Suddenly, I Became a Slime

Chapter 71: Sign here, please

Han Seori looked at the glistening slimes.

How did they multiply so much from the initial one?

At a glance, they looked similar, but each had such a strong individuality that they were not difficult to distinguish.

• The largest one was the original slime girl, 7496-KR.
• Entity 1 was a slime that always tried to be inside a doll.
• Entity 2 was similar to the slime girl but tiny and seemed very lazy, spending most of its time lying down.
• Entity 3 was the most recently created… and the reason for its creation seemed relatively clear.

…It was unmistakably a small version of the Sky Whale.

Another peculiarity, if any… would be that it was very aggressive.

That entity, floating around like the Sky Whale, was docile to the slime girl’s touch but didn’t seem to like human touch very much.

Considering other slimes were somewhat friendly to humans, this felt a bit strange.

‘…They said Sky Whale had no heart.’

If we assume it was born after 7496-KR devoured the Sky Whale’s heart, this attitude would be somewhat understandable.

Excluding the heart that disappeared most recently and was the reason for its death, quite a few things were already missing inside the Sky Whale.

Based on the timeline… It was clearly the doing of “Twilight’s Call”.

‘…What are they after?’

Through this incident, Han Seori thoroughly realized that they didn’t really want the “liberation” of anomalies.

Would those who want such things do that to an anomaly?

…Or maybe they didn’t know.

They might try to package it as a noble sacrifice for a greater purpose.

But whatever they said didn’t matter.

She had no intention of handing the anomalies over to such people… especially 7496-KR.

To do that, first…

“Ramen.”

*Flip*

As Han Seori pointed to the screen, she also pointed to the word card.

The screen showed ramen boiling in an orange broth.

At the tip of her other hand was a word card that read [Ramen].

And next to it… was the slime girl, 7496-KR, with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

‘…I wonder if she understands.’

It was impossible to know since she couldn’t speak… but based on the slime girl’s behavior so far, Han Seori thought it was quite possible.

To communicate with the slime girl, she decided to first… teach her simple words.

Because she needed clear evidence that she could communicate with the slime girl to proceed with the “work” she had in mind.

To do that, she had to show that they were communicating somehow.

Due to the slime girl’s physical structure, speaking seemed difficult, so writing seemed best.

She heard there was an anomaly somewhere in the branch that could talk to animals, but it was uncertain whether it would work for anomalies as it was for “animals.”

Moreover.

‘…The procedure is also complicated…’

Recently, with the gradual increase of minor anomalies occurring in various places, borrowing it didn’t seem feasible either.

If Han Seori had not been in charge of 7496-KR, she might have been sent away somewhere, too.

So.

She had to produce some results.

In order to protect 7496-KR from “Twilight’s Call”, whose motives were unknown.

Thus.

“Banana.”

Han Seori diligently tried to educate 7496-KR, mainly with letters and words.

On the evening of the day, she taught a few words. Han Seori, though thinking it was a bit early, made a sign and entered the isolation room where 7496-KR was.

Behind her was Kim Cheonsu, who had a somewhat awkward face.

Standing in front of the slime girl, Han Seori showed her the object she had brought with a smiling face.

On it.

Were the words she had intensively taught the slime girl.

Those words were.

Mostly food.

…It was natural, as that’s what the slime girl showed the most enthusiasm for.

[Dinner Tonight]

[Ramen]

[Banana]

[Strawberry]

[Bossam]

[Jajangmyeon]

‘It seems like she understands the words…’

The slime girl wriggled closer as Han Seori spoke and stared at the sign she was holding.

There were no pictures, only words, so one couldn’t choose a menu without understanding the words.

“What would you like to eat for dinner tonight? I’ll let you eat what you choose.”

As Han Seori said that, the slime girl wriggled up and stared blankly at the sign Han Seori was holding.

After hesitating for a moment, the slime girl bubbled around her mouth and then grabbed a pen lying on the floor.

Han Seori considered whether she should make her wear gloves, but the slime girl grabbed the pen with surprising dexterity.

And.

*Squeak… squeak… squeak.*

She began to write on the floor.

“Huh?”

“What?!”

To the astonishment of Han Seori and Kim Cheonsu, the word written was.

[Jajangmyeon]

It was.

Han Seori dropped the sign she was holding, picked up the slime girl, and exclaimed.

“I knew our kid was a genius!”

“C-calm down. D-Doctor.”

“No, I taught her the words today, and she wrote them so clearly! Isn’t she a genius?”

“W-wasn’t it misspelled?”

“That’s the correct spelling!”

“…This is driving me crazy.”

Maybe… do you like children?

…You’re quite domestic.

Kim Cheonsu, who was smiling contentedly with a strange look, woke up from a slightly sweet dream at the order to quickly get the jajangmyeon, and left the isolation room.

That day, Kim Cheonsu.

Dreamed of a blue slime happily eating jajangmyeon.

This is… more embarrassing than I thought.

I felt like, just for writing a single word like jjajangmyeon… was this much praise necessary?

Well… it didn’t feel bad.

If my former boss had also… praised me generously like this, would going to work have been a bit more enjoyable?

…No, the boss wasn’t pretty like Han Seori, so I don’t think it would have felt as good.

If you ask me if this is a superficial thought, I’ll say yes.

Anyway.

Understanding and writing words was… something I could originally do, so there was nothing new about it.

But, will it become more bothersome for me?

There were several reasons I wrote the words for communication despite that concern.

One was.

Han Seori’s expression as she taught me the words looked so… desperate.

I don’t know for what purpose she’s trying to teach me the words, but it seemed there was something she could only do if I knew the words.

It was like… should I say, a graduate student waiting for their thesis to pass?

So, even if I wasn’t fluent, I decided to show that I understood to some extent.

…That’s not why I wrote jajangmyeon.

Anyway, as long as it works well, let’s not worry about trivial things.

Simply put, kindergarten-level conversation should be enough.

And apart from that, the jajangmyeon I ate after a long time was really delicious.

I believe the other kids must have liked it, too.

If you’re jealous, you write it.

And another reason was.

…The whale flying in the air suddenly came to mind.

Thinking back on the memory, I realize the state of the Sky Whale was very strange.

Not only did it swallow me, but it also had such weird things hanging all over its body.

Especially when I looked around at the end… I felt like its insides were empty.

A feeling that what should have been there was not there.

Seeing the whale’s final anger and the whale made of emotions stemming from the whale not being very fond of humans, all the more so.

…They couldn’t have done such a thing, could they?

It must just dislike humans…?

For a moment, chilling speculation came to mind, but recalling Han Seori’s attitude so far, I calmed my agitated jelly.

Anyway.

That’s why I wanted to know the truth about the Sky Whale’s death.

Who made it like that?

Thinking of the whale’s end, even after expelling that “emotion,” my jelly bubbled, and I felt a very weak anger.

Did the whale want me to avenge it?

I don’t know.

But I thought it wouldn’t hurt to find out.

Wouldn’t knowing what’s what help in making decisions?

…Honestly, I’m not sure if such a day will come.

I don’t know if I can express all that with kindergarten-level words.

I would know if I had raised a child.

Even if I went through kindergarten, would I remember all the words I used then?

There must be quite a difference between the kindergarteners’ levels from when I grew up and now.

I thought the standard of “kindergarten level” itself might be a bit… vague.

In the past, dictation was done only after entering elementary school, but these days, I heard there are English kindergartens.

…Now that I’ve been called a genius, can’t I do a little more?

Anyway.

As I pushed the concept that I could write a few words, I was able to choose and eat what I wanted.

Since Han Seori’s education was focused on me, the right to choose the menu was solely up to me.

I wonder if our slimes, who eat everything they’re given, have any likes or dislikes.

That authority was quite welcome.

As Han Seori’s education continued like that.

A test sheet was handed to me.

It seemed to be testing what I had learned so far, with lots of problems where I could fill in the blanks with words from my memory.

Easy. So easy.

I filled in the blanks without much thought.

Not knowing what kind of events that might bring.

I was thrilled.