The slime’s squishy body compressed like a spring before launching itself into the air.
“Just grab Hikari and run! If we leave her loose, who knows what might happen—”
Eek!
Before Jang could finish speaking, the slime let out a shriek and was slammed against the ground. The purple mass tried to gather itself back together and regain its shape, but it gradually became transparent.
Before long, the pale liquid turned into a hazy smoke and scattered into the air.
[Slime has been eliminated.]
…Huh?
The situation had unfolded in the blink of an eye, leaving Myojin frozen stiff.
“……”
“T-that thing just killed a monster… Hic!”
So shocked that he could not stop hiccupping, Jang pointed accusingly at Hikari.
The key to this life-or-death mission was to protect the monsters for the duration of the time limit…
A hollow laugh escaped Myojin’s lips.
A warning alarm rang in her ears. One thing was certain: because of what had just happened, her probability of dying suddenly had increased by 30%.
“Oh dear. Team 3 has hunted the monster they were supposed to protect. A decrease in the number of monsters is a penalty.”
A familiar voice echoed throughout the rocky mountain, narrating Team Myojin’s situation.
Team 3 — Slime Population Decrease
- 50 points deducted
Rune kindly pointed out their desperate situation.
“For your information, when the test ends, the bottom five teams will all be eliminated.”
In an instant, Team 3 had been pushed down into the ranks competing for last place.
“D-damn it! You little menace! Why did you have to kill it?!”
Only then did Jang come to his senses. He began shouting at the top of his lungs and waving his arms wildly.
Startled, Hikari’s fur stood on end as she backed away and fled several steps from him.
“Fine, that’s it. Before that troublemaker causes any more problems, I’ll take care of this myself.”
Jang rolled up his sleeves and reached toward the slime that was following behind Hikari.
“Uncle, you’ll get hurt if you try to catch it with your bare hands!”
Myojin shouted urgently, but Jang had practically no athletic ability to speak of.
He’s going to touch it.
Just then, a white ball of fluff shot forward like lightning, drawing the slime’s attention.
“Hikari!”
Without even looking back, she ran toward the opposite direction.
Another system notification appeared.
[The monster’s aggro has been fixed on Hikari.]
Then, a group of slimes that had appeared from somewhere began moving after her in a swarm.
“That little brat is going to run around recklessly and make a mess of the dungeon—Aaaaaah!”
Jang was heading toward the cliff where Hikari and the swarm of slimes had disappeared when he suddenly lost his footing.
Myojin quickly grabbed him as he staggered.
“Gasp!”
The fierce wind swirling below the cliff sounded terrifying.
“That was dangerous.”
Myojin managed to pull him up and moved him to a safe place.
With the strength drained from his legs, Jang sank to the ground and let out a trembling breath.
“Th-thank you.”
“Calm down for now. We still have time. If you lose your composure too, Uncle, we really could be finished.”
Jang swallowed hard at Myojin’s firm voice and nodded.
“Yes, Myojin. You’re right. I need to pull myself together.”
The test was not over yet.
With trembling hands, he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out whatever his fingers happened to find, then gulped it down.
It was one of the beverage packs they had been given as supplies.
Only then did he finally look like he could breathe again.
“If we calmly fix what went wrong, we can still—”
Team 3 — Slime Population Decrease
Team 3 — Slime Population Decrease
Team 3 — Slime Population Decrease
- Total 150 points deducted
Their score was dropping in real time.
“Pfffft!”
Jang suddenly spat out the drink he had been swallowing.
“Don’t tell me that little Hikari killed another one?!”
Jang rolled up his sleeves and looked ready to charge off and grab the white cat himself.
Myojin narrowed her eyes and hurriedly checked the system records.
“This time, it isn’t Hikari’s fault.”
“Then who the hell is doing it…?”
The answer was not far away.
Through the notification windows appearing before her eyes in real time, Myojin was able to quickly understand what was happening.
[(Dehydrated) Slime’s HP is decreasing.]
[(Dehydrated) Slime’s HP is decreasing rapidly.]
[(Parched) Slime’s HP has been depleted.]
[(Parched) Slime has become assimilated into nature.]
Myojin looked around the rocky mountain as she organized her thoughts.
She could see the fierce wind periodically rushing between the cliffs, creating an even drier environment.
I knew it.
This was not an environment suitable for slimes to survive.
It had been something that puzzled her from the very first moment she saw the slimes.
In such a dry environment, slimes—which depended heavily on humidity for survival—had no choice but to naturally perish.
“A mass die-off is about to begin.”
“What are you talking about? A mass die-off?”
Jang jumped up in alarm.
As expected, the system window soon issued a warning.
※ WARNING! ※
The slimes’ HP is rapidly decreasing.
Myojin opened the system window and checked the humidity.
“They have no choice. This environment is simply too harsh for them.”
The current level was a mere 20%.
For slimes, whose lives depended on moisture, it was a deadly environment.
One of the reasons Myojin had become so obsessed with Dungeon of Legends was its almost absurdly detailed settings.
There were a total of 101 dungeons, each with different terrain and climates. The monsters inhabiting them were also divided according to those environments.
“No monster can ignore its innate attributes. That’s one of the rules of this world.”
Myojin explained the knowledge she had accumulated to Jang.
Slimes generally inhabited places rich in moisture, such as swamps and jungles.
They needed a steady supply of water to keep their surfaces from drying out. If they failed to receive enough moisture, their HP would gradually decrease until they eventually disappeared.
Having understood Myojin’s explanation, Jang deeply furrowed his brow.
“Damn it. I was worried that Hikari would kill them all, but that wasn’t even the problem. It was a trap from the very beginning!”
“I’ll look around and see if there’s a water source nearby.”
Jang shook his head.
“It’s useless. I went pretty far looking for you, and I didn’t see a single puddle, let alone a waterfall.”
Myojin took a deep breath.
In an area this dry, scents should travel several times farther, yet she could not smell water anywhere.
Just as Jang had said, there was no water source nearby.
“At this level of dryness, it’s practically like the slimes are taking damage over time in real time. Will they be able to survive until the time limit?”
Myojin bit her lip as she calculated.
In terms of combat power, slimes were practically beginner-level monsters.
Although these were mutated Acid Slimes, unless they were large individuals like King Slimes, their HP gauges should not be particularly high.
The evidence was the same notification that appeared every thirty seconds.
[(Parched) Slime has become assimilated into nature.]
In other words, one slime was disappearing every thirty seconds.
She checked the remaining time.
Time Remaining Until Mission Ends
00:15:31
There were thirty monsters remaining.
The calculation was simple.
If one disappeared naturally every thirty seconds, all of them would be gone before the time limit ended.
“Damn it… This old man is squeezing every last bit of strength out of himself just to hang in there. Why can’t you guys last even fifteen minutes?”
Jang punched the empty air in frustration before opening another beverage pack.
After gulping down the potion, a faint green glow spread across his face.
What’s that…?
★ Unique Skill <Unofficial Setting Guide> Activated
[Your keen eyesight allows you to detect subtle changes.]
Her vision flashed, and lines of text appeared one after another.
Myojin’s gray eyes moved rapidly.
[Status Change Detected — Due to overconsumption of Beginner Health Potions, Jang’s HP increases by +50.]
The source of the green glow was the supply potions Jang had been drinking one after another.
In that instant, an idea flashed through Myojin’s mind.
“Uncle! Take out all the remaining beverage packs!”
