Whether it was his battle experience or his sheer mastery of every type of Sword, Anyi had reached the pinnacle of skill.
Even in his previous life, he was considered an elite among Heroes.
His Technique level wasn't something he had meticulously dumped points into; it was something he had forged, strike by strike, through endless training.
The System recognized his mastery of every Technique, so his base attribute was automatically flagged as Max.
However, in his public profile, everything else was real—except for his Technique. He lied and claimed a base of 4 points with no extra investment. After all, the persona he had built for himself was that of a "highly knowledgeable, genius swordsman."
He could act seasoned and a bit overpowered, but he couldn't let the gap between him and the others become too suspicious.
He was fine with the trio coming to him with questions, but he drew the line at them screaming "Anyi-emon, please help us!!" the second things went south.
They should rely on my experience, not my raw power, Anyi reasoned.
...
As they trekked further, more and more Slimes began appearing in their line of sight.
For now, they showed no signs of swarming; most were just drifting around aimlessly.
A few Slimes bumped into the group, but it wasn't a coordinated attack—they were just following their basic instinct to target humans.
This "instinct" was more of a random proc; maybe three or five out of ten roaming Slimes would actually bother to engage.
It was like passing a stray dog—if it's in a good mood, nothing happens; if it's not, it might nip at your heels.
But after a certain distance, things shifted.
The randomly drifting Slimes suddenly changed direction in unison, converging on the four Heroes.
"Looks like we've arrived," Anyi said.
"Let me clear the way!"
Layton shouted, pumped up as he brought his shield down with a heavy BOOM, splatting a cluster of Slimes into nothingness.
[XP +10 | XP +10 | XP +10 | XP +10...]
Finally, it was time to grind!
"Lady Miruku, you join in too," Anyi said, turning to her.
"Ah... right!" Miruku nodded.
She quickly sprang into action, picking off the surrounding Slimes.
Since Anyi had told her not to use her max speed, she refrained from using skills, instead relying on her natural agility to assist with the cleanup.
...
As the four pressed deeper into the woods, the System pinged with a notification:
[Class 1 Low-Risk Zone: Slime Forest
A forest that continuously produces Slimes. It can be quite dangerous if humans get careless and let themselves get surrounded!
Keep an eye on the Slimes swarming nearby—they'll track and attack you even from miles away!
Recommended Level: Lv1 - Lv10
Unexpectedly powerful enemies may appear in the forest! Lord Heroes, please explore with caution!!]
"Slime Forest... so that's what this place is called?
Talk about straightforward," Layton remarked, bashing several Slimes away with his shield.
"It... it says recommended levels are 1 to 10...!"
Miruku spoke up, a rare occurrence.
"None of us are Level 10 yet. Are we... going to be in danger?"
"Probably not."
Ariana smiled, her mind working through the numbers.
"If we go by Anyi's average stats, even at Level 10, if he put all 9 attribute points into Strength, he'd have... what, 25 points?
But Mr. Layton already has 28 Strength and 29 Durability.
And I have 30 Mana, and Miruku has 40 Agility. Even if we run into an enemy meant for a Level 10 party, with our combined stats, shouldn't we have a fighting chance?"
Ariana looked toward Anyi, seeking confirmation.
Anyi neither nodded nor shook his head. He just kept walking forward in silence.
Perhaps because her Intelligence was at 15, her brain was starting to function quite logically.
However... she was still wrong.
Against a demon with massive stat-suppression, party synergy meant absolutely nothing. As previously mentioned, if an enemy's Agility was 10 and Layton's was 0, it wouldn't matter how strong he was—he wouldn't be able to block the attack. He'd just be a very sturdy sandbag.
Strength is useless if you can't hit anything. At most, his high stamina might buy the team a few extra seconds of survival.
Failing to get an answer, Ariana pressed him: "Anyi? Am I right? Am I? Am I?"
"I don't know," Anyi replied casually. "Just stay on your toes."
"Oh... alright then." Ariana could only nod.
...
Far away, in a part of the forest they hadn't yet reached, malevolent vines were stretching out, probing the surroundings.
The entity had already detected the invaders. It knew they were wiping out its split-clones and that they intended to push deeper into the woods.
The scent of humans made it surge with excitement; it had been far too long since it last tasted them.
Its Intelligence wasn't high—perhaps on par with or even lower than a common Goblin—but it understood its singular purpose: devour every human that dared to enter the forest.
It was ready.
Actually, it was always ready.
It was preparing a massive trap, waiting for the foolish prey to step inside, only to reel them in just as they tried to flee in despair.
...
The group pressed on through the entire day. By the time night fell, the forest was shrouded in total darkness.
The four Heroes had no intention of stopping. If they stood still, the Slimes would simply converge on their fixed location in even greater numbers.
Setting up camp wouldn't be a rest; it would turn into a tower defense game. A tower defense game they'd have to play all through the night.
After a full day of slaughtering Slimes, everyone's levels had significantly increased. To get from Level 1 to Level 5, you needed to kill 7,500 Slimes.
Even at a rate of ten kills per person per minute, that's 600 an hour. In reality, the numbers were even higher; they were encountering ten or more Slimes every single minute.
Once Layton and Miruku's stamina began to flag, Anyi and Ariana took over the vanguard. Rotating like this, every member of the squad successfully reached Level 5.
To get from Level 5 to Level 6, you needed 5,000 XP. But each Slime kill only netted you 0.1 XP. That meant you had to wipe out 50,000 of them just to level up again.
No matter how you sliced it, that wasn't a number you could hit in a single day. Hitting Level 6 by tonight was going to be tough. Even that massive Slime fusion they'd fought only consisted of about 10,000+ Slimes.
This was exactly why grinding Slimes wasn't a viable long-term leveling strategy. Though, I suppose if you did it for three hundred years, you might actually hit max level.
The clear path through the forest had finally vanished, and the four of them were now trudging through thick brush. It was back to Layton and Miruku clearing the way while Anyi and Ariana took a break.
Ariana was currently being carried on Anyi's back, fast asleep. Tonight, she wasn't sleeping in Anyi's bed—she was sleeping right on his back.
...
It was now the early hours of the morning, and the four Heroes had stepped right into the heart of the enemy's trap.
But the Royal Slime hadn't made its move yet; it was still monitoring their every step. It usually only attacked under two conditions: either the players stumbled onto its main body, or they stopped within its range to recover stamina.
The reason it was hesitating now was simple: Why weren't these humans resting?!
In its standard attack routine, this was the point where the humans should be looking for a quiet spot to set up camp, clear out the local Slimes, and take a breather. It would intentionally hold back its minions, letting the humans lower their guard.
But these people just... wouldn't stop!
The Royal Slime, with its simple attack programming, couldn't wrap its head around their behavior. It didn't understand why they weren't following the "script," so it could only wait and watch.
But then, it felt it: the humans had finally come to a halt!
...
"I think we can switch off now, right?" Ariana said, waking up and feeling refreshed.
"I'm good! I can go a bit longer!" Layton said, waving her off. Miruku didn't say anything, but she was still tirelessly popping the surrounding Slimes.
"I've already had a full nap; you two really should take a break," Ariana said with a gentle smile.
"No worries, really! I'm a man with 4 points in Endurance! I can keep this up all night!" Layton shouted, splatting another Slime.
After a day of "bloody combat," Layton had put his 4 new attribute points into Agility and Endurance. He now had 3 Agility and 4 Endurance. Ariana, by comparison, only had 2 Endurance, which was why she got tired so much faster.
As for Miruku, she'd followed Anyi's advice and dumped all 4 of her points into Endurance. But because of her high movement speed and her naturally weaker constitution compared to Layton, even with 5 Endurance, her actual combat duration wasn't much longer than his.
"Miruku... do you want to rest? Let me take over for you," Ariana asked, seeing that Layton was being stubborn.
Miruku paused her movements, thought about it for a second, and then shook her head. "I... I can still push through a bit more."
"Fair enough." Ariana didn't force it.
"So, you ready to get off now?" Anyi asked, glancing sideways at Ariana, who was still piggybacking on him.
You've been talking about switching shifts for a while, how about actually letting go?
Ariana stuck her tongue out playfully. "I was waiting for Anyi to put me down."
"I'm dropping you."
"Wait! I'm getting down myself!"
Ariana had zero doubt that Anyi would actually just drop her!
Once she was back on her feet, Anyi suddenly spoke up. "We've been trekking for a long time. Let's just stop here and take a real break. What do you think?"
"Huh? Rest? But the Slimes will keep coming, won't they?" Layton asked, confused.
If either of the girls had suggested a break, he wouldn't have thought twice. But coming from Anyi, he didn't get it. On the surface, it seemed like a pretty dumb move.
"The Saintess is fully recovered. She can use magic to clear the surrounding Slimes for a while. With her Mana pool, keeping them off us for a few dozen minutes is easy. Plus, I've rested enough to take a long shift. Stopping to recover is faster than trying to rest while walking, isn't it?" Anyi explained.
"That... actually makes a lot of sense," Layton said, scratching his head.
"Yeah! Leave the Slime-clearing to Anyi and me!" Ariana said cheerfully.
Walking drained her stamina, but standing in one spot and using magic didn't!
Holy Judge used very little Mana, and with her 30 points in the stat, the damage was significant enough to wipe out clusters of Slimes in one go. She could clear out the swarms with minimal effort, even letting them bunch up before firing without feeling any pressure.
...
Anyi quickly chopped down some trees, and he and Layton moved them into a perimeter, isolating a small clearing for their camp.
When they finished, they found Miruku already curled up on the grass, fast asleep.
Even though she barely spoke all day and usually looked like everything was too much trouble, she hadn't slacked off for a single second.
Layton was used to long hours of manual labor as a porter, but Miruku was a high-born lady. No matter how hard she trained, her stamina couldn't match a laborer's. Her base Endurance was only 1, lower even than Anyi's base of 2.
The day's work had truly wiped her out.
SWOOSH!
A golden cross-shaped bolt of light tore through a mob of Slimes, blowing them into a spray of goo. Ariana had officially begun her shift as the Slime janitor.
Anyi took a supporting role, picking off any stragglers that managed to get too close to the group.
Layton sat leaning against his massive pack, occasionally glancing around uneasily. Just as he expected, more and more Slimes were starting to converge on them.
But, also as expected, Ariana was holding the line. Standing in the center of the clearing, bolts of light fired continuously from her staff, clearing 70 to 80 percent of the Slimes in one go. With Anyi backing her up, the two resting Heroes were perfectly safe.
Watching the rhythmic flash of golden light, Layton's eyelids grew heavy, and he finally drifted off.
Hero or not, they weren't machines; everyone needed sleep eventually.
Walking for over ten hours straight while fighting on and off had left them mentally and physically drained. Even Ariana had only regained her energy after sleeping on Anyi's back for nearly two hours.
As for Anyi himself... He had survived literal hells far worse than this. Going four or five days without sleep was nothing to him.
After clearing the area for a while, Ariana noticed the Slimes seemed to be thinning out.
"Anyi, are we almost done? There aren't many Slimes left."
"Maybe we've cleared this sector. Others might be migrating from different zones," Anyi replied flatly.
"Once they're all gone, you can take a nap too," Ariana said with a smile.
"Sure."
Neither Ariana nor the two sleeping Heroes sensed the danger closing in. But Anyi was already silently preparing.
Preparing for a BOSS raid.
In the original game, after being tricked once, players knew that "resting" would trigger the Royal Slime's attack. Most players would wait for the Royal Slime to spawn, then fully heal within its attack range to lure it out and farm it for gear.
While this world didn't strictly follow a "rest-trigger" mechanic, Anyi knew that as long as a party stayed in one spot to rest, the Royal Slime would inevitably strike. He had intentionally waited for everyone to grind to Level 5 before suggesting they stop.
「 It should be showing up any second now, Royal Slime.」
Anyi thought to himself as he casually picked off a straggler.
"..."
POP!
As the core of the last Slime shattered, the golden light on Ariana's staff faded.
"Is that... all of them?" Ariana checked her Mana and patted her stomach.
Luckily, she wasn't too hungry yet.
Anyi confirmed there were no more stragglers and leaned his sword against the ground. "We can't be sure if more are coming, so take this chance to get some rest."
"Great! Snack time!"
Ariana grabbed Miruku's pack and pulled out some rations, starting to munch away. They had started with four packs, and two were already empty.
For an ordinary person, one of these massive bags of high-calorie rations would last a long time. But for a Hero with the [Gluttony] skill, they disappeared in no time.
Eating everything was fine, as the forest was full of Magical Beasts and regular animals. Aside from the Slime infestation, the Slime Forest wasn't much different from any other woods.
Slimes were opportunistic eaters and took a long time to digest anything. Even if they swallowed an animal, the victim would mostly likely drown first, and the digestion process would take days.
Their pathetic stats made it easy for most creatures to escape a Slime's "hunt."
In the forest's ecosystem, they acted more like decomposers than apex predators. Even a Royal Slime couldn't devour an entire forest's worth of life, so finding food wasn't a concern.
The initial rations were brought partly because they didn't know the local ecology and partly to save time.
But after seeing the abundance of wildlife and Magical Beasts inside—some in large herds—they decided they wouldn't need to head back for resupplies.
"Anyi, when we came in, the Lord God said the recommended level for this forest was 1 to 10, right?" Ariana asked between bites.
"What about it?" Anyi asked.
"Well, it's going to take forever to hit Level 10 here, isn't it?
Right now, Slimes only give 0.1 XP, and we need 5,000 XP to level up. That's fifty thousand Slimes. And that's just to get from Level 5 to 6. What about 6 to 7? What if they start giving even less XP later?
Fifty thousand, sixty thousand... next it might be hundreds of thousands. We only have ten years to defeat the Demons. We can't spend all that time here just to reach Level 10, can we?"
"Yeah, you're right," Anyi confirmed.
"So I was thinking... is there maybe a Demon in this forest that can get us to Level 10? Or maybe we should stop fighting Slimes and find a different kind of Demon? Maybe the XP gain would be different?" Ariana's stunning golden eyes were filled with focus.
Anyi was momentarily taken aback.
Ariana was a "native." She didn't have Anyi's past experience as a Hero, and she certainly didn't understand the underlying mechanics of this world. Yet, after just one day of fighting, she had already spotted the anomaly in the XP system.
Realizing there might be a higher-class Demon in the forest wasn't that surprising—the system had hinted at it from the start.
But realizing that they shouldn't just tunnel-vision on one path and should instead diversify their targets? Very few Heroes in his previous life noticed that so early on.
At this stage, most Heroes usually went down one of two paths.
One: Death.
They'd grind low-level Demons until Level 5, run into the "Elite" version of that Demon, and get slaughtered.
Two: Victory over the Elite.
Once they tasted the massive XP and gear drops from a Boss, they'd become obsessed with farming that specific type.
If they started with Slimes, they'd hunt Royal Slimes forever.
If they started with Goblins, they'd focus solely on Goblin Centurions.
If it was Skeletons, they'd spend their lives chasing Necromancers.
This kind of farming wasn't bad, and it actually served a purpose in the broader war.
After all, different Heroes encountered different initial Demons, and a massive, horizontal sweep across a species would eventually clear the low-level threats from the borders.
In Anyi's memory, once this first wave of Boss raids ended, Heroes would start organizing and sharing intel about their respective regions.
They'd then focus on the Bosses they were best suited to kill, skipping over the Demons they didn't recognize.
While this definitely increased a Hero's chances of survival, it slowed down their overall growth. Just as killing too many Slimes eventually reduced the XP they provided, repeatedly killing the same type of Boss had a diminishing return.
To maximize XP gain, the ideal strategy for a Hero squad was to wipe out one type of Demon and then immediately move on to the next.
Very few people realized this in the early game of his previous life. Most Hero organizations only shared regional locations and ignored the specifics of Demon types.
This led to a sluggish pace across the board, and many Heroes died later because their levels simply couldn't keep up with the scaling difficulty.
Anyi, with his "Player" experience, never stuck to a single species. In the early game of his past life, he was the fastest-leveling Hero out of everyone.
He knew the mechanics of every early-stage Demon and its elite version, and driven by hatred, he'd raided them ceaselessly.
Only the [Extermination Hero] and a few others with XP-boosting skills could even hope to match his pace back then.
"You're right. Our levels aren't quite there yet. Before we push deeper into Demon Territory, we should look for other ways to level up. As for whether other Demons give more XP... well, we'd have to go and find out for ourselves," Anyi said, objectively validating Ariana's point.
Pleased to have his approval, Ariana nodded happily. "Yeah! I was actually wondering if we should maybe pull back for now."
"Pull back? Why do you say that?" Anyi asked, genuinely intrigued.
Based on the Saintess's personality, he expected her to prioritize saving the village from the disaster.
Since they were already here, why would they leave before figuring out where the Slimes were coming from?
They'd been here a whole day and only killed a few tens of thousands of Slimes; they hadn't even found the source yet.
Plus, even if they ran into a high-level Demon, the four of them together wouldn't be helpless. Her suggestion to retreat took him by surprise.
"Well, it's just a 'what if,' but... our levels are low, our stats are unevenly spread, and we're already this exhausted just from fighting Slimes for a day.
If a high-level Demon suddenly showed up right now, would we even have the strength left to fight it?"
Just as Ariana finished her sentence and looked up at Anyi, she saw him suddenly lunge toward her—
"Get down!"
Anyi stepped in front of Ariana, shoving her head down as he thrust out his longsword, which he had been holding ready the entire time!
[Skill: Flame Thrust LvMax
Multi-Target Release––]
"Fire Dragon."
BOOM––!!
A massive serpent of flame, as thick as a tree trunk, roared forward, illuminating the pitch-black forest in an instant and incinerating the surrounding trees!
Confused and terrified, Ariana glanced at Anyi before immediately looking back.
Just two meters away, in the flickering firelight...
She saw a tentacle. A red, fleshy thing, the severed end charred to a crisp, stinking of burnt meat.