Seojun walked ten minutes before finding the second slime. This one was smaller than the first — paler, pulsing slowly beneath a silver-barked tree, unaware of his presence.
He didn't waste time. He'd been gripping the sharp rock since the first kill.
Thwack.
One throw, direct hit. The slime shuddered.
Thwack.
Second throw, down.
[ Corpse detected. Sell value: 45 gold. Sell? Y/N ]
Forty-five?
He pressed Y.
[ Current Gold: 95 ]
"System," he said, still catching his breath. "Why is the price different?"
"Market value fluctuates based on corpse quality and condition. Detailed price breakdown requires—"
"Gold. I know."
Seojun exhaled. Ninety-five. Five more to unlock the status panel. One more slime and he could finally see… something. Anything. Maybe a scrap of information that didn't come with a price tag.
He walked on.
The forest hadn't changed — still quiet, still purple, still alien.
But he was starting to notice patterns. Slimes appeared near water sources. That trickling sound from earlier had to be a stream.
He was right.
A narrow creek ran between two large trees, the water clear and faintly luminous. Along the bank, two slimes moved lazily — one about the size of the first, one smaller.
Two at once?
He hesitated. One slime had nearly given him a heart attack. But he only needed five gold. The small one might be enough.
He took his position. Rock in his right hand, backup rock in his left — he'd learned from the first encounter.
He threw.
The rock struck the smaller slime. It shuddered, turned, and began sliding toward him.
The larger one didn't move. Good.
Seojun backed away slowly, drawing the small slime away from its companion. Once there was enough distance, he threw the second rock.
Hit.
The slime lurched.
One more.
He reached down — nothing. No rocks nearby.
Damn.
The slime was still moving. Slower now, wounded, but moving. Seojun looked around in a panic: no rocks, no branch heavy enough, just grass and — his shoe.
He kicked the slime. A wet smack.
His foot sank into green slime but the slime collapsed, its body losing shape, then evaporating into a glowing core.
[ Corpse detected. Sell value: 30 gold. Sell? Y/N ]
Seojun looked at his slime-covered shoe, then at the notification.
"Thirty gold," he muttered. "For a shoe that probably smells like slime forever."
He pressed Y.
[ Current Gold: 125 ]
And then — unprompted, no extra charge — the system spoke again.
[ 100 gold detected. Unlock status panel? Y/N ]
Seojun almost laughed. Finally... Something that doesn't ask for money first.
He pressed Y.
A new window opened before him.
[ Status Panel ]
[ Name: Lee Seojun ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ Class: None ]
[ HP: 100/100 | MP: 50/50 ]
[ Strength: 8 | Agility: 9 | Intelligence: 7 | Endurance: 8 ]
[ Active Skills: None ]
[ Passive Skills: None ]
[ Current Gold: 25 ]
He stared at the numbers for a long time.
Empty. Completely empty.
He wasn't sure what he'd expected. Maybe at least one free skill. One baseline ability. But no. The panel was as bare as his bank account at the end of the month. And the numbers told him nothing. Was 8 Strength good? Or noodle-arm territory?
"Okay," he said quietly. "At least I know I'm level one."
He closed the window.
Twenty-five gold remaining. Far from the five hundred he needed for his first skill. More slimes. Or something better.
He followed the creek downstream. The water was clear, but he didn't dare drink — who knew if fantasy-world water caused vomiting or hallucinations. He had no gold for medical fees.
Then he saw it.
A small wooden chest, half-buried in the mud at the creek's edge. Plain, unadorned, no carvings or gemstones.
In games, random chests in forests are usually junk. But this is real… right?
He approached. The lid was loose. He nudged it open with the tip of his shoe — carefully, in case of traps.
Inside: a pair of leather gloves. Dark brown, neat stitching, no decoration, no gems, but they looked solid. The first piece of equipment he'd found in this world.
He picked them up.
"System. Can you tell me what these are?"
"Item information: 5 gold."
Seojun stared at the gloves in his hand. Pay five gold and they might be useless. Don't pay and he might be passing up something worthwhile. Maybe they were rare. Maybe they were trash.
…Damn it.
"Fine. Pay."
[ Worn Leather Gloves. Grade: F. Durability: 15/20. Defense: 2. Sell value: 10 gold. ]
Ten gold.
He'd just paid five gold to learn that this item could be sold for ten. A net gain of five. For trekking through the middle of a forest to find a chest. At least it was a profit.
He was about to sell — then stopped.
Defense 2. A small number, but better than nothing. He had no armor. His jacket was just a thin school uniform.
He put on the right glove. The material felt slightly rough against his skin — but it fit. Comfortable.
Then it began to crack.
Seojun froze. The fractures spread from the fingers to the wrist, and within seconds the entire glove crumbled into grey dust that fell between his fingers.
[ Warning: This item cannot be equipped. ]
[ Item source: External. ]
[ Items obtained outside the System cannot be used by the Player. ]
Seojun stared at the dust in his palm.
"…I can't… use it?"
He looked at the remaining glove still in the chest, then picked it up. This time he didn't try to wear it.
[ Worn Leather Gloves. Sell value: 10 gold. Sell? Y/N ]
He pressed Y.
[ Sold. +10 gold. Current Gold: 30 ]
Thirty gold. From two gloves that should have given him 2 Defense.
Thirty gold wasn't even enough to buy information about the next skill.
He thought of every webnovel he'd ever read. Transmigrated protagonists always found legendary artifacts in random caves, used them to demolish enemies, leveled up in a montage.
Lee Seojun found F-grade gloves that crumbled on contact.
So everything from outside the system… I can't use. Armor — gone. Potions — probably evaporate. Skill scrolls — probably combust. The only thing I can do… is sell.
He kicked the empty chest out of frustration. But the chest didn't move.
[ No gold acquired from this action. ]
"Obviously," he muttered.
He turned and walked back toward the creek. The big slime was still there from before — that was his next target. After that, maybe he could find a road to a town. Or wherever civilization was.
But before he'd taken more than a few steps, the system chimed again.
[ Skill available for unlock: Identify. ]
[ Cost: 500 gold. ]
[ Effect: Displays target name and tier. ]
[ Unlock? Y/N ]
Seojun stared at the notification.
Identify.
The most basic skill. Just shows monster name and tier. Five hundred gold.
He stared at the screen for a long moment, then at the forest around him. Out there somewhere, more monsters. More gold. More dead ends he'd have to pay his way through.
"I hate this system," he said quietly.
The system didn't respond. But the golden dot at the corner of his vision pulsed once. Like it was waiting. Like it knew he'd pay eventually. Sooner or later.
Seojun gripped his rock tighter and kept walking.
---
Current Gold: 30
Skills Unlocked: None