With the thousands of poison needles pointed at its face, the slime closed its eyes, accepting its eventual death.
It was born in the midst of the River Dames, formed from the amalgamation of all the waste and filth swimming around in the water.
It spent its days observing humans, seeing the happy smiles on their faces as they played around near the water.
But even if the slime wanted to experience the joys of being human, it knew that it couldn't join them because it was different. It was a monster.
It was content just watching humans under the River Dames.
It even ate and consumed filth, scrap, and waste in the river so that the water would be safe for the humans.
That was how much the slime loved humans.
But what did it get in return? It was treated as nothing but a deadly monster. It was hunted down, battered, and bruised.
Even then, the slime didn't hate the humans. That was just the way of the world. It was a monster, and they were human.
Its slimy body shivered, accepting that it was nearing the end of its life. It could only hope that in its next life, it would be born as a human instead.
The slime waited…but the pain didn't come.
It slowly opened its eyes and saw Michael looking at it with a warm gaze.
With a snap of his fingers, Michael dissipated the poisoned needles into poison mana and returned them into its rightful place.
The slime felt power restored in its body, slowly enlarging it into its original size.
"You must have had it rough, huh buddy?" Michael said as he kneeled in front of the slime.
He raised his hand and patted the slime on its head.
The creature flinched, thinking that Michael would hurt it like the other humans hurt it.
But upon feeling the warmness of Michael's hand, the slime couldn't help but snuggle towards his touch.
Michael chuckled. It felt like he was petting a very wet but loyal dog.
And as he continued to make physical contact with the creature, images suddenly flashed through his mind.
It showed the slime's memories of swimming through the endless waste of the River Dames. Michael felt loneliness and longing for companionship as he looked through its memories.
He saw the slime watching the humans from afar, protecting them from the harmful bacteria and viruses in the polluted river.
But the humans treated it with fear and panic. They hunted the slime, chasing it to the ends of the river. It could have fought back against its oppressors, but chose to flee instead.
Only when it was cornered with no way to escape did it finally attack.
Upon finding out the slime's story, Michael finally realized something.
I see…this is the reason why the Goddess said that there would be a plague in this City. The slime had been cleansing the river from disease this whole time. And if they succeeded in hunting down the slime, then bacteria would run rampant in the water, leading to a plague.
[Supreme Skill: Gift Bestowal activated.]
[Mutated Poison Slime]
[Potential Talent]
— SSS class Malevolent Passenger
[Potential Skill]
— Rogue Takeover
—— The user will be able to inhabit the body of a creature or object as its shadow.
— Subdivision
—— The user can create clones of itself.
[You have discovered the Slime's hidden talent. Would you like to awaken it?]
Michael wanted to fulfill the slime's dream. He wanted to give it a second life.
ChatJK2, please awaken the slime's talent.
[Understood. Would you like to name the creature?]
Michael always wanted a dog. And he would have wanted to name the dog as…
Fudge. The slime's new name is Fudge.
A golden light emerged from his hand. A mystical power different from elemental mana flowed from the tip of his fingers and onto the slime, endowing it with a warm sensation.
The creature didn't reject Michael's hand. It knew instinctively that this was something good.
The slime's violet body started to glow, increasing in intensity until the whole cavern was lit up in a bright white light.
[Awakening complete.]
After a few seconds, the light faded.
Michael opened his eyes and saw a very strange sight.
The slime's physique was still the same as it was before, with its slimy violet body and two blob-like arms. But strangely enough, it seemed to be wearing completely dark clothes, with a hooded cloak, black gloves, and even though it had no mouth, there was a bandana covering the lower half of its head.
What the?!
The slime was wearing something that only video game characters were wearing.
Michael immediately inspected the slime's new system.
[Fudge]
[Magic: S class]
[Element Mastery: Unity element]
[Magic Purity: 93%]
[Mana Quantity: N/A]
[Species: Sapient Rogue Slime]
[Talent: SSS-class Malevolent Passenger]
[Realm: 1-star Rogue]
[Skills:]
— Rogue Takeover
— Subdivision
— Lesser Unity Gathering
— Lesser Unity Defense
ChatJK2, I have some questions…What happened to the slime? I thought it was a poison slime? Also, why is it wearing this strange outfit?
[In the process of its talent awakening, Fudge has evolved into the next stage of its evolution line.]
[Due to the intervention of the Supreme Skill, the slime has deviated from its original evolution line and has changed into something completely unique.]
Just then, Fudge suddenly awoke from his slumber and jumped up into Michael's arms.
The slime, with its complete rogue attire, looked up at Michael with gratitude in its eyes.
"Master! Thank you for gifting me this new life!" Fudge said in a fluent human language.
"You can speak?"
The slime nodded, with its hood bobbing up and down. "Yes, master. Upon my evolution, I was given a lot of new knowledge that completely changed my perspective in life."
What is Fudge talking about? Michael asked ChatJK2, suspicious of his AI assistant's antics.
[I have downloaded useful information directly into Fudge's mind to facilitate its new talent.]
Before Michael could ask ChatJK2 to elaborate, Fudge suddenly jumped out of his arms and landed on the ground with a superhero landing.
"My job in this life is to spread the majesty of your strength! Soon, the whole world will know the name Michael Vanderbilt! I will become your shadow, your loyal servant, I will be…atomic!"
Michael was speechless. Fudge's speech was taken straight out of a famous character in his previous life.
ChatJK2…you…you gave Fudge information from an ANIME?!?!