NOVEL WEB Chapter 5
I rolled for a long time to avoid the sound of wolves. There was a sign in the middle of the road, but after years of wear and tear, it was completely crumbled, making it impossible to read even with my observation skill.
This world is set several decades in the future on Earth. However, due to the emergence of monsters, science and technology have stagnated, leading to the downfall of many nations in a half-destroyed, decaying world.
Who would climb mountains in such a world, right? It’s no wonder there’s no one to fix the facilities. Honestly, it’s surprising that any signs are still standing at all.
The sound of wolves… I wonder if there are still wolves left in Korea. It could just be wild dogs. Even puppies and regular dogs howl occasionally.
In any case, it’s irrelevant whether they’re wolves or dogs; they’re definitely not the kind of opponent I could defeat. Sure, I might have taken down a chicken, but that’s about my limit.
Fleeing from any dog or wolf would be the right call. No matter how fast I could roll, I wouldn’t have the confidence to outrun them. Before I knew it, my transformation skill had leveled up to level two from extensive use throughout the day.
Suddenly, I heard a sound, and when I used my presence detection, I found a frog. I couldn’t detect it with heat detection, perhaps because its body temperature was too low. Heat detection senses heat, so if something’s body temperature is lower than mine, it might be hard to detect.
‘Thinking about it, I’ve never actually eaten amphibians before.’
It’s true I’ve never encountered a cold-blooded animal.
From what I’ve heard, frog legs taste similar to chicken legs. I feel a bit excited. I curled up to return to my original form, used stealth, and soon the frog approached out of curiosity.
It was hard to tell whether it was stealth or provocation. Regardless, it was obvious the frog was coming closer. I lunged at it, and it writhed in pain.
‘Do amphibians breathe through their skin as well as their lungs?’
I remember hearing that if their skin dries out, they die. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the little guy to stop struggling, and I digest it in my gullet.
[You have consumed the Northern Mountain Frog. Satiety and experience have increased.]
Once again, satiety came before experience. It seems I won’t gain much experience from just a frog. Checking my status window, I saw my EXP increase from 133 to 201.
68 experience for one. I still need to eat five more to reach the next level.
The presence of frogs likely means there’s a stream or valley nearby. Wouldn’t it be easier to level up by preying on fish there?
While moving, my stomach grumbled a few times, but I managed to survive by eating leaves and insects. After a long roll, I found another sign.
‘Looks like it’s in Hangul, but I can’t read it…’
This is exactly what observation is for, right? Fortunately, it wasn’t completely destroyed like the other one; it was just broken. Using my skill on the sign revealed the words ‘Snake Cartilage.’
Snake cartilage. I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere, but I can’t remember. It’s definitely Korean. I doubt my observation skill has any translation abilities. At least, I’m glad I wasn’t tossed into a foreign country.
Arriving at the Snake Cartilage area, the number of creatures I sensed in the fairly large valley was incredible.
After all, it’s been decades since anyone set foot here, so it’s no surprise things have overpopulated. Didn’t they say that during the pandemic, nature thrived when humans stepped back?
But it seems I’m not the only one thinking like this. Just as I detected fish with my presence detection, I could also sense a variety of animals with heat detection. Unfortunately, most of them were larger than me.
In fact, one of the shapes detected through presence detection was a bear. They were identified as a bear. The only bear species in Korea is likely the Asiatic black bear… It seems it’s highly probable we’re in Jirisan.
The bear exists, but as long as I go unnoticed, I’m in the clear. If I’m detected, it’s best to consider myself dead.
Running into a bear while trying to avoid a wolf… no, it’s more like encountering a bear while avoiding a tiger. However, with so many other animals around, as long as I’m careful, there’s no reason for the bear to make a meal out of me.
One concern is not melting if I step into the water.
Being cautious not to offend the bear, I stretched my tentacles thin and dipped them into the water. After counting to 30 with no change, I finally felt relieved, but plunging in seems impossible.
If I were to get swept away by the current, it would be a disaster. Instead of going in, I extended my tentacles to fish like a pro. The fish quickly showed interest and bit the ends of my tentacles.
‘……!’
All I had to do was pull them up at the right moment.
…
[You have consumed rock fish. Satiety and experience have increased.]
[You have consumed Asian black bass. Satiety and experience have increased.]
[You have consumed zander. Satiety and experience have increased.]
[Satiety has reached its maximum. Experience converted by the skill Predation (F) Lv.6.]
[The skill Predation (F) Lv.6 has reached its maximum efficiency. Predation (F) Lv.6 → Predation (F) Lv.7.]
[Experience has reached its maximum. Lv.3 → Lv.4.]
[The skill Tentacle (F) Lv.5 has reached its maximum efficiency. Tentacle (F) Lv.5 → Tentacle (F) Lv.6.]
The system messages poured in like a waterfall. With glee, I continued fishing, managing to reach level four.
In the midst of enjoying my catch, something suddenly bit me from behind.
‘……?’
Wondering what it could be, I turned around to find something long and thin. When I used observation on it:
[Nu-ruk Snake 410g 73cm: A non-venomous and relatively docile snake.]
I think I heard a message saying my observation level increased to 5, and now I could even see its length! It must’ve thought I was easy prey, but that would be a huge mistake.
The Nu-ruk snake looked puzzled, tilting its head. It probably didn’t expect I had a skill to reduce physical damage. In simple terms, it picked the wrong slime to mess with.
I quickly extended my body and struck back. The Nu-ruk snake seemed shocked, as it hadn’t anticipated a slime would retaliate, but then quickly tensed up and hissed in threat.
If its teeth can’t do the job, it’ll use its gums.
When the Nu-ruk snake realized it couldn’t bite through, it coiled tightly around. However, that was a monumental error.
I had no intention of chasing after it out of fear of irritating the bear, but if it came this close, it was a different story. I spread wide, enveloping it completely like a net.
“Shraaaack!”
It squirmed and struggled, but I enveloped its long body easily. It was true that it was longer than me, but my surface area was larger.
[The skill Transformation (F) Lv.2 has reached its maximum efficiency. Transformation (F) Lv.2 → Transformation (F)Lv.3.]
I’m going to suffocate it like this.
The Nu-ruk snake writhed in pain, but it was impossible for it to shake off a massive mass like me weighing 4kg. With its head and half its body completely constricted, the Nu-ruk snake eventually died from suffocation.
Technically, I wasn’t a slime anymore; I was an amorphous gel. Just how much easier should they view slimes if they don’t run from them?
[You have consumed the Nu-ruk Snake. Experience and satiety have increased.]
[Experience has reached its maximum. Lv.4 → Lv.5.]
[Status has been further unlocked.]
[Accessing available evolution list.]
The first thing I checked was my status.
[Amorphous Gel Lv.5] [EXP 231/866]
[72.5cm 5kg] [Strength: Lacking] [Agility: Very Low] [Vitality: Very High]
The status was revealed. I was expecting numerical values, but the vague terms felt like my parents nagging me. What on earth is the standard for these ambiguous status evaluations?
Using observation helped clarify things.
[Strength: ‘Lacking compared to animals of similar size.’]
‘Comparatively…’
What animals around 5kg could it be? Dogs or cats, perhaps? I suppose that’s a fair evaluation.
‘Why the relative measurement and not a direct one, I’ll never know…’
Nonetheless, every animal in the valley isn’t a pushover. Most likely, the predators dense in the valley devoured the weaker prey. Just like how the Nu-ruk snake met its end.
‘A harsh ecosystem of snake cartilage. Only the strong survive.’
The bear that had just finished drinking moved away from the valley. Using heat detection, I noticed several animals that had been around parting like the Red Sea to avoid the bear. The bear walked majestically, clearly the ruler of its territory.
‘I’ve heard wild bears get hungry…’
But this one was full, looking more like a plump pig than starving.
It seems that during the time without human contact, it had fully claimed the bear’s territory. I knew black bears weren’t that big, yet this one looks easily over 2 meters tall. It likely grew large due to the abundance of food. Animals approached the valley to quench their thirst and some of them became my meals.
The rabbits I know are adorable like Hello Kitty, but this one looks incredibly nimble. The Nu-ruk snake was just long without any heft, but this rabbit overall appears bigger.
‘What… this rabbit looks like a wildcat.’
[Mountain Rabbit 3kg 58cm: Very large specimen.]
It soon hopped away energetically, bounding off with quick little jumps.
When I was human, rats and rabbits looked quite similar to me, but now I can distinctly see the differences. Even if I transformed into a tire and rolled after it, I wouldn’t be able to catch up. There’s no guarantee I could win. Instead, I preyed on other creatures.
[You have consumed a squirrel. Satiety and experience have increased.]
[You have consumed a toad. Satiety and experience have increased.]
[You have acquired Weak Poison Resistance (F) Lv.1.]
Between the squirrel and the toad, I knew the toad was toxic, but consuming it granted me poison resistance. I’ve eaten fire ants but never gained resistance from them. Isn’t it odd how I gained it from the toad instead?
Thinking about it, perhaps I should eat more poisonous creatures starting now as it may prove useful later on.
I might not remain a slime forever. Though I might evolve several times, there’s no telling if I’ll still be a slime someday. It wouldn’t hurt to build up poison resistance for that future.
By the way, the system said it opened the evolution possibilities list. I’d completely forgotten while focused on my status.
[Evolution Possibilities List]
1. ―
‘……?’
For some reason, there’s not a single option. Confused, I checked with observation.
[Amorphous Gel Evolution Possibilities: Can evolve into a target it has consumed.]
I can evolve into something based on what I have consumed? So if I eat a human…
‘…….’
I shook my head. I unconsciously had an odd thought. That should never happen. No matter how badly I want to become human, I shouldn’t cross that line.
Just thinking about eating human flesh makes me feel sick.
I quickly changed my train of thought. If the condition is consumption, can I not evolve with something like the snake I just ate? While pondering, item 1 displayed the Nu-ruk snake again. I hurriedly shook my head, and it vanished again.
If I’m just going to turn into a Nu-ruk Snake, why even go through everything?
It suddenly struck me— the understanding that I could really evolve into what I desired.
I had wondered why my intuitions were evolving without reason, but if it’s this, then I’m totally on board. It’s leagues ahead of Poison Slime. Although it comes with the condition of consumption, if I become stronger in the future, it won’t be an issue.
My instincts weren’t betraying me. There’s value in being an Amorphous Gel.
It’s hard to imagine another opportunity as outrageous as this. It’s likely a one-time chance, so I need to consume as strong an animal, or ideally a monster, as I can.
It’s painfully tempting to know the path to becoming human is clearly before me while I must resist. Is it because I’m just trash? No, the system is wicked. Anyone would likely have a thought like this. This feels like a test for sure.
I forced myself to calm down.
As it stands, I’m not sure I could even defeat a rabbit. Since it’s still far off until my next evolution, I should focus on growing stronger.
[You have consumed Asian black bass. Satiety and experience have increased.]
Snake cartilage is truly the best!