[Liu Feng “Seer” sends a party message. “Do you need me there?”]
Zen smiled and replied to his party that he wanted to try clearing the first floor’s boss alone. After all, he didn’t need to clear it only once. Zen did not want them to know he intended to kill the pink slime ten times by himself.
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Beginner Cure Potion Recipe:
0/1 Pink Boss Slime Hair
4/2 Dewy Grass
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Zen already collected the dewy grass that was required for the beginner cure potion. He had no idea how useful it was for dungeons but seeing how he would kill big pink ten times, it would not hurt to make spares.
Groaning, Zen did not want to wake up. He was starting to get familiar with this smell, sound and feel. There was no other place that would give him such a peaceful vibe after that horrific death.“Welcome back, Zen. Did you rest well?” Father Clarence’s gentle voice drifted to his ear, and the young chef sighed. There was no use pretending to be dead when the clergyman was here already.“Sorry about that,” Zen apologised as he crawled out from his respawn coffin. “I’m alright.”Feeling vexed by the death caused by an area attack, Zen wondered if there was a way he could survive that second wave. Usually, there are several ways to overcome such patterns.Area effect attacks did not discriminate between tanks or healers. How
Several deaths later, Zen had all the splash poison potions he needed. This time, He wasn’t here to observe how to beat big pink. He was here to prepare a big pink killing spree.It turned out that potion crafting was a skill that gave him perks. The more he did it, the more efficient the potion was. The only downside was the amount of materials Zen needed just to become better at crafting potions. Gathering the red spider flowers was harder than smashing yellow slimes for their poison sac.Thankfully, sleeping potions were easier to craft than poison potions. Zen made a moderate batch of sleeping potions and dipped his shortsword into that foul-smelling liquid to deal with the spiders. It was disrespectful to a sword as well made as his, but Zen wasn’t a swordsman. He was a gamer, and it was the only logical thing to do.
All night. Zen spent the whole night just trying to kill the pink slime, but he failed no matter what he did.He was woken up two hours after he rage quitted by Liu Feng, who wanted to make a breakfast request.Not in the best of moods after last night, Zen growled at the blind assassin before his mind cleared. Realising that Liu Feng woke him up, Zen quickly apologised and tried to explain the situation in a muddled way because his brain refused to work coherently with only two hours of sleep.“It’s alright,” the Seer chuckled. “You stayed up very late last night. Did you manage to clear the first floor yet?”Zen slumped back onto the bed glumly. “I wish I did. I’m out of tricks.”
Armed with coffee, Zen tried the coffee shooting technique on all other slimes. It turned out that slimes were actually allergic to coffee. After getting sloshed on by enough of that dark liquid, they would explode into gooey bits. Then again, only the orange slime behaved differently after getting hit by coffee. They turned rigid into a stone-like structure that Zen could easily smack until their health vanished.He did not know how much coffee he needed to battle big pink, but if there was one thing Zen knew, the pink boss slime’s hair did not need killing to obtain. He checked his inventory after logging in again and found that he had a few locks already.===Beginner Cure Potion Recipe:2/1 Pink Boss Slime Hair0/2
Ben gave Zen a warning look as he handed the repaired wakizashi over. The young cook promised that he would be careful with the weapon even if he did not know how long he could keep his word.Leaving the town once more and hunting green slimes along the way until he reached the spot where he accidentally birthed a green slime, Zen reached into his inventory and rearranged the items. This time, he prepared a lot of coffee. He wanted to know how much coffee it would take to paralyse or kill a boss slime. The area boss was slightly smaller than big pink, but Zen thought he could calculate how much caffeine would be an overdose for a slime that huge for preparation.Gilda generously sponsored almost five gallons of coffee for his experiment, and Zen improved on that spit gun. He decided to borrow some things from Paul’s armoury and fashioned a coffee tank usi
Liu Feng and Akiko stared at the slime pudding Zen passed them. It wasn’t even an hour since Zen started his diving session when he found something miraculous.“Do you have more of this?” Liu Feng asked, barely containing his excitement.Zen shook his head. “It’s a daily item that I can claim so that’s all for today, although if I had the ingredients, I could make a less effective slime pudding. It’s half as effective in the boost, and the ingredients are a hassle to obtain.”Akiko held Zen’s hands so quickly that Liu Feng could not stop her despite seeing her vague outline rushing over to his sworn brother. The long-haired assassin hissed when she touched his cook.“Tell us what you need. I’ll get the oth
Standing outside of the familiar double doors in the cave made Zen very nervous. However, the reassuring presence beside him reduced the quaking in his legs. Liu Feng placed a hand on Zen’s shoulder when he heard how Zen’s heart rate increased drastically from where they stood.“It’s alright. I’ll protect you.”Those words left no room for doubt, and Zen closed his eyes, trusting the man who made an omerta with him. Even if Liu Feng had to take some damage, he reassured that Zen would not be the first to visit the chapel.Liu Feng’s strategy was simple. He would distract the boss slime and carry Zen up to the ceiling whenever an area attack would happen. During the third wave, Zen would attack the boss after Liu Feng cleared a path. The small slimes were annoying for Zen but
Pink Boss Slime Eyes? Checked.Pink Boss Slime Goo? Checked.Pink Boss Slime Skin? Checked.Pink Boss Slime Hair? Checked.Pink Boss Slime Lungs? Checked.Zen inspected the looted items from the first dungeon boss slime kill and beamed. He could make the slime puddings with these ingredients and a cure potion. Not to mention, he might commission a small ranged weapon using the boss slime lungs he received. It sucked losing his weapon, and if Liu Feng had not retrieved it for him, Zen might not be able to end the battle so quickly.“Six minutes,” Zen breathed. “Six minutes to kill one boss with you.”Liu Feng chu
Liu Feng was not pleased to learn that Zen was already considering inviting another troublesome person into his circle after sparring with Akiko. Yet, he could not say he was surprised. In the brief weeks of meeting Zen, he had seen enough to know it would not be the last time either. From the get-go, even Liu Feng had been drawn to the young cook because of this attitude. It was both the young man’s charm and weakness.While the blind teen had enough respect for Chatura, a famous strategist, he hated dealing with snake-like personalities. They already had several ticking time bombs in the Godly Food Party, and the Lau Triad’s influence could only shield Zen from so much harm. Damian Gorski had provoked half the Round Table, and Zen had rejected everyone there. An omerta might be sacred, but it was not always upheld by both parties. There were many ways to cancel an omerta, usually involving the death of one party, and Liu Feng did not wish to crush his younger swor
After finishing his dinner, Zen sipped on the weird concoction called tea from a heavy stainless steel tool holder sterilised in isopropyl alcohol. The cyborg offered to distil and mix some of his alcohol supply into the tea for a ‘better flavour,’ and Zen smartly declined. He did not have a mechanical gut that could be replaced easily. It was best to stick to conventional instant tea in unconventional cups, even if Damian stuck two very different flavours of instant tea in one cup.Although Damian had overheard the conversation in the kitchen, Zen still told him what he knew from Bolt and asked if Damian had a way to verify the information. Due to the many rumours floating around Chatura, it was difficult to know the kind of person she was. It was obvious who spread those rumours.Within thirty minutes, Damian uncovered a lot more than Zen thought was possible. Then again, he should probably not be surprised that the Gorski had such an extensive information ne
Sneaking dinner back to the room, Zen thanked Bolt and Yelena for updating him about the new faction. Although neither invigilator liked the strategist, Chatura was a very powerful person whom Zen found intriguing.Unfortunately, Liu Feng and Akiko were out. They said they would be sparring in the training ground and were not back yet. Sasha and Oritha were still in the gym, making Damian Zen’s only option to discuss this new situation with them.Deciding to take a quick shower, Zen sent Damian a text and asked if he could come over to discuss something confidential in thirty minutes with his dinner. The cyborg took a while to reply, but Zen smiled when he received an affirmation in the middle of his shower.Thirty minutes later, Zen knocked on Damian’s door, freshly showered and with a packed dinner in his other hand. There was nobody in the corridor, so Zen relaxed.Damian opened the door within seconds and welcomed Zen in.“Pardon the me
When Bolt returned with the first aid kit, he was largely relieved to see how Yelena was taking care of Zen. Taking over, he checked on the burn injury that had greatly reduced thanks to the ice cream tub, although the same could not be said of the melting liquid inside.“That might have to go back into the freezer for now,” he gently told Yelena, who agreed.Now that the actual adult was back, Yelena threw the explanation to Bolt. She hated the woman Chatura. There was no way she wanted to explain all the complicated history to Zen when she could barely speak English. Besides, between the two of them, Bolt was supposed to be the smarter one.“Oh, Chatura. Yes… it’s a complicated story,” Bolt frowned. “There are so many rumours and versions about what happened to her before she had been turned into an invigilator here. I’ve never personally met her or talked to her in my time here. However, I don’t think we have a
After spending most of the day in the virtual world, the rest of Party Godly Food excused themselves to hit the gym and stretch their muscles. Damian returned to finish compiling the game guide while Zen worked on preparing dinner. Yelena and Bolt were present, so there was no need for anyone else to keep him company. Not to mention, the kitchen hands were very helpful. Most of the ingredients Zen needed were already prepared. The dirty dishes from the last meal were washed meticulously and left to dry on the counter.“Did you find anything new in the dive this time?” Bolt asked while Zen mixed his seasoning.Zen wanted to make something simple for dinner as they had a heavy tea. Fried rice and some soup will do. There was more than enough for everyone later.“There were new things,” Zen admitted, reluctant to reveal too much information about the new features and unique split-path quests he and Damian had discovered. “However
Collecting the rewards for successfully defeating John’s cousin, the party members of Godly Food jumped into the portal leading to the next floor. Zen knew that the dungeon had different themes on every ten floors. The tenth floor of each themed stage would be different from the other stages in difficulty. It was why the vanguard team struggled with the twentieth floor’s boss. In addition to the stage mechanic’s difference, the final boss was also tougher to deal with. If not for the monstrous capabilities of the combatants, Zen doubted they could breeze through the first ten floors as quickly as they did.Anticipating a village or town vibe similar to the other floors from before, Zen was stunned to find himself in a rocky cave full of darkness. It had ominous vibes, and only Liu Feng moved confidently in the darkness. Everyone else minimised exploring further without a light source.“We’ll log out here,” Akiko informed Damian. “Y
After entering the boss dungeon den, Zen shivered. It wasn’t similar to a wolf’s den. If anything, it appeared closer to an actual dungeon, as if someone had deliberately attempted to imprison the boss here. The stale smell of dogs and many broken chains of different sizes on the ground spoke volumes about John’s cousin.Unlike the short werewolf, who remained in his werewolf form constantly, the boss was a monster who could transform. Depending on the moon cycle, it could be a violent and bloodthirsty monster or a broken man who lived in constant fear and misery of his curse.“He changes according to the moon cycle once the rampage begins,” Akiko explained. “I took a while to figure out how to kill him, even on the first run. He’s immune to damage on a blood moon. We need to finish it as soon as possible.”With a full party participating in a boss battle, Zen had faith they could conclude it before even the blood moon p
Finally approaching the final boss’s cave, Zen wondered if the storyline would change because they had let Han murder John brutally. His body had been hacked into pieces and scattered around the rotting forest. The maggots would get to it soon and reduce it to bones. Yet, the cruel butchering session remained fresh in Zen’s mind.Everyone in the party knew that feeling all too well. Having lived in the underworld, they sympathised with Zen, who had lived like a civilian his whole life. Although not everyone participated directly in the act of murder, they knew what it meant to take a life. Even Damian had seen it happen. He knew how to interrogate for information and was quite adept at the craft when required.“Don’t think too much about it,” Liu Feng was the first to break the silence. “He wasn’t even real. This is a game designed by the Godfather to find the next successor. It’s just another test.”Even if it wer
Even after many years of not being on talking terms with the rest of the family, Hans fitted right in when delving blows at the cowardly werewolf. Mai ripped out chunks of flesh with her teeth, snarling at it the whole time while Laura expertly force-fed the werewolf with different herbs with particularly nasty effects.Even with regeneration abilities, John could not recover from herbs that tasted nasty, gave him muscle cramps or made him itch all over. Laura truly knew how to make someone suffer, and Zen watched with morbid fascination at their different uses. Her apothecary skills were no less effective than those of Herbologist Hernie.“Can you heal him again?” Damian asked. “Han needs another round. Mai roughed him up a little too good.”With a priest in the party who did not worship any known religion, the torture session became smoother and more effective. No apology from John would appease the family’s anger. Although Zen did not