Second Draft - Reincarnated Into a Game in Impossible Mode

'To the right... Turn left and then run ten more steps....' - Ryoshu recalled and performed the necessary actions rather slowly.

But his physical strength was almost depleted after more than 10 minutes of continuous running, rushing as if being chased by a ghost. And in his case, it was more accurate to say he was being chased by a C-rank Slime.

Thanks to his good memory, Ryoshu easily avoided the Boss's attacks. However, he had used up all of his Time Bullet skill charges to give his mind some extra rest time.

Fortunately, when transitioning to the virtual reality version, they hadn't changed the boss's attack patterns. Otherwise, he would have died long ago.

Ryoshu was currently timing when the boss would jump up, and he would jump as well to avoid the lightning that would spread from the boss throughout the entire room.

'Strangely, since biting... I mean, drinking that potion, the more I run, the more energetic I feel.' - The more he thought about it, the more tired his body became over time.

Soon now. Ryoshu had been running not just to practice, but also because he was waiting for the right moment to counter-attack.

'If everything happens exactly as I remember, it should be soon...' - He sat down to catch his breath as if it was the last time he would have to jump.

'3...2...1' At the command, Ryoshu used all his speed to rush straight toward the boss. Lightning bolts scattered chaotically around the area below where he had just stood.

The normally large, powerful Slime now seemed to have shrunk by more than half. Around its body, there were no longer crackling electric currents. Instead, there was a dark aura, indicating it was entering a state of Mana depletion. Its body no longer had the familiar yellow color of a Lightning-type Slime.

And this was its weakness. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

'It will remain in this resting state for about a minute... and I've spent nearly... 20 seconds getting here.' - Ryoshu stepped onto its slimy body, almost falling flat.

The bow formed hastily. And the arrow was loaded quickly. Both Ryoshu and Fumiya's movements were becoming increasingly synchronized, with almost no wasted motion.

Then he used Charged Attack immediately without any hesitation.

'If I charge for the full 20 seconds, I'll still have about 20 seconds left over.'

If this attack failed, he would try again until it worked. That was Ryoshu's new plan after being pushed down here by the damned Slime earlier.

If he had enough strength, he wished he could climb back up there. Because at least if the first plan didn't go smoothly, he could run away to make more arrows and come back to ambush it a few more times.

But climbing a full seventeen meters was completely impossible for someone like him. Ryoshu hadn't even succeeded in climbing onto his study desk to change a light bulb.

'If I miss, then next time will truly be my last chance... because this is my last arrow... I should have spent more money and bought dozens more arrows...' - He regretted his own stinginess.

But Ryoshu knew better than anyone that self-blame wouldn't help now.

Now he had to put all his strength into this shot. Ryoshu would have to increase his Attack Power and Critical Rate as high as possible.

"Time Bullet" - After waiting almost 20 seconds to charge the Charged Attack skill, he activated this technique to prepare for the next attack sequence as carefully as possible.

'Sniping.' Then Ryoshu channeled even more Mana into the arrow to strengthen it further.

With this skill, he had gained a total of 15% "Attack Power" and 30% "Critical Rate."

If this attack was a Critical Hit, he would be able to reduce half of its Defense. If he failed this time, he could counter-attack again next time and would definitely succeed.

But that was only an "if," because 30%, although high, was not 100%, so success depended greatly on pure luck.

In a moment, Ryoshu accidentally slipped due to the Slime's slippery surface. He fell completely into that slimy mass.

'Damn it... Of all the stupid mistakes that could happen, why did I make this damned one...? Everything... is completely over now.' - Despair filled the dark atmosphere around him.

But suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind like a fighting instinct.

'Wait, I still have this move... If I'm already falling, then... this skill will work!' When the Time Bullet's effect ended, he activated the last technique he had just remembered.

"STAAAAB!" A red light appeared on the arrow. This was the first time he had seen the effect of this skill become so powerful.

The souls of both him and Fumiya, for a brief moment, had completely linked with each other. The arrow flew straight into the Slime's surface but still didn't seem strong enough to pierce through it.

But then a miracle happened. Although 40% was a fairly high rate, both he and the weapon's soul had been blessed by the goddess of luck today.

[You have landed a Critical Hit!] 

[Damage dealt is increased by one and a half times!]

The arrow suddenly seemed to be equipped with a rocket and pierced through its surface layer, heading straight for its Mana core.

Suddenly, the Slime began to rejuvenate and jumped up, sending Ryoshu flying backward.

[Armor Break activated!]

[The Defense of the boss is halved for 2 minutes!]

So he only had one final arrow left. But now the damned boss had its Defense reduced by half for the next 2 minutes.

These would be the final two minutes that determined his life or death.

But for some reason, after the Boss woke up from its resting state, it activated its ultimate technique as if it were a last resort - Electric Matrix.

It was a skill that covered every part of the battlefield. Even jumping or whatever couldn't avoid it.

'But usually it only uses this if it's at a significant disadvantage?'

But now no matter how much he complained, he was already hit by that skill. The electric shock was strong but not enough to kill him.

'I'm paralyzed again.'

But the scariest thing was what it would do next.

The giant Slime didn't hesitate to rush straight at Ryoshu, whose entire body was paralyzed.

Even Death Sense was activated, but even so, he couldn't avoid it.

Because Ryoshu was paralyzed and his physical strength was too weak to move fast enough to escape its giant body.

So all he could do was try to dodge as far away as possible from where it could cause the most damage to him.

After regaining feeling in his legs, he immediately channeled an excessive amount of Mana into his exhausted legs, not sure if they would still obey him.

He jumped once, but the distance between him and it was still very close. But he had avoided the most critical spot possible. However, even so, the ramming force from a C-rank monster was no different than a steel truck moving at the speed of a Japanese bullet train.

Ryoshu was thrown backward and slammed straight into the wall. He only managed to protect his nape, hoping not to die instantly.

It felt as if all of his ribs had just been crushed into powder. Blood in his mouth flowed uncontrollably.

He gasped, or more accurately, was desperately trying to breathe.

["Protection Necklace" automatically activates "Excessive Protection" function] 

[This function will not be available again today]

Fortunately, an item he wore this morning - the Protection Necklace. Now it had saved him from death.

'I was too careless because it was quite peaceful from the start.' And he hadn't even entered the Main Story yet, and it was already this difficult.

'However, who would have thought that an item I accidentally obtained in that A+ Rank Temple would now become so useful?'

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[Protection Necklace] (A) 

Description: An ancient necklace worn by the most powerful woman of that time. 

-Excessive Protection 

When the User receives an attack that could kill the User instantly, this equipment will nullify 60% of the "Damage" from that attack. 

Usage: Once/day (0/1).

--------

But now he had truly lost his "first life." And now he only had one left.

His severely damaged flesh had somehow been restored at a dizzying speed, but the wound there still hurt badly. Although it had crushed his bones and muscles a bit, don't forget that the necklace had reduced the damage he received by 60%.

And not to mention that he had tried to avoid it. That's when he realized how terrifying the difference between various ranks truly was.

Although not completely accurate, if rank E was about 2 times stronger than rank F, then rank D must be 4-5 times stronger than rank E. But here he was fighting a C-rank monster while he was still just an unranked person.

Therefore, it must be at least ten times stronger than him.

But fortunately, he still had an advantage. Its Defense had been halved thanks to the Armor Break attribute from the Formless Bow. So now the chance of defeating it has increased significantly.

So of course, he wouldn't run away. Because even if he wanted to, it would be difficult to escape from this situation at the bottom of the pit.

Ryoshu had never even thought about running away at his most desperate moment.

'So what's there to fear about a boss whose every move and technique I have memorized?'

He then continued to fight the Slime monster by waiting for it to enter its resting state again. Since it had just activated its strongest move, soon it would be depleted of energy and return to its previous state.

Many people think Slimes are weak starter bosses... but actually, it's only because it's the weakest among dozens of other terrifying monsters.

Plus, in this game, the slimy monster - Slime - also has many versions. The species we usually consider weak doesn't focus on combat ability.

But some slime species are very powerful and ranked S or above, that's the Slime King.

The slime boss he was fighting was very good at status effects and high damage. But it was still much weaker compared to the Slime Kings.

It saw him approaching and summoned random trajectory lightning bolts to try to kill him.

Although he tried to dodge everything, he was still occasionally hit by some small lightning bolts that caused mild paralysis.

This was also why few players recommended going to this Temple when starting the game without skills.

But unexpectedly, he tripped on a rock and was hit by a large lightning bolt, causing his entire body to be paralyzed again and unable to move.

Ryoshu lay sprawled on the ground.

Taking this opportunity, the boss rushed toward him again. It charged at him like a moth to a flame.

A familiar feeling occurred again, time naturally slowed down.

'Time Bullet.' - He quickly activated another skill to extend the rest time for his mind.

'Is this the end?' For a moment, he truly intended to give up.

But then he thought about the consequences after his death.

'Humiliation? Sure, but it doesn't affect me much.' 'I've already tried my best.' 'I still have many regrets... but I'm really tired...'

Ryoshu sighed in his own mind.

'But if I die, he will laugh, right...?' - He imagined the damned smile of the person who had kidnapped him. He punched the ground in uncontrollable frustration.

'Damn it, get up, me, I still have to kill him! What's Slime? Damn it, it's not over yet!'

He used all the little strength he had left to raise his body that had almost given up.

'I still have this trump card!'

Ryoshu channeled Mana into the first equipment he used when coming to this world.

"Hidden!"

His Mana started being consumed faster and his body became partially invisible.

The Slime suddenly became confused because it couldn't see him anywhere, while he was still standing there without changing position.

Partly because he was too tired to stand up properly. Ryoshu was breathless, yet it still couldn't sense him.

'I must admit that I almost really forgot about it... Good thing that I suddenly remembered it somehow.'

It looked around and tried to sense him with its superior mana control ability but still couldn't find him.

Then it tried to attack randomly around, luckily he had run to another corner.

'So the mask really can erase part of my existence. Last time I just thought it would simply make me invisible, perhaps I underestimated Mr. Enomoto's craftsmanship.'

He smiled at the thought that he might get out of here.

'I must thank the blacksmith the next time I see him.'

He staggered to his feet and quickly came up with a plan. First, he took some materials from the ring and tinkered a bit.

'God... This equipment is even better than I thought!'

A plan appeared in his mind within 0.1 seconds.

It wasn't the most perfect plan... but it was the best possible plan in the worst conditions he had ever encountered.

Ryoshu began to draw his bow and use Charged Attack.

But after charging for only about 14 seconds, Ryoshu felt his Mana was almost depleted, so he turned off the Hidden mode of the mask.

'Perhaps the Hidden function consumes more energy than I thought.'

He charged for six more seconds.

Then combined by channeling Fire Mana into the final arrow.

The arrow began to emit a bright red-orange glow that illuminated the entire cave. It seemed strong enough to defeat any opponent... if it were in another game.

'But this is Rainfall Disorder so... I can't predict... But if what I remember is correct...'

The boss almost immediately realized he was standing behind it all along after he turned off the Hidden function.

And then it began to charge straight at him.

'Just like the movement pattern set in the game.'

"Sniping."

Ryoshu stopped and looked straight at its core. When the Boss nearly touched him, he released the fire arrow.

A C-rank explosion, something that could erase his existence since an E-rank Slime's explosion was already larger than 50 meters, was about to happen.

Death Sense worked as always and helped him sense everything around, especially it would help him sense the position of its current core behind that disgusting light.

'Time Bullet.'

Everything happened slower as if he was in acceleration mode.

Ryoshu pulled out the rusty Katana sword and tried to channel as much Mana as possible into his bruised legs.

Perhaps this was the most he had ever used.

And when the skill time was over, he flew straight into the Slime that was still preparing for the big explosion. Because at times like this, its body was almost completely transparent.

Although the electric shock was very strong, he still tried to ignore the current pain and focus on what he had to do.

And when only 15 centimeters away from the boss's core, he activated his new favorite technique again.

"Stab!"

And of course, there was one more trump card that he had been saving.

When Slime's body exploded, Ryoshu took almost the full blast.

His body was immediately burned over most of his body, as if he was still waiting for the right moment.

[00:02]

[00:01]

The Formless Bow's Armor Break effect only had one second left.

However, thanks to both the Time Bullet skill and Death Sense, it felt "almost like" a century.

'The moment has come.'

When the sword pierced the outer shell of the core, the hardest part of its body, possibly harder than its entire body combined.

People often say the moment before death is always the quietest moment.

And to break that silence, Ryoshu called out the name of his new trump card with a cold tone.

"Reflection."