The cold hit Hajin as he crossed the gate line, cutting off the city noise when the distortion sealed behind him. Sour air filled the tunnel while his boots sank into the damp ground.
Bibi tightened around his shoulder and pressed against his neck while he steadied the camera with one hand, forcing his breathing to slow.
[Gate Interface Connected]
[Gate ID: SB-F11]
[Type: Combat Gate]
[Primary Objective: Eliminate local hostile population]
[Secondary Objective: Defeat nest core]
[Recommended Time: 00:25:00]
"Okay, we're in," he said, keeping his voice steady even with his pulse hammering. "Seongbuk Slime Den, if we can clear this while being solo..."
He moved forward in short steps, sweeping the camera light across puddles. Ten meters in, the tunnel narrowed, opening into a low chamber with broken ridges and roots dripping into the mud.
With the gate noise gone, every chat message felt louder.
[SeoulGateLurker]- "why's this so nasty for an F gate"
[RefundQueueMain]- "bro breathing hard already"
[ClipFarmOperator]- "His camera is shaking so bad lol"
[CrownCounter77]- "tiny slime alert"
'Yeah, I can hear all of you,' he thought, adjusting the strap to hide the tremor.
"Ground's slick, so I'm setting my feet first," he said into the mic, sweeping the chamber edges with the light. "If anything rushes, I'll pull it to center."
On stream, he sounded calm, but his left hand stayed tight on the selfie rod until his knuckles went pale. Bibi chirped near his ear, and he muttered "I know," keeping the rod up.
Movement flashed near the right wall, making him jerk the camera toward it as a fist-sized green slime dropped from a root, hit the mud, and sprang at his knees.
He swung late and only clipped it with the rod. It burst against his pant leg, and acid burned through the fabric.
"Shit," he hissed, stumbling back and scraping one hand on the wall as his shin burned. Another slime launched from behind the first before he could reset.
Bibi bounced off his shoulder, slammed into the slime mid-air, and knocked it sideways into a rock. Hajin stepped in and drove the rod down twice until the green mass stopped moving.
[Hostile Unit Eliminated]
[Objective Progress: 2%]
He exhaled and checked the burn through his torn pants, the fabric already melting.
"That's one slime monster down," he said, keeping his voice even, "how are y'all enjoying the stream so far?"
Chat shifted after that, still loud but less mocking.
[ClipFarmOperator]- "wait that spit actually melted his cloth?"
[SeoulGateLurker]- "f gate my ass"
[CrownCounter77]- "tiny slime bodyguarded him"
[RefundQueueMain]- "that was pretty meh, hope you can show us more than this"
'Calling that fight would be generous,' he thought, wiping sweat from his upper lip with the back of his wrist.
The den stayed quiet for five seconds, then wet scraping came from the left passage. He angled the camera low and counted shapes in the mist: four small slimes and one larger one with a dark center.
He shifted his footing, put a rock lip at his back to block the flanks, and pointed once to the floor in front of him, marking his kill lane.
"Bibi, stay up front," he said.
She dropped low and flattened as the slimes rushed in. The first one hit her instead of his shin, acid splashing across her surface and sliding off.
"Good, keep them busy for me," he said, tightening his grip on the rod.
He stepped to the side, brought the rod down on the nearest slime, and kicked another into the rock lip before it reached his ankle. The bigger one bounced harder than the rest, clipped his forearm, and left a burning streak that made his grip slip.
'Shit, I need to focus,' he thought, resetting his stance while pain spread up his arm, 'if I panic now, that will lead to a very painful death.'
He feinted left, drew the bigger slime toward center, then stabbed forward with the rod tip and pinned it against a root knot. Bibi wrapped around the base to hold it there.
"Now," he barked, landing one full overhead strike, then another, splitting the larger slime open with a wet pop and dark fluid spraying across the mud.
[Hostile Unit Eliminated]
[Objective Progress: 7%]
[Minor Injury Detected: Left forearm chemical burn]
He backed off three steps, breathing hard while Bibi bounced near the remains. His left arm shook once before he locked it still.
"That's two waves," he said, voice rougher now, "it's not as bad as I thought, this is actually manageable."
Chat sped up as viewers clipped the fight, and new names kept dropping in as the tone shifted.
[GateClipJunkie]- "yo he actually not doing bad for a rookie F-rank"
[CrownCounter77]- "bibi tanked acid?? Well, I guess it makes, bibi is a slime too after all"
[SeoulGateLurker]- "I kinda like his vibe, even though this seems to be his first time in a gate, he is not folding under the pressure"
[ClipFarmOperator]- "someone clip that midair hit"
He gave a short nod to the camera, trying not to show how hard his hand was shaking now that the rush faded, bracing his wrist against his chest to steady the lens.
"We're not done yet," he said, "we still have a long way to the core, which is deeper in."
He checked his forearm, poured half a cheap neutralizer packet over the burn, and wrapped it with gauze from the emergency pouch. Bibi watched from a rock beside him until the sting dulled enough for him to flex his fingers.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Bi," she answered, bouncing once on the rock.
"Good, stay close," he said, finishing the wrap.
They moved into the left passage and squeezed through a narrow bend into a wider basin. Slime tracks covered the walls, and small animal bones sat in pits near the center.
'People call this a beginner gate,' he thought, scanning the ceiling for drop points, 'but it's clear a lot of people died in here, probably due to many stuff like fear.'
He kept his pace steady for the camera, but his steps slowed as he checked each corner twice with the rod raised at chest level. Bibi stayed near his shoulder at first, then dropped to the ground and circled the basin edge in quick little bounces.
"Bibi, don't scout too far," he warned but she ignored him and moved behind a rock shelf where a dead slime chunk had fallen from the bend.
He took a quick step after her, "Bibi," he called, sharper this time, turning just in time to catch a silver flash as she pressed into the remains and absorbed them in one quick motion, leaving only a dark smear on the mud.
The camera was still aimed at the basin center, while the rock shelf hid most of her.
[ClipFarmOperator]- "wait what flashed at the edge there"
[CrownCounter77]- "did the tiny slime just eat something"
'So she can consume other monsters too?' he thought, keeping his face calm on camera.
Bibi bounced once, then twice, looking up at him while darker lines spread under her silver body in thin strands he'd never seen before.
[Entry 001 activity detected]
[Residual biomass consumed]
[Maturity: 5%]
Another line flickered in and out before stabilizing.
[Adaptive membrane forming]
He stared at the panel, glanced at Bibi, then checked the passage behind them as scraping started deeper in the den.
'She's evolving already?' he thought, pulling the camera tight against his chest. Bibi bounced back to his shoulder and clung there, 'just what type of slime are you?'