Chapter 179: Promise.

“Is this the place where that person is?”

A religion that worships heroes and aims to exterminate all monsters in the world by assisting the hero blessed with the golden sun.

From the Hero Worship Cult, a priest and a layperson got out of the car.

Instead of using <Terminal Slime>, they obtained a car and came to Slime Land.

The priest hated <Slime>, so it was a natural choice.

The two looked up at Slime Land rising high into the sky.

“It’s a detestable place.”

No matter how you look at it, it seemed like voluntarily entering the innards of a monster.

Nausea surged, but the priest suppressed it with a sense of duty and stepped foot into Slime Land.

A contract appeared before them.

Simply put, its content was.

-Whatever happens inside, it’s entirely your responsibility for choosing to enter.

“How is such misconduct allowed? What does that person think of human rights?”

He wanted to turn back immediately, but he couldn’t.

There was something he had to do.

With a heart as if vomiting blood, the priest signed the contract.

Then, a bracelet made of <Slime> was fastened to his arm.

Wrinkles etched deeply between the priest’s brows.

He wanted to remove the bracelet right away, but it was clear he wouldn’t be able to enter if he did.

The priest spoke into the air.

“Alchemy Slime-nim. I am Cary, the priest of the Hero Worship Cult. I have something I must discuss.”

It was a famous speculation that the guy’s ears were everywhere inside Slime Land.

And as if that speculation was correct, the two were swallowed by the floor.

After an experience like being eaten by a creature and moving through its innards, the two were spat out.

Alchemy Slime, sitting on the throne with his chin resting on his hand, looked down at the two collapsed on the floor.

The priest felt humiliated but got up without showing it.

“Please return our hero to us.”

“Wow…. Impressive. How can such a short sentence contain so much to refute? Gisu was never affiliated with you, and even if he was, he has the freedom to rest when he wants, and he won’t be affiliated with you anyway.”

The priest denied Alchemy Slime’s words.

“Our hero showed signs of not being able to control the blessing. We can no longer leave him in someone else’s hands.”

“Ah, so you came because of that. Don’t worry about that. I handled it well.”

“Suppressing it temporarily doesn’t solve the problem. If you truly care about our hero’s well-being, please return him to us. That’s what’s best for our hero.”

“There won’t be any problems.”

“There will be.”

“I said there won’t be.”

“There will be. The place our hero entered is in an advanced stage, and if not properly managed, it can negatively affect the hero’s mind.”

Until now, they had respected the hero’s wishes, but they could no longer delay.

The hero had to come to the Hero Worship Cult.

At the Hero Worship Cult, the hero could receive proper treatment to maintain sanity and fulfill his duties.

“I told you there are no problems. That’s because I pulled out the blessing inside my friend and erased it.”

It took time for the priest to understand Alchemy Slime’s words.

“Pulled out and erased the blessing…? That can’t be possible….”

“I have evidence overflowing, but I don’t feel like proving it.”

The priest suspected that Alchemy Slime was lying because he didn’t want to return the hero.

But soon, he recalled the opponent’s identity.

The opponent is an S-rank Alchemist.

Perhaps it was possible for him to truly erase the blessing from the world.

Anger rose from his stomach and reached the top of his head.

“On what right do you have to remove such a precious power that exterminates monsters from the world!”

“Right…. Then, on what right do you question me about that flame? It’s a blessing that naturally occurs from people’s desire for monsters to disappear from the world.”

The priest tried to retort.

But he had to close his mouth at Alchemy Slime’s continuing words.

“Or was it not naturally occurring?

Destroying my friend’s self.

Corrupting the heart and body to turn it into a machine that kills monsters.

And up until now, ruining countless people’s lives. That.

If it was caused by someone’s scheme.

Is there someone in this world responsible for it?”

Alchemy Slime’s appearance could be called ridiculous.

But the atmosphere he exuded was not.

One wrong word, and it felt like he would behead him and the layperson and declare war on the Hero Worship Cult.

“Answer me. Was that something you created? Is it your responsibility that my friend became like that?”

“Ah, no.”

“Ah, is that so.”

The pressure that had been suppressing his lungs and throat finally disappeared.

The priest barely held back a cough, but the accompanying layperson couldn’t and coughed.

“But it is a fact that we have managed those with that blessing for a long time.”

“Good for you. Now you can be free from that annoyance.”

“Annoyance! That blessing is a precious power that will liberate the world from monsters. Assisting the hero who possesses that power is an extremely noble task!”

“It’s an annoyance. How difficult is it to help someone who has no interest except killing monsters live a human life. Or did you treat him as a tool or weapon? Were you trying to take my friend away to treat him that way?”

“….”

“Even if it’s a tool or weapon, if you can’t control it, it’s incredibly troublesome to handle. Do you perhaps have a way to control it?”

“Through accumulated experience and records over a long period, we found a way for the hero to maintain his sanity for an extended time.”

“Wow. That’s amazing.”

Alchemy Slime praised in a tone that didn’t think it was amazing at all.

“With such an amazing technique, you replaced heroes every less than 10 years?”

“…That was unavoidable.”

Even with the Hero Worship Cult’s techniques, there were limits to maintaining the hero’s sanity.

That’s why this hero, who maintained it for a long time, was even more precious.

He had been precious.

“I handled the matter you gave up on. Now that humans whose minds are destroyed by that blessing won’t appear, it’s good, right?

“But if that means we can’t exterminate monsters, what’s the use!”

“Exterminate monsters? The Hunter industry brings in so much extra. It’s just that it’s been left alone because you know that no matter what you do, it has no meaning. If you were really thought to be able to eliminate all monsters and dungeons from the world, you wouldn’t have survived until now.”

“That’s not true. There are many people who share our will. It’s increasing day by day. With so many people supporting us now. If you hadn’t interfered, this hero might have wiped monsters from Earth!”

“Do you think they’re truly helping you because they hate monsters?”

“Yes!”

“Ha ha.”

Alchemy Slime chuckled at the priest’s words.

“Then, shall we do an experiment? You hate monsters, right?”

“I despise them.”

“You hate <Slime>, right?”

“….”

“Even if I don’t know your doctrines in detail, something that reminds you of <Slime> like that would be considered heretical if possessed, right?”

Whether to ban <Slime> or not.

This agenda was under discussion.

The priest thought it should be banned.

“I’ll make it so that you, who hate <Slime> so much, and everyone who shakes hands with you after revealing this fact, can no longer use <Slime>.”

“Stop it!”

“Didn’t you hate <Slime> anyway? Are you suddenly regretting it?”

“Don’t play tricks on me!”

All alchemy of the Alchemy Slime is accomplished in the form of <Slime>.

He is probably going to try the same trick now.

It was clear that he would attach or eat <Slime> on his body.

Just thinking about it made my stomach turn.

“When you entered here, you signed a contract, right? It must have stated that your constitution could change.”

“If you didn’t sign it, you couldn’t enter here!”

“If you didn’t like it, you shouldn’t have come in.”

“If I didn’t come in, I couldn’t meet you, right!”

“You should have made an appointment through the official channel. It might take years until we meet.”

“Are you seriously saying that now!”

I had to take the hero, who had entered the advanced stage, to the Hero Worship Cult as soon as possible.

I absolutely couldn’t wait for several years.

“Isn’t that obvious? I am one of only 7 S-rank Alchemists in the world, the head of a world-class company, and in a position where I can talk equally with national leaders.

You should be grateful that I’m giving you my time like this.”

The priest ground his teeth at the irrefutable argument.

“Then let’s start the test.”

The Alchemy Slime snapped his fingers.

“There, it’s done. From the moment you leave Slime Land, you won’t be able to use <Slime>. Is this truly a blessing? Or a curse?”

“It’s a blessing.”

“Ha ha ha. Is that so?”

“Yes. It’s a power that keeps monsters away.”

“Are you treating <Slime> as a monster altogether? Well, if you really consider it a blessing, please spread this blessing widely. To people who share your views.

I don’t know how many will see it as a blessing though.”

“Surely everyone will see it as a blessing.”

The Alchemy Slime shrugged as if that wouldn’t be the case.

“If you pass the test, there should be a reward. If you prove that your entire faction has given up <Slime> and truly hates monsters. I’ll revive that blessing I erased, no matter what it takes.”

The priest widened his eyes.

“Is that really possible?”

“It’s possible. I swear on my name. Though, I don’t think you’ll need to revive it.”

“It won’t be like that.”

“We’ll see.”

The Alchemy Slime looked at the layperson who came with the priest.

The layperson desperately avoided the Alchemy Slime’s gaze.

As if afraid that making eye contact would put him under the same blessing as the priest.

***

Unpleasant people came and went.

If the old Gisu had been dragged away and used by them, I would have moved to wipe them off the face of the earth.

But they didn’t force Gisu away.

They waited for Gisu to go berserk because of their external image.

So, they haven’t directly harmed me or those around me.

I know what wrongs they committed in the past.

But since I’m not a judge, I have no intention of punishing them for their past sins.

Now that I’ve removed the blessing, the hero who burns monsters with golden flames won’t appear in the world.

Even without me lifting a finger, the Hero Worship Cult, centered around that hero, is bound to decline.

They haven’t harmed me or those around me, but there are more reasons to dislike them than to like them.

So, I treated the priest quite harshly.

And then I ended up testing the Hero Worship Cult.

There’s no possibility that the Hero Worship Cult will pass that test.

Why did I do it knowing that?

To hit them once.

The core doctrine of the Hero Worship Cult is the extermination of monsters.

It wasn’t originally, but it became that way somehow.

Anyway, according to that doctrine, I am a target to be rejected.

In other words, if my identity is revealed, they are the group that would shout the loudest to kill me first.

Considering the position I’ve built now, it won’t be a big problem, but it will be annoying.

So, I decided to hit them first.

Why, isn’t there a saying like that?

Everyone has a plausible plan. Until they get hit.

If they get hit once now, the Hero Worship Cult will think twice before attacking me.

Like, if we attack, we’ll get hit harder than last time; is that okay?

This kind of thinking.

To make things easier later, I made a slight move now.

Even though it was something that needed to be handled, it’s a waste of time.

Today is December 9th.

Real name, age, gender, face, nationality.

Not knowing any of them, yet they are incomparably precious.

It’s the day I play with my decade-long friend Makina.

[Me: Wassup

Makina: Wassup.

Me: Today, I’m going to beat you.

Makina: Yeah.

Me: Today’s me is different from usual, right?

Makina: Yeah.]

I wonder how long she can act so leisurely.

She confidently challenged me to a shooting game.

Behold the power of my evolution into Seven Star Slime!

[You lose.]

Do I need to become a Ten Star Slime to beat Makina in game physicals?

There’s no more curse to vomit out.

[Me: Let’s play another game.

Makina: OK.]

This time, I challenged her to an FPS game that requires farming weapons.

This one needs luck.

Now that I’ve shaken off all curses, my luck must have improved!

Bang!

The first bullet shattered the pot.

Bang.

The second bullet blew up the head below it.

“….”

A character holding a single pistol approached my dead character.

He wasn’t wearing any armor, not even a backpack.

That character sat down and stood up repeatedly on my dead character.

[Me: Another game.

Makina: Call.]

This time, it’s almost purely a game of luck, like a board game!

A game where you build hotels around the world and steal the opponent’s money.

I am the head of a world-class company.

I also have a lot of real estate.

With luck and investment, I’m confident.

“….”

I entrusted all my real estate investments to Hans.

It was good that I did so.

If reality had progressed like this board game, the real estate I bought wouldn’t have avoided losses no matter the place.

Makina threw the dice, and the piece moved automatically and stopped in Seoul.

This seems like a good timing now.

[Me: You really land on Seoul amazingly well.

Me: At that point, I think you should come visit in reality.

Me: Do you want to come to this Christmas event?]

Makina has known my condition since long ago.

She said she was a stalker before, and it’s probably true.

Of course, she’s not an ordinary stalker.

Anyway, Makina must be aware that I’ve completely spat out the curse.

Before, we made a promise through word chain.

metamorphosis(Transform)-> Slime(Slime)-> eroded(Eroded)-> Despair(Despair)-> restore(Overcome)-> emerge(Emerge)-> engagement(Promise).

To transform into Slime and, once I’ve completely overcome being eroded by Despair, come out and meet.

[Me: It’s okay even if it’s not exactly Christmas.

Me: If you have circumstances where you can’t leave your place, I can come to you.]

Believing in that promise, I took a strong step forward.

Surely, she’s not insisting that I have to shed even the Slime form?

Only after quite some time did a reply come.

[Makina: I’m a coward.

Me: We’re all like that.

Me: Still, we live day by day by mustering courage.

Me: Right?]

No reply came.

[Me: Makina?]

Makina didn’t send me any more messages.

Even as the hands of the clock turned and December 9th ended.

Even after that.