“Big bro? Hey, stinky old bro, why aren’t you coming home yet?”
That familiar voice echoed in her mind, but no matter how hard Vivi tried, she just couldn’t recall who it belonged to.
The dream slowly faded away. She opened her eyes to find herself in a strange place.
It was a dilapidated balcony, pitch black all around, with no sign of any residents.
“Mmm~ Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?”
The classic three questions of the soul. Fragments of memory kept flashing by, but her mind felt like a mushy mess.
Looking at her own small hands, the sense of something being wrong grew even stronger inside her.
“I’m a girl? No, I… what am I?”
Then, a word suddenly surfaced in her mind.
“Slime girl?”
“I’m a slime girl?”
That should be the answer, but for some reason, she still felt unsettled. Vivi grew anxious, as if she had forgotten something truly important. “Stinky old bro!”
She recalled that familiar voice again, a trace of clarity flickering in her eyes. That was her younger sister, her little sister’s voice—she had to go back.
“Wait… little sister?”
“Mmm~ I have a little sister? I’m a slime girl, so my little sister should be a slime girl too…”
Her head throbbed. Vivi clutched her temples, feeling something important slipping away.
She couldn’t accept it, desperately struggling to remember the past.
“No… My sister, I have a sister…”
The memories that belonged to her sister were becoming blurry. It shouldn’t be like this, it shouldn’t be like this.
“Sis, wait for me to come home… wait for me to come home?”
“What is home? My… home?”
When she thought of that word, the first thing that popped into Vivi’s mind was Eno’s face.
That was where her home truly was, or maybe she was supposed to be Eno’s older sister.
But the feeling that something was wrong kept nagging at her—it shouldn’t be this way.
Looking at the slime on her own body, Vivi struggled, but the slime bound her tightly.
If Eno was really her sister, then why was she restraining her like this?
Vivi finally understood—she was definitely not her sister.
She struggled, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t escape this damn slime.
To break free, she had to become a slime.
Vivi took a deep breath, and her body slowly melted away. This seemed like an instinct; she could do it without ever having to learn.
In no time, a plump, bouncy pink slime had squeezed out of the bindings.
She looked at her own form, an inexplicable sense of satisfaction welling up inside.
She was a slime girl, and from now on, she would only be a slime girl.
The thoughts in her heart surged like a tidal wave, quickly overtaking the rest of Vivi’s mind.
Her eyes grew dazed for a moment, but soon regained a glimmer of clarity. “I’m not just a slime girl, I have a little sister, I need to find my sister!”
Her body transformed once again into a little girl, and Vivi tottered out of there step by step.
But her memories were a complete jumble—she had no idea where she was supposed to go.
Surrounded by the Concrete Forest, she couldn’t tell which way was which.
Almost by instinct, she wandered to a bustling crowd.
The lively, noisy street seemed strangely familiar, and the passing cars sparked a faint sense of longing in her heart.
“Mmm… These iron boxes are called cars? How did I even know that…”
Just as Vivi was lost in confusion, the sounds of an argument nearby caught her attention.
“What was that thing flying in the sky just now?”
“Spider-Man! I saw it, that was Spider-Man!”
“You must be joking!”
“I saw her shoot a line of web and then swing away—what else could it be if not Spider-Man?”
The argument came to a halt. Judging from their descriptions, what they saw should have been Eno.
At the mention of that name, a sense of crisis surged up in her heart.
Vivi glanced around, and after making sure nobody was paying attention to her, she hurriedly slipped away.
As she ran, she noticed a basket of vegetables on the street.
It felt so familiar, yet she just couldn’t remember why. It was as if her mind was wrapped in a fog.
She picked up the big basket of vegetables without thinking, feeling as if she was lifting a pebble—so easy.
“Vegetables… My sister hasn’t eaten yet, right, I need to go back and make her food.”
Her memories grew clearer, and Vivi’s steps became more determined.
But she seemed to have forgotten that she didn’t look the same as before.
The farther she walked, the more familiar the surroundings became.
Bits and pieces of her old memories gradually resurfaced.
Vivi’s family had once been very happy, but a car accident took both her parents’ lives.
The savings and compensation from the accident were enough for them to get by for a while, but it was no long-term solution.
That’s why Vivi dropped out of school early, working hard to support her only family. Her sister had a bit of a temper, but she understood everything.
The two of them were each other’s only support, the most important people in each other’s lives.
Her memories of her sister became clearer and clearer, but memories of herself just couldn’t be found.
Some memories had even been replaced by her current self.
The sense of wrongness grew stronger. She looked at her soft, pale little hands—this wasn’t her at all.
“Stinky old bro, you even forgot what you looked like?”
Whether it was an illusion or not, Wu Menghan’s voice sounded in her ear, instantly piercing through the fog before her eyes.
She remembered—she was 187cm tall, with a body full of solid muscle. That was the real her.
Yet the figure that should’ve been so familiar now felt strangely foreign.
Vivi’s eyes grew red as she stood before the gates of the old apartment complex, hesitating.
Looking like this, forget about her sister—she herself wouldn’t be able to recognize her.
Vivi squatted down, hugging her knees, unable to hold back her tears any longer.
Yes, now she had become a little girl—there was no going back.
Her pitiful appearance caught the attention of the old security guard. He stepped out of his booth, coughed softly, and drew Vivi’s attention.
“Little one, are you waiting for someone?”
“Uh?!”
Vivi’s body jolted. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and looked at the security guard.
“No, I’m here to deliver something. These vegetables are for Wu Menghan in Building 9, Unit 2. Could you please ask her to come get them?”
The old guard looked at the strong-willed little girl, feeling touched as he took the vegetables, asking with concern,
“Little one, where are your parents? I can call them and have them come pick you up.”
“No, that’s alright, sir.”
Vivi quickly waved her hands, fleeing the scene in a hurry.
The guard stared at the vegetables in his hands, puzzled, but didn’t think too much about it.
***
The next morning, Wu Menghan left the police station, still looking a bit dazed.
Her eyes were unfocused, after a night of running and investigation.
Now the police had fully confirmed Wu Ren’s death, and that Eno’s motive was to regain her strength.
Wu Menghan was no longer in danger, so the police decided to let her go home, with Irena staying behind to assist.
She walked mechanically down the street. Though it was summer, the wind felt unbearably cold.
Everything around her grew more and more familiar, her mind full of memories with her brother.
But her tears had long since dried—she couldn’t cry anymore.
Her brother was her only family in this world, her last support.
Even if they quarreled sometimes, he was still her brother.
She didn’t go to school, but returned to the old neighborhood.
Standing at the gate, a swirl of emotions rose within her. Just as she was about to step forward, the old security guard’s voice rang out.