Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Experimental Subject, Vetter
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The moonlight hanging in the sky was obscured by passing clouds.
Deep within a forest shrouded in darkness.
There stood a single building.
It was a nameless research facility.
The interior of the facility was enveloped in shadows.
A blaring siren echoed through the halls, signaling an emergency.
The walls were stained red and crumbling, while human corpses lay twisted and abandoned in disarray.
The tools and equipment on the lab tables were smashed beyond recognition.
The other facilities were in the same state.
As if something had rampaged through, the entire research facility was a wreck.
Occasional small flames flickered to life.
In the darkness illuminated faintly by those flames, it revealed itself.
A glossy body gleaming with blue light.
Shaped like a massive orb, it traversed the facility's interior, dancing between light and shadow amid the corpses and debris.
With each step forward, sticky footprints marked the floor.
It soon came to a halt.
Gliding through the research facility filled with the stench of chemicals and thick blood, it concealed itself at the boundary of darkness and flame.
"Is it all over?"
Its true identity was a slime.
Its name was Vetter.
Vetter was a slime, yet also a monster intelligent enough to think.
At first, Vetter had been no different from an ordinary slime.
It couldn't speak, nor even think.
Naturally, it had no name.
It had simply lived as a slime, driven by base instincts.
As a slime, Vetter had lived peacefully in a dungeon teeming with slimes.
But one day, tragedy struck.
A group had appeared in the dungeon.
They were all humans.
No, not ordinary humans.
They were armed with immense power and terrifying equipment.
The group entered the slime dungeon and captured Vetter along with every other slime.
The captured slimes were dragged off somewhere.
The place they were taken to had walls of pure white.
The humans locked them and their kin behind iron bars.
Up until then, no thoughts stirred in Vetter's mind.
It simply allowed itself to be led.
Time continued to pass.
As it did, the number of its fellow slimes trapped alongside it dwindled rapidly.
And one day, the humans came for Vetter.
They took it away and began injecting strange liquids into its body.
A sharp, stinging sensation pierced through it.
It soon spread throughout its entire form.
And in that moment.
- Doctor, Vetter's reaction is minimal. Should we administer more of the drug?
Vetter began to understand the humans' words.
It learned its own name was Vetter.
"……."
At the same time, something flashed in Vetter's mind.
It was a thought.
Of course, it was very faint.
But now, it no longer drifted aimlessly with the flow of time.
Vetter started to perceive its situation, thinking ever so slightly.
Time continued to flow.
The humans kept injecting strange substances into it every day.
The initial stinging pain had faded away.
Its entire body felt numb.
Freed from pain, a surge of power began to well up within it.
But Vetter hid it.
"I…."
Day after day of repetitive experiments.
Vetter realized it was an experimental subject.
It listened closely to the conversations of the humans surrounding it.
They became valuable lessons and learning material for Vetter.
More time passed.
It was still confined to this place.
From the humans' talk, it learned this was a research facility.
The humans experimenting on it were called researchers.
It didn't know their exact nature.
They were simply the ones conducting experiments on it and its kin.
"I want to…."
A tickling sensation stirred in Vetter's heart.
And part of Vetter's body began to change.
It transformed rapidly before reverting to normal.
But Vetter didn't miss that brief change.
Something was happening.
How much time had passed?
This world was home to all sorts of beings.
Monsters like itself, humans, and even humans far stronger than the rest.
Those who had shattered the world it once lived in weren't ordinary humans.
They were called Hunters.
And the researchers experimenting on it and its kin.
But it still didn't know their true identity.
One thing was certain.
They had killed its kind.
They were the ones who destroyed its home.
Emotions that meant nothing when it had no thoughts now swirled violently in Vetter's heart.
The tickling itch turned into raging fury.
With that realization, a single goal formed in the once-empty Vetter.
"I want to kill them."
The face of the researcher who injected unknown liquids into it daily came to mind.
Even the number and position of the moles on that researcher's face were crystal clear.
"……."
And at the same moment, Vetter's body began to change.
Into the form of the researcher it had been picturing.
Fortunately, no one was around.
The lab was dim, and no one could witness Vetter's transformation.
Now in the researcher's form, Vetter felt its body over.
It opened its mouth.
"Ah…."
A voice emerged.
At the same time, Vetter voiced the goal it had been harboring.
"…I will kill them."
Words flowed clearly from its mouth.
The tone stabilized.
To anyone, Vetter was now the perfect picture of a human.
At the same time, Vetter's body rapidly collapsed.
Returning to its original slime state.
Time flowed on.
Until the very concept of time seemed to vanish.
The opportunity to fulfill its goal finally arrived.
- Hmm. As expected, experiments on slimes are impossible.
Someone spoke.
Vetter knew the owner of that voice well.
The doctor who led the researchers and oversaw this facility where Vetter was imprisoned.
The lab director.
The old director's white hair was swept back.
Unlike the deep wrinkles on his forehead, his eyes burned with a terrifying intensity.
- No helping it. Dispose of Vetter.
He left those curt words and departed the lab.
Once the director was gone, the researchers inside sprang into action.
To obey his command, they all approached Vetter.
One of them was visible.
The one who had injected liquids into it daily.
At that moment, Vetter rose up.
"!"
The researchers staring at it all showed bewilderment.
Vetter, now upright, swiftly transformed its body.
Its liquid form bubbled and twisted, soon taking the shape of the researcher before it.
"What is this…?!"
Horror spread across every researcher's face.
They couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Why had Vetter changed?
The sudden turn froze their thoughts and stiffened their bodies.
One thing was clear.
"The experiment was a success."
But that realization was their fatal mistake.
Vetter, in the researcher's guise, began to move.
Bang-
With a single swing of its arm, the head of the researcher in front exploded.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
That sparked it. The researchers screamed and scrambled to flee the lab.
But Vetter didn't let them.
As if venting all its pent-up rage, it darted about, eliminating them one by one.
The facility echoed only with screams.
Determined to leave no living thing behind, Vetter kept moving.
Quite some time had passed since the bloodbath began.
Vetter had torn through the entire facility, but disappointingly, the director was nowhere to be found.
"Rat bastard."
He must have sensed it and slipped away.
Regrettable, but unavoidable.
"Is it all over?"
Vetter surveyed its surroundings.
The facility was already in ruins.
Soon, human reinforcements would arrive.
It was time for Vetter to make its escape.
"Doctor…."
Though it had missed him for now, Vetter vowed to kill him with its own hands someday.
As Vetter prepared to exit the facility.
An unknown voice echoed from somewhere.
Vetter whipped around toward the source.
"Who are you?!"
But nothing was there.
The voice spoke again.
It carried an aura far beyond anything Vetter could challenge.
"A being far above me."
Pondering the voice's words, Vetter thought.
First, it had said to follow.
Then, to serve.
This mysterious entity wanted Vetter.
Of course, Vetter had nowhere to go right now.
No, after wrecking the facility, those connected to it wouldn't let it live.
It had learned that much during its long stay.
This lab was run by some shadowy organization, and anyone opposing their will vanished.
Even fellow researchers.
Just looking at that, predicting its own future wasn't hard.
Vetter closed its eyes briefly.
Too much had changed to return to its old, ordinary life.
It was a slime, yet no longer just a slime.
Its kin had all died long ago.
There was no one left in the world to call it a slime.
Or so it thought.
Or so it had thought—until someone called it a slime.
"……."
The voice of unknown origin.
Vetter thought for a moment, then resolved itself.
"You…."
It didn't know who it was.
But someone wanted it.
Someone who knew what it was.
That was enough for Batter.
"I will follow you."
As Batter accepted, the space before it warped.
The distortion grew, eventually sucking Batter in.
The scenery of the burning research facility shifted moments ago.
"A dungeon?"
Yes, it was a familiar, nostalgic sensation.
Though not the dungeon from its past.
"Oh, looks like a new arrival."
And someone was speaking to it.
Not human, but a monster like Vetter.
He welcomed Vetter.
Vetter gazed at the other's face.
The monster was strikingly handsome.
His muscles were sculpted like statues.
"……."
Vetter's gaze shifted sideways.
Besides the handsome monster, others were present.
A considerable number of ghouls, and among them, a trembling human gripped by fear.
Beside that human stood a knight clad in black armor and weapons.
A skeleton holding a massive tome was with the knight.
They looked at Vetter and nodded.
The skeleton began scribbling something.
Vetter instinctively knew.
The knight and skeleton possessed tremendous power.
Not as much as the mysterious voice's owner, but they were allies of immense strength.
"Clack clack-"
The skeleton still staring and writing clicked its bones.
Vetter understood.
Yes, this was a test.
A test of itself and an evaluation of its abilities.
The being it had sworn to serve.
That entity had recognized its nature.
Whoever it was, this was the moment to prove itself for that being.
Crack-
Crack crack-
Vetter's body twisted and began to transform.