Second time in the Caverns

The wide caverns were illuminated in blue lights from the glowing crystalize spikes all around, a team of three wandered through the caverns, glancing around, wary of the dangers inside.

Rei could've gone to the place he died in his past run, but he chose to go here hoping that the beast that killed him wouldn't be around.

Though beasts aren't the only thing he has to worry about, as a blob of sentient slime dropped right above Rei.

"Glurgh!"

'What is this thing!? Ah, I can't breathe!'

The other two then turned to look at him while he struggled to remove the slime with his bare hands after dropping the two swords.

Cherry: "Shit!"

Cherry gritted her teeth, not knowing what to do. How should she even help when the enemy is right on his head? It'll be like slapping a fly that was there if it decided to dodge, but lethally.

Rei: "Glargh!"

Rei was losing breath by the second, suffocating as he tried to scramble the slime off. But it wasn't working.

'How about a dagger? Come on, summon!'

Blue particles came out of his right hand, and after three seconds of forming into the shape of a dagger, it finally materializes, heading up as Rei tried to cut a bit of the slime on him.

It stayed on him, and Rei kept slashing and stabbing as he held on dear life.

'Am I going to die like this?'

His other hand grabs the slime where his mouth was and tried pulling it off again, and suddenly the slime was ripped right off allowing him to draw breath before it was blocked again, slime now entering his mouth and nostrils.

'It just got worse.'

He hoped that enough physical damage would make the slime lose shape, so he kept slashing and tearing. It was clear that the slime was trying to damage his brain now.

'Ah!'

"GLARRGHHHH!"

His left eye was suddenly ripped out of its socket. He couldn't help but fall to his knees after being trusted into a world of pain.

Cherry stepped towards him and started helping with tearing the slime off with her hands, while Clara was conflicted about whether to use healing magic or not due to the slime on his head.

Cherry: "What are you doing!? Help me get this thing off him, too!"

Clara: "Y-yes!"

'Damnit, maybe I should've taken the lead instead!"

Rei was about to lose consciousness when finally, the slime lost its form and turned flowed right down his head, there was still slime inside his mouth, throat, and nostrils, but with a cough and a blow of his nose, he finally breathed in oxygen.

'Ah, who knew a breath of fresh air could be this good?'

Rei looked to the side, seeing Cherry holding a blue orb before putting it in her pocket. Clara was already on it with the healing.

Clars: "Are you okay?"

Rei: "Do I look okay?"

Rei grumbled. It looked like this run was over without his other eye, but at least he learned that there were slimes around, albeit more sneaky.

Cherry: "At least you're alive."

She huffed before looking at Rei's condition.

After being healed, he wasn't bleeding anymore, but the eye didn't grow back, and the eye that belonged to his left eye earlier was on the ground.

Cherry: "Maybe we should've put it back before healing him."

Rei: "No, thank you..."

Cherry: "It's worth a try. Don't be a sissy."

Rei looked at Clara for help. She seemed unsure too, but gazing back at Cherry's glare made him feel obligated to

Cherry: "Do you want to be blind on your left side? "

Rei: "No, not really."

Cherry: "Then?"

Rei sighed before taking off his glasses. It may not be such a dead run this time around. With Cherry picking up the eyeball and Clara helping Rei keep his eye socket open while looking away, Rei gritted his teeth in preparation for this...

'Gonna get used to the pain, right?'

Rei: "Agh fuck! Be more careful!"

...

Clara: "Alright..." She lowers her hand, she was finished healing

Cherry: "Are you able to see?"

Rei wipes the blood off the glasses, before putting them on, and after a bit, he nods.

Rei: "Yes." He said in a grumble while glaring at Cherry.

Cherry: "Shouldn't you be happy then?"

Rei: "Yeah..." He huffs before looking around. "We should keep going. This time, I'll keep watch on the ceiling too."

He sighed, he should've known something was going to ambush them from above. Bending down to pick up the two shortswords, his eyes gaze at the blood spilled... And a grim realization came.

'Shit.'

If his guess was correct, this run might already be in the coffin with this, his and his classmates' clothes were also bloody.

'Hopefully, the beasts are nowhere near where we are right now.'

Cherry crouched down, taking her hand through the slime and taking some.

Rei had a bad feeling about this, and a guess of what she was doing, "Wait, you aren't going to drink it, are you?"

Cherry looked at him, the hand getting closer to her mouth, "What, why? Think it might be poisonous?"

Rei narrowed his eyes in annoyance, "Har har, you're resistant to poison, not IMMUNE."

Cherry nods shrugs. "I'm thirsty, and even if it effets me, I can probably withstand it long enough for it to be gone. And with her healing, I'll be good as new." Gesturing her head towards Clara

Rei just couldn't believe this woman. Was she crazy? Has she no fear of pain? She also projects to others and offers a crazy idea to put back someone's own eye and heal it so that they could see again.

'Well, I guess it does make a little sense...'

Rei just shook his head, "You're crazy..."

Clara seemed a little hesitant with this idea, too. Rei hoped that she would also say something about it, "... Alright, I'll help you if you do need any healing."

Cherry smiled, "Thanks." Before drinking the slime.

Rei and Clara waited, looking at her expression to see her reaction. Before she eventually let's out a, "Ahhh." Like she felt refreshed after that...

Rei raised an eyebrow, "Did it actually help your thirst?"

Cherry nods before bucketing more slime into her hand and drinking, "Yep, my poison resistance just nulled this bad boy."

Rei frowned. Yes, Cherry got a way to cure her thirst, though it requires killing slime, but for him and Clara, who doesn't have any poison resistance, it is just a death sentence, probably.

Cherry gets up, wiping her mouth before saying, "I'll lead the way then." as she looked at where they were initially going.

Just as she was about to go, Rei tapped her shoulders.

Cherry raised an eyebrow as she looked at him over her shoulders, "What? Have something to say?"

Rei opened his hand, "The orb, the blue one you pocketed, What's that about?"

Cherry shrugs, "You think I know?" summoning her shield and snatching the orb out of her pocket and handing it to him.

Rei took the blue orb and looked at it. He guessed that this orb was the slime's core, "Did you receive a kill notification for the slime?"

Cherry begins walking, "Yeah. After I pulled that orb out, it was a level 0 slime."

'That was level 0?' Rei was irked that he got wounded by the slime just like that, but he also realized how much of a boon a healer is.

Clara was following just behind, looking around and glancing at them while they were conversing.

Rei looked back at the slime core again.

'Maybe I should... Eat it?'

He thought maybe he should wait till they are certain to die before eating. And speaking of eating.

Cherry pointed at something, "Are those it?"

Rei and Clara looked at where she pointed. Plenty of blue mushrooms grew near one of the blue glowing spikes.

Rei nodded before heading to the mushrooms. There were 15 of them around a blue spike, "Yeah, these are it."

Cherry approached the spike and crouched down, taking one of the mushrooms, "Time yo see whether these bad boys are poisonous or not, aye?"

"Are you some sort of poisonous food connoisseur?" Rei narrowed his eyes. He knew these mushrooms weren't poisonous. They were actually good! But maybe it just didn't affect him since he was already poisoned...

Cherry took a bite, "Mmm~" and then ate the whole thing at once. Shaking her head as she looked at the two, "Not poisonous at all, they give out mana instead though."

Clara nodded before taking one herself, Rei followed suit, and they started feasting, all of them taking 5 each.

"Are these really enough to sustain us?" Cherry said after finishing the last one.

Rei responds, "It's still good enough that we have something to eat. Unless you're up on eating raw monster flesh... Are you?"

Cherry glared at him, "Of course not! What kind of impression do you have on me, huh?"

Rei's smile twitched before he just kept eating.

[+1 Mana]

[+1 Mana]

[+1...

Cherry's gaze then lowered down, her expression dark. "But, if I have to, I will."

"I see..." Rei nodded, his gaze looking back and forth between the two before looking down aswell, thinking about the grim situation they are in once again...

"...We'll get out of here."

The two girls looked at Rei as he said that Cherry grinned.

"What, are you going to be our knight in shining armor or something?"

"... Not in this world." Rei shook his head, he didn't want to state his regress ability out loud, but he also wanted to make that promise...

"But I'll try my beat." Rei said sincerely, making Cherry chuckle.

"What kind of an idiot are you?" To that, Rei just smiled at Cherry.

"A gamer."

No matter how many retries, he'll clear this game.

...

'That was kind of cheesy.'

...

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