Chương 15: The Coward's Commute

Recap: You stole Squee's mana crystal. Grumble and the Shaman went deeper into the dungeon. You voted to RETREAT TO FLOOR 2. Retreat is just strategic withdrawal with better branding. Grumble was heading to Floor 4. The adventurers were likely heading to Floor 1 (the exit). I was heading to Floor 2 (the middle ground). It was the perfect place to lay low, regenerate, and maybe find some scraps left behind by people who ran faster than me. I waited until the goblin footsteps faded completely.

Then I engaged my Tremorsense. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION Skill Used: Tremorsense (Active) Cost: 0 MP (Mana Infused Buff) Duration: Unlimited (Until Buff Expires) Usually, keeping this on would drain my mana dry in ten minutes. But thanks to the crystal I stole (sorry, Squee), I had a full-time sonar system. I slid out of the alcove. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. The journey was agonizingly slow. Five feet per six seconds. That's fifty feet per minute.

The transition from Floor 3 to Floor 2 was about half a mile back the way I came. Do the math, I thought. That's… almost an hour of sliding. My Mana Buff had fifty minutes left. I turned on the Tremorsense and kept it on. I felt everything. The drip of water. The scuttle of beetles. The distant roar of… something large on Floor 4. Twenty minutes in, my stamina dipped.

SYSTEM NOTIFICATION Stamina Cost: 1 SP per minute (Sustained Movement) Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Current SP: 16/20 Forty minutes in, the air changed. Less sulfur (Floor 3), more damp earth (Floor 2). The moss got thicker. The walls got dirtier. SYSTEM NOTIFICATION Status Effect: Mana Infused Time Remaining: 10 Minutes I was almost there. The transition zone. A wide cavern where the stone floor turned to packed dirt. And there, lying in the dirt, was a backpack.

It belonged to Kael or Jax. The adventurers from before. When I blinded them with the web, they panicked. They must have dropped it when they fled. I slid closer. Tremorsense pinged the contents. Metal. Cloth. Glass vials. Jackpot, I thought. But wait. My sonar picked up something else. Hovering over the backpack. A slime. Not a normal slime. A Yellow Slime. Acidic. Level 2. It was pulsing gently, dissolving the leather strap of the backpack. It hadn't seen me yet. Slimes don't have eyes.

They sense heat and vibration. If I moved closer, it would feel me. If I attacked, it would splash acid. Acid melts wood. Acid melts me. But inside that bag… I felt the glint of metal. Maybe another weapon? Maybe armor? I needed two more metal items for my Ironband evolution. The Mana Buff was dying. Ten minutes. Then I'd be paying for Tremorsense again. Current Stats: HP: 11/15 (Unchanged) Mana: 10/10 (Buff Ending in 10 mins) Stamina: 16/20 (Movement cost) Inventory: 3 Pebbles, Rusted Iron Dagger (Undigested).

Status: Mana Infused (Expiring), Acid Slime Nearby, Loot Detected. What do you do? A) EAT THE SLIME Acidic matter might hurt, but slimes are pure XP and mana. Bite it before it eats the loot. (Cost: 2 SP. Damage: 2-6. Risk: Acid Damage to HP. Reward: XP, Mana.) B) STEAL THE BAG (SNEAK) Wait for the slime to move. Use your tongue to drag the bag away slowly. Avoid touching the slime. (Cost: 3 SP. Dexterity Check. Risk: Slime detects vibration.) C) USE REMAINING MANA BUFF Cast a skill while MP is still free.

Use Taunt (Unlock Check: Level 3 required? No, locked). Use Tremorsense Overdrive (Push range to 15ft temporarily) to scare it. (Cost: 0 MP (Buff). Effect: Scare Slime. Risk: Buff expires immediately after.) D) WAIT FOR BUFF TO EXPIRE Stay still. Let the slime dissolve the bag. Maybe it drops the metal items when it's done. Loot the scraps. (Cost: 0 SP. Time Skip. Risk: Items might dissolve too.) VOTING CLOSES IN 24 HOURS. Reply with A, B, C, or D. Most votes wins. [Author Note] Thanks for voting on Chapter 14!

Option C (Retreat) was the smart play. You avoided Grumble's party but ran into a Floor 2 hazard. Your Mana Buff is expiring soon!