WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Monster Livestream Star ◈
Chapter 48: Muscles (1)
──────
That night.
While Amelia was asleep, the Slime immediately shared its new goal with the chat.
▷I'm going to make biceps!
▶Biceps?
▶You mean the muscles that human was talking about?
▶A Slime with biceps lol
▶No, but can it even make them? Do Slimes... have muscles?
[Jiggly Queen]▶How rude! How can you ask such a thing? Where do you think all that strength came from? Slimes do not have muscles like other species, but we can still grow stronger!
▶Ooh, new fact. Taking notes.
▶So it has no muscles, but it does have slimcles.
Jiggly Queen's words revealed that Slimes could grow stronger too.
But that led the viewers to another question.
How did a Slime grow stronger?
Evolution did not count, of course.
▶Then how does it get stronger?
[Just Slam Into It]▶By using Body Slam a bunch of times?
‘Th-these idiots!’
The Slime Queen felt as though she were about to burst from frustration at that foolish comment.
It was obvious that when the viewers thought of Slimes, they only imagined the sort of Slime currently streaming.
[Jiggly Queen]▶Do you think tentacles are just for show! Naturally, training your tentacles makes you stronger!
▶Ah, tentacles.
▶Right, those exist.
At first, Slimes were nothing but a body.
But after evolving and gaining skills, Slimes could use tentacles too.
Even the Slime Queen's arms and legs were simply tentacles developed to the point of resembling a human form.
▶But Malangi doesn't have tentacles?
▶Nah, it can buy them from the Skill Shop.
‘Tentacles! Biceps!’
From the chat, the Slime understood that it could make biceps if it gained tentacles.
And making biceps would make it stronger.
The Slime made its decision at once.
It opened the Shop and purchased the Tentacle Generation skill for 20 coins.
The moment it bought the skill, knowledge of how to use Tentacle Generation entered the Slime's mind.
Careful not to wake Amelia, the Slime climbed down from the bed, glowed faintly, and created tentacles.
Pop!
Tiny tentacles sprouted from either side of its body.
‘Wow!’
The Slime found the feel of its soft, slightly long tentacles fascinating.
Its senses expanded along with its tentacles.
Pat pat!
The Slime used its tentacles to touch the floor and its own body.
The floor felt the same as always.
But...
‘Wooooow!’
The sensation of touching its own body directly was incredibly new.
‘Soft!’
Pleased by the feel of its body, the Slime stroked and poked itself with its tentacles again and again.
Brrrrr!
‘It's shaking!’
Feeling even its own vibrations with its tentacles pressed against its body, the satisfied Slime climbed back onto the bed and fell asleep.
Time passed, and early morning came.
‘Exercise!’
The Slime woke before Amelia and climbed down from the bed, moving toward the door.
The Slime of the past would have struggled to open it.
‘Tentacles!’
The Slime created tentacles and easily opened the door.
Using Mana, it extended a tentacle upward, grabbed the handle, and pulled it down.
After leaving Amelia's room, the Slime immediately retracted its tentacles and headed for Paulen's private training ground.
Boing! Boing!
As a paladin, Paulen had to protect the Saintess above all else, wherever he was.
For that reason, the training ground was not far from the Saintess's room, and the Slime arrived quickly.
“Hup! Hup!”
Paulen was working out hard in the training ground.
Since most of his schedule was spent escorting Amelia, Paulen always trained from early dawn.
He was dressed lightly, sweat pouring off him as though he had been exercising since dawn.
It was proof of how diligently Paulen trained.
‘Biceps!’
Paulen always wore armor while escorting Amelia, so the Slime had never seen his large, firm muscles.
It already knew roughly what they were like through Perception, but seeing them with its own eyes was different.
‘Strong!’
Just looking at them, the Slime could feel how strong they were.
Godric was fairly muscular too, but Paulen's muscles were firmer and more springy.
‘I want to be strong too!’
Boing! Boing!
The Slime approached Paulen.
“Hup! Hup! Hm? Budeul?”
Paulen, who had been training with dumbbells, tilted his head at the Slime's sudden appearance.
“Are you alone? No, how did you get here?”
Boing! Boing!
“Budeul, if you sneak out like this, Amelia will worry later.”
Setting down the dumbbells, Paulen lifted the Slime.
“I'll talk Amelia into it and play with you in the training ground today too. For now, let's go back to the room.”
‘I want biceps!’
Brrrrrrr!
The Slime trembled on Paulen's hand and brought out its tentacles.
“Hm?”
Tentacles suddenly sprouted from either side of the Slime.
The Slime moved them and...
‘Biceps!’
It bent the tentacles inward, imitating Paulen.
They were short and soft, so no muscle-like bulge appeared in the middle.
“Are you...?”
Still, Paulen could tell that the Slime was striking a bicep pose.
Boing!
As Paulen stood there flustered, the Slime jumped from his hand and approached the dumbbells on the floor.
‘Exercise!’
The Slime extended its tentacles and tried to lift a dumbbell.
But no matter how hard it tried, it could not lift one with its tentacles.
The dumbbells Paulen used were custom-made by a dwarf from a special metal far heavier than ordinary metals.
Even a seasoned warrior would struggle to lift them. There was no way a Slime that had only just learned to control tentacles could manage it.
‘Nnnngh!’
The Slime put all its strength into lifting it, but the dumbbell would not move.
‘Can't lift it...’
After trying again and again to no avail, the Slime pulled its tentacles away from the dumbbell and slumped forward.
“Huff, huff, huff, huff.”
Paulen watched the scene while breathing heavily.
‘A beginner.’
The Slime was dejected because it could not lift the dumbbell.
To Paulen, it looked like a novice who had become discouraged after starting to exercise.
‘I can't leave it like this!’
“Budeul!”
Paulen forcefully exhaled through his nose and asked.
“You want to make biceps too!”
‘Yes!’
Boing!
The Slime bounced as if to confirm it.
‘W-what a wonderful Slime!’
Paulen recalled his wistful, sad past.
The days when he had become a holy knight and trained every day in an effort to grow stronger.
But the stronger he became...
The more intense the training he imposed on himself became, the more companions who wished to grow stronger alongside him fell away.
It was not that they bore him any ill will.
The training simply became harder and harder, until they gave up, saying they could no longer keep up.
Paulen understood how those companions felt.
But he could not help feeling regret.
After being appointed a paladin, he had spent his days training alone in his private training ground. Of course he was lonely.
And now, a new training partner had appeared before him.
A beginner he could teach from start to finish.
Even if it was a monster, he did not want it to give up on exercise.
“Budeul, don't be sad just because you can't lift this! Not yet! You just can't lift it yet! Let's start with lighter things and work our way up! I'll prepare everything you need! I'll help you make biceps too!”
‘Wow!’
Boing!
The Slime was delighted at the promise that it would become stronger.
▶What's with that human all of a sudden?
▶His eyes are scary.
[Just Slam Into It]▶Th-that human bastard! You dare try to steal Malangi's teacher's spot from me!
▶Since when was that wolf bastard its teacher?
[Jiggly Queen]▶Exactly! Do you think teaching one Headbutt makes you the teacher of one of our kind!
▶Student NTR[1], oh yeah.
▶But are they seriously planning to give those tentacles biceps lol
“Wait four days! No, three days, Budeul! I'll gather exercise equipment just for you! We'll have fun working out together!”
‘Exercise! Biceps!’
Boing! Boing!
The Slime happily bounced across the floor.
+++
“Wow, it's been a long time since I was here too.”
After leaving the Elf Forest, Nellin rode in a carriage and looked around a city she had not visited in a long time.
Since she had ventured out anyway, Nellin decided to start somewhere familiar.
“Even after fifty years, the places that haven't changed still haven't changed.”
Fifty years had passed, but some stores remained exactly as they had been.
There were also many shops she had not seen before, and she made note of a few she wanted to visit later.
After looking around, Nellin entered the Adventurers’ Guild.
‘Now this is it. This is an Adventurers’ Guild.’
The atmosphere seemed completely unchanged despite the passage of time.
Adventurers looking over the request board or sitting at tables discussing requests.
Adventurers who had finished early, lingering over celebratory drinks.
Receptionists working while speaking with all sorts of adventurers.
They were the sights Nellin had seen most often fifty years ago.
‘All right, shall I register?’
Nellin approached a receptionist to get a new adventurer registration.
“I'd like to register as an adventurer.”
“Yes, a new adventurer registration. Please write your name here and pay the registration fee.”
Nellin wrote her name on the offered paper and paid the fee.
The receptionist took the paper and checked the name.
“Marin, then. Please wait a moment.”
Marin.
Nellin had deliberately used an alias instead of her own name.
The reason was her fame.
Speaking with Jessie at Count Ludendion's estate had reminded Nellin of just how famous she was.
If she worked under her real name, she would quickly draw attention.
‘Being too famous is a bother too.’
When she returned after subjugating the Black Dragon fifty years ago, so many people had flocked to her.
She knew their goodwill and respect were sincere, but she did not want that to happen every time she went somewhere alone.
The receptionist handed her an adventurer identification tag made with a magical device.
“Here you go! Now, I'll explain what you need to know as an adventurer...”
“Ah, that's fine. I know most of it already.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. I've heard a lot from a fellow elf who was an adventurer.”
“Understood. Then please do your best, starting with F-rank missions.”
‘Ah, right.’
Nellin had remembered that she needed to register as an adventurer, but forgotten that she had to begin with the lowest-ranked requests.
‘Well, I've gathered herbs in the forest plenty of times. Maybe two or three days?’
Wanting to get the bothersome task over with quickly, Nellin immediately selected an herb-gathering request.
And two hours later.
Nellin brought the herbs she had gathered to the counter.
“Confirmed! They're all high quality!”
“I've been gathering herbs for years. This much is basic.”
“That's a relief. We have another person like you, Marin, who gathers high-quality herbs.”
“What? There's someone besides me?”
“Yes. They've all reached C-rank now, so they do not gather herbs anymore.”
“Really? Hm?”
While they talked, Nellin noticed that the receptionist's expression had darkened.
“What? Did those C-rank adventurers cause some sort of trouble?”
“Pardon?”
“Your expression suddenly got worse while we were talking.”
“Ah, no, it isn't that. They still take on requests diligently and work very hard! They're exemplary adventurers. It's just that... they recently lost a companion, so they've been devoting themselves to getting stronger.”
‘Ah, I see.’
Nellin could easily imagine it.
There were many who lost a companion while on a request, blamed their own inadequacy, and became obsessed with growing stronger.
They were said to be exemplary adventurers, so it was understandable that the receptionist would worry.
‘If I meet them, should I give them some advice as a senior?’
Just as Nellin was thinking that...
Creak!
The Adventurers’ Guild doors opened, and four men entered.
Godric, Hawein, Def, and Seugol.
It was the Godric Party, which had parted ways with the Slime.
Footnotes:
[1] NTR: Japanese online slang for “someone else stealing your romantic partner,” jokingly applied here to Paulen taking Malangi from its self-appointed mentor.
---
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
