Ch.21The NPC Who Raids (1)

[-Occupation: Mountain Keeper NPC- Level: 300 Name: Jack. Age: 16.]

[Strength: 50+?]

[Dexterity: 47+?]

[Intelligence: 3+?]

[Luck: -15+??]

[HP: 300,000+???]

[MP: 0+0]

[Skill: Mountain Manager]

[Mountain Manager Effect: All stats slightly increase within the mountain you manage.]

[Mountains under management: -Ponia- -Ottoman Empire- (How to register surrounding mountains: View details)]

[Title: View details.]

“…It’s huge!”

“I know. Is that a slime?”

[Hyper Acidic Slime: Level 270]

[HP: 110,000]

The creature occupying the center of the road was flaunting its massive body, melting all the surrounding land and forest into a slimy mess. About the size of an ordinary two-story building, perhaps?

I’ve boosted my stats a bit with various accessories, but my negative luck stat remains in the minus, and my dexterity has only increased slightly.

The good news is that its level is lower than the field bosses I know about, but still, isn’t level 270 pretty high?

“Hmm. It’s the largest slime colony I’ve seen, but still. If we handle it like we’ve handled others, there’s no reason we can’t defeat it. So don’t be nervous.”

“Okay.”

Perhaps because I and Ray had mentioned beforehand that this was our first [Hyper Acidic Slime] raid, one of the commanders approached us with words meant to care for our mental state.

In the end, there was no party willing to take me, her, and Gor, so we truly became sidelines. Well, I came here expecting to get carried anyway, so let’s just watch calmly.

The raid consisted of 10 parties with 5 people each, totaling 52 people including us + 1 creature, but the commander said this was enough, and we were assigned roles similar to porters from the beginning.

More specifically:

“Stay in the back, and when a party runs out of ignition stones, keep supplying them. Your blue one here should be brought to anyone who gets hit by the creature’s acid, give them these frost stones.”

We were assigned to the supply line behind them.

Since there are limits to how much each person can carry and hold during battle, our job is to stay behind them and continuously bring supplies to parties that need them. A cushy position, in other words.

Honestly, when I first heard it, I wanted to fight directly, but seeing the size and level of the enemy, I think this is the right call. I really don’t want to get hurt.

“Now, let’s begin the raid!! Tanks, coat your shields with acid-resistant solution and move forward!!”

The battle began at the commander’s order.

*

“…Hmm. This is taking quite a while.”

“I know. They said it would take about an hour, but we’ve already gone well past that, haven’t we?”

Ray and I truly had nothing much to do.

Because:

“Ignition st…! Th-thanks!”

“Here!! Someone with burns…!! Oh, thank you!!”

“Injury here!! Need first a…! Huh?! Someone already brought it?!!”

Even without me and Ray moving, Gor was running around like crazy, becoming a guardian angel of the battlefield.

At this rate, he’s practically a Nightingale?

Since I was registered as a Tamer anyway.

Gor’s movements were accepted as if they were my own judgments and actions, and no one complained about me not moving.

My goodness, what a sweet deal!

“Hmm, but something’s strange. Didn’t they say we’d burst the slime’s outer layer with ignition stones and attack its core?”

“They did.”

“But has the outer layer even been peeled off yet?”

“I don’t know.”

“…Hmm.”

Just as he initially said, no one has died yet, but I can see people starting to get tired. Most adventurers are in their early 40s to 50s level-wise, with a few at level 60, but even they just look less tired compared to others—their faces are still filling with fatigue.

“…Those arrow attacks with ignition stones attached, they don’t seem to be working at all to my eyes.”

“That’s interesting, I see it the same way.”

[Hyper Acidic Slime: Level 270]

[HP: 100,494]

They’ve only taken off 10,000 HP in an hour. Everyone’s already getting exhausted, and there’s still 100,000 left—this raid is definitely going to fail. Were slimes not at this level until now?

The creature’s attacks are just like in the game—throwing acid liquid bombs or swinging acid whips that extend like tentacles.

Honestly, watching it doesn’t feel that threatening. It’s not particularly fast, and the shields coated with protective solution are holding up.

But still.

“Arghh!!”

“Frost stone!! Quickly, frost stone!!!”

-Pop!!

-Hissss!!

It’s truly fantasy-like to see Gor rushing to press frost stones against affected areas before the humans’ skin completely melts away from the acid, making the slime’s acid disappear and healing the burns.

However, 7 out of 10 people who were acting as shields are already in that state.

The remaining three don’t seem like they’ll last much longer either. By any calculation, we’d need not 50 but 5,000 people to clear this.

At this rate, it’s definitely going to fail.

“…We still have plenty of ignition stones and frost stones left, but continuing like this seems pointless.”

“…What should we do? Should we join the fight too?”

“What for? We can’t even use magic, we won’t be any help. Just bring some popcorn.”

“P-what? What should I bring?!”

Hmm. Does this world not have popcorn? It might exist as an Easter egg, but with these thoughts, I just blankly watched the crumbling raid party.

Sigh. It seems the right answer is to just go around it. It’ll cost more for the carriage, but there’s no choice.

I have no intention of wrestling with a raid boss we can’t defeat.

Eventually, after a few more minutes passed, the raid party completely fell apart, and before anyone died, the raid commanders began to dismiss the parties.

Right. This ends it…

“Huh?!! Hey!! Th-that thing is moving!!”

“Wh-what?! The slime is moving!! Dodge!! Everyone evacuate!!”

“Aaaah!! S-save me!!!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, the field boss started moving. What’s going on? This behavior wasn’t in the game?

That thing was supposed to just sit there, whip, and shoot acid bombs.

That’s why even low-level users wouldn’t die if they just stayed away from it.

And that hadn’t been different here. The commander had clearly explained it that way, but suddenly the creature began to roll around, shooting whips and acid bombs.

Oh, this is really frustrating. The world is definitely trying to force me into a fight.

“Damn it?! G-get the injured!! Evacuate quickly!! Retreat from the front line!! Don’t touch its acid!!”

“Aaaah!! I got hit!! Frost stone!! Frost stoooone!!!”

-Hissss!!!

Gor, Ray, and I moved together, treating people who couldn’t move, were injured, or got burned by acid bombs, while helping them escape.

Wait, that thing didn’t have a pursuit function like this? What exactly is going on?

If it was capable of such behavior, we could have just pulled its aggro from the beginning and led it elsewhere.

It had been blocking the road for who knows how many travelers. But suddenly it started moving on its own and began chasing us.

Why?

“Ugh!! What is this?! I thought it wasn’t an ordinary hyper acidic slime, but this movement is unprecedented!! Everyone!! Just focus on surviving!!”

One of the commanders with a shield shouted while protecting the rear, blocking whips and acid bombs, while others escaped in the meantime. This is maddening.

“Gor! Grab the ignition stones and frost stones!!”

[Yes.]

Gor, who had been forcing injured people into the arms of uninjured ones, immediately ran to my side carrying pouches full of ignition stones and frost stones at my command.

Let me think back on the raid we were just doing.

The mages cast spells to damage its body, and then they shot arrows with ignition stones attached to attack its core. That way, the damage was extremely small but definitely effective.

Most swordsmen held shields for defense, and their swords seemed to prevent secondary damage from the whipping. Simple actions, but difficult for one person to do alone.

So…

“Ray. You help the people and evacuate with them.”

“What?! What about you, Jack?!”

“At this rate, everyone will die. Someone needs to draw its attention. I don’t know how long that shield guy can hold out. Is there anyone faster than me among the uninjured?”

I don’t intend to win. Trying to defeat a creature with over 100,000 HP left is arrogance, not courage.

But it would also be strange if I, who had just been watching until now, suddenly ran away first, right?

I grabbed a handful of ignition stones from the pouch Gor was holding.

“I’ll draw its attention and lead it somewhere else, then once the path is clear, you escape to the next town with Ira. It’s a very simple and easy plan. Understood?”

“W-wait! Jack!! It’s too dangerous…!!”

“Let’s go, Gor.”

[Yes.]

I ignored Ray’s shouting from behind and just ran. I quickly dashed forward, pushed aside the man holding the shield, and threw ignition stones at the creature.

-Boom!!

“Oh, they explode nicely.”

I’d been watching from afar, but they burst like fireworks. Of course, there’s no change to its HP, but that doesn’t matter since I’m not trying to defeat it.

“Y-young man!! What do you think you’re doing?!!”

“Commander, you should escape too. Someone needs to draw its attention, right? I’ve been resting for over an hour, so I have plenty of energy left.”

“W-wait!! It’s dangerous…!!”

The kind commander who was warning me of danger once again blocked an acid bomb with his shield while retreating step by step.

He’s already at his limit.

Even though he’s an adventurer above level 60, his stamina or HP is clearly below mine.

I continue running forward while dodging the creature’s tentacle attacks. The sound of the ground melting hits my ears—what a strange feeling.

“There’s no demand for my clothes to melt, so don’t do that.”

Who would like to see my clothes melting?

[I would like to see it.]

“Are you insane?”

While quickly dodging the creature’s attacks—slower than a troll’s but wider in area—I throw a few more ignition stones at it, and the sluggishly moving creature finally turns its attention toward me.

Good, that worked. Now let’s have a marathon together.

“Alright, Gor. Time to run. See over there?”

[Yes.]

“According to the map I saw earlier, there’s a cliff over there, it must be a spectacular view?”

[Ah. Will you undress there?]

Ignoring the status window that was spewing nonsensical responses instead of what I expected, I quickly ran into the forest.