WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Monster Livestream Star ◈
Chapter 11: Evolution (2)
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Slimes perceive the nutrients that enter their bodies as flavor. That was why the slime could not help being surprised as it absorbed the rabbit.
It tasted similar to the “flavor” the slime had felt when absorbing a deer’s blood, and to the “flavor” of the jerky it had eaten.
Thanks to that shared “flavor,” the slime recognized the rabbit as meat.
But.
‘It’s not jerky!’
No matter how fresh a rabbit was, it could not be exactly like jerky.
After all, jerky was food made by cooking meat and adding seasoning.
Since both were meat, their nutrients were naturally similar. But their flavors were clearly different.
▷You lied!
▶??? Lied?
▶What was a lie?
▷It’s rabbit meat! Not rabbit jerky!
▶Ack, lololol.
▶It’s not jerky, lololol.
[Noblesse Fire]▶You can tell the difference?
[Jiggly Queen]▶What do you take the slime for! Of course the slime can distinguish that much!
▷You lied! Bad!
Having tried new meat and found that it did not taste like the jerky the slime had expected, the slime began bouncing angrily. Boing! Boing!
[Free Spirit]▶Jerky is made from meat too! Wasn’t it still tasty?
From what Kkanjuki had learned, monsters generally enjoyed uncooked meat too.
So they had assumed the slime would enjoy the rabbit.
▷It’s tasty! But it’s not jerky!
The slime acknowledged that it was tasty, but it was not the jerky flavor the slime had wanted. The slime’s anger did not fade easily.
▷You said meat jerky! Not rabbit jerky!
[Threadwork Madam]▶Oh no! Angry Malangi is cute too~.
▶What doesn’t look cute to you, Auntie?
[Threadwork Madam]▶Who are you calling Auntie!
▶Lololol.
▶If you’ve had kids, you’re an auntie~
▶For real, lol.
‘Hmm, how do I calm the slime down?’
In their workshop, Kkanjuki briefly considered how to soothe the slime’s anger before suddenly having an idea.
They just needed to redirect the slime’s attention elsewhere.
[Free Spirit]▶Malangi! My explanation was lacking! Sorry!
▷Meat! Not jerky!
[Free Spirit]▶Yeah, meat isn’t jerky. My bad. But the meat was tasty, so don’t you want more?
▷I do!
[Free Spirit]▶Then try catching animals other than rabbits next time! They’ll definitely taste better than rabbits, and you can eat more of them!
▷Other animals?
[Free Spirit]▶Like deer or wild boars!
‘Deer!’
The slime immediately reacted to Kkanjuki’s suggestion.
The slime still remembered the taste of the deer blood it had eaten for the first time.
Not as good as jerky, but a flavor that filled the slime’s body with energy.
What would it taste like if the slime ate the whole body, like with the rabbit?
The slime’s anger flew away somewhere, replaced by curiosity about the taste of deer.
▷Deer! I want to eat it!
[Free Spirit]▶Then go find one!
▷Okay!
[Noblesse Fire]▶That got the slime over it?
▶The slime’s still a little kid, lol.
[Just Slam Into It]▶Being fooled only works for a while. Once the slime grows up a little, the slime will notice right away and look at you with mistrustful eyes...
▶Nobody asked about your home life.
+++
“Phew. I avoided having Malangi hate me.”
In the cavern, Kkanjuki sighed in relief.
The slime still had an innocent nature.
But Kkanjuki knew better than to underestimate that innocence and keep playing pranks or telling lies. The resentment that built up that way would inevitably last a very long time.
Like how someone might still remember a prank played on them as a child after growing up, because the prankster had assumed they would forget it quickly.
Kkanjuki still had not forgotten the pranks they had suffered in their own innocent childhood.
‘Still, this has kept Malangi interested in animal meat. Then next...’
Kkanjuki decided they should teach the slime to be careful around humans.
Monsters living on the Demon Continent might be different, but the slime was still very weak.
The slime could catch rabbits, but if the slime encountered humans or other monsters, there was a high chance they would attack.
Kkanjuki would advise the slime to avoid humans whenever possible, but...
‘There’s no way curious Malangi will stay still.’
Kkanjuki could tell from the slime’s reaction upon first meeting Nellin. When the slime saw a human for the first time, the slime would approach out of curiosity again.
Even if the slime had the strength to defend itself and defeat humans who attacked it.
‘Eating people must be stopped at all costs.’
After becoming a lich, Kkanjuki had decided there was no need to care about human ethics.
In fact, Kkanjuki had seen monsters kill and eat humans on several streams without feeling disturbed.
Kkanjuki, betrayed by humans and driven into a corner before becoming a lich, had no reason to take humanity’s side.
However.
Even apart from ethical concerns, the moment the slime ate a human, the slime would be in danger.
What if word spread that there was a slime that ate people? A slime extermination request might be issued.
If someone lost to a slime and died,
people would say, “How pathetic do you have to be to get killed by a slime?”
But if a slime ate someone,
“That slime is dangerous!”
People would come rushing in droves to exterminate the slime.
More than anything.
‘Nellin would be sad.’
Kkanjuki thought Nellin would be sad if the slime who had promised to meet her again, the slime she had judged weak and harmless, became a man-eating monster.
Kkanjuki did not care what happened to other humans, but had no intention of allowing a former companion to be saddened or a promise of reunion to be tarnished.
‘Of course, it isn’t something to worry about right now.’
The slime had left the Elf Village and continued onward.
But even by carriage, it took more than a week to travel from the Elf Village to a village where humans lived.
So there was no need to worry about the slime meeting humans while wandering through the Elven Forest.
On the broadcast screen, the slime was using Perception while hopping around in search of deer. Boing! Boing!
The slime’s soft body bounced along with great determination, and it was cute, but watching only this stream was becoming boring. As a livestream veteran, Kkanjuki could not become fixated on just one broadcast.
‘I should watch something else.’
There was nothing to worry about for now, so Kkanjuki began exploring other streams.
‘Jiggly Queen is streaming again after a long time. I thought she would be too busy watching Malangi.’
Kkanjuki entered Jiggly Queen’s broadcast.
And then.
▶[Free Spirit has been kicked from the channel.]
‘!?’
They were kicked out the moment they entered.
+++
“Hmph! Where do you think you’re trying to come in, you insolent thing?”
The Slime Queen kicked Kkanjuki out as soon as she saw the notification that they had entered.
The reason was simple. She found them offensive.
After the slime left the Elf Village, the Slime Queen had been considering how to guide Malangi going forward.
Even if she respected the slime’s will, she could still suggest better paths!
But there was one major problem.
As the highest form of slime, the Slime Queen instinctively knew what possibilities slimes held.
The problem was that she knew all of them.
Everything looked good, leaving the Slime Queen unable to decide which path to guide the slime toward!
So the Slime Queen thought:
For now, she should leave as many possibilities open as she could!
Normally, she would leave the slime to grow naturally according to the environment. But unlike most of their kind, the slime possessed intelligence from a young age.
In that case.
‘Surely my kin will receive a time of choice from the system.’
She would advise the slime beforehand in the direction it wanted, expanding the choices available when that time came.
That was what she had resolved to do.
Then, just as she was about to type a chat message telling the slime not to eat only poisonous herbs, Kkanjuki spoke before her and said that the slime should eat more meat than poisonous herbs!
From the Slime Queen’s perspective, it was not enough that they had beaten her to it. It felt as though they had stolen the role she had meant to take.
Then the slime missed the rabbit, and Fenrir even began explaining ambush methods.
Kkanjuki and Fenrir.
In the Slime Queen’s heart, the two had become insolent, offensive beings who had stolen her role.
▶Hey, Jiggly Queen~
▶You’re streaming again after a long time.
▶Why haven’t you been streaming lately?
-Hmph! When I stream is my choice. And I will not be able to stream often from now on, either.
▶????
▶Whywhywhywhywhywhywhy.
-I have kin to care for. Know that.
▶Did a Slime King show up nearby or something?
▶Oh, is Jiggly Queen finally mating?
▶[Anonymous4299 has been kicked from the channel.]
-Who is mating! How rude!
▶You kicked them before saying that, lol.
▶The mating comment did cross the line, lol.
▶Ah! S*x!
▶[Mating Parrot has been kicked from the channel.]
After sending away several trolls who came in every time she streamed, the Slime Queen looked at the reason she had begun broadcasting again after so long.
Unlike Malangi, the slimes had no egos. They moved only by instinct and obeyed the Slime Queen’s commands.
But having no intelligence did not mean they stood around like dolls.
They simply did not have enough intelligence to be chosen by the system. Ordinary slimes still possessed intelligence comparable to small animals.
The slimes found it strange that the Slime Queen, who regularly gave them commands, had not responded.
Since the slimes could not see the system window, all they saw was the Slime Queen blankly staring into empty air.
Had something happened to their leader?
The slimes unconsciously gathered around her, worried for the Slime Queen.
The Slime Queen, who could convey her will and issue commands to other slimes, could also feel the strong intentions of her kin.
Most of those intentions were hunger, or confusion because they could not understand complicated commands.
But now, those slimes held the intention of “worrying” about her. The Slime Queen could not help being surprised.
‘I was so focused on Malangi that I neglected you.’
Even if they lacked intelligence, they were still her servants and kin, living in the same cave.
The Slime Queen smiled at the sight of the slimes worrying about her.
Then, for the first time in several days, the Slime Queen began her slime stunt broadcast again.
Once her usual commands resumed, the slimes’ worries disappeared.
+++
‘Deer! Meat!’
The slime’s target had changed from rabbits to deer.
As the saying went, hardship made one’s will burn brighter. The slime was even more motivated than when hunting rabbits.
Because the slime had failed to catch a deer for four days!
Deer were not easy prey.
Approaching carefully had gone well enough, but the trouble began when the slime rammed them.
The deer being bigger than a rabbit was not the problem.
The slime’s Body Slam struck the deer’s body directly.
But the problem was its durability.
Unlike a rabbit, the deer did not collapse in one hit.
Startled by the Body Slam, the deer simply ran away.
Even when the slime tried to chase after it, the deer moved too quickly to catch.
The chat burst into laughter again at the sight of the slime failing to hunt, and then advice came flying in.
▶So close, lol.
[Just Slam Into It]▶If you’re going for it, aim for a vital spot! Somewhere you can take it down in one blow!
Aim for a vital spot where the slime could bring down prey in a single blow from an unexpected place.
And after following that advice for several days, going through many trials and errors, the slime finally seized the perfect opportunity.
The slime checked the deer’s location and approached.
The slime checked the terrain nearby.
Without being noticed, the slime crept to a tree near the deer and slowly climbed it.
Then, aiming for the deer’s head.
Boing!
The slime launched a Body Slam downward as though smashing into it.
Caught in the unexpected ambush, the deer’s head was pinned beneath the slime and struck the ground.
Its legs gave out from the solid blow, and the deer collapsed with its head pressed into the earth.
‘Deer! I caught one!’
Just as the slime was about to start hopping with joy at finally succeeding in the hunt, the system’s voice rang out.
[You have met the required experience threshold.]
[You have fulfilled the evolution conditions.]
[Multiple evolution possibilities detected for the subject.]
[Please select the form to evolve into.]
‘Evolution?’
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