Chapter 7: Slime Girl’s Development Manual

Lin Ran’s eyes widened as he watched everything unfolding before him.

Rim’s body was still changing.

“No way, is she really transforming?”

But judging by common sense, and the information given by the system…

Once a slime takes human form, its power is bound to undergo a qualitative leap.

This was a good thing.

An absolutely good thing.

While Lin Ran was thinking, Rim’s transformation gradually came to a halt.

What appeared before him was a girl who looked about fourteen or fifteen.

Her height only reached Lin Ran’s chest, and she had short, light blue hair.

The texture of her hair was very peculiar.

Looking closely, it was actually composed of countless extremely fine, fluid-like blue tentacles mimicking hair, flowing with her breathing.

Her facial features were as delicate as a work of art, and the most striking of all were her eyes.

The sensory organs that once resembled small black beads had now completely evolved into a true pair of eyes that could be called such.

A pair of blue pupils.

That blue was incomparably clear, without a trace of impurity, reflecting only Lin Ran’s figure.

As for her skin…

Hmm, still that gel-like texture of a slime.

It hadn’t become human skin, no human characteristics for now—just pure mimicry.

Rim opened her eyes.

She saw Lin Ran.

In the next moment, an incomparably radiant smile bloomed on the girl’s face, overflowing with joy and attachment.

“Master!”

She cheered, spreading her arms wide and pounced toward Lin Ran.

The posture was exactly like a loyal dog who hadn’t seen its owner for three days, tail wagging so hard it was about to break.

She can speak human language now?

Lin Ran was a little surprised.

He thought he’d have to teach language from scratch.

But wasn’t this level of affection a bit off? Who in love calls the other person “Master”?

Though…maybe not impossible…?

Lin Ran subconsciously opened his arms to catch her.

But—

He only managed to touch Rim’s fingertip.

She had barely taken a step before her legs tangled together.

With a “poof,” she fell to the ground.

Because she hadn’t learned how to use her new body at all.

“Uu—Human bodies are so hard to control—Master, help me, uu…”

Rim lay on the floor, raising her head in grievance, blue eyes brimming with frustration.

Her voice was soft and tender, tinged with unwillingness.

Looking at it now, it seemed slimes were only limited by their vocal organs, but their intelligence was actually very high.

Lin Ran helped Rim up from the ground and casually took off his own still-relatively-clean jacket, draping it over her small figure.

Rim immediately clutched the jacket that carried Lin Ran’s scent like a treasure, her little head nuzzling into his chest, her face brimming with satisfaction.

But Lin Ran suddenly realized a problem.

A very serious problem.

The hand that was about to pat Rim’s head froze in midair.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

If he remembered correctly, wasn’t Rim a slime baby?

Would this kind of contact and intimacy now violate some kind of “Slime Emperor Constitution” law?

He glanced at the ground, at Rim’s slime brothers and sisters who were also undergoing transformation…

Luckily, they were also busy transforming.

If they got mad over this and attacked him as a group, the scene would get a bit… abstract.

Moreover, putting aside the slime identity.

If any bystander saw this, wouldn’t they think he was committing a crime?

Letting a creature that looks like a little girl call him “Master” while hugging and cuddling…

Forget the slime law, even human law would be at risk!

Even though it was the apocalypse now, as a modern, upstanding young man, Lin Ran still had his bottom line.

“Rim, are you a minor?”

Lin Ran tried asking.

Rim tilted her head, pure blue eyes filled with innocence and confusion.

“Slimes don’t have age, you know. We don’t grow.”

She paused, seeming to misunderstand something, and a hint of nervousness appeared on her little face.

“Does Master not like this appearance? I can try changing into something else!”

With that, Rim closed her eyes.

A surge of power seemed to rise from her small body.

Her originally petite frame began to grow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Bones lengthened, curves became fuller.

In just a few blinks, the girl of fourteen or fifteen had transformed into…

Shali.

Hmm…She ate Shali, so becoming her makes sense.

Wait, is that how it works? If you want to transform into someone, just eat them?

But—

“You look good, but better change back for now.”

For no other reason, Lin Ran really didn’t want to see that woman again.

Rim, hearing this, quickly reverted to her previous girl form.

But she was panting heavily.

Even her shape as a girl was unstable, the edges of her body fluctuating as if she could turn back into a puddle of slime at any moment.

“Uu…Hungry…”

Rim’s voice grew weak.

“Insufficient energy. The bigger the body, the more it consumes… If Master likes the form of other big sisters, I… I’ll work hard to eat them.”

She looked dejectedly at her scrawny form, sad that she couldn’t satisfy her Master’s wishes.

But Lin Ran’s face remained expressionless.

He was still deep in thought.

The bigger the body, the more energy it uses?

That made sense.

But to save on food, letting her revert to an uncommunicative slime form would be a huge loss.

Some level of communication was necessary.

So, maintaining this low-energy human form was the optimal solution.

Lin Ran made his decision, answering in a gentle tone:

“It’s fine, just use whatever form you like best.”

This was actually his way of saying it with high emotional intelligence.

The underlying message was clear: Just stay in the energy-efficient form you are now.

After all, in the apocalypse, eating less and consuming less was a powerful survival skill.

The most rational choice.

But in Rim’s ears, the words sounded completely different.

In Rim’s eyes, it was as if Lin Ran was holding her hand at that moment, gazing at her with sincere eyes for a long time.

Then, leaning close to her ear, he whispered softly—

“It’s okay. I like all your forms.”

Boom!

The words exploded in Rim’s mind.

Her entire body instantly turned pink, her face especially reddening like a bright red apple.

She covered her face with her hands and hair, her body going limp, nearly unable to stand.

It looked like she could melt into a puddle of sweet-tasting slime at any moment.

[Ding! Your words to Rim moved her deeply! Affection +10! Current affection: 85 (Likes you a lot!)]

[System notification: In the eyes of a girl in love, every word from her beloved sounds like a love confession~]

[Received Saint of Love experience *100!]

[Please keep up the good work! Only 10 more affection points needed to receive the Mission Reward]

Of course, Lin Ran had no idea about Rim’s inner monologue.

From his perspective, the affection just mysteriously rose.

He felt a bit speechless, but an increase in affection was always good.

“Everyone, I’ll take your little princess back first! Remember to come back after you’ve finished transforming—the fields still need tending.”

Lin Ran held Rim’s hand, patiently guiding her in how to use her brand new body.

“Slower, that’s it, step with your left foot first…”

He taught as he led her toward the dormitory.

“Poof—”

But as he took a step forward, a water sound echoed in his ears.

Water?

Where did water come from?

The slime in charge of the water tap had turned it off ages ago, right? Rim had taught them to conserve water.

Lin Ran looked down—

Only to discover that his own foot, at some point, had turned into the same gel-like substance as the slimes.

Hmm?

Hmm??

What the—

…