Raimu moved her body vigorously, trying to say something.
Hmm, I have no idea... I should have brought Mii, who is good at understanding Raimu's language. I don't know how she can interpret that 'meow' at all.
"Is there something like a Slime language translator?"
"There is, but..."
"But?"
"Sometimes it's better not to know, nya!"
Why, what's so special about that 'nya' sound? I should try to get a Slime language translator and use it...
"Meow, nya."
Raimu called out to me, who was lost in thought, and pointed to something while bouncing her body.
"You mean that?"
"Meow!"
Raimu pointed to a branch that had more fruit than the others.
The color is deep. The fruit looks so ripe that it seems about to fall off at any moment. Does she want to eat that fruit?
"Do you want to eat that?"
"Mew... nya!"
"Got it. I'll pick it for you."
I reached out my hand toward the branch, but it was just out of reach, making it hard to pick.
"Hmm, just a little more..."
I leaned my body in the direction of the branch and hung onto the tree trunk. Just as I managed to pick the fruit, my hand slipped.
"!"
Then, my foot caught on a root that protruded from the ground, and I lost my balance.
Wait, was there a slope here?
In one corner of this space surrounded by a thick fog, there was a steep slope hidden and cleverly concealed from view.
Unfortunately, my body was rolling down that slope.
"Meow!"
Startled, Raimu followed, but as a slime without hands, she couldn't catch me.
Just as I braced myself for the pain, the surroundings froze, as if time had stopped.
Then, a system window appeared.
[Formed a deep bond with coffee.]
[Skill: A Cup of Coffee Bond (B) acquired.]
[Crisis situation! 'A Cup of Coffee Bond' is activated.]
[Skill Level 1: Activation time 00:05:00 / Cooldown 24:00:00]
[Target: 'Choi E-chan' selected.]
What?
Another system window appeared in front of my shocked face.
[Caution! This skill consumes a lot of energy.]
[Skill: Defense is the Best Defense (C) used.]
[Defense increases by 500% for 5 minutes.]
The surroundings, which had seemed to freeze, started moving again.
I was falling down the cliff, and the ground was already close.
Ouch, I'm going to hit!
Just before hitting the ground, my body curled up and took a perfect landing stance.
I've never learned this before, but my body moved naturally as if it had known it all along.
Bang!
"Ow, ouch..."
I rubbed the part that hit hard and got up, surprised.
"..."
It doesn't hurt.
Despite the loud noise just now, I didn't feel any pain. I thought I would definitely break something, but my body was completely fine. What's going on?
"Meow..."
Raimu bounced down from the top of the cliff and circled around me, worried.
After calming down by touching Raimu's soft body, I rechecked the system message that appeared just now.
I definitely got a new skill.
'Skill.'
There was an unfamiliar skill in the skill window. I immediately opened the detailed screen.
[A Cup of Coffee Bond (B)
Details: (Lv.1) Can copy the skill of the opponent who drank the ultimate coffee. (00:05:00)
Cooldown: 24:00:00
Usable Target: Choi E-chan]
Can copy the opponent's skill?
I've never heard of a skill with such an incredible effect.
Isn't copying, reflecting, and nullifying the kind of cheat skills only fantasy novel protagonists can get?
If I posted something like 'I can copy other people's skills lol' on the Hunter channel, it would definitely be deleted instantly with comments like 'Did you learn Hunter from a web novel?'
The unclear condition of making the opponent drink the ultimate coffee and the 24-hour cooldown make it hard to believe this is just a B-rank skill.
Wait, when I made Choi E-chan drink the iced coffee, there was a strange notification.
[The target really likes your coffee.
Formed a deep bond with coffee.]
That message meant I could copy the skill.
So, if I make many Hunters drink coffee to their taste, I can copy more skills, right?
Wow, could I end up copying S-rank skills and use them freely?
"Wow..."
A golden future of 'honey farming' with skill copying seemed to unfold before my eyes.
Wait, it's too early to get carried away with ambition.
First, let's check Choi E-chan's skills. Maybe I can get a hint to avoid the tragedy that awaits him.
'A Cup of Coffee Bond.'
I tried to use the skill again immediately.
[The skill cannot be used as the cooldown has not ended.
Time remaining until the cooldown ends: 23:50:16]
[Caution! This skill consumes a lot of energy. If the remaining energy is less than 10, an abnormal status will occur.]
[Target: 'Choi E-chan' selected.]
Although I couldn't use the skill due to the cooldown, I could see the skills that could be copied.
A stream of text continued.
[Double Slasher (F)
(Lv.1) With a certain probability (0.05%), two attacks occur when performing a normal attack.]
[Pushback (E)
(Lv.1) With a certain probability (0.1%), the enemy is pushed back when defending.]
Just two ambiguous combat skills with low probabilities. There doesn't seem to be anything special...
Oh, there's a hidden next page in the skill list. When I turned the page, the red text 'Unacquired' flashed.
[Defense is the Best Defense (C) /Unacquired/
(Lv.1) Defense increases by 500% for 5 minutes.
※ This is a skill that has not yet been acquired.
Acquisition method: Successfully defend 100 times with a shield.]
[One-Hit Kill (A) /Unacquired/
The next attack has a 100% chance of being a critical hit.
※ This is a skill that has not yet been acquired.
Acquisition method: Attack a monster 200 times with a weapon.]
[Coffee is My Power (S) /Unacquired/
(Lv.1) Attack power increases by 800% when in a caffeine addiction state.
※ This is a skill that has not yet been acquired.
Acquisition method: Attempt an attack while in a caffeine addiction state.]
[Light that Sheds Darkness (S) /Unacquired/
(Lv.1) Nullifies dark attribute damage for 1 hour.
※ This is a skill that has not yet been acquired.
Acquisition method: Possess a dark ether item for 24 hours.]
Choi E-chan hasn't acquired most of the skills yet. But once acquired, they are all incredibly good, even for an E-rank Hunter.
The skill descriptions even include the acquisition methods.
I focused on the last one, 'Light that Sheds Darkness.'
Nullifies dark attribute damage?
Wait, wait a moment...
The dungeon Choi E-chan dove into before the regression was a dark attribute dungeon.
So, skill acquisition = nullify dark damage = survive?
"..."
My heart pounded heavily.
The hope that I could use this to save Choi E-chan filled me with joy.
However, I also had a nagging doubt.
The information was given as if to show me. Why is the system telling me what I need to know? Is there some hidden agenda?
But, as long as Choi E-chan can survive, I don't care about any hidden agenda.
The skill is ranked S, and the method to acquire it is even provided. I need to help Choi E-chan acquire the skill.
The problem is where to get the dark ether item.
"Meow, nya...?"
Raimu called out to me, seeing that I wasn't moving, probably thinking I was hurt.
"Ah, I'm fine. I'm not hurt."
"Meow!"
Fortunately, we found a way to climb back up quickly. There was a foothold on the cliff.
I returned to the cafe, gave the coffee fruit to Mii as food, and leaned back in a chair. Then, I took out my phone and logged into the Hunter channel.
I entered several related keywords into the search bar, such as 'dark ether,' 'dark item,' and 'dark item.'
However, the search results were few, and most of them were like this.
[General] Dark farming prayer, day 15 (0)
[General] Dark item, one-shot; (1)
[General] Wow, thought it was a dark ore... but it wasn't (2)
[Issue] Be careful of dark ether item scams!!! (325)
[General] Is dark item a city legend?;; (0)
...
[General] Dark farming prayer, day 99 (0)
"Hmm..."
I have a feeling. A very bad feeling that it will be extremely hard to get.
I don't know exactly what a dark ether item is, but it seems to be treated like a mythical item. It will be hard to get even on the <Hunter Market>.
I posted a thread on the Hunter channel, hoping to catch a straw.
A little while later, a comment notification rang. I quickly logged into the Hunter channel on my phone.
[General] Looking for a dark ether item. (2)
Upvotes: 0 / Downvotes: 0
Author: F-rank Cafe Owner
Looking for a dark ether item.
Any grade, any type, as long as it's dark.
Contact me if you have one.
Haster: [Link] Check this out
└Healer Needed: This comment link is a phishing site, do not click