The underground labyrinth echoed with the thunderous impacts of the slime monster's pursuit and its bone-chilling roars. Paxton, now a skeleton on the run, dodged falling debris and clouds of dust as he fled through the twisting corridors. Between gasps (more out of habit than necessity, given his current bonely state), he cursed the so-called "competent" employee of the Fate Management Bureau who had landed him in this mess.
"Some compensation this turned out to be!" Paxton grumbled, narrowly avoiding a glob of acidic slime that splattered against the wall where he'd been moments before. "Next time I get an interdimensional job offer, I'm asking for dental!"
As he ran, Paxton's gamer instincts kicked in. He'd faced seemingly impossible challenges in countless virtual worlds before. There had to be a solution here, too. The quest system wouldn't give him a task that was truly unsolvable... right?
Paxton's mind raced as he analyzed his opponent. The slime behemoth was incredibly strong, but it wasn't exactly a tactical genius. It simply barreled forward, smashing through obstacles in its single-minded pursuit. Paxton, on the other hand, had no weapon capable of damaging the creature directly. He'd have to use his environment to his advantage.
"Think, Paxton, think!" he muttered to himself. "What would work against a giant blob of goo?"
His eye sockets landed on a wall-mounted torch, its flames casting flickering shadows in the gloom. A lightbulb moment struck (metaphorically, of course – he didn't actually have a head for lightbulbs anymore).
"Fire!" Paxton exclaimed. "Classic monster weakness. Let's see how you like a little heat, you overgrown Jell-O shot!"
As he sprinted down the corridor, Paxton snatched torch after torch from the walls, gathering an armful of blazing implements. When he'd collected enough, he skidded to a halt and turned to face his pursuer.
The slime monster bore down on him, its maw gaping wide enough to swallow a small car. Paxton took a deep breath (again, out of habit) and hurled his collected torches directly at the creature.
The effect was immediate and spectacular. Flames erupted across the slime's gelatinous body, quickly engulfing the monster in a blazing inferno. An unearthly shriek filled the air as the creature thrashed about, its form distorting in the heat.
"Ha! Take that, you big booger!" Paxton crowed, allowing himself a moment of triumph. "Who's the noob now?"
But his victory dance was short-lived. A notification popped up in his mental interface:
[Slime has completed elemental transformation. Upgraded to Fire Slime.]
"Oh, come on!" Paxton groaned, watching in horror as the burning mass before him began to take on a new, even more terrifying form. "Since when do slimes get power-ups?!"
The Fire Slime let out a roar that shook loose stones from the ceiling, its body now a churning mass of magma and flame. Paxton didn't need to be told twice – he turned tail and ran faster than he ever had in his life (or afterlife, as the case may be).
As he fled, Paxton's mind whirred with possibilities. The slime was stronger now, but it had also become more specialized. Fire Slime meant a new weakness...
"Water!" Paxton realized. "I just need to find some water in this godforsaken dungeon, and I'm golden!"
But as he raced through corridor after corridor, dodging gouts of flame and pools of molten slime, Paxton's hopes began to dim. This was a dungeon, not a spa resort. The chances of finding a convenient pool or water fountain seemed slim to none.
Just as despair began to set in, Paxton's foot slipped on something slick. He went down hard, his skeletal form clattering against the stone floor. As he scrambled to get up, his hand touched the substance he'd slipped in.
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"Please be water, please be water," Paxton muttered, examining the dark liquid coating his bony digits. It was thick, with a coppery smell that hit his non-existent nostrils. "Not water. Definitely not water. That's... oh god, that's blood."
Fighting back a wave of nausea (impressive, considering his lack of a stomach), Paxton looked up to find the source of the macabre puddle. His gaze landed on a massive stone altar, its surface stained dark and glistening. A steady trickle of blood oozed from its edges, forming the pool he'd slipped in.
As the heat of the approaching Fire Slime grew more intense, Paxton's mind kicked into high gear. "Blood... blood is mostly water, right? Plasma, cells, all that good stuff from biology class. It's gotta be at least half water!"
The Fire Slime rounded the corner, its blazing form illuminating the chamber with an infernal glow. Paxton scrambled to his feet, positioning himself between the monster and the blood-soaked altar.
"Alright, you flaming booger," Paxton taunted, waving his arms. "Come and get me!"
The Fire Slime charged, its maw opening wide to engulf its bony prey. At the last possible second, Paxton dove to the side with all the grace his skeletal form could muster. The monster, unable to halt its momentum, plunged headlong into the pool of blood surrounding the altar.
The effect was instantaneous and spectacular. Steam erupted in great billowing clouds as the blood doused the creature's flames. The Fire Slime let out one final, gurgling shriek before its form collapsed into a soggy, lifeless mass.
Paxton stood there, his skeletal jaw hanging open in disbelief. "I can't believe that actually worked," he muttered, staring at the defeated monster. "Take that, high school chemistry! Who says you'll never use this stuff in real life?"
As the adrenaline (or whatever the skeletal equivalent was) began to fade, Paxton remembered the quest he'd been given. Steeling himself against the revulsion, he reached into the gooey remains of the slime monster, feeling around for anything that might be considered a "soul essence."
His bony fingers closed around something solid – a small, pulsing orb that seemed to glow with an inner light. The moment he touched it, Paxton felt a strange tingling sensation in his mind. The orb vanished from his hand, apparently submitted to the quest system automatically.
A notification appeared in Paxton's vision:
[Quest Complete! Defeat a slime and collect its soul essence.]
[Reward: 10 Soul Energy points]
"Sweet!" Paxton exclaimed, feeling a surge of accomplishment. "Now we're talking! Bring on the level-ups and sick loot!"
But before he could claim his reward, another option appeared beside it:
[Watch an advertisement for double rewards!]
Paxton blinked his non-existent eyes, sure he must be hallucinating. "You've got to be kidding me," he groaned, rubbing his eye sockets. "I finally escape microtransactions by getting isekai'd to a fantasy world, and they STILL follow me here? What's next, loot boxes?"
He stared at the floating options, torn between his gamer's instinct to maximize rewards and his long-standing hatred of intrusive ads. After a moment's hesitation, Paxton sighed.
"Well, when in Rome... or whatever hellish dimension this is," he muttered, reaching out to select the ad option. "Might as well see what kind of commercials they run in the afterlife."
To Paxton's surprise, the advertisement that began playing wasn't for some mystical potion or enchanted sword. Instead, he found himself watching a painfully familiar commercial for a popular soft drink back in his own world.
As CGI polar bears frolicked across a wintry landscape, extolling the virtues of ice-cold cola, Paxton felt a sudden, overwhelming wave of homesickness. He watched, transfixed, drinking in every detail of the mundane commercial he would have skipped without a second thought just days ago.
When the ad finally ended, Paxton found himself blinking back tears he couldn't actually shed. "Never thought I'd miss commercials," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion.
A new notification appeared:
[Double reward claimed! 20 Soul Energy points awarded.]
The number pulsed and glowed, and as Paxton accepted the reward, he felt a rush of energy course through his skeletal form. He examined himself closely, looking for any visible changes, but found none. Still, he could sense a new strength within him, a potential waiting to be tapped.
A grin spread across Paxton's skull as the implications of what had just happened sank in. "Double rewards for every quest?" he mused, his mind racing with possibilities. "Oh, this changes everything. I might not be just another skeleton soldier after all!"
Paxton sat on the edge of the blood-soaked altar, heedless of the gore, and let out a laugh that echoed through the dungeon chambers. He raised his bony middle finger to the unseen forces of fate that had landed him in this mess.
"You hear that, Fate Management Bureau?" he called out to the empty air. "You might have screwed up my life, but I'm going to game this system so hard you won't know what hit you! Get ready for Paxton: Skeleton Warrior Extraordinaire!"
"Alright, Mist World," Paxton declared, pushing himself to his bone feet. "Let's see what other quests you've got for me. I've got double rewards to claim and a whole lot of leveling up to do!"