Chapter 71: Analyze

Even if the parasitic monster managed to keep its body in decent shape, Red has lived for 13 years as a mana generator.

Both mentally and physically, Red was in need of recuperation.

The other three weren’t in great shape either.

Since I was in a pretty good mood, I gave the Hunter Rangers a ton of <Slimes> as a bonus before I left.

[Analyze+] skill.

This thing is the real deal.

I have a total of eleven skills.

[Decompose+], [Absorb], [Analyze+], [Divide], [Control+], [Transform], [Store+], [Convert], [Multiply], [Accelerate], [Link].

So what’s the real point of having the [Analyze] skill?

All it does is show information about items and skills.

Or maybe, when I create a new <Slime>, it adds a witty little message.

Since its role isn’t very clear, you might think that’s all it does, but in truth, the [Analyze] skill is the core of the <Slime> manufacturing process.

It extracts information from all kinds of monster materials, artifacts, and artificial objects I absorb.

It interprets abilities and functions.

Then it reconstructs them so I can apply them to my <Slimes>.

That’s what the [Analyze] skill does.

You could say it’s a skill for creating blueprints.

Only by following these blueprints can my <Slimes> reproduce all sorts of abilities and techniques.

Several changes happened when the [Analyze] skill evolved into [Analyze+].

The ability to write blueprints improved, and now I can cram even more functions into my <Slimes>.

Instead of adding new functions, I can improve efficiency, or design them to be easier to produce, increasing production volume.

Now I can extract abilities from monster materials that I never even knew existed, or make <Slimes> with abilities I couldn’t recreate before.

Up to this point, these were changes I could have predicted.

The innovation I didn’t see coming was this.

Thanks to the [Analyze+] skill, the <Slimes> got smarter.

<Slimes> were once all part of me. Even if they broke off from my body, they still carry my skills inside them. I can adjust the level of each skill assigned to a <Slime>, but I can’t remove a skill entirely.

Since I can’t take away the [Analyze+] skill, it’s inevitable that my <Slimes> will get smarter.

Who knows what they’ll get up to from now on.

“No, that’s not it.”

Maybe they’ll become even more well-behaved?

People who think a lot tend to hesitate to act, after all.

I can think about changes in regular <Slimes> after they actually happen.

The ones most affected by the [Analyze+] skill are Gongdori, Gongsooni, and Mother.

Special <Special Slimes> that split off from me through [Special Divide].

These kids only have skill levels, not trait levels. No matter how much they level up, they can’t gain new skills or split into new slimes with [Special Divide].

But they can be upgraded.

Using a method based on the [Analyze] skill, if they eat a <Slime> containing my information, they naturally acquire the skills I have.

If this weren’t possible, the original Gongdori that split off early on would’ve had to make do with just seven skills: [Decompose], [Absorb], [Analyze], [Divide], [Control], [Transform], and [Store]. If you keep eating and making the same things, growth would stall due to the experience point system slowing you down.

Since upgrades are possible, Gongdori is still growing strong even now.

Gongdori’s current level is…

Before I knew it, the average skill level passed 50? Even though it’s not exactly an environment suited for leveling up, since they’re always eating the same things and making the same stuff.

My level is still only 38.

I haven’t even hit 40 yet.

Well, my level resets periodically anyway. Can’t be helped.

If regular <Slimes> have the intelligence of insects, then Gongdori, Gongsooni, and Mother have the intelligence of small mammals.

Even with just the [Analyze] skill, they were already that smart.

Upgraded with [Analyze+], just how capable will they become?

Gongdori and Gongsooni probably won’t change much.

The two of them are just repeating tasks they’ve already mastered.

Sure, improvements in blueprints and process optimization will boost production ability, but the results won’t change. After all, they’re already working at a relaxed pace.

Why?

I have no intention of letting the world know our full capabilities.

I might let them ramp up a little, but that happens from time to time anyway.

Unless the kids suddenly start demanding slime rights, rest breaks, and time off, there won’t be any visible changes.

Mother’s situation is different from those two.

Unlike Gongdori and Gongsooni, who work in manufacturing, Mother is the core of Slime Land.

In other words, she’s the main computer overseeing Slime Land.

Naturally, the CPU’s performance makes a huge difference.

Plus, the intelligence boost in the other <Slimes> has a big impact.

The Slime Land I want to build isn’t just a single slime.

I plan to attach all sorts of <Slimes> to the now-massive Mother, creating a colony.

The attached <Slimes> will move as autonomously as possible.

If that doesn’t work, Mother will control them using the [Link] and [Control+] skills.

But there are limits to this method.

Slime Land will cover an area of 300,000 pyeong. Just how many facilities will there be on such a vast plot? Even if <Slimes> can move autonomously, Mother has to manage everything alone.

Just think of it like an online game.

The more computers that log in, the heavier the load on the server.

On the other hand, if each computer handles as much calculation as possible, the server’s burden is reduced.

And if the server’s burden goes down?

It can provide service to even more computers.

In other words.

Most of what happens in Slime Land can be left to Mother and the <Slimes>.

That means we won’t have to hire as many people!

Isn’t that just great.

Oh, but I have no plans to implement the <<Mascot Dolls That Watch>> project.

That’s a no-go.

***

I’m behind on my assignments.

I finished the game Makina assigned as homework, but only saw the bad ending.

If I stop there, Makina will scold me.

Even if I can’t see the true ending, I should at least get the good ending.

And there’s another overdue assignment.

The chairman of the world’s largest alchemy company, Sole Alchemy.

One of the few S-rank Alchemists in the world.

Ash, with whom I exchange alchemy products as a mix of provocation and play.

It’s been quite a while since the package that human sent arrived.

I’ve been ignoring it because I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.

“Ha….”

If I don’t reply for this long, he’ll think I couldn’t solve it and that’s why I haven’t answered.

It’s not that I couldn’t solve it, I just didn’t look at it!

But if I say that, it’ll just sound like a lame excuse.

If he sent something too hard like last time, or too easy like the time before, I’d have an excuse.

Let’s see….

It’s a puzzle in a concrete form.

There’s a keyhole, and if you stick an item in there, it gets forcibly stored.

To solve this puzzle, I have to figure out the structure of the keyhole and make a key that resists the forced storage function by matching its shape.

Even figuring out the keyhole’s structure is pretty tricky.

If I didn’t have the [Analyze+] skill, this would’ve been a pain.

Click.

As I turned the key, the first layer opened like a flower bud blooming.

Inside, an even more difficult keyhole was waiting.

This is pretty tough.

Still, no problem.

Click.

Another flower bud opened.

Hm… Oh? This one looks like a trap.

But I’m curious, so press.

The moment I poked in the slime.

A fanfare sounded, and the flower bud snapped shut in an instant.

Even the structure of the original keyhole changed.

“Hahaha!”

Yeah. This is what I was hoping for.

You’ve learned at least a little about how to get along with others.

To be honest, I thought you wouldn’t be able to do it.

I mean, the guy’s at the top of the world, right?

Why would he need to learn how to get along with others?

Click, click, click, click, click.

The fully bloomed flower was complete.

Is this thing in the middle perfume? It doesn’t feel like Ash’s style.

Since I got a beautiful flower, I should give something back.

I immediately started making a reply.

Mixing in mischief, traps, and a little meanness… complete!

I wrapped the gift to send to Ash and turned on the computer.

Next up is Makina’s assignment.

***

[Makina: Submit your assignment.

Me: You’re really strict.

Makina: Did you get the good ending?

Me: Are you a ghost?]

The good ending achievement popped up, but I didn’t get the true ending achievement.

[Makina: Thoughts?

Me: The protagonist seems like an idiot.

Makina: lol.

Me: What does that laugh mean?

Makina: hahaha.

Me: Excuse me?

Makina: Why did you think the protagonist was an idiot?

Me: When the side character was in danger.

Me: It was obvious you should have left them.

Me: Why go out of your way to save them?

Me: Sure, it ended up being a big help to the protagonist.

Me: But what were the odds of that?

Makina: You don’t like that kind of development?

Me: No.

Me: I don’t dislike it.

Me: I actually met some wonderful idiots recently.

Me: Three who poured thirteen years into a single promise.

Me: And one who waited thirteen years for that promise.

Makina: Details.

Me: You know the Hunter Rangers, right?

Makina: Just explain everything.

Me: Got it.

–

Me: Sorry. Time to get to work.

Makina: K.

Makina: Next time.

Me: Yeah.

Me: Next time.]

I set down my smartphone and glanced through the report that had come in.

There’s a summary Hans submitted, but I should check the original too.

The excitement I’d felt talking with Makina faded.

Still, I have to do the meeting.

Not that there’s much to discuss.

I haven’t told the two new hires about the plan to build Slime Land.

What are the two of them doing right now?

A writing contest.

Well, since the topic is always <Slime>, maybe it doesn’t really count as a writing contest.

It’s exactly the same as during their job application test.

I just toss out <Slime> as the theme and leave the rest entirely up to them.

I don’t even tell them what the actual job is.

I don’t tell them what kind of results their submissions will lead to, either.

If a regular company did this, people would probably quit from the anxiety.

Well, if they quit, they quit.

As the video meeting started, I swallowed a sigh that rose up on its own.

Hans, wearing a purple <Wig Slime> and squinting under a <Pack Slime>. Still suspicious as ever.

New hire number one, the traitor, eyes wide as if he might shoot a slime-killing beam from them.

New hire number two, the malicious commenter, looking as pale as if he’d been up all night writing hate comments before coming to work.

I debated who to give number one to between the traitor and the malicious commenter, but decided to give it to the traitor.

The hate comments have probably already been written, but the betrayal hasn’t happened yet.

“Hello, everyone. How have you been?”

I half-listened to their responses.

“I’ve seen your submissions.”

Number one’s eyes sparkled.

No matter how formal a report is, traces of a person always show through.

When you give someone only the theme <Slime> with no format or restrictions, their thoughts show through even more.

The submission from number one is all over the place.

One day, it’s a depiction of a future society overtaken by slimes twenty years from now.

Another day, it’s a thesis-like paper on the theme of <Slime>.

Another day, dozens of <Towel Slimes> with dotted pixel animations made using <Coloring Play Slime (for Slime)>.

Another day, a poem on the theme of <Slime>.

And one day, nothing was submitted at all.

What kind of person does all this?

Even now, I don’t understand what they want to do, so I don’t really have anything to say.

“You’re all doing well.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Number two’s writing is mostly about the slime utilization industry. Cosmetic bottles for <Pack Slime>, water tanks for <Humidifier Slime>, hydroponics kits using <Humidifier Slime>, and so on.

I’m guessing they used to work in product development before.

They definitely have a lot of ideas.

Still, I wonder if my company really needs to go this far.

So I don’t particularly have anything to say.

“Is there anything you’d like to say?”

Number one shot their hand up.

“Can I send you today’s work?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Hans, who received the email, suddenly opened his eyes slightly.

Hans forwarded the work he received to me.

I opened the email.

There was a picture of an amusement park made of slime.

Slowly, I turned only the eyes inside the mask to look at Hans.

Since my eyes were hidden by the Slime mask, he probably couldn’t tell where I was looking, but maybe he sensed I was glaring at him, because Hans shook his head.

You didn’t tell him?

If Hans didn’t say anything, then how did number one know about this?