Chapter 281 - 46: These Players Are All Slimes

It wasn’t just Duan Fei; all the players transported here cried out in surprise.

"Why am I right next to a Monster?!"

"Me too!"

"My Attributes are all 1, but I have bonus Equipment, so I killed a Slime as soon as I got here!"

"You’re lucky. I just got here and a Slime killed me. Watch me go get my revenge."

"Ah, a Slime killed me too! I’m going back to solo it."

"I died again. I’m going back for my solo kill."

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that these two players finally realized they were trying to solo kill other players, and that other players were the ones solo killing them.

Amidst the harsh caws of crows, a group of players in Slime form gathered together. Their gelatinous bodies perfectly conveyed a complex mix of speechlessness, dejection, and the sentiment of ’screw you, game devs.’

Dammit!

’What were the devs thinking, turning players into Slimes!’

Opening their quest objectives, they saw their goal was to advance into the Dungeon, find the Demon King inside, and eliminate him. After this discovery, they began to gather and discuss a plan.

However, they had too little information to go on. After their discussion proved fruitless, one player said helplessly, "Forget it. Let’s just go gather some intel first and see what we can find."

The moment this player finished speaking, a passing-by starving commoner walked up, grabbed the player, and tossed them into a boiling pot. In moments, they had become a thick Slime soup.

Drawn by the aroma, more starving people swarmed over, slurped the soup down to the last drop, and then, still wanting more, found other Slimes to continue making soup.

Watching their companions get turned into soup, the remaining players felt... awkward.

After all, their mission was to defeat the Demon King, but they hadn’t even left the starting area and were already being eaten repeatedly by refugees. No matter how you looked at it, the situation was humiliating.

It was like someone vowing to become the Pirate King, only to get dragged to the local police station by a beat cop right after stepping out the door. It was just incredibly deflating.

Distancing himself from the crowd, Duan Fei opened his attribute panel and saw that his stats were decent.

Thanks to the attribute bonuses from Savior’s Glory and his Mechanical Bracelet, Duan Fei’s current Attributes were:

Power: 7 (Savior’s Glory +4, Mechanical Bracelet +2)

Constitution: 1

Agility: 3 (Mechanical Bracelet +2)

Reaction: 3 (Mechanical Bracelet +2)

Spirit: 6 (Spiritual Power Ring +5)

Overall, his Attributes were decent, but his Constitution was low. He’d basically die if someone stepped on him.

His Agility was only 3, meaning his movement speed was just thirty percent of a normal person’s, but at least he could still run a little.

His various Skills were locked. A prompt behind each Skill indicated that Reincarnation Points were needed to unlock them.

Reincarnation Points were a special resource in this massive instance. They could be obtained by eliminating Monsters, delving deeper into the Dungeon, solving puzzles, acquiring items, and so on, but you could only truly claim them after dying once.

Besides unlocking existing Skills, Reincarnation Points could also be used to temporarily raise Skill Levels, temporarily gain attribute points, and more, fitting the saying, "death can make you stronger."

In addition, items in his backpack also needed to be unlocked with Reincarnation Points, though some were unlocked from the start and could be used immediately.

While Duan Fei was thinking, the group of Slimes was discovered by the refugees.

The starving refugees pounced madly on the group of Slimes. The gelatinous Demons were cooked in all sorts of ways, becoming delicacies that filled the refugees’ stomachs and served as their sustenance in this apocalypse.

Some refugees didn’t even wait for them to be cooked and started eating them raw, leaving the players both helpless and unable to escape.

Duan Fei was captured as well.

The person grabbed one player in each hand, dragged Duan Fei and another player to the side of the road, and then cooked the other player with incredible speed. He then said to a little girl nearby, "Come on, there’s something to eat."

The two children, one ten and the other eight, looked gaunt with sallow hair, clearly suffering from long-term malnutrition.

Drawn over by the thick Slime soup, the girl wolfed down the Slime, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.

The gelatinous Slimes had extremely high nutritional value, and their flavor varied depending on the type.

Most Slimes tasted like maple syrup, but there were also cotton candy and jam-flavored ones, which meant one didn’t get tired of eating them easily.

After enjoying a rare lunch, the brother and sister prayed devoutly for a moment, then patted Duan Fei and said, "This one is for dinner tonight."

"’You’re’ the one who’s dinner!" Duan Fei retorted irritably.

"This one can talk!" the sister exclaimed in surprise. "I wonder if talking Slimes taste better?"

"How could we eat it?" the brother said patiently. "A Slime this precious should be used to lure other Slimes to us. Then we can eat them slowly."

"To think a kid your age is such a strategist," Duan Fei remarked.

In response to Duan Fei’s praise, the brother gave a shy smile, patted his stomach, and said, "I’m pretty full right now, so I won’t bother you. If you have anything you want to say, go ahead. I’ll consider answering."

"What happened here? Was there a famine?"

"Mhm. The rains lessened and the harvests failed. Tenant farmers who couldn’t pay enough in grain had to mortgage their children. We were mortgaged to the local Lord."

"And the Lord?"

"He went to war and died, so we took the chance to escape. But there’s war everywhere, and famine everywhere. The Church claims the Demon King’s revival caused all these disasters, so they started recruiting Adventurers to subjugate him. But the Dungeon is too big. Most Adventurers who went in never came back, and eventually, the whole thing just ended."

"I see. Take me to the Dungeon."

"No," the brother immediately refused, shaking his head. "Walking there will make me hungry, and I don’t want to waste extra energy."

"You’re a difficult brat. Take this."

He took out the Black Mashed Potatoes from his backpack. It was one of the few items Duan Fei had that wasn’t locked.

Staring at the sticky goo, the brother frowned and couldn’t help but ask, "Are you a sewer Slime? Did you pick this up from the sewer? I’m suddenly not sure I want to eat you anymore."

"Did I ask you to eat me?! Now you eat this!"

Duan Fei’s soft body began to gather its strength. While his 7 points of Power couldn’t compare to an adult’s, it was more than enough to handle a ten-year-old boy suffering from long-term malnutrition.

The brother tried to resist, but Duan Fei was too strong for him. The Black Mashed Potatoes were shoved directly into his mouth, causing his face to turn red as he struggled to breathe.

"Brother!"

The sister cried out and started to rush forward, but her brother raised a hand to stop her.

Picking up Duan Fei, his eyes sparkled as he asked excitedly, "I’ve never eaten anything so delicious! Is there more?!"