Chapter 85: [Harden] Skill

Greetings.

Nineteen years since the first shovel broke ground. Fourteen years since completion.

The guardian spirit of the house, who hasn’t even been one year on the job yet.

Emergency Rations.

How could a house be named Emergency Rations?

Emergency Rations will never forget this grudge.

It will never be forgotten.

Why would I forget a grudge against an owner who doesn’t even give me popcorn and cola?

Normally, all I do is grumble about turning on the TV, demanding popcorn and cola, saying there’s a great tradition called gosurae in Korea, and sweep up dust from the floor.

What else can I do?

The house’s spirit is different from an evil spirit or a holy spirit.

Evil spirits torment their owners with hauntings and nightmares.

Holy spirits comfort their owners with hauntings and auspicious dreams.

The house’s spirit protects and tidies the house.

I would like to work too.

But there’s nothing to do.

There are plenty of people around the house keeping a close watch on the owner, but there are so many that they’re all too busy keeping each other in check. The neighborhood is noisy, but the house itself is as calm as the eye of a typhoon. So there’s not much to protect.

Since the owner is a Slime, there’s no trash to clean up even if I wanted to tidy the house. There are quite a few pieces of furniture and devices made with <Slime>, so dust doesn’t pile up much either. There’s not much to tidy.

So, normally, there’s nothing to do.

But today, I actually handled a pretty big job.

I cleaned up traces of fire play.

Playing with fire in the house, really.

Of course, it had to be the owner’s friend-no sense at all.

And it wasn’t even ordinary fire, but a flame deadly to both the owner and monsters.

Of course, it had no effect on me, the house’s spirit.

The house’s spirit is not a monster.

This is important, so I’ll say it again.

The house’s spirit is absolutely not a monster!

Nor is Emergency Rations!

The owner is so versatile that I’m usually bored, but today I did something worthwhile for the first time in a while.

The owner must have found it hard to clean up, but I! I, who am called Emergency Rations! Cleaned it up.

At this point, I think I deserve to boldly demand popcorn and cola.

I’ll just help myself to cola from the fridge.

I’ll get the popcorn next time.

And while cleaning up the ashes, I learned a little about that human called the owner’s friend.

Birds of a feather, as they say.

I thought the friend, like the owner, harbored something dangerous inside.

This time, I more or less figured out what it is.

Blessings aren’t always created by priests.

Curses aren’t always created by black magicians.

I could have become a curse or an evil spirit by feeding on the resident’s anxiety, fear, jealousy, or despair, but just as I became the house’s spirit under the owner’s influence-

The human mind also creates curses and blessings.

The fire that burns monsters, born from the hatred of countless people toward monsters-

Is it a blessing?

Is it a curse?

I don’t know which it is, but this much is clear.

Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

Kill monsters.

Kill monsters.

Kill monsters.

It must be unbearably noisy.

It’s a wonder they stay sane.

Even the owner manages well despite harboring that terrible curse.

The friend is no slouch either.

Truly, birds of a feather.

…There’s no cola in the fridge.

***

An A-class artifact that Gisu gave me as an apology for suspecting I was a monster.

Checking with [Analyze+], it turned out to be a type of auto-activating shield.

Why would he give something he could use himself, since he’s always fighting, to me?

Even if I tried to return it, the chance he’d take it back is zero.

I might as well just keep it.

But it’s a bit awkward to use myself.

Unless it’s Gisu’s flames, there’s almost nothing that could harm me.

If I keep it and it activates against Gisu’s energy, he’ll get suspicious.

I could give it to my family, but it’s a personal artifact. Rather than giving it to just one person, it’s more efficient for me to eat it, analyze it, and make self-defense tools for everyone.

Thanks for the meal.

[The level of the Decompose+ skill has increased to 36.]

–

[The level of Trait: Slime☆☆☆ has increased to 35.]

[A new skill has been created.]

[The Harden skill evolves into the Harden+ skill.]

Oh. The status window just spoiled it.

“Status window.”

[Trait: Slime☆☆☆ Lv. 35

+Courage +Temperance +Faith

Skills:

Decompose+ Lv. 36

–

Harden+ Lv. 1.]

The [Harden] skill, which always appeared alongside [Special Divide] and got ignored by me.

That skill has now been added to my status window.

After being rejected more times than three visits, it finally became part of my skills.

Is this resonance!

Instead of me seeking it out, it came to me, and since I kept slamming the door in its face, it barged in and shoved the cake I was eating into my mouth, but whatever.

Everything I’m working on is going smoothly.

There’s no skill I desperately need or want to evolve right now.

[Harden+ Lv. 1.

-Can harden the body’s tissues and make the connections between tissues sturdier.]

Oh? The analysis is a bit different now.

It never mentioned strengthening the connections between tissues before.

[Harden+], huh.

That’s a good skill to have.

It’s not a skill that dramatically affects production speed, but it does make produced <Slime> sturdier.

There’s no need to make the <Slime> I’m making right now any sturdier.

Of the <Slime> I make, the only ones that need this level of durability are the Raincoat Slime and the penguin set.

But if you ask whether it’s a useless skill-

The answer is NO!

Durability hasn’t mattered much until now, but going forward, it’s different.

Since I’m planning to build Slime Land.

Safety! And more safety!

Even without the [Harden+] skill, there are ways to make safe amusement rides.

Did I really think I’d keep leveling up and pulling skills until I got the [Harden] skill?

I don’t live that thoughtlessly.

There are many monsters with abilities to harden their bodies, make them tougher, or regenerate quickly.

Until now, I’ve taken materials from such monsters, used [Decompose+], [Absorb], and [Analyze+].

Even without the [Harden+] skill, I can make amusement rides sturdy enough.

However, this method has a drawback.

It limits the functions I can add to the rides and increases mana consumption.

The capacity of <Slime> isn’t infinite, so adding one function means giving up another.

Maybe it’s similar to assembling a computer.

Attaching a graphics card to a computer takes up space and increases power consumption. But if you can manage with integrated graphics, you can reduce the size of the unit and lower power usage. You might even be able to install a large CPU cooler that you couldn’t before because of the graphics card.

That’s the kind of difference I’m talking about.

Now that I have the [Harden+] skill, which is better than [Harden], I can make even sturdier, safer, and more enjoyable amusement rides.

Even if Lee Doa imagines some bizarre amusement ride, I might be able to bring it into the world.

It will also be a big help when tunneling underground.

Other than that… well, having it will surely come in handy in other ways.

By the way, if I didn’t have the [Harden] skill, would I have missed the chance for skill growth through a Class A artifact?

Or would it have automatically grown into [Harden+] when I eventually got the [Harden] skill?

If I’m not careful, I might have wasted a pretty valuable opportunity.

I’ll have to be more cautious from now on.

***

How leisurely.

Even if I’m a ruthless president who threatens, ‘If you don’t bring good ideas, I’ll make sure you enjoy a peaceful company life!’, I wouldn’t make anyone work during the Lunar New Year holiday.

So, there are no meetings this week.

The production of <Slime> is being handled diligently by our kids.

There’s nothing urgent for me to deal with.

Originally, it’s a saint’s feast day.

In the West, it’s a day when friends exchange simple gifts.

In Korea, influenced by Japan, it’s a day for couples where women give chocolate to men.

Valentine’s Day.

There’s no way a one-of-a-kind Slime like me could have a partner in this world.

My family doesn’t celebrate these kinds of holidays either.

Since Ash is American, I sent a gift with a card according to their customs, so I can say Alchemy Slime’s business is done.

For mobile game protagonists, a day for couples is one where they can’t survive unless a day lasts 10,000 hours or they can split into 100 clones.

Meanwhile, I’m just leisurely.

“Let’s film a mukbang.”

A mukbang W-tuber can’t just let a day like this pass by.

In Korea, it’s famous as a day to eat chocolate, but in reality, various gifts like sweets, candies, flowers, and wine are exchanged.

My viewers are spread across the world, so I have to cater to that standard.

And chocolate alone can’t fully convey my intentions.

Of course, I’ll use chocolate too.

First, I made a ton of square sugar blocks.

I stacked them neatly to build a castle reaching 2 meters in height.

Since it’s translucent, it looks quite pretty, almost like a castle made of ice.

I made the castle gate out of chocolate and placed chocolate decorations here and there.

I sculpted SLimelove’s figure in various spots.

I can’t forget the figures of our kids either.

Up to this point, it’s all just groundwork.

I connected the inside and outside of the castle with rails made of <Sugar Slime>.

Once I set up various devices inside the castle, it’s done.

Finally, it’s time to launch.

I placed a jelly-shaped <Jelly Slime> on the launcher at the end of the rails.

When I pulled it back and let go, the <Jelly Slime> rolled at high speed toward the tallest spire.

From there, it dropped.

The <Jelly Slime> that briefly entered the castle came out coated in chocolate.

It spun around the castle’s perimeter before diving back inside.

When it came out again, it had lines of white chocolate.

It raced along the outer rails of the castle, going this way and that, before entering the castle again.

The castle gate swung wide open.

A chocolate-coated Jelly Slime sprinkled with sprinkles burst out and soared upward.

If I tilt my head back and catch it in my mouth.

Crunch.

The hard chocolate coating breaks.

Squishy.

My teeth pass through the jelly.

Crackle.

The sprinkles get chewed.

Ta-da! Not a house of sweets, but a sweets roller coaster!

Was this a bit too blatant?

But I need to start laying the groundwork for the amusement park.

As news spreads that I’m working on a large-scale project, all sorts of speculations are emerging.

[Of course, they’re planning to fully enter the Hunter market, right?]

[Aren’t they planning to drastically increase <Slime> production volume by hiring Alchemists in large numbers from around the world?]

[Hey, ants. It’s obvious Alchemy Slime is jumping into the energy market, so get out before you’re crushed.]

[Please make something super huge.]

There was even talk that I’m planning to sell beverages, but since that’s too small-scale for a major project, comments quickly refuted it.

People’s interest is like a campfire; if you don’t keep adding wood, it won’t last long before it goes out.

I don’t necessarily have to be the one to add the wood.

Even without me throwing in wood like this time, it burns well enough on its own.

However, if I leave it alone like this, the flames might spread to unrelated places.

As they say, three people can create a tiger that doesn’t exist.

If the speculations currently being discussed a lot are accepted as truth, it’ll be hard to change direction later.

If it’s just about challenging the Hunter market, that’s fine.

But if someone uses the rumor that I’m entering the energy market to manipulate stock prices, that would annoy me.

So, I need to provide some information to a certain extent.

I could just have Hans make an announcement.

But wouldn’t it be more fun if people figure it out themselves?

If I pass the word to Hans, he’ll let me know when it’s no longer okay to leave it alone.

However, I must be careful not to add too much wood and let the flames burn too fiercely.

The bigger the expectations, the stricter people’s eyes become.

Something that would have surprised and delighted them if they hadn’t expected it.

If it falls short of the inflated imagination fueled by expectations, it feels disappointing.

If the campfire turns into a festival bonfire because of the wood thrown in from everywhere.

And the finished product looks like a wooden cabin.

People inflated with expectations will turn into rioters, grabbing burning sticks from the bonfire and smashing the cabin to pieces.

I have my limits too.

It would be troublesome if people expect a <Passage Slime> connecting to Mars in Slime Land.

Sometimes, I need to show reality to prevent expectations from getting out of hand.

Anyway, I hope the news spreads that I’m planning an amusement park with this.

There are many talented people like Lee Doa in the world, so I feel like someone might end up noticing.

If it feels like something is missing….

Should I reveal the Slime Rangers?