Faced with thousands of its own poison needles, the slime closed its eyes, accepting its eventual death.
It had been born in the polluted waters of the River Dames, formed from the amalgamation of all the waste and filth swimming around in the water.
It had spent its life watching humans, seeing the happy smiles on their faces as they played near the river's edge.
But even if the slime wanted to experience the joys of being human, it knew that it couldn't join them because it was different. It was a monster.
Still, it was content just watching humans from under the River Dames.
It even ate and consumed filth, scrap, and waste in the river so that the water would be safe for the humans.
That was how much the slime loved humans.
And what did it get in return?
It was treated as nothing but a deadly monster. It was hunted down, battered, and bruised.
Even then, the slime didn't harbor any hate towards the humans. That was just the way of the world. It was a monster, and they were human.
Its slimy body shivered as it accepted the fact that it was nearing the end of its life, hoping that in its next life, it would be born as a human instead.
The slime waited… and waited, but the pain didn't come.
It slowly opened its eyes and saw Michael standing before it, gazing with warmth in his expression.
With a simple snap of his fingers, the thousands of poison needles dissolved into poison mana, drifting back into its rightful place.
The slime felt the power returning in its body, and slowly, it expanded, regaining its original size.
"You must have had it rough, huh, buddy?" Michael said as he knelt beside the slime.
He reached out, placing his hand on the slime's head.
The creature flinched, thinking that Michael would hurt it like the other humans hurt it.
But instead, it felt the warmth of Michael's hand, and the slime couldn't help but snuggle towards his touch.
Michael chuckled. It felt like he was petting an overly wet, but oddly loyal, dog.
And as he maintained contact with the creature, something unexpected happened.
Images suddenly flashed through his mind—memories of the slime's life.
It showed the slime's memories of drifting through the endless waste of the River Dames. Michael felt its loneliness and longing for companionship as he looked through its memories.
He spotted the slime watching the humans from afar, silently protecting them from the harmful bacteria and viruses infesting the polluted river.
Yet, the humans treated it with fear and panic. They saw it as a threat, hunted it relentlessly, chasing it to the farthest reaches of the river. It could have fought back against its oppressors, but the poor thing chose to flee instead.
Only when it was cornered, with no way to escape, did it finally attack.
Upon learning the slime's story, Michael finally realized something.
I see… this is the reason why the Goddess warned that there would be a plague in this City. The slime had been cleansing the river from disease this whole time. And if the humans succeeded in hunting down the slime, then the bacteria would run rampant in the water, leading to a plague.
A system notification interrupted his thoughts.
[Supreme Skill: Gift Bestowal activated.]
[Mutated Poison Slime]
[Potential Talent]
— SSS class Malevolent Passenger
[Potential Skills]
— Rogue Takeover: The user will be able to inhabit the body of a creature or object as its shadow.
— Subdivision: The user gets the ability to create clones of itself.
[You have discovered the Slime's hidden talent. Would you like to awaken it?]
Michael wanted to fulfill the slime's dream. He wanted to give it a second life.
ChatJK2, please awaken the slime's talent.
[Understood. Would you like to name the creature?]
Michael thought for a moment. He had always wanted a dog—and if he had one, he would have named it…
Fudge. The slime's new name is Fudge.
A golden light flared from his hand, a mystical power that was way different from elemental mana flowed from the tip of his fingers and onto the slime, endowing it with a warm sensation.
The creature didn't resist Michael's hand. It instinctively knew that this was something good.
The slime's violet body started to glow, the brightness intensifying until the whole cavern was lit up in a bright white light.
[Awakening complete.]
After a few seconds, the light faded.
Michael opened his eyes and saw a very strange sight.
The slime's physique was still the same as it was before, with its slimy violet body and two blob-like arms. But strangely enough, it now seemed to be wearing completely dark clothes. A hooded cloak draped over its gelatinous figure, black gloves covered its hands, and even though it had no mouth, a bandana wrapped around the lower half of its head.
What the?!
The slime was wearing something that only video game characters would wear.
Michael immediately inspected the slime's new system.
[Fudge]
[Magic: S class]
[Element Mastery: Unity element]
[Magic Purity: 93%]
[Mana Quantity: N/A]
[Species: Sapient Rogue Slime]
[Talent: SSS-class Malevolent Passenger]
[Realm: 1-star Rogue]
[Skills:]
— Rogue Takeover
— Subdivision
— Lesser Unity Gathering
— Lesser Unity Defense
ChatJK2, I have some questions… What happened to the slime? I thought it was a poison slime. Also, why is it wearing this strange outfit?
[During the process of its talent awakening, Fudge evolved into the next stage of its evolution line.]
[Due to the intervention of the Supreme Skill, the slime has deviated from its original evolution line and has taken on a completely unique one.]
Before Michael could process that, Fudge suddenly stirred and jumped up before bouncing into Michael's arms.
The slime, with its complete rogue attire, looked up at Michael with gratitude in its eyes.
"Master! Thank you for gifting me this new life!" Fudge said in a fluent human language.
Michael's jaw nearly hit the floor. "You can speak?"
The slime nodded enthusiastically, its hood bobbing up and down. "Yes, master. Upon my evolution, I was given a lot of new knowledge that completely changed my perspective in life."
What is Fudge talking about? Michael asked ChatJK2, suspicious of his AI assistant's antics.
[I have directly uploaded useful information into Fudge's mind to facilitate its new talent.]
Before Michael could ask ChatJK2 to elaborate more, Fudge suddenly leapt out of his arms and landed on the ground with a dramatic superhero landing.
With a glint in its eyes, the slime declared. "My job in this life is to spread the majesty of your strength! Soon, the whole world will know the name Michael Vanderbilt! I will become your shadow, your loyal servant, I will be… atomic!"
Michael was speechless. He knew these words.
Fudge's speech was taken straight out of a famous character in his previous life.
ChatJK2… you… you filled Fudge's mind with ANIME?!?!