Its Dream or Reality?
Chapter 1–4: The Manhole, the Slime, and the Truth
I was just an ordinary office worker—living the same routine every day. Until one afternoon… I saw it.
A manhole cover, left open in the middle of the street.
Before I could step back, I slipped.
Darkness.
And then... a voice.
> "Why are you here?"
I wasn’t sure. Maybe this was a dream. Or death. A glowing white figure hovered in the void, then whispered:
> "You shouldn’t be here. Let me send you somewhere else."
A blinding light, and my body vanished.
---
I woke up. But something felt… wrong. My arms, my legs—they were gone.
> “What… am I?”
I tried to scream, but all that came out were strange, garbled sounds—like a broken radio signal.
Then memories—maybe someone else’s?—flashed through my mind.
> "Don't leave me… please…"
Panicking, I leapt toward a nearby mirror. My reflection?
A blob. Yellow. Slime. I was no longer human.
Outside the ruined building I’d woken in, I saw something horrifying:
A massive zombie, rotting and growling.
And beside it… a glowing scythe.
The pain in my head grew unbearable—then I blacked out again.
---
> "Yo! Finally awake?"
A mysterious man, cool-looking, stood beside me—holding the same scythe.
I wanted to ask where I was, but my voice was still all noise. A man in a white coat walked over:
> “Fascinating… this one isn’t just any slime. Could be one of his creations.”
> “You mean him?”
> “Yes. But its purpose? Unclear. According to its growth rate, it should already be dead.”
Dead? But I was still moving—still thinking!
> “I’ll take him to the Slime Research Facility.”
And just like that, I was handed over like some experiment.
---
The "Reaper" (that’s what they called the scythe guy) took me to a strange city.
Tall walls separated it from the wasteland outside.
Here, humans and slimes lived together—some working, some just… existing.
As we passed by, a golden-colored slime with a chef’s hat suddenly approached:
> "Why are you following the Reaper? Shouldn't you be cooking or something?"
I responded with my usual radio-sound mess. But strangely… the chef slime nodded.
> "Oh, I see. If that’s the case, no problem… but you’re lucky he didn’t slice you in half."
