DanKatsu Volume 1, Chapter 2

 

Chapter 2: Hidden Quest — <Save the Girl Being Attacked by a Slime>

"Stay away from meee!"

The one shouting was a small girl.

Maybe her legs had given out—she’d collapsed on the spot and was trembling with fear.

Looming slowly toward her was a classic RPG monster, jiggling and gleaming with its shiny body: a slime.

Its movement speed? Maybe one-fifth of a walking adult. It was incredibly slow, just oozing its way over like it owned the place.

Honestly, it was ridiculously sluggish.

True to its reputation as the weakest of the weak monsters (if you can even call it that).

It gave off a totally harmless, non-threatening vibe—the complete opposite of something powerful.

But to the girl, it was a real threat.

Sure, it’s "just" a slime—but it’s still technically a monster. Even if it’s slow, even if all it can do is melt clothes (hypothetically), it’s still a monster.

Actually, that last bit might be the most dangerous one.

※ Don’t worry, slimes in this game don’t melt clothes.

In this world, anyone without a job is considered completely defenseless.

If a monster attacks you, you’re toast. That’s just common sense here.

So even if, from an outsider’s point of view, it doesn’t look like much of an "attack," and even if you could just walk away from it, for kids under sixteen in this world, this is a serious life-threatening situation.

The kind of fear that makes your legs give out.

Tears were welling up in the girl's eyes.

And me—Zephyrus—was watching all of this from the shadows behind a tree.

Not yet. It’s too early to trigger the quest.

Even though I was dying to jump out and squash the slime in real life, I held myself back, painfully waiting for the right moment.

Why is the slime moving so painfully slow?

Why isn’t the girl running away and just sitting there waiting to get "attacked"?

It’s because the quest is called <Save the Girl Being Attacked by a Slime>.

Being attacked, see?

She actually has to get attacked—or at least look like she’s being attacked—for the quest to trigger.

The slime’s sluggish pace, the girl not moving—it's all meant to let the player figure out the timing for when to jump in.

This is a tutorial quest, after all. We’re still in the nameless starter village.

Even though it’s a hidden quest, it’s actually designed to help the player practice.

So… sorry, girl. Just hang in there a little longer.

If I jumped out now and killed the slime too early, the quest wouldn’t count, and I’d miss it completely.

That’s the annoying part of hidden quests.

I stayed completely still, eyes locked on the scene, waiting for the exact moment.

The slime closed in on the girl slowly and steadily…

Then it stopped about 2 meters in front of her and started shaking its whole body, like it was charging up for an attack.

That was the cue!

The obvious signal was all I needed—I jumped out from behind the tree.

A beat later—no, maybe two beats… okay, three—the slime leapt into the air, aiming for the girl.

"KYAAAAH!!"

The girl screamed, but by then I was already beside her.

"Take this."

I casually swung my sword, striking the slime cleanly. Its HP dropped to zero in an instant, and it collapsed on the spot, leaving behind a slime jelly drop as it vanished.

Yeah… weak.

Even without a job, as long as you’ve got a weapon, there’s no way you’re losing to a slime.

That’s how weak they are.

『Hidden Quest <Save the Girl Being Attacked by a Slime> Completed』

The familiar voice rang in my head, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Quest cleared.

If I’d messed that up, there’d be no do-over. Someone give me a save & load function, please!

"—Huh? Wh-What?"

I turned around at the confused voice behind me.

The girl I’d just saved looked totally puzzled at how anticlimactic the whole thing was.

Yeah, I get it. Slimes just have that effect on people.

"You okay? That was a close one. The slime’s gone now, so you’re safe."

Was it actually close? Not really. But I said it anyway to help her calm down.

She finally seemed to understand that she’d been rescued and turned to look at me—but then just stared, mouth hanging open, without saying anything.

Huh? This feels different from how it played out in the game.

Back then, she’d just say something like, "Thanks for saving me! Here’s a potion!" and then walk off right away.

"Hellooo? You okay?"

"Eh! Ah, um, I-I’m sorry! I mean—uh—thank you! Thank you so much for saving me!"

"Y-Yeah, no problem."

I called out to her again, and for some reason, her face turned bright red and she totally panicked.

That sudden reaction kind of caught me off guard.

"S-So… I was out gathering ingredients for potions, and then I was suddenly attacked. I really thought it was all over…"

"I see. Glad I made it in time."

I still didn’t get which part of that counted as "suddenly attacked" or "all over," but I nodded along to keep things moving.

Now then, how about handing over that reward potion already?

"Um… I’d like to thank you properly, so would you maybe come to my house?"

"Hmm?"

Wait… isn’t the reward supposed to be a potion?

"Ah—n-no, it’s not like that! My family runs an alchemy shop, so I thought maybe I could thank you with something related to that. I-It’s not like it has any special meaning or anything, okay?!"

She started babbling in a flustered rush, trying to cover up for… something, I guess.

But I didn’t care about that—I was too busy thinking.

So the reward really is a potion, huh?

In the game, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a scene where she invited you to her house.

Maybe this is still the game world, but it’s a bit different from the actual game?

I mean, we’re talking normally and everything…

…Hmm. I see, I see.

This version of <DanKatsu> is different from the one I know.

I love it!!!

"Alright! Let’s go! Right now!"

"Eeeh!? That eager!? I-I mean, sure, I invited you, but maybe let’s just—wa-wait a second—"

"Don’t move like a slime! Let’s go already!"

"Ahhh!?"

For some reason, the second I got excited, the girl started hesitating.

I grabbed her hand and started walking.

She was kind of flailing and going "auu auu" while being dragged along, but whatever.

This world is slightly different from the <DanKatsu> I knew.

I used to be the walking database of everything about that game—and yet here’s a version of it I don’t know.

That’s just… the BEST!

I couldn’t wait to see what came next.

My excitement meter, which had been steadily dropping, suddenly spiked all the way back to MAX, and I rushed off toward the village’s alchemy shop.

"We made it! Alright, let’s get to it! There’s actually something I wanted you to make for me. Oh, by the way, I’m Zephyrus. Nice to meet you."

"Wha—uh, yeah. Zephyrus-kun… I know who you are. We’re from the same village, you know? We haven’t really talked much, but we’ve been childhood friends, right? Why are you introducing yourself now??"

Still hyped up on excitement, I finally arrived at the alchemy shop and realized two things:

1. This was the place I meant to visit later anyway.

2. I hadn’t actually introduced myself yet.

So, riding the high, I threw out a self-intro—but apparently, she already knew me.

She looked totally confused, like "???"

She didn’t realize that I didn’t know her name.

Yeah, I get it. That’d be pretty confusing from her side.

No problem, though. This is when you just keep the momentum going.

"If someone introduces themselves, you gotta return the favor. That won’t fly outside the village, y’know?"

I threw out some random nonsense, and it seemed to click with her—like she found a reason that made sense.

"Oh, like an academy practice thing? Right, someone mentioned you were making the rounds earlier… Um, I’m Hanna. Nice to meet you?"

"Okay, okay! That works, that works!"

So her name’s Hanna, huh?

She didn’t have a name in the game, so that’s already new.

It looks like the same <DanKatsu>, but there is all kinds of stuff I don’t know about.

Even something simple like "Hanna" feels fresh and exciting!

Since things had gone smoothly, I stepped inside with Hanna into her house-slash-alchemy-shop.

She led me to the back room, and as I entered, a wave of nostalgia hit me.

This part looked exactly like it did in <DanKatsu>.

The alchemy shop in the <Nameless Starter Village>… You only really see this place if you hit "New Game," so it felt like it’d been ages.

"Um… would you like some tea?"

"Ooh, sure! I’d love some!"

Hanna, still acting kinda suspicious and awkward, offered me tea, and I instantly accepted.

I just noticed—she’d stopped using formal speech somewhere along the way. Probably from me dragging her here earlier.

She disappeared into the back after hearing my answer, then came back a little while later.

"H-Here you go."

I stared at the tea she handed me.

It looked like green tea… that kind of greenish color.

Pretty sure this wasn’t in the game, either.

I took a sip—and yup, tasted exactly like real green tea.

My first food or drink in this world.

It actually has flavor!

And smell, too!

"So, um… how is it?"

"…I’m blown away!"

"Th-That much!?"

Hanna looked shocked like I was exaggerating, but I wasn’t kidding.

I was seriously moved.

My love for <DanKatsu> flared up all over again.

This world has actual food items!

Back in the game, I used to get hit by those food scenes like, "damn, that looks good—I want some!" way too often.

But now that I’m here for real, I’ve decided:

I’m gonna try every single food item.

I made a vow right then and there.

Alright—tea break’s over. Time to get to the main event.

"Hanna, by the way, where are your parents? The shop looked closed."

"Um, well... they’re not around right now."

Yeah, I know. In the game, her parents show up in a separate subquest. Until you clear that, the alchemy shop doesn’t open. Looks like it’s the same here, which is actually kind of reassuring.

"That’s perfect, actually."

"Wh-what do you mean perfect!?"

Hanna suddenly turned bright red at my comment.

I ignored her strange reaction and pulled something out of my bag.

"I want you to use this and do some alchemy for me."

"Fuheh?!"

Hanna looked at my face, then at my hand, then back at my face—and somehow turned even redder. Did she misunderstand something?

"What’s wrong?"

"N-nothing’s wrong, nothing at all! You want... a-alchemy, right!? You should’ve just said that from the start!"

She fumbled over her words, snatched the <Slime Jelly> from my hand like she was trying to hide her embarrassment.

It was the drop item I got from that slime earlier—my first real drop. Even that gave me a bit of a thrill.

The slime jelly… was weirdly slimy.

"S-So, what do you want to make with this? The only thing I know how to make with slime jelly is slime konjac…"

"Yeah, no, I don’t need slime konjac. I just want you to try mixing it with this."

"...What’s this?"

"Mud water."

"I can see that! But if you mix this kind of thing, it’s gonna be a total disaster!"

"Exactly. I want it to be a disaster."

"I don’t get it at all~"

When I showed her the muddy water I’d just scooped up outside, Hanna got even more confused.

Got any gear with Confusion Resistance?

Anyway, she wouldn’t stop hesitating, so I gave her a little push—Who saved your life again?—and she finally, reluctantly, pulled out the <Alchemy Set> and began prepping.

"This is totally gonna fail, you know. Like, big fail."

"Yup. Totally."

"Ughhh, I don’t understand anything anymore…"

"Just watch. You’ll get it."

『Alchemy』 is a skill where you combine items to create something new. But like with most crafting, you need the right recipe. Use the wrong ingredients, and you get a regular failure (fumble). Mix stuff that’s completely incompatible, and you trigger a major failure—called a Dessert Fumble.

And when that happens… something special occurs.

That’s what I’m aiming for.

Still mumbling "ugh, ugh," Hanna dropped the slime jelly and muddy water into a small pot.

Then she equipped the <『Alchemy Lv1』 Bracelet>, which had the 『Alchemy』 skill embedded in it.

"Um, are you sure about this? You can still—"

"Let’s go! Do it!"

"Waaah! Fine, but I’m not responsible for what happens! 『Alchemy』―!"

As soon as Hanna activated the alchemy, the pot started glowing green—then turned black and puffed out smoke with a loud poof.

Yes! Looked like a perfect Dessert Fumble.

Seconds later, something slimy slithered out of the pot.

"KYAAAAA!!"

Hanna screamed—again.

Well, no wonder. From the smoking alchemy pot, four slimes oozed out.

Exactly what I wanted to happen.

This phenomenon is known as the Infinite Artificial Slime Respawn Phenomenon, or "Slime Pop" for short.

Ignoring Hanna’s shrieks, I swiftly drew my sword and wiped them all out in a single slash—they hadn’t moved much yet.

All four slimes vanished, leaving behind two <Slime Jellies> and two <Magic Stones (Tiny)> as drops.

"W-wait, huh?"

"All done."

It was all over in a blink—or rather, a shriek. Hanna just stood there, stunned.

But Hanna, now’s not the time to freeze up.

This trick is perfect for getting startup funds. So I picked up the two new slime jellies and scooped up more muddy water, then walked over to her again.

She just blinked and muttered, "Haeh?"

"Alright, time for a marathon."

And seeing her seemingly clueless, I declared the start of a mini grinding hell.

"Uuhh... I’m starting to feel bad for the slimes…"

"Don’t. They’re monsters—walking piles of resources. I’m sure they’re honored to be useful to us."

"Y-you think so…?"

The night wore on. When Hanna’s parents finally returned, we wrapped up the Slime Pop Marathon.

In the end, I got 721 <Slime Jellies> and 1,439 <Magic Stones (Tiny)> as drops.

If I sell them, it’ll fetch a decent amount. Not bad as starting funds for heading to Dungeon Academy.

Slimes respawn rapidly, and for some reason, their numbers multiply by four. Plus, they move slowly, so it’s easy to group them up and wipe them out all at once. It’s a great way to farm early on, and I used to do this a lot back in the game days.

The only downsides are that I haven't chosen a job yet, so I can't gain levels, and slimes are among the weakest of monsters—so even with this many drops, it won’t sell for all that much.

If it made more money, I’d probably keep farming them, but hey, slimes are slimes.

In the end, both Hanna and I got bored and started treating it like a whack-a-mole game. Or maybe more like Wani Wani Panic? Like, "Hit anything that crosses this line."

"Hey, can you buy these Slime Jellies here?"

"Eh? W-Well, I don’t really need that many. Especially now that I know how easy they are to produce."

"Hou?"

"I-I’m not saying I’m gonna start producing them myself, okay!? Really!"

"Well, I don’t mind either way. Once I get into the dungeon, I’ll be making way more than what Slime Jelly’s worth."

"Really?! That’s okay?!"

Sure, knock yourself out.

Honestly, I was more surprised that she was so happy just because I figured out how to make Slime Jellies.

Well, if she’s not gonna buy them here, I’ll just sell them at the academy.

At that moment, my stomach let out a loud growl.

"…."

Hunger.

Of course I’d get hungry—there’s actual food in this world.

In the game, there were food items, but no "fullness" stat or anything, so I had totally forgotten this was a thing.

Wait, how am I supposed to get food?

"Zephyrus-kun, are you hungry? If you’d like, you can stay for dinner."

"!!"

An invitation to dinner.

A real meal—not just a game item! It might sound obvious, but since everything here is game-based for me, it seriously blew my mind. More shocking than when I got served green tea.

So, of course, I immediately replied, "I’ll eat!" and got myself invited to dinner at Hanna’s place.

After dinner, I sat there in a daze.

"That… was delicious."

"Hehe, I’m glad. I worked hard on it."

Hanna smiled shyly, picking up on my muttered compliment.

Apparently, the meal was homemade by her.

She looks like she’s only in middle school, but she can cook? That’s honestly impressive.

Her slightly flushed cheeks were cute, too.

I watched her walk off to the kitchen to do the dishes and took a moment to let it all sink in.

By the way, Hanna’s parents came home just before dinner. Her dad headed off to the shop after eating to organize some supplies, while her mom helped Hanna with the dishes.

In the game, nighttime meant you had to return home, so you never got scenes like this. This kind of everyday life feels really refreshing.

"But man… I’ll need to cover living expenses from now on, huh…"

In the game version of <DanKatsu>, there were no living costs. Sure, you had to pay for inns sometimes, but not even food cost anything.

Now that I think about it, Hanna being so excited about a bunch of Slime Jellies makes sense. If she has to worry about living expenses, even cheap stuff adds up.

If you’ve got enough of them, even cheap items turn into a decent amount of cash. In other words, as long as you keep grinding Slimes, you won’t starve.

"…Wait, I’m leaving for the academy tomorrow. What about travel expenses and meals?"

If this world isn’t exactly like the game, I might need to pay for that kind of thing too.

In the worst case, maybe there’s even a tuition fee…

That realization hit me like a brick, and I broke out in a cold sweat.

"I should talk to Hanna. Maybe she’ll have some good ideas. Or maybe I’ll ask the village chief."

Thankfully, when I asked the chief, he told me the travel and enrollment fees would be covered by the kingdom. With that reassurance, I was finally able to relax and head home.

The day after I started real-life <DanKatsu>.

Today’s the day I head to the academy.

I stood there, soaking in the morning sunlight, looking up at the house that was the protagonist’s home, even back in the game.

In <DanKatsu>, the protagonist has no parents.

This house actually belongs to the village chief, who had acted as my guardian. Now that I’m striking out on my own, all the furniture and belongings are to be returned to him.

Apparently, he’s done a lot for me—even if I hadn’t realized it until now. I’ll need to properly thank him later.

I’d already finished packing.

Back in the game, they never detailed what daily living supplies looked like, but yesterday, when I came home, my stuff was all neatly packed and ready at the entrance.

This morning, I rushed to check what was inside. I mean, I wanted to at least know what I had.

With everything ready, I figured I’d stop by Hanna’s place to say goodbye.

And just as I was thinking about her, she appeared—walking toward me from up ahead.

What a coincidence.

But… why is she carrying such a huge load?

"G-Good morning, Zephyrus-kun."

"Yo. Morning, Hanna. You look well. But wow… that’s a lot of stuff. You heading somewhere?"

"Uh, yeah. I’m also starting at the academy today, so… I thought we could go together."

"…Wait, what?"

The academy.

That’s the place where 16-year-old boys and girls (counting age) go to gain jobs, study them, and learn to master them.

Which means—

"Hold on… that means you’re 16, Hanna?! But you’re so tiny!"

"Don’t call me tiny!! And how do you not know?! We’re childhood friends, aren’t we?!"

Uhh… yeah, I had no clue.

Wait, so she’s self-conscious about being small? My bad.

But honestly, I don’t mind short girls. Really.

In the <DanKatsu> game, there was a scene where you left the village with some kids your age, but I didn’t pay that much attention. And Hanna didn’t show up later at the academy, so I just assumed she was a unique quest NPC.

If she were actually a childhood friend and the same age, that’s a huge missed opportunity in the game story.

Or maybe… this is something unique to the real-world version? Like, maybe the "childhood friend" element only exists in this real-life <DanKatsu>?

While I was overanalyzing it, Hanna looked a little uneasy and spoke up.

"Why’d you go all quiet…? Did I say something wrong?"

"…Nah. My bad. And for the record—I actually like tiny girls."

"Wh-what?! I-I didn’t ask you that or anything… geez. Anyway, let’s go already, Zephyrus-kun. We need to see the village chief, right?"

"Sure, let’s go together."

Hanna blushed at my comment. That was… kind of adorable.

I walked beside her as we made our way to the chief’s place.

In front of the village chief’s house, a carriage bound for the academy was already waiting.

I bowed deeply and thanked the chief for everything.

All he said was, "Have fun."

Yeah—I’m gonna enjoy this to the fullest.

Hanna and I got on the carriage and set off.

It was just the two of us from the village.

For some reason, Hanna sat next to me the whole time.

Apparently, she finds talking to me amusing.

We chatted, looked at the scenery, and just chilled.

Honestly? Not bad.

Oh, right—I forgot to ask how long the trip to the academy takes.

In the game, this part was over in like 30 seconds.

But this is real-life <DanKatsu>. Things could be different.

"Hey, how long does it take to get to the academy?"

"Hm? Uhh, I think… around 10 days?"

Wait… 10 DAYS?! Are you serious?! No way… right?

Oh no. I seriously underestimated this.

Ten whole days of just traveling?! That’s insane!

Someone… please give me a phone. Or a game console. I beg you.

Ten days have passed since we left the village.

Ten days without a smartphone is torture for a modern person.

Way worse than I expected.

I’m beyond grateful to Hanna for talking to me and keeping me distracted.

"We’re almost there, Zephyrus-kun. The academy’s in sight now. Just hang in a little longer."

Hanna’s voice had that gentle, formal tone you use when talking to someone who's on the verge of collapse. That’s how bad I must’ve looked.

"Finally… this nightmare’s over."

For me, nearly crushed by boredom, those words were like a divine revelation.

To a bystander, I probably looked like some idiot being babysat by a tiny girl, but I couldn’t care less.

They say boredom kills people… and it’s true.

I seriously thought I was gonna die of pure boredom.

Someone please install a skip button in real life!

"HAHA… HAHAHAHA!! I’VE RETURNED—TO CIVILIZATION!!!"

The moment I stepped off the carriage at the academy, I let out a triumphant laugh.

<National Dungeon Exploration Support Academy – Main Campus> Commonly known as Dungeon Academy.

This place is a holy ground built around a dungeon, a full-on academy city that draws in students from all over. It can house up to 20,000 students—a giant of a school.

The campus is surrounded by high outer walls, and inside are countless buildings. There are over 30 school buildings divided by subject and grade level. Since it’s a boarding school, there are also tons of dorms. The whole setup is pretty overwhelming.

Near the center are several <Dungeon Gates>, facilities that connect to actual dungeons. Shops cluster around them, selling gear and buying dungeon loot.

There are also seven huge arenas used for guild battles. The place is so well-developed, it functions as a full-blown city to support the people working and studying here.

This is it—Dungeon Academy—the main stage of the <DanKatsu> game.

The moment I saw it, all my energy came flooding back.

This place I had only seen on screen—I was finally here, in the flesh!

"Zephyrus-kun, seriously, stop shouting. You’re embarrassing me. If you’re feeling better, let’s go already. We need to unpack at the dorm."

And just like that, Hanna pulled me along, totally unimpressed by my emotional moment.

Damn it… I wanted to soak it in a little longer.

But I owed her for getting me through the carriage ride, so I obediently followed her to the dorm.

Chapter 1 - TOC - Chapter 3