Chapter 137: The Children Hans Brought.

One day, with a sharp pain, the world I saw through my eyes changed.

I started to see things I couldn’t see before.

People no longer looked like people.

I don’t remember exactly what happened after that.

Whenever I tried to recall it, it only brought pain, so it became a shard of memory I erased.

But I felt like I said something I absolutely shouldn’t have.

After that, the home where I had always lived with my family turned into a place full of strangers.

“You are servants sent by God to serve us.”

There were many children in similar circumstances there.

“You must serve us.”

If we didn’t do as we were told, we were beaten, starved, and locked in cold, dark rooms.

We went through a process of painting over our memories and recollections.

But only I, who had these eyes, was different.

“That person. They’re lying.”

These eyes could see what others couldn’t.

To properly explain what I saw, I had to learn many things.

I learned many things that were never taught to the other children.

That’s why I couldn’t help but know.

I couldn’t help but realize where I was and what I was doing.

When I saw someone lying, I knew.

Because I was educated to know.

I could see that this place was filled only with brainwashed people and liars.

Whenever we moved, my eyes were always covered tightly with a blindfold.

The person who removed the blindfold always showed disgust.

As if they knew how they would appear in these eyes.

And more than anyone else.

“You… harbor wicked thoughts.”

“No! No!”

“How dare you speak lies here? I can see your soul with my eyes.”

“I was wrong. Please forgive me! Please…!”

“Take them away!”

“No!!!”

The one who treated these eyes as if they were their own.

“Don’t look at me with those hideous eyes!”

Slap!

There was no lie in the cult leader’s words.

He truly detested these eyes.

As if he knew that, in these eyes, he appeared in his most repulsive form.

The world was filled with sights I didn’t want to see.

The more I looked, the more it felt like my insides were being stained with ugliness.

So I killed myself.

If there was nothing left to break.

If there was nothing left to be stained.

Then there would be no more pain.

And then, one day.

“Come with me!”

The cult leader suddenly appeared and grabbed my wrist.

The surroundings were filled with a commotion unlike usual.

“Stop them!”

“We’re trying! They broke through!”

“How can you not stop an ordinary person when there are so many of God’s warriors here?”

“The Slime they possess is too strong!”

“How could I raise my forces only to have them unable to stop a single person armed with just a Slime!”

“Just being touched by the light emitted by their Slime makes the servants lose their minds!”

“What the…! At least buy some time!”

The cult leader ran, gripping my wrist.

“Damn it. How could I build up my empire just to lose it so pathetically! No, no. It’s fine. As long as I have this one, I can start over as many times as I need.”

Muttering in a voice tinged with madness, the cult leader ran.

But the escape didn’t last long.

I heard the cult leader lose his grip on my wrist and tumble to the ground.

Step, step.

The sound of shoes approached.

“Excuse me.”

Click.

The blindfold was removed.

Reflexively, I opened my eyes and looked at the person.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

These eyes couldn’t be blocked by mere eyelids, so I could see the person clearly.

The man’s color was similar to those who fanatically worshipped the cult leader.

But his color was far more vivid than the fanatics here.

The fanatics here looked as if their color had been painted over and over with watered-down paint, their forms blurred.

But this man’s color was terrifyingly deep and distinct.

“Is it more comfortable with the blindfold on?”

When I nodded, the man put the blindfold back on me.

‘This cult is finished.’

I didn’t feel much of anything.

After all, the children here had nowhere to go anyway.

Even if I ended up following that man, nothing would really change.

Only the clarity would be different; that man wasn’t much different from the fanatics here.

A few days later, we moved somewhere else.

There, light pierced through the blindfold.

“Shall we take off the blindfold?”

The blindfold was removed.

“Nice to meet you.”

There was a sun hidden behind dark clouds.

That sun pierced through the thick clouds and shone its warm light everywhere.

I see.

That person must have been captivated by this light.

“Your eyes look as if they hold the world. They’re so beautiful, I want to have them.”

There was no lie in those words.

***

“I want to increase the number of people with red hair in Slime Land. That way, the color combinations will be more harmonious.”

“Then how about this method?”

Hans Obeson is the kind of person who, even if I spout nonsense, will come up with a way to make it happen.

If I want something, he’ll do everything he can to make it real.

Would he go off track in the middle of a crucial journey traveling the world to secure the rights to the Undersea Dungeon beneath the open sea?

Impossible.

Bringing the children took priority over the Undersea Dungeon.

This wasn’t something Hans did on a whim.

Permission was certainly obtained midway.

However, the permission was granted after the deed was done, but Hans must have judged it necessary.

I sent clones to check on each of the children while conversing with Hans.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Thanks to the <Slime> Lime gave me, I returned safely.”

It was a solo trip overseas. Naturally, there would be various risks along the way.

Since he went as a special envoy of Slime Land, the other country would pay attention to Hans’s safety.

However, not all countries he visited for negotiations have good security, nor do they have strong government power.

There are also countries that view me with displeasure.

So, I paid considerable attention to Hans’s armament.

“I didn’t mean for you to film an action movie with that <Slime>.”

“I had no choice.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It was unexpected.”

What on earth happened?

“Were you really kidnapped? You didn’t get kidnapped on purpose, did you?”

“Of course not.”

Hans said with a peculiar smile.

I still can’t read his expression.

Truly, he’s someone I call an alien for being beyond my understanding.

Hans was kidnapped.

Not that these children kidnapped Hans, but Hans was kidnapped by these children.

But from what I see, it feels like he let himself be kidnapped on purpose.

To find out the location of the enemy’s base.

And to gain the upper hand in negotiations with the other country.

The special envoy was kidnapped in their own country.

Without even a chance to make up for that blunder, the kidnapped victim escaped on their own strength.

We were able to hold an overwhelming advantage in the negotiations.

“It was an unexpected event, but thanks to the <Slime> Lime gave me, I was safe.”

“Rather, the enemies weren’t safe. How on earth did you do it?”

The <Slime> I gave him are indeed powerful.

But they were fundamentally for defense.

They weren’t made with the mindset that attack is the best defense.

“I treated them with sincerity and love, and the <Slime> responded to that.”

As Hans said, <Slime> can show abilities beyond normal depending on their motivation.

But don’t use functions even the maker doesn’t know about, like releasing a limiter.

I didn’t put in such a function.

“I’m not pleased that you took such risks, but since the result is fine, I’ll praise you. Well done.”

“Thank you.”

“Choosing those children even if it meant giving up other rights was also well done.”

“It’s only natural to do so.”

The Demon King and the Four Heavenly Kings of Slime Land do their utmost to protect the dreams and hopes of children.

No one knows which child will grow up happily.

But there are children whose lives are almost certainly destined to be full of hardships.

Early Awakened.

Children who, at a young age, gained abilities far surpassing ordinary humans.

They face many difficulties as they grow up.

Even Yeonwoo, who plays Slime Ranger Pink, developed the habit of suppressing emotions at such a young age.

If her emotions grew strong, the wings of flame could cause a disaster, sweeping everything around her.

At one point, she was a child who avoided people to the extent of running away even from her own mother.

Even now, though much improved, she sometimes startles and checks if she’s properly wearing the <Phoenix Costume Slime> before feeling relieved.

Should I call it fortunate?

The number of Early Awakened is small.

Even if you search all of Korea, there are only a few.

But conversely, even in Korea, which doesn’t even make up 1% of the world’s population, a few can be found.

If you consider the entire world, it means there are at least dozens, if not hundreds.

How many of them could come to Slime Land?

Most of the children in Korea have passed through Slime Land.

For children with many risks like Yeonwoo, I made special <Slime>.

I advise them to live near Slime Land in case of emergencies.

For children whose abilities aren’t aggressive and don’t cause major issues, I consult with them periodically.

If an Early Awakened isn’t in Korea, the story gets complicated.

There are families who heard word of Slime Land and came to Korea from overseas.

But not everyone can do that.

Giving up their current livelihood to emigrate to a country with completely different language and culture is very difficult.

It’s not something to criticize for lacking courage.

If a family is considering emigrating, that’s still better.

Not all families overflow with love.

Watching people from Slime Land, I often see parents who find even ordinary children annoying.

Even though, compared to Early Awakened, it’s a difference of easy versus hard mode.

How many parents can pour affection into a child who could kill them just by getting annoyed?

There are countries in the world that urge parents to send their child for adoption for the child’s happiness.

There are quite a few rulings that strip parental rights from the parents of Early Awakened who caused accidents.

I can’t say it’s wrong.

There are plenty of anecdotes of entire families becoming miserable because of an Early Awakened.

Many Early Awakened are sent to special facilities operated by guilds or governments.

If an Early Awakened hones their ability well, they can become powerful Awakened.

They are personnel worth nurturing.

But even this is a case of things working out well.

There are also quite a few parents who sell their children.

Those children often end up under violent organizations or doomsday cults.

The children Hans brought were raised by a certain doomsday cult.

It was a depraved cult that even used curses during brainwashing.

Good thing it was destroyed.

Fortunately, after exposing them to the flame of the [Healing☆] skill combined with the [Purification+] skill, they showed signs of gradual improvement.

“That child is quite unique.”

The older they were, the deeper the curse and brainwashing.

Yet, there was one child, despite being older, who showed no trace of a curse.

“That child is the one the cult leader desperately wanted to take with him.”

“I see.”

Since they are unique in many ways, I decided to examine them closely with my main body.

Even when I got close to check, I couldn’t feel any trace of a curse.

Perhaps they have an ability that makes curses ineffective on them.

They’re wearing an eyepatch with quite advanced technology applied to it.

Could they be the owner of an ability related to their eyes?

There are various Awakened with diverse abilities in the world.

Just as Yeonwoo controls wings made of flame.

There are also Awakened with special eyes.

“Shall we take off the eyepatch?”

If there are injuries to the eyes, I can heal them.

If the problem is that the ability activates uncontrollably, I can create something far better than this inconvenient thing.

When I removed the eyepatch, there was an eye that looked as if a jewel had been embedded whole within it.

A pupil that seemed to see through all things gazed at me.

“Nice to meet you.”

As much as the child looked at me, I could see this child too.

Because of this eye, I could see the wounds accumulated in their chest.

“It’s like an eye that embraces the world. So beautiful that I want to possess it.”

“If you want it, I’ll give it to you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I don’t need eyes like these.”

This jewel-like eye isn’t bad.

Nor are you, who possesses this eye, bad.

It was merely the environment, full of anxiety and greed, that was bad.

I was about to say this, but the situation changed.

This child in front of me isn’t the only problem.

The other children also lacked autonomy.

The doomsday cult these children were trapped in had strange doctrines.

According to the cult leader’s claims, all Awakened in the world were beings sent down to serve the cult’s followers.

The followers had the right to freely control the Awakened as if they were their own hands and feet.

To people who harbored inferiority toward the Awakened, this doctrine must have sounded incredibly sweet.

After all, it claimed that Awakened with absurd abilities weren’t superior beings but existed to serve them.

These children had their minds modified to obey commands according to that doctrine.

Suddenly showering them with affection would only confuse them.

For a while, it might be more effective to act a bit forcefully.

I’ll put them in a strange state where following orders somehow fosters a sense of autonomy.

“Alright. From now on, this eye is mine. You will only look at what I tell you to see.”

I covered the child’s eye with a <Slime Eyepatch>.

“In return, until the day you say you don’t need me, I will take responsibility for your life.”

Because what you’ve seen and heard isn’t the entirety of the world.

It’s still too early to despair and give up on everything.

“Everyone, assemble! From now on, we set out to explore Water Land!”

Let’s see plenty of fun and beautiful things from now on.

Even if there are sad and distressing things, let’s create a pillar of support to endure them.

Is Slime Land, the land of dreams, tentacles, hope, and slime, supposed to be fun?