A slime perceives nutrients entering its body as taste.
So, it couldn't help but be surprised while absorbing the rabbit.
Because the "taste" it felt was similar to what it had experienced when absorbing deer blood or eating jerky.
Thanks to that identical taste, the slime could recognize the rabbit as meat.
But—
‘It’s not jerky!’
No matter how fresh the rabbit was, it couldn't be exactly the same as jerky.
Naturally so, since jerky is a cooked and seasoned food.
While both are meat and thus have similar nutrients, the taste was clearly different.
▷ You lied!
▶ ??? A lie?
▶ What do you mean, a lie?
▷ It was rabbit meat! But not rabbit jerky!
▶ Ahahaha
▶ It wasn’t jerky hahaha
[Noblesse Fire]▶ It can tell the difference?
[Squishy Queen] ▶ What do you take slimes for? Of course it can tell at least that much!
▷ You lied! Bad!
When the taste of jerky it had anticipated didn’t come, the slime erupted in an angry boing! boing!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Jerky is made of meat too! But wasn’t it still tasty?
According to Troll’s studies, most monsters could enjoy raw meat just fine.
So he assumed the slime would also enjoy the rabbit.
▷ It’s tasty! But not jerky!
The slime admitted it was delicious but insisted it wasn't the jerky flavor it had hoped for.
Its anger didn’t fade easily.
▷ You said meat jerky! Not rabbit jerky!
[Thread-Lady] ▶ Oh no! Even angry Squishy is so cute~
▶Is there anything that doesn’t look cute in an auntie’s eyes?
[Thread-Lady]▶ Who are you calling an auntie?!
▶Ahahahaha
▶ You’re an auntie if you’ve had kids~
▶ROFL
‘Hmm, how do I calm this anger?’
Troll, in his workshop, thought for a moment about how to soothe the slime's frustration—and then suddenly had an idea.
It was to divert the slime’s attention elsewhere.
[Free Spirit] ▶ Squishy! I explained it poorly! Sorry!
▷ Meat! But not jerky!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Yeah, it wasn’t jerky. My bad. But it was tasty, right? Don’t you want to eat more?
▷ I do want more!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Then how about hunting a different animal next time instead of a rabbit? I bet it’ll be tastier and you can eat more too!
▷ A different animal?
[Free Spirit] ▶ Like deer or wild boars!
‘Deer!’
The slime immediately reacted to Troll’s suggestion.
It still remembered the taste of deer blood it had for the first time.
Not quite as good as jerky, but it had a revitalizing flavor.
Now it wondered—what would it taste like if it ate the whole body like it did with the rabbit?
The anger vanished somewhere, and curiosity about the deer’s flavor bloomed inside the slime.
▷ Deer! I want to eat deer!
[Free Spirit] ▶ Then go look for one!
▷ Okay!
[Noblesse Fire]▶ It actually worked?
▶ It’s still a kid, haha
[Just Slam First]▶ It'll only be fooled for a little while. Once it grows a bit, it’ll figure it out and glare with eyes full of mistrust…
▶ No one asked about your tragic backstory.
***
“Whew, I avoided being hated by Squishy.”
Troll let out a relieved sigh inside the commons.
The slime still showed signs of innocence.
But Troll knew.
That innocence shouldn’t be underestimated—pulling too many pranks or telling too many lies would eventually create lasting resentment.
Just like how children remember the pranks played on them even when they grow up.
Troll still hadn’t forgotten the prank he’d suffered when he was a pure-hearted child.
‘Still, now that Squishy is showing interest in animal meat... Then next...’
He thought he should teach the slime to be cautious when it comes to meeting humans.
Unless it’s a monster from the Demon Continent, the slime was still very weak.
It might be able to handle rabbits, but if it ever ran into humans or stronger monsters, there was a high chance it would be attacked.
So he’d advise it to avoid humans as much as possible.
‘But that curious Squishy would never just stay still.’
He knew this from the reaction when Squishy first encountered Nellin.
If it meets a human again, it will definitely approach out of curiosity.
Even if the slime had the power to protect itself and defeat the humans attacking it—
‘I must stop it from eating people.’
Since becoming a lich, Troll thought there was no need to care about human morals anymore.
In fact, he didn't feel disgusted even when seeing monsters kill and eat humans on some broadcasts.
After all, it was humans who betrayed and cornered Troll into becoming a lich, so there was no reason for him to take their side.
However—
Even aside from the ethical problem, the moment the slime eats a human, it will be in danger.
What if rumors spread that the slime ate a human?
A bounty for subjugating the slime might be issued.
If a person died to a slime, people would just scoff—
Pff, how pathetic do you have to be to die to a slime?
But if the slime ate a person—
That slime is dangerous! It must be eliminated!
And crowds would rush to hunt it down.
More than anything—
‘Nellin would be heartbroken.’
Troll thought that if the slime, who promised to reunite, and who was judged weak and harmless, became a man-eating monster, Nellin would surely be saddened.
He didn’t care what happened to other humans, but he wouldn’t allow his past comrade to be hurt or that promise of reunion to be defiled.
‘Of course, this isn’t something to worry about right away.’
After leaving the elf village, the slime was still traveling forward.
But it would take over a week even by carriage to reach the next human settlement from the elf village.
So there was no immediate concern about the slime, wandering in the elf forest, encountering humans.
On the broadcast screen, the slime was bouncing boing! boing! using detection magic to find a deer.
Its soft, wiggly body bouncing energetically was cute—
But watching only this broadcast was starting to get boring.
As a veteran viewer, Troll couldn’t get too stuck on just one stream.
‘I should check out some other broadcasts.’
Since there was nothing urgent to worry about, Troll began browsing other channels.
‘Oh? The Slime Queen is streaming again for the first time in a while. I thought she’d be too busy watching Squishy.’
Troll entered the Slime Queen’s channel.
And then—
▶ [Free Spirit has been kicked from the channel.]
▶ ‘!?’
He was kicked out the moment he entered.
***
“Hmph! How dare you try to enter, you insolent fool.”
As soon as she saw the notification that Troll had entered, the Slime Queen kicked him out.
The reason? She was offended.
After the slime left the elf village, the Slime Queen had been thinking hard about how to guide Squishy from here on.
Even if she respected the slime’s will, she believed she could still suggest a better path!
But there was a huge problem.
As the highest-ranking slime, the Slime Queen instinctively knew the vast potential that slimes held as monsters.
And that was the issue—she knew too much.
Everything seemed like a good path, so she couldn’t decide which one to recommend.
Thus, the Slime Queen was stuck in indecision!
That’s why she thought—
Let’s open up as many possibilities as possible for now!
Normally, she would’ve left things to natural growth depending on the environment—
But slimes, unusually, had intelligence from a young age.
In that case—
‘Surely the system’s moment of choice will come even for my kind.’
So when that time came, she wanted to help the slime increase its range of choices.
She had made that resolution when—
Just as she was about to type in chat “Don’t eat too many toxic herbs,” Troll jumped in and told the slime to eat more meat instead!
From the Queen’s point of view, not only had he beaten her to it, but it felt like he’d stolen her role completely.
Then, when the slime failed to catch the rabbit, even Fenrir stepped in to teach it ambush tactics.
Troll and Fenrir.
To the Slime Queen, the two were now insolent and infuriating beings who had snatched away her rightful role.
▶ Slime Queenie ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡
▶ It’s been a while since your last stream.
▶ Why haven’t you been streaming lately?
—I’ll stream whenever I feel like it. And I won’t be able to stream often from now on.
▶ ????
▶ Why why why why why?
—I have a kin to look after. That’s all you need to know.
▶Did a Slime King show up nearby or something?
▶ Oh, is Slime Queen finally mating?
▶ [Anonymous4299 has been kicked from the channel.]
— Who said anything about mating?! How rude!
▶ LOL she says that after kicking them out.
▶ Yeah, mating crossed the line haha.
▶ Ah! Se—x!
[User “MatingParrot” has been kicked from the channel.]
After kicking out a few trolls who always popped in whenever she streamed, the Slime Queen looked back on the reasons why she had resumed broadcasting after so long.
Unlike Squishy, the regular slimes had no ego and moved purely by instinct, following only the commands of the Slime Queen.
However, that didn’t mean they just stood still like puppets.
They may not have the intelligence to be recognized by the system, but even ordinary slimes had the intelligence of small animals.
When the Slime Queen, who regularly issued commands, stopped reacting, even the dullest of slimes sensed that something was off.
Since they couldn’t see the system windows, all they saw was their queen staring blankly into the void.
They wondered if something had happened to their leader.
The slimes unconsciously began to gather around her, concerned.
The Slime Queen, who could not only give commands but also sense the emotions of her kin, could clearly feel their strong collective consciousness.
Of course, most of it was just confusion about being hungry or not understanding the commands.
But when she sensed that the slimes were actually worried about her, the Slime Queen couldn’t help but be surprised.
‘I’ve been so focused on Squishy, I neglected all of you.’
Even if they were low in intelligence, they were still her kin, living in the same cave.
Seeing the slimes worried about her brought a gentle smile to the Slime Queen’s face.
And so, after several days, the Slime Queen resumed her usual slime stunt show broadcast.
As soon as her usual commands returned, the slimes’ worries faded away.
***
‘Deer! Meat!’
The slime had changed its target from rabbit to deer.
Just as they say adversity fuels determination, the slime was more fired up than ever compared to when it was hunting rabbits.
Because it had failed to catch a deer for four whole days!
Deer were no easy prey.
It had approached carefully, but the problem began the moment it tried a body slam.
Size wasn’t the issue—it had hit larger animals than rabbits before.
The slime’s body slam landed squarely on the deer’s torso.
But the problem was durability.
Unlike rabbits, the deer didn’t go down in one hit.
Surprised by the blow, the deer simply bolted away.
Even though the slime tried to chase, the deer was too fast to catch.
Watching the failed hunt, the chat burst into laughter again, and advice came flying in.
▶ Close one, LOL
[Just Slam First] ▶ You gotta aim for the vital points! Drop it in one blow!
▶Target a weak spot that can take the prey down instantly, especially where it wouldn’t expect.
The slime took that advice to heart and, after several days of trial and error—
Now, it had the perfect opportunity.
It located the deer’s position and began to approach.
Checked the nearby terrain.
Without alerting the deer, it crept toward a tree nearby and slowly climbed up.
Finally, it aimed at the deer’s head—
Boing!
It launched itself downward in a body slam.
The deer, caught off guard, took the blow to the head and crashed into the ground.
Its legs buckled, and with its face buried in the dirt, it collapsed on the spot.
‘Deer! I caught it!’
Just as the slime was about to bounce in joy, thrilled at its successful hunt—
A voice from the system rang out.
[Required experience has been met.]
[You have fulfilled the evolution condition.]
[Multiple possible evolution paths detected.]
[Please choose the species to evolve into.]
‘Evolution?’