Slime and the Suspicious Cat
The consciousness that had been submerged beneath sleep slowly rose to the surface. My eyes opened naturally as my blurred vision gradually sharpened. The first thing to catch my gaze was the intense light pouring down from the ceiling lamp. Squinting against it, I shifted my body and realized I was lying down. A soft, cozy sensation enveloped me, so comforting that the mere thought of leaving it felt repulsive—like the instinctive urge to linger in bed on a lazy morning. Yielding to that heavy, chain-like desire, I rolled onto my side and curled up, pulling the blanket over my head for good measure.
Swish… swish…
“Mmm… ngh…”
At that moment, something soft brushed against my face. It wasn’t the blanket—something entirely different. Warm, thin, and fluffy, it felt like animal fur. Whatever it was swayed up and down, deliberately tickling my nose. After the second or third time, I could no longer dismiss it as coincidence. My face scrunched up in irritation, and I reluctantly cracked my eyes open.
A mysterious black shape filled my entire field of vision.
“…!!?! Kyaaaaah!!!”
A high-pitched scream tore from my throat as my upper body shot upright like a spring. My heart pounded wildly. Jolted awake without warning, I blinked in a daze. My reaction might have seemed excessive, but there was history behind it. Back in my old semi-basement room, a massive rat had once crawled across my face while I slept, forcing me awake. The shock had been so severe that I couldn’t sleep properly for weeks afterward. For a split second, that same nauseating sensation had pierced my mind again.
As my thoughts cleared, I frantically scanned the bed for the culprit. No rat in sight. Instead, right beside the bed on the floor sat the likely offender: a cat covered entirely in black fur. When our eyes met, it opened its mouth.
“Waking you up and this is the thanks I get? I might actually be hurt… but hearing that adorable scream makes it worth it. Hehehe.”
The black cat beside the bed grinned slyly, its long tail swaying side to side like a pendulum, broadcasting its amusement. Now I understood what had been tickling my face—its long, fluffy black tail. Only one such object existed in this room.
Once I grasped the situation, a small wave of relief mixed with rising anger. I wanted nothing more than to yank that annoying creature’s tail right off, but I knew better than anyone that was impossible. I shot it a fierce glare before turning my attention to my surroundings.
Besides the bed I occupied, rows of identical white beds lined the room. I was the only patient present. The stark white interior and sharp alcohol scent reminded me of a large university hospital ward. As my mind fully awakened, memories flooded back—the moment just before I lost consciousness. Crimson eyes glowing with madness, blood splattering through the air, that pale face looking down at me…
“!! The wound… that wound…!”
“Why not check it yourself? All you have to do is look down.”
The cat muttered as it watched me. But I was already running my hands over the spot before it even spoke, the motion almost reflexive. My gaze dropped to the white patient gown that matched the sterile surroundings. Between my hands, I felt two soft mounds. Right in front of my eyes sat an unfamiliar, gentle slope with a valley between them. There was no gaping hole to be found. Even the bite mark on my nape had completely vanished.
Still dazed, I touched my neck and recalled the events. That ridiculous demand of his. There had been no other realistic option. I had poured every ounce of concentration into the task, tears in my eyes, and begun the delicate restoration. I couldn’t even look down to check my progress—there simply hadn’t been time. I focused every nerve on threading the needle through that tiny opening, stitch by stitch. The only reason I could concentrate so deeply amid the chaos was because he had been there. With him beside me, I hadn’t needed to worry about falling into that monstrous woman’s grasp. Yet the irony wasn’t lost on me: I had gone through all this suffering just to deceive him.
Once the wound was fully restored, I lost consciousness as if passing out. When I opened my eyes again, I was here. My head still felt slightly dizzy, probably from the intense focus. I closed my eyes and pressed a hand to my forehead, letting out a small sigh.
“At least waking up in a comfortable place like this means the plan worked. If it had failed, I might never have woken up at all—or woken up inside some strange lab. Though the fact that my body healed itself is suspicious enough, it’s still better than them finding out I’m not human…”
As I muttered self-deprecatingly, the cat leaped onto the bed. It padded across the blanket covering my legs and stared straight at me.
“Well… good work. Even I thought that request was a bit much, but you pulled it off beyond my expectations. Thanks to you, we avoided the worst-case scenario. I’m a little worried about the important information that leaked, but it seems everything wrapped up safely in the end.”
“You… you know what happened while I was asleep?”
Listening carefully, I immediately sensed something off and asked. The cat’s eyes curved in a smile as it nodded without hesitation.
“That’s right. I was planning to tell you anyway, so there’s no need to hide it. Those two have concluded that your ability is ‘immortality.’ Given the situation, it’s understandable they’d think that. It’s not entirely accurate, but if they’re going to misunderstand on their own, we might as well welcome it.”
“…Wait, isn’t that dangerous in its own way? What if they get the wrong idea and run more weird experiments? I can’t do that again. My mind won’t hold up if I have to.”
I trembled as I spoke, my head spinning at the thought of repeating that insane process. Even if my body appeared immortal on the surface, it still had weaknesses, which only amplified my anxiety. Yet the cat dismissed my worries with complete nonchalance.
“You don’t need to worry about that. From what I saw, they didn’t seem reckless enough to go that far. That aside, even I was surprised by the additional experiment. I didn’t think she’d just let it go, but I never expected her to pull out that card… It was risky, even looking back now.”
The cat drew closer until it was right in front of me, then curled up into a ball. It acted as though it knew everything in the world, yet even it hadn’t anticipated what had just happened. Still, something else caught my attention. Judging by its tone, the cat seemed to know the research team leader of this eerie place—and knew her quite well.
“Nyaang?”
I stared at it in silence for a long moment before reaching out with both hands. Startled, the cat let out a feline cry and looked up at me with questioning eyes, but it didn’t try to escape my grasp. I easily slipped my hands under its front legs and lifted it up. Golden eyes gazed quietly back at me. Appearance-wise, it was undeniably cute. If only it would stop spouting those irritating remarks, it might even rank high on my list of cats I’d like to keep.
After observing it for a while, I spoke softly.
“…Even if I’m holding you like this, you could disappear in an instant if you wanted to, right? Just like you’ve done until now.”
The cat remained silent. Normally it would have snapped back with something like “Obviously,” but this time it didn’t. Perhaps it was because of the seriousness in my expression. Meeting its equally serious gaze, I continued.
“Honestly, from the moment we first met… I’ve pretty much given up trying to figure out what you are. You’re just too far removed from common sense. But there’s one thing I do know—you’ve been hiding all sorts of information from me.”
My eyes sharpened. Even setting aside the fact that it was some unknown lifeform, withholding information was a real problem. From everything that had happened so far, it was clear the cat possessed a wealth of knowledge—how to use this slime body, the fact that investigators would show up, and probably even details about the “Irregulars” I’d overheard those two mention hours ago. I had no proof, but my instincts told me it knew.
The cat, quick to catch on, seemed to understand my intent perfectly. This was ultimately a matter of trust. If it wouldn’t share important information, how could I trust it going forward? Of course, the contract bound me—if I didn’t want to die, I had no choice but to follow its words. Still, without proper trust, it would inevitably become a major obstacle later.
“…I understand what you’re saying. Looking back, my actions haven’t exactly inspired confidence. But there’s one thing you’re forgetting. Whether you like it or not, our contract makes us partners in the same boat. If you die meaninglessly, it causes me quite a bit of trouble as well.”
The cat narrowed its eyes as it spoke. I’d heard this before—that my dying easily would put it in a difficult position. Despite its consistently irritating tone, it had always steered me toward survival. Even when I doubted it at the time, the results had always been the best possible outcome. The sudden hole in my chest had been unexpected, but even that had ultimately led to success. If those two had judged me a threat to humanity, they wouldn’t have left me in such a nice facility. That much was undeniable.
Seeing my acceptance, the cat continued as if it had been waiting for this moment.
“In other words, I will never act in a way that harms you. That includes sharing information you don’t know. The things I don’t say are things you don’t need to know right now. Even if I told you the truth, it would only confuse you at your current level—you wouldn’t even be able to understand it. Don’t worry too much, though. The things you want to know… are facts you’ll naturally come to learn with time. When the moment comes, you’ll face them whether you want to or not.”
“…!!”
For an instant, goosebumps rose across my skin. Just for a split second, I thought the cat’s pupils had shifted into a cross-shaped pattern. But when I looked again, the strange shape was gone—replaced by ordinary vertical feline slits. Feeling as though all my inner thoughts had been laid bare, I frowned and let out a deep sigh.
Honestly, I hadn’t really expected to extract much information from it this time. I just wanted to confirm something for myself. There was a big difference between voicing the question and keeping it inside. Instead, I brought up a complaint I’d been holding onto.
“Fine… let’s say that’s true. What about my detailed examination results? You tampered with them, didn’t you? Why change them like that? If you’d just made them look plausible from the start, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Hmm… Ah! You mean that? I couldn’t help it! Even I can’t interfere with the system that freely. That was the best I could do within my authority… whoops. Was I not supposed to say that? Nyaaong! I don’t know anything~”
“……”
For a moment, I felt like I’d just heard something enormous. But seeing the cat pretend ignorance with that obvious act, I realized pushing further would be pointless. When I gave it a suspicious look, it simply turned its head away and feigned disinterest. In the end, I set the shameless cat back down on the bed and crossed my legs. My changed body still felt strangely alien, but I ignored it. Now facing each other properly, I spoke.
“…I won’t ask about that. Don’t worry, you shameless cat. I just want to clear up one thing before we move on.”
The cat’s eyes, which had been looking elsewhere, slowly returned to me. It really was an infuriating feline. My expression twisted despite myself, but I forced it smooth and asked the question I should have asked from the very beginning.
“Just… tell me your name. I can’t keep calling you ‘you’ or ‘this brat’ forever, can I?”
“Oh? That does make sense. I didn’t think it was necessary, but fixing that bad habit of yours might be a good reason.”
Its response wasn’t quite what I’d intended, but I didn’t bother correcting it. After a moment of thought, the cat opened its small mouth.
“Come to think of it, my current form is a black cat, isn’t it? Then there’s a perfectly fitting name. Ulthar… just call me ‘Uru.’”
The black cat—Uru—introduced itself with a smirk, as if something about it was deeply amusing. I could only manage an awkward expression. It didn’t suit an ordinary cat name at all… or so I thought to myself.