Chapter 2: It’s just a love affair with a slime, let’s fight it out!

Dating a slime?

Had I really sunk to this point?

Lin Ran held his forehead, his face dark with disbelief.

No, even if my luck is negative ten, and I have a passive skill that attracts weirdos, it shouldn’t cross species boundaries, right?

Though he admitted, that tiny little slime baby tucked in the corner did look undeniably adorable.

On any other day, he would definitely have taken it as a pet.

But dating a creature? That was just a little too far ahead of its time.

Besides, if he had to date a non-human creature, what about a Catgirl? Or an Elf?

Why throw such a high-level challenge at me from the start?

But—

The apocalypse had already descended, and he had no choice.

These few slimes were just the first wave.

They were monsters from the simplest world, the initial assault.

The second wave would likely be creatures a tier stronger than slimes.

And later, there would be a third wave, a fourth wave, even a second world, a third world…

And this damn system…

Just thinking about how the system might force him to romance Goblins or Trolls gave Lin Ran goosebumps.

Rather than being coaxed and tricked by system rewards into dating goblins later on…

At least the slimes in front of him wouldn’t cause him psychological harm.

Most importantly, the rewards the system offered…

This was his only chance to surpass others.

Lin Ran steeled himself and gripped the fruit knife even tighter.

A real man can bend and stretch!

To survive, forget the slimes—if it came down to it, even Trolls…

Uh, maybe not Trolls.

That’s a bit too much for his taste.

In most works, slimes were at the bottom of the ecological chain.

Facing such creatures, feeding them was probably the best way to raise their affection.

But the other ordinary slimes weren’t here to fill space either.

One leapt high, charging straight at his face.

“Ambush! You bastard, no honor!”

Another wriggled to his feet, instantly flattening and wrapping around his calf.

A corrosive liquid secreted from it, causing a faint sizzling sound where it touched his pants.

Dude! These pants are brand new! Worn only twice!

But the fact that the slime couldn’t even eat through his pants was a relief to Lin Ran.

No matter how much he sucked, he was still an adult male.

The enemy was just a slime after all.

He swung his fruit knife and used the blunt side to smack the slime lunging at his cheek away.

Then he lifted his other foot and kicked off the slime coiled around his ankle.

His goal was clear.

The dormitory essential—Little Refrigerator.

Inside was the half-eaten sausage from yesterday he hadn’t dared to eat.

While the slimes were still moving, Lin Ran grabbed the half sausage, tearing open its remaining wrapper.

Years of living alone… no, years of dorm life had finally sharpened his knife skills.

He quickly chopped the sausage into evenly sized chunks.

Slimes in most works were omnivores, so feeding them meat was probably fine.

“Oh right, slimes are almost all liquid, the sausage has too much salt, gotta add water too.”

He muttered to himself, then grabbed a clean plastic cup from the junk bin—leftover from drinking milk tea that hadn’t been thrown out.

After rinsing it briefly, he filled it with tap water.

Cup in his left hand, sausage chunks in his right, Lin Ran walked over to the little slime baby huddled in the corner.

Almost the moment he moved, the other slimes went berserk, their attack doubling in ferocity.

Apparently, because his target was the slime baby, they were fighting desperately to protect it.

“Hah, so you’ve got bodyguards. If I snatch you away later, won’t your brothers and sisters get jealous?”

Lin Ran joked, enduring the slimes’ strikes and corrosive attacks without backing down.

And he wouldn’t kill a single slime.

Taking damage was one thing, killing was forbidden.

If he killed one of her kind right in front of the little princess, the affection would probably plummet to zero instantly.

Though this was a romance system, it wasn’t a galgame—there was no retry button.

He had to be extremely careful.

Struggling, he moved to a corner and gently placed the cup of water and sausage chunks before the tiny slime.

At the sudden appearance of water and food, the slime’s body trembled slightly.

Two tiny black eyes looked at Lin Ran, blinking.

It seemed to be trying to understand this strange creature that was attacked by its own kind but still brought it food.

【It’s a tall creature, seems called a human…?】

【Humans stomp us to death… scary…】

【But… my stomach really is hungry…】

【This thing is unfamiliar, but looks very nutritious!】

【Used to only eat roadside weeds, this smells amazing~~】

Instinctively, it extended a translucent tentacle.

Tentatively curling a sausage chunk, it slowly pulled it into its body.

*Hiss—*

Tiny bubbles formed on the sausage’s surface, like effervescent tablets dropped into water.

The little body shuddered lightly, its originally translucent blue turning a pale pink-white like cherry blossoms in bloom!

The pink deepened over time, and soon the entire body was dyed a rich deep pink.

Like a bashful young girl in the throes of first love, blushing all over from receiving a clumsy but heartfelt handmade gift.

The previously frenzied blue slimes all stopped their attack at once.

Success… success?!

Lin Ran was overjoyed.

After digesting the food, the slime baby wriggled over to the cup, sipped some water.

Then, it bounced over to his feet with a “Duang~ Duang~” sound.

Wrapping its soft, bouncy, pink body around his shoe,

Like a little pet that found its owner, it soon settled down peacefully to sleep.

【Ding! Target accepted your First Contact! Affection +25! Current affection: 30 (Curious, Grateful, Happy)】

【Congratulations, host, you completed Hidden Achievement: First Contact!】

【Received Saint of Love Level experience *100! Saint of Love Level increased to LV.1 (Note: each Saint of Love Level up grants a key system reward item!)】

【Key Item granted: Portal (Allows you to get closer to the one you love)】

【Portal (LV.1): Current teleport range limit—100 meters (Please increase Saint of Love Level.

Each level up grants an additional 100 meters of teleport distance!)】

Lin Ran stared at the little thing rubbing contentedly against his shoelaces, his emotions complicated.

This…

Was it really that simple?

Just a little sausage and it was bribed?

This affection was way too easy to farm!

He thought back to the past three years—countless time, money, and effort spent taking bizarre girls out to dinner, shopping, and movies.

Once, after treating for over half a month straight, he just wanted to split the bill once, and got scolded so badly he was labeled a loser on the campus wall.

But the slime before him…

If this silly kid were a human girl, then maybe this system really could be called the Sweet Romance System.

Speaking of the system…

As for this system reward—

In the old world, if Lin Ran got such a reward, he would’ve cursed it out loud.

Key item?

This?

Getting closer to the one you love?

Do I really need that extra hundred meters?

In peaceful times, it was almost useless for ordinary people.

At best, it spared you from climbing stairs daily.

Then you’d get caught teleporting by some classmate, and be invited for a “chat” by the Department.

Finally, you’d hand over the system to officials in exchange for 500 yuan and a banner.

But now—

Everyone was trapped inside their residences.

Resource scarcity was everyone’s number one crisis.

Others might have to survive by killing monsters and eating them.

But him…

Lin Ran’s gaze passed through the window toward the unattended convenience store downstairs, abandoned since the apocalypse.

If he teleported over…

He might just empty that store in one go!

Water, food, batteries…

Everything fully stocked.

“Alright, I admit I was a bit loud just now,” Lin Ran said to himself.

Joy chased away his previous tension and depression, and his expression changed completely as he looked at the little creature at his feet.

He tentatively reached out and gently touched the slime baby’s body.

The sensation was completely different from the sticky, wet feeling he’d imagined.

The slime felt springy, like jelly pudding.

The texture was so pleasing that he almost wanted to squeeze it, but was afraid of crushing it.

There was no residual slime on his hand afterward—no disgusting feeling at all.

The other slimes gathered around, all looking at the slime baby.

It bounced off Lin Ran’s body, sometimes flattening out, sometimes curling tightly.

Were they communicating?

Soon, an incredible sight unfolded before Lin Ran.

The group of slimes lined up in front of him, forming the Chinese character “您” (“You” – polite form).

They had the ability to communicate? What did they want to say?

The slimes continued to queue up.

【的】

【恩】

【情】

【还】

“Stop, stop, no more, or this won’t pass censorship!”

Lin Ran hurriedly interrupted, relieved.

It seemed the slime baby was the leader, and these little guys actually had the ability to communicate.

Since they could communicate, they couldn’t just keep calling her “slime baby.”

Other slimes were fine, but the system-designated romance (?) partner couldn’t keep that nickname forever.

She needed a name.

He scooped up the now adorable pink slime baby.

Her pink color grew even more vivid, and her two little black eyes blinked as if eager.

“From now on, I’ll call you Limu.”

【Ding! Partner slime baby has been given the nickname: Limu】

【She really likes the name! Affection +10!】

Lin Ran exhaled deeply, his tension finally easing.

Outside the window, screams echoed endlessly from other dorms.

The world was about to change drastically…

Since everyone else was struggling to survive the apocalypse,

And he had a completely out-of-place romance system…?

Then, maybe with this system, he could conquer all kinds of monster girls across the multiverse?

Build a harem of exotic species, survive in this world, maybe even live better…?

“Shh…”

Lin Ran gasped, feeling the terrifying allure of his own thoughts.

Why did it feel so thrilling!