Chapter 2. Slime Soul

With my heart pounding, I began to read the popup message outloud to Emma because she obviously couldn’t see my screen and I was eager to know what this message says after wasting 12 years of my fucking life killing those blobs hoping and praying that my luck would eventually turn.

“Passive skill acquired. Slime Soul. Passive bonus(Always Active), +255 to defense.”

Looking at my stats screen, I had to do a double take to verify the message I just received. Next to my worthless base defense of 1, I got (+10) from my cheap beginner gear that I couldn’t upgrade in over 10 years because those slimes only dropped the same cheap crap and after that, (+255) from passive skill Slime Soul for a total defense of 266.

“Ken! What does your total defense say! Ugh! It sucks that you can only inspect someone’s basic stats and level and couldn’t tell how much bonus they are getting from equipment, potions, enchants and passive skills!” Emma shouted eagerly while I am still trying to process what had just happened.

“Seems like it worked, 266 total defense.” I answered, still in shock that after 12 years of being stuck with no abilities and no skill, I have somehow gained my first ever skill and it kicked ass.

“ That is insane! +255? That’s the max stat possible! Now nothing under 133 att would do any damage to you! I have never heard of anyone gaining anything even close, especially not from a permanent passive skill!” Emma said excitedly like I don’t understand how this shit works.

“Nothing under 133 att if they don’t have any passive, ability or boost.” I added, trying to remain calm when I actually wanted to scream out for finally getting a fucking skill and for it to be this fucking good!

“I don’t think anything in Level D or E could do any physical damage to you now! If you really have this much armor now, we can go into any low level physical dungeon and we can start killing other things like goblins or skeletons or zombies! Should I look to see if there are any goblin dungeons around?” Emma asked me seemingly even more excited than I am.

“We need more testing Emma. I need to figure out why I gained this passive. You have killed over 200,000 slime and obviously nothing happened for you. We need to look online to see if there are any kill specific passives or if the trigger was something else. I can’t let this discovery go to waste, I need to figure out the mechanics and get strong enough to pass the entrance exam to Tokyo Academy in 8 months.” I told my excited blondie while trying to contain my own fucking excitement.

After I returned home from gaining my first skill, I was ready to browse through the entire web to see if anyone else on any forum or blog had ever reported such a case while the blonde girl was laying in my bed doing the same using her own brain implant and invisible screen.

“Emma, go home before your butler tracks you down to my room again. He gives me those murderous stares every time he sees me.”

“LADY EMMA! OPEN THE DOOR”

“And.. He is already here.”

“Albert! You need to stop.” Emma said to the butler like the old fucker would listen to logic and reasoning.

“Lady Emma. As the personal butler appointed to you since birth by your father. I refuse to let anyone have you before your wedding night!” The old man with grayish white hair and wearing his formal black butler suit said to Emma like he was the protector of her virginity.

“ALBERT! We are just doing research on how Ken can get stronger! Take your dirty mind out of the gutter!” Emma scolded the butler.

“I mean. If I didn’t know he would show up within a minute wherever you are, I would most likely have tried something by now.” I replied honestly.

Not gonna lie, even knowing this butler always shows up within a minute, I have always wanted to at least kiss this beautiful blonde who always stays in my room without an ounce of fear or doubt. It almost makes me mad that she doesn't find me a threat like I won’t try to make a move on her!

“KEN! Don’t encourage him!” Emma turned her scolding onto me.

After we searched the web for a few hours without getting any results on anyone ever reporting gaining an ability from a kill count unless it was a special conditioned dungeon boss fight.

I decided that maybe just like how I am the only person in the entire fucking world to start at level 0 instead of level 1. This passive gain was unique to me because of my fucked up leveling system.

“Gotta head out to my part time job, I will see you tomorrow at school Emma. Have a good night.”

At 745pm, I parted ways with Emma and her overprotective stalkerish butler Albert and headed to the neighborhood Seven Eleven where I worked part time to make ends meet.

“Good evening Ken! Did you get to hunt any slimes today?” My night shift manager Naoko asked.

“Good evening Naoko. I sure did get to hunt some slimes in Shibuya today. It was a good session.” I replied as I changed into my uniform as a minimum wage worker.

Kawashima Naoko, 27 years old, average height, weight and looks, she is your typical looking Japanese woman with her hair tied up in a bun and looks too old to be young and too young to look old and overall, just average looking and definitely fails in comparison to my blonde princess.

So why is a highschool student working at a minimum wage job so late on a school night you ask? Well, I happen to be a orphan and grew up without the support of a family like most of you lucky fuckers.

According to the orphanage I grew up in, I was found abandoned the day after Christmas as a newborn which puts my birthday on 12/25. Maybe I was the chosen one after all? But the orphanage I grew up in was definitely a shithole to put it nicely.

Overran with fucked up kids from drug addicts and prostitutes abandoned for whatever reason, the orphanage was so overcrowded that I had to share a single room with 19 other fucking kids and the older we got, the more awkward it became sharing a small room with 19 so called siblings who I barely knew or cared about as i only used the orphanage as a place to sleep for the night.

I met Emma when I was five years old on my first ever dungeon exploration. According to her, I protected her or something in the dungeon and she was in love with me ever since that day. No clue what I did but whatever it was, I will always be thankful to my five year old self for getting this gorgeous blondie to be my best friend and if not for that crazy overprotective stalking butler, she might have already become my lover.

Anyways, the moment I started highschool and got a job at this Seven Eleven, I ditched that shithole of a orphanage and moved in to the small studio apartment where I am currently stays at while making ends meet by working 3 to 4 hours every week nights and sometimes even on weekends while also getting the small amounts of drops and gold from the slime hunting. So all you fuckers sitting on your asses playing games while I am out here working, Fuck you!

“How much money did you make hunting today?” Naoko asked.

“We killed 200 slimes today and got 450 gold coins and a few worthless gear that sold for another 150 gold so my portion was 300 gold.”

“Sorry, I have a terrible memory and have to keep asking but what’s the exchange rate again?” Naoko asked.

It’s not your memory that’s terrible Naoko, it’s the fact that after every night shift, you get piss drunk and forgets everything I say from the night before. But it’s fine, I don’t mind telling you the same shit over and over since it makes my shift go by faster.

“ The rate is based on the US dollar so it fluctuates when converted to yen but 100 gold is a dollar and at the current exchange rate, I made about 400 Yen today. Not a lot but it’s better than nothing.” I replied knowing she would forget after she sobers up the following day.

If my goal wasn’t to get into Tokyo Academy and be a licensed hero, making 400 Yen after an hour of slaying slimes with the help of Emma is definitely a much dumber decision than even working here for 1000 yen a hour. But what can I do? If I want to be a fucking hero, I have to go kill the only shit I could and for the past 12 fucking years, it was those fucking slime balls.

“Why are you still only hunting slimes again? Aren’t they like the weakest monster that even someone like me who’s level 1 could beat? I do think a more difficult dungeon would have earned you more money.” Naoko offered me some advice, like this almost 30 year old permanent drunk lady knows anything about becoming a hero or how much I have struggled with life.

“I am in a unique situation where I can’t level so my base stats are always stuck at 1 so I can only do slime dungeons or else I have too high of a risk of dying unless I ask Emma to buy me some overpowered gear.” I replied, knowing she would just ask me the same question in a few days anyways thanks to her drunk ass.

“Yeah, no thanks, I will never go in one knowing that I could just end up dead.” Naoko replied as we stood around doing nothing since the store is rather slow during my shift.

“Ha, the dungeons are definitely not for everyone. But even if you don’t want to be a hero, you should at least gain a few levels and hope for a few useful skills.”I offered, knowing she could use a skill like cleanse with how drunk she gets daily. Besides, she isn’t me, even 5 year olds can party up, kill a few hundred slimes and gain a level or two.

“What does the stats even mean? All I see is a bunch of 1s.” Naoko asked. As if she could remember any of this information by tomorrow night but whatever.

“Everyone starts at level 1 with every stat at 1. Whenever you level, depending on luck, natural affirmation, training, items and skills, you will gain some stats and a skill. Those will allow you to take less damage, move faster and do more when you are either in combat with the monsters in a dungeon or even out here in the real world.” I replied, knowing full well that information just went over her head.

“Yea, you lost me. I will just stick with a normal job, make my normal pay and live a quiet stress free life.” Naoko said with a yawn, getting bored from our conversation that she started.

Well Naoko, I am equally bored from having to explain the same shit to you every night and you aren’t even cute. Then again, as much of a menace her butler is, Emma is like a real life banshee whenever she sees me flirting with other cute girls. Speaking of banshees, I wonder when I will be strong enough to go into a banshee dungeon. I heard they drop some high level gear with great stat boosts.

After my shift was over at midnight, I bid Naoko farewell and walked the short 5 minute walk back to my apartment so I could theorycraft some more about how to test out my theories on why I was able to gain this unique passive.

With only 8 months left until the entrance exam for Tokyo Academy, I wondered if there was enough time left for me to make use of what I have learned and to test out all my theories and to prove to that stupidass teacher who told me to face reality, that my reality is to be the fucking hero that will one day save the world from whatever the fuck that might or might not happen.