Chapter 157: Slime Planet interior.

The existence of a platform leading to the inside of Road was revealed.

It wasn’t something that had been hidden with great effort in the first place.

After going through all the trouble to build it, there was no reason to keep guests from entering.

Quite a few people are disappointed that the interior isn’t as shocking as Slime Land or the exterior of Slime Planet.

But once they get started, most people end up having fun.

Well, there are still people who end up disappointed.

It’s inevitable, since it’s impossible to satisfy everyone in the world.

Once Satellite Slime starts selling in earnest and Space Train Slime starts running in earnest, things will change, so look forward to that moment, okay?

***

Mint Choco freshman and Lemon freshman, who started getting along after witnessing each other bring Random Jelly Slime (Mild Flavor) to the college entrance exam site.

They visited Slime Planet.

It wasn’t their first visit.

They had come as soon as it opened on Independence Day.

They had enjoyed Earth’s beautiful scenery, the mysterious starlight from endlessly far away, and surprisingly tasty star-shaped cookies before leaving.

Still, they had an excuse back then.

Midterms were still far away.

Having two or three weeks left felt like plenty of time.

But this time, there was little room for excuses.

The first exam was coming up next week.

“Did you prep for midterms?”

“It’s fine. The me on the day before the exam will figure it out somehow.”

“You too?”

“Yeah. Me too.”

“Is it really okay for us to be like this?”

“It’s fine. Everyone else is the same anyway.”

They weren’t the only ones here. There were plenty of other people who looked about their age. Considering Korea’s college enrollment rate, they were probably college students too.

Korean universities are generally graded on a curve.

If everyone fails together, your grades are preserved.

If the average academic ability of Korean college students drops, it’ll definitely be Alchemy Slime’s fault.

Alchemy Slime is to blame.

To think the secret platform leading to the interior of Slime Planet was discovered a week before exams.

If only it had stayed hidden for two and a half more weeks, they could have enjoyed it in peace after exams.

Because it was found a week before exams, they had to enjoy it with a nervous mindset, ignoring reality.

For the two of them, going back to study for exams was not an option.

They believed in their future selves.

Even if their pre-midterm selves fell short, it was fine. They could just leave it to their pre-finals selves.

Finals are weighted more heavily anyway.

And for first-year college students, there’s a powerful weapon.

There’s also the card called retaking the class.

Just work hard during vacation or after sophomore year.

After rationalizing everything, the two wandered around inside Space Entrance Station.

The secret platform didn’t have a fixed location.

If the location were fixed, a long line would have formed in front of it.

It wouldn’t be fun, and the thrill of finding the entrance would be diminished.

With an exploration course designer who’s clearly obsessed with exploration, there’s no way they would’ve left it boring like that.

“Doesn’t that look suspicious?”

There’s a big difference between knowing something is there and not knowing.

If you observe carefully, there are always hints.

The purpose of the maze isn’t to exclude guests, but to gift them the sense of accomplishment of uncovering a secret on their own.

Things they used to pass by without noticing now seemed to have meaning.

“Looks like a star?”

“Wait a sec. I’ll pull up the map.”

They took out the station map and marked where they’d found the star.

After wandering around a bit more, they discovered another similar star.

As they kept finding stars one by one, an outline began to emerge.

“Looks like a constellation?”

Using their smartphone, they immediately looked up the constellation.

It was the Big Dipper.

And when you think of the Big Dipper, you think of Polaris.

“Could this be the entrance?”

Lemon freshman pointed to a spot on the map.

“Maybe.”

Their guess was correct. Following the map to the spot where Polaris was, they found a wall with a small hidden star.

When they placed their hand at the end, their body slipped smoothly inside.

“Huh?”

What awaited them beyond the wall was a train.

“Should we get on?”

“Yeah.”

In this world, there are people like green frogs who never take the prepared path when they see one.

And there are gamer-types who only move to the next area after searching every inch of their surroundings.

Lemon freshman and Mint Choco freshman weren’t that picky.

As soon as the two boarded the train, it set off with a horn.

The scenery from inside the train was ordinary.

There wasn’t much difference from Slime Land.

It was a space with the atmosphere of a sports field, with various sports facilities gathered together.

“It’s a little boring.”

“Maybe it’s meant to keep us from being too disappointed later?”

The bracelets they could use in Slime Land worked here too.

Most of the places they could go to were sports facilities.

Even so, the two didn’t let go of their anticipation completely.

They believed there was a definite difference between this place and Slime Land.

“Basketball?”

“I’m in.”

They decided to try out basketball first, since they were familiar with it.

The basketball court was no different from the one on the ground in Slime Land.

Only one thing was different.

The gravity.

“Pfft! Can’t even dribble?”

“Why don’t you try then!”

Lemon freshman tossed the ball to Mint Choco freshman.

Mint Choco freshman, feeling confident, tried to dribble.

The ball soared high into the sky.

“Huh? Huh??”

“Noob, total noob.”

The gravity was weak.

That one fact alone turned basketball into a completely different sport.

If you tried to dribble softly, the ball would fall slowly.

If you tried to dribble quickly and lost control, the basketball would shoot up into the sky.

If you tried to act on muscle memory, everything turned into a mess.

The two of them, realizing they wouldn’t get used to it in a short time, changed their approach.

“Uwaaah!”

“Where are you going! Kukukuk.”

Mint Choco freshman, who tried to leap in from outside the three-point line and dunk, overshot the hoop entirely.

“Shoot!”

“Where are you aiming!”

Lemon freshman shot from the center line, and the ball flew far, far away.

After trying out various pranks, the two even played a one-on-one match.

It became more like a mix of handball and rugby than basketball, but they kept playing with laughter.

Even though it was a mess, the rule that the one who scored more goals won still applied.

There was a winner and a loser.

“Yes!”

The winner was Mint Choco freshman.

“Agh… I’m not losing next time.”

“Can’t really hear the loser’s voice.”

“Best four out of seven.”

“So we just need to play three more games.”

“You’re so full of it.”

The two left the basketball court to enjoy another sport.

“Crazy, crazy, uwaaah!”

“Scared?”

“Shut up!”

They rode bikes off ramps, competing to see who could fly farther.

“Is this real-life Jump King?”

“Yeonseul is definitely crazy.”

They raced to climb the tower by jumping toward high and distant platforms.

“A snail would be faster than you!”

“If I catch you, you’re dead!”

Using a city made of Slime as the backdrop, they played tag, kicking off walls and running across rooftops.

“Huff, huff. You’re not bad?”

“Huff, huff. You too.”

Before they knew it, their record was tied at three to three, with one last match left.

The event they chose was soccer.

It was supposed to be soccer.

“What is this? This is hilarious.”

“Kukukuk. My thoughts exactly.”

There was no way it could be a proper game.

With weak gravity, it was hard to control the ball even when holding it.

And now you want us to dribble with our feet, not our hands?

Usually, just a light tap would send the ball flying way up high.

Their bodies would float up high along with it.

“Let’s use what Yeonseul prepared.”

“Guess we have to.”

The once-wide soccer field shrank drastically.

The walls closed in, and the ceiling got lower.

When you kicked the ball, it would bounce off the walls and ceiling.

“Urgh! Ow!”

Sometimes the ball would bounce off the back of your head and go into your own goal.

“Are you an idiot?”

“You think you’re any different?”

“I… urk!”

“Puhaha!”

Sometimes the ball would bounce right into your face.

Or a powerful shot would end up in your own goal.

The game became more like air hockey than soccer.

Still, there was a winner in the end.

This time, Lemon freshman came out as the final winner.

“Best of nine, five wins.”

“Can’t really hear the loser’s voice.”

“Best of nine, five wins.”

Mint Choco freshman struggled, but Lemon just shook his head.

“Too tired, can’t do it.”

And then he just flopped down.

“Weakling.”

Mint Choco freshman, who said that, also flopped down.

The cold floor quickly absorbed their body heat.

“How long has it been since we played like this?”

“Agreed. That was fun.”

Contrary to first impressions, Slime Planet was a blast.

“The environment is totally broken.”

Just being in space completely changed the way normal sports worked.

“Skill is what lets you take advantage of that. Yeonseul probably could’ve done more but held back on purpose.”

“Maybe so.”

Mint Choco freshman sat up and asked.

“Should we come again tomorrow?”

There were still lots of sports they hadn’t tried yet.

“What about midterms?”

“My future self will figure it out somehow.”

***

As always, people started using the Origin Verification Slime for other purposes.

-I could never tell what was fresh produce, but thanks to the Origin Verification Slime, it’s easy now.

└I didn’t want to get scolded by my wife, so I spent ten minutes just picking pumpkins, but now I’m free thanks to the Origin Verification Slime.

└Origin Verification Slime is seriously so convenient.

People used it to check freshness when picking vegetables or fruit.

[How to put liquid into the Origin Verification Slime.]

(Video).

-Just pour your drink into a bottle and put it in the Origin Verification Slime.

└Yeah. It’s great as a thermos.

└Works well as a lunchbox too.

-Still, it’s pretty fun.

Some used it as a substitute for insulated bags.

[Product: Human.

Origin: Mom’s belly.

Freshness: Top grade.

See more.

-Is this real?

└It’s fake. You can’t use it on humans. And even if you could, there’s no way it would say the origin is mom’s belly.

It even became a gag material.

Some people used it in such gentle ways.

But the fire started by the Origin Verification Slime was still burning bright.

Instead of dying down, the flames only grew bigger.

Even the health supplement market started to catch fire.

With human abilities alone, it’s hard to figure out what’s actually in health supplements.

Some contain just a few types of ingredients, others claim to have dozens-how is anyone supposed to tell the difference?

Humans can see effects just by believing plain water is medicine. Distinguishing by personal experience rather than scientific methods is basically impossible.

That means there’s plenty of room for tricks.

The test certificates proudly posted on product pages are often years old. There’s no guarantee the product you’re buying now is the same as the one that was tested.

Even if the manufacturing process changed along the way, it’s hard to know.

And if you complain that the product info doesn’t match the page, they often just claim it hasn’t been updated.

Sellers who advertised using natural ingredients but didn’t actually follow through.

The Origin Verification Slime struck them down.

They bragged about using plant-based or animal-based capsules, but failed to keep those promises all the time.

They claimed certain ingredients were included, but often they weren’t.

Some said they used domestic medicinal herbs, but actually used imported ones.

But this wasn’t a problem limited to Korean products.

Even among imported products, some were found to be little more than scams.

The flames spread overseas.

Unlike Korea, not everyone overseas was armed with the Origin Verification Slime, and not every product was being tested.

Once Slime crosses the border, its price multiplies several times over.

Unlike in Korea, not everyone can get their hands on the Origin Verification Slime.

And even if you do, you’d be reluctant to use it carelessly.

So companies became the main targets.

Companies all over the world found themselves on trial.

Many ended up on the chopping block.

Numerous companies were expected to go bankrupt under fines and compensations on a completely different scale from Korea.

But the flames didn’t stop there.

—

[This is the brand new way to spot knockoffs.]

[Product: Alligator belly leather.

Origin: Cambodia.

Freshness: Lowest grade.

See more.]

If a product claims to use natural leather but is actually a knockoff made from synthetic leather, you can spot it right away.

And if it’s a brand that sells alligator leather products, they should be able to tell you right away where the leather is sourced.

-You just have to give this a thumbs up.

└Agreed.

—

There were people now using the Origin Verification Slime to check the provenance of luxury goods.

Not just bags, but also watch straps and clothes were being checked.

And leather isn’t only used for clothing.

The flames spread to the furniture industry.

[Selling fake leather sofas, huh.]

[What is this trash?]

[If your sofa seems weird, try putting the Origin Verification Slime on it.]

Furniture sold with fake leather was caught immediately by the Origin Verification Slime.

[Didn’t you say it was cypress?]

After leather, now wood was being exposed.

The furniture industry, which had been watching from the sidelines, was suddenly in crisis.

-Why don’t they show the origin of plastic?

└What would you even do with the origin of petroleum?

Inorganic substances are included in the ingredient list, but their origin isn’t displayed.

If even inorganics had their origins revealed, the fire would have gotten even bigger.

It started as a bit of petty venting, but the whole thing grew out of control.

Well, all the corruption that had piled up just happened to explode all at once.

Things are chaotic now, but before long, it’ll settle down.

When the old, rotten trees burn to ashes.

The trees that were hidden in their shadow will finally get sunlight and grow, feeding on the ashes.

And if there’s a bonus-

-You can’t trust anything but Slime.

As trust in other products plummeted, trust in Slime soared.

The value of Slime shot up even more.

This in turn led to a rise in the value of Satellite Slime (Large).

“Good work.”

“Thanks to the fire Lime started, it ended easier than I expected.”

The Satellite Slime (Large) was finally sold.

At a price that made Hans’s smile deepen just a bit more.