The jungle thickened the deeper they went.
Floor 3 was supposed to be island-sized, and now that Gun could actually see it up close, he understood what Luna meant.
It did not feel like a dungeon.
It felt like an entire world pretending to be one floor.
Vines curled around ancient stone ruins half-buried in moss. Strange birds screamed somewhere overhead. The air was warm and humid, carrying the scent of wet leaves and salt from the distant ocean. Every step Gun took crushed damp soil under his boots.
Luna walked beside him, looking around with careful eyes.
"This place feels weird," she said.
Gun kept his sword low, scanning the trees.
"Yeah," he muttered. "Too quiet."
As soon as he said that, something squished in the bushes ahead.
Gun stopped.
Luna stopped too.
A blob of purple jelly bounced into the path.
It was twice the size of the blue slime they had fought earlier, and it pulsed with a strange glossy shine under the jungle light. It wobbled side to side, then hopped directly toward them.
Gun looked at it.
"Okay," he said. "That's new."
He stepped forward and slashed once with his greatsword.
The blade cut deep into the purple slime.
The creature split in half.
Gun blinked.
"…Huh?"
The two halves bounced apart, wobbled for a second, and then each split again.
Now there were four smaller purple slimes.
Gun took a step back.
"Wait. What?"
One of the slimes bounced at his boot. Gun stabbed downward with his dagger and popped it like a water balloon.
Another one got hit by his sword and burst—
Only for the remains to divide into smaller blobs again.
Gun stared for half a second, then frowned.
"So instead of regenerating…"
He chopped another one in half.
"…it multiplies?"
Luna nodded from beside him, already attacking one with a small burst of fire.
"Looks like it."
Gun exhaled sharply.
"That's annoying."
The purple slimes bounced around him in a messy swarm, but they were still weak enough for him to handle. Their movement was simple, their attacks clumsy, and once Gun adapted to the split mechanic, they stopped being a threat and became more of a nuisance than anything else.
"Don't let them pile up," he said. "They multiply if you cut them carelessly."
Luna lifted a hand and snapped another slime in half with flame.
"I figured that part out."
Gun smirked faintly.
"Nice."
Together they cleared the swarm in short order.
Once the last purple slime burst apart, the jungle went quiet again.
Gun rolled his shoulders.
"That one was weird."
Luna nodded.
"Floor 3 is probably going to be full of stuff like that."
Gun looked ahead into the trees.
"Great."
They kept moving.
The deeper they traveled into the forest, the more the island floor seemed to change around them. The trees grew denser. The ground became softer. Strange flowers with glowing petals bloomed near the roots of old trees. Once they passed a collapsed stone archway, Gun could hear the ocean again somewhere far off, hidden behind the jungle wall.
Then the sky changed.
Dark clouds rolled in overhead.
Gun frowned and tilted his head back.
"…Was it supposed to rain?"
Luna looked up too.
"No."
A heavy splat hit the ground near Gun's foot.
Then another.
Then another.
He looked down.
A green slime had fallen from the trees above.
Then a blue one.
Then a yellow one.
Gun stepped back instantly.
More splats.
More slime bodies dropped from branches, vines, and ruined stone ledges around them. Some bounced harmlessly onto the ground. Others landed directly in the path ahead.
And then they started coming faster.
"It's raining slimes," Luna said flatly.
Gun stared upward.
"You've got to be kidding me."
The colors kept changing.
Blue slimes came first—small, weak, easy to kill.
Then green slimes—slightly tougher, faster.
Then yellow slimes—more aggressive, more durable.
Then red slimes—hot to the touch, slamming into the ground with more force.
And finally pink slimes—larger, faster, and much nastier than the rest.
Gun immediately noticed the pattern.
"Strength goes up with the color."
Luna cast a small fireburst into a cluster of blue and green slimes, wiping them out before they could close in.
"Looks like it."
Gun grinned.
"Nice to know the tower likes color coding its monsters."
The wave hit them hard, but not hard enough.
Gun moved with practiced precision, using his sword for heavy strikes and his dagger for quick follow-ups. Luna stayed just behind him, her Ignivar magic adding bursts of fire whenever enemies clustered too close. Together they carved through the slime rain in a rhythm that grew smoother with each wave.
Blue slimes popped instantly.
Green slimes took a little more effort.
Yellow slimes forced Gun to parry and punish.
Red slimes tried to overwhelm them with brute force.
Pink slimes actually made him sweat.
But none of them were enough.
After several waves, the jungle floor was littered with greenish puddles, steaming remains, and fading magic sparks.
Gun wiped his blade.
"That was definitely harder than the purple one."
Luna nodded, breathing lightly.
"Yeah. Still manageable though."
Gun was about to answer when the ground suddenly shook.
Not hard.
Just enough to make both of them freeze.
Another tremor rolled through the island.
Then another.
Gun's expression changed instantly.
He looked ahead.
Trees rustled.
Branches snapped apart.
Something massive was moving through the forest.
Luna took a step back.
"…Gun."
He raised his sword.
"I know."
The earth split slightly as a huge shadow rose from behind the trees.
A giant slime.
Far larger than anything they had seen before.
It pushed through the jungle like a living swamp, its body a thick rolling mass of translucent green flesh. Inside it, glowing eyes flickered in strange layers. The thing oozed forward with a deep rumbling sound, and when it fully emerged into the clearing, both Gun and Luna could feel the pressure it gave off.
Luna swallowed.
"That's the boss?"
Gun stared at it.
A system message appeared in the air above the creature.
[KING SLIME]
Gun's mouth curved slightly.
"Yeah."
He adjusted his grip.
"Definitely boss material."
The slime king reared up and slammed part of its body into the ground, sending a shockwave through the dirt.
Luna reacted first.
She lifted a hand and fired a spell.
[Fire Spark]
A small fireball shot forward and struck the boss square in the front.
The flames burst outward.
Then vanished.
The King Slime barely moved.
Luna blinked.
"…What?"
Gun stared at the boss, then at her.
Then at the slime.
Then back at her.
"Did that do anything?"
Luna narrowed her eyes.
"I hit it."
Gun shrugged.
"Yeah, but it didn't care."
The slime king bounced forward with a loud, wet rumble.
Gun stepped in and slashed once with his greatsword.
The blade struck with a sharp crack of impact.
The King Slime recoiled slightly.
A chunk of its body split and dropped off.
Gun's eyes widened a little.
"…Oh."
He looked at the damage.
Then at Luna's fireball damage.
Then back at the boss.
"Hold on."
Luna glanced at him. "What?"
Gun frowned, thinking fast.
"It's weird."
He pointed at the slime king with his blade.
"My normal hit did more damage than your spell."
Luna looked confused for a second.
Then her expression sharpened.
"You think it has magic resistance?"
Gun nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
He looked up at the giant boss again, and now his expression was changing into something else entirely.
Something almost excited.
"That means…"
He took a step forward.
"…I'm his perfect counter."
Luna blinked.
Gun's grip tightened on the sword.
"No nexus."
No elemental power.
No magic to be resisted.
No elemental spells for the boss to shrug off.
If this thing really resisted magic, then that meant his lack of a nexus was not a weakness here.
It was an advantage.
Gun smiled.
The King Slime bounced once, its huge body rippling as it prepared another attack.
Gun stared at it like he had just found the answer to a puzzle.
"Good."
He said quietly.
"Then this boss is mine."