Slime Antics and Scorpion Slaughter
On the 7th floor, Blackie was grabbing Whitey's idiot hair and yanking it. Streeetch—
"Oh… so it stretches like that, huh?"
As Blackie charged forward, the idiot hair stretched out long. Squeak…!! Squeak- squeak- Whitey flailed its arms wildly, begging it to stop, but our hyper little troll, Mr. Blackie, showed no signs of quitting.
"Hey, hey, cut it out and get over here."
Squeak…!
I reined them in at the right moment, and just like that, Blackie came bounding back with an innocent look, as if nothing had happened. Whitey glanced back and forth between me and Blackie, its face full of grievance. Seeing Whitey like that stirred up a strange urge in me.
Streeetch— I actually grabbed it with my hand and pulled. The idiot hair stretched out. Whitey stared at its own elongated ahoge and my hand. For a split second, its expression went blank.
Squeak…?!
"Ah, sorry, I couldn't resist."
Its eyes filled with betrayal, like How could you, my owner…! That pitiful gaze made me feel a twinge of guilt, but honestly, it was so fun I wanted to pull it again.
"Really, I'm sorry."
Squeeeak…. Still in shock, Whitey slumped as I scooped it into my arms. I opened the gate management window.
Now that I'd confirmed the two slimes could enter the tower with me, next up was checking if I could open a gate.
"Gate open."
……
My voice echoed emptily into the void. Absolutely nothing happened. Not even a sign.
"No way…! My emergency door to anywhere!"
I'd half-expected it, but it really wouldn't open. I'd planned to use it as an emergency escape tool. My brilliant, genius idea was dead in the water.
Squeak…?
Pat-pat. Squeeeak…!
Yeah, you're the only one who cares about me, huh. Whitey placed its hand on my cheek, fretting over my dejected state like a worried little thing.
Squeak…?!
I yanked Whitey's idiot hair one more time and picked up Blackie, who was bouncing around joyfully in the white room, observing it like a tourist.
Squeak?
"What're you staring at, punk? Time to climb."
Its eyes screamed Why grab me? in the most annoying way.
Will you challenge the 7th floor of the Tower?
[Y/N]
"Yes."
I hugged the two close and hit the ascent button. A floating sensation hit, and the scenery shifted in an instant.
Squeak-!
Blackie poked its head out from my arms, fascinated by the feeling.
"Hey, hey, stay still, it's dangerous."
Squeak-!
Telling it off just made it freak out more. If only it could stay calm and watch like Whitey…
Squeeeak…!!!
Nope. Whitey was swinging tiny fists at me for pulling its ahoge. But come on, how could I resist? It was that fun.
Anyway, Blackie had been dangling precariously, but now it shot me a look like What'd I do? Pure clueless eyes, no idea what it did wrong.
"You little—"
Smack- Squeeeak!!!
My righteous flick to the forehead made it grab its head, but Blackie still tried poking out again. What a persistent punk.
While I was wrangling those two, we'd already entered the 7th floor.
"This is… that cave from before?"
A familiar desert cave. Looked like it connected right where I'd fled from the cleaner last time. Outside, I spotted traces that looked like a cleaner had passed through. Peering inside, there was a dark entrance leading to a deep space.
"First off, you two hold these, and don't leave my side no matter what."
Just in case, I handed them the barbecue sauce and warned them firmly not to stray.
Squeeeak-? Squeak…!
…One of 'em worried me a bit, but I headed slowly inside anyway.
"It's dark."
Sunlight vanished, revealing an endless abyss.
"Knew it'd be like this, so I came prepared."
In the pitch black where I couldn't feel a thing even stretching out my arm, I rummaged in my bag.
Click-
"Let there be light…!"
What I pulled out was a lighter. Flame lit, and finally the surroundings came into view. A surprisingly massive cave interior—layered sand walls, scattered rocks, complex structure. No way Whitey would wander, but if I didn't watch Blackie, they'd definitely get separated.
"You two sticking close?"
I shone the lighter to check. Whitey held its water droplet, vigilantly scanning around, behaving perfectly.
"…Where the fuck did this asshole go?!"
But this troll of mine was nowhere in sight.
"Hey, punk! Where's Blackie?!"
Where the hell did it go this time? I scooped up Whitey just in case and set off to find it. Should've just kept it hugged tight from the start… Now it was a hassle.
"…Not here, not there. You wanna play hide-and-seek or what?"
The damn thing was so black it blended perfectly. I checked behind rocks, corners—nada. If I found it, today was its funeral…. Black mana slime jelly? Perfect for a sacrificial feast.
I must've circled the same spots two or three times searching for that one slime.
"Or did it really go deeper in?"
Searched this much and no sign? Only one answer left: further in. That deep tunnel from the entrance. Had to be there.
"Haa… Just you wait till I find you…."
I rolled up my sleeves for a sticky, powerful flick and plunged into the tunnel.
"Hey! Where's Blackie, you fucker!"
Monsters weren't even on my radar. Finding this brat would fix my mood.
Squeak?
"There you are?"
A voice echoed after a few more shouts. That goofy, playful tone—definitely Blackie. Heading toward it, I spotted the slime perched on what looked like a rock, grinning mischievously. My hand started shaking.
"You little shit?!"
Smack- Squeeeeak-!!!
Still grinning through the flick? Like it had its fun and was satisfied.
"Ah, ah… my blood pressure."
First time I needed Tylenol outside of gacha pulls. As I grabbed its nape, Blackie grinned wider and hopped down from the rock-thing. Or tried to.
Thud- Thud-thud- Squeak?
The "rock" Blackie had been on. Not a rock.
Queeek-!
Squeeeak-!!!
A massive claw shot straight at Blackie in a flash.
"Tch-! That's why I said don't stray!"
I lunged to save it from the claw, but it was too late. One step. Just one step short. The claw was too close to Blackie. At this rate…
"Fuck!"
I pictured Blackie turning into just a "slime" splat. No way to stop it. At my speed, I'd be too slow.
All kinds of thoughts raced through my head—then.
Squeak…!
Splat!
Whitey burst from my arms without hesitation. It snatched Blackie mid-air and hurled its water droplet at the claw's source.
"Nice catch!"
I barely caught the falling pair and retreated. Shining the lighter, the claw's owner came into view.
Queeek-!
"Insane."
More like owners. Dozens of claws and stingers aimed right at us from the chamber depths.
What now? Too cramped to fight while protecting the slimes. No win-win scenario in sight.
Then.
Squeeeak…!
"Whitey?"
Whitey approached the big water droplet behind me, peeled off small ones, and—
Whoosh. Sizzle- Queeeeek!!!
—hurled them wildly at the scorpion horde. Barbecue sauce hit, melting their exoskeletons, green blood spewing. Seeing that snapped me back.
"…I've gone soft too."
I'd made this stuff specifically to kill those monsters, so why panic? All Blackie's fault.
I smacked its dumb head a few times and ordered the slimes.
"Kids, no long speeches."
"Throw, hit, kill—okay?"
Squeeeak…!
Whitey went berserk tossing droplets on my command. Squeak-!
Any misses? Blackie darted in, snatched 'em, and shoved them straight into scorpion mouths.
And me? "Good job, my babies."
Slice- Time to chill while they hunted. I leisurely farmed poison sacs.
"Damn, who do they take after? Moves like pros."
Squeeeak-?!
Yeah, punk, this is all on you. What a strong ego.
Anyway, I watched them hunt and grow, farming sacs. As the cleanup neared end, Blackie emerged from the depths where it'd been racking up kills.
Then.
Squeak-?
Blackie froze mid-step, sensing something. Slither— Ziiiiiip-!
Squeak-!
A massive, ash-gray centipede like the scorpions dropped from the ceiling right where Blackie stopped. It lunged at Blackie.
Kieeeek-!
Vile fangs bared, creepy-fast and agile. But.
Its attack never landed.
"Gotta say it again—Blackie, this speed is nuts…."
It lunged, but missed. Blackie was already atop its back.
Squeeeak…!
Whitey from behind tossed a droplet to Blackie. Sizzle-!
Blackie jammed it straight into the centipede's maw.
Kieeeek-!
Sauce in mouth, it thrashed wildly. Blackie hopped off and sauntered over.
Squeak!
Hands on hips, striking a How'd I do? pose. Smack-
"Don't get cocky, this is your fault, punk."
Squeak-!
No slinking away. Who caused this mess?
I unleashed sixteen mega-flicks on Blackie, then headed into the chamber it'd cleared.
"Gotta finish clean."
I endowed my knife with holy power. Why now, when it was done?
Kieeeek-!
The gross centipede was still kicking.
"Congrats, you're my second Excalibur victim."
I approached the thrashing thing slowly, swung the glowing golden blade.
Fwaaah-!
A pale golden flash erupted, vaporizing half its body.