I Became a Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss

Chapter 22

As expected, my prediction was correct.

[Fruit of Vigor]

◆ Consumable Classification

―Fruit

◆ Detailed Description

―A fruit that Pakit apes enjoy eating, also used as an ingredient for potions.

◆ Effects

―When consumed, recovers 50 Mp.

The fruit could be found where Pakit apes appeared.

Similar in appearance to the Vitality Fruit but with a different color, a blue fruit.

I plucked the fruit hanging from the tree.

Crunch.

As I bit into the Fruit of Vigor, sweet juice flowed out.

“The Vitality Fruit had a refreshing texture, but this one is more substantial.”

It felt like tasting sweet fever reducers.

In a game where you could use fruits on a character by manipulating the character slot, it was an experience you couldn’t have elsewhere.

Overflowing with juice, I could sense my mana replenishing.

“Let’s head towards the lake like this.”

As I licked the juice off my fingers,

I picked the fruits visible nearby and put them in my pocket.

It seemed like I wouldn’t need to worry about stamina and mana consumption at this rate.

Thud!

I ran along the tree branch and leaped onto the branch of the tree right in front of me.

By jumping through the trees like that, I aimed to shorten the time it took to reach the lake.

“I’ve spent time looking for fruits. I need to make up for that time somehow.”

Since I had to jump through the trees, I couldn’t ignore the mana consumption.

Every time, I ate the fruit of vitality to replenish my mana.

Swish!

Crack!

Occasionally, hidden Pakit Apes would throw stones at me when I jumped.

But it wasn’t a threat.

Thunk!

…Huh!?

My instinct to dodge kicked in.

In midair, I deflected the stone thrown by the ape with my sword.

“No need to chase after those guys.”

Even without turning back, the result was a hit.

Stepping on a branch far below the one I was aiming for, I didn’t even glance in the direction the stone flew.

If it hit, that was good enough.

After all, the conquest condition of this gate was not to defeat all monsters, but simply to subdue and collect them.

Yet, going to kill them would only waste time and effort.

Thud!

I didn’t hesitate and turned around.

Gradually, the ecology of the jungle changed.

“The trees are lower. The leaves are broader. The ground feels sticky.”

The world inside the gate often diverged significantly from common sense, to the point where tropical and cold climates coexisted.

It wasn’t uncommon for the surrounding environment to suddenly change.

“In games, when the environment changes, the monsters that appear also change…”

I suppressed my movements and moved forward.

Since the likelihood of encountering monsters other than Pakit Apes was high, I had to be attentive to my surroundings.

Not long after that…

Croak, croak.

I spotted the monsters.

Frogs resembling those with yellow hats were hopping around on the ground.

‘Are those guys also present at this gate?’

I could confirm the identity of the ones below my feet through memories of my past life.

Mud Kero.

In the damp environment, a monster belonging to a strong axis even among Rank 1, where all speeds increase by one level.

‘Do I have to pass through those guys to head to Lake Sureung?’

However, the annoying aspect of Mud Kero was not the only thing.

They could spit out mucus in their mouths for long-range attacks, and their attack accuracy was high.

Getting hit by their mucus would often lead to paralysis with a certain probability.

They were quite bothersome creatures.

‘Even if I’m confident in dodging, the problem is not knowing how far their habitat extends…’

Even if their attacks weren’t strong, paralysis was a pain.

Fortunately, there was a solution.

‘I’ll have to find an antidote while moving through their habitat.’

In the marshy area where Mud Kero mainly resides, there is a flower that grows by absorbing the essence of those creatures.

A white flower blooming in the mud.

The roots of that flower had a detoxifying effect that could cure paralysis.

So, I decided to search for that flower.

From now on, I planned to move while looking for that flower.

Right at that moment.

Kero-kero.

“….”

Sensing a presence, I raised my head.

Under the broad leaves, hiding beneath a tree trunk, was a Mud Kero, inflating its cheeks attached to the tree pillar.

[Encountered a monster.]

[Mud Kero (Rank. 01) x 1]

Its amphibian eyes stared at me.

“Damn.”

Come to think of it, Mud Kero was known to be adept at hiding in the jungle environment according to its setting.

I cursed.

At that moment, the battle began.

The creatures below also reacted.

[Encountered a monster.]

[Mud Kero (Rank. 01) x 4]

—

“…Damn.”

The battle was not easy.

The two of them constantly fired mucus to block my movements, and one, who was sharp-witted on the subject of amphibians, backed me into a corner.

The other two tried to restrain me with their long tongues.

“Are you doing this to show off to kids? Isn’t the difficulty level too high?”

Perhaps middle schoolers might not know, but for someone as young as me, still in elementary school, it was quite a challenging evaluation battle.

“Or maybe I’m just unlucky?”

That could be a possibility.

Mud Kero was a monster that acted alone without forming groups.

Yet, by sheer bad luck, I happened to encounter five of them who were acting alone.

“Is my luck low? In the game, luck affected critical hit rates, evasion, drop rates, and more…”

Perhaps in a world where the game became reality, luck stats could influence other aspects as well.

“But I can’t just raise my luck…”

I clicked my tongue.

Raising luck stats wasn’t easy, and for someone like me with an instinct for evasion, it wasn’t a top priority.

Strength, agility, muscle power, endurance, mana.

I had placed luck stats at the bottom of my priority list.

Anyway, I somehow managed to finish the battle.

“They’re grumbling over there.”

Kero kero…

It was an impossible play in the game.

Realizing that their coordination wasn’t as good as I thought, I disrupted them.

As a result, they crumbled under their own kind’s attacks.

“If they keep it up, they might get along.”

I chuckled as I looked at the tangled tongues of those guys.

They couldn’t untangle their tongues and were stuck in place.

“Let me take a quick verification shot.”

Kero kero…

I left them be.

If I were to cut their tongues as they were, they would keep fighting until they met their end from bleeding.

It was too much hassle.

So, after taking a picture, I turned around without any regrets.

Soon, I found the flower I had been looking for.

“I found it.”

A white flower growing in the mud.

After confirming the flower’s information, I carefully dug up the roots.

Then, I roughly cleaned the roots and gulped them down.

“It’s bitter…”

[Eaten Mud Root Sprout.]

[For the next 30 minutes, paralysis resistance increases by 11%.]

[When taking Mud Calamus in duplicate, you can increase paralysis resistance by up to 15%.]

The extent to which paralysis resistance increased varied depending on the state of the flower.

I raised my paralysis resistance by taking other Mud Calamus.

“This should do the trick.”

If I raise my paralysis resistance by 15%, I won’t be affected by Mud Kero’s paralysis.

From then on, I searched for Mud Calamus and proceeded through the forest.

How far had I gone?

“Huh?”

“If only I could move properly…”

Just as I was moving forward.

I saw a person down below.

“…Ugh!”

That person was engaged in combat with what seemed to be a Mud Kero wearing a crimson hat.

‘That’s…’

Ruddle Kero.

A 2nd rank monster.

In the game, a character typically needed ability scores of over 50 to deal with opponents at a certain level.

‘Whoever it is, they’re in for a tough time.’

As Grandpa had explained beforehand.

Most monsters in the Gate were weakened.

Ruddle Kero seemed to be no exception.

Although he might look like he’s sweating, blood continued to seep from his moist skin.

Visible were deep cuts from a blade in several places.

He was close to death.

“Hmm…”

Indeed, he was a 2nd rank monster.

Even though he was weakened, his combat sense was undeniable.

‘It seems he’s been affected by paralysis over there.’

Meanwhile, the relative who had turned his back on me seemed unable to move his body properly to fight.

‘What should I do.’

Even if I didn’t intervene, surely nearby hunters would come to help at the right moment.

“Um…”

But just passing by didn’t sit right with me.

‘It can’t be helped.’

I made up my mind to help the unknown relative.

“Oh, don’t come!”

Ruddle Kero was focused on that relative.

He didn’t notice my presence.

I took advantage of that and planned to approach him to end his life in one go.

Therefore…

“Hoo….”

Preparing to jump, gathering mana at the tip of the sword.

Rolling my eyes, I assessed my position and Radul Kero’s position, while also finding a route to get there.

A few trees caught my eye.

If I stepped on those tree trunks and went down, I could fall to the desired location.

＜Dragon King Attack Style Type 7＞

Unleashing a spell.

Exploding the mana gathered on the soles of my feet, I stepped on the tree trunk I marked a while ago and fell to the ground.

The guy still hadn’t noticed me.

Lion’s High Fall

An attack that increases in power proportionate to the falling height.

The mana gathered at the tip of the sword reacts.

Mana spiraling in a helical shape rapidly inflates, enveloping me.

Kiiiiing!

The sound of the wind tearing apart was heard.

The sound was as ominous as a lion roaring.

And around that time.

…Kero?

[Encountered a monster.]

[Radul Kero (Rank. 02) x 1]

He heard the sound too.

But when he raised his head, it was already too late.

I delivered a sword strike like a torn wind to his forehead.

─!

The mana that enveloped the sword and me now covered him.

A storm of mana.

A storm resembling a lion’s claw ravages him.

First, the forehead explodes, and he is torn apart from top to bottom.

With that.

“Phew….”

“You, you….”

Radul Kero met his end.

Excluding the situation where the walls were splattered with the guy’s flesh and blood, I breathed a sigh of relief.

I consumed a fair amount of mana.

Crunch.

I harvested the fruit of vigor and ate it.

Then, I turned to look at a relative who was in a mess because I couldn’t deploy the barrier in time.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Have some of this to eat….”

“Do Gyeonwoo….”

Since I had already taken the initiative, I was planning to share the mud ointment that relieves paralysis and some fruit as well.

“Oh, shoot.”

After confirming the identity of the other person, I furrowed my brow instinctively.

“What, it’s you?”

Do Seungwoo.

Seeing the guy with Radul Kero’s eyeball perched on his head like a hat, I couldn’t help but click my tongue.

Then, I immediately withdrew the pouch I was going to give to him.

Meanwhile, he scratched his face a lot too.

“When did I ask for your help?”

“Who was the one trembling in fear and saying not to come, even though I warned you not to come?”

“…Even if you didn’t come, I could have handled it alone. But you rushed in and aimed for the fatal blow….”

“Oh, really? I’m truly sorry.”

I had rescued Do Seungwoo.

It didn’t feel particularly good.

No, it was the worst.

I had made a huge mistake.

To make up for that mistake, I quickly glanced around.

“What are you doing?”

“I feel bad for taking your final blow, so I’m going to lure some monsters here.”

“What?”

“I’ll create a situation similar to the one before, so this time, you fight alone.”

“….”

“I won’t interfere this time, so don’t worry. I’ll be on my way.”

“…Are you joking?”

“Why would I joke with you? We’re not on those terms.”

Right then, Mud Kero was over there.

I picked up a nearby rock and threw it towards him.

Kero?

An attack that didn’t cause any real impact.

Mud Kero jerked his body around.

He had spotted us.

[You have encountered a monster.]

[Mud Kero (Rank. 01) x 1]

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Hey! Hey! Wait, stop! Stop!”

“What should I stop for? That guy already recognized you, didn’t he? I’m leaving. Goodbye!”

“Hey! Do Gyung-woo!”

I can’t kill a relative with my own hands.

So, I seek the monster’s help.

Isn’t this what they call a hit-and-run murder?

“Well, he’s no match for me, and if things get dangerous, the hunters will come to my aid.”

Still, I feel good.

My steps were lighter than ever.

“Come back! You jerk!”

From behind, Do Seung-woo’s voice shouting something was heard.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t make out who he was calling for, and it wasn’t clear.

On one hand, it was foolish.

“If you shout like that, what will happen? Will all the monsters nearby come running?”

Of course, I don’t know.

Let him deal with it.

Rather, isn’t it good that I can pass by without encountering any monsters?

I left without ever looking back.