It was dark. It's too dark to see anything. Where did I stop? What actually happened, if anything? I wanted to brag about my girlfriend, and then I was killed with Mikami… Now that I think about it am I got reincarnated with him? I heard the unfamiliar voice telling me about some connection. Huh? I tried to open my eyes but I couldn't then I realise that I don't feel my arms and legs. Then there was this whole story with "I can't open my eyes." I was in the World of Darkness where I couldn't see anything. Anxiety, the like of which I had never experienced before, began to rise in my mind. And then I felt something touch my body. "Hm? What is it?』 I focused all my senses on this unknown sensation. It looked like grass on what might have been the side of my stomach. Focusing on the sensations, I slowly began to understand what was around me. I felt the sharp edges of the nearest leaves pierce my body.
It made me a little happier. A moment ago I was in total darkness, but now at least I have my sense of touch back. This made me so happy that I went straight to the grass...
*Slide, slide.*
『I can feel my body sliding on the ground. I...I'm moving?!』
At least it was clear proof that I wasn't in a hospital bed. The sensation under my belly (?) took the form of a hard, jagged stone. Hmm. It still didn't make much sense to me, but I seemed to be outside.
So I headed towards the grass, trying to keep my senses sharp against what I was touching, although I still didn't quite understand where my head was. There was no smell; I wasn't sure if I had a sense of smell.
In fact, I had no idea what shape I was. I felt... the flow. Jelly-like. Something like one fantastic monster that I was very familiar with. To tell the truth, this idea has been circling in my head for some time now.
"...No. It's just stupid. Anything but that.』 I decided to leave this disturbing thing behind for the time being and instead try the last, untested one of my five human senses. Not that I know where my mouth is. So...what now?
Suddenly, a voice sounded in my head.
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"A? W-what? Unique skill "Predator"?』 And what was that voice? Is it just my imagination? Was there someone? Something is wrong here. It wasn't that I thought I had a visitor, it was just... well, the words just popped into my head. Cold, unfeeling words, like a computer-generated voice.
Come on, not now.
No answer. I waited a little, but there were no more voices. Looks like there won't be a second question. Have I made the wrong choice? Was it the kind of game you got stuck in if you didn't start giving "yes" answers? I assumed that this question would be repeated forever until I said yes, like any normal RPG. "I think no."
However, quite rude of him. Appears, asks a simple question, and then disappears forever. It would be nice to hear someone for a change, but…what the heck?
Well. Let's continue what I tried to do before. My sense of taste.
I moved towards the grass that I had felt before. When she brushed against me, I leaned forward, feeling all my weight sink into the field. It was definitely some kind of herb.
As soon as I was convinced of this, I suddenly realized that the area where the plants met my body began to melt. At first I thought it was me melting myself, but apparently it was just grass. And with that, I could now tell that the components of the plant life below me had been taken into my body.
So that's how it works? Instead of having a mouth to eat, I just absorbed plant matter with my whole body? It definitely didn't taste like anything else.
From this I could draw several reasonable conclusions.
First, I was no longer human. It was already self-evident. 『So...is that all? Am I really... You know... With the kind of tactile feedback I'm getting now...』
I trained my senses inside the body. It responded with a rhythmic movement. *Boeing. Sproing.* Slowly, in complete darkness, I took the time to determine the exact boundaries of my form.
...God! I used to be such a handsome, attractive man, and now I'm so ... "fluid!" So streamlined!
...Yep, exactly! You think I'll take it so easy?!
As far as I could tell, there was no more doubt. I could imagine it in my imagination.
I mean... what else could it be? Not that I have any prejudice against it. Damn, that was pretty cute, for that matter!
But was it for me? If you were to take a poll, I think at least nine out of ten people would get the same answer.
But I'll have to deal with it. Accept the fact that my "soul", or whatever you call it, was reborn inside a monster from another world. The chances of that seemed astronomically low to me, but... I got reincarnated as a slime. *Chawk, chuck.*
*Champ, champ, chug, chug.*
Right now, I'm eating grass.
Why am I doing this? Well, why not?
As if there is more to do here!
It's been a few days or so since I've been forced to face the fact that I'm now a slime. How much, I didn't know exactly. The passage of time is hard to grasp when all you can see is total darkness.
One discovery I've stumbled upon over the past few days was that a slime body can be a lot more beneficial than it first appears. Well, first of all, I wasn't hungry or tired. Food and sleep were completely superfluous to me. And I guessed something else. I couldn't be completely sure, but there didn't seem to be anything alive here. As for the danger, I wasn't sure it was worth talking about. My days passed without worries.
Or something else.
Lately, I haven't heard that voice again. At a time like this, I wouldn't mind a little communication. But no. It was just me and the grass and what I was eating because I had nothing else to do. It was just a way to kill time. And by this point I could already feel the whole process, my body absorbs the blades of grass, splits them inside, sorted all the components and stored them.
What all this meant, I could not say. This was starting to scare me a little. I had to do something about it or I would go crazy. So I continued to go through the cycle: absorb, split, store. But there was something strange about this process. Somehow the exception was never taken into account. Never. Maybe the slugs didn't have to do that. Hell, I don't know anyway. But where, then, is all this that I have absorbed? My senses told me that my form had not changed in any noticeable way since I first arrived.
So what the heck?
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But since when do I use any skills? I thought I answered "No".
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ABOUT? Well, it's good to see that we finally have a real conversation. But back to business. If I use this skill, what will happen then?
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Predation: Absorbs the target into your body. The chance of success is less if the target has a mind of its own. Can target organic and inorganic objects, as well as skills and magic.
Analysis: Analyzes and examines targets absorbed into your body. Allows you to create craft items. If you have the necessary items, allows you to make a copy of the product. A successful analysis of the spell's method allows one to learn the skills and magic of the target.
Belly: Saves the consumed target. Can also store materials created with Analysis. Items stored in your belly are not affected by time.
Mimicry: Reproduces the form and skills of absorbed targets. Only available after Goal Analysis.
Branch: Stores harmful influences that cannot be analyzed, neutralizing them and turning them into magical power.
『Hmm... What?』
For the first time in a long time, I was abandoned. It was like an incredible ability. Not exactly what the slugs were famous for. At least the ones I knew.
And... wait. And anyway, who is this voice answering my questions? Is there someone there? <