Second Draft - Reincarnated Into a Game in Impossible Mode

'There are 10 of them and they're standing quite close to each other...'

Observing more carefully to see if there was anything he could exploit, Ryoshu suddenly saw what he had been hoping for.

'Just as I thought, there are two rank E lightning Slimes!'

The electric current around the slime was so intense that even from 50 meters away, he could still feel its shock waves.

'According to the game, the intensity of the electric current they emit is twice as strong as a rank F one, so the explosion they release must be nearly 8 times stronger than before...'

Ryoshu looked at a huge Slime standing furthest from him. It gave off the exact aura of a miniboss. But in this case, it was just the leader of this small gang of Slimes.

However, for him, fighting a rank D Slime one-on-one with pure strength was nearly impossible. Confronting it directly was simply not feasible.

When literally every attack, even its weakest, could shatter his bones and tear his flesh... and worse, kill him.

But death was not an option for Ryoshu. He came here to win and return home.

'With two of them, the explosion killing that Elite Slime... will definitely work... if based on my six years of knowledge.'

But that's where the problem arose. Ryoshu couldn't get too close. Because the explosion would certainly spread at least to where he was standing. At worst, he would be completely obliterated.

So he couldn't cheat like last time at such a close distance.

'What should I do now? They're too far from me...'

Ryoshu looked at the bow in his hand and pondered deeply:

'I could try shooting an arrow... But that's also my only chance.'

He swallowed hard when thinking about the terrible consequences.

'If I miss, that Elite boss will immediately chase me until death. And in this case, the chance of me dying before it is higher. Not to mention the other Slimes that would also support their leader.'

Ryoshu's hands trembled at the thought while those Slimes were still bouncing around carelessly.

The straight path design with no hidden turns would accidentally make the chance of victory almost zero if they chased after him.

Fumiya emerged from behind and patted his head. Only now did Ryoshu notice his forehead was drenched in sweat.

'Fumiya... seems more special than I thought...?' - He turned to look at the floating sand.

Ryoshu spread his arms wide. Fumiya immediately jumped into his embrace.

'Its soul must still be very childlike... That's why it's so proactive. Most other soul weapons would usually be more arrogant.'

"But that's right, after all, it's not the Awakened who chooses the soul weapon. Instead, soul weapons will choose for themselves masters they deem worthy." - Ryoshu muttered the words of a sage from the game while hugging Fumiya close.

He looked at the young soul hugging him tighter and thought:

'I wonder... Do you think I'm worthy to be your master? As cowardly as I am, you might never evolve.'

Although Ryoshu was terribly cowardly, there was one thing he feared above all else. That was losing a loved one permanently. Experiencing it twice was more than enough for him.

'A weapon that doesn't evolve becomes a dead weapon...'

That was what the blacksmith Enomoto Atsuta in the old game had told him. At that time, Ryoshu didn't understand what it meant at all. And even after searching online, it didn't bring any useful results.

Although he didn't understand the old man's meaning much, now Ryoshu was "borrowing" Fumiya from Mr. Atsuta. And he was very fond of his cute and innocent friend.

So Ryoshu decided to help his friend evolve.

'I... have to take a risk. That's the only way Fumiya can evolve.'

Last time, Ryoshu had hit the bullseye from a distance of about 15 meters. However, this time the distance increased more than three times. And according to natural law, the further away, the difficulty increases exponentially.

Because his sustaining ability was still weak, his Mana was very easy to fluctuate. Therefore, Ryoshu's flame died out faster than normal. This was quite a headache because if he wanted to trigger the reaction, his flame had to last longer. While shooting from afar was already difficult enough.

Ryoshu hit his head with his fist, just hard enough to do what people jokingly call "brain stimulation." It looked rather funny, but somehow he came up with a pretty good alternative solution.

'What if I set the arrow on fire... that way I don't have to worry about maintaining it anymore!'

It was an idea both good and risky because if he didn't shoot it fast enough, the arrow would burn itself before reaching its destination and waste an arrow meaninglessly.

And if he shot too late, he would be the one foolishly harming himself and still lose an arrow, but this time even more meaninglessly. However, this was also the best way currently under such time-constrained training conditions.

The careful observation process is always the longest because their behavior and movement positions are quite random.

Ryoshu observed for half an hour before gradually understanding how they moved. Then he had to wait until the lightning Slime stood in the middle of that herd. While the other one had to stand right next to the leader, only then would it be the signal to act.

After waiting another five minutes, the signal came. Ryoshu immediately activated the first mask to reactivate his Mana Core without them detecting it. Then Fumiya quickly transformed into a bow shape within his reach.

"You seem even more ready than I am, huh?" - Ryoshu chuckled at the soul weapon's eagerness.

First part done, he then got into position to draw the bowstring while trying to transfer as much Mana into the arrow as possible. This way, the arrow would fly even faster. Partly to increase power, partly because Ryoshu feared they would be discovered if the arrow moved too slowly.

Fumiya was no longer passive but also helped him draw the string tighter. The pressure weighing on Ryoshu's arms had now lightened considerably.

"Thank you, Fumiya."

Then came the familiar process of transforming pure Mana into fire-elemental Mana. He lit a dry stick he had picked up from before.

But this time, Ryoshu's movements were much quicker than two days ago. That made him feel more confident.

And then the flame quickly burned the arrowhead resting on the bowstring.

Fumiya perhaps was a bit afraid of fire, so suddenly the pressure on his arms became twice as heavy.

"Fumiya... c-calm down! I'm right here. Everything will be fine."

The pressure still didn't lighten at all. His arms felt like they were being broken.

"I trust you, Fumiya... do you trust me?!" - Ryoshu raised his voice, afraid his words wouldn't reach through its fear.

The bowstring became lighter again. Fumiya had temporarily overcome its pain and was helping him again. Ryoshu felt that pressure reduced by three times. Fumiya had somehow become even stronger than before.

"Almost done... trust me... just three seconds."

Finally, after everything was properly prepared, Ryoshu activated his newly acquired skill for the first time.

"Time Bullet." - Ryoshu whispered these four short words.

In an instant, time almost stopped after he activated it. But time was only slowed down by 3 times. To compare visually, this feeling was still much less intense than the Death Sense skill.

'Perhaps because one relates to the Intuition stat while the other forces the brain to work 3 times faster... I'm guessing?'

He aimed directly at the Slime in the remaining time. The flame was still smoldering and spreading very quickly to other parts of the arrow. If not fast, it would burn to charcoal before reaching the Slimes.

'I hope I won't miss it.' - Although Ryoshu didn't believe in himself, he had absolute faith in Fumiya's ability.

On Ryoshu's face now was not the usual fear. Instead, it was absolute calmness. Waiting until his mind began to show slight ripples like a drop of water falling into a still lake, he released the arrow.

The arrow shot out immediately.

But due to the Time Bullet effect still being active, it moved slowly as if he was watching a film in slow motion.

'I've done my best... now it's time to enjoy the show.'

The arrow moved gradually faster as it reached maximum speed. It cut across the dark space of the cave. The sound of the fire arrow whistling reached where he was standing.

'Die miserably or survive and return home... which one?'

Swoosh.

The distance between the arrow and the Slime was quickly closing. And by the time they realized there was something strange flying toward them, it was already too late.

'And if I survive, Fumiya and I will become stronger than ever!'

Especially the lightning Slime in the middle standing still and watching. While it still didn't understand what was happening, suddenly its electricity grew more intense. Before anything else happened, it only had time to glimpse a bit of Mana far away.

The arrow suddenly pierced through the Slime. And half a tick later, its body began to glow as if it was ascending to a new level of power. But unfortunately, that moment quickly faded like a firework.

BOOM!

Before he could hear the System's notification finish, the reaction between the fire element of his arrow and the rank E electric Mana surrounding Slime had occurred. Immediately, a light illuminated the entire dark cave. Fortunately, Ryoshu had turned away and covered his eyes to avoid this.

[You have...]

Not yet finished, because there was still another electric Slime standing next to their leader. That explosion was just the ribbon on the gift he gave them.

[You...]

Ryoshu was running away from that explosion with all his strength. But it seemed like the sound wasn't diminishing but instead growing louder over time.

BOOM!!!

The sound of the next explosion was even louder than before. It immediately drowned out all sounds in the cave. The System's voice had completely faded. Ryoshu could feel his fragile ears bleeding from the deafening sound.

"It's already 50 meters!? Why is it still spreading FURTHER!?!"

The sound of rocks and soil collapsing nearly a hundred meters away was getting louder and louder. It was so loud as if the cave itself was collapsing.

...

And when the world around Ryoshu slowed down a bit, he knew that the consequences he caused were not small at all.

Ryoshu tumbled and hid behind a huge rock. Thinking he was safe, a shock wave hit the rock directly and spread to where he was standing.

He lay down and covered his head, hoping everything would stabilize again while the tremor was trying to shake him violently.

A moment later, everything was quiet again.

Ryoshu stood up and dusted off his clothes. He looked around and peered behind the rock he was hiding behind.

The path Ryoshu had just run from had now become a wasteland, pockmarked everywhere.

'Is this... the path... I walked on just now?'