The Strategy Begins

With a whole sack of Four-leaf Clover gathered and slung over his shoulder, Yang Yu walked out of the clover garden and happened to meet his father, Kari.

"Are you ready?"

"Mm-hm."

"Good luck. Don't get hurt."

There were no excessive words. Kari had seen all of Yang Yu's efforts over the past year. As a father, all he could do was silently support his child and let him walk the path he wanted.

Lisa watched from afar, her right hand pressed to her chest unconsciously tightening into a fist. She, too, had witnessed Yang Yu's efforts over the past year.

At first, she had thought her son had finally decided to live an honest, ordinary life. She had never expected that everything had merely been preparation for completing the task they had given him.

Over the past year, Lisa had thought about many things. Coupled with her husband's constant persuasion, she reluctantly accepted the fact that her son had grown up.

Even so, she still hoped her son could stay by her side, marry a lovely wife, have a chubby son, and live a quiet, ordinary life.

Besides the couple, the people in the village had also begun to see the once-timid boy in a new light.

It was not only because he had defeated the village bully, but also because they had watched Yang Yu grow. He had proven through his actions that no one in the village was his match anymore.

He was the hope of the entire village.

Today, everyone in the village had come to see him off, presenting the great one with the finest sword in the village.

With a sack of Four-leaf Clover on his back and the Silver Sword put away, Yang Yu carried the villagers' enthusiastic gazes with him as he stepped out of Novice Village and entered the forest he had visited a year ago.

The sunlight here was still bright, spilling through the lush forest.

Before he had gone far, a blue jelly-like creature sprang out of the grass.

[Slime Level: LV7 HP: 230/230 MP: 70/70

Attributes: Strength 45, Defense 178, Intelligence 36, Special Defense 201, Agility 27, Endurance 30

Resistance: Physical 50%

A level 7 Slime, with unbelievable stats. Its boss-like power was as overwhelming as ever, but that was what made it worth the challenge.

A year of Farming had all been for today. With my pride as a player on the line, I'll be taking your experience points!

Yang Yu drew his sword.

At that moment, the Slime was also carefully examining Yang Yu.

"This person seems familiar. Oh, I remember now. When I secretly ran out a year ago, I met him twice. He even gave me Four-leaf Clover."

That was what the Slime, He Meng, thought.

In most people's minds, Slimes were common, weak monsters—the cannon fodder among cannon fodder.

But that was merely human prejudice.

The Slimes had built their own city underground. Their strength was enough to withstand a frontal assault from any human nation. They had their own classes as well: commoners, merchants, nobles, soldiers, and even a king and queen.

However, one type of Slime did not count as a citizen of the Slime Kingdom. After a Slime died of old age, its consciousness vanished, but its body could still move, turning it into a zombie among Slimes. These Slimes, which acted only on instinct, were called Lesser Slimes by the Slime Kingdom.

The Slime Kingdom drove these rapidly multiplying Lesser Slimes to the surface, using adventurers to deal with the trouble and maintain internal balance.

Thanks to that, most people's impression of Slimes had always remained that they were weak and useless. It also helped protect and conceal the Slime Kingdom.

The simplest way to distinguish Lesser Slimes from citizens of the Slime Kingdom was to use Four-leaf Clover.

Lesser Slimes had no sense of taste. Whatever they ate was simply digested into energy for movement; it made no difference what they consumed.

Slimes of commoner rank and above possessed the sense of taste needed to distinguish food, and they could extract essence energy from what they ate to strengthen themselves.

And Four-leaf Clover was the favorite food of Higher Slimes, without exception.

Although Four-leaf Clover only had one more leaf than a three-leaf clover, the difference in taste was worlds apart. To put it in perspective, it was like fresh Indian water buffalo meat compared to a thick slab of grilled Japanese Kobe beef. There was an absolute gulf between them, and it was definitely not a matter of whether the meat had been grilled.

The Slime Kingdom also cultivated Four-leaf Clover, but its yield was extremely low. It was a luxury only royalty and high-ranking officials could enjoy.

To taste this legendary delicacy, many commoner Slimes chose to take risks, secretly slipping out of the underground kingdom and heading for the surface world.

The upper ranks tacitly permitted this. After all, it was better to open the door to a new world for the people than let their dissatisfaction ferment within the empire.

Thus, among the Lesser Slimes wandering outside, there were quite a few self-aware citizens of the Slime Kingdom. Over time, rumors that Slimes ate Four-leaf Clover began to spread.

He Meng was also a citizen of the Slime Kingdom, but it was no ordinary citizen. It was a Slime with Royal Bloodline.

From that fact alone, its strength was on an entirely different level from ordinary Slimes.

With its status, enjoying Four-leaf Clover was easy. The reason it had come to the surface world was not to search for Four-leaf Clover, but simply because it was curious about the outside world.

"Meeting the same person three times could be considered a kind of fate.

"Although he rudely swung his sword at me before without bothering to learn the facts, I'll forgive him because he treated me to Four-leaf Clover.

"I wonder whether he brought any Four-leaf Clover this time. If he gives me some more, I might consider becoming friends with him."

Just as it thought that, the boy before it flashed forward, and a gleaming Silver Sword slashed toward it. He Meng did not dodge and directly took Yang Yu's attack.

HP -4

"You've certainly grown a lot since our first meeting, but it's still not enough to shake my defense. As punishment for daring to swing your sword at me, you'll repay me with your body."

Unlike those Lesser Slimes that could only rely on instinctive defensive attacks, He Meng had received training since childhood and understood quite a few combat techniques. As long as it got a little serious, dealing with a human boy would be as easy as turning its hand over.

Steadying itself and bouncing slowly upward, He Meng launched a warning attack. If the warning proved ineffective, it would show no mercy with any of its following attacks.

Splat—

Dodging the attack, Yang Yu tossed out a stalk of Four-leaf Clover.

Wriggling its body, He Meng absorbed the Four-leaf Clover into itself. The clover was fresh and juicy; it had never tasted Four-leaf Clover this delicious.

"This one tastes pretty good. If you stop now, I'll spare your life!"

Yang Yu did not understand Slime Language at all. To him, the Slime before him merely seemed to be burping after a meal.

Seeing the Slime's status turn friendly, he swung his sword and unleashed a series of slashes, forcibly taking more than thirty of He Meng's health.

"Honestly, I'm really angry now. Even if you give me more Four-leaf Clover, I definitely won't forgive you this time!" He Meng was furious, but because the person before it had given it such delicious Four-leaf Clover, it only launched another warning attack.

Yang Yu easily dodged the attack and tossed out another stalk of Four-leaf Clover.

"Only one? Are you trying to fool a child?" He Meng's attitude was extremely firm. A single stalk of Four-leaf Clover could not soothe the pain of its injuries.

Splat—

Yang Yu tossed out another stalk of Four-leaf Clover. Seeing that the Slime ignored him, he simply grabbed a large handful of Four-leaf Clover and threw it over.

Splat— Splat— Splat—

"Trying to bribe me now is useless! I know what you're after. You just want to defeat me and gain my experience points! Face my wrath!"

He Meng had originally wanted to say that, but he had given it far too much.