Suddenly, I Became a Slime

Chapter 16: Pillar

Whoa! Yikes!

Feeling extremely 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 me 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 me.

The wind is so harsh that it leaves temporary holes in my body. Just thinking about it makes me 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 some sort of device to filter out non-humans.

…I feel like I saw something 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 meat.

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

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

Seeing the boiling chunks of meat wriggling as if alive makes me 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 smell.

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

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

In the midst of that.

*Clank… Clank…*

The large chunks of meat on the hooks create an endless procession and vanish somewhere.

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

Why does a place that houses something like me exist…?

Then one thought pierces my mind.

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

The controlled area is the procession of chunks of meat.

Meat 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 meat exiting somewhere from the controlled area.

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It seems to refer to the meat of creatures like me.

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

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

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

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

My body feels limp.

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

Shaking my head causes some 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 time when I am moping around, forgetting even why I came here.

[$!*($!]

A voice can be heard from somewhere. Due to my foggy mind, I can’t understand what is said, but it makes me 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 come out of me, anyway?

Not even that many chunks of meat can come out of me, 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 me with a friendly face. Then the voice I heard earlier, filled with longing, comes to mind. Was that fake too?

I don’t know.

I wish someone would tell me the answer if they knew.

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

It is… something 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 meat I have seen so far are coming out of that pillar.

It is truly bizarre.

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

A stick oozing out raw meat.

At first it might sound a bit strange to some 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 something existing in a form I know.

But this… what on earth.

[$(!$!#]

At that moment.

Once again, I hear someone’s, no something’s, voice.

It gives me that same 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 meat.

*Thump, thump.*

It is coming from the pillar.

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

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

As I get closer, the smell wafting from the meat becomes stronger. I can tell the identity of those flesh lumps.

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

The strange smell of the MRE that I felt after I turned into a slime.

Was this what its main ingredient was?

*Rustle!*

Although it is my first time 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 come this far while I am dawdling.

… I am suspicious of what they want from me.

But.

Thinking of the woman who looked at me 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 meat are coming out.

*Squelch!*

Only holes where meat 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 meat is coming out is high up.

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

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

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

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

…It would be a tight squeeze.

Even the strange sounds coming from inside bother me.

“For the delivery…”

Now a voice is heard.

There is no choice.

I fly into the hole as the meat 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 meat leaps out and cuts my leg.

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

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

[#@$@$$!]

Another weird sound echoes closer now.

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

*Snap!*

Unfailingly, the cut piece of meat disappears.

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

Loud noises start coming from outside.

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

The smell 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 emergency, her expression doesn’t seem all that pleased.

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

“It seemed 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 something leaked from the upper factory.”

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

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

…Is this the fate of the slime girl?

Han Seori forces a smile.

She leaves the control zone with the director.

For now, she thinks returning is the priority.