Chapter 78: A Changed Daily Life |
“Here, can you move this too? Just put it over there where I told you earlier.”
The thing that has changed the most drastically in my altered daily life is that Han Seori has started ordering me around.
If you ask if she wasn’t already ordering me around, I would say that the tasks she’s assigning me now have a somewhat different nature.
Until now, the things Han Seori had been ‘requesting’ of me were tasks that I was also interested in and stimulated my ‘adventurous spirit.’
If it felt like I was doing work that bordered between a hobby and a job, even though I hated working
Now, the tasks Han Seori is ordering me to do… remind me of the work I did when I was human.
These are tasks that I don’t want to do but have to do.
Miscellaneous tasks… far from any adventure.
Did she suddenly adopt a creed that those who don’t work shall not eat?
Tasks like moving the luggage piled up at the entrance inside, as I’m doing now.
Moving the disassembled electric fan was a rather tense job, but the things that started piling up after that were not very interesting items.
When I move those things inside with the other slimes, I feel remorseful and miserable, wondering if this is why I fixed this facility.
But it’s not all bad.
Han Seori, who registered the jellies and me as exceptions, has changed her attitude a bit while giving me these tasks.
Her eyes are still filled with curiosity and interest, making me feel an indescribable chill,
but I feel like she’s treating me as… something human-like rather than as the being called an ‘anomaly.’
It doesn’t seem like she’s fully treating me as human, but it feels somehow different from looking at me as an object of curiosity or something cute.
The proof of that is probably the changed room.
I didn’t mention the rooms I stayed in before coming here, but I was vaguely aware that they were meant to confine something.
But… the room Han Seori gave me this time was different.
It was empty because it still needed to be filled with things, but it looked like a room ‘people’ would normally use.
Instead of a white room that makes you feel like you’ll develop OCD, the wallpaper in calming colors surrounding the walls is impressive.
…No, wait, that’s not wallpaper, it’s… *ahem*.
I’ll have to change that too.
Anyway.
She gave me tasks and assigned me an ordinary yet special room.
And if I used to always wait for Han Seori or Kim Cheonsu to come to me, now I’ve gained freedom of movement.
Actually, this was the most decisive change.
I don’t know how it turned out this way, though.
Now, I can freely enter and leave my room, not only when I’m moving luggage but also anytime.
If I want to see Han Seori, I can open the door, go out, and knock on the door of the room next to me.
I’ve never actually tried it, though.
Of course, it’s an incomplete freedom since I can’t leave this facility, but freedom is still freedom.
…To be honest, I could probably leave if I really wanted to, but I don’t feel the need to.
Even if I went outside, everything was covered in snow, so I didn’t particularly want to go out.
But.
Was there ever a town in our country where snow piled up all year round?
I sifted through my memories but couldn’t grab onto any.
After pondering for a while, I finally gave up trying to recall.
Hmm.
Well… it must have been somewhere.
It’s a small piece of land, and the weather is crazy, so it may have been a place I didn’t know about.
If not.
Maybe this place has changed like this because of the anomaly?
I don’t know.
Anyway, if it became winter without me knowing, I didn’t want to go outside for the time being.
…If the weather is really going to be like this forever.
My motivation to go out plummets.
Not that I was going to anyway.
I’m not at the age to have snowball fights and make snowmen.
While I was thinking that I might have to count my age from the beginning now that I’ve become like this.
I somehow felt peckish.
I got up from lying down and lazing around in my room after finishing the task Han Seori had given me.
Looking around, the other slimes also seemed to be hungry and listless.
In the past, I would have had to wait for Han Seori or Kim Cheonsu to bring food.
But now it’s different.
I got up from my spot, went outside, and started walking.
And following my memory, I headed to the kitchen.
It didn’t seem to originally be a kitchen, but it turned into a kitchen-like space after Kim Cheonsu and Han Seori tinkered with it.
So.
Now, if I’m hungry, I can go and get my own food.
I don’t have to wait endlessly for someone to bring me a meal.
…To be honest, I sort of prefer when they just bring food to me, but this isn’t bad either.
And.
Those two looked very busy, so… it was a bit much to nag them for food.
Looking at them walking around with faces that made me doubt if they were getting proper sleep… I thought maybe they wanted to employ an extra pair of hands to lighten their workload.
Anyway, that’s how it is.
When I went inside, I headed to where the food was stored.
There was no raw meat, but there were quite a lot of various canned foods and instant meals.
Among them, I noticed that the Soylent Purple Co. MREs I used to enjoy eating were missing and felt a strange feeling.
It wasn’t that I was disappointed that something I liked to eat had disappeared.
Thinking that what I did is affecting the world… somehow, I feel a thrilling sensation.
An unwanted extraordinary life.
I’m not at the point of saying it’s good to be a slime, though.
But… I might start feeling a bit thankful.
After standing and wobbling my jelly for a bit, I grabbed the ramen.
Out of habit from when I was human, I only took out one ramen, but then I counted the numbers for a moment.
Daesik, Jungsik, Sosik.
And me.
…One was definitely not going to be enough.
I wobbled my jelly, thinking it couldn’t be helped, and took out four more ramen.
Along with the large pot next to it.
Why five, you ask?
To be honest, considering their appetites, I thought ten might not be enough either…
But what can I do if there is no more ramen?
I stepped on the footstool someone had placed, filled the pot with water, and lit the fire.
Back when I was hiding in my studio apartment, I ate uncooked ramen because I was afraid of getting caught… looking at it this way, things have really improved a lot.
Then, I tore open all the ramen and poured the dried noodles into the pot.
That’s when I realized one thing.
I learned today that when you dump them in like this, quite a lot spills outside than you’d think.
…I noticed when the things that should have stuck to my body fell off and dissolved with a bubbling sound.
While tasting the flavor of the dissolving noodles, I waited, and the water started to boil.
Without hesitation, I added the ramen seasoning.
Soon, I could taste the ramen broth.
Perhaps because I dumped everything in at once, the ramen broth was swaying like waves with a *swish*.
But it’s no problem.
In the past, I would have shouted, “Ah hot, fuck” and cursed, but to me, who has become a slime, it’s no different than seasoning.
The slightly salty broth that splashed on me made me think I got the water balance right.
Next, I put the noodles into the steaming pot.
This was easy, too.
Because even the hot steam can’t burn my body.
Hmm.
Maybe this body is cut out for cooking.
I feel like I wouldn’t even blink an eye if oil splashed with this body.
While I was absorbed in my newly discovered talent.
I felt someone approaching this place.
I didn’t have to turn my head because I could see everything anyway.
Then I saw Han Seori approaching with a tired face, sniffing the air.
“Huh? What’s this smell… oh?”
She was walking over with a weary gait, but then she smiled contentedly as she approached me and muttered softly in admiration.
Heh.
It seemed Han Seori was also surprised by my cooking skills.
*Growl*
Han Seori’s belly clock rang.
“Ah…”
She looked at me with an embarrassed face.
Maybe she was a little shy.
Her face seems a bit red, too.
I looked at Han Seori, stepped down from the footstool after lowering the heat, and came down silently.
“Hm?”
Leaving behind her puzzled voice, I went into the storage room and found a small pot, a ladle, and tongs.
When I came out, I got on the footstool, scooped out the noodles with the tongs, and transferred the broth.
Han Seori was looking at me with a strange face.
She spoke in a slightly moved voice.
“Are you giving it to me by any chance?”
…It’s embarrassing now that I hear it directly.
I boiled one ramen per jelly anyway, so there shouldn’t be a big problem giving away one serving.
If they have a problem with it, they can boil it themselves.
Anyway.
After handing the small pot to Han Seori, I picked up the hot and large pot and got off the footstool.
Behind me, as I was heading back to the room carrying the heavy pot.
I hear Han Seori’s voice.
“…But who taught you how to make ramen? Did Cheonsu teach you?”
Somehow, I feel a chill running down my back.
…I don’t know. She called me a genius, so this much should be fine, right?
I hurried back to the room, *squish squish* down the hallway.
Then, belatedly, realizing I didn’t bring any bowls to share the ramen.
…I just ate it with my hands.
This body made that very convenient.
Han Seori, who followed me, seemed a bit flustered, but.
Anyway.
I was quite satisfied with the new facility I moved into.
It was peaceful.
…When I say things like this, trouble always happens.
I don’t know.
Contrary to my slightly uneasy feeling…
The ramen was delicious.
