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The three of them began to explore forward along the small path in the forest.
Before long, a group of Slimes appeared, hopping and bouncing, in front of the three of them.
"They're here!"
Chihaya Anon's eyes lit up, "The weakest Slimes in another world!"
They were indeed very standard monster Slimes, slightly larger than a basketball, with no legs or feet, only able to hop and bounce on the ground. They also had a short health bar above their heads. There were exactly three of them, clearly the introductory practice monsters at the beginning of the game.
"One Slime per person, hit them."
Tactics, such things, were clearly not needed at all.
Kitahara Makoto simply activated his Holy Sword skill, and sure enough, he felt his body lighten a bit. He stepped forward and delivered a silent slash.
Pfft—
The blue Slime's health bar instantly emptied by half.
The attacked Slime quickly jumped up and charged towards Kitahara Makoto with its body.
Bang.
Kitahara Makoto did not dodge, deliberately taking the hit.
"And they call themselves monsters, they don't even have the strength to hit someone..."
Kitahara Makoto already had a rough idea of the data.
It felt like a primary school student bumping into him, completely negligible.
Testing continued.
"However, attacks can be dodged, it's not turn-based, and there's no need to move on a grid..."
"There's no such thing as attack speed capping; as fast as you are in reality, that's how fast you are in the game..."
A moment later.
Kitahara Makoto dodged another Slime that lunged at him, then swiftly swung his sword twice without hesitation.
Pfft—
After its health bar was emptied, the Slime exploded directly, turning into a puddle of Shimizu that sank into the ground.
"Why aren't you two doing anything?"
Kitahara Makoto turned to look at the two girls behind him, surprised to find them hiding together, not attacking the Slimes on the ground at all.
Ugly and fierce monsters were one thing, but a mere Slime, surely they wouldn't be scared of that?
"Um..." Chihaya Anon looked a bit troubled, "The Slimes feel so cute, I can't bring myself to hit them."
Takamatsu Tomori nodded in agreement: "They really are cute."
You're kidding me!
So they thought they were cute, which is why they couldn't bring themselves to hit them?
With that kind of awareness, what game are they even playing?!
"Can't bring yourselves to do it, huh?"
Kitahara Makoto raised his hand and delivered a few more slashes, directly sending the remaining two Slimes away.
"Then I'll just level up by myself."
"..."
The three continued onward and soon encountered another wave of Slimes.
This time, there were even more Slimes, and among them appeared large Slimes the size of tires, completely red, with longer health bars above their heads, and a fire attribute mark.
Kitahara Makoto naturally had no problem soloing this group of Slimes, but a game couldn't be played alone, so he simply let a few Slimes go, allowing them to hop and jump towards the two girls behind him.
"Kitahara-kun, the Slimes are coming!"
Chihaya Anon shouted nervously.
"Hit them."
Kitahara Makoto replied without looking back.
The two girls were initially reluctant, but after being knocked down by the Slimes, they finally couldn't help but start to fight back.
"Tsk..."
Kitahara Makoto had already eliminated the remaining Slimes and stood by, watching the two girls' battle... He could only say it was truly unbearable to watch.
If five-star general MacArthur were here to comment, he would probably blurt out:
"Chicken peck."
The game's combat system was not turn-based or grid-based, but more like a real-life fight.
Tomori was a typical good girl. Forget fighting with people, she probably hadn't even had an argument since she was little. Fortunately, she was a mage, so she only needed to aim and cast spells.
Although Anon wasn't a good girl, she also had no experience with real-life combat. Her fight with the Slimes could only be described as clumsy and tragic.
"Ahhh, I want the Bladeless Sword too! Fighting with claws is so strange... Tomori-chan, your Water Bullet Technique hit me!"
"It's because Anon happened to run into the water bullet..."
There was no target lock, and attack range relied entirely on self-judgment. For example, a mage's Water Bullet Technique required manual aiming throughout, and there were even situations where it could be blocked by others. The main point was realism.
Fortunately, the practice targets were Slimes, otherwise the two girls would have already been defeated.
A moment later.
The 'chicken peck' finally ended.
"We finally won..." Chihaya Anon panted, her expression quite excited, "Tomori-chan and I are so amazing!"
Kitahara Makoto stood with his arms crossed, expressionlessly saying:
"From a generally rational perspective, for two Slimes to take half a day, you two are indeed very 'amazing'."
"It's normal not to have experience the first time." Chihaya Anon's bright eyes glared over, "Huh, I leveled up... Why didn't I learn a new skill?"
"Because you're still far from it." Kitahara Makoto explained, "I checked a guide online yesterday. You only get a new skill every five levels."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Chihaya Anon clenched her fists, excitedly saying, "Let's keep fighting monsters and leveling up!"
Kitahara Makoto said in a faint voice:
"Who was it just now who said Slimes were cute and couldn't bring themselves to hit them?"
"Hm-hm~ Before was before, now is now." Chihaya Anon put her hands on her hips and raised her delicate chin, "Now I think experience points are cuter."
"..."
The adventure continued.
Kitahara Makoto and the two girls continued along the forest path, soon encountering various types of Slimes.
Ice Slimes, Fire Slimes, Lightning Slimes... The main point was material reuse.
Unbeknownst to them, they reached level five and mastered brand new skills. The trio also managed to form a certain level of cooperation.
"Eh, Kitahara-kun, why is there an open space ahead?"
Chihaya Anon exclaimed softly.
The seemingly endless forest path suddenly opened up into a circular clearing the size of a basketball court. The ground was perfectly clean, without a single blade of grass.
Kitahara Makoto said meaningfully:
"Don't worry, you'll find out soon."
As the three walked into the circular area, a fast-paced background music suddenly filled the air.
"Eh, eh, eh?"
Chihaya Anon quickly widened her eyes, clearly guessing something, "Could it be..."
Kitahara Makoto confirmed Anon's guess: "That's right, the Boss battle is about to begin."
As soon as he finished speaking.
Boom.
A giant Slime the size of a house descended from the sky.
Chihaya Anon nervously took half a step back, unable to resist complaining, "The Boss is so huge, how are we supposed to defeat it?"
"Stay calm, don't panic." Kitahara Makoto's voice was steady, and he felt his whole body ignite, "Don't forget this is a game, you won't die, your HP will just drop to zero."
What if it's big? As long as you show your HP bar, I'll kill even a god for you!
The battle began.
The Slime Boss didn't waste any words; after a simple charge, it directly spat out soccer-ball-sized Water Bullets, flying towards the three of them.
"Dodge!"
Kitahara Makoto easily dodged them.
Unfortunately, Chihaya Anon and Takamatsu Tomori couldn't do the same; the two girls fumbled, barely managing to dodge two Water Bullet attacks before being hit by a Water Bullet, flying backward, their HP bars dropping by one-third.
Thankfully, this was a virtual game space, and the pain was negligible, otherwise they would surely have cried out 'wah' by now.
At the same time.
Kitahara Makoto seized the opportunity, quickly rushed forward, and slashed at the Slime Boss, but the damage was not high; the Boss's HP bar only dropped by a tiny sliver.
Boom.
The Slime Boss directly jumped up and smashed down on Kitahara Makoto.
Kitahara Makoto narrowly dodged it, then suddenly realized he was fighting alone; he turned his head and was immediately speechless:
"What are you two doing?"
Chihaya Anon's pretty face was flushed, and she stood still, covering her skirt with both hands.
Takamatsu Tomori was even worse; she was already squatting on the ground.
"Our clothes…" Chihaya Anon's voice was both shy and annoyed, "Slime mucus will corrode our clothes!"
As she spoke, the Slime Boss once again spat out projectiles.
Chihaya Anon quickly said, "Tomori, hurry and dodge!"
The two girls frantically started dodging; Takamatsu Tomori had just been squatting, and now she had to stand up first, so she didn't dodge a single Slime projectile and was hit again.
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
Looking at Tomori, whose little bunnies were almost bursting out, he finally understood why this game was rated 18+.
Good heavens, their HP didn't drop to zero, but their clothes were gone first!
After their clothes were destroyed, Chihaya Anon and Takamatsu Tomori completely lost their combat ability, and with one final aerial jump attack from the Slime Boss, the HP of both girls dropped to zero.
Thud.
Chihaya Anon and Takamatsu Tomori fell limp to the ground.
"What's the situation now?"
Kitahara Makoto asked while dodging the small Slimes summoned by the Boss.
"We can't move our bodies." Chihaya Anon responded, "We can only be revived if a teammate helps us with healing."
"It's a shame Tomori is a mage, not a healer…"
Kitahara Makoto spoke while looking at Takamatsu Tomori.
"No, don't look…!"
Takamatsu Tomori's small face was flushed like fire, and she pleaded nervously.
Her clothes had been completely melted away by the Slime projectiles, leaving only a few scraps covering crucial areas, which paradoxically made her even more alluring in their semi-transparency.
Kitahara Makoto averted his gaze and continued to solo the Slime Boss.
Good news.
Once the two girls' HP dropped to zero, they would no longer be attacked and could enter spectator mode.
Bad news, Kitahara Makoto realized he couldn't defeat the Boss; this guy could actually summon healing Slimes to restore its HP, and after finally taking down half its HP, it regenerated it all back.
"It seems we can't reach the other side…"
Kitahara Makoto sighed helplessly and gave up the fight.
Boom!
With the Slime Boss's final shockwave, Kitahara Makoto felt his vision go black, his consciousness sinking, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in reality.
"We're back, we're back."
Chihaya Anon breathed a sigh of relief and quickly checked her body.
Her clothes were perfectly intact, and she had no injuries; everything that had just happened felt like a dream.
Takamatsu Tomori, on the other hand, immediately covered her chest, her small face flushed as she lowered her head.
"Let's see how much time passed…"
Kitahara Makoto picked up his phone from the table.
Before entering the game, he had specifically noted the time: 9:35 AM.
"9:36 AM… So, only one minute passed?"
Looking at the time on his phone, Kitahara Makoto was quite satisfied.
The adventure in the game had lasted at least half an hour, but in reality, only one minute had passed; this meant that even using game discs in the Otherworld wouldn't be so dangerous.
"I made a mistake just now, but next time I'll definitely be able to dodge those projectiles." Chihaya Anon quickly became excited again, looking forward to it, "Kitahara-kun, shall we try again?"
Kitahara Makoto shook his head and said:
"We can't."
"What?" Chihaya Anon was greatly disappointed upon hearing this, "Kitahara-kun is already unable to continue so quickly?"
You should speak with a clear conscience; how can you say others are unable when your own HP dropped to zero right away!
"It's the game disc that can't." Kitahara Makoto looked over expressionlessly, "The game can only be activated once every twelve hours."
"Oh, alright then…"
Chihaya Anon leaned back and sat on the sofa, "It feels so amazing, much more impressive than any VR game I've experienced, it's like truly entering another world."
"Oh, right, didn't Kitahara-kun say that after the game ends, we can gain the character's abilities?" Chihaya Anon asked curiously, "Why don't I feel anything at all?"
"…"
Kitahara Makoto didn't speak, but simply clenched his right fist, and a faint white light suddenly appeared around him.
"Eh? Eh?" Chihaya Anon exclaimed, "Is that the Courage skill you got after leveling up?"
"That's right." Kitahara Makoto nodded, "The Courage skill, when activated, increases all stats by ten percent… I do feel stronger, but the ability only lasts for ten minutes."
Takamatsu Tomori said softly:
"There's a voice in my head that says I've temporarily gained the mage's Water Bullet Technique, but it only lasts for five minutes…"
Kitahara Makoto looked at Tomori, curious:
"Can you use magic without a magic staff?"
"I think I can…"
Takamatsu Tomori extended her right hand, palm facing upwards, and a water droplet quickly appeared in the air above her palm, then the droplet slowly began to grow, much slower than in the game, and the size of the Water Bullet was also a level smaller, but it was still an incredible supernatural power.
"Unfair! So unfair!" Chihaya Anon's face was full of envy, her tone resentful, "Why am I the only one who didn't inherit an ability?"
"Whether you can inherit character abilities depends on your performance and score in the game, so is there a possibility…" Kitahara Makoto looked at the pink-haired girl, "that you're just too bad?"
Chihaya Anon: "…"
"Don't be discouraged." Kitahara Makoto comforted her, "If you're bad, practice more."
"…"
The small fangs at the corners of Chihaya Anon's mouth glinted coldly.
Ahhh! If Tomori wasn't here, I'd definitely bite you right now!
"Makoto-kun."
Takamatsu Tomori's nervous voice suddenly sounded beside him.
"What's wrong?"
Kitahara Makoto looked over in the direction of the voice.
"I'm about to lose control of the Water Bullet." Takamatsu Tomori's small face showed a hint of nervousness; the Water Bullet had already grown to the size of a fist, "What should I do?"
Reality wasn't a game; there were no monsters to use as targets, so she didn't know what to do with the condensed Water Bullet.
Kitahara Makoto quickly said:
"Go to the bathroom and fire the Water Bullet into the bathroom."
"Okay…"
Takamatsu Tomori agreed and quickly got up, but she accidentally stepped on Chihaya Anon, and in her panic, the water sphere suddenly burst.
Water splashed everywhere.
The three of them were drenched.
"I'm sorry…"
Tomori apologized remorsefully.
"It's alright, your clothes will dry soon." Kitahara Makoto wiped his face and rubbed Tomori's little head, "You two go take a shower first."
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for advance chapters | Every 100 powerstones = 1 extra chapter | Report issues @discord.com/GVBdncd9Wr