Suddenly, I Became a Slime Chapter 16: Pillar

Whoa! Yikes!

Feeling extrely weird, I worry about what to do if the door doesn’t open, but to my surprise, the closed door swings wide open as if welcoming in.

Unaware that it is a trap, I innocently take a step forward.

I have to watch helplessly as a fierce wind tears through my body.

It sprays a strange-tasting liquid and shoots icy wind at .

The wind is so harsh that it leaves temporary holes in my body. Just thinking about it makes feel like my jelly is oozing out.

Fortunately, before I turn into a donut, the wind subsides, and the door on the opposite side, which had been closed, opens.

I rush out through the open door.

I shouldn’t wait for the door to close.

Rather, I need to find a place to hide from the pursuers.

As soon as I step outside, the door closes firmly.

It seems like so sort of device to filter out non-humans.

…I feel like I saw sothing similar in a restaurant obsessed with hygiene, but I quickly look away.

Now, the important thing is where I am and what I should do next.

And what I see is…

Chunks of bright red at.

Chunks of at hang on large hooks, disappearing into a deep passage whose depth is imasurable.

The at looks like it has just been slaughtered, with the bright red flesh bubbling as if boiling.

Seeing the boiling chunks of at wriggling as if alive makes feel queasy. If I hadn’t been like this, I might have thrown up everything in my stomach.

Should I be happy about this?

That’s one thing.

I catch a faintly familiar sll.

Certainly, the at in front of doesn’t resemble any at I have seen before.

Yet… a sense of déjà vu lingers. It feels like I have seen it sowhere before, and for so reason, I feel like I know its taste.

In the midst of that.

*Clank… Clank…*

The large chunks of at on the hooks create an endless procession and vanish sowhere.

As I blankly stare at it, a question suddenly arises.

Why does a place that houses sothing like exist…?

Then one thought pierces my mind.

Sothing like a secret organization’s base, whatever it is.

The controlled area is the procession of chunks of at.

at chunks I have never seen before.

As all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, my jelly trembles.

The fact it points to is the chunks of at exiting sowhere from the controlled area.

It seems to refer to the at of creatures like .

…Could it be that all the food I’ve been given… was for this? To expand my jelly for this?

For so reason, after mindlessly consuming everything given to , I feel a bit heavier.

Eventually, my gaze reaches the endless row of chunks of at.

Then my bluish jelly pieces, swaying on hooks, seem to be heading sowhere, overlapping with them.

My body feels limp.

Whether influenced by my emotions or not, my jelly weakly drips down. So has already pooled on the ground, creating a strange atmosphere.

Shaking my head causes so parts that are no longer mine to fall and drop below.

When I regain focus, the flowing mucus-like substance reenters my body.

I want to forget. I want to forget the fact that I’m no longer human, but the situation constantly tries to inject it into my mind, and I hate it.

Why do I have to endure this…

Being sad but unable to cry is just pitiful.

During that ti when I am moping around, forgetting even why I ca here.

[$!*($!]

A voice can be heard from sowhere. Due to my foggy mind, I can’t understand what is said, but it makes realize why I am here again.

…For now, hiding is probably the first step.

I decide to try to think positively. Upon reflection, I seem to have been too negative.

How much jelly can co out of , anyway?

Not even that many chunks of at can co out of , so my fuel efficiency isn’t great. My body…

If I can prove other usefulness… could that work?

I shake my head while thinking about the woman who greeted with a friendly face. Then the voice I heard earlier, filled with longing, cos to mind. Was that fake too?

I don’t know.

I wish soone would tell the answer if they knew.

Thinking that, I head towards the source of a loud noise, and that’s when I see sothing strange with my eyes.

It is… sothing shaped like a pillar.

A large pillar extends upwards from the floor.

There is a fairly large hole in the pillar, from which sharp sounds of scraping can be heard incessantly.

Then, like squeezing out a pimple, red chunks gush out, dangle, and are carried away on hooks.

…Yeah, all the chunks of at I have seen so far are coming out of that pillar.

It is truly bizarre.

Enough to make all the worries I had just monts before disappear.

A stick oozing out raw at.

At first it might sound a bit strange to so people.

Besides the fact that a crocodile in the sewer is coming back to life, it is not beyond common sense.

At least it is sothing existing in a form I know.

But this… what on earth.

[$(!$!#]

At that mont.

Once again, I hear soone’s, no sothing’s, voice.

It gives that sa strange sensation.

It feels different from overhearing what other people are saying on my way here. The voice doesn’t seem to be spreading through the air.

And the origin of that sound is.

From the at.

*Thump, thump.*

It is coming from the pillar.

Originally, it would have been right to avoid that place, but.

As if possessed by sothing, I quickly approach the pillar where the at is being carved out.

As I get closer, the sll wafting from the at becos stronger. I can tell the identity of those flesh lumps.

…the sll emanating from Soylent Purple Co.’s MREs that I used to enjoy eating every ti.

The strange sll of the MRE that I felt after I turned into a sli.

Was this what its main ingredient was?

*Rustle!*

Although it is my first ti seeing these strange things.

…they have already deeply entered my life.

While I am staring blankly at the flesh chunks being hung on hooks.

In the distance, the sound of tiny footsteps begins to approach.

It seems like they have already co this far while I am dawdling.

… I am suspicious of what they want from .

But.

Thinking of the woman who looked at with a warm and worried face.

I decide to hide for now.

It isn’t because she is pretty or anything.

But there is one problem.

…There is nowhere to hide.

The path is limited, and the spaces to hide are only the holes where pieces of at are coming out.

*Squelch!*

Only holes where at is getting sliced off remain.

The dark hole below is an exception where the end is not visible.

No matter how gelatinous I am, it seems like I would make a loud splat if I fall.

It is basically like having no choice at all.

The hole where the at is coming out is high up.

Even if I were taller, I wouldn’t reach.

That ans one of the many holes pierced in the pillar.

Apart from the hole right in front of , there is nowhere to hide.

Looking closely, there are gaps. The at doesn’t entirely fill the holes.

…It would be a tight squeeze.

Even the strange sounds coming from inside bother .

“For the delivery…”

Now a voice is heard.

There is no choice.

I fly into the hole as the at is being sliced off, planning to go to an unseen place before the blade passes.

*Squelch!*

As I pass through to a certain extent, the blade that is slicing the at leaps out and cuts my leg.

There is no pain, but seeing my leg being cut off is extrely shocking.

…Still able to move without hindrance, I wriggle vigorously towards the inside.

[#@$@$$!]

Another weird sound echoes closer now.

As the at starts to inflate, I crouch down. The bright red chunk of at presses against my body as it passes by as if licking .

*Snap!*

Unfailingly, the cut piece of at disappears.

*Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping!*

Loud noises start coming from outside.

Startled, I crawl further inside before the new piece of at inflates.

The sll from the MRE fills the air strongly.

How long has it been since the warning sound started?

Frantically operating the panel, Han Seori sighs and turns off the warning sound.

In front of her, a sign saying ‘foreign object removal complete’ appears.

Although she has resolved the ergency, her expression doesn’t seem all that pleased.

Seeing her like that, the manager speaks with a subtle expression.

“It seed like the check was worth it. Why the gloomy face?”

Han Seori manages her expression and replies to that voice.

“…It’s not exactly a pleasant thing when problems arise, right?”

“Well, true. Anyways, what was the issue?”

“…Seeing that the foreign substance was removed, it seems like sothing leaked from the upper factory.”

“Oh, we should pay more attention to that and inform others.”

Looking at the director’s sowhat disappointed face, Han Seori nods, feeling an indescribable emotion.

…Is this the fate of the sli girl?

Han Seori forces a smile.

She leaves the control zone with the director.

For now, she thinks returning is the priority.