"Where am I?"

A male voice replied, talking monotonously.

[Currently unknown. However, we seem to be in a gargantuan cave system.]

Natural spike formations were plenty in the high ceiling. The many stalactites were dark and pointy, looking more lethal than spears. However, they had a certain beauty in them. Their smooth surface shone in the darkness, mirroring the light mysteriously emitted from the rough crystalline objects in the walls of the great tunnel. Overall, the place was dim, dirty, and, if gods say so, damning. It was as if this underground was a world where security was a foreign concept, where survival of the strongest is the only rule.

"What am I?"

[You are a slime: a monster species that doesn't specialize in anything except barely in acid-based attacks.]

On the ground, there lies a strange, semi-transparent, semi-solid gelatinous creature. It was big as an average man's head, shaped like a droplet of water. Using references from nothing except video games and pop-culture from various fantasy materials, slimes are the weakest, equivalent to cockroaches that survive from the scraps left from predators, mainly because they are too vulnerable to hunt. They die easily, good for beginning characters. There are even sub-species of slimes that dieted plant life, becoming a full-fledged herbivore as a safer alternative.

"Who are you?"

[I am Sage. I am equivalent to a personal AI assistant in your original world. My features includes-]

A roar. It resembled a lion, but deeper and feral in nature. It shook the world. Wherever or whatever it is coming from, each step encouraged tremors. With a bit of observation, anyone could assume it had more than two legs according to the pattern. Questions later, actions now. There was a need to learn how to move with his new body. But that is the point exactly: how can an animal without muscles and bones walk? Even snails have a foot.

[I highly suggest you take refuge from the potential danger.]

"Talking obvious make anyone a fine assistant, Sage."

[And talking sarcasm can help anyone survive a precarious situation.]

Getting dissed by a voice in his head while sitting ducks for inevitable death? Is there anything more unusual than that? Oh wait, there is one. That is getting reincarnated as a slime.

"Well spoiler alert, dipshit. I'm gonna die. Again. And I don't know even know how to mov-"

[Physarum Polycephalum.]

"... What do you mean?"

Then it hit him. He remembered in science class when the teacher brought his disgusting, but oddly hypnotizing pet - a yellow, pulsating mold. And his teacher took it as a pet. A pet. From what he can remember - which he shouldn't by the way. Not that it was traumatizing as a child but because that happened in elementary years ago - it moved by compressing certain sections of itself to get to point A to point B to get food. In an instant, he took an example of that mold that did not give him nightmares when he was 8. 

The way he traverses was like he was the result when scientists spliced a slug, a caterpillar, and jelly together. Inch by inch, he squirms to a big group of boulders just around the tunnel walls. Fantasy RPG games would depict slime hopping like rabbits. Worming was baby steps. And in all honesty, he didn't know how he was doing it. Slime instincts showed him the way, he admitted. The thudding intensified as precious seconds are spent awkwardly rushing for cover. The gap in the boulders was more than enough for him to slide through even if he couldn't see it.

New life, new eyes. And sadly he has none, like a human. He was a slime for god's sake. He couldn't see how his previous body can, but somehow, he can feel things. If seeing is photons absorbed by your retina, and hearing are sensitive vibrations in your eardrums, then something is bouncing off of his body, like radar, showing that his view of the world was in the 360-video of black and white. And what he felt in front of him, as he was peeking, was a walking giant. It was almost tall as two-story buildings and it was long as a bus.

He could say gigantic as he compared it to his own size, so he wasn't completely sure. The giant stopped in its tracks and stood vigilant, giving him a clear time to observe. His vision was rough. He couldn't see if it had fur or not, as its body shape resembled a dog. But its rear appendage tails otherwise. No pun intended.

Technically speaking, slimes are slimes, not meat. So whatever it's looking for, it wouldn't have disgusting, bland, texture-less, slimy goop three times a day right...? 

Right? 

Unknown to himself, he was wobbling. In slime sense that is the reaction for goosebumps, because narrating that his heart skipped a beat would be stupid: slimes don't have a heart(s) just like his ex, except his ex never had one in the first place.

Screw it, he thought. Delusion or not, if he wants to live, welcoming the extra company shouldn't pose much danger. Though if there was a good reason why anyone was anti-social, this was one. Then again, talking to a voice inside your head isn't much of social interaction.

"Do you have any idea what it might be?"

[If we take great attention to its rear appendage, it's highly probable that it is related to reptiles.]

That voice. The male, monotonous, mechanical voice. Ugh. It's like U-Tube videos narrated by the earliest text-to-speech program in the pre-21st century.

""Probable"...? Don't you have eyes?"

[In my defense, I'm inside you. We share the same body in the exception you have administrator-level control.]

"..."

[...]

...

...

...

Can anyone out there in the universe describe the level of creepiness where it has gotten to the point even the narration went silent? No? Because anyone is pretty sure that a foreign entity forcefully inserted into their foundation of existence was disturbing beyond multiplied by beyond raised to the power of beyond and beyond.

[Master. I kindly suggest you take your concentration on your own survival.]

"I can't do that without my sanity!"

[If you are able to talk properly with me then that is a sign you are sane.]

"That's the point retard! I'm talking to something in my head!"

The silhouette moved. It was enough for him to snap out of it. Thick neck craning down, it took a deep, long sniff. Or at least what he assumed. Even without a decent vision, he knows sniffing the ground is what hunters would do in the animal kingdom. And from the creature's perspective, whatever the smell is, it is an enemy. The scent tells there is a threat nearby. 

"I am so dead."

[You are currently alive.]

"Shut up. Like, for real."

Sage said reptiles. Basically lizards. It's possible it could be a drake - dragons without wings. But does it matter? Even if he knows would the answer give him salvation? No. Nadda. Nein. Non. Nee. Even if he said no in all languages it would make no difference. A bunch of rocks is the only thing that hides him, and he bet whatever that thing out there can nudge boulders with ease like building blocks. He would be discovered soon.

An object's size can be determined by distance; If a basketball is getting bigger then it means its flying towards your face. With that in mind if its head is steadily getting larger then... that probably means it's going for him. Maybe... if only he was braindead then he wouldn't be praying for god.

He wasn't religious, even if he was raised in a church, but desperation can make anyone do so. Inside his mind he had hope, believing that some other astral entity is there to give opportunities of any kind. 

And by a miracle, coincidence, probability, or any words that best describe this, it came. It came in the form of another nightmare, another monster. He couldn't see what kind as it entered the scene with speed and surprise. That newcomer came for the other, boldly introducing itself with a body tackle as powerful as a cannonball. 

The shock wave from the two bodies colliding had the tunnel shaken. The stalactite couldn't hold itself from the shock - the thinner ones broke down. A little slime came out from the pile of rocks, it "ran", and he did so as fast as he can. He was aware that one of those was going to skewer him. The bottom part of him ballooned quickly in a certain direction: he leaped in diagonal, avoiding the thing that could've made him a slime kebab.

No special instruction was given, he just did it without thinking. Slime instinct saved him again but it wasn't over. Like a baby learning how to walk who turned into an athletic marathoner in mere minutes, he maneuvered his way out of spots where it was lethal to step into. He was becoming a proud RPG slime where they attack and move by jumping, aside from not being dead in the first few seconds.

He kept leaping. He kept doing so faster than a frog, avoiding these never-ending rain of rocky darts along their trajectory that shattered as they met the ground, all while the ground was shaking.

Whoever said hail was bad, this was worse. If he had an umbrella he'd wished for a heavily-armored APC. As he was focusing dodging, Sage finally displayed his usefulness. 

[Cave. At 3-o-clock.] 

Or in a similar description, a hole in the tunnel walls.

"I see it!" 

He was meters away from safety, yet it felt like this could go for eternity. He went fast and he did so steadily. But alas, as he nears a new threat appears. It was no other newcomer beasts, it was fatigue. He stopped. He was stuck. He was close. He was only a few feet away from haven.

He pushed himself. Again and again, he forced his new body to push. 

"Just a little more!"

He struggled to do so. But he struggled, and struggled, and struggled. 

"Come on! It's just over there!"

He never felt more intense as to push above the limit. No matter how much he screams-

"MOVE DAMN IT MOVE!"

-He couldn't jump. He couldn't squirm. He couldn't move. 

He could only do as much as to brace himself, to shrink from fear.

Is this how it will end, cowering helplessly until he would be impaled?

Honestly, while everything came out of the blue, he still got expectations of reincarnation. Of course, dying as one of the lamest fantasy creatures don't meet it. If he were to die he'd prefer something grandiose, like a hero drawing his last breath to do a finishing move against the demon king as his harem cries in the background.

A bit cliche, but dreams are dreams. 

But what did God say?

No.

This was all happening because of the behemoths' battle. He neither cares for their need for sustenance nor their need to display dominance through sheer power. He wanted peace and quiet, and the only worries he had were that it may be impossible in this confusing dimension.

But that was not exactly true, as one more falling stalactite can end this chaos.

Too many things happened within minutes.

He was tired.

He was so close and out of all the things that managed to stop his progress it was fatigue.

Fatigue.

It was beyond embarrassment. He was not going to be killed by a grand enemy in a grand battle in a grand location but by exhaustion, by a rock, and in a tunnel. He guessed this was actually fitting. It's not like anyone or anything would want a slime as a final boss battle anyway. Slimes die and they do it professionally. That was their fate, his fate, and he should accept that. But he couldn't.

And as the stalactite fall his memories surged like a flood.

Just how did everything come to this?

He was only an orphan in a local church. With the government child support program, he was able to obtain a decent education from elementary to high school. And then came WWIII. It was a war that affected even insignificant countries. It was a war fought not by soldiers but by technology. And he was drafted.

Then he died. He didn't know how, so either he was sniped or got obliterated by missile strikes. Either way, it is not a priority to think about. And there he was. Not as a soul in heaven, but as a slime who's future was about to be ended.

[Turn yourself into a donut.]

But he doesn't want to.

He was quite the stubborn type. While he cannot move he can shape-shift. He was a slime after all. He didn't need to move out the way, as not getting hit was enough. He turned into a donut but the process was slow. While he was tired, it took less energy to do so than leaping. All the mass in his center flowed out, forming a gap in the middle. It'll be a few seconds top until the stalactite hits. But as he took his new form... the stalactite hit nothing.

Instead, it hit a spot where he surrounded it.

As it shattered the broken bits harmlessly bounced off his inner circle. He stared in silence at the fragments that gathered inside him.

"... Am I alive?"

[Currently, yes]

"..."

[...]

"... Are you sure?"

[Yes.]

And while he survived the inevitable, the two monsters are still fighting. He couldn't discern, as both behemoths were in a distance, but the other punched hard enough to throw the other to the wall. The monster that was pinned down was slashed by claws again and again and again from what he can tell.

Then... it was over. 

The victor sunk its teeth into the loser, signifying that the battle officially ended.

And so do the hail of hell along with the tremors.

He lived.

He survived.

But he had no confidence as to believe he did.

Setting everything aside, the thought of a vacation would be nice.

In his slightly shrunk, compressed form, he expanded to his original size, blessed with a moment to rest. Still, that doesn't mean that hustling for the cave feet away wasn't exactly crucial. If he could physically sigh, he would sigh out of relief, but with a bit of doubt. After all, there was still that thing out there, and he doesn't know if there will be more. But it busied itself eating its prey it fought for in a place too far for his concern.

He just needed a minute to rest. And he dares say the feeling of exhaustion as a slime was oddly nice. There was no sweating, panting, aching, or the desperate need to sit. Only a little bearable heat was involved.

Maybe there'll be perks as a slime.

"How much time had passed?"

[One minute and thirty-two seconds since your arrival]

"..."

[...]

"Seriously?!"