Chapter 3: Let’s Try Moving Around for Now

...When I came to, I was still in the middle of the forest.

（Nothing’s changed, dammit!）

Well, complaining about it myself isn’t going to help.

It seems that using too much of that swirling energy makes me lose consciousness.

It’d be so much easier if I had a status screen with numbers like in games...

Man, games are so well-designed. Reality sucks.

Losing consciousness in this state would be deadly if an enemy showed up.

I should probably stop right before I pass out from exhaustion... But if that energy is mana, then the classic light novel rule says that pushing it to the limit and depleting it will increase my total capacity.

I’ll have to figure out the right balance somehow.

For now, I’ve confirmed three senses: touch, sight, and hearing.

I’ve also been able to move by dragging myself along the ground with a slither slither motion.

Judging from the overall image of my body, I look like I’m melting and collapsing. Basically a "grotesque slime" type.

That’s the kind that gets subjugated immediately — straight to Game Over.

I want to become a "cute slime" like the teardrop-shaped ones in the legendary RPG Dragon Quest, then jump into the cleavage of a beautiful big-breasted elf while shouting "I’m Slime-mon! I’m not a bad slime!"

...Just ignore me.

Anyway, dragging myself around feels gross, and more importantly, it’s too slow.

But if I can master the teardrop shape, I should be able to hop around and move much faster. Plus, it’d be way less disgusting!

While swirling that energy inside me, I tried to gather my body into a round shape.

（Ggggh... ggggh...）

It gradually started to pull together into a round form, but...

（Gah... I’m exhausted!）

The moment I couldn’t keep the energy swirling anymore, I immediately melted back into a puddle.

（Ugh～ This stretched-out form is so much easier～）

In this fully relaxed, melted state, I barely consume any energy.

It feels as comfortable as a salaryman who just finished overtime, takes off his suit jacket, loosens his tie, and flops onto the living room sofa.

（But still...）

No matter how I look at it, this "melted puddle" form is dangerous. If anyone sees me like this, it’s instant death. I’d just be free experience points.

I have no choice but to master the cute teardrop form if I want to survive.

（Let’s do this!）

And then, two months later (lol)

Well, that’s just my rough feeling. I’m just guessing.

It’s not like I can check my phone or look at a calendar.

The sun rises, then eventually sets, night comes, then morning arrives again.

For the first week or so, I was thinking things like "Wait, is today Sunday?" as a self-deprecating joke. After that, I stopped counting.

What I noticed during this time:

I don’t get hungry.

I don’t need to excrete anything.

I don’t feel sleepy.

I don’t feel hot or cold unless I consciously think about it.

However, swirling that energy makes me extremely tired (bitter smile).

Still, I’ve gotten much better at it. I can swirl it for longer periods without getting as exhausted. It also feels like the total amount of energy has increased.

I guess the light novels were right about this.

It’s mana, right? It’s definitely mana, right? Someone please say "mana"! I want to use magic（bitter smile）.

Anyway, moving on.

I’ve learned that my slime body is surprisingly tough.

Even when I was climbing a tree, a branch snapped, and I fell and splattered on the ground, I didn’t feel any pain and was able to reform myself.

When I enveloped wild grass and flowers, I could absorb them. I even tried catching and absorbing small animals (some rabbit-like creature? It didn’t have horns, so I’ll just call it rabbit-like).

Even when they bit me in retaliation, it didn’t hurt at all, and my body didn’t seem to take any damage. Attacks probably don’t work well on this body.

...That said, I can’t let my guard down. In most games, slimes are still weak mobs. One hit from a warrior’s hammer could blow me into tiny pieces.

...For now, I’ll set aside my worries as a weak mob character.

Thanks to my training, I’ve finally mastered the teardrop shape and can hop around!

I should savor this achievement and be proud of myself for a moment... even though there’s no one here to share it with.

But if I let my concentration slip even a little...

（Uwaaaaaah～）

I melt and collapse back into a puddle.

（I need to train until staying in teardrop form feels completely natural... Wait, am I a Super Saiyan or something!?）

While making snarky comments to myself, I desperately tried to stay round.