The first thing he noticed was something pricking the back of his neck.
He groaned and scratched at it, blinking groggily. His body felt… weird. Not in a bad way. In fact, it felt great. Refreshed, like he'd just woken up from the longest, most satisfying nap of his life.
Stretching his arms, he let out a deep yawn. Then the memories hit him.
The hospital, the angels...or whatever those things were.
'It really happened. I reincarnated,' he looked to his surroundings in excitement, and a strange anxiety.
In front him stretched an endless expanse of green. Grass swayed gently in the breeze, interrupted only by large pillar like trees, and bright yellow flowers.
'This is beautful,' he thought.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
He crouched down, in a slow grand manner, and pinched a blade of grass between his fingers. "Touch grass they said," he whispered.
He frowned. "Not as interesting as they made it seem."
Still… he stood, drew in a breath, and looked around. For the first time in his life, he wasn't seeing the world through a hospital window.
And then... he ran.
It wasn't fast, and it wasn't graceful. His legs weren't used to it, and within seconds his chest burned and the taste of blood hit the back of his throat. But he laughed the entire time, the wind rushing through his hair, his heart pounding, not from sickness, but from living.
He collapsed to the ground, gasping and laughing to himself.
"This is fun."
And then guilt crept in.
He thought of Ana... of his parents. Were they okay? Were things easier now that he was gone? Was he still a burden in their minds, even in death?
He closed his eyes and let the feeling pass. His time had come, and he had left. Even though he had no say in the matter, he knew this was best... for everyone.
Eventually, he caught his breath and recovered his energy. He rose and wandered into the wilderness.
Everything amazed him.
Towering trees that looked like stone pillars. Strange birds calling out like they were arguing with squirrels. Glowing mushrooms and moist soil that tickled his toes. The world felt alive in a way his old one never had.
And then he came across a clearing.
Knee-length grass swayed in the wind, and at the center stood a smooth, green boulder. Around it bounced strange, translucent cubes, jelly-like; wobbling and slightly jiggly.
He grinned. "Slimes."
Just then, a sound chimed in the air.
[Tutorial Quest: Defeat 1 Slime]
[Reward: Unlock User Interface]
He blinked. "Wait, I get a system?" Then he remembered. 'Yes... I do remember something like that after talking to those light beings.'
He read the quest notifcation and paused. "How am I supposed to kill one without a weapon?"
He looked down. Not only did he not have weapons, but his little john dangled freely in the air.
'I hope no one sees me here,' he thought, becoming more conscious of his... birthday suit.
Still, it felt freeing to let the breeze blow past him. So he decided to focus on the first quest. After all, this was what he'd always dreamt about.
Scanning the area, he found a small rock. Not ideal, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
He crouched low on his belly, army-crawling through the grass like he'd seen in movies.
One slime bounced near the edge of the clearing. He locked on it and approached slowly.
'This is it.'
He launched the rock with all his might.
"Gotcha!"
The rock bounced off the slime like a rubber ball and slammed right back into his forehead.
The pain was instant. One of those hits that made you lay still on the ground questioning every decision you'd ever made.
After several long seconds of agony, he sat up, rubbing the forming bump on his head.
"This… is going to be harder than I thought."
He sighed and pushed himself to his feet again.
An idea came to mind.
The thing about spending your entire life in a hospital bed is that you end up watching a lot of other people doing things you can't. Survival shows, anime, weird YouTube videos... he'd consumed more episodes of Survivor than most die-hard fans would even admit exist.
So in theory, he knew how to make a weapon.
In practice? Not so much.
His first attempt at a spear—using a sharp stone and some vine wrapping—ended in disaster. The vines wouldn't hold, the rock kept slipping out, and his fingers still stung from trying to tie a knot with the still slimy plant material.
In the end, he settled for a simple stick, the tip crudely sharpened by scraping it against a rough stone.
He scanned the field, studying the slimes.
They seemed unbothered by his presence here. In fact, they kind of just… jiggled, aimlessly. They were less like monsters and more like mobile plants.
It was weirdly comforting. He had never killed anything... not even an ant. So he was happy he didn't have to jump straight into killing something like undead... if those existed here.
He locked eyes on a particularly small slime and crept forward slowly stick at the ready.
When he was within reach, he poked at it like it was radioactive.
The slime didn't react, until the tip of the stick touched it. Then it flinched, bounced away a few feet and resumed its happy jiggling.
He tightened his grip on the stick. "Come on. Every adventurer in every anime ever can take down at least one slime."
He stepped in and jabbed.
The stick met resistance like rubbery elastic, and the slime bounced back again, completely unfazed.
He sighed in defeat. But right then an idea clicked into place.
He backed up a few steps, then a few more. Took a deep breath. And then he ran. Not fast—he still wasn't used to his legs—but with as much momentum as he could muster. Holding the stick out like a lance.
*Thwack.*
[Quest Complete: Defeat 1 Slime]
[User Interface Unlocked]
[System Trait: Soul Merger has activated…]
"I wonder what soul merger me—"
And then he heard it.
Jiggling... inside his ears.
"Wait, no."
His eyes widened. There was a faint vibration in his skull, like a bowl of jelly trapped behind his forehead. It wasn't painful, at least not as much as he was used to. But it definitely felt wrong.
A text box popped up.
[Target soul absorbed: Low-Grade Slime]
[Processing soul affinity...]
"WHAT."
He dropped his stick, gripping the sides of his head. "Did I just eat a slime's soul?! Through my brain?!"
Another ding.
[Stability achieved. Adaptation complete.][Congratulations, Host. You are now 0.03% slime.]
[Next skill assimilation at 1%]
He stood there in stunned.
"This... is not how I imagined magic working."