Chapter 16
[ ☆ Info/Guide) Black Sludge Guide: Even E-Ranks Can Do It (It's Fun!) (1187) ]
[ Posted by: Save the Newbies ]
< Photo of a man wearing sunglasses giving a thumbs-up >
Wow, friends~ It’s your uncle Newbie~
Cutting to the chase, today I’m showing you how to beat Black Sludge.
It’s fucking easy if you have the right supplies, so even E-rank climbers should follow along.
< Photo of a surprised man pointing at a Black Sludge >
Black Sludge.
The unlucky Ditto bastard that appears as a mid-boss on Floor 5.
It’s the gatekeeper of Floor 5, and it’s tormented countless newbies up to now.
< Black Sludge brutally destroyed, with only its core left >
The usual strategy is to destroy its weak point, the core...
But the damn thing is so tiny that it’s a real pain in the ass to break.
Melee-type climbers can’t even get close without poison resistance.
And even if they have it, they can’t last long if it’s below B-rank.
But with this one thing on hand, it’s easy enough to take down that even E-rank climbers—and even non-Awakened people—can do it...
And that thing is...
< Photo of a round hand grenade in someone’s hand >
A fragmentation grenade.
I’m not kidding. Seriously.
Actually, it doesn’t have to be a grenade. Any kind of explosive will do.
Even a decent D-rank explosive spell should work.
The important thing here is to detonate it “inside.”
< Black Sludge exploding with a grenade embedded in it >
You don’t need to know the exact science. Just think of it like an underwater explosion.
Shock waves travel powerfully through liquids, so the core gets shattered wherever it is.
Naturally, the slime will splatter everywhere when it explodes, so smart climbers should throw it from a distance while taking cover.
< Photo of the man in sunglasses posing with a sword >
Of course, I killed it with a sword.
Who doesn’t have poison resistance? What kind of weakling are you?
- Anonymous Climber: Holy shit, that’s an insane tip
- Anonymous Climber: I cleared it thanks to you, thx thx
- Saintess: Thank youㅠㅠㅠㅠ I cleared it thanks to youㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- Anonymous Climber: No, that last line lmaoooo
└ Anonymous Climber: This guy’s a... newbie?
- Anonymous Climber: Where do you get a fragmentation grenade?
└ Anonymous Climber: You lazy-ass question asker;;
└ Air Raid Alert: You can figure that out yourself...
└ Anonymous Climber: Try the black market
- Anonymous Climber: Wasn’t that thing immune to physical attacks?
└ Speed Vegan: It’s only immune to attacks against its slime, not its core...
└ Anonymous Climber: This guy killed it by slicing it up with a sword, though
- If a Cow Burns, Carbon: What?? An explosion????
└ If a Cow Burns, Carbon: I knew I was right!!!!
└ (OP) Save the Newbies: As if;;;
└ If a Cow Burns, Carbon: There’s nothing better than firepower...
└ Anonymous Climber: This guy just loves explosions, yeah
- Anonymous Climber: Came to pay my respects at the holy site
└ Anonymous Climber: Dropping an upvote and leaving
└ Anonymous Climber: People still read this?
└ Anonymous Climber: This is the only decent guide out there, anyway lmao
└ Anonymous Climber: Five years old and still the GOAT...
*
*
*
“Ahh. I understand perfectly.”
After carefully reading Save the Newbies’ guide, I nodded over and over, wearing an expression like I’d figured something out.
So I just have to make it explode, right?
Whether it’s a grenade or magic, I just stick it in there and make it go BOOM!!
└ Save the Newbies: Done reading?
└ (OP) 39.7: Yep
└ (OP) 39.7: I understand perfectly
└ Save the Newbies: Mm... now I’m worried...
└ Save the Newbies: You don’t have a grenade or anything, do you?
The guide’s author seemed worried, but that was unnecessary.
I already had a living spell-slinging meatbag who could substitute for a grenade.
“Can you use explosive magic?”
“E-explosive magic? I only know third-circle fire magic...”
Third Circle was about C-rank in terms of skill grade.
Its explosive power should be greater than that of most grenades.
“Can you delay the explosion?”
“That much... Yes, I think I can.”
“Okay. That’ll do.”
We had more than enough firepower.
All that was left was to blast that corrupted Ppeukkumi right in the mouth with explosive magic.
└ (OP) 39.7: Think this’ll work. Thanks
“Let’s do this.”
I left Save the Newbies a quick reply, then immediately made a metal pillar beneath my feet and shot forward.
Bang!
The wind brushed past my ears as the scenery stretched out.
With a faint sensation of floating, my whole body shot forward like a cannonball.
Whirl, Sssshweeek!!
As I got closer, the vines came flying at me like tentacles, just as before.
Each vine bent at bizarre angles, as if it had a will of its own.
They rushed at me, lashing through the air with a sound like a whip tearing through it.
Clang!!
I made a metal plate in midair and blocked the vines.
Maybe because Iris’s magic had cut off most of the tentacles earlier?
Each one was far weaker than before.
But...
‘Damn it... I’m almost out of cans.’
Blocking the vines to protect Iris just now had cost me a lot.
I could probably use the metal pillars to launch myself three more times.
And the shields, which used up even more metal, would only last another time or two.
So I reclaimed the metal I’d used to block the vines into my Inventory and drove the sword in my hand straight into the ground.
Crunch!!
Using the sword I’d planted as a pivot, I built up momentum.
My body swung around in an arc, pulled by centrifugal force.
My path turned almost ninety degrees on the spot, and all the vines chasing me missed.
That bought me a little breathing room, and I kicked off the ground again, charging ahead.
Whirl!
But maybe it didn’t want to let me get any closer.
It twisted the vines that had missed into a bundle, forming a stalk as thick as my torso.
Whoooosh──
Then those ridiculously thick vines swept horizontally across the ground.
“Ugh...!”
I pressed myself close to the ground, lowered my stance, and slid along it.
The swinging vine passed right in front of my face, just barely missing me.
KABOOOM!!
“Eek...!!”
Trees crumpled like straw, and a cloud of dust billowed up.
Iris, who had been preparing her spell, screamed, but I ignored her and kicked off the ground, getting back to my feet.
Anyone who’s played a Soulslike knows that a big attack leaves an opening.
And I had no intention of wasting the brief moment of breathing room I’d gained.
“Transmutation!!”
Bang!!
An aluminum pillar appeared once more, launching me forward.
The distance closed rapidly with a rush of wind.
The flower bud was now right in front of me. It opened its jaws wide, baring its teeth as if to swallow me whole.
“Now!!”
Crunch!!
I drove the sword I was holding into its lower jaw.
Gurgle, gurgle!!
Inside the open flower bud was a pool of roiling purple slime.
It shoved its head toward me, trying to trap me in the slime and snap its mouth shut, but...
“Transmutation.”
Crrrunch!!
The sword I’d driven in was faster, pinning its mouth open.
Sssss...
The vertical metal pillar corroded in the steam rising from the slime.
At the same time, the stench of a rotting sewer seeped deep into my lungs.
But instead of throwing myself inside like I had before, I called out to the reinforcements I’d been waiting for.
“Iris!!”
At my call, Iris fired an explosive spell into the open flower bud.
“『Fire Ball』...!!”
Fwoooosh!!
A fireball, molded like dough, traced an arc through the air.
It looked like a small artificial sun the size of a human head.
As I let go of the rod I was holding and jumped away, the fireball landed inside the open flower bud.
Pssshhhh...
......
...
...
“......”
“......”
A few seconds of silence passed.
“...Hey.”
I glared at Iris with a chilly look and spoke.
Iris desperately avoided my gaze and murmured in a trembling voice.
“Th-this is strange... There’s no way that should’ve failed—”
KABOOOOOOM!!!!
“—Aaaagh?!”
And then, at last, the explosion went off.
The flower bud swelling before my eyes was torn to pieces.
Slime burst in every direction as flames roared upward.
Eeeee──
“Shit...!!”
Thankfully, I’d made an aluminum shield in advance, so I wasn’t caught in the blast, but...
The explosion at point-blank range made both my eardrums ring in unison.
That crazy knife-eared bitch...!
Was she trying to make me go deaf?!
The least you could’ve done was tell me when it was going to explode!!
Eeee──....
As the ringing gradually died down, I came to my senses and hurriedly surveyed the area.
What I saw before me was the Ferum Flower, melted beyond recognition.
Even the flower bud that had been holding the slime just moments ago had melted into a shapeless mess as soon as the slime touched it.
Ding!
[ Main Quest ]
- Defeat the monster. (1/1)
- Reward: Floor 5 Entry Ticket, Superior Magic Stones x10
[ Main Quest Cleared. ]
[ You have cleared Floor 4 on Lunatic difficulty. ]
[ Clear rewards will now be granted. ]
[ You have obtained a Floor 5 Entry Ticket. ]
[ You have obtained Superior Magic Stones x10. ]
Just then, the quest-clear messages appeared before my eyes.
As I accepted my Floor 4 clear rewards with a satisfied expression and put them in my Inventory, I spotted Iris in the distance, rummaging through the withered Ferum Flowers.
“What are you doing?”
“It’d be such a waste... Ppeukkumi sap is so precious...”
“...Are you insane?”
Typical elf, for fuck’s sake...
They really are a race of crazy druggies.
‘Come to think of it... isn’t she a princess?’
What are we supposed to do if a princess is already like this...?
What’s going to become of the elves’ future...?
Lick!
“Ugh... It tastes like dirt...”
But maybe even Iris couldn’t stomach eating sap that had soaked into the dirt.
She spat out the sap-soaked dirt she’d scooped up with her finger and spoke to me.
“I think we’ll have to go somewhere else.”
“There’s another farm?”
“No? It’s not a farm. There’s a nearby natural habitat where wild Ppeukkumis live.”
......
I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed.
Hadn’t she learned her lesson after getting attacked by one that’d been taken over by Black Sludge just now?
Iris continued, walking along with an innocent air about her.
“The habitat’s right above that cliff, so... if we go there...”
“And where do you think you’re going?”
But before she could finish, a mature woman’s voice came from somewhere.
Tap, tap-tap!
At the same time, elves suddenly appeared from places that had been empty moments ago.
They warily trained their weapons—bows and daggers—on me.
Since I hadn’t sensed their presence despite being EX-rank, they were definitely soldiers with at least S-rank skill.
Then someone appeared from among the elven soldiers surrounding me.
“Lately, my daughter’s been shutting herself away in the forest and never coming out, so I secretly followed to see what she was up to...”
It was a snow-white woman wearing a crown.
Her faded green eyes and silver hair flowed down like a waterfall.
Her voluptuous figure curved beneath a thin dress, and her gaze, cold enough to chill me, looked down at me.
“Now, tell me.”
“Are you the human who fed my daughter that strange stuff?”
Iris’s mother.
In other words... the princess’s mom.
It seemed I’d been marked by the Elf Queen from the very first time we met.