2 Reincarnation

I can't see anything. Where am I? And most importantly, What the hell happened to me? Let's calm down. It's not time to panic yet. The last thing I remember was someone teasing me about Sage and Great Sage. But, before that... I-I remember now.

I was stabbed while trying to save Tamura. I remember it all now. I won't be panic. Let's breathe calmly. The last time I lost my composure was when I shat my pants in grade school. Now let's try to recap what happened slowly...

I was stabbed... even though I don't feel anything now. Well, that's weird. Why don't I feel Cold? or Hot? I don't feel any pain at all... Wait! I CAN'T FEEL MY HANDS AND FEET TOO!! What the hell!

Mikami, who started losing his composure, swayed his body back and forth and realized that he could move it. His body still had a sensation. He tried seeing again and noticed that he had a blurry vision that seemed to be in black and white.

Is that a rock?! Does that mean I'm not in the hospital? Then, Where... am I?

He moved a little and got a feeling of what was under him. It felt like a plant.

Does my mouth work? My voice... Nope, zero, null. No voice. Do I even have a mouth?

ZING!

Ahh, what a nice feeling. Did that plant just dissolve? What is this sensation permeating through my whole body... Kimogiiiii.

So, what happened to me? Humans normally shouldn't dissolve plants. This is too weird. Did I really die? Hmm, this does seem the case. Then... What happened to Tamura and Sawatari-san? DID HE WIPE THE HARD DRIVE CLEAN?! And... Just WHAT THE HECK AM I, NOW?!!

It seems that I have some form of elasticity, I concluded while moving more akin to bouncing actually. What the hell happened to my body? Why am I round? What happened to my buff, hot, and manly body?! Now, I have taken this streamlined like form...

This... This... I DON'T WANT TO ACCEPT THIS?!!! I'm a slime, aren't I? I'm not human anymore. It seems that after I got stabbed, I died and reincarnated... as a slime nonetheless...

It's been a long time since then. Surprisingly, this body is really cool. I don't need to eat, sleep, nor do I get tired. Then, are you asking why am I eating plants right now? THAT'S BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING TO DO!!

Wait, who am I even talking to? Ahh, who cares. I am talking to myself. Let's go with that. Anyway, I do wonder where this stuff I ate goes. Hmm...

[Answer.]

AGhhh

[It is stored in the stomach of your unique skill, Predator.]

What's this voice? Wait... I heard this voice when I was getting stabbed. So, it wasn't my imagination... Wh-Who are you?

[Answer.]

[It is the effect of your unique skill, Great Sage. Now that your ability has been established you are capable of reacting more quickly.]

Great Sage... Wasn't this what I muttered while I was dying... Ahem. So these 'Skills' are they my abilities? And what is Predator?

[It allows you to ingest objects and analyze them within your body. You can then acquire the objects' skills. Once the analysis is complete, you can mimic the object as well. The stomach stores the object you ingest. It can also isolate harmful substances that can't be analyzed.]

This Predator seems like an amazing ability. Should a slime really possess it? Meh, since I already have it... Can you analyze the plants I ate?

[Analysis complete.]

[Hipokute Herbs: A valuable plant that only grows in areas rich in magicules. Used as ingredients in salves and healing potions.]

Magicules? What's that?

[Magicules: A special energetic material found in all the-]

STOP! Say it in words I understand!

[They are the building blocks of life in all the magical beings.]

Building blocks of life? I understand. So this cave must be full of magicules, which is why these valuable herbs grow here, right? So I can analyze these hipokute herbs and store them in my stomach. Does that mean... I can create salves and healing potions in my body?

[Precisely.]

I see... hehehe.

After releasing a weird laugh, the slime started gobbling all hipokute herbs in the cave. But that wasn't all. As it ate, the slime immediately turned the plants into healing potions in its stomach. The slime did this in case it ever needed them, but the real reason was... It was bored and didn't have anything else to do.

If these herbs are so valuable... do these rocks also something good?

[Magistone Ore: Minerals that spend long periods of time in magicule-rich areas take in magicules until they become magistone ore. It is very valuable.]

Hoh, then we know what to do now, don't we?

And like that, the slime started eating all magistone ore and hipoukte herbs in the cave. And while moving, the slime made a mistake... It fell in a lake.

Umm... Did I just fall in water? A lake? So, slimes don't float? Am I really gonna die this time? Hmm Not sure. I don't feel like I'm suffocating... Did I even breathe in the first place? I guess I wasn't... What do I do now? This looks bad. Oh right!

I will just ingest water... *Woooooooop*. And *Boooooom!* Blow it away. Isn't this like a torpedo? I thought as I got pushed further away.

[Skills: Water Pressure Propulsion acquired.]

W-Wait. I'm going too fast, aren't I? Aghhh. *Flop* I flew in the air and hit a wall. Why am I not feeling pain?

[Answer.]

[Because you have acquired pain nullification, you won't feel pain. The physical damage you have taken is 10%.]

[Species skill Self-Regeneration has been activated.]

So, I still take damage even though I don't feel pain? Oh, wow. I said to myself as I saw a big chunk of my missing round body regenerate. I repaired the part of me that took damage? This body is really convenient! Still, I should be more careful.

"Can you hear me, small one?" I heard a booming voice that echoed inside my body.

"Can you hear me, small one?" It repeated.

I jumped from my place as I couldn't see.

"Hey! I know you can hear me!"

Y-You're talking to me, aren't you? I replied.

"Answer me."

Easy for you to say. How am I supposed to talk when I don't even have a mouth?!

"Hey!"

Just shut up already, baldy!

"Oh, you called me a baldy, eh? I see you have nice guts."

Uh...

ROAR!

An earthshaking roar resounded in the area, making everything, the slime included, tremble.

"I was trying to be nice since I haven't had a visitor in so long, but you seem to have a death wish."

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I had no idea you could hear my thoughts! I don't have a mouth or even eyes, you see...

"HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA," the booming voice laughed. "It amazed me that you would say such a thing after seeing me, but it turns out you can't see me, eh? All right. I will give you sight.

Huh? I asked, confused.

"However, there will be conditions. What do you say?" The voice asked me in an even and severe voice.

What sort of conditions?

"It's simple. You mustn't fear me when you have the ability to see me, and you must come talk to me again. That's all. A good deal for you, is it not?"

That's all I have to do?

"Yes. You see, I was sealed 300 years ago. Ever since then, I've had nothing to do, and it's unbearably boring. What do you say?" The voice revealed.

I'm curious as to why you were sealed, but... Okay, I'll gladly do it!

"Very well. There is a skill called Magic Sense. Can you use it?"

No, I can't.

"It allows you to sense the magicules around you."

If I'm able to detect magicules, I'll be able to see? Then, let me try it. AGHHHHH I concentrated deep within me and my surroundings.

Is this stuff you call magicules? I asked, looking at the multicolored dust-like things around me.

[Extra Skill: Magic Sense acquired.]

That easily?!! And what's this, Extra?

[Extra Skills: Skills with power and magnitudes higher than those of normal skills.]

Wow! Extra sounds awesome!

[Would you like to use Magic Sense?]

YES!

When the slime said that, the surroundings became clearer, everything came into view, and the slime could finally see again. It admired its surroundings and looked with awe at all the stuff around it.

I can actually see! I can actually see! I said while bouncing in my place.

Oh, yeah! I thought and neared the lake to look at my reflection. Damn. I really am a slime.

"Well?" The voice asked, catching the slime's attention.

Oh right? I did it. I relayed as I approached the voice's position. Thanks so much. I said before looking at, Ehhhhhh! D-Dragon?! I screamed.

The Dragon was enormous and was sitting on two legs. Its black scales shined with a purple hue that made it look majestic. It was pretty good looking and cool.

I neared the Dragon when he approached me.

"Then, allow me to introduce myself," he said as he neared his head closer.

O-Okay...

"I am the Storm Dragon, Veldora."

Storm Dragon?

"I am one of the four True Dragons that exists in this world. HmhmhmHahahahaHAHAHA. Hey, you remember our promise, don't you?"

O-Of course! I'm not scared at all! Well, I'll come to chat again. I said and turned around to leave.

"Wait!" The Dragon screamed, scaring the slime. "This is really weird. Slimes are normally low-ranked monsters that don't think, but you have self-awareness. Are you Unique?" Veldora asked, intrigued.

What does 'Unique' mean?

"It refers to beings with extraordinary abilities."

I'm not really sure. The thing is, I used to be a human, but then I got stabbed and died, and next thing I knew, I looked like this.

"I see. You were reincarnated."

Reincarnated... So I really was reborn as a slime...

"You came into this world in a very unusual way."

Huh? Unusual?

"There are those who come here occasionally from other worlds, but you are the first I have known of to be reincarnated here. Most would be unable to withstand having only their soul traverse worlds."

So you're saying there are people who came here from other worlds but not through reincarnation?

"Indeed," he nodded. "We call them Otherworlders. I've heard that they gain special abilities when they cross into this world."

I see... I guess that's how I got my skills, too. There might be even more Japanese people here... I think I'd like to try and find some of these Otherworlders.

"What? Are you leaving already?

U-umm... Maybe I'll stay a little longer. It's not like I have anything to do...

"Oh good! Stay as much as you like!"

So, um, you said you were sealed here, right?

"I'm glad you asked that!" Veldora enthusiastically asked. He raised his head and closed his eyes, talking and reminiscing, "It was 300 years ago... I sort of turned a town into Ash by mistake."

'Sort of?' The slime repeated.

"So someone came looking to slay me. It's true that I underestimated my opponent a bit. I started putting my full strength into the battle partway through..." He stopped and put on a heroic pose, "But I still lost!" he said proudly.

But you seem really strong. Was your opponent that powerful?

"Yes, very powerful," Veldora confirmed. "It was someone known to the humans as a hero blessed with divine protection."

A human hero? Sounds like something out of a video game.

"SHe overpowered me with her unique skill, Absolute Severence, and then she sealed me using Unlimited Imprisonment!"

Is that shiny stuff her Unlimited Imprisonment? I asked, looking at the rainbow-like barrier.

"Yes. The hero called herself a summon."

A Summon? Is that different from Otherworlders?

"It takes more than 30 mages to perform a ritual that lasts several days to bring one here from another world."

Oh! So there are mages here! This sounds more like a game.

"They're also expected to serve as powerful weapons."

Weapons?

"Yes. For the Summoner. Magic is used to carve a curse into the Summon's soul to ensure that the Summon can't defy the Summoner."

What the heck?!! That's just cruel!

"Cruel, eh? I don't know what your world was like, but survival of the fittest is the prevailing truth of this world."

I see... So you've been here since that hero sealed you?

"Right. I am so very bored."

I felt pretty damn lonely just because I never had a girlfriend in 37 years... I can't imagine being all alone for 300 years... Okay! Then, why don't you and I be friends?

"What?! A mere slime proposes friendship with me, the feared Storm Dragon?!"

I-If you don't want to, I understand...

"F-Fool! I never said I don't want to!" he said, turning his head to the side.

Uh, really? Then... What do you say?

"Yes, well... If you insist," he closed his eyes, face still to the side, and his finger-claws kept touching each other. "I guess I'm willing to think about it." He said, opening his eyes.

Are you some tsundere?!! I told myself.

Yes, I insist! So that settles it! If your refuse, we're through. I'll never come here again. I said, turning around.

"W-Well, all right, I'll be your friend. You better be grateful!" he hurriedly said.

Just can't be honest, can you? Well, glad to know ya!

"I-Indeed." Veldora stretched his nail claw to touch the slime's spread part in a handshake like my manner.

It's a little embarrassing talking about friends at my age... But, that's the story of how I got stabbed, died, reincarnated as a slime, and became friends with the Storm Dragon Veldora. My totally normal, uneventful life... is no more. How could this have happened? I never dreamed a life like this was waiting for me! or Should I call it Slife? I wonder if Tamura wiped my hard disk for me... I hope he didn't look at it first.

***

Back in Mikami's apartment on earth. Tamura held a PC and headed towards the bathroom, where he had already drawn water and filled it to the brim. Tamura dropped the PC in the bath making electric sparks fly around and destroying the Pc, hard disk, and everything with it.

"Rest in peace, Senpai!" Tamura said, closing his eyes, which had some tears at their corner, and prayed. "If I ever had a son, I'll name him Satoru."