"AH, GHOST!!!"

These guys are way too easily scared haha. What part of me looks like an undead?

One of them is even gesticulating heavily while doing an obvious prayer.

*Thud*

"I'm sorry we didn't mean to cause your death! We were sure you were confident in handling the vanguard! We never tried to kill you! Please pass away in peace and accept our apologies!"

He is kneeling asking for forgiveness. Like dude, I know you didn't try to kill me. I simply slipped.

These guys have no motive to kill me either.

I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry about this situation. Do I look that bad for them to confuse me with an undead?!

[*Sigh* Just get up already. Isn't the floor all wet and DISGUSTING?!]

They all come to a halt….then one of them has a eureka moment.

"Could you perhaps….be alive ?!"

[Yep, why wouldn't I be?]

"But there are countless slimes down there!"

[Yeah…. slime. These are not dragons or something, just slimes. You guys ready to keep going?]

From time to time to time I can see them stealing a glance at me. Why is that guy still praying?! What kind of ghost just chills with the living and denies being dead?! I'm obviously not…ah well whatever.

We keep walking until we reach stairs that lead into the water infested with slimes. All readying our weapons.

*BOUNCE*

Not this time!!!! I punch it!

*BOUNCE BOUNCE*

Perfectly timed! The slime gets sent tumbling away. Why didn't I slash it? Well, I totally lost the weapon they gave me already. It lies somewhere at the bottom of the slime nest.

Honestly, I really shouldn't ever buy myself some expensive and powerful weapon. I'm pretty sure I would lose it in a blink of an eye. The problem is that I have no magical way to store things into a sub-space. This means that whatever item I have I need to carry with me.

At some point, I did try to create one, but it just ended up with me failing lamentably. When did I do that? Not sure. I'm pretty sure I did at least. Must have been while we were journeying with the mercenaries. I had lots of time to kill back then.

*BOUNCE*

I keep going. This feels like batting practice. At first, I am just sending flying one or two slime, but the more we progress the more of them there are.

Meanwhile, my companions are trying their best to hit the targets from the side. It proves to be a bit difficult because I'm in the way and I'm not going anywhere. At the very least it is almost 100% safe for them. All the slimes are heading my way.

Springing towards me. This is for the best! It feels like a game with the slowly increasing difficulty! I also challenge myself to try and punch them as far as I can. It turns out to be slightly difficult. I am missing some kind of tool for the job for sure.

[Alright let's keep going!]

I don't hear any reply. Are these guys still following me?

"Are you …human?"

?!

[What are you even talking about?]

"How the Hell are you able to keep fighting for so long!"

[Oh, that. I've been training in a disaster zone before this. These sewers are nothing!]

I can hear exclamations of surprise.

These guys are impressed for sure! Of course, I won't ever admit that the savage archaic forest is overrated and probably doesn't deserve that title. Plenty of beast kings my ass!

Now they are cheering for some reason. Like nothing changed at all from before you guys.

Oh well, whatever floats their boat.

We keep going through the water until finally…

"Something is wrong here. The last time I led a cleaning expedition here it didn't look like that. There are way more slimes than there should be for sure. Maybe we should retreat and ask for backup."

What about my money?!

[I say we keep going forward. Worst case you guys can run while I delay them.]

He seems hesitant at first, but then he looks at all the slimes we have already defeated and finally nods in agreement.

[Onward companions! It is time to play Whack-A-Slime!]

Ever heard of it? It's the game where countless slimes jump straight at your face and you gotta punch them before they blind you.

Honestly, these slimes look bouncy and cute but are scary as fuck when you think about it. They will jump at you and literally try to digest you. Anyone that isn't careful enough could see himself getting reduced to goo in a quick manner. Seriously how the hell are these things beginner-friendly?!

If anything I would direct newcomers at hunting first. Hunting normal animals, then slowly upgrading to monsters. Not only would they get experience easily that way, but they would also get some meat. Who doesn't just love barbecue?!

I wonder if slime residue can be used for anything. Alchemy of some sort perhaps. My guess is people will turn this into a tool of war somehow. Probably increase the acid potency by refining it?

Then we stumble upon a wall. Guess we are done. Nice!

Time to go back to the surface, get some money, then I can find a place to crash for the night. Maybe I'll be able to afford some nice food too. I wonder what I should get? I could also try to buy some cooking ingredients for when we are in the wild. Decisions decisions.

"Wait…there isn't supposed to be a wall there. This is weird. The tunnel is supposed to keep going for a while longer.

I mean it's probably just his memory failing him right? There is clearly a wall right there.

I touch it and confirm how solid it is.

Yep, this is obviously a slimy bouncy wall….

Oh god. What is this thing?! It seems to wiggle as I poke it.

"Fall back now! Quick! That's a motherfucking king slime!!!!"

That's the last thing I hear before I see this thing collapse toward me.

Oh, fuck!