Chapter 123: Question.
Chapter 124: Question.
Trying to draw people into Slime Land.
As for the symptoms I’ve shown so far, this is all there is.
For that purpose, I held a cake giveaway event, started selling Clothes Slime, created an orchard where you can taste one fruit a day, set up a space where you can enjoy various extreme sports, and prepared a place where you can drive expensive supercars.
And to attract people from outside into Slime Land, I started selling and renting Slimes that are a bit lacking in performance, and expanded the area reached by Tunnel Slimes.
All of these are extremely ordinary things.
Even if they’re a bit aggressive, these are just normal marketing methods.
Holding special events?
Department stores create things like culture halls to hold performances.
Theme parks hold parades.
Both are to bring customers to department stores and theme parks and make them stay longer.
Giving away fruit for free?
At big discount stores, you can easily find tasting events.
Even if it’s not tastings, they use discount events or unusually cheap bait products to attract customers.
There’s no big difference from that.
Providing a place to try out cars at a low price?
There are plenty of companies that offer free or paid test drives.
Sure, the chance to drive a supercar isn’t that common, but that’s just to maintain the car’s value, right? Inside Slime Land, there’s virtually no chance of car damage. Since the surroundings are covered in Slime, no matter where the car crashes, it won’t get damaged.
Maintenance issues were also solved with Slime. I didn’t handle vibration and engine noise, but I used Slime here and there. I’ve definitely addressed overheating and parts wear problems.
So, no matter how much people drive the cars, there’s no big worry about the value dropping.
Points?
Giving back part of the spent amount as points is a policy even the local supermarket uses to encourage repeat visits. Even if it’s not points, they usually give out coupons.
These days, not doing it is actually rare.
Not selling Clothes Slime online?
This is something other luxury brands also do often. Clothes Slime is designed by a world-class designer, uses Slime monopolized by Alchemy Slime for its materials, and is made by an S-rank Alchemist and his children. It’s not lacking compared to any luxury brand in the world.
Since we don’t discriminate against customers, you could even say it’s a customer-friendly policy.
Only offering some products as rentals, not for sale?
That’s common in the software market.
They sell software on a subscription basis so you pay every month.
Some people dislike it because you can’t get ownership and have to pay every month.
But with software, new versions come out as you use it. If you rent, it’s less of a burden to switch to a new product.
In fact, even though it’s hardware, I can upgrade it regularly like software.
My Slimes grow every day.
The Insole Slime that used to bleach white and suffocate from the smell and the Insole Slime+ I make now are practically different products.
The Bicycle Slime I lend out today and the one I lend out half a year from now will be completely different products.
Renting is much more beneficial than buying.
The performance of the Slimes for sale is lower than what you can experience inside Slime Land?
It’s a matter of size. Size.
Isn’t it greedy to expect a small massager to perform like a massage chair?
Stockpiling food isn’t an issue either.
I am the leader of Slime Land, the land of dreams, tentacles, hope, and slime.
With the [Store+] skill, Barrier☆, information obtained from monster materials, and even the abilities I learned from Ash to handle space, the area I rule is larger than some small countries.
As someone who rules such a territory and welcomes hundreds of thousands of tourists daily, it’s only natural to care about self-sufficiency and food storage.
Tunnel Slimes?
Of course, it’s only right to make sure customers can visit comfortably.
Events, tastings, experiences, points.
These are all methods used by companies.
In fact, since I don’t hold discount events, you could even say I’m giving out less.
Of course, other companies don’t keep customers tied up all day.
But that’s only because it’s a problem in terms of profitability or facility management.
If they could, they’d want to keep them as long as possible.
The longer and more frequently customers’ eyes are on products for sale, the more likely it is to lead to sales.
And while I’ve thought about keeping people in Slime Land for a long time, I’ve never actually done it.
Even now, if a teenager or someone tries to stay too long, I contact their family and send them home.
The idea that if I can’t sell things anymore, I could just farm inside Slime Land is way too much.
There are ways even without luring people to Slime Land.
If the flavor difference between the fruit I grow and regular fruit is too big, I can just sell Fertilizer Slime. That alone would raise the overall quality of fruit grown.
If fertilizer price is the problem, then I can just raise the price of Fertilizer Slime.
Then farmers can sell fruit grown with Fertilizer Slime as premium fruit.
There are delicious fruits in the world, but they’re too expensive to eat.
Just having that as an option will reduce complaints about the inferior quality of fruit sold outside Slime Land.
What does this curse even want to do?
It’s clear the curse was influencing me.
But if you don’t see it through tinted glasses just because it was the curse’s doing…
All it did was push me to run Slime Land in a slightly more aggressive way.
In a way, you could say it even helped.
The businesses that seem to have been affected by the curse are actually showing significant profits and improving the financial statements.
I just don’t get what the curse is thinking.
If I cross the line using what I’ve prepared now, something pretty serious could happen.
But causing worldwide chaos could have happened even without all this prep work.
If I stopped selling Slimes for just a month, I could trigger a global panic.
Slimes have already penetrated human life that deeply.
If you try to forcefully extract them, you could end up tearing off whole chunks of flesh and threatening your life.
Knowing that, I’ve prepared a brake.
Hans and the rest of our Four Heavenly Kings would immediately oppose me if I tried to do something stupid.
I set up that kind of meeting room atmosphere.
If I try to cause trouble as Alchemy Slime, my children will stop me, just like when I fought the Curse of Distrust and Jealousy.
In the first place, things weren’t all that different before this curse arrived.
My thoughts definitely went to extremes.
But thinking and actually doing are completely different stories.
In your mind, you can do anything.
The actions that seemed extreme only stayed as thoughts; I never actually did them.
I didn’t even have a strong urge to do them.
Only about four levels left until level 60.
The Barrier☆ skill has caught up with the others.
The average skill level of [Trait: Slime ☆☆☆☆] will soon reach 60.
Whatever groundwork you were laying, there probably isn’t enough time left to act on it.
“What is it you really want to do?”
No answer came back.
It’s a good thing, but the question remains.
***
A husband contentedly stroked his wife’s belly.
For this couple, Slime was nothing short of salvation.
For many years, no matter what they tried, they couldn’t conceive.
Even with medical help, they failed several times.
The fact that they couldn’t have a child was sad, but seeing his wife depressed was even more heartbreaking.
Then, rumors spread that sticking a Pack Slime between your legs was great for men.
Though folk remedies are risky and his wife opposed them, she didn’t object to using Pack Slime.
Regardless of effectiveness, it was extremely comfortable to wear.
It wasn’t what they’d hoped for, but since it was so pleasant, they ended up living with Pack Slime for about a month.
“Really?”
“Yeah!”
“I’m really, really relieved….”
A blessing came upon the couple.
Pregnancy is a joyful event, but it comes with all sorts of pain.
For easing pain, Slime was incredibly helpful.
Just having a Pillow Slime against her waist greatly reduced her back pain.
Even insomnia caused by hormonal changes could be easily managed with a Pillow Slime.
As the wife’s belly gradually swelled, Clothes Slime was released.
Clothes Slime, made for pregnant women, was truly astonishing.
“My body feels so light.”
The wife, who had gotten used to leaning back and pressing her lower back, was now standing straight.
She’d always liked being active, but after putting on Clothes Slime, she started walking around a lot more.
No matter how heavy her body got, moving appropriately was important, so this was a good thing.
The recently released Massage Slime also helped.
“Does it feel good here?”
“Yeah. That spot is perfect.”
The husband attached a Massage Slime to his wife’s legs after her workout.
Thanks to this Massage Slime, the wife never complained about her legs swelling or hurting.
After finishing the housework, the husband removed the Massage Slime from his wife’s legs.
“Thank you, as always.”
“It’s just what I’m supposed to do. There aren’t many people who get to care for a pregnant wife this comfortably. If I grumbled about it while it’s this easy, I’d get scolded.”
“Give it here. I’ll stick it on your shoulders.”
The wife took the Massage Slime her husband had removed and attached it to the back of his neck and shoulders.
“Feels good.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
That’s what the husband said, but it wasn’t quite how he really felt.
The warmth untangled his knotted muscles.
But that was all.
It certainly felt nice, but as his misaligned bones snapped back into place with little pops-
It didn’t have the refreshing satisfaction of a real massage.
He felt something was missing.
He used to go to the experience corner in the department store’s basement and enjoy the massage chairs.
But after his wife got pregnant and started using all sorts of Slimes, going to the department store became awkward.
“It’s not enough, right?”
The wife knew her husband enjoyed massages, so she could read his dissatisfaction on his face.
“No, it’s just….”
“I heard Slime Land has massage chairs too. Want to check them out?”
“Will you be okay?”
“That much of an outing is fine.”
The couple visited Slime Land.
There was a space where you could try out Massage Chair Slime.
In a suitable room, you placed an order with a bracelet and it would be delivered.
There were several types, each with different instructions.
[Calm].
[Adventure].
[Scream].
The wife, not wanting to strain her body, chose [Calm], while the husband, who liked things intense, picked [Scream].
What was sent to the wife was a chair shaped like a droplet of water.
And what was sent to the husband was a sea anemone-like Slime with wriggling tentacles.
Just looking at it made you want to scream.
“….”
The husband was speechless, and the wife burst out laughing beside him.
“This is comfortable.”
The wife got into the Massage Chair Slime shaped like a droplet first.
The way it wrapped around her body looked truly comfortable.
The husband swallowed nervously and entrusted himself to the sea anemone.
The tentacles gripped his body tightly.
And then….
“Wait, wait. A human body isn’t made of slime, so if you twist it any further-aaaagh!”
Crack.
His body made a sound that made him wonder if he was okay.
For a moment, his life flashed before his eyes.
And then, a refreshing ache welled up.
After experiencing it, even if it felt a bit much, he didn’t mind at all.
When the massage was over, the husband emerged from the Massage Chair Slime with a refreshed face.
“Let’s come again next time.”
“Yeah.”
***
I watched people come in with expectant faces and leave with smiles.
“Hans.”
I turned away from the people and looked at the best brain in management.
I asked Hans.
“Is there anything I’m doing right now that seems a bit much?”
“No. The financial statements have improved enough that we can start paying dividends to Lime, Mother, and Root.”
So from a management perspective, we’re definitely raising our score.
“Are we maybe giving too good a service for too cheap?”
“If you consider it advertising, it’s not.”
“Am I crushing other companies too much?”
“That’s just how capitalism works.”
That’s true.
Progress in technology is necessary.
Continuous development is humanity’s dream.
And making that dream come true is what I want.
When technology advances, new inventions always come out.
It’s inevitable that those inventions replace existing products.
I gather the people whose work has become obsolete and embrace them at Slime Land.
Even if they can no longer continue what they’ve done their whole lives.
I help them dream new dreams and achieve them.
No matter how I think about it, I can’t see what’s wrong.
This time, what the curse tried to accomplish through me-
Is it really such a bad thing?
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i think the husband just have enlightenment with that massage chair ( lol ).