Chapter 98: [Healing☆].

[Healing☆ Lv. 1].

At the odd timing of level 45, mixed with the fact that the curse has been excessively quiet lately, that skill also looked quite suspicious.

Even if I gained the [+Faith] buff while overcoming the Curse of Distrust, something strange is still strange.

The [+Faith] buff doesn’t blind my eyes, after all.

Just because it’s named Healing, a term that warms the heart, I mustn’t let my guard down.

The ordinary-looking [Transform] skill demanded live sacrifices.

The [Charm] skill, which means attractive, was a skill that brainwashes people.

Moreover, in this world, there’s a genre called healing items that are actually read as deadly harmful substances.

On the outside, they pretend to be cheerful and lively, while inside, tentacles made of curses writhe.

If a skill like a bomb was offloaded in a situation with no skill choices, that would be a headache.

I used the [Analyze+] skill.

[Healing☆ Lv. 1

-An ability I originally possessed but was suppressed and unable to demonstrate its power.

Heals the body and mind.

“This is….”

A somewhat unsettling description.

“Phew….”

I took a deep breath in and let it out.

Initial skills are generally similar depending on the job.

If you’re a healer, you get a healing skill.

If you’re a swordsman, you get a swordsmanship skill.

If you’re a wizard, you get a magic skill.

But there are also cases where you have skills different from others right from the moment of awakening.

These are commonly called unique skills.

Currently, I’m also considered an owner of such unique skills.

Everyone thinks that <Slime> can’t be manufactured without special skills.

But the skill used to create <Slime> isn’t my unique skill.

It’s made with a skill obtained by awakening as the bizarre job [Trait: Slime].

It can’t be seen as something I create with a skill uniquely mine from the start.

An ability I originally possessed but was suppressed and unable to demonstrate its power.

This means the skill I originally had wasn’t [Divide] or [Absorb], but [Healing☆].

Honestly, it did feel a bit strange.

When I first made <Insole Slime>, all I had consumed was just some over-the-counter medicine. There wasn’t even athlete’s foot medicine at home.

Although I mixed the medicinal effects of soap, detergent, and ointment with the [Analyze] skill to make <Insole Slime>, curing severe athlete’s foot in less than a week is excessive.

It’s not just <Insole Slime>. <Pack Slime> didn’t just treat atopy; it even restored vitality.

The healing abilities of <Random Jelly Slime (Mild Flavor)> and <Random Jelly Slime (Extremely Spicy Flavor)> go without saying.

Thinking about it, the healing effect of every <Slime> was excessive.

And there were a few times I demonstrated miraculous healing abilities.

If the [Healing☆] skill was exerting its effect even while suppressed, that would explain it.

Given that it has a star attached, it’s probably a different skill from regular healing skills.

If I had awakened as a healer, I might have been spreading healing abilities twice as powerful.

If I had awakened as a Holy Knight, I could have healed my body on my own, showing zombie-like vitality that wouldn’t die no matter how much I was hit.

If I had awakened as a wizard, would it have been a bit ambiguous?

But unique skills and awakened jobs are generally related. It’s rare for someone to awaken as a completely unrelated job.

If there had been a trigger, I might have awakened as the noble job of a healer.

What are the odds of awakening as a Slime while possessing the [Healing☆] skill?

Isn’t it similar to the odds of winning the lottery, then getting struck by lightning 100 times in a row on the way home and still surviving?

I hope it’s not just a coincidence that such low odds applied to me, but also because of the curse.

It’s certain that I’m under a curse.

But is it because of the curse that I became a Slime?

Is there no connection at all between the curse and my becoming a Slime?

That point isn’t clear.

Still, I’d prefer it if I was meant to be a healer but awakened as a Slime due to the curse.

That way, when I remove all the curses within me,

There’s at least a slight chance I could return to my original form.

I don’t know the cause of my curse, and I don’t particularly want to find out.

If the intensity of the curse I’m under was weak, I might have wondered who I had wronged.

But the curse I’m under far exceeds that level.

To put it in perspective, the curse on me is like a meteor falling from the sky.

Dropping a meteor pinpoint on my head?

To do something like that, it would require a grand ritual from a great wizard out of a story, offering all kinds of sacrifices, even their own life.

In all my life, I’ve never wronged anyone to that extent.

Curses are born from human resentment.

From the desire for a terrifying target to disappear.

From the wish for obstacles preventing you from getting what you want to be removed.

From the hope that someone better than you would fall.

Minor curses are born from such feelings.

Individually, they may not be significant, but as the saying goes, dust gathers to form a mountain.

Such minor resentments can pile up and create a terrible disaster.

I find it easier to think that I got caught up in such a natural disaster with this curse.

I’ve already experienced enough how exhausting it is to keep worrying about a problem with no answer.

Rather than dwelling on such things, thinking about the future is more constructive.

[Healing☆] seems to have been active behind the scenes, then reset to level 1 upon coming out, but with one curtain lifted, the skill’s output itself seems to have remained similar.

I can avoid a mass production crisis of defective products.

As my level rises in the future, I’ll be able to clearly feel its effect.

That said, I don’t plan to increase the healing effect of <Slime> beyond what it is now.

Improving the world’s health index to this extent is enough.

If I release something even stronger, I might end up dominating the pharmaceutical market.

Market monopolization isn’t good.

It leads to a decline in technology.

If people start relying entirely on me for their health, the world’s health index will plummet the moment something happens to me.

Even I can’t live forever.

And I don’t know when I might become strange due to the curse’s negative effects.

I need to prepare for the worst, so monopolization isn’t good.

Should I just make the effect a bit stronger in Slime Land?

Oh, and in <Wig Slime> too.

If <Wig Slime> with [Healing☆] applied is used, it can definitely prevent worsening.

If it hasn’t died yet, it might even help regain strength.

Healing a completely dead head is difficult.

There needs to be a seed in the ground for grass to grow.

If grass grows without a seed, that’s not [Healing☆], but the realm of creation.

***

The web novel author lifted their wrist from the <Pillow Slime>.

They lightly rotated their wrist and smiled.

Since their job involves typing on a keyboard every day, their wrist used to hurt a lot. Even if they could endure it for now, they worried it might worsen later, so they looked for various solutions.

They tried placing a towel in front of the keyboard, changing keyboards, and using wrist supports.

Most of them had no effect. Sometimes, not just the wrist, but even the elbow hurt.

But after using <Pillow Slime>, that pain completely disappeared.

And that’s not all.

Having read a lot of books since long ago and recently spending much time looking at a smartphone screen, my eyesight was very bad. Not only was my eyesight poor, but I also had astigmatism and dry eyes.

Especially, dry eyes were the problem; I couldn’t even keep my eyes open at night.

Since giving up reading and writing meant giving up my livelihood, I consistently visited the eye doctor.

I diligently used eye compresses, took nutritional supplements, often looked out the window, used blue light filters, and even put a screen protector on my monitor.

Even so, my eyesight gradually worsened, and my dry eyes didn’t improve, so hospital bills and eye drop costs never decreased.

Around the time when the future started to feel more and more uncertain.

<Pack Slime> was released.

When I attached <Pack Slime> the entire time I looked at the monitor, the pain in my eyes completely disappeared.

Even after looking at screens and reading books all day, my eyes didn’t feel tired.

And that’s not all.

There were limits to adjusting my glasses prescription, so I lived in a slightly blurry world.

But with <Pack Slime> acting like a lens, the world started to look much clearer.

Moreover, my eyesight improved a little.

Even though the world I saw became clearer.

The web novel author couldn’t believe the screen his smartphone was showing right now.

It was an email from AlchemySlime Company.

They were asking if he had any interest in personally creating merchandise and secondary creations based on the work he had written.

The web novel author couldn’t understand the part about ‘personally creating.’

If he drew a person with his cursed hands, it would turn into a dumpling.

What on earth could he do to personally create secondary creations?

Of course, if secondary creations like comics, anime, dramas, or movies were made, he would be incredibly happy.

Money aside, for a web novel author, having their work turned into a video is like a dream.

Especially if they write in the fantasy genre.

In Japan, there’s the option of turning it into anime, but in Korea, it’s almost impossible. Making a fantasy genre into a drama would cost an astronomical amount of money.

If he wanted to know more details, the email instructed him to come to one of the places listed.

The web novel author immediately got ready and went outside.

As for clothes, he naturally wore the penguin set and attached <Pack Slime> to his face.

It was March, so the weather had warmed up a lot, but the penguin set could be used in any season. Even if the weather got warmer, it didn’t feel hot. It always maintained the optimal temperature.

And then, <Pack Slime>.

In the past, I felt embarrassed and took off <Pack Slime> when going outside, but these days, I just wear it.

Not only is it convenient, but since many other people do the same, there’s no reason to feel embarrassed.

The fashion of attaching <Pack Slime> to the face started trending after the spokesperson for AlchemySlime appeared on TV wearing it.

And as the incredible advantages of this fashion became known, it started to become a huge trend.

That advantage was none other than its filter function.

In March, yellow dust, fine dust, and even pollen blow around. It’s the time when air quality is at its worst, but wearing <Pack Slime> frees you from all those worries.

‘Is this the place?’

The web novel author peeked in front of a store with a [For Rent] sign.

“Wow!”

At that moment, the automatic door suddenly opened.

‘Does that mean I should go in?’

“Excuse me….”

There was no one inside.

Instead, there was a pillar made of slime that wasn’t visible from outside.

A crack formed in the slime, and it opened like an elevator.

Feeling like he had stepped into a fantasy world, the web novel author’s heart pounded.

He cautiously stepped inside.

The slime enveloped his body.

A floating sensation, like an elevator descending, wrapped around him.

‘How far down is this going?’

The floating sensation continued for quite a while before stopping.

This time, it started accelerating forward, but he couldn’t pay attention to that.

“Wow….”

A scene like a hyperspace jump from an SF movie unfolded before his eyes.

As he watched countless stars stretching out and passing by, his body eventually stopped.

With a gentle pushing sensation, he stepped forward.

‘Can’t I ride it again?’

He absentmindedly looked back, but the slime that had brought him here was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a desk and chairs were prepared.

On the desk, there was a contract.

Contracts need to be approached with caution.

‘Looks fine, right?’

The content simply stated that he must not disclose what he experienced today.

The web novel author signed without hesitation.

After all, he had no one to talk to about it anyway.

The contract was sucked into the desk.

Then, the desk tilted upward, transforming into something like a comic workstation.

And on its surface, his novel and a menu appeared.

There were various choices like comic adaptation, anime adaptation, and 3D anime adaptation.

‘No drama or movie options. Well, those would require actors.’

Since he was most curious about anime adaptation, he selected it.

Next, he could decide the level of adaptation.

‘I still have my pride.’

He set the adaptation level to 0.

[Will you implement the novel as it is?]

“Yes.”

A screen of slime rolling around appeared.

And his novel turned into an anime, appearing on the screen.

“Stop! Stop! I’m sorry! I’m sorry for being arrogant!”

The web novel author deeply realized the greatness of human imagination.

He understood within 10 seconds what kind of disastrous scenes would be created when only the content he wrote was implemented.

As a result of strongly adapting his novel into an anime.

‘I can’t do this without studying.’

He realized that there was a significant difference between the direction of a novel and the direction of a video.

Still, he could overcome the biggest barrier in making an anime, which is artistic skill.

‘To think I can turn my novel into an anime.’

Just as he was about to do more, the screen suddenly turned off.

Instead, an official contract appeared in front of him.

‘Showing me something like this and then telling me to stop. Are they devils?’