As the Hunter Train docked at Green City and three days passed, murmurs of dissatisfaction began to rise among the Hunters.
“What on earth are we supposed to do here?!”
“Wasn’t it supposed to be at least a month…?”
“Seriously, without a hunting target set, what do they want us to do?”
“Gathering hundreds of A-grade Hunters just to leave us hanging?”
“Ugh, I just love being left alone~”
“What kind of crazy woman is this… Did she come to Green City on drugs or something?”
The Hunter Train was originally established for the purpose of exploring uncharted areas and dungeons, but after entering Green City, no clear objectives or hunting targets had been defined. Most importantly, Hunters felt extremely uneasy in a city inhabited by non-human entities possessing intelligence similar to that of humans.
The basic knowledge of Hunters was that intelligent monsters could possess malice and wickedness, regardless of the danger level.
Furthermore, the residents of Green City had appearances somewhat similar to humans. Originally, they would be considered mere monsters with no human rights, and killing them wouldn’t bring any guilt, but…
“No, still, they all look like people, and it feels a bit wrong to kill them…”
“Besides, I heard something about this Grakshar Orc collaborating with the Association? Isn’t it just asking for trouble to get involved?”
“Why does the operating committee of this Hunter Train only consist of shady characters? They won’t even speak…”
“I’d rather they just said we were going to annihilate Green City; at least that would make sense…”
“Hey, hey, an annihilation of Green City is out of the question. I heard that weird green sun brings the dead back to life.”
“Ugh, that’s a bit scary.”
Monsters were now speaking and living just like humans.
Drug addicts and homeless people were helplessly rolling about on the streets.
Succubi and imps were soliciting customers.
Street vendors packed alleys, cutting meat and cooking.
The sight of monsters living like humans was unsettling for many Hunters.
If there were a boss monster to hunt, it might have been different, but the operating committee of the Hunter Train and the Hunter Association hadn’t provided any actionable guidelines.
It seemed like Wooden Blackhand and a few Hunters were doing something under direct commission from the operating committee and the Hunter Association, but apart from that, the Hunter Train was doing nothing here.
As dissatisfaction grew among the Hunters, the operating committee sent out a notice to all Hunters.
[Please consider Green City as a break before the Hunter Train proceeds to the next dungeon. Feel free to do whatever you like.]
Though they said to do whatever you like, it wasn’t clear what kind of monster spoils could be found in Green City to make money.
Hunters ultimately needed spoils from dungeons to earn money, fame, and better equipment or potions; risking their lives to clash with monster gangs in the heart of Green City was tantamount to a suicide mission unless one was supremely confident in their own abilities.
Green City was home to all kinds of monsters and non-human entities, and if they drew too much attention, they might be eaten by the city before they even got to call for help from the Hunter Train.
Most of all, the sheer number of human-like monsters created a hesitation to hunt and engage in combat.
Eventually, many Hunters chose to explore the city as if they were tourists or to stay aboard the train.
Taking a break wasn’t a bad option; after all, many Hunters had equipment that was corroded or broken due to the variant slimes in the Blood Swamp, so a long repair period was far from a bad thing.
After all, the Hunter Train still had a long journey ahead.
It was deemed unnecessary to strain themselves right now.
However, while the Hunters’ dissatisfaction faded…
“I’m bored! Kiyek!!”
Yane’s complaints did not subside.
“Be quiet. Even Mother is getting splashed.”
“Kyi…”
“It’s all right. It’s a hot spring anyway.”
Hehe, it’s becoming broth… I’m losing strength… If I lose strength, I’ll be defenseless… I’ll definitely be turned into a mess…
“Would you like some eggs?”
“Oh, thank you.”
Kiyek!
Yane’s voice, scratching like a chalkboard yet oddly pleasant, echoed within the hot spring compartment of the train.
In comparing the danger levels between the Blood Swamp and Green City, the Blood Swamp was undeniably much more perilous, but the thick green mist surrounding Green City radiated an eerie atmosphere, making it less than an ideal tourist destination.
Shia was a naturally curious child, so she went out with Menelapie and Teresa, while Yoonjeong planned to enjoy enough rest and leisure aboard the Hunter Train with Yane and the others.
Indeed, the entertainment and recreational facilities inside the Hunter Train were quite good.
Casinos, karaoke rooms, PC rooms, firing ranges, and more, not to mention that two separate train cars were dedicated to pretty excellent hot spring facilities that even elves dispatched from Daesanrim would occasionally visit.
“Haah, this is nice…”
Wrapped in a towel, Yoonjeong comfortably submerged herself in the warm hot spring and closed her eyes.
While exploring a dungeon with fantastic scenery, as Shia suggested, might have been nice, Yoonjeong was feeling quite happy just riding the Hunter Train.
When would a D-grade Hunter ever get to ride in the Hunter Train?
In the past, he would have never even dreamed of it, only watching the opening ceremonies on TV with envy.
No, he probably wouldn’t have had the time to watch TV at all.
Back then, the Hunter Train departing was just a distant story to Yoonjeong, who would wake up at dawn to grind low-tier dungeons in Gyeonggi-do for money, while enduring harassment from a despicable guild leader, before returning to a place in 2088 where even the heating barely worked and where he’d fall asleep covered in exhaustion without a shower.
Thinking back, life now felt like a paradise beyond compare.
Shia was trying her best to take Yoonjeong on a sightseeing tour, but unfortunately, due to the limited visibility enforced in the Blood Swamp and the ambush risks presented by variant slimes, they couldn’t quite manage any proper sightseeing, and the lawless area of North Korea had little to offer aside from mountains, forests, and the occasional ruin.
And Green City exuded a nightmarish dystopian atmosphere typically found in subculture literature.
“Ahh, the hot spring water is nice.”
“It is. By the way, you mentioned you’re a slime? Do slimes take baths?”
“Not that other low-level slimes would, but I’m a monster that loves to stay super clean.”
Hana, munching on a boiled egg, took a spot next to Yoonjeong.
Having evolved into the Slime Empress, she still hadn’t fully grasped her existence and was slowly becoming confused about whether she was a monster or a human since she had spent so long in a human body.
Naturally, she was aware of being an ambiguous being and understood that the moment she was abandoned by the Mangja Seongnyeo, it meant death.
Surprisingly, Kim Hana found her current situation quite agreeable.
Just maintaining a good relationship with this human named Yoonjeong is all I need, right? Compared to that hellish existence I first envisioned, this is a much more comfortable scenario…
Honestly, she had thought she’d be tortured or psychologically reformed, but the Mangja Seongnyeo had levied no particular restrictions on Hana.
Beside her was the childlike Yane, the Elder Mandragora who typically just slept, and the Hyung-An’s Mermaid Princess, who appeared to be the smartest and acted like a leader, yet surprisingly offered little interaction.
This was far better than living in that dark, crimson area of the Blood Swamp.
Boom!
At that moment, a small tremor echoed as a part of Green City exploded beyond the window of the Hunter Train’s onsen compartment.
The Hunter Train was protected by barriers, so there was no problem, but explosions like that happened multiple times a day in Green City, hinting at the lawless nature of the place.
“Wow… What kind of scary neighborhood is this? I heard explosions and gunshots happening dozens of times yesterday…”
“Still, isn’t it quite a sight from here?”
“Is that so?”
“They say it’s a tragedy up close but a comedy from a distance, right? We’re observing from afar. Watching the hot spring view from the window feels like we’re watching a movie.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
As Hana said, simply staring out the window did evoke a cinematic sensation.
A dystopian lawless city filled with all sorts of monsters and beings, shootings, battles, fights, clashes, conflicts, explosions happening numerous times a day, and amidst it all, the streets were still brilliantly lit.
As night fell, the fierceness of the battles intensified. Just before dawn, lives would be lost, corpses scattered, only to return to life again when the green sun rose.
That was Green City.
Ugh, I surely couldn’t live there.
Hana was frankly feeling quite alright in her current lifestyle.
Human body.
Human intelligence.
Though she wasn’t quite sure, she supposedly had the power of the Slime Empress.
In a stretch, one could say she had the backing of Mangja Seongnyeo.
Submerging in such a warm hot spring raised her quality of life beyond what she had expected, making her utterly satisfied.
[..Ahwa…]
“…Huh?”
At that moment, Hana opened her eyes at the sound she heard in her ear.
“Did you hear something just now?”
“I’m hearing the explosions from Green City continuously, but…”
No, it wasn’t just a voice.
It was something closer to brain waves she could hear directly.
And Hana was the Slime Empress.
More accurately, she was a brain-eating variant Blood Slime Empress.
Only a few beings could send brain waves directly to her.
One of those was, of course, the Mangja Seongnyeo, Shia.
The other was her kin.
“Hana, where are you going?”
“…Mother. I’ll be right back!”
“You have to return before dinner!”
“Yes, yes!!”
Having donned her Hunter suit, Hana swiftly exited the train heading into Green City.
As she entered the gates of Green City, she was met with an unknown acrid smell and alleys filled with gunpowder residue.
Bang!
Boom!
Crunch!
“Die!”
“Why die? We’re coming back to life soon anyway!”
“In that case, just chop off their arms and legs!”
Rusty nails flew through the air instead of bullets, and balls filled with blades exploded instead of grenades.
The fierce battle wasn’t confined to a couple of back alleys but enveloped the entire district, where centaurs and rat-folk scavengers waged massive turf wars.
Besides them, the streets were littered with all sorts of corpses with missing limbs.
The only ones still intact were the homeless and drug addicts hiding in fright. Bat-like beings, resembling humanoids, casually slept on the high-rise walls despite the fighting erupting right below.
“Those rat bastards got wrecked by some human earlier!”
“Their combat troops are mostly gone! This is our chance! Push them back!”
“Cowardly! Cowardly! You cowardly bastards!”
“That’s right! Cowardly!”
“Shut up, rat bastards! You plague-infested scum seized our turf and now shout about cowardice?! From now on, your territory belongs to our clan!”
“Resistance! Resist!”
“Fight! Fight! You cowardly heads!”
Not only conventional weaponry, but everyone was also engaging in combat using bizarre-looking firearms.
Centaurs, with tattoos on their bodies as if charging like Yakuza wielding metal pipes, created a fierce clamoring. Meanwhile, the mafia scavengers, armed in suits, indiscriminately fired various range weapons at the centaurs.
‘A battle between Yakuza centaurs and tiny mafia rat bastards…’
Yikes.
The fighting was pretty intense…
From a distance it seemed manageable, but seeing it up close, Green City was a poignant hell.
Street art depicted limbs and colorful blood splatters in the middle of the thoroughfare, but to the residents, it appeared to be just another part of daily life.
Hirrrrgh!
Fwoosh!
“Ow!”
In a moment of darkness, Hana realized a bullet had lodged itself into her eye.
Her fluid eyes returned to normal, but she judged that forging a path through the gang violence would be challenging.
Unfortunately, there was no visible way back.
‘The Hunter Train said we could do as we please. Mother didn’t give me any specific orders…’
Besides, it was self-defense.
“Uwaaaah!”
Hana expelled something from her mouth.
A slightly translucent liquid shimmering with a faint red light began to pour out like a waterfall.
Chiiieek!
However, as soon as the liquid touched the ground, the concrete floor began to decay and dissolve instantly.
Even in that moment, the scavengers and centaurs paid Hana little heed.
Residents who died caught in gang fights had always existed. The gangs felt no guilt over those who could come back to life the next day, so they had no reason to care about whatever Hana was doing.
Ugh…
Hana found the sensation of vomiting quite bothersome, likely because she had a human body.
But whether she liked it or not, she had to get familiar with human sensations.
And when Hana gestured, the liquid that was corroding the ground suddenly spread in all directions.
The small pool of liquid rapidly expanded like a contagion, and within moments, it made contact with the surfaces the centaurs and scavengers were treading upon.
Chiieeek!
“Aaah!?”
“Ghhhuuuek!!”
The first sensation they experienced was the burning pain of their skin dissolving.
Fortunately for them, they had ceased to comprehend the pain before their lives were snuffed out.
Puh-puh-puh-puh-puh!
The moment Hana’s liquid made contact with a living being’s body, one drop seized the blood flow internally, infiltrating it and penetrating through their vital heart.
They showed no external injury, yet those whose hearts had been pierced by the gang fell without even issuing a scream.
“Nghh! Y-you! What are you doing?! Why aren’t you shooting….Ugh!?”
“What’s happening?! Why did they suddenly stop……Fffkk!”
Puhah!
Swish!
Puff!
Puhah!
The sudden halt of the actions of a nearby companion provoked alarm in the surviving gangsters, as Hana’s ripple spread throughout the entire gang occupying the alley.
Within 30 seconds after Hana expelled her liquid, the battle between scavengers and centaurs concluded almost instantaneously.
“Kyi, Kyi….Run! Run!”
Thud!
“Ugh……”
Having dealt with the final remaining scavenger’s heart with a drop of liquid, Hana swallowed her expelled liquid back down.
“Gulp… Ugh… Ugh… Hmm, good. That turned out well. Cleanly handled.”
Fortunately, swiftly clearing a path, Hana managed to walk peacefully and securely through the once chaotic intersection.
What she had thought would be a quiet getaway turned out to be anything but.
Sorry, rats and horses.
Even so, Hana had to pass through this place.
That voice; if I’m not going crazy, it was Mother’s voice.
[Mother]
Before becoming Kim Hana.
The Mother ruling over the Blood Swamp variants.
Mother’s voice was somewhere beyond this realm.
It was undoubtedly Mother’s voice. Then why is Mother perceived from here…?
Hana had not expected to sense a being that resonated with her in this place, but more puzzling was the very fact that she heard Mother’s voice.
How could the mother of the Blood Slime, which had been consumed by Isia’s nuclear attack, be here in Green City?
Even stranger was that being a Slime Empress, she was immune to auditory hallucinations and mental confusion.
This meant that Mother’s voice wasn’t an illusion or a falsehood.
Logically, it doesn’t make sense…
Thus, to unravel this mystery, Hana had no choice but to head toward the noise that was confusing her mind.
And….
“Welcome to Alley Shia’s Restaurant!”
“Wahahah! Welcome!”
“Welcome…”
“Oh, Teresa! Liven up and say it louder! And don’t forget to add ‘my master’ at the end; it’d be better!”
“…Uh, um… Welcome, my mas-ss-significant being!”
“…….”
Following the mysterious voice, Hana saw familiar faces eagerly welcoming customers with open arms.
Next to Shia was Teresa in a staff uniform, the Mint Queen cheerfully smiling, and in the back stood the Grasshopper Cutting Head, chopping meat alongside Menelapie.
Above, a sign that seemed to be crudely etched with the words [Alley Shia’s Restaurant] illuminated by Seongnyeok and magical aura confirmed that it was indeed a restaurant.
“……”
What the hell is this…?
Though Hana had only been human for a short time, it seemed she was picking up curses faster than expected.
