Chapter 1: Reincarnated As A Nameless Slime
Laughter.
That was the last thing Tanaka Morima remembered before passing out.
"Finally!" Tanaka’s fingers danced across the keyboard as the login screen flickered to life.
Ascension Online.
The long awaited game that had been in development for two years, with countless delays and the most difficult beta test in history, was finally open for players.
Out of the millions that applied, Tanaka was one of the chosen few.
The game’s opening cutscene had barely begun before Tanaka skipped to the next menu.
"I’ll watch it later."
The game world opened up before his eyes, a vast expanse of land that seemed to stretch on forever.
Forests, mountains, floating islands adrift in the sky.
Everything was impossibly detailed, from the swaying grass to the flowing rivers that reflected the sky.
Tanaka had played countless mmorpgs in his time, but nothing had prepared him for this.
The game developers had promised one thing above all else, a living world, where no one path was destined.
No pre-determined hero, no pre-written ending.
A world where every choice shaped not only your fate, but the world around you.
Tanaka smiled.
"This is going to be fun."
His character took it’s first steps into the world, and then darkness consumed everything.
...
...
"Did the servers crash?"
He tried to open his eyes, but nothing happened. Or rather, nothing he could see happened.
His body was... gone?
He couldn’t feel his limbs, his heartbeat.
A strange calmness washed over him.
Am I dead?
He tried to take a breath, but there was nothing to breathe.
No air, no pressure.
Nothing.
That should have terrified him, but he wasn’t afraid.
Another sensation had appeared.
Something cool and soft was brushing against him.
Tanaka’s body rolled to the side, or at least, he thought it did. The darkness slowly receded to reveal a green mass.
Moss, Tanaka realized.
Then stone.
The faint sound of dripping water echoed in his ears before falling in steady plops to the ground.
Tanaka blinked, or at least, he thought he did.
His vision didn’t change.
It took a few long moments for him to realize that he wasn’t seeing the world through his eyes at all.
Instead, his vision was... attached to his body?
The green moss slowly turned to a darker brown as his vision adjusted to the dim lighting.
Tanaka looked around, taking in the details of the cave he was in.
The next thing he tried to do was sit up, but instead his entire body bounced.
He stopped, stunned.
Boing.
His body rolled again, this time coming to a stop on it’s side.
"I..." He tried to speak, but no sound came out.
Instead, his body gave a small squish.
He tried again, and this time, his body gave a boing as he bounced back.
"What the..."
This time, his body gave a small boing as he slowly floated upwards.
A small rock met him halfway before he landed on it with a plop.
Rather than feeling pain, his body flattened against the rock like jelly before returning to it’s normal shape.
"I’m dreaming."
He looked at the rock, then at the small cave around him.
Another boing sound came from somewhere to his left.
Tanaka turned to see a small blue mass bouncing around the cave.
It had no face, no limbs, no eyes.
It’s only defining feature was a small transparent crystal at it’s core, floating freely inside of it’s jelly-like mass.
Behind it, another one bounced curiously.
Then another.
Soon, nearly twenty small blue blobs were bouncing around the cave, inspecting Tanaka’s unconscious body.
One of them bumped into him, causing him to boing gently before happily bouncing away.
"I think this is a dream."
Another bumped into his side, this time staying there for a moment before happily bouncing away.
"...or not."
Another landed square on top of him, sending both of them boing-ing away from each other.
Neither seemed hurt, and the other blob quickly resumed bouncing around.
Tanaka stayed still for a moment, his body slowly coming to a stop.
He looked down at himself, his body taking the form of a small blue mass with a tiny crystal inside.
"I think."
He looked up, his vision slowly adjusting to the dim lighting of the cave.
"I really am not in a game."
Tanaka looked down at his hands, or rather, where his hands should have been.
Nothing.
His feet? Nothing.
His neck? Also nothing.
There wasn’t even a mouth.
"So..." Another small blob bumped into him, this one a little smaller than the others.
It’s internal crystal gave a muffled squish before the next words came out.
"I’m a slime. Seriously, what’s this? Maybe I’m in a dream."
He waited, and sure enough, another blob bumped into him.
"Seriously?"
Nothing else happened, so Tanaka sighed.
A single drop of water landed on his head, or what passed for his head.
Plip.
"I think it’s funny."
"So I died and I’m in a slime body."
Tanaka looked around, his body slowly adjusting to his new... form.
Another blob bumped into him gently, this one was a little smaller than the others.
It bounced twice before pressing itself against his side, it’s internal crystal giving off a warm feeling.
Tanaka instinctively bumped it back, his body giving a boing as he did so.
The small blob seemed delighted, bouncing around in circles before calling the others over.
Soon enough, they were all around him, bumping into him gently.
None of them said anything, but somehow,
Tanaka understood.
They weren’t attacking him.
They were welcoming him.
Maybe...
Being reincarnated as a slime wasn’t so bad after all.
Outside the cave, a great beast roared, sending shockwaves through the forest.
Every slime stopped bouncing at once, the cheerful atmosphere gone.
Tanaka’s smile faded as he looked out into the forest.
Whatever that thing was,
It had just reminded them all why even slimes feared the world outside their cave.