting] inherits the traits of action games.

All you have to do is keep fighting the enemies that continuously invade.

Looking at it this way, there’s no reason to criticize it for stimulating the middle school emo phase, but…

The alpha and omega of this kind of game is appearance customization.

You can apply various skins to the gear you obtain.

Since there’s not much difference in performance, you can decorate it in various ways according to your taste.

If you want the look of a medieval knight, you can fight with a sword and shield.

You can wear a ghillie suit, shoot a gun, and wield a hunting knife.

Like in SF, you can wear a powered suit and swing a lightsaber or shoot a laser gun.

From the moment you choose the skin for your gear, the dark past you buried starts to rear its head.

When you fight wearing the gear you worked hard to customize, the buried darkness naturally spills out of your mouth and shows in your actions.

The young man was coming out of a shop in the [Slime Hunting] exclusive space when…

“Aaaargh!”

Someone screamed.

The newbies who had just started were startled, but the young man and the others gave a bitter smile.

[Slime Hunting] has no story, but there’s one common goal among the players.

“Tch.”

“You damn XX, I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you!”

The Slime that became the target of resentment lightly lifted and threw the charging man.

Those seeing it for the first time were surprised, but for most, it was already a familiar sight.

[Slime Land Hunting] has an enhancement system.

The Enhancement Slime enhances gear, and its appearance is very cute.

The way it enhances gear is also quite cute.

It puts the gear into its body and lightly dances.

If successful, the gear shines brightly.

The Enhancement Slime also congratulates you by waving a sign that says something like [Congratulations! +3 Enhancement successful!].

Up to this point, it seems like a really nice Slime.

The true nature of this Enhancement Slime comes out when the enhancement fails.

“Tch.”

If it fails, it spits out the gear as if spitting out trash.

It’s true that it has become trash, but when gear you put thought into enhancing is treated like that, it naturally makes your blood boil.

Toward the enraged player, the Enhancement Slime waves its tentacles as if telling them to get lost quickly.

Even after showing such behavior, when you pull out new gear to enhance, it bounces around and acts cute.

That hypocritical appearance ignited the players’ anger.

Some couldn’t hold back their anger and swung their weapons.

But it was useless.

The Guardian’s abilities are properly activated only in the training center and inside the crystals.

In this [Slime Hunting] exclusive space, you can transform into a Guardian, but your abilities are limited.

You have to fight the Enhancement Slime bare-handed to win, but no matter how much you try, there’s no chance of victory.

Still, there is hope.

There have been sightings of encountering the Enhancement Slime inside a black crystal.

“Hey! We’ve met before, haven’t we!”

He confronted it like that, but it pretended not to know.

And then, it is said that it stole the gear the player had, enhanced it, and attacked with it.

Every time an enhancement failure happens, you feel like killing it, and after it steals and enhances your gear, it attacks with it?

It must be killed.

Inside the crystals, the power of a Guardian can be fully unleashed.

You can even fight against the <Enhancement Slime>.

Seeing that possibility, countless players worked hard to raise their level and enhance their gear.

“Enhance it for me. I’ll level up with enhanced gear, get even stronger gear, and someday, I’ll kill you.”

Sometimes, there are people who get so immersed that they say such things to the <Enhancement Slime>.

“No way!!!”

“Tch.”

Hunting the <Enhancement Slime> is still a distant story.

Even if you transform into a Guardian and receive maximum enhancements, the <Enhancement Slime> is so strong that it can’t be defeated.

The young man left the [Slime Hunting] exclusive space, looked around, and walked slowly.

Then, he discovered a crystal.

‘Orange.’

At his current Guardian level, it’s a bit of a dangerous opponent.

The strength of the enemy that appears depends on the color of the crystal.

If it’s white, it’s an opponent you can easily defeat.

Orange is a slightly dangerous enemy.

Black signifies a formidable foe that cannot be defeated no matter what you do.

As he approached the crystal, his eyes met those of another man.

Ordinary people wouldn’t know who the Slime Land Guardians are, but Guardians could recognize each other just by exchanging a glance.

When multiple people tried to claim a single crystal like this, how they acted depended on the situation.

Sometimes they yielded, sometimes they negotiated, and sometimes they tried to take it by force.

The opponent’s choice was the last option.

A duel arena arrived.

The win rate based solely on gear was displayed.

‘I’m at a slight disadvantage.’

The young man scanned the other man with his eyes.

‘I can win.’

Even if physical enhancement is applied when transforming into a Guardian, athletic ability inevitably affects performance.

Athletic ability is partly innate, but it can be improved to a certain extent through training.

Judging by his physical condition, the opponent didn’t seem to have a personality that enjoyed exercise.

No matter how good the gear is, if the body wielding it isn’t capable, it’s like pearls on a pig’s neck.

As the young man accepted the duel arena, the two were transported to a separate space.

“….”

“….”

Seeing each other’s clothes, both swallowed the urge to say something.

Pointing out someone else’s type isn’t polite.

The duel began at a location slightly distanced from each other.

A duel between a warrior and an archer.

The opponent charged fiercely.

The young man pulled the bowstring without flinching.

The young man had focused all his gear on attack power.

His feet were slow, so he couldn’t run away.

His defense was weak, and his HP was low, so if he got caught, it was over.

‘I just need to shoot before that.’

The young man released the bowstring.

The arrow flew and pierced the opponent’s forehead precisely.

That was enough.

[YOU WIN!]

A path he had given up on in the face of overwhelming talent.

Time he thought had been wasted in vain.

Efforts he believed had been squandered without meaning.

That path had now connected in such a different way.

Having won the duel and earned the rights to the crystal, the young man entered it.

‘Not bad.’

The gear he obtained after safely finishing the hunt was pretty decent.

It wasn’t something he would use himself, but it was definitely sellable.

Another special aspect of this [Slime Hunting].

It makes money.

In other courses, if you find something like a <Coin Slime>, you can exchange it for snacks like ice cream, but that’s more about saving money than earning it.

[Slime Hunting] allows you to earn cash.

It’s not just about reducing expenses; the numbers in your bank account increase.

Through the exchange inside the [Slime Hunting] exclusive space, you can sell the gear you obtain to others for cash.

You can also put it up for auction on something like an in-game exchange.

Personal transactions are also possible.

Transactions must take place at the exchange inside Slime Land.

The commission you have to pay at that time isn’t insignificant.

To avoid this commission, some have sold gear on external used trading sites, but it was quickly stopped.

Not only that, but somehow, they caught everyone who tried to use such loopholes.

The punishment given to them was none other than a restriction on using <Slime>.

A life without being able to use <Slime>.

It was unimaginable.

Most people decided they’d rather just pay the commission than face such a fate.

Thus, transactions outside of Slime Land disappeared.

Though the commission is quite high, if you’re lucky, you can earn a decent amount of money.

If you have enough ability, it’s far better than taking on stress while doing part-time jobs.

It’s uncertain whether it could be a full-time job, but it’s quite lucrative as pocket money.

‘And I can shoot a bow.’

A remnant of the past when he had to pay money to enjoy it, let alone earn any.

The fact that he could earn money with it felt especially meaningful to the young man.

Having discovered a crystal, the young man entered it.

An enemy approached from afar.

As he drew his bow, the corners of his mouth naturally curled up.

He shouldn’t let his emotions waver like this when shooting a bow, but he couldn’t help it.

“Thank you, Alchemy Slime-nim.”

***

“You’re welcome.”

Occasionally, voices of gratitude can be heard.

There might be voices cursing as well, but the slime ears have an automatic filter function, so they can’t hear such things.

That’s half a joke.

It’s not attached to my ears; Mother filters out the curses and relays only the praise and gratitude.

I’m not a child, so I don’t need this kind of care.

Still, avoiding cursing voices and hearing voices of gratitude definitely feels good.

If you can’t hear voices of complaint, there’s no room for improvement.

That’s also true, so I’ve made preparations.

The <Mascot Slime> wandering around observe people’s expressions and report if there’s a problem.

I said it’s a necessary task for the development of Slime Land, so there won’t be any neglect.

Even if I don’t hear the complaints directly, dissatisfaction won’t be buried under the slime.

I’m continuously looking at Hans’s report, but I still can’t find any issues with the current operation of Slime Land.

There are many industries shrinking because of me.

On the other hand, more people are earning money by working within Slime Land.

Writers adapting [My Own Story].

Broadcasters filming videos inside Slime Land.

Musicians teaching instruments to visitors.

People making money by selling gear obtained through [Slime Hunting]. This group will probably soon produce pro gamers.

As technology advances, it’s natural for the ratio of people in primary, secondary, and tertiary industries to decrease.

Escaping from tough, dangerous, and repetitive work.

Individuals can find and do work that best showcases their unique traits.

I don’t see what’s bad about this.

[Me: What do you think about this situation?

SSS-Rank Hunter: I hate slimes.]

Come to think of it, for someone like my friend Gisu who hates <Slime>, this country is becoming harder to live in.

But isn’t that just because they haven’t tried it yet?

Even people who hated <Slime> at first, after using it a few times, end up desperate to get more <Slime>.

Wouldn’t Gisu be the same?

Well, it might be tough due to his constitution.

[Me: What do you think about this situation?

Makina: Is making everyone happy your happiness?

Me: Probably?]

Seeing people enjoy Slime Land makes me happy.

[Makina: !@#! !@#!?

Me: Sorry. The text got garbled.]

It happens sometimes.

Should I start a telecommunications company and a smartphone company too?

[Makina: …Today, there are two games.]

I started the games Makina sent me.

The first game was an adventure game.

A girl left her comfortable house, went through a journey full of hardships, and returned a little more grown up.

The other game was a city-building game.

It was made quite realistically, so when you built something, some people were happy while others disliked it.

I can tell Makina was trying to convey something, but I’m not sure what it was.

***

Time passed.

[Trait: Slime☆☆☆☆ level has increased to 59.]

What was the purpose of the curse, after all?

I feel like I’ll find out the answer soon.