Chapter 150: Only I Am Right.

Hello. This is Emergency Rations.

I am a house, but my name is Emergency Rations.

I have a lot to say about my name, but now is not the time.

This is an emergency.

Something happened outside, and the owner has holed up in the house!

The owner, who barely ever came home, is now staying inside all the time!

It’s nice having the owner at home.

I am the house’s spirit.

I especially like it when I can feel a human’s warmth in the house.

But if the atmosphere in the house turns bad, it’s not so great.

The owner’s mood is gloomy.

The mood is so dreary that it’s raining indoors.

No, what are you doing!

Why are you spraying water inside the house!

If you want to spray something, spray popcorn or cola!

Are you really being this depressed right now?

Or are you just pretending?

It’s not just a problem inside the house.

Whatever happened outside, the area around the house is in chaos too.

Even normally, there were a lot of eyes watching the house.

Occasionally, some people would try to break in, but it didn’t happen that often.

That’s because everyone who tried ended up in a bad way.

But now, as if everyone forgot about that, not only are there more eyes watching the house, but there are also a ton more break-in attempts.

Not a chance.

I am not a holy spirit who can comfort the owner when they’re suffering.

Nor am I an evil spirit who can strangle the neck of my foolish owner.

I am the house’s spirit.

Normally, I’m as powerless as can be, but when it comes to protecting the house, I’m the strongest.

Infiltrating through shadows?

I lured them to the rooftop and dropped them from above.

Clairvoyance?

I gifted them a flashbang.

Spirits?

I ate them.

There are even people trying to use scientific technology to surveil the house,

but a thousand years is too soon for that.

There’s no way anyone’s getting in.

But when stuff like this increases, the neighborhood’s atmosphere turns bad.

When the neighborhood gets dangerous, the local residents’ condition worsens too.

And that’s not good for the owner.

I hope the owner snaps out of it soon.

I hope the owner recovers quickly and tidies up around the house.

Only then can I relax, eat popcorn, drink cola, and watch dramas.

***

After being scolded by friends, I holed up at home and leveled up.

But I keep thinking I can’t just keep doing this forever.

There are far too many things that need to be done in this world.

Things that everyone knows are problems, but no one wants to solve because of money.

Things that get put off again and again until they become impossible to handle.

Mountains of recycling trash.

Countless plastic products get thrown away. That trash, labeled as recycling, gets exported. But most of it is useless trash that can’t actually be recycled. That trash gets dumped illegally and forms mountains. It’s thrown into rivers and pollutes the water.

Mountains of clothes.

Clothes are sent to poor countries under the name of charity.

But it’s not really charity-it’s just dumping to save on disposal costs.

A lot of clothes are made from synthetic fibers.

Synthetic fibers are basically plastic. If you burn them, they pollute the air. If you bury them, they don’t decompose for ages.

And what about the dye used to color clothes?

Clothes that pollute the environment become mountains of trash, pressing down on people’s lives.

Pollution from industry and daily life.

In places with lots of industry and big populations, pollution is inevitable.

There are rivers so full of wastewater that not even fish can survive.

There’s land packed with heavy metals and chemicals.

There are areas where the air is so polluted that even breathing is dangerous.

That’s how the lives of plants and animals get gnawed away.

Desertification.

Through deforestation, overgrazing, and pollution, the amount of vegetation covering the land decreases.

In areas where trees and grass disappear, even if it rains, the land loses its ability to hold water.

With nothing to block the sunlight, moisture just evaporates.

These regions turn into deserts.

Deserts expand their territory and cause abnormal weather.

Radioactive contamination.

There are places rendered uninhabitable by nuclear accidents.

Even now, there are places spreading radioactive fallout and disasters to the surrounding ecosystem.

There are also places where radioactive waste is dumped.

It threatens not only the present but the future as well.

There are problems that could be solved with existing technology, but don’t get handled because of money.

There are problems with no solution, so they’re just left alone.

These are problems that could be solved with Slime.

If I got involved, they’d be solved in no time.

But because of human circumstances, I can’t step in.

It’s so frustrating.

There are even trickier problems.

Dead land and abandoned dungeons.

Korea has a small land area and enough economic power, so dungeon management is pretty good.

But there are countries in the world where that’s not the case.

Countries with vast land, most of it useless, and tiny populations.

These countries only deal with dungeons near cities; the rest are just left alone.

In Jeongju Dungeons, the dungeon just keeps growing, but no monsters come out.

Migratory dungeons keep moving, but if there are no humans in their path, they rarely change course to attack human cities.

If they’re really far from the route, it’s safe to assume there won’t be any attacks.

So even if they’re left alone, human settlements are rarely threatened.

It’s a bit like undersea dungeons, but surface dungeons are a much bigger problem. Surface dungeons rarely self-destruct. Dead land keeps increasing, and dungeons get stronger every day.

Even if some people feel a sense of crisis, there’s no solution. Hunters are people too. No one is going to spend days or months in an area with zero infrastructure to solve that problem.

My army could solve it easily.

I could just ride a Car Slime over and bulldoze it all quickly.

I could turn the Car Slime into a camper, stay inside, drink water stored in a Humidifier Slime, and eat high-calorie Slime.

I could just cover dead land with Earth Revival Slime.

It’s that simple.

But I can’t do it.

Frustrating.

I could solve it easily, but I can’t do it for free.

If I just help out, they’ll look down on me and try to use me even more.

My authority would be undermined, there would be more obstacles, and I’d lose momentum.

I have to get fair compensation.

But will the governments that have turned a blind eye to the problem until now really offer compensation?

Even setting aside the trash and pollution issues, dungeons are an even trickier story.

When you clear a dungeon, instead of paying you, they tell you to pay taxes.

Some countries even take away the rights to the artifacts you find.

Would such countries really offer fair compensation?

Ah, right. If I just forcibly take it, that’s the end of it.

What on earth was I worrying about?

***

Hans, with his sparkling, shining hair.

The child, with sparkling, shining eyes.

I approached the alien duo, whose true thoughts are hard to read, and said I would solve the major problems.

“No.”

But an immediate objection popped up.

The purplish alien, who usually does whatever it takes to make my wishes come true, flatly refused.

“Why not?”

“As for dealing with trash and pollution, we can negotiate to export suitable Slimes, just like with Glutton Slime and Humidifier Slime. But as for dead land and dungeon raiding, that’s not possible.”

“It’s what we’ve been doing so far, and what we have to keep doing.”

“There was an agreement that the open sea and outer space are the common property of humanity. They belonged to everyone, but also to no one. It was an area where, due to interference from other countries, it was difficult to profit, and if you got involved, you could end up shouldering responsibility for no reason. So we gave it up easily. But dead land and dungeons on the surface are different. They’re clearly inside national territory. It could be seen as an invasion.”

“But guilds sometimes go to other countries to raid dungeons, don’t they?”

“Even then, they don’t send forces large enough to be called an army.”

An army, huh.

That’s right. I was planning to send a large group because I wanted to wipe it out all at once.

“What about dealing with dead land?”

“If you deal with dead land, what do you plan to receive in return?”

“If possible, I’d like land, transit rights, and underground rights. That way, I could tunnel through with Tunnel Slimes.”

“Lime. If you put it that way, they’ll think we’re trying to expand our territory.”

Territory expansion, huh.

That’s a good idea.

It’s not like they can even manage that land properly anyway.

Even if I take care of it, the same thing will just happen again in the future.

In that case, it’s better for me to take it over and manage it myself.

Suddenly, the child who had the whole world in their eyes grabbed my hand.

For a moment, my mind went blank.

“Are you okay?”

Are you asking if I’m okay?

I don’t feel anything strange.

“How do I look to you?”

The child shook their head.

Worry was evident on their face.

For this child, who hardly ever shows emotion, to make that kind of expression-am I really that bad off?

I must look pretty pathetic.

“Thanks for worrying about me.”

I patted their head and stepped outside.

Hans’s words didn’t fully sink in.

The frustration of not being able to accept what’s right still lingers.

I feel dissatisfied that I can’t do what I should for such trivial reasons.

But everyone around me is someone who deserves respect.

Everyone says there’s a problem with me.

Then I guess I really shouldn’t do it.

I thought it was okay since I’d taken plenty of time to think it through.

But maybe thinking it was enough was arrogance in itself.

I’m so frustrated that I keep getting impatient.

These are things I could solve after vomiting up the Curse of Arrogance.

I went to a place where there were no people.

I took out a bunch of artifacts rescued from the undersea dungeon and swallowed them.

[Trait: Slime☆☆☆☆☆ has reached level 70.]

[You can choose a new skill.]

“Status window.”

[Trait: Slime☆☆☆☆ Lv. 70.

+Courage +Temperance +Faith +Diligence +Respect

Skills:

–

Skill+]

[You can choose a skill.

1. General Skill: Domination Lv. 1.

2. Special Skill: Special Divide.]

[Domination Lv. 1

-Brand with the mark of domination and force obedience.]

Domination, huh.

That’s a skill worthy of Arrogance. It seems to go with the [Pressure+] skill too.

‘Hurry up and choose.’

An arrogant voice commanded me.

Fine. I’ll choose quickly.

My hand, which was reaching for the [Special Divide] skill, stopped in midair.

‘Are you going to make a foolish choice again this time?

Move aside.

From now on, I’ll do it.’

My hand moved upward on its own.

“As if it’s a foolish choice.”

I lowered my hand.

‘If you don’t even know what’s right, there’s nothing to say but that you’re foolish.’

“I don’t know everything. But I do know for sure that letting you take my place is absolutely wrong.”

‘I am right.’

My finger stopped between [Domination] and [Special Divide].

“Right, sure. You just don’t have the confidence to persuade people, you don’t want to make the effort to help them understand, and you can’t prove it through results, so you’re trying to take the easy way out with a skill like [Domination]. It’s because you’re not convinced you’re right.”

‘What a waste of time. Even when reality is shoved in their face, humans are creatures who deny it, trapped in delusions and misconceptions. They only act when the problem threatens to choke them. Even then, if it’s not their own throat but someone else’s, they’ll ignore it or even rejoice. Such beings aren’t worth the time to persuade. There’s no time to waste on such inefficient nonsense.’

I agree with that.

It’s the same for countless other problems, but especially dead land.

I think that’s one problem that must never be left alone.

When deserts expand, they cause all sorts of abnormal weather.

If land where mana supply has stopped grows beyond a certain point, what on earth will happen?

I don’t know exactly, but it definitely won’t be anything good.

That’s why I wanted to deal with it quickly.

But everyone else is so relaxed.

Why?

There’s no problem as long as you don’t go near the dead land.

Because dealing with it costs a huge amount of money.

If what Hans said is true, it’ll take ages to deal with the dead land in each country’s territory.

I’ll have to go through annoying negotiations.

I’ll have to run in circles to do something I could handle easily with that [Domination] skill.

‘I’m right.’

My fingers moved closer to the [Domination] skill.

‘Humanity must be ruled by an absolute and just ruler.’

“It’d be nice if such a being existed.”

Then I wouldn’t have to struggle to do something myself, suffocating from frustration.

“But that someone isn’t me.”

Ash told me. That I was being too hasty.

Gisu told me. That I was showing the same reckless side from the past, running toward failure.

Makina told me. Not to try to shoulder everything. That the end of that road is always sad and pitiful.

Sometimes, when I’m in a hurry, my perspective narrows.

Sometimes, even when I push forward believing I’m right, failure is waiting at the end.

Sometimes, after trying to shoulder everything and falling, I couldn’t get up for a long time.

‘Yeah. You’re wrong. Only I am right. So get out of the way.’

‘I’m right.’ ‘I’m right.’ Is the next step ‘Only I am right’?

It’s dangerous even now, but if I take that step, it’s over.

I won’t be able to hear anyone’s voice.

Ah, but it doesn’t matter.

The [Domination] skill was always a skill that silenced everyone’s voice anyway.

I’ve decided.

I don’t need the [Domination] skill.

And I stopped resisting the arrogance that filled me inside.

“No, I’m more right than you.”

I clenched my fist tightly, then opened my fingers.

I gritted my teeth and lowered my hand.

My arm trembles.

‘How foolish.’

“It’s not like we’re even capable of reaching each other with our words anyway.”

The Curse of Arrogance, arrogance itself.

And me, consumed by the Curse of Arrogance.

Neither of us can say anything convincing to the other.

“Let’s settle who’s right with power.”

My finger slowly moved downward.

Of course.

Even when I resisted arrogance, there was balance.

Now, with the curse giving more power to my conviction that I’m right-

There’s no way I can lose.

[Do you really want to acquire the Special Divide skill?]

[The skill will be used immediately upon acquisition.]

[Once the skill is used, it cannot be undone.]

‘Hmph.’

I felt something large that had been sitting in my chest fall away.

“Ptui.”

A <Curse Fragment>, hardened into a perfect sphere, popped out.

<Curse Fragment>

-A piece of the curse, formed from deep resentment.

The one you love most will flounder in the Swamp of Despair ■■ and meet their end at your hands ■■■!

[You have overcome Despair six times.]

[The suppressed attribute is partially activated.]