A Wife’s Devotion and a Dubious Class

As for means of resistance…

The Affection Pistol… its charges were depleted.

Transform into a slime?

That wouldn’t do.

Once transformed into a slime, the fleshy cocoon would only compress even tighter, leaving no room to revert to human form.

A portal?

That was even less feasible; he would have to return to the initial teleportation point to initiate another warp.

Every escape route had been sealed off.

At first glance, he appeared to be utterly without recourse.

‘What about the reward for reaching 55 Affection?’

Lin Ran subconsciously latched onto this thought.

[Ding~ As the Treasure Chest Monster’s base Affection is already as high as 20, rewards for increasing Affection will only be distributed upon reaching 70 Affection (Like).]

[Considering the host’s current urgent situation, the system is emergency-issuing 1 Strength Point.]

‘You might as well just go to bed already.’

Lin Ran grumbled inwardly.

The surrounding fleshy walls continued to constrict, making Lin Ran’s breathing increasingly labored.

The crushing pressure in his lungs caused his thoughts to begin to falter.

‘Damn it… there had to be a way, why couldn’t he think of one?’

‘This was bad… the oxygen deprivation was worsening rapidly; he genuinely felt his ability to think slipping away.’

The single point of Strength provided by the system was utterly useless against the Treasure Chest Monster’s overwhelming pressure.

The immediate priority was to resolve the breathing issue…!

Just then—

“Master! Breathe!”

A soft, cool, and moist touch suddenly pressed against his lips.

Immediately afterward, a rush of air was delivered into his lungs.

Lin Ran opened his eyes from the encroaching darkness.

What he saw was Lim’s face.

Only a small portion of her body had managed to squeeze inside, and she was breathing air into him mouth-to-mouth.

The other half of her body remained outside.

She had forcibly burrowed in from outside the chest, delivering oxygen to him in his desperate plight.

Her lower body must have been enduring immense pressure from the Treasure Chest Monster’s closing mechanism.

If not for the incredibly convenient nature of a slime’s body, Lin Ran wouldn’t have been surprised if she had been suddenly severed by the Treasure Chest Monster.

With the influx of oxygen, his mind instantly cleared.

The solutions he had struggled to grasp moments before now flooded his mind in a flash.

Lin Ran cleared his throat, then shouted loudly:

“Hey! My apologies, Fleshy Monster, but as you can see, I have a wife! I can’t cheat on her!”

“Wife… huh… cheat…?”

Upon hearing this, Lim was the first to fall into confusion.

Two utterly conflicting emotions simultaneously overwhelmed her mind.

One was the shyness and excitement stemming from Lin Ran calling her his wife.

The other was the shock and bewilderment caused by the word ‘cheat,’ leaving her completely unable to comprehend the situation.

In any case—

[Ding! Lim has entered a brief state of confusion due to your words, Affection +5!]

[Congratulations, Host, you have completed Lim’s ‘Reliable Partner’ quest! Class bestowed!]

[Class is currently being randomized! Please wait!]

Lin Ran’s first objective in saying this was to quickly make a direct move, completing Lim’s quest before anything else.

After all, it was a class; as long as the system didn’t glitch, any combat-oriented class would significantly boost his fighting capabilities.

His second objective, however, was…

“Uwaah—! Don’t you dare praise her! I was here first! We said we’d be together forever—!”

The next moment, her voice turned chilling.

“Wife or husband, it matters not.”

“If I keep you, then your so-called wife won’t exist, will she?”

Before the words had even faded, a tentacle shot forth from the fleshy wall above, instantly piercing through Lin Ran’s chest and Lim’s head.

“Die… die… die…”

Indeed, Lin Ran’s second objective had been to utterly enrage the Treasure Chest Monster.

Only by doing so could he enter a desperate, all-out battle against her.

And then, to make her see just how vast the disparity between her and Lim truly was!

****

—Neither Lin Ran, despite his severe injuries, nor Lim, whose head had been pierced, displayed even a hint of panic in that moment.

In the very next instant, Lim reverted to her original form.

Concurrently, her entire body transformed into a slime, expanding maniacally to dozens of times its original size.

“Bang—!”

With a resounding crash, the fleshy cage trapping Lin Ran was directly torn apart by Lim.

Lin Ran was finally freed from his oxygen deprivation, gasping deeply for fresh air while simultaneously using his slime abilities to heal himself.

However, the battle had only just begun.

In the sky, the Treasure Chest Monster had completely succumbed to a frenzy, thousands of tentacles raining down like a storm.

Lim, not to be outdone, devoured every single one of those tentacles.

Facing the endless onslaught, Lim’s body was punctured multiple times, viscous fluid oozing out.

However, Lin Ran would immediately approach the wounds, using his own slime healing abilities to mend them for Lim.

Yet, this was still inside the Treasure Chest Monster, and half of Lim’s body remained outside, preventing her from fully exerting her power.

But even so…

Lim maintained the upper hand throughout.

The more tentacles there were, the smoother her digestion became.

Far from being at a disadvantage, this little glutton was now wide-eyed with delight, relishing a rare all-you-can-eat buffet.

“You’ve severely underestimated my… *cough, cough*! Wife!”

Lin Ran watched Lim fight, filled with immense pride.

To think that Lim, who had been such a tiny speck at first, had become so powerful just because he gave her a name and fed her a little…

‘Hmm…’

‘Slimes were the first wave of monsters, weren’t they? The weakest ones, right…?’

‘Just by giving her a name, she became this ridiculously strong?’

‘Just how terrifying was his own magic power!’

“Don’t say such embarrassing things at a time like this and distract me!”

Lim turned entirely pink, simultaneously devouring tentacles and grumbling at Lin Ran.

Noticing this, Lin Ran quickly shut his mouth and continued to provide support.

It was at this moment that the system completed its randomization—

[Ding! Your class randomization is complete!]

[Congratulations! Your class is Big Tech HR Manager! Furthermore, you are one of the company’s founders, with the opportunity to be promoted to Chairman!]

[A stable and promising job will grant you a significant advantage in romance!]

‘Ah… right…’

‘This blasted system was, after all, a system from an era of peace.’

‘It was his own mistake to have harbored any expectations for it.’

Lin Ran shook his head.

‘Hmm… Love Detection Eye… why does it have new content?’

‘What is this ‘Talent Appraisal Eye’?’

‘What is this? Let me try it out.’

[Target: Lim (Rare Slime Species, Slime Girl, Slime Tot)]

[System Evaluation: A top-tier expert in watering and healing, but incapable of tasks requiring significant intelligence.]

[Loyalty: 100 (She is completely loyal to you)]

[Work Abilities: Watering Level (3), Healing Level (2), Carrying Level (1)]

[Work Attributes: Strength·13, Stamina·5, Intelligence·2 (Max 2), Endurance·3]

[Free Allocation Points: 5 (You can assign these points as desired!)]

‘Oh no, Sys-bro, I spoke too loudly again!’