Chapter 44: The Dungeon’s Slime Crisis

“A Meal Before the Dungeon”

“So, how’s school life treating you?”

Sion asked Boryan as she twirled her pasta with her fork.

She looked up and beamed at him.

“Of course, it’s great! It’s the life I’ve always dreamed of! Well… aside from the fact that the Combat Department is full of gorillas…”

“Really?”

Slurp!

Boryan stuffed her mouth with pasta, her cheeks puffing out.

She looked so much like Professor Hurryju that Sion almost did a double take.

Seeing her eat so enthusiastically made him smile.

‘That age… everything probably tastes amazing.’

Sion thought idly as he took a bite of his own pasta.

The restaurant had a good reputation on Byzanity, and sure enough, the flavor lived up to the hype.

“Boryan, did you join any clubs?”

“Me? I joined the boxing club! It’s different from my family’s training hall, so it looked fun.”

“That makes sense…”

“What about you, Sion? What club did you join?”

At her question, two distinct faces flashed through Sion’s mind.

One was a professor with a gothic fashion sense, tearfully shouting “Uuuhhhyaaa!”

The other was a fiery red-haired girl in a martial arts uniform, charging at him with murderous intent.

“…I’m still deciding.”

“Oh? Well, you still have time until club activities start next week. …But are you cold?”

“Huh? No, nothing like that.”

Shudder!

Sion shook off the unpleasant memories and erased them from his mind.

He had already decided to check out the Dark Magic club next week, so that was settled.

But the Judo club? Over his dead body.

Of course, he still planned to collect his reward as promised.

“Since we’ve finished eating, want to go to a dungeon together?”

“A dungeon?”

“L-Last week, we went together, but we haven’t gone this week… Is that okay?”

Boryan lifted her eyes, hesitant.

“I was actually going to ask you the same thing.”

“Really?! Yay!”

Her twin tails bounced as she cheered, making Sion smile.

‘Dungeon training starts soon. It’s better to get some experience now. And I can make some money while I’m at it.’

Dungeons were dangerous.

Unlike group projects in his past life, there were no second chances here.

This was a medieval fantasy world with no regard for human rights.

One mistake in a dungeon could cost someone their life.

‘I’m only at the 2nd Circle. I can’t let my guard down.’

Even if he could dominate other first-years in combat, a dungeon was a different story.

Sion wasn’t about to take any unnecessary risks.

Especially when it came to his survival.

Meanwhile, Boryan seemed excited just thinking about going.

“Where should we go? An E-rank dungeon?”

“Hmm? Wouldn’t an F-rank dungeon be safer?”

“But with your skills, an E-rank should be fine.”

“…It’d be bad if someone fell into a trap again.”

“Ugh! W-Who are you talking about?!”

“Let’s just finish paying and head out.”

“Hey!!”

Sion ignored her protests and quickly went to settle the bill.

A Short Journey to the Dungeon

“We’re almost at the dungeon.”

Rustle.

Boryan turned the map in her hands, checking their location.

“This is the Slime Dungeon, right?”

“Yeah. It’s F-rank, but don’t let your guard down. Unlike goblins, slimes are good at ambushes and disguising themselves.”

“Got it.”

F-rank magical beasts—slimes.

They were considered one of the weakest creatures in a fantasy world, much like goblins.

But they were still monsters capable of taking human lives.

‘How do they even manage that…?’

His question was quickly answered.

Squelch!

“Mmph!! Mmmph!!”

“Boryan?”

A sticky, translucent blue substance latched onto Boryan’s face.

Inside the gelatinous mass, a solid core pulsed.

It was a Slime.

Squelch! Squelch!

More slimes emerged from their hiding spots, piling onto Boryan.

They clung to her arms and legs, restricting her movements entirely.

‘So this is how they hunt.’

“They don’t even speak… so how do they coordinate like this? Do they have a way of communicating beyond words?”

“Mmmph!!! Mmmphh!!!”

“Ah.”

Boryan, despite being completely covered in slime, managed to glare at him with murderous intent.

Sion quickly reacted.

“Wind!”

A blast of air gathered the slimes into one spot.

“Earth!”

He crushed them with a slab of rock.

Compared to their initial ambush, slimes were easy to kill.

As long as you avoided their surprise attack, they weren’t much of a threat.

“Haa… Haa…”

“…A-Are you okay?”

“DO I LOOK OKAY?!”

“Ahh!!”

Thud!

Boryan’s fist slammed into Sion’s shoulder.

‘Okay, I deserved that…’

His old research habits had taken over.

Instead of saving her immediately, he had started analyzing how slimes coordinated their attacks.

Meanwhile, she had suffered in agony.

Sion immediately used Water magic to clean the sticky slime residue off her.

“Sorry. I’ll react faster next time.”

“Hmph… That was really mean…”

“…Yeah, my bad.”

“…No, actually, I was careless, too.”

He continued washing off her face with Water magic.

The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.

‘Get it together. What am I analyzing for? This isn’t a research project.’

Sion slapped his cheeks lightly, refocusing.

If their roles had been reversed, he would’ve been furious, too.

They hadn’t even entered the dungeon yet, and they were already struggling.

“I’ll respond faster next time.”

“Alright. At least it was me who got caught. Punching slimes doesn’t do much damage anyway, and mages need to chant their spells, right?”

“That’s true.”

Slimes were known for targeting people’s faces during their first attack.

They aimed to suffocate warriors and prevent mages from chanting spells.

And once a mage’s mouth was blocked, they were as helpless as an ordinary person.

‘Good thing I can cast spells without chanting.’

This encounter only reinforced the value of his no-chant magic.

“Alright, let’s keep going!”

“Yeah!”

They continued walking toward the dungeon without further interruptions.

Sion had cast Light spells around them, making it impossible for any more slimes to launch surprise attacks.

Thanks to that, they could even chat casually as they walked.

“Sion, by the way, what’s that sword on your hip?”

“Hm? …Ah, this? I just picked it up. Just carrying it for self-defense.”

Sion casually touched the sheathed sword at his waist.

It was a weapon given to him by Professor Hurryju.

—”Here, take this sword-squeak! It’s proof that you’re my disciple now-squeak!”

—”Uh… I don’t think I need to carry a sword…”

—”Nonsense-squeak! I bought this years ago for my future disciple! I’ve been taking care of it all this time, so use it well-squeak!”

—”…Uh, r-right. Thanks.”

She had taken such good care of it that he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

Though he hadn’t really used it yet…

If he didn’t carry it, Hurryju would probably be sad, so he kept it with him.

“You don’t even need a sword! I’ll protect you!”

“Really? You’re sure?”

“Of course! I’m a dungeon veteran! I’ll take the lead!”

“The Dungeon’s Slime Crisis”

“For someone so confident, you sure got ambushed earlier…”

“T-That was just because I let my guard down!”

As they chatted, Sion and Boryan arrived at the cave entrance.

Trying to shake off her earlier embarrassment, she boldly stepped forward.

“Wait! If you walk ahead of the Light spell—”

“Mmph!!! Mmmph!!!”

“…Wind.”

“Puha—! Kyaaah!! Get it off, get it off!!”

“Uh… it’s stuck to your chest, though?”

“Just do it already!!!”

“…Alright.”

As expected, Boryan kept getting ambushed by slimes.

They always managed to latch onto awkward places—her chest, her thighs, and other unfortunate spots.

Each time, Sion had to use magic to remove them.

It was getting increasingly awkward.

‘…I really hope this doesn’t turn into some kind of false accusation.’

Thoughts of harassment claims and false accusations crossed his mind.

Even though he knew Boryan wasn’t that kind of person… you never knew.

Sion forced himself to act as nonchalant as possible.

“Haa… finally, the boss room…”

“…Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Me? Of course, I’m fine! Who do you think I am?! I’m the heir to the Baist Martial Arts Style!”

Boom!

She pounded her fists together, brimming with confidence.

If only she weren’t still covered in blue slime residue, it would have been a cooler sight.

Before Sion could stop her, Boryan dashed forward.

“Come at me, boss!!”

“Wait! Don’t rush in, let me scout with Light firs—”

“Kyaaah!”

Squelch!

A thick blue tentacle shot out and wrapped around Boryan’s waist.

It lifted her into the air.

‘So they use tentacles when they get bigger?’

Thin tendrils wavered around the massive slime.

It was grotesque.

And most of them were creeping toward Boryan.

“S-Sion! Help meeee!!”

“Boryan! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! But—w-wait, isn’t this kind of embarrassing?!”

Her arms and legs were bound, spread apart by the slime’s appendages.

She tried to press her knees together, but the slime didn’t allow it.

Keeping her legs shut was the only thing she could manage.

“D-Don’t look this way!!”

“…Okay.”

Sion turned his gaze away and prepared his magic.

“Rock Spear!”

Whoosh!

Dozens of sharp rock spears materialized in the air.

They rained down on the massive slime.

The creature was large and slow—every single spear struck its gelatinous body.

‘…But Rock Spear isn’t reaching the core.’

The only way to kill a slime was to destroy its core.

But the moment his rock spears entered the slime’s body, they slowed down drastically before stopping entirely.

Then—

The slime absorbed them.

The spears were all pulled toward its center.

Wait a second…

“Sion! Dodge!!”

“!?”

Whoosh!

The slime fired the Rock Spears back at him.

It was too late to counter with magic.

The only option was—

Dodging.

Swish! Swish!

Sion’s body twisted, evading the incoming projectiles with inhuman precision.

The ones he couldn’t dodge, he deflected with his sword.

Upper slash, middle slash, lower slash—each movement perfectly executed.

“Haa…”

Sion stood unharmed, having avoided every attack.

“…Sion, w-what the hell…?”

Boryan’s voice barely reached his ears.

‘My attacks aren’t working. To defeat a slime, I need to reach its core…’

Sion’s mind raced.

Water and fire magic lacked the necessary force.

Earth magic was ineffective.

That left only one option.

Whoooosh!!!

A powerful gust gathered in Sion’s hands.

The wind raged within the cave.

Boryan’s skirt fluttered wildly.

“Kyaaaah!! D-Don’t look! Just don’t look over here!!!”

“…”

A bead of sweat rolled down Sion’s temple.

He couldn’t afford to mess this up.

If his magic spiraled out of control, he’d destroy the entire cave.

He had to focus.

‘Think of a sharp blade.’

A sword slicing through the air.

A solid, concentrated edge.

Sion shaped his Wind Magic into that form.

At 1st Circle, this would’ve been impossible.

But he was now at 2nd Circle.

He could do it.

“Move!!”

Squelch!

Sensing the danger, the slime’s tentacles shot toward him.

But it was too late.

“…Blade Storm.”

Fwoosh!

A massive arc of wind burst from Sion’s hand—

And shredded the giant slime into pieces.

Its core was obliterated along with its body.

The tentacles writhed, then collapsed.

“H-Heeek!!”

“…”

“A-Ah…”

Thud.

Boryan fell onto the pool of slime residue.

She quickly grabbed at her skirt, holding it down.

At the same time—Sion swiftly turned his head to the side.

“…You saw, didn’t you?”

“Huh? S-Saw what?”

Boryan, despite everything, was unexpectedly mature in some ways.