Adam wiped his eyes and mouth. He'd spilled his guts onto the grass. Not because the effects of travelling back in time had been too much for him like before, but because the emotions had been so overwhelming that he'd felt the need to purge his insides.

He felt like he hadn't eaten in two days, which, judging by everything that'd come out of him, was incorrect. It was hard to reconcile the fact that the person he now was, the body he returned to, was an old version of him. A version that'd only just had breakfast an hour prior to the cubes' arrival. What returned in time was not his body. It was only his mind and the memories inside.

I need to find Emelia.

He didn't have the Scale of Remembrance yet, but that didn't matter.

That desire to find her again was simply overwhelming, all other thoughts pushed to the background.

[10 seconds remaining.]

Adam looked up at the Eye that'd unfolded into a podium with a selection of weapons.

Then he noticed the stone orb right in front of him. The iris was lit up green.

With a touch, he switched it on.

< < Hardmode > >

< Activated >

This will double the number of slimes, and in turn double the Points I get from them, as well as the number of cores I can get.

He looked down at the thing that had appeared in his pocket, brought back with him thanks to Luvicidix's upgrade.

Or maybe not. If I use this, then I will damage all the cores, since I need them to defeat the slimes.

< < Collectible Relic > >

< Cracked Slime Core (Common) — The fractured brain and heart of a Slime >

It would be better to have a Slime Glove to send back, but for that I need to upgrade Relic Saving more.

Adam got up, just as the Eye packed away the offered weapons.

[Failed to select a Weapon Type within 60 seconds. You have been defaulted to the Weapon Type 'Fool'.]

< < Weapon Type Selected > >

< Bare-handed >

< < Player Status > >

< Adam >

< Fool >

< Level 0 >

< Stats >

< Health — 50 >

< Stamina — 200 >

< Mana — 0 >

< Damage — 210% >

< Defence — 50% >

< Speed — 200% >

< Luck — 25 >

< Upgrades >

< — — — >

With the cracked core in the palm of his hand, Adam moved to the spot where the first wave of enemies would appear.

A single slime hopped out from the wall of trees that surrounded the clearing, and he thought for a second that his information about the Hardmode was incorrect. But then it wriggled and split in two.

Adam threw his core into the one on the left and it almost popped immediately, leaving behind its cracked core. The other slime hopped towards him, but he jumped over it, grabbed the core and hurled it into its back, popping it as well.

He picked up the cracked core it left behind.

Yeah, I won't be collecting a lot of them to sell with this strategy… It's a waste of Points.

[Excellent! You cleared the Wave within 5 seconds.]

[Completing a Wave this quickly results in the rewards going up one rarity level.]

Adam approached the Eye after it unfolded into a podium and was glad to see only Epic options, and four of them no less. As predicted, since the Fool did not use a weapon, all of them were general upgrades.

I guess that means I won't be able to evolve the Fool at all.

But when I get Gram, I can retain the Fool's stats, which should be really strong.

< < Upgrades Available > >

< Bleed (Epic) — Attacks inflict bleed dealing 25% weapon damage over the course of 10 seconds >

< Movement (Epic) — Increases movement speed by 25% >

< Force (Epic) — Attacks pierce armour by 25% >

< Luck (Epic) — Increases luck by 5 >

Adam climbed the large apple tree in the middle of the clearing while his 30 seconds for selecting an upgrade ticked down. Thanks to the high speed of the Fool, he was able to rapidly make his way up to the branch with the Secret Relic.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Glass Acorn (Rare) — Grows for 3 Stages >

Then he scaled back down, recklessly dropping from branch to branch while trying to avoid taking damage from falling.

"I'm picking Bleed," he told the Eye.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Bleed (Epic) >

Despite its wording, it works with Relics, so the definition of 'weapon' is definitely very broad.

Maybe my shoes are considered weapons too. And my fists.

The next Wave started, and he was now up against four blue slimes, but it was still over fast enough for him to get an upgraded reward.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Damage (Epic) >

Adam thought the third Wave, with its two purple slimes and four blue would be a struggle, but it too was over quickly, giving him his third Epic upgrade, as well as two extra cracked cores.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Bleed (Epic) >

When the purple slimes died, they dropped two of the cores instead of one, leaving him with a total of three. He was planning on saving those for the boss.

I'll have to use the stone sword to get an intact core.

The moment the fourth Wave spawned, bringing four blue and four green slimes with it, Adam ran out in front of the tree to bait their attacks. All four green slimes immediately launched their acid barrages, and he dipped around the side of the tree to escape any splashes.

Plop-plop-plop!!

With four of them hammering their acid into the tree, it only took a couple of volleys for it to start creaking.

Adam leaned against it from the other side and pushed as hard as he could, though not before grabbing the Healing Apple just in case.

The tree collapsed and struck two of the blue slimes and one of the green, killing them.

From the ruined trunk rose the stone-covered sword.

Here we go!

Adam reached out to touch Gram.

< < Secret Weapon Obtained > >

< Gram (Rare) — The ancient sword of a Mythical Hero >

< Unique Skill ( Anvil Splitter ) | Perform an overhead slash powerful enough to cleave an anvil in twain >

[You have discovered a Secret Weapon. This weapon starts with the Unique Skill 'Anvil Splitter'.]

[Since your Weapon Type is 'Fool', you are unable to wield any other weapon.]

"But I have Second Sheath!" he exclaimed as the sword turned to ash in his hand.

[You are unable to wield any other weapon.]

Son of a bitch!

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Well, there goes that plan…

He frowned, realising he had to get an intact core in a less pleasant way. He considered not fighting the Slime Emperor, since the difference between the Flawless and Secret Boss bonuses was only 100 Points.

Although I would also get the crown from the Secret Boss, and I need that for the Hobgoblin Lord.

Shit…

I'll use my left hand, he decided, hefting the Healing Apple he'd grabbed before the tree collapsed.

Adam zipped around the side of the tree and started hurling cracked cores at the remaining slimes, quickly popping the three green ones, before having to run over to carefully retrieve more ammunition from their acidic remains to deal with the second-to-last blue slime.

With just one slime remaining, Adam carefully baited out its attack and then moved in close. Shaping his hand into a beak, he drove it right into its body and grabbed the core, pulling it out with a wet squelch.

Fuck!

[Warning! Health below 25%.]

The bones on his left hand were visible, and it felt like his entire arm was engulfed in flames. He quickly shoved the apple into his mouth and bit down.

[Healing Apple consumed! Recovering Health back to 100%.]

"How much damage was that?"

[The attack dealt 25 points of damage, which was increased to 38 due to your Defence rating. That means you now have 12 Health or 24% remaining.]

His left hand quickly healed back to full, and he was able to uncurl his fingers from the intact core, stuffing it into his left pocket.

He ground his teeth in frustration as the next set of upgrades appeared. He'd missed the Wave speedrun for the evolved reward, on top of sacrificing the Flawless bonus.

There's gotta be a better way to do this than sacrificing my hands to get cores.

I need to upgrade Relic Saving more so I can send back a slime glove or something.

In his pockets he had six cracked and hissing cores, and by itself in his left front pocket was the intact core he would use to evolve the boss.

It hadn't been pleasant, but he was ready to take on the Slime Emperor.

< < Upgrade Selected > >

< Damage (Rare) >

Although it wasn't Epic, since he had spent too much time getting the tree chopped down, the upgrade put him at 250% Damage, which meant he could probably punch and kick his way through Stage Two with ease, not even needing Relics.

Adam took a deep breath as the tremors in the ground announced the arrival of the slime king, and then suddenly it landed with an explosion of dirt and grass in front of him.

A second later it split into two.

Oh…

Shit.

He hurled the intact core into the rightmost one, even as the other leapt for him.

< < Secret Boss Discovered > >

< Slime Emperor >

< Wave Timer extended to 300 seconds >

No sooner had the boss evolved into the white humanoid slime than Adam had thrown four of his six cracked cores into its body.

There followed four quick pops and then the boss was dead, dropping the Rusted Crown and four cracked cores just as the unevolved slime king landed next to Adam, sending him tumbling.

But Adam was incredibly fast and landed in a tucked roll before it could jump again, and then he zipped over and scooped up the cores, throwing three at the slime king just as it jumped.

The boss was mid-air when it popped, sending a shower of acidic slime all over the clearing and it was only through luck that Adam avoided getting hit by one of the globs.

< < Wave Five Complete > >

< < Stage Complete > >

< Tallying Score >

Adam let out a sigh of relief.

Aside from having to fuck up my hand to get an intact core, that actually went really well.

Still, not being able to pick up a secondary weapon really limits what the Fool can do.

I guess the only way to make this work is by getting Relics that can act as weapons, like the passive corrosive effect from the slime gloves, or stuff like the grafted limbs.

Actually, maybe I should try the Chimaera Core this time, that could be interesting.

But from what Emelia told me, the way to keep up with the rising difficulty is to swap to stronger weapons. Although Warder was apparently strong enough to bring all the way to the end, considering that's what she said Arturo did.

< < Score > >

< 95 Seconds Completion Time >

< 400 Point Secret Boss Bonus added >

< 150 Point Speedrun Bonus added >

< 150 Point All Secrets Bonus added >

< 38 Damage Received >

< 2181 Points Awarded >

Good enough.

Just a shame I'm only left with five cores to sell. I could've had 26 or something if I didn't have to use the cracked cores. At 100 Points per core, that would more than double the Point total from the Stage, meaning the potential for this Stage, if done perfectly and if I harvest all the cores, is about 5,000 Points.

By contrast, I'll only get about 2,700 this time.

Adam scratched the back of his neck absentmindedly as he walked over to the Relic Chest.

[Since you have slain the Secret Boss, two upgrade choices are available to you.]

[Additionally, as you also completed the Wave quickly, your rewards have gone up one Rarity level.]

"Oooh," he exclaimed, excitedly.

This means…

Adam pushed open the slime-themed chest.

< < Relics Available > >

< Slime King's Crown (Epic) — Become the King of Slimes | Player turns into a humanoid Slime with four cores that each hold 25% of total health >

< Green Slime Glove (Rare) — Player can touch corrosive materials | Fire a glob of highly-corrosive green slime. 60-second cooldown >

< Duellist's Glove (Rare) — Charge an attack for 2 seconds to enable it to pierce armour. 60-second cooldown >

< Purple Slime Glove (Rare) — Player can touch corrosive materials | Turns Player's hand into a spike for one attack. 60-second cooldown >

"Wait… Why is there only one Epic Relic?" Adam asked. "Shouldn't all four be Epic?"

[There is only one Epic Relic available at Stage One. The pool of available Relics goes up with every new Stage you complete.]

That's bullshit…

Well, whatever, at least I got an Epic out of this.

Question is, should I equip it?

Adam recalled Sven, a guy he'd talked to in his third loop who had picked the Relic and used it. It effectively turned a Player into a slime, replacing their total Health with four cores regardless of how much Health they had. Adam suspected that cracked cores were a really easy way to deal with someone wearing the Relic, and from how Sven had described it, its special effect was better for ranged attacks, since it turned projectiles into slime.

But, I also think it's possible to change the nature of the slime by swapping out cores, not to mention, using different cores should broaden my abilities.

Fuck it, I guess I'll try it out.

Not like I have anything to lose anymore…

Adam reached out to grab the Relic.

< < Relic Selected > >

< Slime King's Crown (Epic) >

[You are already wearing a Relic on your head. Would you like to unequip Rusted Crown and replace it with Slime King's Crown?]

Adam gritted his teeth, preparing himself for what was coming.

"Do it."

[Understood.]

The Rusted Crown landed in his hands, and then, in a flash, the world changed. The trees around him lit up in a multitude of colours, and he thought he could hear them all breathing. He could also feel the void that the apple tree had left behind from being chopped down.

Strangest of all was the fact that he didn't feel any pain.

Maybe this was a bad idea, he considered. I mean, how am I meant to make friends with people if I look like a slime…?

He pushed the thought away for now and went through the two upgrades, picking up another pair of Epics.

< < Upgrades Selected > >

< Damage (Epic) >

< Bleed (Epic) >

I should probably buy one of the gloves from Lucca.

Something ranged could be good.

And with all these Bleed bonuses, I can no doubt kill stuff absurdly fast.

Although I can already just punch things to death, since my whole body should now basically be corrosive slime.

Adam looked down at himself. He still basically looked like he was wearing clothes, even though his real shirt and pants had obviously dissolved. For some reason, his slime legs even had pockets in them, but the cracked and hissing cores lay on the grass below him, ejected from his body with the transformation.

I didn't even think about how dangerous these things are to me now…

Then darkness flooded the area.

"Wait, stop!" he yelled at the Eye.

< < Now Entering > >

< Interim Island >

Adam appeared in the middle of the island, his five cracked cores gone.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered.

Silvery scales fluttered down around him, and the Eye was frozen in the air. He looked up and saw Luvicidix descending towards him from the clouds. She was back to being a huge moth, which was odd, he thought.

"Hello again, Adam," she said.

"Hi again," he replied. "Let's just skip the pleasantries for now. I need to check up on my friends first."

"Do you want to buy any of my upgrades?"

"Later," he said and started running off towards the Dimensional Tavern.

Adam declined Charlie's offer of food as she greeted him by the door.

He immediately found a seat.

"Show me Emelia Bell," he told the Eye.

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

Adam froze.

"No…"

After that unbeatable and unfair trap…

After promising I would find her and remind her of how she'd felt…

Why is she dead!?

Adam didn't realise it until he looked down, but his hands were gripping the table with enough strength to damage the wood, his corrosive body blackening the top layer.

"How many survived?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

[A little over 600 million Players survived Stage One. Currently, 42 million Players are utilising the Dimensional Tavern.]

"Then why the fuck is she dead!?" he yelled.

The Eye did not answer.

"Show me Willow Martin."

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

He slammed the table hard enough to crack it.

"Show me Arturo Molina!"

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

"Anri Tsiklauri!"

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

"Alexander Nova!"

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

"Haoyang Sun!"

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

"Ilya Sokolov!"

[The Player you are searching for has perished.]

"Seriously!? How are they all dead??"

Adam took a deep breath.

"What about Lenard Schulz?"

Finally something happened.

The German policeman from Munich appeared a few seats down. He was already drinking and looked miserable.

Before Adam could call out to him, he stood up and took his large glass of beer with him, vanishing from the Tavern.

What the fuck is happening!?

There are over 600 million Players alive, and yet none of the people that Emelia told me about have survived. Not even Willow…

Adam frowned as he realised the reason.

Then someone nearby asked, "How did you do that?"

He turned to look at the guy. He had straight neatly-trimmed black hair, caramel skin, two black beauty marks right under the corner of his left eye, and purple swirls instead of his natural eye-colour.

Maybe he noticed the way Adam's expression changed or maybe he'd been prepared to do it from the start, but either way, the guy pointed a marble at him.

< < Challenge Stone Activated > >

< Player Hiroshi Sakurai has forced you into fighting him >

The seat under Adam evaporated as the surroundings changed. The wooden floor became sand, and the ceiling became an open sky showing clouds lazily floating past. The walls broadened and turned to stone, and above them were seats that wrapped around the area. On those seats sat people made of black shadow, all of them staring intently.

It was an arena.

And at the opposite end stood the time-looper. He wore black formal pants, a white shirt, and a blue tie.

In his hand was a sword that Adam recognised.

Fuck…

He recognised it because they had fought hard in the last loop to obtain it.

It was the Avatar's Shattered Blade. The sword belonging to the Secret Boss of Alepheria's Crooked Tower. Except it was restored back to full, and the length of a claymore.

So, it is possible to bring weapons back to the start. Somehow.

"How did you beat Stage One as the Fool?" the time-looper asked, his voice easily carrying across the arena as he walked towards Adam.

"Luck," he replied.

"No one is that lucky," Hiroshi said flatly.

"I have a question too," Adam said, trying to remain calm despite the maelstrom of anger in his chest. "Why did you kill Emelia, Willow, Arturo, Anri, Alexander, Haoyang, and Ilya?"

Hiroshi stopped mid-step.

"How do you know those names?"

"Answer the question," Adam demanded.

"Are you a time-looper too?" Hiroshi asked. "That shouldn't be possible…"

"Answer me!" Adam roared and surged across the sand, quickly closing the distance between them.

But Hiroshi didn't miss a beat.

The moment he came within 10 metres, Hiroshi just shot forward, slicing his sword right through Adam.

It didn't hit any of the four cores that swirled around in his body, and which had replaced his Health.

But it didn't matter, because Adam collapsed, instantly dead.

However.

A single death no longer stopped him.

Adam's consciousness returned quick as lightning, but he remained where he'd fallen.

The crunch of sand alerted him to the time-looper coming closer. Still he didn't move.

He's going to use the Abyssal Tooth on me.

It was a gamble to remain still, but he was almost certain the Relic would fail to work against a living target.

"Where the hell did you even come from?" Hiroshi Sakurai muttered to himself as he stopped in front of Adam.

"And how did you know all those names, I wonder."

He's talking to himself, and I guess to what he presumes is a dead body.

That's a good sign…

He is also not taking any risks, like explaining his plan to me or going easy to get more info out of me.

This guy has been doing this for a long time, I'm willing to bet.

After all, Adam had figured it out. All of those people who he'd searched for always made it far, according to what Emelia had told him before they died. And yet, not a single one was still alive in this new universe. It was not a stretch to imagine that Hiroshi was behind it.

But I think he's only focusing on those who might get in his way directly and steal the Self-devouring Eye. So he's not exactly the same as Mórrígan, if the total number of Stage One survivors is anything to go by.

Adam felt something hit his back, but it failed to pierce through his slime body.

"Why is it not working?" he heard Hiroshi mutter.

Then Adam lunged up and grabbed him in a bear hug.

"This is for Emelia," Adam growled and squeezed.

Hiroshi screamed, but was able to kick Adam away.

Then he collapsed, his burnt and dissolving body struggling to keep him upright.

A second after that he died.

Only for his own Cheat Death Sigil to bring him back.

And unlike Adam, he was much faster to recover.

Before he could even try to kill him a second time, Adam was sliced through with the soul blade.

Adam gasped, finding himself back on his knees in the soft grass of Stage One.

"Fuck!" he shouted.

That whole loop was a waste…

I didn't even invest my Points with Luvicidix…

He let out a deep sigh.

I just have to try again.

At least I managed to fuck up that guy's plans by triggering his Cheat Death. He won't be able to ever loop again.

Adam looked up at the weapons he could choose between.

< < Weapon Types Available > >

< Spellcaster (Uncommon) >

< Warrior (Common) >

< Lancer (Common) >

< Woodsman (Common) >

< Priest (Rare) >

What should I try this time?

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