"What? Shion and Milim both went down together?"
Hearing the news from the sky, Rimuru's nose turned slightly red. Even though it was just a game, he still felt really sad.
"I'll live on for Shion too. This chicken dinner is mine! Let's see where the next safe zone is."
Rimuru silently vowed to win this round. One glance at the map later, he was immediately excited.
"This is destiny! Chicken dinner is guaranteed this time!"
At the same time, Mei and Kiana had run into Hermione and Snape. In the end, the dentist sacrificed himself to protect Kiana and Snape, taking them both out.
"Damn it, I've got no healing items left. Staying in the poison zone for even three seconds now means instant death. What do I do?"
Kiana's face was full of despair. It wasn't that she wasn't trying—it was just hopeless. She was down to half health, and there was no way she could beat a full-health, high-skill opponent.
"Oh no, the poison zone's coming!"
Kiana glanced back and felt a chill run down her spine. The poison was closing in fast. There was no time to think—she just sprinted straight for the safe zone.
"Come on, Kiana, you got this!"
Kiana pumped herself up while running for her life. But the poison didn't care about her motivation—it was still closing in fast. It was about to catch her.
"I can't believe it's you in the end, Kiana."
Rimuru's voice echoed from up ahead, full of amusement as he grinned at her. In this situation, he didn't think there was any way he could lose.
"Damn it, what do I do now?"
Kiana was in complete despair. There was a beast in front of her and death behind her—nowhere to run. It was over.
"This stupid poison zone… why'd it have to spawn on his side?"
Kiana was furious. But suddenly, a spark of inspiration lit up in her eyes.
"The crystal… its location!"
She pulled the crystal out of her bag, held it in her hand, and smiled mysteriously. Then, instead of heading for the safe zone, she ran into the poison zone.
"What the heck? Is she seriously going to off herself just so I can get the win? Well, thanks for the gift, I guess."
Rimuru scoffed. He didn't believe she had any shot at turning this around.
"Target switch: Rimuru. Activate!"
Just as Kiana's health was about to hit zero, she activated the crystal in her hand.
And in that instant, she and Rimuru swapped places.
"What just happened?"
Rimuru was completely stunned. He looked around in confusion, trying to figure out what was going on—only to see his health bar plummet like a landslide.
"No… NOOO!!!"
Rimuru tried to run back, but it was hopeless. The poison zone was far too deadly at this stage. His health vanished in a blink, dropping to zero.
He could only watch helplessly as that fluffy white-haired brat stood safely in the zone, smiling at him like an oblivious sweet girl… and then—
He was eliminated.
"Game Over! The final winner is Kiana Kaslana!"
Rimuru was teleported out and stared at the guild's giant screen, which was proudly displaying Kiana's victory. The announcement echoed in his ears as his world fell apart. His eyes turned red, his nose went sour, and then—
He burst into loud, ugly sobs.
"Noooooo!! I was stuck in Bronze for three whole years! This was my first chance to finally get a chicken dinner! Why would you do this to me?! Waaaaah… who the hell designed that busted item?! I'm gonna break it! Damn you, Kiana… I hate you!"
He wept and raged, cursing both the person who made the item and the one who used it. He looked so pitiful and helpless that one might have felt sorry for him…
…If the guild wasn't full of heartless trolls.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA—My dude, you really got done dirty this time!"
Veldora laughed so hard he clutched his stomach.
Everyone in the guild roared with laughter. Nobody cared about Rimuru's feelings—not even his own aides. Benimaru, Souei, and even Shion couldn't hold back their snickers.
"You're all terrible people…"
Rimuru tried to complain, but his voice was weak and defeated.
Ever since the chicken dinner event went live, he'd been grinding for three years. But thanks to his clumsy hands, he was still stuck in Bronze. This match had been his one shot at redemption—his dream. And now, that dream had been snatched away just before the finish line. The heartbreak was unbearable.
"Yay! I finally got my chicken dinner! (^O^)"
Kiana was teleported out and immediately ran to announce her victory with glee.
Rimuru stared at the fluffy white-haired girl with a haunted look, silently plotting whether he should find a way to get back at her.
"Eh? Don't look at me like that… You could just say it was fate, right?"
Feeling his intense grudge energy, Kiana nervously shrank back.
"Sigh… whatever. Maybe this really is just fate. Heh… hehehe…"
Rimuru's face turned pale as he gave up on life. Maybe he was just doomed to never win. He slumped onto the couch with a drink in hand, full of despair.
"So much salt…"
The guild members could feel the grudge energy radiating from him, and they all gulped.
"Mei, look! I got a whole 100,000 crystals! I'll give you half—50,000 just for you. You have to take it, or I'll be really sad."
Kiana, cheerful again, shook off the incident and dove into Mei's arms, snuggling up like a spoiled child.
"All right, all right, I get it."
Mei didn't reject the gift. With their relationship, a few crystals meant nothing.
"Congrats, you two!"
Karen smiled at them.
"Yeah, I seriously can't believe that white-haired gremlin came up with that strategy."
Einstein eyed Kiana suspiciously, wondering if someone had secretly swapped her out.
"Anyone who can screw over my buddy that bad… you've got my respect,"
Veldora said, giving Kiana a thumbs-up.
"How about we throw a party?" someone suggested. "To celebrate the end of the guild event!"
"Yeah!!"
The proposal got unanimous approval, and just like that, the party began.
"You still sulking, Rimuru? You're kind of a sore loser, huh?"
Garp walked up with zero empathy and plopped down beside Rimuru.
"You wouldn't understand my pain."
Rimuru gave him a side-eye. Three years without a single win, and this time he'd been so close. This kind of heartbreak… most people couldn't even imagine.
"C'mon, what's the fun in sitting here alone?"
Ignoring Rimuru's protests, Garp just picked him up—literally. After all, Rimuru was pretty short.
Seeing him dragged over, Kiana immediately hugged him and apologized profusely. Only then did Rimuru finally forgive her and give up his plan for revenge.
Because deep down…
He's just a petty little slime.
-------------------------
To Access 30+ Advance chapters head over to Patreon:
patreon .com / Samorash
~~Do leave a comment!