Chapter 6: Actual Combat
“The slimes are too clingy; with your current strength… I’m afraid…” Uncle shook his head.
“Uncle, I’m super brave, not scared! Just trust me with the task.” Zane declared, holding his head high.
“No, the village has already… I can’t let you go and get yourselves killed.”
“Uncle, I’m his partner. If we go together, we can definitely collect the slime mucus.” Starry stepped over and said.
The worried expression on Uncle’s face vanished. “Alright, but you must be careful!”
“Beep”
System Notification: He Xin has issued you an E-level quest, “Collect 0/20 Slime Mucus.” Do you accept?
Accept!
System Notification: Quest accepted successfully. Collect 20 pieces of slime mucus for He Xin, and he will give you the corresponding reward!
Got it! According to Uncle, slimes are level 4 monsters—no wonder he’s so worried.
However, at this stage, only a few should be able to farm slimes. Even Brother Shiu only dares to lure one at a time, using wit and combat, then getting hit to low health, relying on resting to automatically recover, and then fighting again.
Although it’s very inefficient, it far surpasses the players farming rabbits.
Let’s go!
Passing by the rabbit spawn point, it was still crowded; ignore them and move on.
“Two more newbies just passed by.”
“Who cares? Once they drop a level, they’ll know the danger ahead. What a shame; I wonder what face that beauty will make when she dies.”
Zane ignored them and quickly walked through the territory of level 3 wild chickens, where the players were much fewer than at the rabbit spot.
The wild chicken’s attack power is quite impressive, as they have a passive skill that can deal critical hits. Once triggered, it deals 1.5 times the damage, which adds an element of unpredictability to the battle. Before this area is occupied by players, one can only take them on individually; otherwise, they risk being killed in a series of critical hits. Be aware, dropping down a level upon death!
Players surviving here generally have decent skills; Zane watched as a level 2 newbie charged towards the level 4 slime spawn point with a level 1 girl, silently muttering:
“Fool.”
…
Arrived!
Looking at the sparse players training here, a sense of pride arose.
Others merely glanced at the two of them and ignored them; they had seen several fools like them today, who would soon be sent back to the village by slimes.
Right, I haven’t allocated the 5 free attribute points gained from leveling up.
Let’s add to health first, in case I get one-shot.
Zane allocated all his points to health.
With the health boost from leveling up, he now had 120 health.
Nice, he looked much tankier.
Just as a slime spawned 2 meters away.
Monsters below level 5 do not possess an active attack nature, according to official information.
Zane on the left, Starry on the right, both launched their attacks simultaneously.
-25
-1
Starry’s action was quicker than Zane’s; he struck the slime first, though he had intentionally held back.
“…” This damage, being level 2, he couldn’t even break its defense?
Let’s take a look at the slime’s stats.
Mutant Slime
Rarity: White
Level: 4
Health: 150
Attack: 15
Defense: 12
Skill: Mucus Corrosion
Description: The once peaceful slime clan has become frantic after mutation. Be careful of their mucus; perhaps the moment you underestimate them, you’ll lose your life.
With a defense of 12, no wonder I can’t break through; my attack power is only 11-12…
Even Starry only dealt 25 damage; it’s really tanky.
Naturally, the slime wouldn’t let go of the two attackers.
The highest damage contribution came from Starry, making him the target of the slime’s hatred.
The slime clumped together and charged forward.
Zane felt that the attack intentions of the slime from Starry’s perspective were too obvious. He sidestepped, and the slime missed.
The word “miss” popped up.
Zane’s eyes widened in disbelief. How did that work? He avoided the attack out of years of martial arts instinct, unexpectedly succeeding.
But it wasn’t him practicing, after all.
Since the hatred was on Starry, and it couldn’t hit him, does that mean I can kill the monster without taking damage?
-27
While dodging the attack, Starry landed another hit.
The slime showed no reaction but must be furious now, with no way to deal with such a nimble enemy.
-2
-26
With half health remaining, Zane didn’t fall behind in attacking; he might as well share some experience.
At that moment, the slime suddenly curled into a ball.
What’s it doing?
Is it scared? Or charging up? Could it be Mucus Corrosion?
Right, Mucus Corrosion! Oh crap, both Starry and Zane hurriedly retreated.
Unfortunately, it was too late; mucus burst forth from the slime, radiating outward for a full four or five meters!
No choice, they can only shield with their bodies.
Zane directed Starry to hide behind him, letting the one with more health take the hit! A level 4 monster’s skill, Starry’s 50 health couldn’t withstand it.
120 health should be manageable!
-117
A bright red number appeared.
My goodness, the health bar was completely empty! If Starry had been hit, he’d definitely be one-shotted.
But he didn’t die, which was good. They just needed to let Starry finish off the remaining health…
-10
Before he could even plan, Zane turned into a streak of white light and returned to the Beginner Village.
What happened?
Zane flipped through the system records.
System Notification: Mutant Slime’s “Mucus Corrosion” dealt you 117 points of damage, and applied the “Corrosion” effect.
System Notification: Corrosion: Deals 10 points of damage to the target per second, lasting for 3 seconds.
“…” That’s harsh! One hit and I’m out of the game?
Fortunately, mucus is a non-penetrating skill, so Starry is still alive.
Three consecutive strikes finished off the slime. Starry’s experience jumped directly to 60%.
It seems one slime is worth five rabbits.
Stepping forward to check, aside from a few scattered copper coins, nothing dropped.
Material drops should be probabilistic.
I need to be cautious of that mucus corrosion; I didn’t pay attention earlier and paid the price of losing a level. Now I’m only at 1 level with 33% experience.
I need to hurry back.
…
“Beauty, how about teaming up with me? You’re amazing, taking down a mutant slime solo!” A male player named “Endless Sea” approached.
Starry shook her head. “I didn’t take it down solo; my partner already dropped a level to protect me.”
“Forget about him; he’s just a fool who has no sense of crisis. Dropping a level is already a bargain for him,” Endless Sea said.
Wow, insulting me right in front of me, you’ve got guts. “No thanks,” Starry’s tone grew cold as she walked towards another area.
“Alright then,” Endless Sea shrugged helplessly; this little beauty really has a personality.
Fortunately, the journey was not far, and Zane returned in under 10 minutes.
This time, Zane kept a close eye on his health; the mucus corrosion skill should activate at half health, so as long as he leaves the range before it activates, he should be able to kill it perfectly.
