Chapter 97: Ride Experience.
Chapter 97: Ride Experience.
The fourth fanatic staff member after Hans, Uh Byungwook, and Lee Doa, Marco David Colombo, swung his arms passionately and shouted in very fast English.
“There’s no need to worry about the flow of movement! Why bother worrying about pathways in this Slime Land where you can use all sorts of amazing means of transportation? Anyone obsessed with optimal routes or efficiency can just be packed into a slime box and shipped out!”
Hans was American.
The versatile Lee Doa was also quite proficient in English.
Only Uh Byungwook, who could hold a conversation but wasn’t fluent, was overwhelmed.
“It’s fine if it’s as complicated as a maze. No, in fact, the more complicated it is, the more fun it becomes.
What kind of sight will be waiting for me when I turn this corner?
What’s above my head?
What kind of surprise will be waiting for me beyond this wall?
The idea is to create a space that gives you those expectations.”
Uh Byungwook wanted to say something, but he couldn’t.
The speed of speech was just too fast to understand.
He’d spoken fairly slowly during the previous meeting, but now there was none of that consideration.
“People these days only care about convenience and efficiency. What’s the point of taking the shortest route according to navigation?
If you just take your eyes off the destination and turn your head a little, new joys are waiting for you!”
At that moment, something fell from the ceiling and covered Uh Byungwook’s eyes.
An ordinary person would have been startled, but as someone who could talk all day about <Slime>, he wasn’t surprised.
Because it was the sensation of <Slime>.
“For those idiots who only care about rides, just put them in a kart, toss them a smartphone, and tell them to pick the spot they want.
Actually, what’s the point of even asking them where they want to go?
Just load them into a kart when they come in, let them try the rides in order of popularity, and then send them out the same way.”
When he looked at Marco through the <Slime> covering his eyes, subtitles began to appear, to his surprise.
“For those who decide to walk on their own two feet, I want to give them the joy of unraveling the secrets of Slime Land, full of dreams and hope, one by one with their own hands.
So what if you get lost?
No, in this place, you can’t get lost.
If you’re exploring the unknown, what’s the point of a destination?
You just keep moving forward, believing that something amazing is waiting for you.”
When he pressed the side of the <Slime> covering his eyes, it even provided a log of everything Marco had said.
With performance that surpassed all existing wearable devices, a flood of business ideas flashed through Uh Byungwook’s mind.
He tossed them all in the trash.
There was something President Lime had said before.
Slime Land is a place of dreams.
Don’t try to bring what happens in dreams into reality.
It meant not to try applying all the technologies used in Slime Land to the real world.
The president could create <Slime> that could replace countless existing products.
If you just took the display from the vending machine slime and stuck it on a TV instead of a panel, you’d have a TV that would dominate the market. Not just TVs-smartphones, refrigerators, microwaves, pressure cookers, every home appliance could be replaced with <Slime>.
But the president had no intention of entering that market.
In the past, he thought it was a waste, but lately, he’d changed his mind.
He started contacting various companies to find ones that would use the billboards to be installed in Slime Land.
In the process, he caught glimpses of the wariness each company harbored.
It wasn’t just wariness.
Some companies even secretly warned that if their territory was invaded, they would unite and attack.
And this wasn’t just a story limited to within Korea.
Overseas companies were also paying attention to President Lime’s actions.
Seeing that, Uh Byungwook recalculated.
While building a place called Slime Land to make people happy, was there really any need to greedily snatch away other people’s livelihoods?
The answer was that there was no need.
After that, he racked his brain to make Slime Land an even more enjoyable place.
So now, he had to object to what Marco was so passionately saying.
“Please stop for a moment.”
“Is there a problem with my idea?”
“I agree with the proposal to make it a place that gives the joy of exploration. But the unknown that is completely unpredictable can also come to people as fear.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think there should be a flower garden at the end of a peaceful forest where the birds are singing? In that case, it’s good to actually put a flower garden there.”
“Is there any need to deliberately create places in Slime Land that people can easily imagine? Those can just be in any park.”
“There’s also an expectation that the place you imagined will appear. It’s best to just go a little beyond that expectation. Like passing through an ordinary forest and arriving at a flower garden full of rolling slimes. But if you pass through a peaceful forest and suddenly end up in a place where giant robots are fighting, it’s just confusing. Who would want to explore a place that’s nothing but confusion everywhere?”
“…I understand. I went overboard because I wanted to create a place that can’t be seen anywhere and that no one could even imagine. But-“
Lee Doa, who pursued the ultimate scream machine.
Marco, who pursued exploration.
Uh Byungwook, who pursued mass appeal.
The process of reaching a consensus was arduous.
“Shall we actually start building and testing soon?”
According to President Lime’s wishes, instead of drawing blueprints, they talked with Mother and built the facilities themselves.
And there were plenty of people to test these things.
The new hires.
Even if someone submitted their resignation on the day the recruitment notice was posted, it would take time for it to be processed. They’d have to do handover work, too. So there were quite a few people who hadn’t arrived yet.
On the other hand, people without jobs or those who could quit right away were already hired.
The very first thing they had to do was enjoy all the rides to their heart’s content.
“It wouldn’t be fun to just do it, so let’s make it feel a bit like a random draw.”
To this, President Lime added an impromptu idea.
***
The new hires gathered inside Mother.
“Hello, everyone?”
“Wooooow!”
When Alchemy Slime went up on the platform, a loud cheer greeted him.
“Do you like the staff dormitory?”
“It’s the best!”
“I really like it!”
“I’m glad you like it. Today, we’ve gathered you here to test the rides. Don’t worry, even though it’s a test, there are no safety issues.”
“We’re not worried!”
“Why would we worry about something the president made!”
As expected of people who had passed the <Slime> test, their faith was deep.
“There are no safety issues. There really are no safety issues. You’ll never get hurt, so don’t worry.”
Not twice, not three times, but four.
By then, tension began to spread among the new hires.
“There are three people who came up with the rides here. Each of them had different goals, so the rides are different. You just have to pick one of them and try the ride that person designed.”
At that moment, one person raised a hand.
“Yes, ask your question.”
“Aren’t you going to tell us what each person was pursuing?”
“No, we’re not telling you. Choose based on your intuition.”
One was a man who looked a bit gloomy.
One was a woman whose eyes sparkled.
One was a brown-haired foreigner who was beckoning with his whole body to come over.
This was where everyone’s biases kicked in.
The gloomy-looking man seemed like he’d enjoy tormenting others. He probably made a scary ride.
The woman’s eyes were a little scary, but maybe she thought of a ride families could all enjoy together.
The foreigner looked pretty old and was probably an expert invited from abroad. He probably made a standard ride.
“Looks like everyone’s chosen.”
The largest group gathered in front of Marco.
Next, a large group gathered in front of Lee Doa.
Lastly, only a small number of people, even at a glance, gathered in front of Uh Byungwook.
“Then, let’s move.”
At that moment, the ground beneath Lee Doa and the people standing in front of her split in half.
They fell onto a long train and were forced to sit, where the <Slime Safety Bar> locked them tightly into their seats.
A dark tunnel opened up ahead of the train.
Launch.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
A similar thing happened to Marco and the people standing in front of him.
Some were wrapped in a pillar of light and transported upward.
Some were kidnapped by tentacles.
Some fell through the floor.
Only Uh Byungwook and the people standing in front of him remained.
With everyone around them vanishing in an instant, they were left dumbfounded and only managed to regain their senses after a while.
“A-are we not getting kidnapped?”
“You will not be kidnapped.”
Uh Byungwook first handed out <Bracelet Slime>.
“If you grab here and stretch it out, you can use it like a smartphone.”
He kindly explained how to use the <Bracelet Slime>.
“I’ll tell you how to move to the place you want to go.”
He explained the various means of transportation available in Slime Land and what to watch out for.
“Later, walking around will give you more things to enjoy, but since today is for experiencing the rides, we’ll move by kart.”
The people standing in front of Uh Byungwook realized their choice had been the gentlest option.
After Day 1 ended, the new hires gathered to chat.
Those who followed Lee Doa felt the greatness of the <Slime>, which never lets you die even when it feels like you’re 100% doomed.
Those who followed Marco tasted the variety of <Slime> that defies any prediction.
Those who followed Uh Byungwook…
“It was fun. If possible, I want to try this side again tomorrow.”
On Day 2, the numbers flipped. The largest group gathered in front of Uh Byungwook, while the numbers in front of Lee Doa and Marco drastically decreased.
***
Whose attraction is the most popular?
It changes a little every day.
Once the people whose resignation letters were processed late arrive, we’ll be able to start the testing in earnest.
In my estimation, for the time being, most people will gather in front of Uh Byungwook.
Because it’s the most stable. The other two rides are so stimulating that enjoying them several times in a short period feels overwhelming.
But it’s not like no one will gather in front of Lee Doa or Marco at all.
There are people in the world who think bungee jumping without a line is so fun that they just keep spinning around on that ride.
There are also those who burn with determination to complete the map of an unknown place.
Lee Doa and Marco have firmly captured their own group of maniacs.
On the other hand, people who gather in front of Uh Byungwook sometimes go over to Lee Doa or Marco’s side.
You could say Uh Byungwook captured the general demand, while Lee Doa captured the demand from hardcore fans.
Still, I think Marco will soon make a comeback.
He seems to be running wild, unable to adapt to the sudden freedom.
The moment the experience and freedom he’s accumulated so far reach the right balance, he’ll steal away a large number of people from Uh Byungwook’s group.
Lee Doa is also making various attempts to apply ideas she got from Uh Byungwook and Marco to her own ride.
As expected, with three people whose directions are so different, all sorts of good things come out.
On top of that, skipping the process of drawing blueprints has definitely sped up facility construction.
If possible, I’d like to finish Slime Land before spitting out another weak curse like last time.
That’s probably too much to hope for, right?
I put monster materials in my mouth.
The skill level went up.
[Trait: Slime☆☆☆ has reached level 45.]
[A new skill has been created.]
What’s this situation now?
I only get new skills when my level reaches a multiple of 5.
If I use the [Special Divide] skill and my level resets, when I reach a level where I already got a skill, instead of a new skill, the skill level increases.
Since I’ve never gotten a skill at level 45, it makes sense that I’m getting one now.
There have been two exceptions so far.
When I reached level 25 and 35, it was as if I was being told to hurry up and level up to overcome the curse-the skill level increased first. After spitting out the curse and reaching that level again, I got the skill.
If things went as I expected, the skill level should have gone up this time.
Since you have to raise a newly acquired skill from level 1, leveling up slows down.
This means the period I have to endure at a high level gets longer.
Considering that the curse gets stronger as my level increases, that’s quite a burden.
Is it because the Curse of Sloth has gone on vacation and isn’t reacting at all?
“Status window.”
I called up the status window and checked the new skill.
[Healing☆ Lv. 1]
Why does this one have a star next to it?
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unexpected ride are fun, but at high speed i would rather not. even if i was guaranteed uninjured