Ch.221Endangered Species

To prepare for the August dungeon, we hunted every monster we could find for three days to maximize our stats.

As a result, we completely wiped out the monster population.

“There’s not a single one left!”

Taiga shouted angrily.

“Well… there were warning signs before this.”

Sasits gave a bitter smile.

True. The monster population had been decreasing at an alarming rate for some time. The number of visible monsters had noticeably dwindled.

And finally, we had completely eradicated them.

I unwittingly recalled those memories of slaughter.

———

“Hey!! Weird slime, where are you!! Come out!!”

Taiga shouted loudly.

“There!! It escaped down that alley!!”

Kana immediately pointed to a corner of an alley in the old district.

Initially skeptical about the level system, Kana had now fully embraced the fact that leveling up made you stronger.

Kana had always been competitive by nature, and had become addicted to the thrill of gaining stats through leveling up. She was the most enthusiastic monster slayer among us.

“Sasits!! Kirtan!! Thumbs-up Man!! Prill!! Tina!!!! You guys herd the slimes from that side! We’ll handle this area!!”

With our large party size, dividing into zones was completely feasible.

Yes, we had monopolized all the hunting grounds in this area.

“Surround them!!! Umi, take that side!!”

I immediately ran toward the alley.

“Keeeeek!!”

The slimes, including the weird one, backed away awkwardly in the alley.

“Keek! Keek!!!”

The slimes scratched at the alley walls.

“Hehehe. Where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?”

I smiled as I raised my sword.

“Hey!! There are two weird slimes!! We’ll gain at least two levels in one go!!!”

Taiga shouted excitedly.

“Hehehehehe.”

I was salivating at the thought of helping my party members grow stronger.

“Hehehehe.”

“Eheheheheh.”

Taiga and Kana couldn’t contain their laughter either.

“Buffs applied! Attack!!”

Umi now cast buffs habitually. Being a healer is truly her calling. Maybe her skills improved because she heals me every night in bed?

“Die!!”

I immediately charged forward with my sword.

And just like that, the slime family that had fled into the alley was completely annihilated. Our party members gained two levels in an instant.

———

Clunk-!

By now, monsters would hide at the mere sight of us.

Clunk-!

“So you were hiding here?”

I opened the door of an abandoned public toilet in the old district.

“Keeeeek!!”

The slimes were massacred the moment I spotted them.

———

Everyone had reached level 70… but the result was the destruction of an ecosystem made up of monsters.

‘It’s because our party size increased.’

I couldn’t help but acknowledge this fact.

That’s right. This game was originally designed for four-person parties. The number of monsters encountered through random encounters was determined based on that.

But now… we had what could only be described as a large-scale party. With all of us hunting together in this small old district, there was no way monsters could survive.

“This is… the sin of humanity…!”

I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut.

Slimes, an alien species from space, had been utterly defeated in Earth’s survival competition.

“Dodos, mammoths, saber-toothed tigers… and Heroes of the Storm players!! Welcome your replacements!!”

I found myself crying out loudly.

Don’t scare the new recruits too much and feed them good food!! Kindly explain things they don’t know!! There’s the newbie buff, you know!!! Wait until they’re promoted before giving them a hard time!!

Anyway.

Shhhh-! Shk-

Gates, evidence of the other world’s encroachment, were everywhere, but no monsters came through them. To be precise, monsters were coming through, but we were killing them much faster. The turnover rate was too high.

“Ah… this is boring. I want to level up more.”

Kana, already a slave to stat improvement, muttered with a dejected expression. Somehow… I felt Kana would enjoy Korean online games. Maybe we could play together later. That’s what I was thinking.

“But… aren’t these guys bad creatures invading Earth? Wouldn’t it be good if they went extinct?”

Thumbs-up Man immediately alleviated my guilt.

“Ah! That’s right?!”

These monsters attack innocent people at night, causing them to become shut-ins. We were doing the world a favor.

“Indeed. I’ve been checking the news… for several days now, the number of people becoming shut-ins has been zero.”

Sasits held up his phone showing the news.

Some unknown politicians were apologizing en masse. Politicians suddenly apologizing was a good sign. It was definitive proof that the incident was over. Now that the incident had ended, someone had to take responsibility—the hellish game of passing the blame had begun.

The politicians showing remorse now… were the losers in this blame game.

“We did a good thing for the world!! Right!!”

Umi said with a bright smile.

“Huh. Never thought I’d become a pirate doing good deeds for others.”

Kirtan sheepishly rubbed his nose.

“But there must be at least one monster left somewhere.”

Kana still couldn’t let go of her desire to level up.

“Ahaha!! I like how you think!! Let’s make one more quick round!!”

Feeling a sense of kinship, Taiga laughed heartily and patted Kana’s back. Those two got along surprisingly well.

Anyway, since it felt wrong to disband without doing anything, we divided into zones and made one more sweep through the old district.

——–

Thanks to our thorough search, we found one weird slime and a few regular slimes.

“Wow… so you were hiding here? You’re persistent. Very persistent.”

I smiled as I drew my Tomato sword.

They were desperately trying to open a manhole cover.

“Hehehehe. Did you think you could escape alive?”

Taiga approached the slimes, dragging his baseball bat.

“If we catch those… we should gain at least one level, right?”

Kana exclaimed with gleaming eyes.

“You guys are truly the most heinous villains…”

Sasits was looking at us with disbelief.

I get it. It was like a scene from that movie… Schindler’s List, was it?

But… we need to level up!!! Heroes need to be strong to protect Earth, you know!!

“Keeek!!”

“Kik!!”

The slimes awkwardly assumed fighting stances, but they had already lost their will to fight. The level difference was already over 10. What could they do?

The weird slime looked up at the sky and let out a single scream-like cry.

“Gerruk!!!!!!!”

That name sounded familiar. Could it be…

Then, something unexpected happened.

Rumble-!!

A dark red jelly-like substance formed on the ground. As the jelly writhed, a humanoid slime figure appeared above the ground.

Yes, it was Gerruk, my greatest adversary.

“Gerruk….. you…!!”

His level was still 5. It was definitely the same one I had faced before. Had I ever forgotten him? Not once. He was the only enemy who had ever pushed me to the brink of death.

“I heard… the screams of my comrades.”

At that moment, a deep voice came from Gerruk’s mouth. Wait, when did he get a Japanese language patch?!! Could he now speak human language?

“They were begging for their lives. Many of my comrades were calling for me. They were calling for a hero.”

Gerruk sighed deeply and created a sword in his hand.

“That’s why, even if it meant pushing myself… I returned from hell.”

Gerruk looked straight at me.

“Gerruk!! Gerruk!!”

“Gerrruk!!!”

The slimes all cheered for Gerruk in unison.

“I was stronger than your comrades. That’s all. I bear no ill will.”

I stood blocking Gerruk with my sword raised.

“I know. I don’t resent you either. However… I am a hero. A symbol of hope for the slime race!!!”

Gerruk shouted, assuming the same stance as before.

“Therefore… I will stand against you.”

I smiled slightly at Gerruk’s words.

“As you are now… you can’t stop me.”

That much was clear.

I had become level 70 after experiencing numerous challenges, while Gerruk remained at level 5. He hadn’t kept up with the power inflation at all.

“I know. If we fight, I will surely lose. But… I cannot back down.”

However, there existed a fighting spirit that couldn’t be expressed through levels.

“That’s what being a hero means. For my people… I’ll die as many times as needed!!”

With that shout, Gerruk charged at me.

“No. He’s just a level 5 weakling. Let’s just finish him quickly.”

Tina immediately stepped forward, cracking her knuckles.

“Don’t, Tina!! Everyone, stand back!! This is a duel!!!”

I shouted at Tina.

“Don’t interfere with a battle between warriors.”

That’s what I told Tina.

“Ah. A battle between warriors? That’s cool then.”

Tina immediately backed off. She really loves that warrior talk.

“It’s been a while, Gerruk.”

I also closed the distance toward Gerruk with my sword raised.

“Yes!!! It has been!!!”

Gerruk smiled as he swung his sword.

Claaaaaang-!!!!

The two swords collided, sending sparks flying. Yes, it was just like before.

“Put everything you have into it!!!”

I shouted as I strengthened my body with the Blazing Stance.

“Hnngh!!”

Gerruk’s body was thrown back hard.

Fwash-!!

Immediately after, I moved behind Gerruk’s back.

“Farewell, Gerruk. Thanks to you… I was able to become stronger.”

I thrust my sword into Gerruk’s back.

Squelch-!!!!!

The sword cleanly pierced through Gerruk’s back.

“Gerruruk…!”

With that, Gerruk’s stance crumbled.

“Impressive…”

Gerruk’s single word of praise seeped into my heart, creating definite ripples.

“As expected… you are strong. I’m glad… that you were my final opponent.”

With those words, Gerruk collapsed where he stood.

Thud-!!!

With that, Gerruk’s body melted into jelly.

“Gerruk……you…!!”

I shed hot manly tears. The spirit to sacrifice even one’s life for their comrades… you truly were the greatest man I’ve ever met. The best underwear I’ve ever worn is Sasits’s though.

At that moment, Taiga broke the solemn atmosphere.

“But… what are we going to do with these guys?”

Taiga pointed his baseball bat at the slime group we had just discovered.

“What else? We kill them.”

I immediately replied.

Well… that’s one thing and this is another, right?

And so, we completely wiped out the monster population.