Lim’s Human Form and Lin Ran’s Gelatinous Predicament

‘No, are they really going to transform?’

However, according to common sense and the information provided by the system,

once a slime transforms into a human, its strength is bound to undergo a qualitative leap.

This was a good thing.

An absolutely wonderful thing.

As Lin Ran pondered, Lim’s transformation gradually ceased.

Before him stood a young girl, appearing to be around fourteen or fifteen years old.

She barely reached Lin Ran’s chest, her head crowned with short, light blue hair.

The texture of her hair was peculiar; upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a mimicry of countless incredibly fine, fluid-like blue tendrils, flowing with her every breath.

Her features were as delicate as a work of art, but what captivated the most were her eyes.

The small, bead-like sensory organs had now completely transformed into a pair of true eyes.

A pair of blue pupils.

The blue was incredibly clear, utterly devoid of impurities, reflecting only Lin Ran’s figure.

As for her skin…

Well, it remained the gelatinous texture of a slime.

It hadn’t transformed into human skin; at present, there were no human characteristics, merely a simple mimicry.

Lim opened her eyes.

She saw Lin Ran.

The next moment, an incredibly radiant smile bloomed on the girl’s face, overflowing with joy and affection.

“Master!”

She cheered, spreading her arms wide, and pounced towards Lin Ran.

Her posture was exactly like that of a loyal dog who hadn’t seen its master in three days, so excited its tail threatened to wag off.

‘She can speak human language now?’

Lin Ran was pleasantly surprised; he had assumed he would have to teach her language from scratch.

‘But has this affection gone astray? What kind of romance has one person calling the other ‘Master’?’

‘Though… it’s not entirely unheard of, perhaps…?’

Lin Ran subconsciously opened his arms to catch her.

But—

He merely grazed Lim’s fingers.

No sooner had she taken a single step than her legs tangled.

With a soft ‘squish,’ she tumbled to the ground.

The truth was, she hadn’t yet learned how to use this new body.

“Ugh—this human body is so difficult to control—Master, help me, sniffle…”

Lim lay sprawled on the ground, lifting her head with a wronged expression, her blue eyes brimming with indignation.

Her voice was soft and sweet, laced with a hint of reluctance.

It now seemed that while slimes were limited by their vocal organs, their inherent intelligence was remarkably high.

Helping Lim up from the ground, Lin Ran casually shed his relatively clean jacket and draped it over her small frame.

Lim immediately clutched the jacket, which carried Lin Ran’s scent, as if it were a precious treasure. She then nestled her small head against Lin Ran’s chest, her face radiating contentment.

However, Lin Ran suddenly realized a problem.

A very serious problem.

The hand that had intended to pat Lim’s head froze mid-air.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

‘If he remembered correctly, wasn’t Lim the Slime Tot?’

‘Would this kind of contact, this level of intimacy, violate some law, perhaps the Great Slime Empire Constitution (TL Note: A fictional legal document governing slimes) or something similar?’

He glanced at the ground, where Lim’s slime brothers and sisters were also undergoing transformation…

‘It was a good thing they were also transforming.’

‘If they got angry about this and ganged up on him, the situation would become rather absurd.’

Furthermore, putting aside her identity as a slime,

any uninformed bystander who saw them would surely think he was committing a crime, wouldn’t they?

Allowing a creature with the appearance of a young girl to call him “Master” while they embraced…

‘Forget slime laws; even human laws were at risk of being violated!’

Even though it was the apocalypse, Lin Ran, as an upstanding modern youth, still had his moral boundaries.

“Lim, are you a minor?”

Lin Ran tentatively asked.

Lim tilted her head, her pure blue eyes reflecting an innocent, puzzled expression.

“Slimes don’t have ages, you know. We don’t grow up.”

She paused, seemingly misunderstanding something, and a hint of nervousness appeared on her small face.

“Does Master not like my appearance? I can try changing into other forms!”

With that, Lim closed her eyes.

A surge of power seemed to emanate from her small body.

Her previously slender figure began to grow at a visibly rapid pace.

Bones elongated, and curves filled out.

In just a few blinks, the fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl transformed into…

Xia Li.

‘Hmm… having eaten Xia Li, it makes sense for her to become her.’

‘No, can she really do that? Doesn’t this mean she can become anyone she eats?’

But—

“That’s a very good change, but please change back for now.”

For no other reason than that Lin Ran genuinely did not want to see that woman anymore.

Upon hearing this, Lim swiftly reverted to her maiden form.

However, she was panting heavily.

Even her maiden form seemed unstable, her body’s edges constantly fluctuating, as if she might melt back into a puddle of slime at any moment.

“Ugh… hungry…”

Lim’s voice grew weak.

“Not enough energy. The bigger the body, the more energy it consumes… If Master likes the appearance of other big sisters, I… I’ll try my best to eat more.”

She felt a pang of dejection, looking at her slender body, disheartened that she couldn’t fulfill her Master’s wish.

Yet, Lin Ran’s face remained impassive; he was still deep in thought.

‘The bigger the body, the greater the consumption?’

‘That made sense.’

‘But to save food, making her revert to an incommunicable slime form would clearly be a net loss.’

‘A certain level of communication was essential.’

‘Therefore, maintaining this current humanoid form, which consumed the least energy, was the optimal solution.’

Lin Ran made his decision, answering in a gentle tone:

“It’s fine. Just be in whatever form you like.”

This statement was, in fact, his high emotional intelligence way of speaking.

The subtext was clear: ‘Just maintain your current form, which consumes little energy.’

After all, in this apocalypse, eating less and consuming less were powerful survival skills in themselves.

This was the most rational choice.

However, in Lim’s ears, she heard something entirely different.

In Lim’s eyes, it was as if Lin Ran was holding her hand, gazing deeply into her eyes with utmost sincerity.

Then, leaning close to her ear, he softly whispered—

“It’s alright, I like all your forms.”

Boom!

These words exploded in Lim’s mind.

Her entire body instantly turned pink, her face blushing so deeply it resembled a ripe red apple.

She covered her face with her hands and hair, her body growing soft and pliable, nearly losing her balance.

She looked as if she might melt at any moment into a puddle of sweet-tasting slime fluid.

[Ding! Your words deeply moved Lim! Affection +10! Current Affection: 85 (Very Fond!)]

[System Notification: In the eyes of a girl in love, every word from her beloved might sound like a declaration of affection~]

[Obtained Casanova Level Experience *100!]

[Please continue your efforts! 10 more Affection points are needed before the quest reward is issued.]

Of course, Lin Ran was unaware of Lim’s internal drama.

From his perspective, this affection had inexplicably risen.

He was a bit speechless, but an increase in affection was ultimately a good thing.

“Alright everyone, I’m taking your little princess back now! Remember to return once you’ve finished transforming; those fields still need planting.”

Lin Ran held Lim’s hand, patiently guiding her on how to use her brand-new body.

“Slowly, that’s right, step with your left foot first…”

Teaching her as they went, he led her towards the dormitory.

“Splish—”

However, as he took a step himself, a watery sound reached his ears.

‘Water?’

‘Where did the water come from?’

‘The slimes had turned off the faucets long ago, hadn’t they? Lim had taught them to conserve water.’

Lin Ran looked down—

Only then did he realize that his foot, at some unknown point, had turned gelatinous, just like the slimes’.

‘Hmm?’

‘Hmm??’

‘What the hell?’

****