Lu Xin hid in a clump of grass by the roadside. His empty stomach was growling in protest.
All of this reminded him of a harsh reality: he, an ordinary 21st-century office worker, had been transported to this world of swords and magic for three days now.
This continent was called “Elasia,” a land where humans, elves, dwarves, and other races coexisted, and even the legendary dragons had real historical records.
But the system notification chimes, the wise old mentor, and the heaven-defying bloodline that Lu Xin had imagined never showed up.
All he had was a weakened body from prolonged starvation and a skill that randomly granted him the abilities of monsters he killed.
This cheat sounded incredibly cool and overpowered—punch the Demon Lord, kick the dragon, infinitely expand his skill library, and stride toward the peak of life.
But that was only if Lu Xin could actually kill the first monster and pray that the random skill wasn’t something useless.
Right now, Lu Xin faced the first hurdle of a beginner.
In the clearing before him, a writhing gelatinous low-tier monster was squirming around. In other words, a slime, as common as stray dogs on the roadside.
But even this creature, widely acknowledged as an EXP pinata, would be an extremely dangerous boss fight for Lu Xin, who was suffering from the hunger debuff.
Lu Xin felt a bit helpless. He was probably the first person transported to another world to treat a slime as a formidable enemy.
He stared at the slime approaching him and recalled the scattered bits of information he’d heard in town over the past few days.
Physical attacks are ineffective, it hates dry conditions, its core is in the center of its body…
“Now’s the time.” Lu Xin shouted to boost his courage, then thrust the wooden stick he’d picked up toward the slime.
But the slime’s body was slicker than he’d imagined. The stick in his hand almost slid off its surface.
“Don’t move! Let my stick get in!”
To prevent the slime from escaping, Lu Xin threw himself onto it in a rather undignified pose.
The slime’s body began to ripple violently. Blue mucus crawled up the stick, trying to envelop the creature that had dared to ambush it.
Lu Xin had no choice but to let go of the stick and back off. The mucus dripped onto the ground with a sizzling sound.
Where he’d been standing moments ago, several blades of grass quickly withered and turned black.
Lu Xin stared blankly at the corroded patch of grass. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned that slimes were also corrosive?
But Lu Xin didn’t give up on his target.
He used his speed advantage to pick up stones from the ground and kept throwing them at the slime while circling it.
Although the slime moved slowly and had a simple attack pattern, it was surprisingly tough.
Lu Xin threw dozens of stones, but the slime only shrank by a small circle and kept writhing stubbornly.
“No good… If I drag this out any longer, I’ll be the one to collapse first.” Lu Xin panted. Hunger and fatigue made his vision go dark.
At that moment, the slime had crawled onto a dry patch of ground while chasing him. The dry conditions further reduced its speed and activity.
“Now’s the time! Go all out!”
Lu Xin charged at the slime, grabbed the stick still stuck in its body, and shoved it in deeper.
Then he pried upward, flipping the slime over to expose its relatively vulnerable underside.
Seizing the opportunity, Lu Xin straddled the slime, using his body weight to hold it down, and punched its underside.
His fists landed on the elastic gel with a dull thud. The slime struggled beneath him, splashing mucus that corroded his clothes and skin.
But Lu Xin ignored the pain and just kept swinging, with only one thought in his mind.
Kill it, or be eaten by it.
Under Lu Xin’s persistence, the slime’s movements gradually slowed.
“It finally dropped the loot.” Lu Xin pulled the stick out with force and pressed down again for the finishing blow.
With a squish, the slime’s body deflated and collapsed limply onto the ground, beginning to melt.
Moments later, only a puddle of liquid and a rice-sized blue crystal core remained.
At the same time, a faint warmth surged into Lu Xin’s body out of nowhere and shot straight into his mind.
[Low-tier monster Slime defeated. Beginning random extraction of its inherent abilities…]
Here it comes!
Lu Xin’s heart raced. Finally, the thrilling moment had arrived. What ability would it be?
Acid corrosion? Pounce? Or the slime’s physical damage reduction?
No matter which one he got, he’d have a basic attack ability, and then he could kill more monsters to gain even more abilities.
[Extraction complete. Ability acquired: Liquid Manipulation (Beginner)]
Lu Xin: “…”
He froze on the spot. His excited expression first turned to confusion, then to bewilderment.
Liquid… manipulation?
Had the slime even used this ability? Did controlling its own movement count as liquid manipulation?
With doubt, Lu Xin reached out a finger and tried using [Liquid Manipulation] on a dew droplet condensed on a nearby blade of grass.
He focused his mind and concentrated his intent.
The droplet slowly floated up from the leaf, then hovered in the air for less than a second before falling back down.
Lu Xin’s expression was extremely grim. If this counted as liquid manipulation, then he could manipulate the liquid from a certain part of his body to hit a precise target too.
He wasn’t asking to get a fireball spell or a wind blade from a water slime, but at least give him the pounce ability it just used.
“What the hell is this even good for?” Lu Xin sighed helplessly, swinging the wooden stick in his hand, lamenting how reality always deviated from his ideals.
Sure, dreaming of skills like “Mystic Eyes of Death Perception” or “Railgun” was too sci-fi. But if his luck continued like this drawing skills, he could already imagine his future.
With [Liquid Manipulation] in his left hand for washing vegetables and rice, and [Breeze Manipulation] in his right for fanning flames, he’d just start a housekeeping business.
Then he’d put up a sign saying he accepted cleaning, haircutting, and pet grooming services, with fair prices and no cheating customers.
Sure, being transported to another world and becoming an adventure king, punching the Demon Lord and kicking dragons, was still way too far-fetched for him.
This liquid manipulation could probably only be used to put on a water spray show for the nobles.
But no matter how much he complained, the hunger gnawing at his stomach had more urgency than his complaints.
Lu Xin picked up the worthless slime crystal core, dusted off his clothes, and walked out of the forest.
At least this trip wasn’t a total waste. With this slime crystal core, he could exchange it for some food.
On his way back, Lu Xin also took out a Spitfire Beetle that could shoot sparks to drive away birds, and acquired the ability [Precise Temperature Control].
But there was good news and bad news about this ability. The good news was that it wasn’t at the beginner level.
The bad news was that it was limited to cooking use.
Lu Xin felt indignant about this. Just because Spitfire Beetles were used as fire-starting tools by people, did their ability have to be pigeonholed like this?
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