You’re Telling Me This Is a Slice-of-Life?

He’s not dead? And he even took down the monster?

The moment Li Dan saw Yuuki, his first instinct was to check behind him, but the bald giant’s shadow was nowhere to be seen. An unbelievable thought popped into his head.

Impossible. But the monster wouldn’t have stopped chasing him… So he really did kill it?

For a moment, he was stunned. The Tyrant and the Licker weren’t even on the same level. The latter was terrifying, but ultimately, it was just a fragile creature—if you found the right opportunity, it was possible to take it down.

The Tyrant, though? That was different. Bullets and blades were useless against it. Even if it stood still and let an ordinary person hack away, it wouldn’t make a difference. Not to mention the sheer pressure it exuded—people with weak mental fortitude couldn’t even fight properly in its presence.

Guns? No, bullets wouldn’t do much. Grenades? The monster wasn’t stupid—it wouldn’t just stand there and wait to be blown up.

Li Dan couldn’t figure it out. Seeing Yuuki’s blank expression didn’t help either. Instead, Hayasaka Ai let out a cheer, suddenly rushing forward to tightly hug Sakurajima Mai. The two of them bounced around like excited schoolgirls, celebrating their survival. In their excitement, they lost their balance and tumbled into a shallow pit.

“Ow, ow, ow! Slow down a little!”

The girl’s voice snapped Li Dan out of his thoughts. He ignored the two girls and locked his gaze onto Yuuki, staring so intensely that it made the latter uneasy.

“…Brother Li, what’s wrong? Why don’t you look happy?” Yuuki scratched his head, looking unsure of what to do.

“Yuuki… You actually managed to kill that thing?”

“Uh… I guess I got lucky? When it showed up, I was in the parking lot, so I ran up to the second floor—there was no moonlight there…”

Yuuki gave a brief rundown of the fight. He barely kept himself composed as he explained how he had intentionally moved to an area without moonlight, knowing that the Red Moon would enhance the monster’s abilities. Eventually, when he was cornered, he had no choice but to find a way to take it down.

The key factor was Sakurajima Mai. Her ability allowed her to vanish from the monster’s perception. Working together, they managed to drop several grenades at the monster’s feet, wounding it—then Yuuki rushed in for the final blow.

The explanation made sense. Without the moonlight, the Tyrant wouldn’t have been able to rapidly regenerate. Meanwhile, Mai’s ability had been utilized to its fullest—she was like an invisible assassin. And if she could get close enough, using scavenged grenades to deal massive damage was entirely feasible.

Li Dan went over every word, trying to find a flaw, but he couldn’t. If the black-haired girl had been the main attacker and had kept her cool, she might have even been able to solo the monster. After all, who could survive random grenades exploding around them?

Cornered. A desperate counterattack. And he can’t find a single hole in the story.

Li Dan glanced at the night vision goggles on Yuuki’s head. That was another crucial factor in their success. But his gaze sharpened.

“And then? Mai had the guts to do it once, but the monster wouldn’t have given her a second chance. What else are you hiding from me?”

“T-there’s nothing else…” Under the pressure of Li Dan’s stare, Yuuki stammered.

“Spit it out!”

“Uh… There’s also this.” Yuuki reluctantly pulled out a long blade, looking guilty. “When the moon set earlier, I got a reinforcement point, so I upgraded this sword to Chaotic-grade. It cuts through steel like paper.”

“So you were afraid I’d take it?”

“No, no, that’s not what I meant!”

Yeah, right. But now it all made sense.

Li Dan’s gaze softened. A Chaotic-grade weapon could definitely turn the tide of battle. Paired with Mai’s ability, it created an exceptionally deadly assassin.

She was invisible to observation yet could still interact with the physical world. If she had better base stats and the enemy lacked skills like Precognition or Mind’s Eye, she could kill anyone she wanted.

The best strategy would have been to let Mai handle it. But getting close enough to decapitate a Tyrant? She didn’t have the nerve or the ability for that.

Li Dan glanced over at Mai, who had climbed out of the shallow pit and was now complaining to her friend. Her delicate frame, her completely harmless gaze… what a waste of talent.

It made sense, but it was still a ridiculously difficult feat. This guy’s potential was absurd—perhaps even on par with ‘him’? Could a freakishly talented rookie actually affect the difficulty level of the instance? Or was there another reason?

And most importantly—

[He has never trusted me!]

“Relax, I’m not the type to steal from my teammates.” Li Dan patted Yuuki’s shoulder and called the others over. “Enough fooling around. We’re on the brink of destruction. This could very well be the last few hours of your lives.”

It was like a bucket of cold water over their heads. The lighthearted atmosphere shattered instantly. This situation was far worse than the ghoul-infested castle.

“I’m almost certain that the difficulty of this instance won’t reset with the moonrise and moonset. There will be at least one more ‘Red Moon Gift’ tonight. But the real nightmare begins when the sun rises.”

No one spoke. Their eyes were dull, as if they were refusing to acknowledge reality.

“Brother Li, we just need to be careful, right? Avoid conflicts with the NPCs as much as possible,” Yuuki said, bracing himself.

“They will come looking for us! We hid all day, and they still found us! Cough, cough—who’s to say there won’t be drones everywhere when the sun rises?” Robert roared, his face flushed red as he coughed uncontrollably in anger. “It’s all because of your battle plan—you killed so many of them!”

This little bastard was sucking up to him two hours ago, and now he’s flipping the table?

Yuuki blinked, stunned. This chubby brat was the definition of a fair-weather friend.

“Uh, we didn’t have time to worry about difficulty back then…”

“But because of you, we’re all going to die!”

“The hell did you just say? Without my plan, you’d have been gunned down hours ago! At least you got to live a little longer—consider it a bonus!” Yuuki’s temper flared and he gripped his sword, ready to take on this ungrateful idiot.

“Alright, alright, now’s not the time to assign blame.” Li Dan raised a hand, cutting off the argument. He rubbed his temples. “The city is big. We can find somewhere to hide tonight. If we make it past the morning, we might have a chance.”

“Brother Li, what about the undead?”

“I told you—the city is huge. There’s room to maneuver. The real problem is the Red Moon’s ‘gifts.’” Li Dan shot a glance at Yuuki, seemingly fed up, and completely took control of the team.

The gifts arrived with pinpoint accuracy. They couldn’t be avoided. And even if they survived the morning… what about the afternoon? What about the final twelve-hour stretch of the last night?

Assuming a maximum interval of four hours between ‘gifts,’ they’d receive at least three more by tomorrow night. Who knew how horrifying they’d become?

These were all problems. But no one wanted to think about them. Instead, Li Dan and Yuuki focused on one thing—

If the dungeon didn’t reset, and if they could remove the factors that escalated the difficulty… would the power curve slow down?

“It’s time to unite. We’ll regroup with Thomas. If he and I work together, we’ll at least stand a fighting chance.” Li Dan made the decision, one that no one could argue with.

They couldn’t change the dungeon. So they had to strengthen themselves.

Time to move.

Li Dan didn’t ask for Yuuki’s opinion this time. He decisively split the team into two groups—Yuuki and the Rich Guy would take point, while he led the two girls in the rear.

They moved carefully, taking half an hour to reach the canal. Yuuki peered ahead and swallowed hard.

The city was completely dark, bathed in crimson moonlight. The glow was so thick it looked like rolling fog.

Aaaaaahhh—

A wailing cry echoed through the air. Even if the monsters couldn’t pinpoint their exact location, this was still a nightmare filled with ghosts and horrors. Any firefight would bring the ghouls swarming like a tidal wave.

“…Bro, cover me later, okay?”

A trembling voice came from beside him. The Rich Guy’s hands shook as he gripped his gun, eyes fixed on the city.

“…Weren’t you just picking a fight with me?”

“That was then, this is now! Bro, just call me by my name from now on. I’m a good shot, I swear!”

Yuuki rolled his eyes. Rich brats really were something else. They even mastered the art of switching sides in an instant.

He had no time to deal with the shameless guy. Instead, he glanced behind him—

Li Dan’s group was moving slowly, struggling with unforeseen obstacles.

Alright… let’s see what you really are—man or wolf?