Chapter 73: Mother Growing Rapidly [Paid content begins here.

A friend that helps you get through hot days.

Snacks with more flavors than there are types of fruit in the world.

Coolness and sweetness are the basics, but there are also bitter, sour, and even spicy flavors.

Ice cream.

At an amusement park where you walk under the summer sun, ice cream is a must.

Slime Land is planning to focus more on indoor areas than outdoor ones, but still, what’s an amusement park without ice cream?

What kind of amusement park would it be if there weren’t kids walking around with an ice cream cone, holding a twirling, snowy-white ice cream in both hands?

Just as important as the ice cream is the cone.

Personally, I prefer sweet and nutty waffle cones over thin, crispy, and flavorless wafer cones.

I made waffle batter, poured it into a cone-shaped <Slime> with a lattice pattern, and baked it.

What flavors should I sell?

Vanilla and chocolate are basics, so of course they go on the menu. And of course, choco-vanilla, which is a mix of the two, must be on the menu too.

Should I keep a few basic flavors and have each shop offer slightly different menus?

Of course, it might be a bit inconvenient, but it’ll be fun to hunt around and try different ones.

I definitely have to include a random flavor.

For now, let’s start with classic vanilla ice cream.

I held the crispy baked waffle cone to the ice cream machine and pulled the lever. I pressed the white vanilla ice cream firmly into the cone. Twisting it gently as I piled it up, up, and up again-voila, a 50cm ice cream!

Soft serve stacked high on a cone is delicious, but there’s a drawback.

It melts.

Especially under the summer sun, it drips down and makes your hands all sticky.

There are three ways to prevent this.

1. Put the ice cream on a <Cone Slime>. The <Cone Slime> will use its [Convert] skill to absorb heat from the ice cream and let you enjoy it for a long time. But it’s hard to stop the top part from melting.

2. Stick a <Stick Slime> right through the ice cream. The <Stick Slime> will use its [Convert] skill from the center to absorb the heat, so you can enjoy it for a long time. And you can just eat the <Stick Slime> when you’re done.

But even this can’t completely stop the surface of the ice cream from melting.

The best is the last method.

3. Eat <Ice Cream Slime>.

<Ice Cream Slime>

-A cold and sweet slime. Say goodbye to worries about belly fat, stomachaches, and headaches~!

The headache that comes when you eat cold food too fast. Since it’s a <Slime>, you don’t have to worry about that. You can eat it all at once-though I can’t be responsible for the sadness of having nothing left to eat.

It’ll absorb the temperature in your intestines, so you won’t get indigestion or stomachaches.

Since I didn’t set the calories, you don’t have to worry about belly fat either.

It would be a tragedy to gain 2kg just from visiting the land of dreams and hope, Slime Land.

Even if you accidentally tip it to the side, you don’t have to worry about it falling to the ground. Kids and adults both make this mistake, so it’s actually pretty important. There’s no place in Slime Land for people who cry over dropped ice cream.

I personally prefer cones, but some people like to scoop ice cream out of a cup with a spoon.

This melts too, but the solution is the same.

Use a <Cup Slime> instead of a <Cone Slime>.

Just stick a <Stick Slime> into the tall ice cream.

And if you use a <Spoon Slime> as a bonus, maybe you can stop regular ice cream from melting on your spoon?

Or you can just eat <Ice Cream Slime>.

“This is pretty good too.”

I put regular ice cream in a <Cup Slime> and ate it with a <Spoon Slime>.

It doesn’t melt.

Even if the top melts a little, it refreezes on the <Spoon Slime>.

Instead of watery, changed-taste ice cream, you can always enjoy that first-scoop feeling.

To finish, I eat the <Spoon Slime> too. Ah, anyone can eat this, not just me. Should I make the flavor random, like <Pure Jelsl>?

Oh, right. I should make this too.

I filled a cup with <Ice Cream Slime> orbs of various colors.

I picked up a tiny orb with my fingers.

It’s cold, but it doesn’t melt in your hand.

Only when I tossed it in my mouth did it smoothly melt and spread inside.

I scooped up a big spoonful and put it in my mouth.

All sorts of fruity flavors dance together on my tongue.

Now this is real bead ice cream.

Should I make one with a texture between cotton candy and soft serve?

I gently tore off a fluffy, cotton candy-like <Ice Cream Slime> and put it in my mouth.

Cold, sweet, and it disappears in an instant.

The potential of <Ice Cream Slime> is limitless!

“But… can I even sell this?”

Ordinary people can’t sell this ice cream set.

<Cone Slime>, <Cup Slime>, <Stick Slime>, <Spoon Slime>, and <Ice Cream Slime>-they’re all <Slime>. They’re alchemy products.

Right now, I’m a B-rank Alchemist.

5% of my products have to go through a safety inspection.

There is a way to sell things without going through the Alchemy Center, but in that case, you need a separate safety inspection. Safety inspections at private institutions take a long time and are a huge hassle.

That’s because there’s no company in Korea that does safety inspections for alchemy products.

You’d have to send them overseas and get them sent back.

Considering all the problems that could happen in the process, it’s basically not an option.

No matter how much I dislike the Alchemy Center, if I’m going to do business in Korea, working with them is the right call.

There’s also the issue of taxes.

Even if it’s a hassle, I just have to send my products to the Alchemy Center.

Get the items back after they pass the safety inspection, then sell them.

But there’s another problem here.

Not just anyone can sell <Slime>.

If you sell <Slime> without an alchemist license, it’s illegal.

I wonder if Hans could solve this?

I haven’t asked, so I don’t know.

Still, I think it’s best if I handle it myself.

***

Let’s see… with this method, there won’t be any legal problems.

I figured out a loophole for selling alchemy products at Slime Land.

It’s mostly used for selling drinks.

In Japan, they put all sorts of things in them and sell them.

Now, the technology has advanced to the point where the machines even cook the food for you.

Vending machine.

If people without a license can’t sell alchemy products, then just make it so people don’t do the selling.

Items sold from a vending machine are considered sold by the vending machine’s owner.

<Vending Machine Slime>

-A slime that stores goods and cooks them up quick. Give it a try.

When it comes to food storage, my <Slime> can be incredibly effective.

If there are any germs on the surface of the food, the <Slime> will eat them all. Since no new germs will stick, you only have to worry about what’s inside the food.

That part is usually handled with normal food preservation methods. Just use the [Convert] skill to take away the heat, and it works like a refrigerator.

Thanks to researching <Space Expansion Bags>, I can now store even more with the [Store+] skill.

And since it keeps things for a long time, just fill it up once and it’ll last a while.

Honestly, I don’t have to worry too much about storage time. I’m only planning to install them inside Mother anyway.

I don’t need to hire anyone-Mother can just restock the items whenever.

The cooking function is more important than storage.

I ordered a hot bar following the instructions on the <Display Slime>.

With a ding, a piping hot hot bar was ready.

Is food you heat up in the microwave too easy?

Let’s raise the difficulty a bit. Next up is ramen.

With a ding, a steaming bowl of ramen was ready.

Is food where you just add water too easy as well?

Let’s raise the difficulty even higher.

Next is ice cream.

I ordered ice cream.

A waffle cone came out from inside the vending machine, and an ice cream dispenser descended from above, pressing the ice cream firmly into the cone.

Well, that’s simple.

There’s already an automated machine for this.

But this alone feels lacking.

Can you make a parfait?

Various ingredients were layered inside a large cup, and it was finished off with a cookie stuck on top.

Is this not that hard either?

Alright, from here on, it’s high-difficulty mode.

Frying.

Not just reheating in the microwave-can you actually fry something?

Following the instructions on the <Display Slime>, I ordered a corn dog, added sugar, and waited for a bit.

Ding.

The entrance opened, and a crispy fried hot dog came out in the <Container Slime>. I pressed the ketchup button to squirt ketchup on top, then added mustard.

Crunchy.

Mmm. Not bad.

Since it was just fried, it’s hot and crispy.

Now, the highest difficulty.

Cotton candy.

Just rolling it up into a ball isn’t enough.

Can you make fluffy character-shaped cotton candy?

The front of the vending machine opened, a metal drum popped out, and slime arms extended from both sides.

It totally looks like one of those toy monkeys that play the drums.

The inside of the drum heated up, and a whirlwind started spinning sugar threads inside.

Like a dragon rising from a stream, the slime arms grabbed the soaring threads of sugar with Stick Slime and shaped them.

Cotton candy complete.

It’s questionable whether you can even call this a vending machine, but a vending machine is a vending machine.

I put a pass necklace on the <Vending Machine Slime>.

With this, I don’t need a food vendor anymore!

Wait. Why stop at food vendor?

There’s no rule that says vending machines can only sell food.

They sell cigarettes, albums, umbrellas, even SIM cards.

There’s no reason you can’t sell other things.

I made various <Vending Machine Slimes>.

If I play my cards right, I could make a 100% unmanned store.

“But can Mother really handle it?”

Even if the <Vending Machine Slimes> act autonomously, restocking is entirely up to Mother.

When it comes to cooking, the <Vending Machine Slimes> only handle the final step-the prep work is all on Mother.

If all the items for sale were just <Slimes>, it would reduce Mother’s workload.

But since she would have to produce the Slimes, that would create a different kind of burden for Mother.

I should think a bit about the ratio between manufactured goods and <Slimes>.

Before that, I need to run a workload test.

I straightened my clothes neatly and picked up a pile of <Glutton Slimes>.

Instead of taking public transportation, I walked to the waste processing facility where Mother was.

“Huh?”

The smell around the waste processing facility was different.

Last time I came, the air was so dead it triggered an instinctive sense of rejection.

But now, it smells like snow-covered earth.

As I walked, I absentmindedly stopped in my tracks.

I could see it even from a spot quite far from the waste processing facility.

Mana flowing in from all directions was colliding and surging upward.

“I found it!”

Ah, that’s not it.

What do you say when a well or an oil spring bursts?

Anyway, amazing!

I ran to the waste processing facility and hugged Mother tightly.

“Great job!”

Mana is gushing out.

This isn’t dead land anymore.

I can build Slime Land here without a care!

“Mother. Want to eat this?”

First, I fed Mother a whole bunch of <Glutton Slimes> I’d brought.

And then.

“Absorb the mana in the air too.”

I’ve poured a lot of mana in so far, so can I collect a little interest now?

Mana supplied to the ground, the <Glutton Slimes> I brought, the mana overflowing in the air, and the leftover trash.

All of these combined, and Mother began to grow exponentially.

As expected, size is king. She was already huge, but growing by multiplication makes the growth speed terrifying.

“Let’s stop here for now.”

At this size, how many vending machines can she operate?

Following the blueprints I provided, vending machines began sprouting from Mother’s body.

Fast.

Isn’t her production speed faster than mine?

“Isn’t this a bit much?”

At my words, all the vending machines started running at once. They made food, absorbed it again, and made it again.

“No problem at all.”

Mother handed me a <Slime Ice Cream> with her tentacle. It was a whopping 60cm-long <Slime Ice Cream>.

Delicious.

“Mother, you’re amazing. I think you can control even more than I can.”

As I looked at the <Vending Machine Slimes> sprouting from Mother’s body, I spotted a vending machine that seemed different.

“That vending machine looks weird.”

That <Vending Machine Slime> began to move.

Its movements were even smoother than the ones I designed.

“Oh… you improved it.”

She can control more than I can. She can even design them.

When it comes to cleaning up trash and producing <Slimes>, Mother is still ahead thanks to her size.

The bigger Mother’s body gets, the wider the gap will become.

“At this rate, won’t you end up doing my job better than me? Mother, you might be able to handle everything I do.”

There’s no way Mother could ever completely replace me.

…Right?

A world where I’m not needed…

Right?