Chapter 53: Don’t Tell Me…
Chapter 53: Don’t Tell Me…
*Glorp… glorp.*
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
However, judging by the sloshing sound still coming from inside my body, it seems digestion hasn’t been completed yet.
The indescribably bizarre taste… I can’t feel it well now. I don’t know if my sense of taste has become numb, like my nose being paralyzed.
In the first place, how do I experience taste?
No matter how much I ponder, I still don’t know.
Well, although I don’t have the appearance of a human, I roughly have human consciousness, so it would be strange for me to understand those anomalies.
…I wonder if even the anomalies can’t understand each other?
If they could understand, maybe the horned wolf would have become my new friend.
The guardian totem, too, and the statue… and that monstrous cow.How could that be possible?
As I was absently waiting, lost in thoughts that didn’t seem very nutritious,
*Squish… squish.*
I could sense the pressure on the jelly gradually weakening. Perhaps because the part that detects taste is like shutting my eyes, I was keenly aware of that subtle change.
The lumps of meat that had been proliferating as if blood was draining from my body were slowly… slowly… slowing down.
Lumps of meat that had lost strength and crumbled like minced meat fell *plop, plop* onto my body.
The thought that this tedious time is finally ending makes me feel quite good.
Eventually,
“Bothersome… ah, the end is finally approaching for me too.”
Along with a clattering metallic sound, a voice of indeterminate gender was heard. It’s a rather familiar voice I’ve been hearing since I first came here.
Surprisingly, the anomaly that I didn’t know what to call seemed to know that its death was imminent.
And as if that was the only salvation given to it… it muttered in a voice that even felt somewhat sweet.
I feel a chill at the thought I can’t understand.
Isn’t the instinct to live… the strongest for living things?
…I don’t know.
Can these things, called anomalies, even be considered living things?
Feeling my jelly getting complicated, I just gave up thinking. There’s no point in trying to understand what I can’t understand. It will only make my jelly ache.
Anyway.
The ‘canned food’ that left a curiously strange last words didn’t say anything else.
Quietly melting away inside my jelly.
It was as if my existence, a being like this, was inconsequential.
As if savoring the… ‘peace’ that will come to it.
…I felt like spitting it out for a moment. But then I thought if it sprouts up again, it might do something nasty, so I waited nicely–
No, I’m a good slime, so I waited nicely.
I wasn’t thinking that.
Not long after,
I sensed that the canned food boiling inside my body had completely melted away.
I think it muttered something at the end… but honestly, I couldn’t hear it well.
Hmm. It must have been the excuse of the loser, so there was no need to listen.
…It felt like it got some kind of mental victory, but I tried hard to ignore it.
Soon, as if a stuffed nose had cleared, the smell of raw meat wafted strongly from the surroundings.
Unable to understand what was happening, I wriggled in the darkness and went outside, and I saw the red lumps of meat that had been wriggling before were somewhat *drooping* now.
The appearance boasting vigorous vitality could no longer be seen, and it seemed to have become an ordinary lump of meat that could be seen in a butcher shop.
…Seeing it packed full of only meat with no fat at all, it didn’t seem like it would be very popular.
Well, it would be perfect for braised meat.
By the way.
I digested it all… but I don’t feel any particular change.
Should I sleep?
As I scratched my neck in puzzlement, a clicking sound was heard.
The chocker that Han Seori put on me was still on my neck. It felt so much like part of my body that I didn’t notice it.
Then… is she watching?
The arrow should appear soon?
The moment I thought that,
I saw a huge silhouette falling over my head.
Startled, I dodged to the side, and a huge sound of *crash!* was heard. Red lumps of meat splash in all directions.
I wonder if I’d end up like that, too, if I fell from a dizzying height…?
Feeling like it was not someone else’s business, I focused my vision upward.
…A rain of lumps of meat had begun to pour from the sky.
If I had to make an analogy… yes.
A bloody hail poured down from the sky.
I remember there was a game among classic games called “Avoiding X.” I dodged the *squish squish* falling lumps of meat, feeling like I was playing that.
Then I remembered the place where I had been crouching until a little while ago and took shelter there.
*Splat splat splat splat splat!* The sounds of sandbags bursting rang out noisily.
Listening to the sound coming at a slightly irregular interval feels like listening to ASMR.
Just as I thought I might fall asleep like this,
Silence came as if nothing had ever happened. Rather, hearing no sound at all gave me goosebumps.
Going back outside, I saw a… pile that had been made.
Lumps of meat that had splattered and stuck tenaciously to the floor were scattered all around. The floor was drenched with what might be blood or meat juice that had spurted out from inside the lumps of meat.
…As it wasn’t a very pleasant atmosphere,
I decided to quickly get out of there.
Going back was the same as coming down. It was a very boring thing, but it was rather fun to think that I could rest now.
After crawling up for a long time, I finally arrived at the hole leading outside, and familiarly slipping out of the hole, I followed the arrow that had appeared at some point.
Han Seori, looking somehow extremely haggard, was waiting for me.
“…Good work.”
She lifted me up with a happy yet somewhat complicated face and, this time gently put me down in a rather luxurious glass jar.
Hmm… I feel like I need some warmth right now… well, whatever.
Han Seori seems to be thinking of returning right away as she immediately leads the glass jar towards the outside.
The passageways were still full of lumps of meat, but seeing that they weren’t growing anymore, it seemed to have been definitely resolved.
…Seeing the exhausted people resting here and there, unlike when I entered, I had a truly strange feeling.
How tired must they be to not even give a glance to Han Seori carrying me?
Anyway.
I was able to return to the room I was staying in.
Han Seori, who took me out of the glass jar, carefully put me down on the floor and said softly,
“For now… thanks… and um, that… see you later.”
She smiled at me with a very tired face and went outside.
Hmm…
Come to think of it, there were probably more people outside who ate that MRE than the people here.
…Are they busy cleaning that up?
Is this even something that can be cleaned up?
Impressive. If it can be cleaned up, that is.
As I returned, Daesik (in the Alice) and Sosik wriggled and approached.
Somehow, the way they rubbed against me made it seem like they felt lonely while I was gone.
…It was a bit unexpected for Sosik to do that, but it’s not a bad feeling.
As I was caressing them like that, the door opened again.
I thought Han Seori had returned, but this time, Kim Cheonsu came to see me.
Somehow feeling a sense of deja vu at the sight, I frowned my jelly, and he coughed, *ahem*, and approached me, saying,
“…Thank you. I heard you helped me come to my senses.”
Hmm… has my achievement already reached the ears of this man?
Or… since Han Seori was a bit close with him, maybe he found out first.
But.
His condition was a bit strange.
A different strangeness from when he rushed to the MRE.
The ordinary man looked at me for some reason, then covered his eyes with both hands and let out a sigh.
His cheeks seem somewhat red while covering his eyes. It must be my imagination, right?
Or… was he embarrassed to be saved by me?
Eventually, the guy who sighed slapped his cheeks *smack smack*, then suddenly fell prostrate and began hitting his head on the floor.
…Has he gone crazy?
Wondering why he’s doing that, I blocked his forehead, and he muttered in a very serious voice,
“This is all because of a strange dream… that can’t be….”
He muttered something incomprehensible, then got up from his spot with a reddened forehead.
“…I’ll repay you later. For now… I have a lot to do.”
The man rambled about something I didn’t even ask, then made an ordinary man-like exit.
I shrugged my shoulders as I watched him leave.
Judging by how they’re acting, the people outside seemed likely to be busy for a while.
Then there’s nothing for me to do but roll around on the bed anyway.
As if that thought was the reason,
Or… I don’t know if the same thing that happened after eating the statue is happening,
But somehow… drowsiness suddenly came over me.
Lying on the bed, tremendous fatigue washes over me.
As my vision darkens,
I saw Daesik lying next to me.
…And.
For some reason, Sosik was on my belly.
He had no expression.
But somehow,
…it felt like he was smiling.
But I couldn’t overcome the sleep that came over me,
And fell asleep.
Don’t tell me…
We… were good together, weren’t we?
Maybe I was the only one who thought so….