I became a childhood friend of the middle boss. - chapter 22

Episode 22

[Energy Fruit]

◆ Item Category

― Fruit

◆ Detailed Description

― A fruit favored by the Pakit Apes, also used as an ingredient for potions.

◆ Effect

― Restores 50 MP when consumed.

I found the fruit in an area where Pakit Apes appear. It looked similar to the Vitality Fruit but was a different color, a blue fruit. I picked the fruit hanging from the tree.

Crunch.

As I bit into the Energy Fruit, sweet juice flowed out.

‘The Vitality Fruit had a refreshing texture, but this one is more viscous.’

It felt like tasting a sweet fever reducer.

This was an experience that couldn’t be had in a game where you use fruits on characters by manipulating character slots. As I swallowed the juice, I felt my mana recovering.

‘If I head to the lake like this, it should be fine.’

Licking the juice off my fingers, I picked more fruits nearby and stuffed them into my pocket.

With this much, I wouldn’t have to worry about consuming health and mana.

Thud!

I ran along the branch’s end and jumped onto the branch of the tree right in front of me.

I tried to shorten the time to the lake by jumping between the trees.

‘I wasted time looking for fruits… I need to make up for that.’

Since I had to jump between the trees, I couldn’t ignore the consumption of mana. Each time, I ate an Energy Fruit to replenish my mana.

Whoosh!

Crash!

Occasionally, hidden Pakit Apes would throw rocks at me the moment I jumped.

However, they weren’t a threat.

Clang!

…Creeeek!?

My instinct to evade kicked in.

Twisting in mid-air, I returned the rock thrown by one of them with my sheathed sword.

‘There’s no need to chase them down.’

Without looking back, the result was a hit.

I landed on a branch well below my intended target and didn’t even glance at the direction the rock had come from.

As long as I hit it, that was enough.

After all, the condition to clear this gate wasn’t to defeat all monsters but simply to collect the items.

Still, going out of my way to kill them would only waste time and effort.

Thud!

I turned without hesitation.

Soon, the ecology of the jungle changed.

‘The trees have become lower. The leaves are wider, and the ground feels muddy.’

The world inside the gate deviated significantly from common sense, with extremes of tropical and temperate coexisting.

Sudden changes in the surrounding environment weren’t uncommon either.

‘In games, when the environment changes, the monsters that appear also change…’

I moved forward while suppressing my presence.

Since there was a high chance of encountering monsters other than Pakit Apes, I needed to stay alert.

Not long after…

Croak, croak.

I spotted some monsters.

Toads that looked like they were wearing yellow hats were waddling around on the muddy ground.

‘Were they also in this gate?’

I recognized the identity of the creatures beneath me from my past life’s memories.

Mud Kero.

In humid environments, their speed increased by one rank, making them strong among Rank 1 monsters.

‘If I want to head to the Lake of Collecting, I have no choice but to pass those things.’

However, the annoying thing about Mud Kero wasn’t just that.

They could spit out mucus from their mouths to attack from a distance, and their hit rate was high.

Getting hit by their mucus could cause paralysis with a certain probability.

They were quite bothersome.

‘While I’m confident in evading, the problem is I don’t know how far their habitat extends…’

Even if their attacks weren’t strong, paralysis would be a headache.

Fortunately, there was a way.

‘I need to find an antidote while moving through their habitat.’

In the muddy areas where Mud Kero primarily resided, there were flowers that grew by feeding off their energy.

White flowers blooming from the mud.

The roots of those flowers had an antidote effect that cured paralysis.

Thus, I decided to focus on finding that flower.

From now on, I planned to search for that flower while moving.

Just then.

Croak, croak.

“…”

Feeling a presence, I looked up.

A Mud Kero, hiding under a broad leaf and puffing its cheeks, was pressed against a tree trunk.

[Encountered a Monster.]

[Mud Kero (Rank. 01) x 1]

The amphibian’s distinctive eyes were looking at me.

“Shit.”

Come to think of it, Mud Kero was known for being adept at hiding in jungle environments.

It hadn’t been properly reflected in the game, so I hadn’t remembered.

I let out a curse.

At that moment, the battle began.

The ones below reacted as well.

[Encountered a Monster.]

[Mud Kero (Rank. 01) x 4]

“…Damn it.”

The battle wasn’t easy.

Two of them continuously fired mucus to block my movements, while one, smart for an amphibian, cornered me.

The other two tried to restrain me with their long tongues.

‘Are they expecting kids to handle this? Isn’t the difficulty too high?’

It might be manageable for middle schoolers, but for me, still just an elementary school student, it was quite a challenging evaluation.

‘Or am I just unlucky?’

That could be the case.

Mud Kero were monsters that usually acted alone.

Yet, I had the misfortune of encountering five of them acting alone.

‘Is my luck low? In games, luck affected critical hit rates, evasion rates, and drop rates…’

Perhaps in this world where games became reality, luck stats might influence other aspects as well.

‘But I can’t just raise my luck…’

I clicked my tongue.

Luck stats were hard to raise, and for me, with the instinct to evade, it was of lesser importance.

Health, agility, strength, endurance, magic.

I had been prioritizing luck stats at the very bottom of my interests.

Anyway, I somehow finished the battle.

“They’re being reckless.”

Croak, croak…

It was impossible to play like this in the game.

I realized that their coordination wasn’t as good as I thought and disturbed them.

As a result, they ended up attacking each other and fell apart.

“If they keep this up, they’ll get along well.”

I chuckled at the sight of them entangled with each other’s tongues.

They couldn’t untangle their tongues and were stuck in place.

“Let me take a quick snapshot.”

Croak, croak…

I left them as they were.

If I cut their tongues, they would continue to fight until they bled to death.

I preferred to avoid such troublesome matters.

So, after taking the picture, I turned away without hesitation.

Soon, I found the flower I had been looking for.

“…Found it.”

A white flower growing in the mud.

Checking the flower’s information, I carefully dug out the roots.

Then, I roughly cleaned the roots and swallowed them.

“Tastes bitter…”

[You consumed the Mud Herb Root.]

[Paralysis resistance increased by 11% for 30 minutes.]

[If you consume Mud Herb multiple times, you can increase paralysis resistance up to 15%.]

The increase in paralysis resistance varied depending on the condition of the flower.

I consumed another Mud Herb to further increase my paralysis resistance.

“This should be enough.”

With a 15% increase in paralysis resistance, I wouldn’t be affected by Mud Kero’s paralysis.

From then on, I continued through the jungle while searching for more Mud Herbs.

How far did I go?

“Hmm?”

“If only my body moved properly…”

While I was making good progress, I spotted someone down below.

“…Ugh!”

That person was fighting against what looked like a Mud Kero wearing a dark red hat.

‘That’s…’

Ruddle Kero.

A Rank 2 monster.

In the game, a character’s main stats needed to be over 50 to be somewhat manageable.

‘Whoever it is, they must be having a tough time.’

Just as my grandfather had explained beforehand.

Most monsters in the gate were weakened.

Ruddle Kero seemed to be one of them.

While it might look like sweat, blood was continuously oozing from its glistening skin.

There were noticeable deep cuts from blades here and there.

It was almost dead.

“Hmm…”

That said, it was still a Rank 2 monster.

Even if it was weakened, its combat sense couldn’t be ignored.

‘Looks like it’s been paralyzed.’

Meanwhile, the relative with its back to me couldn’t fight properly, possibly due to not being able to move as they wished.

‘What should I do?’

Even if I didn’t help, hunters nearby would probably come to assist at the right moment.

“Hmm…”

Still, it felt wrong to just pass by.

‘I guess I have no choice.’

I decided to help the relative whose name I didn’t even know.

“Don’t come!”

The Ruddle Kero’s attention was focused on that relative.

It didn’t notice my presence.

I took the opportunity to approach it and planned to take its life in one swift move.

Thus…

“Phew…”

I gathered mana at the tip of my sword and prepared to jump down.

Rolling my eyes, I assessed my position and the Ruddle Kero’s location while searching for a path to get there.

A few trees caught my eye.

If I stepped on those tree trunks, I could fall into the desired position.

<Water King Style Attack Type 7>

I spread my footwork.

Exploding the mana gathered in my soles, I stepped on the tree trunk I had just marked and fell to the ground.

The creature still hadn’t noticed me.

Lion’s High Drop.

An attack style where the power increases proportionally to the height of the fall.

The mana gathered at the tip of my sword reacted.

The spiral-shaped rotating mana rapidly swelled, enveloping me.

Kiiiiiing!

The sound of the wind tearing apart echoed.

That sound was as ominous as a lion’s roar.

And at that moment…

…Kero?

[Encountered a Monster.]

[Ruddle Kero (Rank. 02) x 1]

It heard that sound too.

But by the time it looked up, it was already too late.

I plunged the sword strike, tearing through the wind, into its crown.

──!

The mana that had enveloped me and my sword soon covered it.

A storm of mana.

A tempest like a lion’s claw swept over it.

The top of its head burst open first, and it was torn apart from top to bottom.

With that,

“Phew…”

“You, you’re…”

The Ruddle Kero met its end.

I excluded the situation where its flesh and blood splattered onto me and let out a sigh of relief.

It consumed a fair amount of mana.

Crunch.

I bit into the Energy Fruit.

Then, I turned to look at my relative, who had ended up in a messy state because I hadn’t deployed my barrier in time.

“Are you hurt? Here, eat this…”

“Do Gyeon Woo…”

Since I had already done a good deed, I was about to share the Mud Herb that cures paralysis along with the fruit.

“Ah, shit.”

Upon confirming the identity of the other party, I frowned.

“What? Was it you?”

It was Do Seung Woo.

I couldn’t help but click my tongue at the sight of him wearing the Ruddle Kero’s eyes like a hat.

Then, I immediately retracted the pouch I was about to give him.

Meanwhile, he also had a grim expression.

“When did I ask for your help?”

“Who was shivering in fear and saying not to come? How can you say that now?”

“Even if you hadn’t come, I could have handled it myself. But you sneakily aimed for the last hit…”

“Oh, really? I’m truly sorry.”

I had saved Do Seung Woo.

It didn’t feel good at all.

No, it was the worst.

I had just made a big mistake.

To make up for that mistake, I quickly looked around.

“What are you doing?”

“I felt bad for taking your last hit, so I was going to lure some monsters over.”

“What?”

“I’ll create a situation almost identical to before, so this time, you handle the fight on your own.”

“….”

“This time, I won’t interfere, so don’t worry. I’ll be on my way.”

“…You’re joking, right?”

“Why would I joke with you? We’re not that close.”

Just then, I spotted a Mud Kero nearby.

I picked up a stone and threw it at it.

Kero?

It was an attack that wouldn’t deal much damage.

The Mud Kero swayed and turned its body.

It had spotted us.

[Encountered a Monster.]

[Mud Kero (Rank. 01) x 1]

“Then I’ll be going now.”

“Hey! Wait, stop! Stop!”

“What do you mean stop? That thing has already recognized you. I’m out. Bye!”

“Hey! Do Gyeon Woo!”

I couldn’t kill my relative with my own hands.

So, I sought help from the monster.

Isn’t this the definition of a cold-blooded killer?

‘Well, that thing probably won’t die, and if it gets dangerous, hunters will come out to help.’

Still, it felt good.

My steps were lighter than ever.

“Come back! You bastard!”

From behind, I could hear Do Seung Woo shouting desperately.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know who he was calling, and I couldn’t hear him well.

On the other hand, it was just foolish.

‘What’s the point of shouting so loudly? Is he trying to attract every monster in the area?’

Of course, it wasn’t my concern.

Let him handle it.

In fact, it was good for me since I could pass by without encountering monsters.

I left without ever looking back.