Chapter 4: The Slime Attack

Ah, thank goodness.

It seemed he was not actually that far away from a town.

Just as Qiu Nuoya was about to run toward it in relief, something round and bouncy crossed in front of him.

"This is... a slime!?"

The fantasy game staple monster known as a slime.

They were usually weak enemies, often appearing at the beginning of adventures as the very first monsters a player encountered.

Its body was covered in a transparent membrane and inside that membrane was something that looked like jelly or water, wobbling softly.

In the center, Qiu Nuoya could clearly see a round and seed like object that was probably its core.

That core was probably its weakness.

Though, honestly, wasn’t making the weak point so obvious a little strange?

"Can I touch you? You won’t make my skin break out or anything, right...?"

Qiu Nuoya sat down in front of the slime and cautiously pressed his finger against it.

His finger touched the slime’s membrane and bounced back with a soft and springy sensation.

It was surprisingly elastic.

When he found the squishy feeling enjoyable, Qiu Nuoya tried stroking the slime with his palm.

It was slightly cool, soft, and pleasant to touch.

The completely defenseless slime did not resist or attack him at all, so Qiu Nuoya continued playing with it, gently squishing and stretching it.

Even when he changed its shape into various forms, the slime simply wobbled without making any reaction.

It was strangely amusing and fascinating.

"You are pretty cute."

Come to think of it, did this world have a profession like a Beast Tamer, someone who could control monsters?

When people thought of slimes, they were now commonly portrayed in fantasy worlds as useful creatures.

There were anime about someone reincarnating as an overpowered slime and novels where people dominated battles using slimes.

If he could tame one, Qiu Nuoya would like to have at least one as a companion.

After all, it was cute.

Qiu Nuoya gently picked up the slime in front of him.

"Do you want to come with me?"

He spoke while looking directly at its core.

The slime trembled slightly again.

Was that a yes?

Or a no?

Qiu Nuoya knew absolutely nothing about slime behavior, so he decided to interpret it as agreement.

While holding the slime, he began walking.

Then it happened.

Qiu Nuoya suddenly felt something hit his back.

It felt like a small amount of cold water had been shot at him from a water gun.

He turned around and froze at the sight before him.

A huge number of slimes were gathered together, wriggling and packed tightly across the area.

"Wha... wait, hold on... are these your friends...?"

The slime in his arms trembled again.

Slimes were known as the weakest monsters, but even the weakest creature could become frightening when there were enough of them.

One slime was cute.

This many?

Absolutely not.

When Qiu Nuoya stepped backward and started running, the slimes began hopping after him.

All of them.

As a group.

"No, no, no, no! This is impossible! This is terrifying!"

The slime’s water gun like attacks, which Qiu Nuoya had felt earlier, began flying at him from all directions.

The attacks themselves did not have enough power to cause a fatal injury, but his body was gradually getting colder.

And apparently, it was not actually water.

The liquid had a slight thickness to it, and to Qiu Nuoya’s shock, it was slowly dissolving his clothes.

"Uwaaaaaah! What is this?! You’re kidding me, right?!"

He shouted while running, but his clothes continued to deteriorate rapidly.

Which meant this was probably some kind of acid.

If that was the case, touching it directly with his body would result in burns, or in the worst case, death.

He had not felt any pain yet, but the thought was terrifying.

While Qiu Nuoya ran around desperately in tears as he escaped from the slimes, he suddenly heard a voice from somewhere.

"Hey, kid! Let go of that slime in your arms!"

"Huh? Slime...?"

Ah.

Now that he thought about it, he was still holding one of them.

When Qiu Nuoya threw the slime in his arms back into the group, the movements of all the slimes suddenly stopped.

Could it be that they had been attacking him because they thought their companion was being kidnapped?

"I was... so scared..."

Qiu Nuoya collapsed to the ground, almost crying.

The slimes hopped around him energetically.

Their appearance was carefree and actually quite cute.

However, after what had just happened, Qiu Nuoya could no longer see them as cute.

"Hey, kid. Are you alright?"

A shadow fell over Qiu Nuoya.

When he looked up, he saw a sturdy young man wearing clothes that looked like they came straight out of a fantasy novel.

He appeared to be in his mid twenties.

His hair was reddish brown and his eyes were moss green. His facial features were sharp and well defined, yet there was something about him that gave off a slightly wasian impression.

"Ah... thank you very much!"

"No, I didn’t actually do anything, so you don’t need to thank me. More importantly, what were you doing out here? If you are leaving the city, you need to at least bring leather armor and a wooden stick, you know?"

"I... is that so?"

"?"

"The gatekeeper should have told you too, right? Slime mucus dissolves the fibers of clothing. If you are going to fight slimes, leather armor is essential."

He said it as if it were common knowledge.

But how was Qiu Nuoya supposed to know that?!

No one told him anything!!

"Hey, Igor, what’s going on? Did something happen?"

Another voice came from behind the young man.

When Qiu Nuoya looked over, he saw another person standing there.

This one was a handsome young man wearing a long robe and looking exactly like what one would imagine a magician to be.

He also appeared to be around his mid twenties.