And with one final slash, the last reanimated corpse is put down for good. That should do it for this dungeon, I think to myself, and sure enough, I hear the telltale click of the treasure chest in the center of this large room unlocking. Some day, I'm going to understand how exactly a chest can be made to unlock after killing all the monsters in the room, but today is not that day. Instead, I simply open the chest and dig through its contents. There's a bow for rangers I can't use because I'm not dexterous enough... and a shield for paladins I can't use because I'm not pious enough. Assorted magical jewelry that isn't better than what I already have... and of course dozens of potions of which I already have hundreds. Well, at least this stuff is going to give me some decent money when I sell it back in town, but man, seems like everything here is made for more specifically educated adventurers, with generalist folks like me being stuck with the scraps. Bah.
Well, nothing to do but move on now, so I head out of this room and begin the long trek back towards the entrance. But while I make my way through one of the myriad hallways, my sense of danger tingles. It's like the calm, exploratory music playing in my head is suddenly replaced by more intense music signaling that there is villainy afoot. Drawing my sword, I scan the hallway, searching for whatever monster might lurk there, plotting my demise... but I come up empty. Unless... There's a barrel over there. Now, normally monsters don't hide in barrels, most don't have the intelligence to set up proper ambushes and rather just go for the direct confrontation. But there are some that are capable of it, like some smarter goblins. I guess it's not entirely impossible.
So I give the barrel a good whack with my blade, and immediately, the lid bursts open and a blue blur jumps out, screaming and bouncing around. It takes a few moments for me to draw a bead on it, but as it finally settles in a corner, I can tell what it is—a slime. But what's a slime doing here? Aren't slimes level one as a rule? What's a slime doing here in this level twenty dungeon? And as if to answer my question, the formless blue blob begins to take shape, forming into the head and upper torso of a young man... well, a blue, translucent young man. "Please, don't hurt me! You... you've got to help me!" he begs, cowering in sheer terror. Normally, I'd slap a slime like this silly with one strike and move on, and yet, something about him has me staying my blade, even sheathing it once more, causing him to ever so slightly loosen up. "I... I'm not supposed to be here... there must have been some sort of mix-up! And now I'm stuck here... I can't make it out of here. The monsters in the forest, they'd kill me. Please, mister adventurer, sir, you've got to help me!" he continues, the fear clearly audible in his voice.
Now, why should I help this slime? There's no reason for me to do so. And yet, he just seems so innocent that I can't bear to see him this way, so I reply, "Alright, I'll help you out and let you tag along, OK?"
Immediately, he springs into action, rushing towards me and flinging his slimy arms around me. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he yells, clinging to me like I'm his only hope of survival, which I guess I am. Almost instinctively, I return the embrace, feeling my hands run across the back of his human-like form, feeling the slick wetness of the slime. I've never actually touched a slime before, certainly not like this, and it is a strange sensation. My hands quickly cool off just from touching him, almost like a refreshing bath in a babbling brook, just for my hands. And with his face touching mine, a moist, soft feeling washes over me. Somehow, he is just firm enough for the slightest resistance, while at the same time being so soft and malleable, practically conforming to my contact in a way that I've never experienced before. It's like a pillow... but better! In fact, I downright lose myself in the sensation, standing there, just holding this slime, patting his back and letting him cling to me for over a minute.
But eventually, he does break the embrace, looking at me with a surprising amount of emotion in those slimy eyes. He shouldn't be able to look so grateful, right? There's no actual organs, no flesh, just slime in an approximation of a man, and yet, I can feel it, so doesn't that make it real? "Um... thank you," he repeats. "My name is Slip. I'm so glad I met you, mister..." he then trails off.
"Just call me Kyril, no need to be so formal. Now c'mon, let's get out of here, alright?" I tell him, and we set off to leave. It's such an odd sight, seeing this blue, slimy male upper body with a puddle underneath just slide along the ground... I've never thought about slimes before. Sure, everybody knows slimes, but only as the blobs of goo you sic beginner adventurers on. Like, Slip here is a slime guy? Slime boy? I've never even thought of slimes having a gender of some kind... and he has a personality, too. We chat on our way out and while we trek through the forest, and I find him to be very soft-spoken and gentle, and honestly, if he had landed in the right place, in one of the generic meadows the level one adventurers play around in, he probably would have been unable to attack even them, that's how meek he is.
After a while, the sun is beginning to set, but I've managed to navigate us out of the dangerous zone to a glade with a pretty little pond and a nice view of the starlit sky. While I set up a campfire and a tent, as well as starting to prepare my dinner on that fire, I spot Slip sitting—well, as much sitting as a slime can do anyway—slowly sucking up a bit of water and growing ever so slightly. A few moments later, he returns to the campfire with a smile on his face. "So, was that, like, dinner for you, Slip?" I ask him, curious.
"Um, yeah... we slimes don't really need food. We just need some liquid," he explains. And with that, he watches silently as I eat my dinner—nothing special, just some game I hunted for this purpose—but it's not an unpleasant silence. In fact, just his presence is very comforting to me in a way. But after I finish up eating, he does break the silence. "So, um, Kyril... I do want to thank you. I spent days in that barrel, wishing, hoping that someone would save me somehow. And now... you did. I just wish there was something I can do for you," he says, brushing a slimy lock out of his face in a remarkably human-like gesture. "I'm just so weak..."
But as he speaks, I have an idea. Something that he can do for me. "Well, I mean, you could give me a hug again..." I trail off, finding myself blushing despite how simple the request is.
That surprises him, but he quickly nods his head. "Oh! Yes, yes, I can do that!" he exclaims, sliding right over next to me. He spreads his slimy arms wide, laying them around my shoulders and slowly leaning into me.