Chapter 48: I Regained My Everyday Life?
Containment Cell 7496-KR.
Kim Cheonsu, who brought a ‘special meal’ for 7496-KR at Han Seori’s request, felt pleased as he saw the slime girl spring up the moment he entered the containment cell.
Because the creature that had spat mucus at him and somehow glared at him before now seemed happy to see him. It was like the feeling of a hissing cat allowing you to pet it.
But it didn’t take long for him to realize that this was his own misunderstanding.
‘...It’s not me.’
She got up because she smelled the food.
Kim Cheonsu swallowed a sigh as he looked at the slime girl and slime creatures that eagerly approached the tray as soon as he set it down.
These creatures would probably prioritize the chicken over helping me if I was in danger...?
...Well, maybe Dr. Han Seori would be an exception.
Someone once said something like this.
Betrayal comes from having expectations.
Those bad creatures.
“...You gluttonous little thing.”
“Guk... are you an anomaly or a puppy?”
The slime girl didn’t respond to Kim Cheonsu’s voice.
But... she looked at him with a face that somehow evoked a strange feeling.
‘...What?’
It seemed like she was glaring at him...?
And also, like she was having some violent thoughts?
Kim Cheonsu tilted his head at that face.
But only for a moment.
As the slime creatures who had been waiting for an opportunity wriggled closer to the tray, the slime girl who had been looking at him with that subtle expression turned her attention to them.
The slime girl picked up the slime creatures approaching the tray and set them down. But it seemed too late, as each mucus creature had a chicken leg floating inside it.
Seeing that, the slime girl plopped down as if she had lost her country and glared at the slime creatures with a dumbfounded expression.
Her soft hands were trembling as if contemplating whether to take out the chicken legs inside them or not.
‘Hmm... I wonder what she’ll do.’
Remembering that the slime girl had swallowed the first slime creature that came out, Kim Cheonsu thought that the slime girl might swallow those slime creatures.
Come to think of it.
...Which one came out first?
No matter how he looked, he couldn’t tell them apart.
‘I wonder if Dr. Han can distinguish them?’
While he was having such pointless thoughts,
The slime girl seemed to have given up as she abruptly turned around and looked at the tray again. It seemed she had decided to let the slime creatures live this time.
Instead of swallowing them, the slime girl took the chickens on the tray, one in each hand, and shoved them into her body.
Seeing that, a peculiar question came to Kim Cheonsu’s mind.
‘...Is she melting or eating them?’
Isn’t it all the same?
...I don’t know.
There must be a difference, which is why she was so disappointed?
Kim Cheonsu watched the chicken dissolving and bubbling inside the slime girl’s body. Although it wasn’t exactly an appetizing sight, the greasy smell made him feel a bit peckish.
Bending his body while looking at the slime girl, Kim Cheonsu reached out his hand toward the tray to see how the slime girl would react.
The slime girl, who had been savoring the taste of chicken, stared blankly at Kim Cheonsu with eyes on her cute-looking face as his hand touched the tray.
Somehow, it looked like she was cursing at him with her eyes.
If he brought his hand a little closer, she seemed ready to spit mucus at him.
Kim Cheonsu thought that look was quite cute and hurriedly raised both hands as he spoke.
He was a little worried that she might really spit out something like acidic mucus this time.
Although the possibility seemed low.
“Okay, okay. I wasn’t trying to eat it, so calm down.”
But the slime girl seemed suspicious of that, as she kept sending glances at Kim Cheonsu while putting the food on the tray into her body.
Eating without even looking, her gluttony had truly... reached a state of mastery.
“Sigh, really...”
She’s being so cautious just because I pretended to touch it once.
Kim Cheonsu somehow felt wronged.
‘...It’s probably because she was tricked before, right?’
It’s not... because she dislikes me, right? Right?
Daesik was obedient before, but it seems like it was influenced by Sosik... it’s doing things it didn’t do before.
Birds of a feather flock together, as the old saying goes.
There’s not a single lie in the old sayings, I realized.
I held up the tray, avoiding the two blobs of slime, and sucked up the food on the tray with my tentacles.
Originally, I would have shared the food with them appropriately.
...But it seemed like a clear establishment of hierarchy was necessary.
They had already ate the chicken legs,
It’s not like they’re completely starving, right?
I came to a decision with slime gathered in the corners of my eyes.
It’s absolutely not because I couldn’t eat the chicken legs myself.
Those bad guys.
With my eyes on the creatures wriggling at my feet, I shoved the food into my body.
Well... even if I say shove,
Since I can’t chew anyway, there’s no difference, is there?
Bad guys.
As I pushed away the creatures extending their tentacles with my feet, I was eating...
It’s delicious, as always.
The chicken goes without saying, but the boiled pork, which was usually too expensive to eat, was very welcome.
The only thing I wish is... if there were dipping sauces or greens to wrap it in?
The meat and fat that melt in your mouth are delicious.
The last thing left is... a very large jelly.
Moreover, it’s in the shape of a teddy bear.
It somehow looks like something I saw on XTube.
I wonder what it tastes like, I thought as I tore off the arms and legs of the teddy bear-shaped jelly and gave one each to the creatures reaching up with their tentacles.
Then I shoved the large jelly into my body as if hugging it.
Hmm.
...Since I can’t feel the texture, it’s no different from candy.
It’s a bit disappointing that I can’t chew.
Is there really no way for me to properly experience the sensations and textures of food?
Sigh, it won’t be solved by worrying about it.
As I set the tray down, my vision, which had been awakened by the food, started to blur again.
It seemed closer to mental exhaustion than anything...
Although it didn’t seem to matter, even if I didn’t sleep, humans originally needed to sleep for 1/3 of their lives, right?
I’m not human anymore, but,
...Honestly, there’s nothing to do even if I keep my eyes open.
So I crawled onto the bed, and the two blobs of slime that had been dissolving the jelly also seemed to want to get on the bed, wriggling.
Sosik climbed up, and Daesik seemed to have finished eating the jelly and entered Alice.
Even so, it wasn’t enough to get on the bed, so it rustled underneath.
...You could climb up the frame.
I stretched out my hand and lifted Daesik onto the bed.
Then, as I lay down on the bed and pulled the covers over, the creatures who had been gluttonous and running wild until a moment ago snuggled into my arms, wriggling.
...Well, I felt Daesik snuggling, but Sosik was... it felt like it turned its back and stuck to me?
Even though they’re the same slimes, they seem to have different abilities and personalities.
Although they united to aim for my food earlier.
But... I didn’t find that too hateful, so,
With the thought that I might be smiling,
I fell asleep.
Good night.
You little piggies.
And so, I regained my peaceful everyday life.
Other than Han Seori suddenly bringing a can of potato chips with an impressive-looking bearded man printed on it and looking at me with sparkling eyes, nothing much happened.
I wondered what she wanted, but the chips were delicious. They tasted the same as the ones on Han Seori’s hands.
Then, one day,
Han Seori, who had left with a somewhat disappointed face, came to see me again with a subtle expression.
I had a bad feeling about seeing an expression I had never seen before.