A dungeon story, really?
What nonsense is this?
I'm a fat orc who's fallen into a world with a dungeon system.
"Since I was living as a slave warrior in a world where I should have been active as a dungeon master, it makes sense that a system would eventually appear."
If only they had explained it kindly, I would have escaped long ago. After pouring out a barrage of curses at the grim reaper, I reached out toward the arrow indicated by the system marker.
A steep cliff. And vegetation growing thickly on that cliff. I pushed through the foliage and reached into the vines.
"Ayla, can you see? This is our new home."
Only after tearing apart the thick ivy vines from side to side did the entrance open, and I entered the cave carrying the unconscious Ayla.
Splash.
The dungeon was filled with dampness. As I'd noticed from the entrance, there wasn't a single sign of human presence, and only a dank atmosphere stung my nose. A subtly sour smell. Since neither Ayla nor I had wet ourselves, this sour smell clearly belonged to some magical creature.
Squish!
I stomped on a slime crawling at my feet.
[Slime] ★
As if to prove it's just a slime, it only has one star. It was sad that the information about the killed target showed only its name and stars, but it was fortunate that I could at least know the opponent's information.
Squish. Squish.
Slime(★☆) and Slime(★★) burst. As I went deeper, they became subtly stronger, and I realized the meaning of the stars next to their names.
"This world is also based on luck, damn it."
I, Pahuu Kumcherku, currently have three stars but have the potential to grow up to five stars. I don't know how yet, but if I evolve to four or five stars, maybe I could lose this annoying belly fat?
"And this one is four stars."
Ayla, tied to my back with sturdy vines I'd torn from the entrance, was a being with four whole stars. Usually, four stars or above is quite rare, so if Ayla manages to grow, she'll have tremendous fighting power.
"But she got caught by me."
She was completely powerless when caught. As I burst the slimes and realized their subtle power differences, I picked up the last surviving slime.
[Slime] ★☆☆☆
"So even if you're born as one star, you can grow up to four stars. Ayla, this one will become the same grade as you later."
The slime was fidgeting nervously in my hand. If I squeezed my hand slightly, the slime would burst, and this poor green slime, which might have become the master of the cave in the future as a four-star, was now one step away from becoming jelly.
"Come to think of it, slimes were delicious."
Flinch.
The slime stopped moving. It clearly understood my words. I dipped my finger into the mucus of the Slime(★★) I had just burst and tasted it slightly with my tongue.
"Hmm..."
It tastes like cheap jelly sold on the street, but the flavor was decent enough. For comparison, I dipped my finger into the mucus next to the trembling slime—it was from the ★☆☆ one—and tasted it.
"Ugh."
The texture was good, but the taste was terrible. I spat out the mucus that had entered my mouth onto the floor and wiped the mucus on the cave wall.
"Could this be...?"
I realized what the taste and texture corresponded to. I caught the slime that was trying to escape with a gurgle and lifted it up to my eyes.
"Raise it and then eat it?"
Shake shake.
The slime's mucus began to churn inside. I pinched the slime's surface slightly.
Pop.
Despite only a very small amount of mucus escaping, the slime convulsed and suffered. But I paid no mind and tasted the slime's mucus.
"Hmm..."
It had no taste whatsoever, but the texture was excellent. The thought crossed my mind that it could become an excellent ingredient if properly cooked.
"Would slimes taste better steamed or grilled?"
Just as I was thinking that I could cook them in more diverse ways if I made a steamer or a frying pan, a system notification appeared before my eyes.
[Submission] [Slime] (★☆☆☆) is begging for its life.
Rather than being devoured by a merciless predator, it hopes to continue its life even as the predator's plaything.
"Oh ho."
I poked the slime with my finger. The slime didn't move at all and didn't resist me in any way.
"You want to be my subordinate?"
Nod nod.
The mucus inside the slime nodded. I couldn't help but laugh, but it seemed a bit wasteful to just kill a slime that could grow to four stars.
"Then from today, you're my subordinate."
[Recruitment] You have recruited [Slime] (★☆☆☆) as your subordinate.
Exciting! A slime has become my subordinate! I held the slime in one hand, kneading it as I went deeper into the cave. The large cavern was teeming with other slimes, and I clenched my remaining fist.
"There must be a two-star one that can grow up to four stars..."
While kneading my subordinate slime, I carefully stepped on the other slimes one by one. Although confirmation is only possible after they die, if there's a clever one, it might beg for its life and wish to become my subordinate like this one.
"There must be at least one."
Surely there must be one smarter and more talented than this one. I cleaned the dungeon interior by stomping and bursting all the dozens of slimes.
There weren't any.
==
About 1 hour.
I burst all the slimes in the dungeon on sight and piled them in one place. If this is truly my dungeon, then by dungeon law, the slime corpses should all disappear.
"So I've burst all the visible ones."
Thud.
I threw the slime that had become my subordinate onto the floor. The slime trembled and watched me nervously, and I squatted in front of it, poking its bouncy skin with my finger.
"Hey. It seems like I need to kill you for this dungeon to become mine, doesn't it?"
[Quest] Slime Dungeon Subjugation (69 / 70)
[Obtain dungeon control rights upon complete subjugation]
"Hey, can you see this? Just one left, but it seems to be nowhere in sight."
I circled the cave from entrance to the deepest part three times, but it didn't appear. I must have walked back and forth about 2km, but one is missing. Even during the last round, when I walked very slowly and searched thoroughly, it wasn't visible.
"This must be a system error, right? It must be the situation where I catch you and become the dungeon master?"
Shake shake. Since becoming my subordinate, the slime has been making its own assertions clearly, shaking its entire body. But no matter how much I look, there's only one living slime left.
Drip.
Sticky saliva fell on my shoulder.
"Damn it..."
I brushed off my shoulder. How could Ayla drool so much while unconscious? That's why there's so much water down below too.
Drip, drip.
I wiped away the saliva falling on my shoulder again. It felt quite unpleasant. No matter what world this is, human saliva shouldn't be this viscous.
"Damn."
Splash!
A huge shadow loomed over me. On the ceiling, there was a slime several times larger than the others, wriggling.
[Slime Dragon] ★★★
[Boss]
[Dungeon Master]
"How is a slime a dragon?"
Wriggle, wriggle.
The rude slime that had spit on my shoulder entered the cavity of the deepest part. I picked up the slime that had fallen to the floor and followed it into the cavity, where a massive slime that seemed well over 4 meters in length was opening its mouth wide toward me.
"Is that your boss?"
Nod nod.
The slime nodded, and the slime dragon opened its maw wide, threatening me. Mucus spurted out, covering my body thoroughly.
"Ugh, disgusting."
I brushed off the mucus on my body. From the start, I had no proper clothes and was limited to wearing shorts, but having dirty mucus on my body and clothes didn't feel good at all.
Growl?!
The slime dragon seemed surprised and spewed a lot of mucus at me. I was showered with green mucus covering my entire body, and both Ayla and the slime also became sticky with mucus.
I can't stand it anymore. Forget about submission, let's kill it first. Just then, the slime dragon opened its mouth wide, trying to swallow me whole.
"You need a beating."
I raised my fist and pushed it into the slime dragon's mouth. Sticky and sour bodily fluid came out from inside, but it was no problem for me who had already showered in it.
Squelch.
I tore off the mucus from inside the slime dragon's mouth. Only then did the slime dragon realize something was wrong, but I stomped on its lower jaw.
"Since it's three stars, it should taste good, right?"
Time to secure some food.
I tore off all the mucus from the slime dragon until only its skin remained, and cleared the dungeon.
[Conquest] You have conquered the slime dungeon!
[Would you like to register it as a new dungeon?]
"Uh."
Nothing particularly changed. I cleared my throat just in case and said again.
"Yes."
[System] The slime dungeon has been registered as [Pahuu Kumcherku]'s dungeon!
['Dungeon Information' has been activated.]
['Subordinate List' has been activated.]
['Facility Construction' has been activated.]
['Subordinate Summoning' has been activated.]
"Wait, there's a gacha here?"
So the stars weren't there for nothing. With a trembling heart, I pressed [Subordinate Summoning], but there was no response.
[Warning] No summoning facility.
"Ah, I see."
So I need to lay some groundwork first. After untying the vines binding Ayla, I took a deep breath to do the first thing that needed to be done.
"Let's eat first and then start."
Today's mystery.
The mucus torn from the slime dragon tasted like green grape.