Lucien’s inner soul paced around and the dungeon boss at the corner sneered, his tail swishing irritably.

—Weak...

?? Weak your a*s—

Lucien’s inner soul was about to snap when he paused.

...wait. Weak?

Lucien’s eyes swept over the other slimes— some had cores, others didn’t.

He just used one without a core.

The one with a core was usually stronger.

A light bulb flashed in Lucien’s mind.

Maybe that’s the wrong factor!

Lucien hurriedly took a third slime— this one with a core.

"Let’s try again."

Drip. Drip.

The healing water and Mumu’s saliva seeped into the third slime’s body and like before, light enveloped its body.

Woongggg.

The slime’s body slowly transformed and the failure rate decreased from 80% all the way to 50% before stopping.

50% failure rate—

There’s still a chance!

Unlike before, this time, the glowing liquid didn’t form a core.

It seeped into the already existing core and the core slowly expanded, glowing brighter than before.

"G-glurggg!" The slime shrieked and the light flashed.

Its body fell down the blinding light.

Lucien couldn’t help but swallow, his eyes fixed on the slime and the system panel.

Is it a success??

Lucien held his breath as the system panel popped up.

DING! [Evolution successful!]

[New variant unlocked!]

[Healing Crystal Slime: 1]

Lucien’s inner soul punched the air and shouted excitedly,

Yes!

So the third variant really needed a slime with a core!

Lucien excitedly checked the slime and saw that its skin hardened, rugged crystals grew on it.

Inside, a golden liquid simmered, looking like a holy elixir.

Hum, could this slime heal? It is called a healing slime, after all.

Lucien tried it on nearby injured slime— but no.

The slime didn’t use any skills whatsoever and the golden liquid in its body didn’t budge no matter what Lucien ordered it to do.

Huh...

If not healing, then what is this fellow’s unique trait?

The system picked up Lucien’s confusion and immediately flickered.

[Scanning a new variant •••]

[Scan complete!]

[Healing Crystal Slime]

Level: E-rank

Description: A slime that produces one Life Force Crystal per month.

Cost: 10% dungeon energy per crystal.

Life Force Crystal (NEW)

Description:

• Preserves a target’s life for 3 seconds

• Effective regardless of injury severity

• Usable on E-rank and below (excluding ordinary humans)

• Single-use item

Lucien’s eyes widened.

What?

Even if someone’s head was severed and their heart was destroyed—

They would still live for three seconds??

Don’t underestimate the three-second duration.

If there’s a hunter who had a regeneration skill, a super healing skill or that kind of artifact, they could come back from the dead.

Then...wouldn’t this crystal be a life-saving item?

What kind of crystal is that??

This is heaven-defying!

Lucien saw the word (NEW) next to the crystal name and he had a bold hunch.

What if this crystal didn’t exist anywhere?

Maybe only his slime dungeon could produce it?

Not just rare—

It’s one of a kind??

Lucien suddenly felt dizzy— dizzy with joy.

His inner soul collapsed to the ground, grinning from ear to ear.

Hehehehe!! 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

I-if he sells— no, auction this crystal...

Not only would he be drowned in money, he would also get a connection with strong, influential hunters!

Lucien could already imagine gold coins pouring down, hunters flattering him and even the government kneeling, begging to buy the crystal.

Well, some bad guys would also think of robbing it or tracking him down, but—

It’s worth the risk!

Lucien immediately checked the 99 slimes in his panel and found that except for the four giant slimes and the two slime royalties, only twenty slimes had a core.

If the failure rate was 50%— only ten would become a healing crystal slime.

Although a crystal absorbs 10% of the slime dungeon’s energy...

If he just let the slime create it sparingly, one for him and one for sale...

Lucien rubbed his palms together.

That’s more than enough!

With a feverish mind, Lucien started to create more Healing Crystal Slime.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

In less than fifteen minutes, eleven slimes failed to evolve and died, leaving only nine new slimes.

Still, their corpse had that golden liquid and the unique crystal skin. If they had some healing traits—

All of them could be sold for money.

Not a loss!

The number of slimes plummeted to 88. Honestly, Lucien’s heart ached but he still evolved the other mob slimes.

Out of 88 surviving slimes, he successfully created—

60 Potent Acid Slimes and 20 Medicinal Gel Slime!

Eight failed, so the total of sacrifices reached twelve.

After evolving all the slimes except for the elite slimes and the two royalties, the system rang.

DING! [You have evolved your slime dungeon!]

[Slime Dungeon]

Level: E-rank

Mob slimes: 80

Elite slimes: 4 (Not evolved)

Royalty slimes: 2 (Not evolved)

Seeing the pitiful number of slimes he had left, Lucien’s mind flashed to the skill he saw among the Dungeon Management Skill Set— Fertility Booster.

Should he use that skill to increase the number of slimes?

Before Lucien thought further, the system popped up, disturbing his thoughts.

DING! [House level up requirements: 2/4]

[Recommendation:

Reach E-rank before evolving elite and royalty units for higher success rates.]

Seeing the system’s blatant advice, Lucien rubbed his chin and didn’t stubbornly try to evolve the rest of the slimes anymore.

Nevermind. He already knew they would become a powerful slime anyway—

Take things slow.

The fertility booster too— it could wait.

Lucien ended the Native Evolution Skill.

As usual, the house fed Lucien some food, the energy recovery in the room massaged Lucien’s tired body, slowly making him refreshed.

But when Lucien was munching his food happily, his vision swept over the clock on the wall—

11:00 P.M

Lucien almost choked on his food.

"C-cough! Cough! Right! I forgot!"

The death zone!

Lucien’s face turned red as he looked at the system panel in front of him.

"System, you said you have a way to get me a barrier if I complete half of the level up condition, right??"

He had completed half of the requirements!

The system panel flickered twice before a new panel emerged.

DING! [Pseudo E-rank state]

Description:

Temporarily grants half the benefits of the next rank.

Warning:

A true breakthrough must be completed within 24 hours.

Penalty:

• 90% chance of being unable to advance for 10 years

• 10% chance of permanent stagnation

Lucien’s excited smile froze on his face.

A chill crept down his spine.

What kind of crazy gamble is this??