Chapter 83: Motion Sickness

A woman visited her boyfriend’s house.

If the other person indulges in your hobbies, you should also indulge in theirs.

That was the secret to maintaining a long relationship.

Since her boyfriend had indulged in her hobbies, the woman also tried to indulge in his.

But there was a problem-her boyfriend’s hobby was gaming.

And she suffered from 3D motion sickness.

However, this didn’t apply to all games, which made it hard to explain.

Some games looked very dizzying but didn’t affect her at all.

Others didn’t seem like they should cause dizziness, yet they made her sick.

It felt like a game of chance.

Since there was no consistency, she worried it might seem like she was faking it, making it awkward to mention.

It was even harder to bring up because her boyfriend was considerate enough to pick games she might enjoy.

So, on days she promised to game with her boyfriend, she would take motion sickness pills a few hours before going over.

But today, she realized only after arriving at his house that she had forgotten to take her motion sickness pills.

She was already inside his house.

It was too late to go out and buy pills now, and even if she took them, it would take time for the effect to kick in.

Hoping today’s game wouldn’t make her sick, she sat down.

“Let’s play this again today. What do you think?”

The game her boyfriend pulled out was one where the red-hatted plumber and his friends raced in karts. They had played it together before, and last time there was no issue. But since she had taken motion sickness pills back then, she wasn’t sure if it would be fine this time.

“And, ta-da.”

The woman felt a slight irritation rising at the snack her boyfriend had prepared.

There are two kinds of people in this world.

Those who eat <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime> as kernels, the <Popcorn Slime> people.

And those who heat <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime> in the microwave to eat it in cotton candy form, the <Cotton Candy Slime> people.

Her boyfriend was mostly fine… but not entirely, and one of his drawbacks was that he liked <Popcorn Slime>.

<Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime> is a <Slime> designed to be heated in the microwave and eaten as <Cotton Candy Slime>. Eating it as intended by the creator is the best way to enjoy it, but her boyfriend didn’t understand that.

Even though it was an act that betrayed the heart of Alchemy Slime, her boyfriend just chewed on the kernels and said things like, ‘<Popcorn Slime> is tasty.’

But since they had a rule to eat <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime> according to the preference of the person who got it, she couldn’t say anything.

Without touching the <Popcorn Slime>, she played the game for 30 minutes.

Her head started to ache, and her stomach began to churn.

If she kept playing like this, it would only get worse and become unbearable.

There was no way it would get better.

At that moment, she considered just admitting she felt sick and quitting.

The character she was controlling fell off the course.

“Ah, you fell off again. Are you going to come in last again?”

Her boyfriend teased her from the side.

Her irritation surged.

‘I’m suffering from motion sickness right now!’

It was her fault for not mentioning her motion sickness, but that didn’t matter right now.

The woman popped some <Popcorn Slime> into her mouth.

Sometimes chewing on something sweet could ease motion sickness.

“Are you okay?”

She wasn’t okay. Still, chewing on something did help settle her stomach a little.

As more time passed,

Both the headache and nausea disappeared.

Once the motion sickness was gone, her focus returned.

She hadn’t forgotten the mockery her boyfriend had just thrown at her.

Holding the shell, she relentlessly chased after her boyfriend’s character.

Even when she had a chance to overtake, she didn’t, and kept tailing him.

“Huh? Wait, no way? No way?”

And just before reaching the huge jump course, she pressed the launch button hard.

“Ah! Minhee! This isn’t fair!”

The character her boyfriend was controlling got hit by the shell and plummeted downward.

His rank dropped all the way to last place, while she proudly took first.

“Did your skills suddenly improve a lot? Did you practice at home or something?”

Could it be that she had developed an interest in gaming?

Her boyfriend asked her with a glimmer of hope.

After a moment of thought, she decided to be honest.

“Honey, I actually suffer from severe 3D motion sickness.”

“Huh? Really? Even while playing this game?”

“Yeah.”

“I had no idea. I’m sorry.”

“No, you’ve indulged in my hobbies too, so…”

“I didn’t want you to force yourself to join me while struggling.”

The couple exchanged sweet words for a while.

“Did eating <Popcorn Slime> help you feel better?”

“Yeah, eating <Cotton Candy Slime> made me feel better.”

“Maybe it’s because you ate the hard <Popcorn Slime> that you got better?”

“I think if I had eaten <Cotton Candy Slime>, it would’ve been absorbed faster and I’d have felt better sooner.”

They glared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“Honey, isn’t Alchemy Slime amazing? It’s even conquered motion sickness now.”

“Seriously. Why would they hide such an effect?”

“Maybe for the fun of discovering it? You know, if you watch SLimelove’s Mukbang, she seems to have a pretty playful personality.”

“Haha, maybe. Oh, right, should we post about this? Lunar New Year is coming up soon. More people should know that <Popcorn Slime> is effective against motion sickness, right?”

“Yeah, we should let people know that <Cotton Candy Slime> is effective against motion sickness.”

They each posted on the bulletin board and left reviews on the Alchemy Shop.

“Oh, by the way.”

Then, as if something had just occurred to her, the woman tapped her boyfriend on the back.

“Hey, honey.”

“What?”

And she gripped tightly.

“You called me Minhee again, didn’t you?”

***

<Slime> hides its power.

If it’s a <Slime> I’ve created, they all go through this process at least once.

Even if the duration varies, they hide their power before revealing it.

<Mosquito Hell Slime> hid its cockroach-killing ability before revealing it.

<Pillow Slime> hid its cleaning ability before revealing it.

<Laxative Slime> hid its oral disease treatment ability before revealing it.

Oh, is the last one the opposite?

The next protagonist of this series is none other than <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime>!

I thought <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime> only caused disputes on the level of pouring sauce vs dipping sauce, but it turns out it has a purpose.

[Lunar New Year Holiday. Make Sure to Bring This.]

[No More Motion Sickness Worries with This?]

[Good news for those who wanted to play games but gave up due to severe 3D motion sickness.]

Namely, motion sickness treatment!

What kind of principle allows it to treat motion sickness?

Does it somehow soothe a confused brain?

If you ask why <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime> of all things has this effect.

Is it because this <Slime> was made with amusement parks in mind?

You can get motion sickness when riding amusement rides.

My subconscious, which saw this as a problem, might have influenced the design of <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime>.

Motion sickness is extremely common, and since people don’t go to the hospital for it, it’s easy to ignore.

But when you experience it yourself, few ailments are as distressing.

Soon, it will be Lunar New Year.

The holiday is approaching when people spend long hours in cars.

Since looking at a smartphone in a car makes motion sickness more likely, the demand for motion sickness medicine will greatly increase.

Even outside of Lunar New Year, there are plenty of activities like 3D movies or games that cause motion sickness, so I should increase the production volume of <Popcorn Cotton Candy Slime>.

On top of that, we’ll need to actively sell it at Slime Land.

The amusement ride proposed by Lee Doa seems highly likely to cause motion sickness.

Today is another meeting day.

What kind of amusement ride idea will they bring this time?

Still, since I gave them an assignment last time, even Lee Doa might bring something with a mild flavor, right?

At the appointed time, I logged into the online meeting room.

“Hello, everyone.”

“Hello!”

“Hello there!”

“May I start first?”

“Sure.”

The presentation content Lee Doa showed was quite different from my expectations.

“Didn’t I ask you to come up with an amusement ride that people of all ages and genders could enjoy?”

“I prepared that separately.”

What on earth, Lee Doa.

Not liking the assignment I gave, she prepared something spicy on her own terms.

That spiciness made Uh Byungwook jump in surprise.

“What happens if it suddenly separates in the middle!”

“If it’s President Lime, she can definitely make it so no problems occur.”

The video Lee Doa prepared today was shocking as well.

The boat swings back and forth like a pendulum, then spins 360 degrees.

Up to this point, it’s not much different from common amusement rides.

If it gradually slowed down and stopped like this.

The amusement ride Lee Doa came up with was different.

At the moment when sufficient acceleration was achieved.

The line connecting the boat and the axis detached, and the boat flew into the air. It soared and then landed on the water.

“If it’s a boat, it should move on water, right?”

Lee Doa prepared a Viking ride that gets thrown because she found it frustrating for a boat to just swing back and forth in one place.

“A cruise ship is enough for that! Why throw a Viking ride?”

“Because you can’t see it anywhere else.”

The proposals she brings are only possible under the assumption that I’m the one making them.

In reality, experts would be constrained by common sense and couldn’t come up with such imaginative creations.

Lee Doa is realizing the reason I first hired her.

But at a glance, even I feel like I might not be able to make it.

She brings ideas that require me to factor in the ability I’ve been hiding.

How does she know about my ability?

Does she have some kind of scouter that can see stats?

“What do you think, President Lime?”

Lee Doa looked at me with eyes full of expectation.

“The boat flying high and then coming down. Or bouncing like a skipping stone. Which do you think is better?”

“President Lime?!”

“I think it’s good to build them side by side and change how they move each time so no one knows what to expect.”

“That sounds good too.”

“Boss! It’s too much of a waste of space! The waiting time will be longer too!”

“Make the waterway pentagonal and deploy 20 boats. Boarding and disembarking can happen at the center of the waterway, and after the previous boat flies off, connect the next one to the ride. By adjusting the intensity based on which vertex of the pentagon it is, we can satisfy various customer groups.”

“Operating just 5 Viking rides with 20 boats? That’s too many! Also, if the entrance and exit are far apart, it will cause confusion! The number of lost children could increase dramatically!”

“If the issue is that the entrance and exit are different, we can put the people who get off the boat on a train and send them back to the original place.”

“No, that’s…. Huh? A sudden thought just came to me. While the ride is operating, load people onto a train outside. If we operate by swapping the trains, we can drastically reduce the time it takes to board and disembark, right?”

That’s a bonus point. It’s good to not just oppose but to develop the other person’s idea.

“Let’s move on to checking the assignments. This time, Uh Byungwook, you go first.”

“I came up with two ideas. The first is role distribution. The second is using the difference in perception based on differences in knowledge.”

First, role distribution is structured so that passengers take on different roles based on their age-.

“Next, using the difference in perception based on differences in knowledge- for example, a scene where a flashy mushroom is given might seem ordinary to a child, but to someone with the knowledge that flashy mushrooms are often poisonous-.”

As Uh Byungwook finished speaking, Lee Doa showed a drawing she had been working on.

“Since children and adults have different eye levels, how about designing it so it looks different depending on the viewing angle?”

Lee Doa showed a drawing that looks like it’s smiling when viewed from below, but looks angry when viewed from above.

“Also, we could design it so different things are visible depending on the position.”

This time, she showed a drawing whose impression completely changes depending on whether the bottom part is covered or not.

Uh Byungwook added to Lee Doa’s opinion.

Lee Doa built on Uh Byungwook’s opinion.

Good.

It’s starting to look like a proper meeting.

Lee Doa focuses on the ideal I desire, ‘an amusement park only possible at Slime Land.’

Uh Byungwook focuses on the theme I envisioned, ‘a place where people of all ages and genders can come and enjoy together.’

Each of them prioritizes these two aspects.

Noticing and working on their own without being told.

Aren’t our staff members incredibly competent?

If things continue like this, I can leave the amusement rides of Slime Land to these two.

Indeed, work should be delegated to staff, and the boss should relax.

More precisely, delegate the work that can be delegated to staff, and the boss should do what only the boss can do.

For example, making Slime Rangers gear?

***

Seo Gisu, a member of Peace Guild, stared intently at the item handed to him by a promotion team staff member.

“What is this?”

“It’s called <Wig Slime>.”

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“It has a function that scatters sparkling light. We think this feature will highlight Seo Gisu’s sanctity and be very helpful from a marketing perspective.”

“I predict that it will damage my image if people misunderstand and think I’m wearing a wig.”

“It’s fine. Right now in Korea, it’s very popular even among ordinary people. It’s also arrived in America, and celebrities are actively posting photos of themselves wearing it on SNS. If Seo Gisu posts a photo scattering light, it will solidify your fan base even more.”

Seo Gisu was very displeased with the fact that he had to do such clownish things.

But due to the contract, he couldn’t avoid it.

Back when he had nothing, to join Peace Guild, he had to sell the few advantages he had, and appearance was one of them.

Also, the videos and photos taken with the promotion team staff’s ideas received positive feedback from his mother, which greatly helped in reassuring her when she was worried.

“Al.right.I.get.it.”

Gisu reluctantly took and wore the <Wig Slime>.

“It suits you well!”

In Gisu’s chest, the flames of hatred toward monsters burn endlessly.

The thought of wearing a <Slime> that resembles a monster on his head filled him with immense disgust.

Absentmindedly, a golden flame rose from his body.

When that flame touched the <Wig Slime>.

The <Wig Slime> lost its vigor and fell to the floor.

“Huh? Why is it acting like this?”

“I cannot use low-quality alchemy products.”

“Ah, right. That’s a shame. I didn’t think the <Wig Slime> was a low-quality alchemy product, though….”

The promotion team staff member laughed and made a joke.

“Is it because it resembles a monster that it doesn’t suit Seo Gisu?”

Gisu looked at the <Wig Slime> fallen on the floor with an expression devoid of laughter.