My Pet Slime Gives Me 10x Rewards

Our class was supposedly about beasts, since knowing the different beast families was really important. Beasts varied, but most had things in common if they belonged to the same "species," so studying that was a must for every hunter.

I was genuinely curious about the subject. Maybe learning more about beasts in general would help me understand Bob better.

But once everyone was inside the classroom, our teacher, an old man with a thick white beard and round glasses perched at the tip of his nose, had something else in mind.

"Attention, students," he said.

I’d already found my seat. Everyone had. We all stopped chatting and paid attention to what the teacher, whose name was Balthazar, had to say.

"We have the opportunity to see something quite unique. A different kind of dimensional rift, one we’re still trying to understand. Not even S-rank hunters want to venture into it."

The old man knew exactly how to grab everyone’s attention, getting us curious about why S-rank hunters wouldn’t touch that kind of rift. Even I was curious about it. Nothing about it online.

"Follow me, please," Balthazar said.

We all left the classroom and moved into a different building. This one was far from all the others, and had noticeably tighter security. Lots of guards, doors with passcodes, and, surprisingly, people in those white lab coats I’d seen the other day.

On the way, I asked Tom what kind of rift Balthazar was talking about. He was the nerdy type, always reading up on stuff, so I figured he might know. To my surprise, he had no clue either.

"Don’t know," Tom said, barely containing his excitement. "I might pass out."

"If you pass out, you won’t see it," I said.

Tom pulled himself together. He was practically vibrating with excitement to see this new rift.

The building had multiple floors going up, but we didn’t go up, we went down, into the underground.

Metallic hallways, like a secret lab. More locked doors with restricted access, one after another. We only got to see what they let us see.

Eventually we reached an open area that looked like a cave. Actual rock, not the man-made hallways from before.

And down there, something unique. I’d never seen anything like it.

A dimensional rift, but this one kept shifting colors nonstop, with blue lightning crackling along the edges of the portal. Like reality itself was tearing apart.

"This, kids," Balthazar said, spreading both arms, "is a new type of rift we’ve found and are studying. We just call it an Unstable Rift."

"Unstable Rift..."

We couldn’t get close to it, and neither could Balthazar. Yellow tape sealed it off, keeping everyone out.

"For some reason, the principal allowed me to show you this today, so let’s make good use of the opportunity."

We all stood still, listening to Balthazar while staring at the Unstable Rift. Such a strange thing.

"This Unstable Rift gets its name because, unlike normal rifts, it’s, well, unstable."

"The problem with this kind of rift is that it closes without warning, then reopens days, weeks, sometimes even years later."

That was a problem. If the rift closed while someone was inside, the odds of dying were basically 100%. Balthazar explained why shortly after.

"You all know hunters can’t stay inside rifts forever. The stronger the hunter, the longer they can last without dying."

"Even S-rank hunters can only last up to 48 hours before they have to leave. That’s the longest anyone’s ever managed. At least, that’s the general consensus. If some unknown hunter stayed longer and never told anyone, we wouldn’t know about it."

Balthazar paced back and forth as he kept explaining.

"This type of rift has been around for a few years now, though there aren’t many of them. But in recent years, just like the number of beasts escaping rifts has gone up, so has the number of Unstable Rifts."

"And we know next to nothing about them. Almost every hunter who’s tried exploring one died. It’s common for the portal to close and trap them inside."

"The Hunter Society tried getting some S-rank hunters to explore one, but nobody’s willing to risk their life for it."

I listened carefully to all of it. I’d never even heard of this type of dungeon before. Seemed like they were keeping it a secret from the world.

Maybe that’s why this Unstable Rift was buried underground behind all that security.

But why had the principal let Balthazar show it to us? Had other students from the academy already seen it, or were we the first?

Then something strange happened with the rift. More lightning flared up, and space itself started tearing.

The scientists shouted for Balthazar to step back.

"Don’t get near it! It’s a normal occurrence, but stay back. Get back!"

They pushed us further away from the rift. But something was off. The moment it turned more unstable, I felt something inside me. Like my pocket dimension had some kind of connection to that place. I don’t know how else to explain it.

Then, suddenly, I couldn’t control my own body anymore. Tom was the first to notice I was slowly walking toward the rift.

"Vince, get away from there! Professor, do something!"

Balthazar looked at me and shouted, "Don’t move. Get back."

"I can’t help it!" I yelled. "Something’s pulling me toward it. Please, help me!"

I was getting sucked toward the rift. Balthazar tried to grab me, but the suction was too strong.

"If you keep holding on to me, you’re coming with me," I said.

Balthazar didn’t let go. I wasn’t expecting that.

"I’m already old, and I won’t let a student go into that place alone. If you’re going, I’m going with you."

That was genuinely sweet of him, but I wasn’t about to let someone die by dragging him along with me. I summoned my dimensional cube and used it to shove Balthazar away.

It worked. The second he let go, the suction force hit full strength. I flew straight into the rift, passing through it.

From the other side, I could still see outside for one brief moment. Then the portal closed.

I was trapped.

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