"Take this!" River shouted, raising his right hand, gripping the knife he bought cheap from one of the Hunter Facilities in the city. His eyes glinted as he brought the weapon down with force.
The sound of the knife piercing something echoed—clean and smooth.
Although River was a Hunter Mage, he still dabbled in handling weapons, especially when all he had were his weak Bubbles. Learning other combat skills, like swordplay and cold weapon techniques, helped him become one of the last-standing Hunters.
That training allowed him to handle a knife like it was an extension of his own body. And even after coming back to the past, the experience of being a skilled knife user hadn't disappeared.
River smirked as he knelt down, the basketball-sized Slime still standing right in front of him.
The monster didn't move an inch. Then, the next second, it started bouncing again—happily circling River as if nothing had happened.
River, meanwhile, let go of the knife he had stabbed into the ground. He opened his arms toward the jumping Slime. "Come here!"
As if understanding his words, the Slime jumped straight into his arms.
River hugged the monster tightly, his face turning red from the soft, squishy sensation that spread happiness through him. He closed his eyes for a moment—only to feel gentle bumps all over his body. When he opened them, he saw other Slimes, eager to jump on him too.
"Come," River said—and at his command, all the Slimes around him leapt at once. "Hahaha!"
He fell back, laughter ringing out as a dozen Slimes piled on top of him. Their soft, squishy jumps mixed with his joy-filled voice.
"You guys are so cute!" River stood up, causing the Slimes to scatter briefly before regrouping around him again. He picked one up and squished it between his hands until it almost popped. Luckily, before it could turn into a sticky mess, he loosened his grip.
River watched the bouncing monsters around him with a smile.
Normal Slimes were technically harmless monsters—and that's exactly what surrounded him now. They offered little Experience Points, which was why most Hunters didn't bother with them. Unless, of course, their numbers suddenly exploded. When that happened, someone would usually offer to pay Hunters to clear them out.
Though... that kind of job would only become popular in the future. All thanks to that motherf*cking Emperor Slime—the one who only wanted to fck Slimes and father thousands of disgusting offspring.
That perverted slime didn't even spare his bike.
Remembering the time the Emperor Slime tried to mate with his beloved bike—crushing it under the force—River felt rage boil inside him.
"I swear, once I find him, I'll tear him into pieces!" River declared, his voice startling the surrounding Slimes into silence.
Withdrawing his killing intent, River walked over and picked up the knife he had stabbed into the ground. He glanced at the Slime in his arms with a soft smile.
"Be good, alright?" he said.
The light blue Slime didn't understand a word, but it pressed its soft body closer to him.
Seeing this, River's smile widened. Then, without wasting another second, he raised his knife—and stabbed it straight into the Slime!
A loud popping sound echoed as the Slime burst into a sticky goo, staining River's clothes with light blue slime, some of it even splattering onto his face.
But River wasn't bothered at all. His gaze locked onto the next Slime.
The other monsters didn't run when one of their own burst. They just kept bouncing around happily, still surrounding the human—completely unaware they were playing with a tiger.
Normal Slimes were d*mb. As long as you didn't show killing intent, they wouldn't even try to flee. That was one of the reasons River wanted to kill them—even if it took stabbing dozen of them just to activate the System.
"You guys are cute, but I need to get stronger," River said with a sigh as he walked over and stabbed a Slime right in the middle, causing yet another explosion that sent sticky substances flying everywhere.
A lot of people liked Slimes—and River was one of them. Even when he reached Max Level and the world was about to end, his love for Slimes never wavered. Especially when they went extinct, leaving behind only one Slime that followed the Last Hunters to the bitter end.
Thinking about that Slime—beloved by every Last Hunter—River couldn't help but feel nostalgic. That one was far more beautiful and cuter than the ones surrounding him now. It was also much smarter, even possessing a Skill called Hive Mind, which connected all the Last Hunters into a single network—allowing for smooth, instant communication.
She's probably still just a normal Slime right now, River thought, and with that, he began his killing spree.
…
River saw the System flash before him by the time he killed the fifteenth Slime, but he ignored it and kept going. His focus was on wiping out every single Slime in the area—leaving only the giant ones, which curiously watched his antics.
When his knife slashed through the last Slime, River finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Finally, I'm done," he muttered, glancing around.
The entire clearing was coated in sticky substances—light blue, blue, green, pink. The once-lush grass now looked disgusting and gooey.
"Sorry, Slimes. Blame it on your weak physiology. You're still cute, though," River said as he sheathed his knife. "But damn, this was tiring."
Killing all the Slimes in the area had been exhausting. Sure, they were easy to kill, but River still had to put in serious effort to dispatch them all. Some even tried to run away from him—probably thinking they were playing a game or something. He had to catch them before they could escape into the forest.
Once they entered the forest, it would've been a whole different problem. Other monsters lurked in there, and letting Slimes escape could make things chaotic. So River had to make sure the little guys stayed put.
Taking a deep breath to calm his mind and relax his body, River called out into the air.
"Show yourself, System."
As his words fell, a light blue holographic screen materialized in front of him, glowing with crisp white letters.
Congratulations! You Leveled Up to 3!Would you like to accept this as your Starting Level, or move forward to achieve a greater Level?
"Only Level 3? Slimes are really stingy with their Experience Points," River muttered in disappointment. After killing at least three dozen of them, this was all he got? Who in their right mind would accept that?
He pressed the "No" button beneath the message, and the holographic screen disappeared.
But it wasn't over yet—another screen appeared right away.
Congratulations! You have gained a Skill!Would you like to see it?
Two buttons appeared under the message:
View and Later.
For those who accessed the System for the first time, this was part of the Awakening Ceremony. They were given the choice to view the Skill immediately after killing monsters, or delay it until later—once they were finished with the awakening process.
Most people chose to view it right away. Others who wanted to savor the surprise would wait until they couldn't go on killing monsters like a normal human anymore.
Although River already knew what Skill he was going to get, he still chose "View." The moment he thought about it, the holographic screen dissolved into particles of light that rushed into his eyes.
Myriads of lights flooded his vision…
...until there was only darkness.