Chapter 10: New skill or not, the outside world is dangerous.

“Aaaaah!”

I kicked off the blanket and ran to the bathroom.

I threw off the mascot suit and checked the mirror.

My body was transparent enough to see through to the back.

No signs of black rot anywhere.

“Ha…”

I pressed my forehead against the mirror and felt the cold.

My body temperature was low, so it didn’t feel that cold.

After finally getting some sleep, I dreamed I died because the apple stuck in my back rotted.

What a stupid dream.

I can just absorb an apple before it rots anyway.

But since I couldn’t act that rationally in the dream, it was a nightmare.

I stepped into the tub and let the water pour over me.

I’m an idol Slime who doesn’t even go to the bathroom, so nothing dirty comes out of me.

Any dust that sticks to my body just gets absorbed.

So showering is basically pointless.

Still, if I don’t do these human-like things, I feel like I’ll lose my humanity.

“Status window.”

[Trait: Slime Lv. 9

Skills:

Decompose Lv. 10.

Absorb Lv. 10.

Analyze Lv. 10.

Divide Lv. 9.

Control Lv. 9.

Transform Lv. 9.]

This won’t do.

I’ve gotten too lax lately.

[Trait: Slime] is at level 9.

Level 10 is right around the corner, and I’m wasting time sleeping.

Maybe I got the silly idea that everything would go smoothly just because business and WTube are doing well.

Letting my guard down like this is why I had a nightmare.

Does Gisu need to show up with a knife to snap me out of it? Huh?

Today, I’m mass-producing Insole Slimes until the trait level hits 10.

I did send out 200 pairs yesterday, though.

Who cares.

Inventory management will take care of itself.

As for food at home: whole garlic, mugwort, ice cream, onions, seaweed, red bean paste, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, dried noodles, and so on.

I won’t be lacking the mass needed to use [Divide], [Control], and [Transform].

Not sure if [Absorb] and [Divide] will rise to level 11.

They stopped leveling up after hitting 10.

I can film the video today and upload it later.

I’m about to hit 10,000 subscribers, so I can post a bunch to celebrate.

It’s about time the letter with the PIN arrives, so I’ll treat that as a celebration too.

A letter.

A letter?

“Aaaaah!”

A letter!

Unlike packages, letters go in the mailbox!

You want me to go outside looking like this?

I don’t remember clearly, but there’s probably a CCTV camera somewhere along the way.

There’s definitely one in the elevator.

Not to mention, there are lots of people around.

Would wearing the Slime suit be okay?

No, even if they don’t guess there’s a Slime inside, the suit itself is the problem.

SLimelove has gotten way too famous.

Anyone who watches WTube has probably seen at least one Sugar Short.

I need to avoid revealing SLimelove’s residence at all costs.

Why did I have to transform during summer break?

If it had been winter break, that would’ve been perfect.

I could’ve just wrapped myself up in clothes and gone down.

But doing that in summer would make me look crazy-or like a livestreamer.

“Right. If I just carry a camera, they’ll think it’s some kind of challenge.”

Long live WTube!

Maybe I could sneak out at night… No, that’s way too suspicious.

It’s better to just walk out confidently in broad daylight.

Of course, this is all assuming I don’t get [Transform], [Camouflage], or [Mimicry] when I hit level 10.

Tsk. Don’t jinx it.

Why think such negative thoughts?

I’ll get them.

I’ll definitely get them.

I’ll use the skills and go down proudly, like someone who lives here.

“What should I eat?”

Garlic.

I popped a whole clove of garlic into my mouth.

Munch munch. Ptooey.

Ta-da! Peeled garlic complete!

I should film this and upload it.

I built a shining mountain of garlic in a basket.

In the basket next to it, I piled up a mountain of mugwort.

Spicy yet sweet.

Great anti-cancer effects, good for restoring energy, and purifies the blood.

At a barbecue place, you can eat it grilled or raw.

Garlic.

Bitter with a distinct scent.

Good for your liver, blood circulation, and stomach.

You can put it in soybean paste soup or make rice cakes with it.

Mugwort.

Put them together and it’s the Elixir of Humanization!

If you eat just these two for 100 days, you can become human.

But 100 days is too long, so how about 100 servings? That’s 10kg-eat that and I’ll turn you into a human!

“Like that’s ever gonna work.”

Let’s have some ice cream to cleanse the palate.

I laid out three industrial-sized tubs of ice cream and grabbed two scoops.

These weren’t ordinary scoops.

<Ice Cream Scoop Slime>

-A Slime that barely lets anything stick and retains cold. The perfect tool for scooping ice cream.

I scooped round balls of vanilla ice cream.

Tossed them into the air!

Yum.

Made a strawberry ice cream ball and tossed it!

Yum.

Made a chocolate ice cream ball and tossed it!

Yum.

This time I made two small balls and whoosh. Whoosh.

Yum. Yum.

Getting a little bored.

Made three ice cream balls and started juggling.

Then, before they melted-yum.

Juggled with one hand while smoothing the ice cream with the other.

Juggled three for a moment.

Yum.

Add another.

Yum.

Add another.

Yum.

…

All done.

Expelled the bloated weight from my body.

[The level of the skill Divide has increased to 10.]

[The level of the skill Control has increased to 10.]

[The level of the skill Transform has increased to 10.]

[The level of the Trait: Slime has increased to 10.]

[You can now choose a new skill.]

A new skill popped up!

Did Mimicry show up?!

“Status window!”

[Trait: Slime Lv. 10

Skills:

Decompose Lv. 10.

Absorb Lv. 10.

Analyze Lv. 10.

Divide Lv. 10.

Control Lv. 10.

Transform Lv. 10.

Skill+]

What’s this?

There’s something new at the very bottom.

When I touched the status window, a new notification appeared.

[You can choose a skill.

1. General Skill: Store Lv. 1.

2. Special Skill: Special Divide.]

“Why won’t the skill I want ever show up?”

Is this some kind of greed sensor?

Maybe because Analyze leveled up, I could now see detailed info on the skills.

[Store Lv. 1.

-Compresses volume and mass for storage.]

Is this like an inventory?

It’s a decently good skill.

The reason it’s just decent is because I don’t need to go outside.

The other skill is-

[Special Divide.

-Separates a Slime from your body that inherits all skills.

Upon use, all levels reset to 1 and this skill disappears.]

It’s the ability to create a permanently existing clone.

More important than the clone is the part about resetting levels to 1.

This could be very bad-or very good.

Unlike at the start, leveling up is slowing down.

It only took two days to reach level 5.

But it took ten more days to reach level 10.

Even though I started eating way more while filming videos.

What if I could get a new skill again at level 5?

It’d be easier to get a skill than aiming for level 15.

Even if the level drops, it doesn’t affect my abilities.

But what if I don’t get a new skill at level 5 and have to go all the way to 15?

Then I’d get the next skill later than if I hadn’t reset.

[Trait: Slime Lv. 10

Skills:

Decompose Lv. 10.

Absorb Lv. 10.

Analyze Lv. 10.

Divide Lv. 10.

Control Lv. 10.

Transform Lv. 10.

Store Lv. 1.]

I don’t really feel the need for Store, but oh well.

It’s already the end of June.

Considering Mom might visit in mid-July, now’s the time for a safe choice.

Let’s think positively.

“Slimes have a body type that never gains weight no matter how much they eat!”

Skin so enviable even babies would cry, and a figure that needs no maintenance.

Is this a sign I should become an actor?

“If I really became an actor, I could totally dominate the scene.”

Now that I’ve got a skill, time to level it up.

Went into the bathroom and absorbed some water.

[The level of the skill Store has increased to 2.]

Left the faucet running and stared at my smartphone for a while.

[The level of the skill Store has increased to 5.]

The water bill’s gonna be high this month.

But WTube revenue’s flowing in nicely, so I’m not too worried.

“Ah…”

To get that revenue, I need to go pick up the letter…

Pulled out winter clothes from the closet and bundled up.

Used Transform to make any exposed skin look like human skin.

With the Transform and Control skills leveled up, it was much easier than before.

It felt like a muscle spasm when trying to keep my mouth in a smile.

Five minutes at most.

Holding a smiling face for five minutes isn’t that hard.

Took out my smartphone and started filming a video as I went down the stairs.

“It’s hot! Seriously, does it make sense to dress like this all day today? It’s 30 degrees outside. 30 degrees. It’s a temperature where you’d sweat buckets even in short sleeves! Watching me eat ice cream looks cool and refreshing, right? Some people won’t even let me turn on the air conditioner! How do I know, you ask? There are ways to know everything.”

I rambled on with random chatter as I headed downstairs.

Thankfully, I didn’t run into any other residents on the way down.

There was someone waiting for the elevator on the first floor, but luckily, they turned away as soon as they saw me talking to the camera.

Arrived at the mailbox.

Thankfully, there’s a letter.

I grabbed it right away and headed back up.

“Phew….”

Back home, I immediately released [Transform] and took a breather.

I didn’t even leave the building or talk to anyone.

And yet, I feel completely drained.

Outside is hell.

Let’s never go out again.

I immediately logged into my WTube account and entered the PIN.

Gotta adjust the ad placements in the video.

Due to the nature of ASMR mukbangs where the flow can’t be interrupted, I bunched them at the start of the video.

“Done.”

Thinking about the money coming in makes me feel good.

All the hard work paid off.

Subscribers have already passed 10,000?

Nice. Today’s video will be a double.

No, I’ll film one more for a triple!

***

<Insole Slime> – Stock: 30

“Finally!”

Finally, there’s stock left at the Alchemy Shop.

The results of sending 200 pairs on Wednesday and 400 pairs yesterday are finally showing.

No, why am I happy about leftover stock?

This is ridiculous.

Anyway, if I send 500 pairs today and they all sell, I’ll hit over 2 million in sales!

I’m a Grade E Alchemist now.

At first, I was worried about not reaching 2 million won.

If things go well, I might pass that mark in less than two weeks?

Ding.

[Makina: How’s business?]

I figured it was about time for her to contact me, and sure enough, she did.

[Me: It’s helping a lot.

Me: Thanks, thanks.

Makina: Any issues?

Me: Business is going too well, that’s the problem.

Makina: Production shortage?

Me: Yup]

Refreshed the page, and it’s sold out again.

[Makina: I’ll send over some solutions.

Me: Really, thank you.

Makina: This much is easy.

Makina: So, how far have you gotten?]

Unlike before, I can answer this question confidently.

Maybe I’m even ahead?

If so, I’ll warn her about spoilers.

[Me: Chapter 7, Section 2.

Makina: Then you must’ve gotten Inheritance of the Stars.

Makina: Using this makes the game way too easy.

Makina: But the design is awesome, and it’s a weapon with deep meaning to Theo, so you can’t not use it, right?]

A weapon with overpowered stats, a sleek design, and a backstory tied to the protagonist?

I don’t have anything like that, do I?

I’m stuck on progress and preparing to grind with ‘Level is King’ strategy, though?

[Makina: Don’t tell me you don’t have it?

Me: …

Makina: You can’t get it if you progress the story lololol]

Save! Where’s the previous save, not the latest one!

[Makina: When was your other save?

Me: Chapter 2, Section 3.

Makina: lolololol]

<Tear Slime> <Tear Slime>

***

“Huh? Is this for real?”

Reading the HowToAlchemyShop2.pdf that Makina sent, there were some headache-inducing cases listed.

After the Cheongdam-dong Alchemist Kidnapping Incident, alchemists’ addresses have been managed quite strictly.

But when large quantities of goods are moved, it’s inevitable that someone will track you down.

So, it’s recommended that alchemists with sales above a certain level have a separate workshop.

There are quite a few alchemists who ignored this advice and ended up enslaved by thugs.

“But I can’t go outside, can I?”

It feels like the snowball is starting to roll in a direction it shouldn’t.