—Mutated Goblin Rat (Rare Boss) [Level 10] [5500/5500 HP]

It didn't take long for the massive, ugly Goblin Rat to spot Rael, and soon, he stretched out his sword.

Rael never truly practiced swordsmanship or anything of the sort. Just a couple of times messing around in the shower, that kind of deal.

Nonetheless, this sword was of the longsword variant, meaning he had to hold it with two hands.

It limited his mobility, but his loose fighting style would not do much in the long run.

With no actual defenses, he was nothing more than a sitting duck anyway—but if he could be a strong sitting duck, all the better.

"Well, you massive lump of shit, it's time to—" Rael's taunts were interrupted when, all of a sudden, the Goblin Rat boss took out its festering eye and threw it straight at him.

It wasn't fast, so he merely evaded to the side.

Yet once it hit the ground, the eye burst, covering half the room with some kind of mucus.

And he didn't need to wonder for long what it was, since...

<Status Ailment: Rot>

<Lose 10 HP every 30 seconds until cured>

<You are not able to passively heal out of combat!>

[HP -10! 460/470 (Rot)]

His eyes widened at the ailment. Rot? Shit... It's one of the most overpowered debuffs since its damage increases the longer it stays on you...

Nonetheless, that only meant he had to speed up this fight, since after throwing its eye, the boss's HP decreased by a slight amount.

—Mutated Goblin Rat (Rare Boss) [Level 10] [5000/5500 HP]

But from the way it moved, he could tell it wasn't too affected.

Therefore, Rael burst off the ground with his sword raised in the air, attempting to attack the boss.

However, before he could, it swung its tail around in an arc, hitting him squarely on the arm.

[HP -122! 338/470]

That took away a fourth of my HP in a single hit... Rael thought, warily backing away.

As he did, he finally took notice of his arm, which was bent at a weird angle.

Finally, the pain hit. "Ugh... Right, this isn't a game, is it?" he chuckled to himself and quickly bought a potion.

•—Premium Shop—•

Category: Healing Utility

•—Balance: 176 Trell—•

• Low-Level Healing Potion (Common): 100 Trell

A red potion appeared in his hands, and he swiftly downed it, not even reading the description.

[HP +100! 438/470]

Surprisingly, his HP was restored by a fair amount and, in turn, his arm returned to normal.

Rael looked at the massive Goblin Rat, who, by now, was staring at him tauntingly, wagging its ugly tail.

But he now knew how he could dwindle down its HP.

Therefore, Rael put on a massive grin and soon ran forward—just this time, with more controlled steps.

Like earlier, the rat tried swinging its tail at him. However, Rael merely stepped backward before perfectly timing his sword slash and neatly cutting off a chunk of its tail.

-424! Critical Hit!

Holy shit... Now that's an improvement.

"Screeee!" The Goblin Rat let out a screech and stared at him menacingly, hatred clear in its single eye.

But just then, he got a genius idea.

The only eye left was massive, so what if he simply poked it out?

He approached closer, watching its movements for anything that could potentially insta-kill, before eventually arriving right before it.

Out of instinct, the Goblin Rat attempted to swing its now-severed tail at him, but taking advantage of that, Rael kicked off the ground and stabbed it square in what he assumed to be its heart.

-393!

He was wrong.

The only thing Rael managed to do was make it angry, as all of a sudden, it twisted its head at an irrational angle before some green blob began flowing out of its mouth.

—Toxic Slime [Level 1] [1/1 HP]

A slime...? Rael tilted his head in confusion, but he did not need to wonder for long, as more blobs emerged from its mouth in rapid succession, not giving him any opening to attack.

The troublesome part was, all of the blobs were heading into the slime from earlier, and now, it was massive.

—Toxic Slime (Elite) [Level 10] [1000/1000 HP]

At least it's not named... Rael let out a relieved breath.

For some reason, he wasn't able to see the Goblin Rat's name, only the title.

But that did not matter, as he decided to ignore the slime and push onto the boss.

It was staggered; therefore, Rael swiftly ran up to it and swung sideways, severing both of its comically small feet in an instant.

-373!

-411!

The Goblin Rat toppled down, scrambling around on the floor.

Only now did he realize that, despite looking threatening at a glance, it was just a low-level rare boss monster.

I definitely overthought it. Rael let out a chuckle. However, the next tick of damage from Rot came in.

[HP -20! 418/470 (Rot)]

His eyes widened at the damage, and he truly hoped that instead of the damage doubling each time, it was merely increasing by 10.

But on the off chance it was, he needed to finish this fight fast.

"Alright, you fat rat, you'll make a nice rug." Rael taunted and was about to strike down.

However, he felt something eerily sticky under his feet, and as he glanced down, he saw a green substance enveloping him up to his knees.

<Status Ailment: Poisoned (Level 2)>

<Lose 50 HP per minute until cured>

<You are not able to passively heal out of combat!>

[HP -50! 368/470 (Poison)]

A level 2 poison? From this thing? How in the— Rael's thoughts were interrupted when, all of a sudden, he got yanked backward, colliding with the nearby wall.

[HP -21! 347/470]

With a groan, he got back up and glanced at the sight ahead.

The Toxic Slime slowly began covering the fallen Goblin Rat's body until, eventually, it had enveloped the boss whole.

And in the very next moment, Rael watched in shock as the boss monster stood up, green goo replacing its legs.

—Evolved Goblin Rat (Rare Boss) [Level 15] [7500/7500 HP]

You've got to be shitting me...