Samuel.

That is my name.

No last name, no middle name, just Samuel. Only people with parents have them. And please, spare me your sympathies for having to never experience the warmth of families. For me, I care only for the future of my survival, which is currently being threatened in all possible ways.

I quivered in fear, unsure of what my fate looks like. And without question, if I was human I will be more than frightened. Because tell me, if it wasn't for my unique body and vision, how will I navigate through the darkness? How will I even enter my cave?

Inside, I felt secure. This dark, tiny, moist, cave that when inspected in the world outside, looks nothing more than a burrow, which actually is if compared to the size of a human, if I was taller. For me, this new home of mine, it's perfect, especially when I would never want anything to find me.

But there was a problem.

I was hungry.

[Detected cellular decay. I suggest ingesting the leftover carcass.]

"Shit- are you saying I'm rotting?!"

[Most likely, Master.]

And I have to go out, regardless if I never wanted to. Eating an alien corpse wasn't the worst part, it was the endless unexpected outcomes when I leave. But at this point, I don't know which one would be. What dangers would there be to greet me?

For god's sake, I was almost killed by falling rocks! I just went through hell, but I have no choice. My hunger is my new enemy.

As I neared the entrance, I peeked with caution. Doing so reminded me of my vision's drawbacks that, while I can see everything around me, it has a limited range. it's proof that solidifies that my vision does work like radar, sonar, or the likes.

So what did I see outside the hallway, in the farthest distance possible?

Pure black, as if at the end of the tunnel, there was no light but pure demise. And knowing I have to walk outside made me wobble. No one likes the dark, not even me. 

But of course, I could still see the gigantic corpse, just there to the left of my cave.

And no, I don't feel overly-possessive to my cave. It's not like I'm being territorial over my cave. I know people treasure their permanent house, but it's my cave.

The carcass may be far enough to be indistinguishable, but I know my directions. And so, once I was outside - I rushed like hell.

"Sage! Estimate the distance between the carcass and my cave!"

[Understood. 21 meters... 36 meters... 41 meters...]

Screw fatigue. I say this is good exercise regardless if slimes need to. If anything entered my range of vision I'm more than dead. Animals eat meat, and pretty sure I'm not made out of it, but hey, who's to say I know about monster diet?

I almost forgot that whatever creatures lurk here, they can shake the world.

For them to do that, a big body is needed. As I slow down to a halt... I confirmed that was big indeed. I'm still sure that its height would be 4-times an average person.

[87 meters, Master]

"... What?"

I heard his answer, and it was impressive how Sage needed no measuring tools. But more than that, now that I stand a foot near, I saw the carcass vaguely covered on what seems to be scales.

I was right. It was a drake, a kind of creature that should only be possible in fictitious tales. Regardless of my position and situation, I want to say how much of a magnificent beast it is, because after all, this couldn't even be compared to the most exotic and rarest animal in my world, knowledge of how something like this obviously doesn't exist.

But its magnificence is severely ruined with slit-shaped wounds all over its body, especially in the neck.

My attention shifted to its claws, but they looked more like thick nails capable of crushing boulders than slicing trees with a swing of its arms. And knowing behind the principles of Cube Law, its muscles and bones must have the strength and density to crush a truck.

And something managed to kill it.

... If I was human, would I be pulverized upon meeting it? Why was I even put here into this hellhole? Out of all the creatures I can transmigrate or be reincarnated to, why a slime? If there isn't a god who was behind everything, how could even be a coincidence like this even be statistically possible?

[The distance of carcass to cave -]

"My cave."

[-yes. From your cave, is 87 meters]

No.

Just no.

Concentration is what I need in my survival, no point complaining. I'm dying, and I need to eat fast so I can hide back in my cave... but I don't know how. Maybe we do it like flies, where they spit acid on the foodstuff and drink it?

Hmm...

Gross...

For now, I don't want to broaden my imagination.

I just need to make skin contact and see what I can do.

Though I do want to avoid the bitten areas unlike its limbs, because eating raw meat stricken with saliva was enough already. I inched toward the thighs where I saw an open wound because I do not think I can do anything against its scaled skin.

I can already see so far as to assume how thick its legs are, and I wasn't disappointed as to see how thick its skin is - around an inch. And that wound I'm stretching towards to was bigger than me. Seeing so struck me horrified, but my hunger refused to obey my emotions. I extended a part of my body to form a vague, gooey finger to touch the exposed muscles.

Once I did, I ate. Or more specifically, I have melted the part I touched.

But it was more than that.

Humans couldn't see themselves eat, only if their jaw is invisible or if they open their mouth in front of a mirror. But for me, as a slime? It was a completely different experience. It's like chewing with a microscope - I saw and felt the carcass's tissue turning into pieces, into individual cells.

It wasn't being corroded by me, I was ripping it apart atom by atom.

Describing it was simple as that, but no matter what, I can never fathom how I was able to. Everything was in detail, and don't even get me started when it comes to taste. Then the next thing I knew was that the meat pulled me like a magnet.

Just what are slimes?

I wanted more. Nothing can discern whether my hunger can ever be satisfied, not even me. I glued myself to the wound. It was like the gateway to heaven and I couldn't stop ripping each layer of muscle fibers layer by layer. And as I was doing so, the world changed into a more comprehensible scenery.

Were my eyes improving?

My sight is changing like adjusting camera lenses... then everything turned sharper, like sketches in drawings becoming more what the artist wants it to look like. I can better assume the distance of objects, and I can better understand my surroundings!

Though everything is still in monochrome. But hey, at least I can see.

I can even see another slime right over there a few hops away-

Oh god, there's another slime like me! What should I do?! How do we greet when we don't have a mouth to speak of?! Why am I getting overly excited over an encounter?!

.... I don't know why I'm anxious.

I'll just watch and see what it does.

It was worming like a caterpillar, in much the same way I walk, towards me. Maybe it wants to greet me, or maybe it wants a piece of meat. Well, I'm willing to share knowing how I can't eat all of this. Upon a few meters away, it paused on its tracks.

It proceeded to pulsate in a constant sequence like it was giving me a gesture of self-introduction.

It's kinda cute actually.

"... Hello!"

"... You can talk?!"

"Yes?", it said in a tone of confusion. I couldn't discern whether it was male or female. It even sounds androgynous from what I can hear, though I don't think slimes don't have gender.

But did... did it just say hello? How can it know or understand my language? Could it be possible that I'm not the only one who got turned into a slime?

"How do you know English?"

""English"? Is that food?"

"... It's the language we're using."

"... "Language"?... Is that also food?"

...

Okay... that was an interesting response. It can understand me, somewhat. Maybe it doesn't know what a language is, or it just cares about nothing but food.

"If you don't mind, do you think there are any literal differences between talking, speaking, and communicating?"

Talk. Speak. Communicate. Those three words have almost the same definition, but spelling and pronunciation-wise? Obviously no. There is no correct or wrong answer in my question because regardless there are many ways this conversation can go based on its reply.

"Umm... No?"

"Hmm... I see. Thanks."

Ahhh, Eureka.

We share messages we want to portray not through a solid form of communication (i.e. language), but through sharing the concepts behind our message. I don't know how, but maybe there's an auto-decipher-thing in us that lets us make sense of what others say. So to some extent, we do talk through telepathy.

Then again, should I make sense in a world that doesn't make sense in the first place?

"... You're weird. I'll just... eat somewhere."

"Ok, be safe. By the way, my name's Samuel. What's yours?"

It went to the tail of the dead beast just around the hips without a reply. A bit rude, but I guess it was a reasonable reaction due to my odd behavior. So I just minded my own business.

Though I'm a bit worried about my surroundings, especially the fellow I just met. And "a bit" was an understatement. I tried to hurry, but I couldn't adjust how fast I eat.

It could fully depend on the surface area of the food and my body-

The carcass was being nudged like something is trying to rip the dead drake's flesh. And I knew that wasn't my fellow slime. Slimes don't have teeth.

Something else is here and I don't know what to do but to run away ASAP.

I leaped long and fast. If I say "don't look behind" to myself it would be a joke when I can already see everywhere.

Much smaller than the drake, but definitely bigger than me, that odd-looking wolf was menacing, especially when it took notice of my existence. It chased me.

I saw its eyes gleaming with rage, completely forgetting the free dead meat that was lying lifelessly.

"Run run run run run run run run run run run run!!!"

But no matter how much I put effort hopping away it was catching up.

"I already get you don't want me anywhere, you territorial fuck!"

Fangs wide and sharp, it leaped to me with paws extended. It knows to where I would be after hopping - exploiting the wolf's downward curved trajectory, with all the power I have I stopped and jumped skywards.

I felt my body physically punched its abdomen like an uppercut, sending it flying a few meters as it landed with grace of a tumbleweed.

It recovered, stood, then stared... and it was pissed.

Slimes: the weakest race in every typical fantasy setting. Even without having the full package of experience of what it's like to be one, or without seeing my kind decimated in mass genocide with ease, I admit my racial weakness.

But that doesn't mean I'm not compliant as to prove myself different.

"You felt that?! I'm not your typical slime, bitch!"

The wolf in front had calluses for fur, like its skin is made out of rocks.

It barked.

"Such arrogance for a slime!"

It can speak too!? It isn't limited to my kin?

Color me shook, but being alive is my top priority. As the wolf charged for revenge, I went the opposite direction.

"Don't even try to run!"

I wasn't hopping away like a rabbit going for its burrow. I was going for the nearest stalactite fragments both big and small, but never larger than me. Then, sprouting many tentacles, I grabbed as many as I can.

Whipping my limbs one by one, I threw everything at its face with some hitting its eyeballs.

The wolf stopped like a braking car and shook its head, extremely agitated with the dirt and pain.

"How dare you!"

It charged again like a blind bull. I simply jumped sideways to avoid collision. Then I took the wolf's temporary blindness an opportunity to retreat.

"I'll rip you into pieces! I'll drink your body and pee it on my shit! I'll find you, you hear me?!"

What a talker. Or a barker in this case. I've heard worse death threats in many multiplayer games. I just ran as I saw the wolf complaining, rubbing its eyes in a clumsy manner. But its paws can only do so such as to scratch it.

"Aaaaagh! I'll kill you!"

"Try me!"

Bork bork bork. That's all I'm hearing while doing my best to get away. Hopping towards my cave, I couldn't feel more glad to have a home I can take refuge.

I'm safe.

But I couldn't avoid thinking if my fellow slime was alive.