Chapter 176: Good work.

“Get in, you damn thing!”

Even after being absorbed by me, the golden flames that were rampaging and burning me were pushed into the place where anger is with the [Barrier☆] skill.

‘Kill the monster.’

‘Take revenge.’

‘Kill the monster.’

‘Burn it.’

‘Kill the monster.’

‘Crush it.’

Ah, really, it’s doubly noisy! Shut up! Do you think I have time to listen to that crap when my friend is dying right now!

While fighting, it seemed that the skill level was high and regeneration was excellent, but there’s no way it can survive after the source of life has been pulled out.

As the temperature in this basement is low, it might hold on longer, but the fact that dragging time is bad for Gisu doesn’t change.

First, I isolated Gisu with the [Barrier☆] skill and slowed down the internal time with the [Spacetime★] skill.

Then, I used the [Analyze+] skill on the crushed and absorbed source of life.

I analyzed it as quickly as possible by mobilizing the [Spacetime★] skill.

“It’s done.”

I started creating a new source of life to replace the one I crushed.

Based on the blueprints I had made earlier, I restructured it by adding the information I just obtained from running the [Analyze+] skill.

Since it’s very precious, I made it with care.

There’s something I have to do before putting this into Gisu’s chest.

Because what I’ve made now could negatively affect Gisu.

‘Kill the monster.’

‘Smash everything!’

Ignoring the still chattering voices, I moved my hands.

[You can select a skill.

1. General Skill: Revenge Lv. 1.

2. Special Skill: Special Divide.]

[Will you really acquire the Special Divide skill?]

[The skill will be used immediately upon acquisition.]

[Once the skill is used, it cannot be canceled.]

The curse of anger and the golden flames intertwined and writhed.

It struggled as if it absolutely could not be driven out like this.

The more it did, the more damage it inflicted on each other.

I became free.

[Yes.]

The curse and flames were forced together by the [Special Divide] skill.

“Spit.”

From my mouth, a lump that was wildly wriggling with the golden flames and curse mixed together spewed out.

[You have overcome the final despair.]

[The suppressed nature is activated.]

[Congratulations.]

“Status window.”

[Trait: Slime☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ Lv. 1.

+Courage +Temperance +Faith +Diligence +Respect +Humility +Forgiveness

Skills:

Decompose+ Lv. 1. Absorb+ Lv. 1.

Analyze+ Lv. 1. Divide+ Lv. 1.

Transform+ Lv. 1. Convert+ Lv. 1.

Multiply+ Lv. 1. Link+ Lv. 1.

Harden+ Lv. 1. Purification+ Lv. 1.

Healing☆ Lv. 1. Evangelize+ Lv. 1.

Barrier☆ Lv. 1. Pressure+ Lv. 1.

Spacetime★ Lv. 1 Crush+ Lv. 1.

Regenerated+ Lv. 1.]

One. Two. Three.

I waited a precious 3 seconds.

First option on hold.

Second option confirmed.

At that moment, my body suddenly started wriggling on its own.

“Stay crushed! How dare you, a curse that couldn’t do anything because you lost, try to attack me? Take this!”

The wriggling body crumpled up wrinkled.

I contemplated my body, which was completely under my will.

With seven stars and completely free from the curse’s influence, the quality as a material is better than when it was at 6-star level 80.

The only thing left is whether I can make a complex <Slime> with the lowered skill levels.

I can do it sufficiently.

First option discarded.

Second option proceed.

I made a new source of life to put in Gisu’s chest according to the blueprint I just made.

I stabbed it into Gisu’s chest.

I absorbed all the blood that had flowed out, purified it inside me, and put it back in.

After connecting the blood vessels and nerves, I coated them with <Slime>.

I did everything I could.

The rest is for Gisu to revive on his own.

“…Is it over?”

Thump thump.

As the new source of life pulsated, Gisu’s skills exerted their effect, and the wounds began to heal.

I wonder how his skills are raised that as a human, his regeneration is as fast as a slime’s.

What the hell are you doing in the dungeon?

After checking Gisu’s breathing and complexion, I sighed in relief.

“Ha….”

It’s over.

All sorts of things are over.

I extracted that damn blessing from Gisu’s body.

I also spat out all the damn curses from my body.

What was dwelling in Gisu’s body was indeed a blessing.

It’s more vicious than most curses, but it’s classified as a blessing.

From humanity’s perspective, the power that burns monsters, enemies of humanity, is a blessing.

Just as curses are made by accumulated human hearts.

Blessings are created in the same way.

What altered Gisu’s heart was a flame born from the desire for all monsters in the world to disappear.

That blessing had to be removed.

Otherwise, the annoying voice saying ‘Kill the monster.’ which is more irritating than a double play of mosquitoes buzzing and bees humming, wouldn’t have disappeared.

The erosion was also continuing.

All plans are for the child who sees through everything.

Veronica observed Gisu’s body and then it started.

That child told me about Gisu’s condition.

From that story, I felt the need to pull out the source of the golden flames from Gisu’s body.

If not now, there would be no opportunity.

I didn’t know how I would change after spitting out the last curse.

It probably would be okay though.

It was the task of replacing the source of life.

Even a small possibility couldn’t just be overlooked.

But going to Gisu.

“Hey, bro. There’s a problem with your source of life. I’ll pull it out and replace it with <Slime>.”

If I said that, a sword coated in flames would fly at me first.

Even by human common sense, it’s nonsense.

And that damn blessing wouldn’t stay quiet anyway.

So, I decided to suppress Gisu and forcibly extract it.

First, I created a space where victory was guaranteed.

Gisu’s flames are only effective against monsters, not ordinary materials.

I set up a basement filled with tools to suppress Gisu.

Once I lured Gisu into this basement, my victory was assured.

It wasn’t that hard to get him to come.

Well, this time, I didn’t even need to use it.

How can I fight Gisu?

I didn’t think about that much.

It was simple; I just had to reveal that I’m a monster.

But suddenly calling him.

“Hey! I became a monster! Come kill me!”

That would look weird, right?

Fortunately, something appropriate got caught in the surveillance net.

Ribbon cult.

I had been thinking it was time to clean them up, and I caught them moving.

I knew the Ribbon cult was trying to perform some ritual using <Slime>.

They’re borrowing money from Slime Savings Bank to do things with my <Slime>, as if I wouldn’t know.

And in Chile, where <Tunnel Slime> is everywhere.

But I left it alone.

I was confident that Gisu would handle whatever was summoned anyway.

Even if Gisu didn’t arrive on time, it was fine.

Trying to descend something onto <Slime> with [Purification+] and [Barrier☆] skills lurking?

The moment it got caught in my detection net, I was sure I could eliminate it.

Since it’s summoned in a place full of <Tunnel Slime>, there’s no risk of escaping the detection net.

I left it alone to let Gisu notice my identity and uproot the Ribbon cult in the process.

The day before the ritual. We reported the Ribbon cult’s ritual to the Peace Guild.

Gisu arrived at the ritual site at just the right time and subjugated what had descended on <Slime>.

He noticed my identity and came looking for me.

Everything happened according to my plan.

Seeing Gisu coming to kill me, I got angry.

I couldn’t help it.

Anger is a fiery emotion that surges all at once once it exceeds the ignition point.

Especially since the power of anger had grown strong, seeing Gisu trying to kill me in that state.

It was hard to hold back.

Still, I had some sanity left.

Enough to have a normal conversation with Hans and Veronica.

Enough to talk before fighting Gisu.

Though during the fight, I might have said something a bit over the line.

As a human myself, I had expectations for Gisu.

Just as I overcame the curse, maybe Gisu could overcome that damn blessing.

Maybe without fighting, he could suppress it well and give me a chance to extract and exchange it.

I had those expectations.

But this blockhead couldn’t, and we ended up fighting.

Still, Gisu ultimately overcame that damn blessing.

He overcame it and gathered the flames into the core of his chest.

If Gisu hadn’t gathered the flames into one place instead of just withdrawing them.

I would have had to do the troublesome and dangerous task of removing the flames spread throughout his entire body.

Because he gathered the flames in one spot, I could extract it neatly.

So, let’s forgive him.

I did hit him with a pretty harsh blow harder than a punch to the solar plexus.

And the status window says I regained my sense of forgiveness.

Actually, there might have been a more peaceful way besides fighting Gisu.

It seems my thinking was biased towards fighting Gisu directly due to the influence of anger.

Thinking that I’ve overcome the curse to this extent isn’t too bad, right?

Finally, I spat out the last curse, anger.

With this, the curses are over.

I recovered my suppressed temper.

I approached the fragment still wriggling, mixed with gold and black.

I need to clean this up.

This deed is finally coming to an end.

<Fragment of the Curse and Source of Blessing>

– A part of the curse forged from deep resentment.

Your most beloved one will struggle in the Swamp of Despair and meet their end by your hand!

– A blessing forged from deep resentment.

Kill the monster. Kill the monster.

Kill the monster. Kill the monster.

Kill the monster. Kill the monster.

“Ha ha. Too bad. The one who met their end is you. And don’t forge blessings from resentment.”

Forging a blessing from resentment. Seeing this, human emotions are truly amazing.

“I wonder if I can burn this?”

When I burned it with [Purification+] skill, black smoke rose up like last time.

But this time, the smoke was mixed with gold.

See, I told you it’s more like a curse than a blessing.

“Oh, where do you think you’re going?”

I grabbed the escaping gold with [Barrier☆] skill.

I was enveloped in smoke mixed with black and gold.

I saw illusions that fully explained what the lich did, but since I’d already figured that out, it wasn’t interesting.

I could glimpse the lives of those who hate monsters.

I could also see a bit of Gisu’s life.

This guy has been through a lot.

I could tell the impact my words and actions had on him, which made me a bit itchy.

I learned why I became ‘your most beloved one’ to Gisu.

But you’re coming to kill someone like that, you blockhead.

I almost hit him once but held back.

As I was about to throw Gisu into a sleeping bag, a voice echoed in my head.

‘Kill the monster…’

“Oh? Is the new host me?”

‘Kill the monster…’

Well, it’s better than it going to someone else in the form of [Hero Selection].

After being pulled from my body and burned by [Purification☆] skill, it seems weakened and can’t exert proper power.

Creating numerous clones and placing them in various locations to observe and interact with people.

That’s what I usually do.

Even if one weak voice is added to it, there’s no significant difference.

“Follow me. I’ll show you that there are much better ways to make people happy than killing monsters. So that you can become a bit more like a blessing after seeing that.”

‘….’

The blessing became quiet.

Anyway, it’s alone as a blessing, I wonder if it’s not being ostracized by the remnants of other curses.

Moreover, there’s a fragment of the evil god inside me.

And the [Purification+] skill is roaming around as a disaster.

Buffs like [+Courage] are going around suppressing things with opposite properties.

Now that I think about it, my inside is complete chaos itself.

“Are you really okay with making me your host?”

‘…….’

“Cheer up?”

‘…….’

The things to do here are roughly finished.

I put on the slime mask and became a penguin slime again.

Have I been in this form for too long?

This form is more mentally comfortable.

My appearance is the same as ever.

I am still a slime.

Whether this is good or bad is ambiguous…

If you think about it, it’s natural.

The reason I changed like this isn’t just because of the curse.

The biggest influence was the fragment of the evil god.

On top of that, I awakened while changing.

In other words, the curse, the evil god’s fragment, and even the status window influenced me becoming a slime.

If it’s this tangled, I should give up on untangling it.

Changing is easy, but reverting is hard.

This truth applies here as well.

This is also as I expected.

I prepared a heart for Gisu in advance just in case, but I predicted that the possibility of me remaining as a slime is greater.

Let’s think positively.

The heart I made before spitting out the curse might have the curse and the negative effects of the golden flames left in it. It probably won’t be a big problem, but Gisu’s body isn’t normal either. If I can be careful, I should be.

Since the slime body is still maintained, I can make a better heart for my friend.

Let’s think that way.

And now that the curse is gone, the status window can freely give me skills.

When I level up and get a new skill, it might give me something like [Transformation] skill.

Something that doesn’t require eating people.

The remaining fragment of the evil god inside me isn’t a problem either.

It’s just a weak thing that couldn’t do anything because it was suppressed by the curse I completely overcame.

I have the [Barrier☆] skill, so there’s no way I could lose.

As I was about to put Gisu in the sleeping bag and carry him out, Gisu’s eyelids trembled.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah….”

Gisu raised his upper body and pressed his chest.

“Oh, there was a problem with your heart, so I replaced it with one made of <Slime>.”

Gisu looked at me with the eyes of someone looking at a madman.

Even now it’s like that, if I had said it earlier, he obviously wouldn’t have listened.

As expected, forgiveness is easier than permission.

“Your heart. It was completely corrupted, so it became like this.”

I created a model of what I pulled out from Gisu’s body and showed it to him.

“With something like that in your chest, are you even human? If I have to classify, I’d think you’re a kind of golem monster. And it was getting worse. With that, you still tried to kill me calling me a monster.”

Without giving him time to respond, I gave Gisu a thumbs up.

“But don’t worry! I safely turned you back into a human. Although the heart is <Slime>!”

Gisu looked at his own hands and tried something, but nothing happened.

“Is it liberated?”

“Yeah. Is it quiet?”

“Yeah…. It’s quiet.”

“Take a nap.”

I made a sleeping bag out of slime and threw Gisu into it.

“This, isn’t this part of your body?”

“Roughly?”

“It’s horrifying,”

“So what are you going to do? From now on, your heart is <Slime>. You were so stubborn about not wanting to use <Slime>, but now you have to use it for the rest of your life. Serves you right.”

Gisu ignored my words and closed his eyes.

Is it because the voice urging to kill monsters is gone?

He fell asleep with a peaceful face.

“Sleep well. You’ve worked hard for a long time.”