Lin Ran’s brain froze for quite a while.
“System, open the panel.”
[Host: Lin Ran]
[Race: Human, Slime (multi-race coexistence state)]
[Love Saint Level: LV.1 (Experience required: 350/1000)]
[Status: Healthy]
[Attributes: Strength·7.7, Agility·8.8, Spirit·9.9, Charm·11, Luck·-11]
[Skills: Disgust of Cupid, God of Love (LV.MAX), Eye of Love Detection, Portal (LV.1)]
Lin Ran’s facial expression completely collapsed.
“How did I become a slime? Did I get infected by Lim? Can this thing be spread by contact?”
[Ding! Detected strong emotional fluctuations from the host, the system will answer for you.]
This system could say anything bad about her, except for being so responsive at all times—Lin Ran actually liked that part.
[Host, this is because you triggered the bond mission with the strategy target Lim: Reliable Partner!]
“Just tell me the result!”
Lin Ran remembered that the mission released after killing Shali was also called [Reliable Partner].
But the system’s explanation still made no sense, and he grumbled internally in annoyance.
[Please treat the system better. For romance, cultivating a good temper is necessary]
“I’m not trying to win you over, talk business.”
[Simply put, when your favorability with the target reaches a certain stage and you trigger this mission, you gain some basic abilities of their race to deepen mutual understanding and lay the foundation for deeper communication]
After hearing that, Lin Ran immediately caught the key point.
“You mean, if I win someone over, I get their abilities?”
[Yes]
This…
Then if I conquer an angel, could I grow wings?
If I win over a dragon, could I breathe fire?
If I conquer a supreme god…
[Ding—Please face your -11 luck value and give up unrealistic fantasies]
[This system can only assist you in your conquests. Even managing to win over a cute slime is already very rare]
“……”
Damn! Isn’t this -11 luck partly the system’s fault too!
Increase all attributes by 10%? So (-10*1.1) becomes -11 luck?
Putting aside the fact that my own luck was -10, doesn’t the system have any responsibility at all!
Suppressing the urge for a real-life fight with the system, he refocused on his new abilities.
[Slime race basic abilities: Body liquefaction, Corrosive fluid spray, Self-Healing, Mimicry.]
At that moment, Lim, who had been lost in shyness, finally noticed something strange.
“Master… your foot…”
She squatted down, curiously reaching out to gently touch Lin Ran’s gelatinous foot.
“Just like Shali is a succubus, I probably have some ability too… though this ability is a bit odd.”
Lin Ran looked embarrassed.
He didn’t know if slimes understood the concept of a system, so he could only explain it this way.
But Lim didn’t care about his explanation at all—Lin Ran was Lin Ran.
Whether slime or human, Lin Ran was the one she relied on most now.
In fact, gaining slime abilities made Lim feel even closer.
“Now, there’s something the same on Master as on Lim!”
Looking at her sincere smile, Lin Ran couldn’t help but smile too.
Just in time, he also wanted to test out his new abilities and show Lim.
He raised his left hand, and with a thought, his palm visibly lost bones and muscles, turning into a wobbly blue gel.
He tried to control the hand to return to its original form—the process was very smooth.
“Pretty convenient.”
Lin Ran muttered to himself, beginning to consider the practical uses of these abilities.
Body liquefaction—no problem slipping through a crack in the door.
Corrosive fluid spray—not too powerful, but in a pinch, it might melt a lock.
As for Self-Healing, in the apocalypse, that’s a god-tier skill.
And Mimicry…
Lin Ran tried transforming.
He closed his eyes, and several human faces floated through his mind.
He randomly picked one from the vast selection.
In the next second, his body began to reshape.
His height shrank, his Adam’s apple disappeared, and long hair flowed down.
He opened his eyes and walked to the mirror, where a face identical to Shali’s appeared.
The skin texture was just like a human’s, and even the voice he spoke with was exactly the same.
This Mimicry was much stronger than Lim’s—almost a perfect replica.
Of course, Mimicry did consume energy.
After a few more quick transformations, he was exhausted and collapsed on the bed.
Thinking about it, becoming half a slime in exchange for such strong powers was a great deal!
While he was experimenting with his new abilities, a group of small slime people emerged from the portal.
Their hair and eye colors differed, matching their original colors before transforming, and their heights only reached Lin Ran’s knee.
More than eighty percent looked like little girls—probably due to Mimicry of Lim and affection for Lin Ran.
The remaining twenty percent were little boys, previously the sturdier slimes, but still quite cute.
The little ones lined up and entered, then turned in unison to look at Lin Ran and Lim.
“Master, we’re all done transforming!”
“This form makes walking weird!”
“Master, touch, touch——”
The slimes chirped as they reported in and clung to Lin Ran.
They were all ordinary slimes, so even if they’d been bigger than Lim before, their human forms were under half a meter tall.
According to Lim, this was due to differences in the magic stored in their bodies.
She said it with some pride, apparently forgetting she could only Mimicry into a girl too.
Since the slimes were back, Lin Ran closed the portal he’d set up earlier.
“Now, there’s one last task. Follow me to the balcony.”
He led the small slimes and the still-shy Lim to the balcony.
“See this dirt and grass? Everyone take some—we’re farming now!”
So, on the first night of the apocalypse.
A magical scene appeared on the boys’ dorm balcony.
A male college student, with dozens of boys and girls under half a meter tall, seriously planting grass on the balcony.
“Yes, spread the soil evenly.”
“That weed—stand it upright, not crooked.”
“Ah, you’re the slime who tried to give me a flower, no wonder you’re so small. Make sure to stay healthy. Hm? Is this the flower you brought back? Here, watch me, plant it there.”
Lin Ran directed his daughters like a father, feeling strangely accomplished inside.
Especially the slime he’d saved, who would turn pink and shyly lower her head whenever she looked at him.
A few times, she even lost her form and reverted to slime.
Of course, each time, Lim would drag her off for a chat in the corner with a dark look and a forced smile.
——If only life could always be like this.
Lin Ran glanced at the dorm building across the way.
Most dorms had calmed down—no more screams or fighting.
Looks like the first wave was really a welfare round, and most students made it through safely.
After half an hour of work, the balcony was filled with dirt, and the task was finally done.
Lin Ran clapped the dirt off his hands and led his mighty “Slime Army” back to the dorm.
He lay on his bed and took out his phone to check the latest updates.
The New Student Group, silent for three years, had exploded—messages 999+.
Lin Ran opened it. Messages were flooding in.
[Invincible Overbearing Sports Student – Zhang Ba]: “Listen, guys. Dig in the sewers, and you might find a few slimes! All EXP babies!”
[Student Council Member – Chen Jing]: “@All Members Please note, after killing a slime, a stone might drop. We’re temporarily calling it ‘Crystal Core’. It’s likely an important resource for the future, so please collect them.”
[302 – Wang Fatty]: “Damn, I just breathed fire! I shouted Fireball Spell at a slime and shot fire! But my dorm caught fire—what do I do?!”
[Anime Club – Li Hao]: “Are you kidding?! A giant slime spawned here! Luckily, I had a knife and stabbed it, or I’d be dead!”
[Student Council Member – Chen Jing]: “That’s a rare type. Our council exchange found that it’s guaranteed to drop a Crystal Core. Search carefully—don’t miss it!”
As the group buzzed with chat, someone piped up.
[Class Seven’s Most Handsome]: “When’s the second wave coming?”
[Lin Ran]: “No goblins, no trolls, no goblins, no trolls! Cute slimes are enough.”
Lin Ran typed that almost subconsciously—a little complaint at the system.
He didn’t expect dragons, angels, catgirls, or elves anymore—even a mimic chest monster would do.
After all, it was a romance system. Fewer high-difficulty targets, please.
The group went silent for a moment.
[Anime Club – Li Hao]: “??? Cute? Bro, are you okay? What’s cute about those things? Even as a hardcore otaku, I don’t see the appeal!”
[Invincible Overbearing Sports Student – Zhang Ba]: “Exactly, Lin Ran, did you get scared silly?”
[Lin Ran]: “If you’re not a slime, how can you understand a slime’s charm?”
Hmm… Strictly speaking, he was now a slime himself.
And… In most people’s eyes, slimes really weren’t that cute.
Like those chest monsters he just thought of—not most people’s taste either.
Maybe he really was a weirdo?
[Anime Club – Li Hao]: “……Fine, you win.”
The group fell silent again.
The joys and sorrows of people do not connect.
Lin Ran didn’t bother wasting more time and closed his phone—it was about time to sleep.
Night deepened, and the once-noisy campus finally fell silent.
The little slimes had used up all their energy, reverted to jelly form, and slept soundly in piles in the corners.
Lim, however, was still full of spirit.
She pressed tightly against Lin Ran, looking at him pitifully.
“Master, it’s late. Shall we… sleep?”
Lin Ran yawned and pointed at the round sofa by his bed, bought long ago but rarely used.
It matched Lim’s current size perfectly—just right as her bed.
“You sleep there. I’m going to bed.”
Lim’s body drooped, her blue eyes full of disappointment.
“Can I… sleep with Master?”
“No.”——
That was Lin Ran’s instinctive answer, but he didn’t say it aloud.
Having a young girl that size lying next to a healthy young man—if an uncle in a hat appeared in the next second, it wouldn’t be surprising.
But after spending the day together, he pretty much understood Lim’s thoughts.
She just wanted to cling to him.
That’s all.
Lin Ran pulled out a spare blanket from the cabinet and laid it beside him.
“Sleep here.”
Yeah… Even in the same blanket, his mental barriers couldn’t be crossed.
“Mm!”
Lim instantly brightened, happily rolling up in the blanket beside him.
Lin Ran lay on the bed, feeling completely exhausted.
The apocalypse, the system, killing, slimes, racial changes…
More happened in one day than in the previous twenty years of his life combined.
Fatigue overwhelmed him, and he soon drifted into sleep.
The dorm was silent, except for Lin Ran and Lim’s breathing and the occasional gurgle from the slimes.
On the bedside table, his phone, left at random, suddenly lit up.
That mysterious message in the New Student Group appeared again.
[Second wave monsters: Puppet, Dream Eater]
[The abilities of this round’s enemies are very special. Please be careful in your responses]
[Once again, may you all have good fortune in battle.]
The phone screen dimmed.
Lin Ran didn’t see it, and no one replied.
The whole world seemed to fall asleep.
No matter the country, whether it was day or night.
Whether it was night owls or office workers with chronic sleep deprivation.
Whether lying on a soft, comfortable bed or under a mosquito-filled bridge.
Everyone, at the same time, fell into a deep sleep from which they could not be awakened.
…