Eternal Art Online

Conquerors-Drevan suddenly drew a longsword. It looked like a standard Iron Sword—plain, unpolished, with no glow. Conquerors-Zereth, meanwhile, unsheathed a thin dagger, similarly ordinary in appearance.

Kiriya's eyes narrowed slightly.

Conquerors-Drevan caught the shift in expression and let out a mocking laugh. "You see, there are three of us, and only one of you. If you're willing to sell that axe, I'll pay a good price. But if you refuse... then don't blame me for doing a little business without paying upfront."

It was clear—Conquerors-Drevan had his eyes on the Glowing Battle Axe. There was no peaceful end to this.

Kiriya chuckled softly. "In that case, let's get on with it. My time's not cheap."

Dominion-Drevan gripped his sword tightly and growled, "Ungrateful bastard!"

But before he could move, Conquerors-Azaria grabbed his arm and protested, "Brother! You promised me you'd play the good guy in EAO this time! Why are you already starting trouble again?"

Conquerors-Drevan gave her a sheepish grin. "He's being difficult. I'm just gonna teach him a lesson."

Azaria stepped aside, arms crossed and annoyed. "Fine. Do whatever you want. I'm not getting involved."

"Heh, Zereth and I are more than enough."

Conquerors-Drevan shot Kiriya a disdainful glance. "Some noob like you? Please."

Kiriya didn't waste another word. His eyes turned cold as he lunged forward, the Glowing Battle Axe sweeping in from the side.

Splat!

Mud splattered from the ground as the strike hit nothing but dirt. Dominion-Drevan didn't bother hiding the contempt in his eyes.

"Just as I thought. Total rookie. Zereth, let's finish him!"

Drevan's Iron Sword came crashing down, and at the same time, Zereth had flanked Kiriya, stabbing in from the right with his dagger.

Thud! Thud!

Two damage numbers popped above Kiriya's head—24 and 32.

But instead of panicking, it was Conquerors-Drevan and Zereth who reeled back in shock.

"Wait... what?! That much defense?!"

Their combined strike had only chipped away a fraction of Kiriya's HP. Meanwhile, their names had already turned gray—marked for hostile action. That was exactly what Kiriya had been waiting for.

Whoosh!

The Glowing Battle Axe came crashing down again, this time landing squarely against Zereth's chest.

Crack!

With a crisp impact, the sharp blade slammed him backwards. Before he even hit the ground, his body burst into white light and vanished, forcefully returned to the respawn point.

Conquerors-Drevan exploded with rage. "You bastard! You killed my brother!"

Without hesitation, he charged in again, his Iron Sword slashing wildly. But Kiriya met him head-on. The axe swung from the right in a fluid motion, smashing into Drevan's ribs.

178!

A heavy hit, but not quite fatal. Drevan's sword landed on Kiriya's shoulder, but only dealt a measly 27 damage.

Kiriya sneered and slipped past him, murmuring with icy amusement, "Don't try to play the big man if you can't back it up."

Wham!

One final blow from the battle axe came down on Drevan's shoulder, cleaving straight through his defense. A red 234 floated above his head before his body was sent flying, instantly downed for the second time.

Two gray-named players, gone in seconds. Kiriya's guilt meter remained untouched.

Drevan had dropped a few small healing potions upon death, which Kiriya casually picked up and tossed into his bag.

"Looks like they came to restock me," he thought with a grin.

Conquerors-Azaria stood frozen nearby, her face pale, lips trembling. "S-sorry…"

She was terrified that she might be next.

But Kiriya only gave a small smile and said gently, "Go level up. More monsters, less PK. That's how you get stronger."

Azaria nodded quickly, whispered another soft "I'm sorry," and turned to leave in a hurry.

...

After that minor commotion, Kiriya finally set out on his journey, heading west of the village toward the outpost to clear out the monsters in the area.

Along the way, goblins were scurrying everywhere, occasionally charging at him with tiny axes while screeching loudly.

But as level 1 monsters, they no longer posed any threat to Kiriya.

With a casual swing of his Glowing Battle Axe, the little goblins were sent flying, transforming into experience points that flowed into his panel. He picked up three copper coins along the way, feeling quite pleased.

According to the setting of Eternal Art Online, the game world was governed by two main cities.

Each city oversaw five sub-cities, and around those were scattered smaller towns and beginner villages. Kiriya was currently in one of those starting points—Greenwillow Village.

As waves of players logged into the game during the after-work rush, many hadn't even eaten dinner before jumping online. The village quickly became overcrowded.

The training area at the village entrance was already packed to capacity, pushing players to explore deeper into the surrounding forest.

That forest was filled with higher-level monsters, offering the lure of more experience and loot, but also the risk of death.

The western side of the village, where Kiriya was headed, was also swarming with players battling level 3 goblins.

Some had even formed small parties to challenge higher-level monsters like Flame Bats and Wild Wolves.

But after Kiriya climbed over a small hill, the scenery abruptly changed—slimes of all shapes and sizes dotted the land, and the other players had all vanished.

Slimes, green and mud-like, were known for their ranged poison attacks—an especially frustrating tactic for players.

They would strike from a distance and dart away, making for a maddening hit-and-run strategy.

At that moment, a slime eagerly bounded toward Kiriya. Just a few steps away, it abruptly halted, hunched its body, and launched a stream of green liquid.

Ssshhh!

The slime's venom splashed onto Kiriya, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his body as his HP dropped by 70 points.

Frowning, Kiriya quickly pulled up its stat panel—

[Green Slime] (Normal Monster)

Level: 10

Attack: 25-35

Defense: 10

HP: 800

Attack Type: Poison Splash

"Damn! A level 10 monster! No wonder the quest difficulty was rated 80. At level 7, this wasn't going to be easy," he thought.

Fortunately, he had equipped the Bat Leather Armor and Wilderness Boots, significantly boosting his defense.

Without them, a single hit could've taken away more than half of his health.

Without hesitation, Kiriya lunged forward with an axe swing—only for the slime to bounce backward just in time. The blow missed entirely.

"Tch," he cursed silently, closing the gap. This time, he waited. Once the slime began to move again, he struck decisively.

The Glowing Battle Axe carved a brilliant arc through the air and slammed into the retreating slime, warping its gelatinous body. Toxic fluid spilled from the wound as its HP plummeted by 254 points.

So, the slime hit hard but had poor defense—a high-damage, low-defense type. Perfect for leveling, as long as he had enough health potions.

Feeling a surge of confidence, Kiriya smiled inwardly. He hadn't brought much else, but he had stocked up on potions—and that was all that mattered.

After a few encounters, he had fully adapted to the slimes' movement patterns.

He could predict their escape direction with just a wiggle of their backsides. Each swing of the axe now landed with deadly precision.

With only 800 HP, the fourth blow finally took down one of the slimes, which let out a high-pitched squeal before collapsing into a heap of coins.

Checking the logs, Kiriya saw that because he had defeated a monster three levels above him, the kill had awarded him 260 experience points.

He was elated. While others were still grinding 10-experience goblins, he was already soloing high-threat slimes.

In the distance, a crude outpost came into view. Two panicked village militiamen stood atop it, while below, slimes covered the ground.

The area was completely overrun, and Kiriya's mission was to turn every one of those slimes into experience and copper coins.

Earlier, one slime had dropped 48 copper coins. These were rich monsters.

Time was precious. Kiriya continued forward with caution, drawing a single slime at a time before retreating and cutting it down methodically.

He could endure the damage from one, but any more, and even chugging 300-HP potions might not save him.

The slime's max attack was 35, and even with his Black Iron Boots, that was dangerous. Anyone else would've been instantly wiped out.

Minutes ticked by. Each slime took nearly a full minute to kill. Pulling them properly was a skill in itself.

On several occasions, drawing an extra slime forced Kiriya into a frantic potion-drinking scramble to stay alive.

Nearly five hours passed in the blink of an eye. It was now 1 a.m. in-game. Kiriya had long lost track of how many slimes he'd slain.

All he knew was that his inventory of Slime Medals was growing steadily.

Unfortunately, drops had been rare—just one level 8 common greave with 9 defense, which he equipped immediately, boosting his defense further.

He had also reached level 10. Technically, he could now return to the village to pick a class, but he was still one Slime Medal short of completing his quest. He decided to stay until the job was done.

High-level players had started to appear nearby, joining in on the slime hunt.

The strongest among them were level 8 or 9, but only Kiriya had hit level 10. None of them had the same quest—no medals were dropping for them.

Perhaps the quest was unique or limited in availability. Who could say?

A few more slimes later, and at last, the final Slime Medal dropped. The quest was ready to turn in.

But just then, a flash of black light erupted up ahead, followed by a thunderous roar. In an instant, over a dozen frontline players were annihilated.

A massive, dark-gray slime surged through the crowd, spraying black venom that triggered burst after burst of white light as players were wiped out. Those still wearing 1-defense newbie gear stood no chance.

Floating above the monster's head were five golden words that made Kiriya's heart skip a beat:

Obsidian Slime King!

Kiriya drew in a sharp breath.

Damn. A super boss had arrived.