The slime, having acquired the Detox skill, approached a plant that looked as colorful as purple grass.
‘Delicious!’
Thanks to the Detox skill, the slime no longer had to worry about getting sick from poison, and could now eat any poisonous plant without hesitation.
Poisonous plants had become a delicacy for the slime.
They contained more nutrients than ordinary plants, even including poisons that could be neutralized.
Although it didn’t provide as much energy as jerky, the slime began to enjoy eating poisonous plants.
[Free Spirit] ▶ What’s going on? Why is Squishy eating poisonous plants all of a sudden?
Troll, who had been watching another stream and returned to the slime’s broadcast, was surprised to see it munching away at every poisonous plant it could find.
Scrolling back through the chat history to understand the situation, Troll quickly grasped what was going on.
‘Looks like it picked up the Detox skill in the meantime.’
According to the knowledge Troll had gained after becoming a lich, humans grow stronger through magic, divine power, and energy, whereas monsters grow stronger through skills.
The former can be achieved through effort, but the latter usually requires specific experiences.
Having traveled widely before becoming a lich and learning about poisonous plants, Troll could tell what symptoms each plant would cause just by looking at them.
‘That one causes stomach aches, that one paralysis, and that one prevents blood from clotting.’
These were poisonous plants that could cause significant suffering or even be fatal to both humans and monsters.
But for the slime, they were nothing more than tasty treats—thanks to its Detox skill.
‘At this rate, is it going to evolve into a Poison Slime?’
A Poison Slime was a higher form of slime that carried poison in its body.
Becoming a Poison Slime would reduce the threats it faced from other creatures.
‘But if it meets Nellin again, that could be a problem.’
Since its body would contain poison, touching Nellin would become difficult.
Just being near it could expose her to the effects of the poison.
Avoiding poisonous creatures was only natural.
Though the future was uncertain, Troll hoped the slime and Nellin would reunite under better circumstances.
‘That way I’d get to see more of Nellin too.’
Of course, just eating a few poisonous plants wouldn’t automatically trigger an evolution into a Poison Slime.
‘Better to suppress that possibility. Didn’t squishy like jerky?’
[Free Spirit has donated 3 coins.]
▶ [Message: Squishy! How about trying meat instead of plants?]
▷ Meat?
The slime’s attention turned at the mention of meat.
[Free Spirit] ▶ ᄋᄋ You drank deer blood just fine. Meat would be even better!
[Just Slam First] ▶ Yeah! Meat! Meat is great!
Before the slime could react, it was Fenrir, known as [Just Slam First], who responded to Troll’s suggestion.
[Just Slam First] ▶ Squishy! You’ve got to eat meat!
[Noblesse Fire] This damn wolf, what is wrong with him?
[Just Slam First] ▶ To eat meat, you’ve got to hunt! Which means it’s time! Time to use Body Slam!
Fenrir was annoyed that even though he had taught the slime the Body Slam skill, it still hadn’t used it.
Now that a perfect opportunity had come, he started enthusiastically promoting it.
[Just Slam First] ▶ With the Body Slam I taught you, you can one-shot any normal animal!
▶ Like slime can one-shot anything lololol
▶ What if it dies trying?
[Squishy Queen] ▶ My kin is not so weak! No way it’d lose to a mere animal!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Watching squishy work hard at hunting would be adorable~
Viewers began debating whether or not the slime could actually manage to hunt.
The slime thought about the word “meat.”
Was meat really delicious?
▷ Is meat tasty?
[Free Spirit] ▶ Meat is jerky.
▷ Jerky!
Among everything the slime had tasted, jerky was the most nutritious and delicious.
The idea that meat equaled jerky fired up the slime’s determination.
▷ Meat! I want to eat meat!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Then go find an animal! A rabbit, deer, boar—anything’s good!
▷ Okay!
After spending several days wandering the forest, the slime had seen many forest-dwelling animals.
Some, like deer, ignored the slime and didn’t react, while others ran away the moment they saw it.
Until now, the slime had just watched them out of curiosity.
But this time, it was time to hunt.
Because it wanted to eat meat.
The slime used its detection skill to find an animal.
– Zzzzinnng.
The detection pulse spread out from the slime.
Not long after, something was caught in the detection field.
‘Rabbit!’
The creature it found was a rabbit—one of the animals the slime had seen before.
It was an animal about the same size as the slime, and it always ran away at the sight of the slime, regardless of hostility.
Boing! Boing! The slime bounced forward with a strong desire to eat meat.
As it parted the bushes and moved forward, the slime spotted the rabbit.
‘Body Slam! I have to do it!’
After reading the chat and understanding that it needed to use a Body Slam on the rabbit to eat meat, the slime immediately tried to charge.
But the moment it leapt out of the bushes, the brown rabbit widened the distance and began to flee.
‘Rabbit! It’s running away!’
The slime hurriedly bounced after the fleeing rabbit—boing! boing!
And so began the chase between the rabbit and the slime.
The chase between the fluffy brown rabbit and the soft light-green slime, from a third-person view, was incredibly cute.
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Kyaaaa! So cute!
[Squishy Queen] ▶ Hang in there! Move a little faster, my kin!
[Noblesse Fire] So damn slow.
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ Can’t you remember that Squishy is a slime? Well, I guess a shut-in neckbeard dragon wouldn’t have the empathy to get it.
[Noblesse Fire] This bastard’s starting stuff again, huh?
▶ Hmm, rabbit butt... might be doable?
▶ Bro???
▶ Ugh, another "doable guy" lololol
The adorable chase continued for over five minutes.
In the end, the rabbit won.
No matter how much the slime chased, it couldn't catch up.
The rabbit kept changing directions and moving swiftly, making it impossible for the slime to keep up.
‘Rabbit! So fast!’
Amazed by the rabbit’s speed and disheartened by the thought of not getting to eat meat, the slime grew gloomy.
▷ Can’t eat meat...
[Just Slam First] ▶ Tsk tsk, just chasing like that won’t get you meat! I’ll teach you the basics of hunting!
▷ Basics?
[Just Slam First] ▶ That’s right! The basics of hunting!
***
‘Hehehe, there’s nothing more fun than teaching a newbie how to hunt.’
Fenrir was excited at the thought of teaching the slime how to hunt, following his earlier lesson on Body Slamming.
After all, the slime was still young, innocent, and obedient.
Just like his own kids when they were little!
Fenrir fondly recalled his interactions with his children in those beautiful memories.
– Dad~ Is this how you do it?
– Dad! I caught this! I did good, right?
– I caught something even bigger! Hehehe!
They used to smile brightly and proudly show him the prey they caught just like he taught them.
But now...
– Pfft, yeah, I’m done hunting for today.
They just hunted enough to fill their bellies and then lazed around.
– Go hunting with you? That’s a hassle.
Even when he asked to go hunting together, they’d pull a face as if it were too much trouble.
– What’s the point of catching something that big? We’re not even going back to the cave.
Even when he tried to relive old memories by hunting a big one, his children just couldn’t understand.
Reminiscing only made him compare the bittersweet present with the past, and Fenrir shed silent tears in his heart.
They say raising children is useless.
‘I’ll show you the essence of hunting, Squishy!’
Fenrir, missing his pure and adorable children from the past, saw the slime as a way to relive a little bit of those joyful days.
***
Just like with the Body Slamming lessons, Fenrir’s hunting class took several days.
Of course, there was no way the slime could master Fenrir’s hunting methods in just a few days.
So what Fenrir taught instead was the art of ambush.
Move quietly so as not to make a sound, then strike when the prey lets its guard down.
With the slime’s only offensive move being the Body Slam, it was the only viable method it had.
After several days of training, the slime passed Fenrir’s test and was brimming with confidence.
‘Meat! I’m gonna eat it!’
Trembling with determination, the slime immediately set off to hunt.
First, just like before, it used detection to search for prey.
– Zzzzing.
It found a rabbit again and boing! boing! closed the distance to some extent.
Then, once it got within striking range, the slime stopped bouncing and began to crawl forward instead.
Creeping slowly.
‘Gotta move slowly!’
The importance of surprise.
To avoid being detected, the slime moved as stealthily as it could.
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Watching Squishy move so slowly is too adorable~!
[Just Slam First] ▶ Yes! That’s it! Carefully! Don’t get noticed!
The newbie hunter’s first hunt had the viewers completely hooked.
▶ Why am I so nervous about this?
▶ Watching newbies is always peak entertainment lol
[Gothic Luxury Bone] ▶ I’m curious to see if Squishy will succeed.
Ignoring the ongoing stream of chat messages, the slime focused solely on the hunt.
‘There it is!’
Crawling slowly, the slime spotted the rabbit.
‘Still too far!’
The slime crept forward bit by bit.
From behind the rabbit.
Moving quietly so the sensitive-eared rabbit wouldn’t react to any sound.
And the moment it got as close as possible...
The slime reached Body Slam range and launched its attack.
‘Body Slam!’
Putting all its strength into it, the slime pushed off the ground with a bounce and slammed into the rabbit.
Thump—the rabbit fell over.
▶ Oh! It hit!
[Just Slam First] ▶ That’s it!
▶ It did that in one shot?
Slimes are usually among the weakest of monsters.
But before leaving the cave, this slime had learned Body Slam techniques under Fenrir and had gained nutrition from animal blood and jerky.
It wasn’t an enormous improvement, but it was enough to take out a rabbit in a single Body Slam.
‘Yay!’
▷ I did it!
Its first successful hunt.
The joy of finally catching the rabbit that had always escaped.
The sense of accomplishment from days of effort finally bearing fruit.
And the excitement of finally being able to eat meat.
The slime bounced up and down in place—boing! boing!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy! Well done!
[Squishy Queen] ▶ You did well, my kin! That’s how you grow stronger!
[Noblesse Fire] ▶ What’s so great about catching just one rabbit.
▶ That old-timer’s tracking and dodging was insane.
▶ That’s why you keep getting kicked from rooms lol
High on the thrill of its first hunt, the slime stopped bouncing and stared at the fallen rabbit with a new question.
‘Where’s the meat?’
Even though the slime had caught the rabbit, believing it would get jerky—that is, meat—there was no jerky in sight.
And it made sense, because the only form of meat the slime knew was jerky.
It couldn’t equate the flat, red jerky with the dead rabbit before it.
So the slime asked the chat.
▷ No meat!
▶ What do you mean, no meat?
▷ No jerky!
▶ Ah...
▶ Don’t tell me you still don’t get it?
▶ Lolololol
▶ I didn’t think of that lololol
▶ Of course there’s no jerky lolol
The slime, looking for jerky in front of the dead rabbit, made the chat burst into laughter.
Troll, who had first suggested hunting to the slime, stepped in to explain.
[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy, the rabbit is meat!
▷ Not meat!
▷ Meat is red! Rabbit is brown!
[Free Spirit] ▶ There’s meat inside the rabbit!
▷ ?
Seeing that the slime still didn’t understand, an anonymous message appeared in the chat.
▶Don’t ask questions! Just eat the rabbit!
▶ You hunted it, so you gotta eat it lol
▶ Once you try, you’ll know lol
▷ Eat rabbit?
▶ You drank deer blood just fine! Give it a go!
▶ Try it, try it!
The slime still couldn’t grasp that the rabbit was meat.
But following the advice in the chat, the slime decided to try absorbing the rabbit.
With a boing!, the slime jumped onto the dead rabbit and began to absorb it.
As the rabbit slowly entered the slime’s body and was absorbed—
‘…! It’s meat!’
The slime finally realized that the rabbit was meat.