Second Draft - Reincarnated Into a Game in Impossible Mode

Boom!

Ryoshu's eyes opened immediately when he felt the vibration from the tree trunk. The sound quickly reached his newly awakened ears.

His senses worked vigorously as if this was the final moment.

Ryoshu felt the air flowing upward, pushing his limbs toward the sky.

'I'm in free fall!' - His hands flailed in the air, trying to grab onto something, but couldn't.

Ryoshu summoned his bed sheet. Then, he quickly rolled it up and threw it forcefully to the ground.

Next, he quickly turned his back while still falling at a dizzying speed.

And just half a second later, his body landed hard on the sheet. The soft bed sheet reduced part of the falling force.

Ryoshu hurriedly got up and saw a Slime hitting the tree trunk. But this monster was much smaller than the previous one.

'It's probably just F-rank.' - Ryoshu analyzed its strength through brief observation.

This time he clearly remembered two weaknesses of the Slime species.

'First, they can only sense sound waves and surrounding Mana; second, their Core is hidden inside their transparent bodies!'

Ryoshu immediately took out his Hidden Mask, put it on quickly, and transferred Mana directly from the environment into it.

After activating its Hidden function, he reopened his Mana Core.

Ryoshu drew his sword and ran quickly to where the Slime was completely unguarded.

It heard his sound but couldn't determine his location. Therefore, it became confused while searching around. A satisfied smile appeared on Ryoshu's lips.

"Stab!"

The sword pierced through its core before the Slime could react. A moment later, its body exploded into a puddle of slime.

[You have killed a normal F-rank Slime!]

Ryoshu's body felt drained of strength after using so much Mana.

'The strategy is decent for now. Except for the fact that the amount of Mana I can use is quite limited.' - He took the opportunity to rest as much as possible to prepare for the next unexpected battle.

Ryoshu began to collect his bed sheet and pillow.

But suddenly he felt like something was missing.

Something very important.

Suddenly from afar, Ryoshu saw the teleportation scroll on the ground.

His face distorted in an instant. His legs had already been running toward it for some time. Ryoshu desperately rushed to grab the scroll as if his life completely depended on it.

And when he felt that time seemed to be slowing down, he treasured that small scroll even more.

Ryoshu knew why everything was happening so slowly. Because just yesterday it had saved him once.

But the last thing he wanted to happen right now was when the Death Sense skill activated. Ryoshu pulled his hand back quickly but also hesitantly at the same time. And when he had completely withdrawn his hand, time began to flow quickly again.

The teleportation scroll, in just a moment, was dissolved by the acid into a pile of shredded paper, just like his heart at that moment.

'I should have put it in the ring right after taking it out without using it...' - Ryoshu began to blame himself.

Just when he thought that was the worst thing, a dozen Slimes of various sizes suddenly jumped out from the surrounding bushes as if they had planned it from the beginning.

Each of them stood at almost equal distances from each other.

'Damn it... I've been completely surrounded by... these damn Slimes.'

Now that Ryoshu thought about it, he realized everything had been part of their plan from the start. One would act as bait for him to attack, then the others from around would shoot acid from all directions.

But instead of panicking, his gamer instinct helped Ryoshu become calmer than ever. His heartbeat began to stabilize.

'Hope they can oneshot me...'

That was the limitation of this skill - only when opponents could ensure killing him in one hit would Ryoshu benefit from the skill. But he couldn't do anything else... except bet with his life.

Before they could shoot, he first quickly observed all the Slimes there, missing none, in less than a blink of an eye. He closed his eyes and quickly counted what he had just seen.

'There are 30 Slimes in total...'

A frightening number.

Even in the game, being surrounded by monsters would significantly reduce survival rates. Because Rainfall Disorder focused on combat that mostly involved evenly matched forces fighting each other.

Simply because the movements and attacks of just one monster were already complicated enough. But they became even more terrifying when four or five gathered to attack one person.

'And now I have thirty of them... while I'm as weak as a snail. Pretty balanced game... isn't it?'

But among those 30 Slimes, Ryoshu had maximized his Super Memory innate ability. In that brief time, he had found what he needed for his strategy.

'There are 2 of them! Then prioritize plan B!'

A moment later, as if they were singing the Slime national anthem to prepare for firing, the largest Slime, twice his size, fired the first shot.

And that was when the battle broke out, all the smaller Slimes also started shooting something.

The Death Sense skill worked at full capacity and time began to slow down like a movie. Because its acid bullet was so large, Ryoshu had to use all the Mana absorbed from the environment and transfer it to his body to enhance it.

He jumped to one side but didn't forget to look around. Ryoshu also began to use his otherwise useless ears in the battle.

He listened to the sound of acid balls being fired and tried to determine their relative positions.

'2 more have fired... but where are those two acid balls?'

Ryoshu waited for a moment and saw one gradually appearing in his field of vision.

He quickly lowered his head and didn't forget to look for the remaining ball.

'The other one... where is it? Hurry up and appear!' - Just as he wondered, from the acid surface, Ryoshu could just see the reflection of his ugly face. And behind his face was an acid bullet approaching at a rather turtle-like speed.

Ryoshu immediately fell backward to the other side to avoid both bullets simultaneously.

Time passed seemingly like centuries for Ryoshu as he kept straining his eyes to search for the fired projectiles.

And at the same time, he channeled Mana to enhance his body to keep up with his observation ability under the influence of the Death Sense technique.

But contrary to Ryoshu's increasingly perfected evasion ability, the Slimes were also getting closer to him, causing the number and speed of each bullet to increase accordingly.

Somehow he had held out until now without getting hit. However, the landing spots for Ryoshu were becoming fewer as the acid they shot formed deadly puddles on the ground.

'I'm dead!'

The still-wet ground from days before had become a deadly weakness, causing him to slip and lose control of his body. Meanwhile, the acid bullets were still heading towards him.

But the smile on his lips right now was the most satisfied smile in the past four days. Ryoshu channeled all his Mana into his supporting leg.

Then he lifted his right leg high.

"Deploy plan B."

No sooner said than done, he stomped forcefully on the ground. The tremendous bouncing force made Ryoshu fly up into the sky.

But of course, it wasn't completely favorable. Some parts of his body were still hit.

That acid, when it hit his body, immediately corroded Ryoshu's skin. But he still tried not to be distracted and focused on the task at hand.

Ryoshu took out some homemade arrows from the ring. He continuously channeled Mana into them. And they received so much that they broke into many wooden splinters.

But instead of being disappointed, Ryoshu became happier because everything was still going according to the original plan.

Next, he quickly transformed the pure Mana on those wood pieces into fire. The fire on the wood pieces began to spread to each other and created a larger flame.

Thanks to the High Temperature Resistance trait, Ryoshu could easily hold them.

Next, Ryoshu channeled all Mana to his arm. And then turned around and faced the thirty Slimes staring at him.

He searched for the positions of the 2 notable Slimes among them.

And Ryoshu saw one of the two standing very close to other Slimes. The other one stood opposite at a distance that wasn't too far either.

He began to use all the power of that weak body to throw the small wood pieces that were smoldering.

Those fiery wood pieces turned into a large-scale rain of fire attacking those Slimes. And especially, it hit both of those special Slimes.

The reason Ryoshu noticed them from the beginning was because there was a flickering electric current surrounding their bodies. And if there was one thing he learned most from Rainfall Disorder, it was the great power of elemental reactions.

When a spark from the wood piece lightly touched the electricity enveloping that lightning-type Slime.

[You have killed...]

Boom.

The reaction occurred quickly and the Slime turned into a wide-range electric bomb, spreading slowly with his maxed Intuition stat. Nearby Slimes also quickly vaporized, though he couldn't see anything because the light intensity of that bomb was blindingly bright.

But thanks to the System sound next to his ear, which was getting smaller and harder to hear because of the explosion sound.

[You have killed...]

[You have...]

[You...]

Then that electrical explosion expanded to the second Slime.

But the effect of the Death Sense skill lasted longer than Ryoshu thought. That made Ryoshu gradually feel uneasy.

He could almost guess that what happened next would certainly kill him in an instant.

[You...]

Boom.

The next explosion from the next lightning Slime occurred to his surprise. But Ryoshu had quickly absorbed the expanding Lightning Mana into his own. Then he tried to stretch it into a plane wide enough to cover himself.

If two elements have interaction reactions, they will have different effects. If he had Earth Mana, Ryoshu would be completely immune to that electricity. But he didn't have that option, so he had to use Mana of the same element.

When two elements of the same type interact, they don't cause any reaction but rely on pure power. The stronger one will neutralize the other.

[You...]

'Although I don't know if it will block it completely, at least it will reduce the damage a bit.'

[You...]

And just as Ryoshu thought, time had begun to return to normal. The sound from the System completely disappeared as his ears were filled with the sound of the large explosion.

----0w0----

Crack crack.

'I think I broke some ribs or something...'

Ryoshu had woken up after the biggest explosion he had ever directly seen in his entire life. Currently, he was facing down, so he guessed that he had landed with his whole body.

Ryoshu was still feeling a bit dizzy after what he had just experienced. The last things he saw before were the vast sky with nothing else.

'I probably fell from a height... Ugh... no wonder I'm sore all over.' - His body was almost purple and scratched all over.

Ryoshu wondered how long he had been lying there. Especially when he looked down at the skin hit by the acid ball. Although they had been corroded by acid, now they had almost fully recovered, leaving only small scars.

Ryoshu looked around and tried to figure out where he was. Behind him was a steep mountain up to the sky.

'Wait, that means-'

A loud explosion shook the entire area and transmitted to where he stood.

"Damn it..." - Ryoshu cursed silently as if he had guessed what was happening.

He took out that beautiful mask while absorbing Mana fully into his core.

After putting it on his face, he immediately activated its Stealth function. Ryoshu ran to where the vibration was and discovered at least a hundred Slimes jumping out from the Gate.

If Ryoshu was discovered now, he would definitely die without even having time to gasp. He swallowed and held his breath. His body didn't move at all, seeming to be frozen.

Only after they had gone did Ryoshu dare to breathe normally again.

'Walking back to the city... not impossible... I think that's a pretty good idea...' - He began to retreat elsewhere.

Click.

Before he realized it, Ryoshu had accidentally stepped on something. When he bent down to look, he saw a branch. His face turned purple again as he realized the noise from earlier was not in his head.

'Oh no...'

A fire Slime nearest to him shot a fireball straight at the source of the sound.

Fortunately, Ryoshu had already moved away from there, so he wasn't hit again. But the unfortunate thing was that now all the Slimes in the entire area came to him. All thanks to the sound of the exploding fireball that drew them.

'This is bad... I'm about to be exhausted, and now this happens...'

And just a moment later, he had used up all the Mana he had stored.

So once again, Ryoshu was surrounded by Slimes. This time not just 30. That number was already nearly impossible.

But compared to over a hundred, that number of thirty was just like a joke.

His head began to calculate at the speed of light. Ryoshu had thought of some exploits he could use. But most of them were either very necessary or would be most effective later.

'...What about Plan C?'

Plan C was a plan that Ryoshu had thought of quite a long time ago. And it would definitely save him from the current situation.

But... it was also a gamble that could kill him.

However, Ryoshu was too tired, so he had no other reasonable choice. When Death Sense activated, that was when Ryoshu executed the plan. He began to run urgently to the necessary location first.

But the number of Slimes was growing faster than he had expected.

Still... He had to finish this plan quickly if he wanted to escape!

However, Ryoshu was too tired, so he had no other reasonable choice. When Death Sense activated, that was when Ryoshu executed the plan. He began to run urgently to the necessary location first.

But the number of bullets reached hundreds, with all kinds of elements—from fire, water, lightning, and earth—pouring on him like a missile rain. That's why Ryoshu was even more confident that his skill would work at full capacity.

He tried to look at each trajectory and dodge to one side, then repeat that process thousands or tens of thousands of times. And once again, because Ryoshu's time perception was almost at its highest level, he didn't know how many seconds or minutes had passed.

'How long has it been?' - The fatigue was clearly visible on his face.