Thump.
That single sound was enough to end my story.
A simple jump from the rooftop. A heartbeat, a gust of wind, and the city below blurred into streaks of gray and neon.I remember the cold rushing through my ears, the sharp smell of rain, and the taste of metal on my tongue.I was Ryuu — a medical student, an orphan, and the kind of idiot who thought determination could fill an empty stomach.
It couldn't.
I'd been surviving on scholarships, part-time jobs, and a steady diet of caffeine and denial. But when the bills kept coming, and the world stopped pretending to care, something in me cracked. I didn't even leave a note. Just whispered an apology to the wind.
It's painful, I thought. This darkness—it's eating me alive.Then another thought stabbed through the fog:My dog… Did I even feed him one last time?
A bitter laugh bubbled in my chest as the world slipped away."If I ever get born again," I murmured, "please let it be somewhere without money."
Apparently, the universe has a sense of humor.
When awareness returned, it wasn't the sterile white of a hospital ceiling that greeted me — it was light. Blinding, golden, and somehow alive.A voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere at once.
"You are going to be the most terrifying anomaly."
It was deep, fading — the voice of someone on the verge of death, yet overflowing with power.
"As a dying god, I can do little… but I leave my strength to you."
Before I could ask anything — who he was, what he meant — the light shattered into motes and drifted away.
And then, sensation.
My eyes opened — or at least I thought they did.
"Uh… what the—?"
Around me stretched a vast jungle that seemed to breathe. Trees thicker than city towers reached toward the clouds. Each leaf looked large enough to serve as an umbrella. The air hummed with strange, electric energy, thick with mana.
"Everything's… huge," I muttered. "Even that mushroom could double as a sofa."
I tried to stand, to brush myself off — and froze.
"Wait… where are my hands?" I looked down. "Where's my body?"
What looked back at me wasn't flesh or skin, but a translucent blob, faintly glowing blue and wobbling in place.It took a second — or ten — for my brain to catch up.
"…I turned into a slime."
I would've screamed, but it came out as a wet blorp.
"Okay, okay, Ryuu, calm down. You said you wanted a world without money, not without bones!"
I dragged my squishy body across the ground, leaving a trail like a sad jellyfish. "So… fantasy world, weird rebirth, mysterious voice—classic isekai checklist. All I need now is—"
[System initializing…][Host recognized. Race: Slime (Lv.1)]
My nonexistent jaw dropped. "Okay, that's actually happening. Wow."
"Alright, System, let's make this official. How do I level up?"
[Activating Slaughter Protocol.][Host gains Essence Points by killing lifeforms.][Each target may grant a unique or common ability.][Absorption of corpses installs that race's traits.]
"So, murder equals progress," I said slowly. "That's… morally questionable. But efficient."
I sighed, squished forward, and began my new slime life.
The first few days were—well—grossly productive.I devoured everything smaller than me: insects, poisonous herbs, leaves, the occasional unfortunate frog. I didn't taste anything, which was a mercy.
"Thank God I'm tasteless," I muttered while swallowing a wasp hive whole. The wasps disagreed violently, stinging me from the inside until they weren't alive enough to protest.
With each meal, my body pulsed with faint light, and new messages appeared.[Poison Resistance acquired.][Absorption Efficiency increased.]
Progress felt good. Almost addicting.
I eventually rolled into a small cave and decided to set up camp. My "training ground" was basically me bouncing around and pretending I knew martial arts.
"Alright, magic time!" I yelled at no one. "Poison Bullet!"
A glob of violet goo splattered harmlessly on a rock.
"Okay, that was pathetic. Try again. Stone Shoot!"A pebble launched out and actually cracked the wall. "Nice!"
After hours of experimenting, I managed to produce small wind blades, poisonous shots, and earth pellets. It wasn't much, but for a slime, it felt like mastering rocket science.
Outside, I could see strange floating islands in the far sky, drifting like continents suspended in light."Those must be for the strong people," I murmured. "Let's not die exploring yet."
A sound broke my thoughts — thump, thump, soft but heavy.
I froze. "Oh no. Don't be a dragon. Please not in Chapter One."
The bushes rustled, and a massive white creature limped out. Long ears. Crimson eyes. Blood matting its fur.
"A rabbit?" I blinked. "No, that's a two-meter rabbit."
It staggered, growling weakly. Every instinct screamed at me to stay still. Then again, I'd starved before. I knew desperation.
"I mean… it's dying anyway," I reasoned. "Might as well recycle?"
I jumped.
The rabbit struggled, but I wrapped around it like a gelatinous blanket. Its warmth faded; the system chimed.
[You have slain: Crimson Horned Hare.][Level Up! Ability gained — Rabbit Speed.]
I laughed. "Ha! Level two, baby! Wait… I don't have legs. How does speed even work like this?"
Still, I could feel it — my body lighter, my movements quicker. For the first time since dying, I felt… alive.
Hours later, I was hopping through the jungle, practicing my new speed, when the ground trembled. A chilling howl echoed through the trees.
Dozens of red eyes flared in the darkness.
"Wolves," I whispered. "Big ones. Angry ones. And they look hungry."
One sniffed the air, locking onto me. Then all of them did.
"Oh, come on, I'm basically flavored air!"
They charged. The ground shook. I spun and ran, shooting poison and stones behind me. The forest became chaos — branches cracking, earth shattering under their paws. One blow grazed me, tearing off a chunk of my body. Pain flared, but my slime form healed it back with terrifying efficiency.
I dashed through roots and rocks until I hit a wall of stone. Dead end.
"Well, this is how documentaries end."
A message blinked in front of me.
[Nearby lifeform detected — Savannah Bee.][Transform?]
"Yes! Absolutely yes!"
The world twisted. My body reshaped — limbs, wings, a stinger. I buzzed triumphantly… and promptly face-planted into the dirt.
"Oh right. Flying takes practice."
One wolf crept close, confused. I took the opportunity to sting it, bite it, and fling every bit of poison and stone magic I could muster. It howled, convulsed, and collapsed.
I blinked. "Did I just—?"
[System anomaly detected.][Host has slain a lifeform never killed by its race.][Title Granted — God of Abnormality.]
"…Excuse me, what?"
The calm, mechanical voice filled my mind again — softer this time, almost familiar.
"Host has transcended natural limits. You are an Abnormality… in an abnormal world."
A pulse of energy rippled through me. My core burned, expanding. My very essence hummed with strange, divine resonance.
I absorbed the wolf's body slowly, reverently. Its power became mine, its shape folding into my own. My form shifted again — less blob, less insect — something vaguely humanoid. My first evolution toward sentience.
Night fell. I stumbled into a cave, trembling from exhaustion.The system chimed softly.
[Reward Box unlocked.]
A faint golden cube appeared before me."Loot boxes exist here too, huh? Some things never change."
I nudged it open.
[Skill acquired — Rage Mode.]
"Oooh… that sounds badass," I grinned. "Now if only I had hands to throw a punch."
My voice echoed through the cave. For the first time, I laughed — really laughed. The sound was weird, like bubbles popping, but it felt good.
I slumped against the wall, my glow dimming."Well, I'm a slime with a god title. That's progress, right?"
The silence that followed wasn't empty; it was peaceful. As I drifted toward sleep, a gentle voice — faint, affectionate — whispered through my thoughts.
"Rest well… Theon."
My core flickered."Theon…?" I murmured. "That's… a nice name."
The darkness welcomed me again — not the suffocating kind I once knew, but the calm quiet of a world waiting to be discovered.
And somewhere far away, the gods stirred.