Chapter 7

<Contaminated Moina Forest>

“Hello!”

I checked in at the temple and started my day with a cheerful greeting as I received my support items.

[Common Grade Blessed Health Recovery Potion (High Grade)]

[A common-grade health recovery potion mixed with Blessed Holy Water. Restores a small amount of Health.]

[● Instantly restores 25% Health]

[● Restores 1% Health every 15 seconds for 45 seconds]

[Lucky Egg (Heroic)]

[A freshly boiled egg laid by a lucky hen. It makes you feel like your luck will improve.]

[● Luck +10% for 30 minutes]

It was actually pretty fun checking the support items I received each day.

Unlike yesterday, the grade of today’s potions was a little lower, but that was actually a good thing.

“They gave me 10 potions. Hehe.”

Unlike the three Rare Grade health potions from before, today I had ten of them, and the Lucky Egg was the perfect food for Han Youngwoong, who needed to find Corrupted Mana Stones.

“I want to sell them.”

If I sold them for just 1 Silver each, that would be 10 Silver.

The potions alone were worth over 170,000 won, so I couldn’t help but salivate.

But today, I didn’t head straight for the Exchange.

“I need to check the forest first.”

I had to think long-term.

(T/N : Finally! You are starting to think like a true gamer! )

Of course, if I sold everything like there was no tomorrow, I’d feel the most satisfied when I logged out.

But Lucky Hero was a Class that could make even more money the more experience it gained.

I needed to grow.

If I got ahead and started picking up more expensive things, the profit would only get bigger.

I couldn’t afford to be stingy when it came to investing in that.

So for now, I stashed the potions away.

I was trying to fight while dodging, but it wasn’t easy.

Keeping a certain amount of Health on hand saved time and improved my chances of survival.

I couldn’t solve everything with a 22% evasion rate, so the more safety nets I had, the better.

“Even if I drink a few, it’s still more profitable to clear the Quest quickly and get that 1 Gold.”

Today as well, I didn’t waste time on anything else and immediately got ready to head into the forest.

First, I followed the arrow to find Cain.

===

“…No way, you already found them? You truly are amazing!”

[Quest Complete!]

Cain gave me 1 Gold and 10 [Common Grade Health Recovery Potions].

I checked what was different about them compared to the potions mixed with Blessed Holy Water, and the difference turned out to be the amount restored.

A standard common-grade health recovery potion restored 15% Health, nearly 10% less than the blessed one.

It also didn’t have the additional effect of restoring 1% Health every 15 seconds for 45 seconds.

“The temple potions really are better.”

From my fully stocked potion pouch, I moved the blessed potions to the back and brought Cain’s potions to the front.

“Thank you, Warrior. I would like to give you a gift, so could you please visit my alchemy shop by the central fountain in town two days from now?”

“Of course.”

1 Gold was already more than enough of a gift.

But he was giving me even more.

There was no reason to refuse.

After watching Cain hurry off, Han Youngwoong prepared for today’s hunt as well.

It was a pleasant start.

“Shall we get going?”

I had plenty of potions.

“Kiek!”

At that moment, a Corrupted Goblin crossed my path.

Maybe because I felt secure with all the potions I had, I wasn’t afraid of the goblin’s attacks and boldly took it down.

Even though it was only my second day, Moina Forest already felt as cozy and reassuring as my own living room.

As I wandered around hunting, I discovered Golden Light surging up from the base of a large tree.

“What’s this?”

At this point, there was no way I could ignore Golden Light when I saw it.

I immediately ran over and found a large pit hidden inside a thicket of overgrown grass beside a tree three times thicker than the others.

“Wow, there’s a pit in a place like this?”

The grass around it was too tall, and the tree looked like three trunks fused together, so it wasn’t the kind of place anyone would bother checking. It was absolutely impossible to find at a glance.

[Tricolor Slime Dungeon (Rare)]

That was the identity written above the pit.

“…A dungeon?”

A dungeon shining with brilliant Golden Light.

There was no way I could resist.

I immediately threw myself into the pit.

[You are entering the dungeon.]

—

‘Dungeon proof shot.’

Even on Fantasia Life, it wasn’t easy to find posts related to dungeons.

They were hard to find even on the official site, and while the explanation said they were places where good rewards could be obtained, it also warned that they were hard to clear because of their high difficulty.

That was why so many users scoured the land in search of dungeons.

But they were so hard to find that people began to speculate that they weren’t simply hidden well.

Amid all that, posts uploaded as proof shots only fueled the hopes of users dreaming of finding a dungeon.

– It seems different depending on the dungeon, but mine was a High Grade dungeon. I had to wipe out a goblin village. After clearing it, I got 3 Gold and 47 Silver. lol I got various other rewards too, and after selling everything from High Grade to Rare items, I made around 7 Gold total, so I booked a plane ticket for an overseas trip.

People didn’t pay attention to what kind of Monsters appeared or how hard the dungeon had been.

All they saw was the short, simple summary.

Total reward: 7 Gold.

To users who would scramble to pick up even a single dropped Copper, that was no different from Fantasia’s version of winning the lottery.

Other dungeon proof posts also showed earnings ranging from dozens of Silver to several Gold, only intensifying the dungeon fever among users.

Of course, there weren’t many success stories.

I’ve searched every hunting ground, but I can’t find even one.

Luck? Maybe that Stat has something to do with it.

Just let me find one dungeon.

Then a sudden windfall.

A treasure chest in the middle of a hunting ground.

That was the image of dungeons that had taken root in users’ minds.

==

[Tricolor Slime Dungeon (Rare)]

[A dungeon inhabited by Tricolor Slimes. Many rare herbs can be found here.]

[● Recommended Level: 11 ~ 13]

[● Party Size: 0 / 4]

[● Entry Count: 0 / 1]

Maybe because it was inside the Contaminated Moina Forest, the level range was similar, and the party size was four.

Once you entered, that was your only chance. If you left halfway through, the dungeon would disappear, and the opportunity to claim its rewards would be gone with it.

That was why you had to be careful.

But I had no intention of recruiting party members and splitting the loot several ways, so I entered without hesitation.

“Please. Give me 8 Gold too.”

I’d stay careful and scrape up every last thing I could.

I was nervous because I’d heard dungeons were difficult, but the potions I had brought with me put me at ease.

“Whoa.”

The inside of the dungeon was a cave.

Small torches stuck in places here and there dimly lit the interior, and the ancient moss clinging to the walls made it obvious how damp everything was.

[Sub Quest]

[Defeat the Tricolor Slimes]

[● Grade: Rare]

[● You have entered the ‘Slime Cave,’ where Tricolor Slimes live. Defeat the Tricolor Slimes.]

[● Clear Condition: Defeat Tricolor Slimes [0 / 24]]

[● Reward: Tricolor Slime Dungeon Chest (Rare)]

A Quest window also appeared, telling me exactly how many slimes I needed to kill inside.

With a clear objective laid out in the dark cave, there was no way I could lose track of what I had to do.

Before looking for anything that could be turned into money, I started by cleaning out the place.

I found the Tricolor Slimes almost immediately.

They were wobbling across the cave walls here and there in groups of two or three, their gelatinous bodies squirming as they moved.

“They really are tricolored.”

Each Tricolor Slime was a different color.

Red, blue, and green.

The green one was at least green like the slimes people were familiar with, but… how should I put it…

“It looks a little dangerous.”

It wasn’t a bright green but a deep, murky green, the kind of color that made it look poisonous just from touching it.

Fwoosh—

“Whoa…”

The slimes that spotted Han Youngwoong crawled down from the walls, took up fighting stances, and suddenly sprang at him.

The red slime flying toward me had its body ignited in flames, making it look like a giant fireball was hurtling my way.

I instinctively dodged to the side, and it brushed past my shoulder.

“Ah, hot!”

The fire burning on the slime transferred to my shoulder, and although I hurriedly patted it out, my Health still dropped by nearly 10% from the burn Damage.

“This is nasty.”

Honestly, I’d assumed it wouldn’t be a big deal just because they were slimes.

They were even around the same level as the Corrupted Goblins.

But they were trickier than the Corrupted Goblins.

Fwoosh—

I swung my hammer, aiming for the fireball flying at me again.

Splat!

Still, it wasn’t a real fireball but a burning slime, so the hammer connected.

Only, instead of the usual satisfying impact traveling up my arm, I felt a squishy sensation.

Then the burning red slime split in half and dropped to the ground.

“Did I kill it?”

Since Luck hadn’t activated, I shouldn’t have dealt enough Damage to kill it in one hit.

I wondered if it simply had low Health because it was a slime.

But that wasn’t it.

Wiggle. Wiggle.

The red slime that had been split in half started moving again as two separate slimes and reignited itself.

“…Excuse me?”

On top of that, a piece of the blue slime I hadn’t been paying attention to flew over and attached itself to the two red slimes, making each one grow a little larger.

“……”

It looked like it had restored their Health.

If red meant fire attacks and blue meant healing, then what did green do?

“Ugh!”

I rolled to the side to dodge a green slime that came lunging at me with a body slam, just like the red one.

I’d rather get scorched by a bit of fire. Poison was somehow even more unsettling.

“What do I do?”

I briefly considered the situation where three slimes had become four.

Was there some trick to dealing with them?

But I quickly dropped that thought.

“I’ll be fine as long as Luck triggers.”

There was no need to go the long way around when I had the greatest advantage of all.

I pulled out a potion so I could drink it at any time and raised my hammer again.

“Go ahead and split into a million pieces. Let’s see who dies first.”

Maybe recklessness was actually the better answer here.

Splat! Splat! Splat!

I entered into a war of attrition with the slimes.

Fortunately, the slimes couldn’t divide forever.

===

“Having potions really does make things easier.”

I adapted to hunting slimes surprisingly quickly.

I concluded that it wasn’t so much a matter of the difference between Corrupted Goblins and slimes, but rather that Han Youngwoong’s Equipment had improved since the days when he was hunting for Corrupted Mana Stones.

And I had also come in with a full stock of potions.

[● Clear Condition: Defeat Tricolor Slimes [18 / 24]]

I had already taken down 18 of them, and although I had used almost all the potions Cain gave me, it didn’t feel like a waste.

I had been wandering around for nearly two hours. Without the potions, I might have spent nearly half a day here, counting all the time I would’ve needed to sit down and rest.

And after the fights with the Tricolor Slimes, I was finally able to discover the dungeon’s true value by carefully examining the moss-covered cave walls.

There were even herbs used as ingredients for health recovery potions and mana recovery potions.

Besides those, there were ingredients that could temporarily raise Stats too. It was a paradise of herbs.

“It’s such a great ability, but of all things, it had to work in reverse.”

If Luck had worked this positively in real life, what kind of life would I be living right now?

It was a bitter thought, but I still considered myself lucky to be this happy, at least here.

“Hehe. 8 Gold for me too.”

I diligently gathered the herbs.

The Tricolor Slime Cores dropped by the slain slimes were also described as something alchemists liked, which made me hopeful that they would all turn into money.

“Hmm-hmm~”

I even started humming to myself.

I didn’t know exactly how much the herbs would sell for, but considering the price of potions, shouldn’t it be worth at least Gold?

The only disappointing part was that no Equipment had dropped yet.

“Please, just give me one item I can cleanly put on the Exchange.”

As I moved forward, carefully checking to make sure I hadn’t missed any herbs, I discovered a large cavern.

It wasn’t a passage but a vast open space with a towering ceiling.

There was grass growing there instead of moss.

There was even a small pond off to one side.

The colorful herbs sparkling among the green grass made me smile.

“Jackpot!”

Since this was a Rare dungeon, I had to get better rewards than the ones in those Fantasia Life proof posts.

All the remaining slimes were gathered here, but I wasn’t too worried.

My attention was more focused on the herbs scattered everywhere.

That was why I noticed it a little too late.

“…Huh?”

A slime larger than all the others.

The fact that a giant tricolored slime, looking as if twenty slimes had fused together, was bouncing—no, thudding—toward me from the center of the cavern.

Thud—Thud—

It was clearly just a lump of slime, yet the ground shook every time it leaped.

And above that massive blob was written this.

[Lv15 Tricolor Slime King]