Chapter 108: The use of <Slime> may be restricted.

The courier, having confirmed the usefulness of the <Tunnel Slime>, immediately came to a conclusion.

‘Are you stupid?’

Giving away such a useful means of transportation for free is absurdly foolish.

I always thought <Slime> was way too cheap for its function, but this <Tunnel Slime> is just ridiculous.

No matter how you look at it, the Alchemy Slime is definitely an idiot.

It’s only natural to take advantage of a fool.

You never know when they’ll realize their mistake and revoke the free use of <Tunnel Slime>, so I had to act immediately.

The courier instantly accepted a delivery request through the smartphone app and set off with his electric scooter.

And then he entered the <Tunnel Slime>.

[<Tunnel Slime> may only be used for personal purposes and cannot be used for commercial purposes. If you wish to use it commercially, please contact AlchemySlime Company separately.]

A message appeared that he had never seen before.

More precisely, it was a sentence he’d previously skimmed over, now appearing before him in a clear form.

[Violation of this may result in restrictions on the use of <Slime>.]

The courier didn’t think much of it.

‘How would they know if I’m on a delivery or just carrying my scooter?’

Then another notification popped up.

[We limit baggage weight to 10kg, excluding essential equipment like wheelchairs or strollers. If you wish to expand this limit, please contact AlchemySlime Company.]

The courier looked at the electric scooter in his hand.

It weighed over 20kg.

[You have exceeded the current personal baggage limit of 10kg.]

[Returning to the location you entered from.]

The courier was sent back to the spot where the <Tunnel Slime> was located.

“There was never any mention of this!”

The courier was angry, but the <Tunnel Slime> refused him entry.

“Damn it.”

If you accept a delivery request and just cancel, you have to pay a penalty.

The courier parked the electric scooter somewhere appropriate and took off his bag.

The item for this delivery wasn’t that heavy.

It could easily be delivered on foot.

‘Next time, I’ll bring a lighter bicycle.’

When the courier entered the <Tunnel Slime> again,

The same warning message popped up as before.

[<Tunnel Slime> may only be used for personal purposes-]

[Violation of this may result in restrictions on the use of <Slime>.]

The courier arrived at his intended <Tunnel Slime> without any issues.

He put the delivery item in his bag and re-entered the <Tunnel Slime>.

[-the use of <Slime> may be restricted.]

The courier ignored it.

‘How could they possibly know whether I’m moving my own stuff or doing a delivery?’

In the end, the courier completed a delivery that should have required a motorcycle without using a single drop of fuel.

‘This is actually pretty good.’

The only downside was the 10kg weight limit preventing him from using the electric scooter.

Still, he could use a bicycle.

If you subtract the weight of the bike, you can deliver items under 5kg.

Anything heavier than that, just don’t accept the request.

‘If I do this right, I could probably do three or more deliveries an hour?’

The number of deliveries I can do increases, and I don’t have to worry about motorcycle maintenance or even fuel costs.

Dreaming of massive profits, the courier grinned and accepted the next request.

He immediately touched the <Tunnel Slime>.

This time, too, he entered the <Tunnel Slime> without any issues.

‘See? The Alchemy Slime really is an idiot. If he used this for the delivery business, he’d make a fortune.’

Just then, an alarm appeared before the courier.

[A violation of the terms has been detected.]

[The use of <Slime> is restricted for the next 24 hours.]

[The use of <Tunnel Slime> is restricted for the next 30 days.]

“What?”

A merciless acceleration seized the courier’s body.

Moving at a terrifying speed, the courier shot past Slime Land and arrived at the <Tunnel Slime> he had first entered.

He was unceremoniously spat out of the <Tunnel Slime>-it was as if you could hear a ‘ptooey’ sound.

The trouble didn’t end there.

The <Pack Slime> stuck to his face dropped off.

The <Insole Slime D> he’d put in his shoes lost its springiness.

The surrounding temperature passed right through the <Raincoat Slime>.

The <Boot Slime> and <Glove Slime> went limp and fell to the floor.

“What is this?”

The courier picked up the <Pack Slime> from the floor. But having lost its stickiness, it wouldn’t adhere to his body.

‘So this is what it means for <Slime> usage to be restricted?’

Every <Slime> he’d been using lost its power.

‘Are you kidding me? By what right are they stopping me from using the <Slime> I bought?’

The courier immediately called AlchemySlime Company.

“Hey! You bastards!”

The call was abruptly disconnected.

The enraged courier called again, but couldn’t get through; the call tone just kept ringing.

The courier then called the Alchemy Center.

He was told that cursing could result in criminal charges, and the call was cut off.

“These bastards, seriously….”

The courier kicked the <Slime> lying on the floor and furiously posted on the bulletin board.

—

[Proof that the Alchemy Slime is monitoring everyone with <Slime>.]

Got my <Slime> usage restricted in Slime Land for violating the terms.

Because of that, I can’t use any of the <Slimes> I bought in the past either.

If they’re not monitoring with <Slime>, how could this happen?

-Yeah~. There’s a bug in your ear.

-Explain in detail.

└Every <Slime> I had on me turned into trash.

└That’s actually scary.

└Can’t use <Slime> for the rest of my life now? My life is ruined.

“Take this seriously!”

The angry courier uploaded verification photos.

-Wow, it’s real.

-What kind of crap do you have to pull to get your <Slime> usage restricted?

└I did one delivery and got instantly banned for violating the terms. Does this make sense?

└Never been banned for violating a game’s terms of service?

For someone posting this kind of thing, you actually live pretty honestly.

└How is that the same as this!

└It is the same. What’s the difference?

There was definitely something different, but he couldn’t quite put it into words.

└Game items, strictly speaking, belong to the game company, but the slime is your property, so it’s different?

└Exactly!

└If your usage was only restricted, the ownership of that <Slime> is still yours, so there’s no problem.

└How does it make sense to sell something you can’t use!

└Under the alchemy law, it says that the effects of alchemy products may vary by individual, and that this cannot be used as grounds for refunds, exchanges, or compensation.

└But I could use it before, and now I can’t!

└If you say you developed a temporary or permanent inability to use <Slime> as a side effect after passing through Slime Land, that’s the end of it.

└If there are side effects, someone should be responsible!

└Slime Land is an alchemy testing ground. Just entering can cause side effects, and the Alchemy Slime Company has it written in the pledge that they take no responsibility for those side effects. If you used <Terminal Slime>, you signed that pledge, right?

└How is that legal!

└Slime Land is governed by special law, so there’s no problem.

—

The post uploaded by the courier received many ‘likes’ and spread widely.

W-tubers who saw the news uploaded videos, spreading it to even more people.

[If you commit a crime in Slime Land, you lose access to <Slime>?]

[The final fate of someone who tried to make money with <Terminal Slime>.]

[Use <Terminal Slime> only for personal purposes. You could lose your slime rights.]

Delivery agencies who were scheming to make money with <Terminal Slime> immediately scrapped their plans.

***

Thud thud.

Squish squish.

“Hmm… Not bad.”

The operation of Slime Land was finally getting on track, and I no longer needed to watch over it constantly.

So I left Slime Land and started cleaning up the aftermath of <Terminal Slime>.

Around the time the world was abuzz with talk that the World Alchemy Organization would give me a Grade A license if I dealt with ten Dead Lands.

I had secretly made a contract with the Korean government and the Alchemy Center.

Instead of aiming for Grade A, I agreed to receive the underground rights beneath Seoul.

Back then, the scope of the rights was limited to Seoul, and there were depth restrictions too.

But after I was recognized for producing <Aroma Slime (Sacred Wood)> and became a Grade A Alchemist, the situation changed.

Since I became a Grade A Alchemist without aiming for it, I didn’t violate the contract. I could still keep the underground rights beneath Seoul.

On the other hand, the Korean government and the Alchemy Center were about to lose everything they had been aiming for.

It’s different now that I’m S-rank, but back then, as a Grade A Alchemist, I couldn’t leave the country.

There was no way to pass the identity check at the airport.

Like it or not, I had to stay in Korea and keep working as an Alchemist. It would have been foolish to make enemies of the Korean government and the Alchemy Center.

So I sent Hans to negotiate a new contract.

I agreed to postpone billing for the cost of materials used in making alchemy products.

I took responsibility for the stock of imported safety inspection reagents.

When dealing with foreign governments, I would include the Korean government and the Alchemy Center as middlemen.

In return, I obtained the underground rights to public land throughout Korea.

Of course, the underground beneath land I own is mine.

Since I got the rights, I dug the passageways as planned.

To gain infinite mass and energy, I also opened a waterway to the sea.

I designated a place for garbage collection vehicles to dump trash.

I also made <Terminal Slime>.

When news of <Terminal Slime> reached the government, they sent someone over.

They asked how I planned to operate <Terminal Slime>.

When I said I planned to provide it for free, they freaked out.

They said everyone in the transportation industry would go bankrupt.

Since they weren’t wrong, I entered negotiations.

We agreed to vary the usage fee depending on the quality of service.

Basic service is free up to the bedroom communities around Seoul.

If you go further, the types of service are divided.

You can think of it like a computer’s VPN (Virtual Private Network).

For free users, it’s normal to limit the number of uses, the amount of data you can send, and the speed, right?

I plan to use the same method.

There’s a speed limit on movement.

Like when you board a plane, there’s a limit on the luggage you can carry.

If you exceed a certain number of uses per day, you’ll get a warning.

If you pay for everything, you can expand the limits.

In a way, it’s discrimination against people coming to Slime Land from far away.

But it can’t be helped.

Instead, I plan to give strong discounts to people coming to Slime Land for fun.

If someone uses that benefit just for transportation and not to visit Slime Land?

I always have the powerful card of restricting <Slime> use.

There’s a reason I made Slime Land a transfer point.

<Terminal Slime> is shaped like a tree root. It’s connected to the central Mother, but the roots themselves aren’t connected to each other.

If I had planned to make <Terminal Slime> a complete means of transportation, I wouldn’t have designed it this way.

I’d have woven the underground passages like a spider web so you could instantly move from terminal to terminal.

To use <Terminal Slime>, you must sign the pledge and enter Slime Land, where I have overwhelming privileges.

Once you come in, I can play all sorts of tricks on you.

The land of dreams, tentacles, hope, and slime-Slime Land.

Many people take this phrase lightly.

But it’s best to think of Slime Land, governed by special law, as a different country from Korea.

I did manage to reduce the impact on the transportation industry, but it’s still far from perfect.

The logistics industry shouldn’t be too affected if they just raise delivery fees.

The real problem is public transportation and taxis.

There’s no way to stop passengers from decreasing due to <Terminal Slime>.

The transportation and railway corporations, already struggling with deficits, will be crying out.

The bus and taxi unions will also be in an uproar.

So I decided to help reduce deficits for companies that put up their shares.

Even if income drops, if expenses drop even more, there will be a net profit.

I didn’t take enough shares to threaten management rights.

I only secured enough to inspect the accounting books and call shareholder meetings.

That’s enough to blow things up if I discover any corruption.

I am an S-rank Alchemist.

The credibility of my words pierces the sky.

After preparing those safeguards, I started working on deficit improvement.

I’m an Alchemist. I don’t know anything about business improvement.

So I coated the vehicles with <Slime>.

This is exactly what I’m doing now.

I’m painting <Slime> along the underground tracks.

There’s a game where you paint the ground as you play, and this is pretty similar, so it’s actually quite fun.

I coated the train wheels and tracks with <Slime>.

This drastically reduces vibration and noise, and increases energy efficiency.

I also coated the chassis with <Slime> and used the [Convert+] skill to turn air resistance into power.

I put <Slime> in various parts to act as lubricant. Parts wear down less, so repair costs go down, and less friction means even better energy efficiency.

I also coated the wires with <Slime> to reduce electricity loss.

The air circulation system in the underground passageways was improved as well.

I left the buses for Root to handle.

If you drive a bus into the <Slime> coating garage I made, the modifications are done in no time.

By coating with slime, I lowered the overall operating and repair costs and reduced vibration for better convenience. Especially the engine. With overheating prevented and smooth oxygen supply, the efficiency is on a whole different level.

If they still complain about deficits after all this, I’ll send Hans to tear through their accounting books.

That wraps up the subway and bus side of things.

Taxis are a bit trickier.

There are a lot of private taxis, after all.

Taxis have the convenience of <Tunnel Slimes>, something buses and subways can’t provide.

They can come right to your front door, so you don’t have to walk to a station, and you can load up lots of luggage.

Also, if more people start using <Tunnel Slimes> to get around, traffic volume will decrease.

That means road conditions will improve, and taxis will be able to move more smoothly.

If transportation becomes easier, those with more financial breathing room might use taxis even more.

If that happens, fares and service quality will have to go up.

Taxis that only raise fares but keep their service quality the same might not survive.

To reduce the confusion of that transition period, I decided to get directly involved.

I set up a corporation and acquired taxi companies.

The taxis used by this company will be coated with slime.

Their maintenance costs will be incomparably lower than regular taxis.

The ride comfort will be on another level, too.

The door to Slime Taxi is always open.

Whether you used to drive a private taxi or worked for another company, you can join the taxi company I founded.

Will you quietly join me?

Or will you compete against me?

The choice is yours.

What you choose is up to each person.

Still, I hope many will come.

“Done.”

The track work is finished.

The areas where <Tunnel Slimes> haven’t broken through yet can be handled later.

Anyway, I wonder what will happen going forward.

This is the first time I’ve expanded my business so aggressively.

I’ve shown what kind of changes I can make to vehicles when I get involved.

And you can probably guess what would happen if I got involved in other fields, not just vehicles.

The versatility of <Slime> that surpasses existing technology can no longer be dismissed as something that only works inside Slime Land.

But it can’t be helped.

This is something that must be done for everyone.

If I want to give people dreams and hope.

First, people need to be able to come to Slime Land easily.