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"Slime riot?! What happened?! Take me there immediately!" Masi exclaimed, feigning impatience as he put on his concerned village leader act.

"Right away! I'll lead the way!" the young boy replied, just as theatrically.

Masi turned to the group, adopting his most polite smile. "Dear guests, I'll head ahead to see what's going on. Please rest here, and I'll return soon."

But before he could take another step, Layton interjected. "No, we're going too! We came here to deal with slimes—how can we rest while there's a riot?!"

Masi kept up his charade, shaking his head. "Oh no, no! Cleaning up slimes is our job. You're guests. We can't trouble you with such things!"

Layton crossed his arms, a righteous spark igniting in his eyes. "Your job may be cleaning, but dealing with monsters—that's *our* duty. The gods gave us power so we could protect others. There's no need to refuse—just lead the way!"

As if sensing his fervor, the surrounding disciples rallied around Layton's words, their voices rising in unison.

"He's right! It's our duty to defeat monsters!"

"Lead us through!"

"Conquer the monsters! Conquer the monsters! Conquer the monsters!!"

Masi's forced smile twitched at the edges as the pressure from the crowd grew. His plan was unraveling quickly.

"This... Fine! Let's go!" he finally relented, though it was clear he hadn't expected such enthusiasm.

Miruku, standing off to the side, glanced at Layton, overwhelmed by the bright, passionate energy radiating from him. His spirit seemed to blaze with the light of conviction, and she, in contrast, felt smaller and smaller. 'Too... too enthusiastic!' she thought, wishing she could find a quiet, dark corner to hide in. 'I shouldn't even be here!'

Ariana, on the other hand, was practically bouncing in place, her grip on her staff tightening with excitement. She had only recently begun learning magic, and the thought of testing her new skills on the wild slimes made her eyes sparkle with anticipation.

Anyi remained silent, his gaze steady on Masi.

...

When the group reached the village's edge, they halted abruptly. Just beyond the border, an immense, shifting mass loomed in the distance—a monster, writhing with a hundred thousand colors. It crept forward, an overwhelming tide of slimes.

But this was no ordinary slime. Hundreds of thousands of their magical cores had fused, merging into a single colossal creature, towering nearly 30 meters high.

"S-So big… Is that a slime?!" Layton stammered, gripping his wooden shield. For a brief moment, he was paralyzed by doubt. How could his humble shield possibly withstand a monster of that magnitude?

Masi, standing nearby, felt sweat bead on his forehead. This… was not what he had intended. He had orchestrated this slime gathering to give the Heroes a taste of suffering, but the result had spiraled out of control. The sheer size of the monstrosity far exceeded anything their village's Slime Cleaners could handle.

'Too big…' Masi thought, dread creeping into his chest. Even attempting to crush the magic cores now seemed futile. If anyone got too close, the slimes would engulf them. To be entirely covered by slime was the ultimate death sentence—its liquid body would cling and suffocate, drowning them in fresh, viscous sludge.

This beast could destroy the entire village in seconds.

"Maybe… w-we should retreat first?" came a trembling voice from Miruku's side. She had gone pale, her legs twitching with the urge to flee. Faced with such an overwhelming creature, running seemed the only option.

"Fight," Anyi said simply, his voice firm. As the word left his lips, a brilliant white light flickered in his hand, and his Hero's sword appeared—its edge gleaming with a sharpness that defied the size of their foe.

"Good!" Layton grinned, the fear replaced by a sudden rush of adrenaline. His eyes blazed with determination. "This is what we're meant to do! If we don't face the challenge, who will? If we run, who's left to protect the villagers from this disaster?"

"But I'm not a man..." Miruku whispered, her voice so quiet it was nearly swallowed by the wind, though they all heard her clearly.

"No, we must be brave!" Ariana's hands trembled as she gripped her staff, but she took a step forward nonetheless. Her fear was palpable, yet her resolve pushed her onward. "As Heroes, we have no choice but to stand."

Anyi remained silent, his expression as calm and unreadable as ever. "We fight," he repeated, eyes locked on the giant slime.

The believers finally snapped out of their shock. "Evacuate the village! Leave this to the Heroes!" one shouted, spurring the others into immediate action.

Within moments, they began herding the villagers away, scattering in every direction. The responsibility of confronting the monstrous slime now lay squarely on the four Heroes. The believers didn't hesitate—they had seen Anyi's composure, his unyielding confidence. If the Sword Hero said they could win, they believed it.

And so, the villagers fled, leaving the battlefield to the four who remained, standing firm as the towering slime approached.

A certain Thorn Hero, Miruku, stood a good five paces back from the others, poised like a rabbit ready to flee at the first sign of danger. Her gaze darted between the colossal slime advancing on the village and her companions, her feet unconsciously inching backward.

The giant slime buzzed as it lumbered forward, its gelatinous form rippling like a living wave. Below it, more slimes continued to gather, creating an ever-growing tide of ooze.

"What should we do?!" Layton shouted, his voice trembling with a mixture of panic and excitement.

Anyi, ever composed, spared him a glance. "You've got a skill to attract enemies, right? Use it. We need to lure that thing away from the village. We can't let it get any closer."

"Got it!" Layton nodded, bracing himself. With renewed determination, he sprinted toward the massive slime. Or, rather, he attempted to. His pace was sluggish, more akin to a plodding farmer than a Hero. His lumbering form trudged forward at a painfully slow speed, each step a reminder of his lack of agility.

'He's so slow,' Anyi thought, his expectations already tempered. Layton's bulky frame moved with less grace than an untrained villager. In fact, Anyi was quicker before acquiring the system.

"Mr. Layton!" Anyi called out, his voice sharp. "Use the system! Allocate 8 points to Agility and Endurance! Now!"

Layton came to an abrupt halt, blinking in confusion. He turned toward Anyi, scratching his head. "Ah? What was that?"

"Allocate points! To Agility and Endurance!" Anyi repeated, more urgently this time.

Layton fumbled with his system, glancing between Anyi and the advancing slime. After a brief pause, he threw his arms up. "No more!"

"No more?" Anyi echoed, a flicker of disbelief crossing his face. "What do you mean, no more?"

"I've used 'em all!" Layton shouted back, his voice full of pride. 

Anyi froze. "...What?"

Layton, beaming with confidence, pounded his chest as if he had achieved some great feat. "I put everything into Strength! And Durability! As a man, I need power and a body that can take hits! So I maxed 'em both out—25 points each!"

Anyi stared at him, his expression unreadable. "What?"

Layton puffed out his chest. "Strength, 28! Durability, 29! Endurance, 3! The rest? All zero!!"

The look on Anyi's face darkened, disbelief turning to a quiet exasperation. 'This man...'

"Slow down..." Anyi sighed, rubbing his temple. "Tell me... You two didn't spend all your points too, right?" His eyes drifted to Ariana and Miruku, half-expecting the worst.

Ariana, ever sincere, nodded with a sheepish smile. "Kami-sama said I had 50 points, so I asked about the best way to use them... and then I distributed them."

Anyi closed his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable. "What are your stats?"

"Prana, 30! Intelligence, 15! Technique, 15! The rest is... zero?" she answered, blinking with wide, innocent eyes.

'That explains why she used magic 30 times without running out of mana,' Anyi mused, realizing she had an absurd amount of Prana. 'Thirty Prana is nearly 2000 mana...'

His gaze finally settled on Miruku, who had already dropped to her knees in defeat.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out, sliding forward as if trying to make amends for a crime she hadn't yet been accused of. "I don't know why, but... I'm sorry!"

Anyi stared down at her. "What did you spend your points on?"

Miruku raised her head just enough to mutter, "I raised Agility... to 40."

"...What?"