Opening the Dungeon (1)
A dungeon-based world? No, what is this nonsense? I’m a fat orc who’s been dropped into a system-based dungeon world.
If they had explained it a little more kindly, I would have escaped long ago. After hurling a bucketful of curses at the Grim Reaper, I reached out toward the arrow pointed out by the system's marker. A sheer cliff. And thickets growing over that cliff. I pushed through the bushes and shoved my hand into the vines.
"Eila, do you see this? This is our new home."
Only after tearing the thick, overgrown ivy to the left and right did the entrance open, and I carried the unconscious Eila into the cave. *Squelch.* The dungeon was filled with a damp, humid energy. I’d noticed it from the entrance, but there wasn't a single sign of life; only a gloomy, foul aura pricked at my nose. A subtly sour smell. Since Eila hadn't wet herself and neither had I, this sour stench obviously belonged to a monster.
Crunch! I stomped on a slime crawling near my feet.
[Slime] ★
As expected of a slime, it only has one star. It was sad that the information on the target I killed only showed the name and the star rating, but it was fortunate that I could at least see the opponent's info. Crunch. Crunch. A Slime (★☆) and a Slime (★★) popped. As they got stronger, I realized the meaning of the stars next to their names.
"This world is a total gacha-hell, too."
I, Pahou Kumcheoku, am currently a 3-star, but I have the potential to grow up to 5 stars. I don't know how yet, but if I evolve to 4 or 5 stars, wouldn't this annoying belly fat disappear too?
"And this one is a 4-star."
Eila, tied to my back with the tough vines I’d ripped from the entrance, was a being with a whopping four stars. Usually, anything above 4 stars is quite rare, so if Eila just manages to grow, she’ll have tremendous combat power.
"But she got beaten by me."
She really couldn't do a thing and got crushed. I realized the subtle difference in power while popping the slimes, and I picked up the last surviving slime in my hand.
[Slime] ★☆☆☆
"So even if you're born as a 1-star, you can grow up to 4 stars. Eila, this guy will eventually reach the same rank as you."
The slime was trembling in my hand. If I squeezed my hand just a little, the slime would pop, and this poor green slime, which might have become a 4-star dungeon master in the future, was on the verge of becoming jelly.
"Come to think of it, slimes were tasty."
Twitch. The slime stopped moving. It clearly understood what I said. I dipped my finger into the slime of the Slime (★★) I’d popped earlier and tasted it with my tongue.
"Hmm..."
It felt like cheap jelly sold on the side of the road, but the taste was decent enough. For comparison, I poked my finger into the slime next to the trembling one—the one that was ★☆☆—and tasted it.
"Ugh."
The texture was good, but the taste was garbage. I spat the slime out of my tongue along with my saliva and smeared it onto the cave wall.
"Wait, is this...?"
I realized what the taste and texture corresponded to. I grabbed the slime that was trying to slither away and held it up in front of my eyes.
"Should I raise you and eat you?"
Shake shake. The slime's internal fluid started to churn. I pinched the slime's epidermis slightly. Squish. Even though only a tiny bit of slime leaked out, the slime had a seizure and suffered. But I didn't care and tasted the slime's fluid.
"Hmm..."
The taste was terrible, but the texture was excellent. The thought flashed through my mind that if I cooked it properly, it would become an excellent ingredient.
"Would it be tastier to steam the slime, or grill it?"
Just as I was thinking about how I could cook more variety if I made a steamer or a frying pan, a system notification window appeared in front of my eyes.
<Submission>
[Slime](★☆☆☆) is begging for its life. Rather than being eaten by a ruthless predator, it hopes to continue its life as the predator's toy.
"Oh ho."
I poked the slime with my finger. The slime didn't move and didn't resist me at all.
"You want to be my subordinate?"
Nod nod. The fluid inside the slime nodded. I let out a dry laugh, but it was a bit of a waste to just kill a slime that could grow to 4 stars.
"Then from today, you're my subordinate."
<Recruitment> [Slime](★☆☆☆) has been recruited as a subordinate.
Exciting! A slime has become my subordinate! I carried the slime in one hand, kneading it as I headed deeper into the cave. The large hollow was swarming with other slimes, and I clenched my remaining fist.
"Is there one that's 2-star but can grow to 4 stars...?"
I kneaded the slime that had become my subordinate and started stepping on the other slimes one by one. I could only check after they died, but if there was a smart one, maybe there was one that would beg for its life and want to be my subordinate like this guy.
"There's gotta be at least one."
There's no way there isn't a single one smarter or more talented than this one. I cleaned out the dungeon by stepping on and popping dozens of slimes. There weren't any.
* * *
About an hour later. I had popped every slime I saw in the dungeon and piled them all in one place. If this were truly my dungeon, the slime corpses would all disappear according to the laws of the dungeon.
"So, I popped every guy I could see for now."
Thud. I threw the subordinate slime onto the floor. The slime trembled and watched me, and I squatted in front of it, poking its bouncy skin with my finger.
"Hey. It seems like I have to kill you for this dungeon to become mine?"
Slime Dungeon Subjugation (69 / 70)
# Obtain dungeon control upon total subjugation
"Hey, do you see this? There's only one left, but I can't find it anywhere."
I'd walked the cave from the entrance to the deepest part three times, but it wouldn't appear. I felt like I'd walked at least 2km back and forth, but one was missing. Even though I walked very slowly on the last lap and searched thoroughly, it wasn't visible.
"Is this a system error? Is it a situation where I catch you and become the dungeon master?"
Shake shake. Since becoming my subordinate, the slime was shaking its own body to assert itself. But no matter how much I searched, there was only one living slime left, wasn't there?
Drip. Sticky saliva fell onto my shoulder.
"Damn it..."
I brushed off my shoulder. Why does Eila drool so much even while she's unconscious? That explains why there's so much water down there, too. Drip, drip. I wiped the saliva falling onto my shoulder again. I felt a very unpleasant vibe. Even if this is another world, human saliva couldn't possibly have this much viscosity.
"Son of a..."
Squelch! A huge shadow loomed over me. A slime several times larger than the other slimes was wriggling on the ceiling.
"What kind of slime is a dragon?"
Wriggle, wriggle. The punk slime that had spat on my shoulder went into the deepest hollow. I picked up the slime that had fallen to the floor and followed it into the hollow, and in the hollow, a giant slime that looked well over 4 meters long was opening its mouth wide toward me.
"Is that your boss?"
Nod nod. The slime nodded, and the Slime Dragon opened its maw wide, threatening me. Slime fluid splattered out and covered my body.
"Ugh, gross."
I brushed the slime fluid off my body. Since there weren't any clothes that fit me properly, I was limited to wearing shorts, but it still didn't feel good to have dirty slime fluid all over my body and clothes.
Gurgle?! The Slime Dragon seemed flustered and vomited a ton of slime at me. I showered in the green fluid covering my entire body, and Eila and the subordinate slime also became sticky with slime.
I can't take it anymore. Forget submission, let's just kill it first. Just in time, the Slime Dragon opened its maw toward me and tried to swallow me whole.
"You need a beating."
I raised my fist and shoved it toward the Slime Dragon's maw. Sticky and sour body fluid smeared inside, but to me, who had already showered in it, it was no problem at all. Riiip. I tore the slime fluid out of the Slime Dragon's mouth. The Slime Dragon only then realized something was wrong, but I stomped on its lower jaw.
"It's 3 stars, so it must be tasty, right?"
Time to secure food. I tore out all the slime until only the Slime Dragon's shell remained, and I cleared the dungeon.
<Subjugation> You have subjugated the Slime Dungeon!
# Would you like to register it as a new dungeon?
"Yeah."
Nothing really changed. Just in case, I cleared my throat and said again.
"Yes."
Slime Dungeon has been registered as [Pahou Kumcheoku]'s dungeon!
# 'Dungeon Info' has been activated.
# 'Subordinate List' has been activated.
# 'Facility Construction' has been activated.
# 'Subordinate Summoning' has been activated.
"Wait, there's gacha here?"
So the stars weren't just for show. I pressed <Subordinate Summoning> with a trembling heart, but there was no response.
<Warning> There are no summoning facilities.
"Ah, I see."
It means I have to build a foundation to some extent. I untied the vines binding Eila, then took a breath to do what I needed to do first.
"Let's eat first and then start."
Today's mystery. The slime fluid I tore off the Slime Dragon tasted like sour grapes.