Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Every protagonist either receives a system that makes them stronger as they kill monsters, but in this case, the system was giving out rewards instead of experience points or something similar.

"Either way, with these silver coins, I won't have to worry about surviving in this world for at least a week." Haruto couldn't help but think this while breathing a sigh of relief, as the system was at least providing him with something worthwhile.

With the system's help even if he continued to receive rewards like this, the only thing he would probably lack in the long run is strength. However, that was something he could improve if he had enough resources. Looking at the rewards bestowed by the system, he felt confident that he wouldn't go broke in this world anytime soon, even if he continued to hunt only slimes, which, of course, he wasn't planning to do.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the three beauties were engrossed in observing the monster core, as this was their first time seeing one.

"It's captivating, isn't it?" Hana spoke up. As a healer, she could sense a little bit of mana around the world, which was one of her gifts. Currently, while looking at the little core, she could see a bright energy illuminating inside it.

"Captivating? Isn't it just a normal stone?" Emi said, looking a little confused. From whichever angle she viewed this little thing, she found nothing interesting at all, which made her think, 'Is this thing really going to earn us some money?' skeptically.

On the other hand, Akane, ignoring their words, continued to stare at the core with a mix of anger and desire. 'So this is the thing that will help me take control of my life?' Looking at it, she wanted to stuff it into her pocket; however, that would be too rude. After a few more minutes of staring, she extended her hand back toward Haruto and said, "Thank you for letting us see it. You can take it back now."

Haruto looked at Akane and, noticing something in her eyes, suddenly pulled back his extending hand and said, "You know what? You can keep that one."

"Really?" Akane couldn't maintain a straight face and blurted out in surprise. Realizing what she had done, she coughed in embarrassment and said again, "Ahem, I mean, you killed that slime, so it belongs to you. If I were to keep it, that would be..."

Haruto, knowing what she wanted to say, raised his hand to stop her midway and said, "It's alright. Since I'm going to continue hunting more slimes, I will get a few more of them."

"That's right! That should be the spirit." Emi chimed in with a wide smile. Then, turning to Akane with a hint of jealousy, she said, "And if you don't want it, I can keep that core with me. I don't mind."

"Hmph... no way that's going to happen," Akane said, suddenly turning serious.

"Why??" Emi pouted, showing her innocent expression, which had no effect on Akane, who replied, "We should continue forward," changing the topic.

"Fine!" Emi stomped her feet but accepted it anyway, as somewhere in her mind, she believed that with her own strength, she could earn her own monster core as well.

With that, the group continued forward, this time with Emi taking charge, looking extra pumped up to earn her first monster core. However, once again, the group had to exert a little extra effort before finding their opponents.

"Finally! This time we can all try out our strength." Emi said, looking at the group of slimes jumping around, unaware of the humans' presence. She cracked her knuckles, and just as she was about to dart forward, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder.

Haruto, who already knew how excited Emi was, said, "You should be careful about their attacks, as you can only take down one slime by surprise." Even though he knew the slimes' weakness, he wasn't strong enough to target all of them with just a single attack of his sword.

"Alright," Emi nodded and then darted forward, followed by Akane, who also looked ready for what was to come.

However, Haruto stayed behind and turned his attention to Hana, who, as always, stood silently in her place.

"Miss Hana, do you know any attacking spells or anything like that?" Since he didn't know whether a healer was just a different profession in its own right in this world, he decided to ask.

Hana looked at Haruto a little strangely, and then, parting her red lips, she said, "No, I only know a minor healing spell."

"Hmm... if that's the case, you should stay in the back. Given the number of slimes, I think there's a high chance both of them will require your healing," Haruto said before joining Emi and Akane.

'That's what i was planning to do.' Hana wanted to say that, but could only mumble in her mind with a nod.

*Plop!*

Emi, who had rushed forward with almost all her might, punched the slime, making it squish as if it were going to disintegrate the next second. However, with a single plop sound, the slime returned to its original form.

"What? How can that be?" Emi blurted out, jumping back unconsciously. She had thought she could one-shot the slime like Haruto, but now, seeing the slime unharmed, she was truly surprised.

Meanwhile, Akane had almost managed to damage the slime's core with her short sword, but her earlier swing wasn't enough to send the slime to the netherworld.

"You have to destroy the core of the slime. Without that, the slime will return to its original form, and your work will go to waste," Haruto said, swinging his sword at a nearby slime and almost precisely cutting the monster core in half, gaining the attention of nearly half the slimes.

'Ah shit, looks like i too will have to get help of the healer.' Haruto cursed out before, rushing toward the other slime that had at the same time shot out its slimy attack in his direction.

[Ding.. Host has killed a slime; you received...]