Suddenly, I Became a Slime

Chapter 41: First Experience

Han Seori entered with an odd expression on her face and took me somewhere.

It was always the same, so I wondered about her strange look but obediently followed her.

In the past, I was transported in a glass container, but these days, I hold her hand and move.

The funny thing is, when I was in the glass container, there were often people who looked at me with anxious eyes, but now that I’m holding her hand and walking…

There are more people who pet me in passing or give me snacks.

Well, it’s not like that never happened when I was in the glass container, but it was a bit more passive.

Feeling the irony, I put the snack given by someone whose name I don’t know into my mouth (which seems to exist only nominally) and let it melt. In the meantime…

A different space than usual greeted me.

I’m not sure how to describe it, but… it seemed to be some kind of gym.

What are they going to make me do this time?

As I entered the place with Han Seori, Kim Chon-soo… no, I think I heard his name… ah yes, it was Kim Cheonsu.

Kim Cheonsu approached me, carrying a fairly large box.

Gently setting down the box, Kim Cheonsu opened it when Han Seori nodded.

Not having good memories with boxes, I flinched as the box opened, and Kim Cheonsu chuckled as he rummaged through the box.

The fool seemed to find my startled reaction amusing, still wearing a grinning face.

Since I wasn’t human, my cheeks didn’t redden, and my face didn’t heat up, but somehow, the jelly around my face seemed to boil and bubble.

No, if you were trapped in a box a few times, you’d react the same way, wouldn’t you?

I guess this is what they call being once bitten, twice shy.

I felt like punching him a few times, but I restrained myself.

Should I just hit him once?

While I was debating whether to teach the cheeky fool a lesson, he took something out of the box, approached me, and said as he put something on me.

“You’re not supposed to eat this.”

The guy put some kind of bracelet on my wobbling arm. Wondering what it was, I turned my hand downward, and whoosh! The bracelet fell to the floor with a clunk.

As the fool fussed and picked it up, Han Seori asked in a puzzled voice,

“Huh? You put it on properly, right?”

“Uh… I don’t think it’ll work on the arm.”

Scratching his head at her question, the guy looked me up and down, then fixed his gaze on my face… more precisely, the area around my neck.

Hmm… this punk couldn’t possibly have that kind of… preference, could he?

As I eyed him suspiciously…

The guy said something I didn’t expect.

“Well, it might look a bit weird, but how about putting it around the neck?”

“Hmm…”

At his suggestion, Han Seori seemed to ponder as if in a dilemma.

Wait a minute.

You’re going to put that around my neck?

What is that thing?

Feeling flustered, I looked at the thing in the guy’s hand that was supposed to be a bracelet.

It looked like something you’d put on an animal.

Oh no, this won’t do.

I sent a desperate look to Han Seori, and as if she understood, she smiled faintly and nodded to Kim Cheonsu.

Did you really understand what I meant?

The fool fiddled with the bracelet to lengthen it a bit, then started to fasten it around my neck with a click-click.

Feeling like this wasn’t quite right, I tried to gently push his hand away, but…

“Hey, even if it tickles, bear with it for a bit. It’s all for your own good.”

Even merchants in less savory trades say that kind of thing when putting restraints on their captives.

I felt like a traveler being force-fed an unpalatable meal.

With a click…

Something was fastened around my neck.

To be honest, it wasn’t uncomfortable. But it felt like something inside me was withering away, so to speak.

It felt like I had become something less than human.

Okay… yeah.

Let’s think of it as a choker.

I was never really into that edgy fashion trend, so I had no memory of ever wearing that kind of accessory in my life, but… if I tried to think of it that way, I felt a bit better.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I thought it might not look too bad on me.

Anyway…

They told me not to melt it, so for now, I did as they said.

When a long time passed, and the thing around my neck didn’t enter my body, they took out something else with a satisfied look on their faces.

This time… it was a bag that felt squishy.

The fool put the bag on me with a somewhat pleased look.

When was the last time I wore something like a backpack…?

Perhaps because I had that ominous thing called a choker around my neck, I felt little resistance to wearing something… no, this isn’t a backpack. Anyway.

If that was their intention, I’d have to say it was brilliant.

Is this that thing called negotiation skills or something…?

After I was fully equipped, they put things that felt heavy in the bag this time.

Rather than my body tilting backward, the problem was the things digging into my jelly, so Han Seori and the fool repeated putting things in and taking them out to find the optimal weight.

What happened after they found the optimal weight, you ask?

Well… there was another ordeal to find the optimal weight.

You see if I moved, it would dig into my jelly.

Several days later…

Han Seori watched 7496-KR, the slime girl, writhing restlessly within the confines of the glass container.

The slime girl’s restlessness seemed to stem from the cramped glass container, and Han Seori didn’t look too happy about it.

She wanted to just bring the slime girl along like she did at the research center, but there was a person with a balding head who strongly opposed it, saying it was absolutely not allowed.

Not wanting to cause more concern for him, who was already busy, Han Seori had no choice but to put the slime girl in a safe glass container and bring her, as he said.

However…

Considering where they were going now, she wondered if there was really a need for that.

‘Seems like an unnecessary waste.’

But what can you do?

Han Seori was willing to let it slide for the sake of preserving Yoo Kangjik’s lush… no, what little hair he had left.

But the real problem was…

‘I’m the one who suggested doing this, but…’

Will it be okay?

Han Seori sighed with a belated worry. Then, the slime girl, who had been writhing restlessly within the glass container, looked at her.

As the slime girl looked at her, Han Seori also looked at the slime girl.

A slightly indifferent-looking face.

But she definitely reacted to her sigh… so she must be worrying about her.

Does she know what she has to do from now on?

Han Seori, who had been looking at her with a concerned gaze, shook her head and thought,

‘Even though she looks like this…’

She’s an Anomaly.

It had been quite some time since the incident they called a kidnapping had ended.

Han Seori, who had left the other procedures to the man with thinning hair, had been conducting various tests in the meantime to see what she could do with the slime girl.

In what environment can she adapt?

Can she wear equipment? And so on.

The most important thing among them was whether she could understand speech.

It might be difficult to exchange detailed information, but she should at least be able to understand simple objectives in order to be properly ‘used.’

In that regard, the slime girl was very interesting.

Perhaps thanks to the diligent training of giving her snacks, she seemed to be able to give various instructions to some extent, even if she did not communicate.

It felt a bit strange to treat the little girl like a puppy, but it was necessary, so it couldn’t be helped.

It was also kind of cute how she wriggled around as if trying to say something.

Come to think of it, from the time she asked her to find a doll, it was already a sign that communication was possible.

‘Should I… try teaching her to write?’

Somehow, it seemed possible, but… for now, if she could return from the urgent matter at hand, it would be something to consider.

The moment Han Seori twirled her hair…

*BLAM BLAM BLAM!*

*KA-BOOM!*

The sound of gunshots and something exploding in the distance was heard.

It seemed they had almost arrived at their destination.

As the vehicle carrying Han Seori and the slime girl stopped, the gunshots that had been heard also stopped, as if it was almost over.

Han Seori opened the door, got out with the items she had brought, and pulled out the glass container loaded on the cart.

A few people silently followed behind her.

Soon, she saw…

Monsters that had become honeycombs from being shot.

Somehow, they looked like monsters that appeared in a cartoon she had seen as a child.

They had become lumps of meat, so it was impossible to distinguish their forms, but she seemed to have had that thought when she saw the data she had read.

Anyway…

As she approached, a man who seemed to be in charge of the surrounding area came over.

The two people exchanged slightly awkward greetings, and their gazes were drawn to the slime girl who was blankly looking outside from inside the glass container.

The heavily armed man said with a slightly unpleasant face,

“Are we really putting this thing in there?”

“Yes. It’s hard to manage it regularly… and we might find a clue to sealing it off, you know?”

“I heard about it, but…”

The man sighed lightly as he looked at the wriggling girl, but he didn’t really voice any opposition.

Even if she looked like that, she was an Anomaly, so she shouldn’t be viewed by human standards.

Han Seori also seemed to have read the man’s thoughts as her face turned bitter.

“More importantly, is it really possible?”

“Well, I don’t expect to succeed on the first try either. She seems to like wandering around… so I’m thinking of making an internal map.”

“I see. Anyway, we’ve cleaned up the emission this time, so it should be safe for the time being.”

“Thank you.”

After the man returned to his post…

Han Seori took the slime girl out of the glass container and, like last time, attached equipment around her neck.

She also put a bag containing high-calorie food on her back in case the task took a long time.

The slime girl was still looking around with a blank face…

Han Seori patted the slime girl’s head with a slightly worried look on her face.

Whether she knew or not of her concern…

The slime girl was blankly staring at the monsters that had become lumps of meat.

Unlike its owner, the slime girl’s ahoge twitched actively.