Chapter 79: A Problematic Research Center |
“Come to think of it, there were instructions on the back….”
As Han Seori muttered to herself while watching me and the slimes eating ramen from a large pot, she turned around with an unsteady gait and went back to her room.
Why did she rush all the way here?
Since I couldn’t understand, I focused on the task of distributing the ramen to the slimes.
It was an unavoidable choice as it would be unpleasant if I just shoved my hands in and ate one of the slimes by mistake.
I regret not bringing some bowls.
Going back again would be very troublesome, so I made up my mind to bring them next time.
I fed the noodles into Jungsik’s body.
Inside the body of the whale-like creature.
It’s not something strange, but those wiggly noodles… reminded me of parasites.
Especially since I heard that whales have a lot of parasites.
Jungsik ate the ramen I fed him without knowing I was having such thoughts.
Since everything inside could be seen at a glance, I had to watch all the wiggly noodles melt away.
Daesik came out of Alice and ate enthusiastically, while Sosik seemed happy to have me feed him as he extended his body.
It feels a bit strange since he looks similar to me.
Anyways.
As I was distributing ramen to them and shoving noodles into my own body.
Suddenly, I had the desire to slurp noodles.
When I saw it on the Internet, I used to think, “Why do they like eating in such a vulgar way?”
But now… as I’m shoving noodles into my body, I really miss eating like that.
Hmm…
I’ve already recreated chewing, so couldn’t I do this too?
I felt somewhat excited after calculating and distributing the slimes’ portions of ramen.
I put the ramen in front of me and racked my brain to figure out how to recreate slurping.
But when I actually tried to do it… I couldn’t figure out how.
To be exact, it felt like being asked how you breathe.
In the first place, you just naturally breathe. You don’t understand the principle and then inhale, right?
If you delve deeper, concepts like the autonomic nervous system and such would come pouring out, much like the tubers hanging off the vines of a sweet potato plant, but…
…I don’t really know.
Since those things all disappeared when I became a slime… I have no idea what to do.
So, I first attached the noodles to my mouth.
Then, I tried to pull the noodles with the slime near my mouth.
The difficulty level of this was easier than creating teeth inside my mouth to chew.
It wasn’t like I was creating something… I was just pulling something from inside.
But the result wasn’t very satisfactory.
It felt like playing a meat grinder in reverse.
Instead of slurping the noodles, it looked like snot or saliva going back into the nose.
As the noodles touching my body were dragged up, my body got covered in soup.
It didn’t matter since it would seep inside anyway… but it was a very disappointing sight, and my slime drooped.
While attempting this and that… it hit me anew how complex the human body was.
Trying to manually recreate everything I unknowingly enjoyed… was very difficult.
Was chewing and slurping this hard?
In the first place, the problem seemed to be that there’s no empty space inside my body… but this body doesn’t need that space….
Ugh, my head hurts.
Giving up on slurping noodles, I obediently ate the remaining ramen.
While I was pondering, the ramen had gotten very bloated.
But to me now, it felt like the quantity increased, so it was rather good.
And so, as ordinary daily life continued, one day…
I approached Kim Cheonsu, who was sitting in the control room looking at something.
Behind me, the slimes, Jungsik and Daesik, wriggled as they followed.
If it seems like someone is missing, it’s not a mistake.
It wasn’t a big deal anymore, so I decided not to pay it any mind.
…It may feel like looking at a sibling shut inside the house.
In reality, no one was around to comment on it… so I didn’t really feel it was a problem.
It just seemed like a waste to be lazy in my form.
Anyway.
As I approached Kim Cheonsu to ask what he was doing, he waved his hand half-heartedly and continued what he was working on.
I stuck to the back of his chair and looked to see what he was doing.
Focusing my gaze in the same direction as him, I saw what was likely the surroundings reflected on a large screen.
In other words.
…A completely white world unfolded before my eyes.
Looking at a scenery where only snow could be seen, fitting to be called a snowy land… some fairly old PTSD came creeping up.
The only reason it didn’t get worse was…
Because no one told me to go out and clear all that.
I was confident I would faint if someone told me to go out and shovel that snow.
…I wasn’t worried since I knew that wouldn’t happen.
Then.
In the distance, I thought I could see something like barbed wire fences.
Focusing my vision… it definitely seemed to be barbed wire fences.
My slime bubbled at the sight of structures you’d usually see near military bases.
I felt the urge to say something, but I was thankful I had no mouth to blurt it out.
And then.
Seeing that barbed wire fence and snow… I felt like I could roughly tell where this place was.
Isn’t the only place with all these conditions is the border with “that country”?
If the season had changed to winter while I was at another facility… it wouldn’t be strange at all.
News often reported heavy snowfall near the border with that country.
I just didn’t expect it to be this much.
But.
What the heck is Kim Cheonsu doing?
Is he… healing himself by looking at a place with nothing?
It certainly was a beautiful sight if you didn’t have to worry about shoveling it.
Should I say it’s like looking at a sea made of snow?
But it doesn’t quite seem like that’s what he’s doing, so I was about to rip out the memo pad next to him and ask.
*Boom!*
Something exploded on the screen.
It was very small, so it wasn’t clearly visible, but with the sound of an explosion, snow could definitely be seen scattering in all directions.
As I watched dumbfoundedly with my slime wobbling.
The sound of simultaneous explosions could be heard.
It looked as if something was zooming around, detonating bombs.
And at the end of those explosions.
…The silhouette of something huge was revealed.
Something huge I had never seen before in my life.
The thing that appeared with the explosions… looked like a giant snake.
I’m just saying it looked like that. It didn’t feel like the commonly mentioned Imugi or dragon…
It reminded me of a monster from a movie that aired a long time ago.
The monster that pops out, reacting to sound as it wanders the desert and devours people.
After causing explosions, it disappeared back into the snow with quite a loud noise.
The surroundings that had been a complete mess were covered by falling snow as if nothing had happened, turning pure white again.
Watching that scene.
I got the feeling that something was strange about this area, too.
I thought it was just the border with “that country” having entered winter.
But it seemed the problem wasn’t that simple.
While I was dazed, Kim Cheonsu’s goal seemed to be recording that thing’s movements as he manipulated the panel to do something.
As I watched Kim Cheonsu, I wished in my heart.
Please don’t let us get tangled up with that thing.
I called upon all the gods I knew, wondering who I should pray to.
Gods are probably all somewhere, too, now that I’ve become like this, no?
Or not?
I don’t know.
Anyway, it’ll be fine as long as they grant my wish, right?
A few days later.
As I was wandering around the facility, I witnessed Han Seori and Kim Cheonsu looking at the screen with grave expressions.
I tried hard to think that it seemed like they were just watching a movie, but.
The two people’s faces as they looked at the screen appeared full of concern.
Seeing their faces that had cleared up after busy work become dark again…
…It seemed something was about to happen.
Could it be that none of the gods listened to my wish?
Or maybe… I shouldn’t have done that?
As I approached the two people without realizing it, I could hear them talking in sighing voices.
“You said it seems to be getting closer?”
“Yes. I’ve been observing it for the past few days… Its range of activity has been gradually expanding. If my calculations are correct… It seems to be heading straight for this research center.”
“…Hmm.”
So… that thing is coming here?
Why…?
Like someone who heard the news of a tsunami hitting in the middle of the night, I unknowingly held my forehead.
Han Seori, who finally noticed my presence, picked me up and held me to her chest.
Han Seori held me close as if to relieve stress.
As I felt her body heat, I became embarrassed, and then…
I saw Kim Cheonsu looking at me with strangely envious eyes for some reason.
Seeing eyes that seemed envious… I wanted to tease him a bit.
I smirked at him, and he blinked and fake coughed.
I was disappointed by his reaction, which differed from my thoughts.
Then, Han Seori, who held me and relieved her stress (at least I think she did), said in a low voice.
“For now… the fact that this research center began operating itself may be the cause. If so, there’s only one way.”
“What is that?”
Han Seori spoke as if feeling chills, shivering.
“We’ll have to lower the facility’s operating rate to a minimum.”
“You mean…?”
“No heating or anything for the time being. We’ll try that and… if there’s a reaction, we’ll have to find the right level.”
Han Seori sighed.
“But if it keeps chasing us… Well….”
Han Seori looked at my knowledge pouch for some reason.
…No, she’s looking at me, right?
Uh… so she’s telling me to somehow deal with that thing?
Has she lost her mind?
I mean, I can act like a friendly neighbor, but I’m not a superhero, you know?
I wanted to go back to my room.
God, Buddha, Allah… who else is there.
Hoping in my heart that Han Seori’s prediction would be right, I searched for the gods who didn’t listen to my request.
Please listen to me this time.
But before the future of facing off against that huge thing.
Bitter cold found us first.
