It has been... A long time. It might not actually have been a long time, but Doll definitely thinks it's been a long time.

Because all Doll has been doing is killing Slimes, occasionally trying out water bullets, finding its first dead ends (annoying!), and trying to find a forward that has anything more interesting than any other forward it's tried.

All this time, there have been precisely two blessings.

Firstly, when Doll accidentally shaped the water wrong, it splashed it on its still sizzling arm. And it not only didn't hurt, it stopped the acid from burning it anymore. But it made Doll as tired as if it'd shot a slime (maybe a little less.)

Secondly, slowly (very slowly), Doll has been able to make more water bullets. Now, after what has seemed like three or four times her life before the slimes, it can make four before she gets tired enough to feel it's not risky.

But these are slimes. It doesn't want to waste the effort anymore. It hates slimes, and it resolves, if it ever gets past this place of slimes, that it never wants to see another slime ever again.

Corridors too. It was a kind of nice feeling, at first, to see different kinds of corridors, but that paled pretty quickly, especially since Doll will forever associate these corridors with the tedium and hate that is Slime. It looks back at the time it almost died with fondness, because it was actually different.

Another dead end. Yes, Doll hates dead ends, too. It didn't like them from the very beginning, because it was forcing Doll to go backwards. It was a forwards that lied. Sometimes, it pretended to be forwards for a long time, too.

Stolen novel; please report.

So it was with a mingled sense of annoyance and relief that finally, after another seeming eternity, Doll finally found something new.

Well, newish...

This slime almost filled the junction ahead. It blocked the only path Doll had found that went forwards. In fact, it protected three other kinds of forwards.

To Doll, this marked the slime as the greatest and most hated foe in all its existence so far.

Doll wanted it.

Doll wanted it dead.

Doll wanted very, very badly to eat it.

And it seemed the slime wanted to eat Doll just as badly, because it wobbled its way toward Doll, quicker than the other slimes as well.

But Doll didn't care. It crouched. The hand alone likely wouldn't be enough. The knife alone definitely wouldn't be. So it held the knife ready. It would cut its way some of the way in, and use the power of its leap to go the rest of the way.

No more thinking, only the desire to eat, the hate. Leap.

And, to a point, it worked. It could vaguely see the food, right in front of it.

But it was trapped. And it hurt. Blinding pain, all over its body. If it couldn't... It had to... It couldn't...

...It had to try. It wanted to live.

Water. Water can push. Even though it was hard, because the pain dominated its thoughts, Doll gathered its energy, and made a big ball behind it...

And popped it, arm still outstretched.

Doll could feel the strength returning, even through the pain, and felt itself hurled from the other side of the giant slime. Tumbling, it felt more pain as it hit the corner of a wall, and the sizzling pain, stronger than before, of acid.

Big water. A big splash of water. A big... Doll went limp with relief as it stopped burning, its porcelain form soaked, its dress ruined...

"Oh? What an interesting sight..."

A low, lightly amused voice. And, looking toward it, Doll saw what, for a very brief moment, looked like an adventurer.

But adventurers don't have snakes for hair (maybe?)

Adventurers don't have scaled skin (maybe?)

Adventurers don't have long, sinuous tails.

Doll limply lifted one arm.

And waved.

Whatever happened next... Doll was too tired to stop.