I was wondering where it had gone, and it seems it had come along inside the inventory with the sugarcane.
What should I do, should I take it back to the dungeon?
"Meow! Did you catch a rare red slime?"
Mii was startled by the slime and her fur stood on end.
"I didn't catch it... but it's rare?"
"Red slimes are the only type of slimes that don't have poison in their bodies. That's why they don't get along with other slimes and are easily attacked by higher-level monsters, which has reduced their numbers."
"Hmm..."
Hearing that, I didn't feel right about taking it back to the dungeon.
Should I keep it?
It's quite common to keep slimes as pets. Mostly, they are tamed by tamers, a type of hunter.
This red slime is quite well-behaved even though it hasn't been tamed...
As I was thinking, a system window appeared in front of me.
[You can appoint the red slime as an agent. Do you want to appoint it?
Yes / No]
So, it's saying I can keep it?
"Do you want to stay here?"
"Kyu."
The slime bounced up and down. Well, I already have a cat that eats cereal and loves dramas, so why not keep a slime too?
[Please give it a name.
Name input: ]
A name...
Hmm, Rie, after Mii, the next family member should be Bie, right?
"How about Bie?"
The slime suddenly started bouncing violently from side to side. It wasn't enough; it even jumped and drew an X on the floor. It was a clear sign of refusal.
"Really, you don't like it?"
I felt a bit hurt. What's wrong with Bie? It means my little brother, and I thought it really suited it...
But the slime kept making a "nyu" sound and opposing it. I had no choice but to give it another name.
"Hmm, then... since it's similar to jelly, how about Jellybo?"
"Kyu!"
Rejected again. What a picky slime.
"How about Tantangi, because it looks like a bouncy ball?"
"..."
I felt a cold stare. The chill in the air was so intense that I didn't need to see the slime's movements to know the answer.
"That doesn't seem right."
This is ridiculous, even Mii.
Every name I thought of, like Red, Pearl, and Tonton, was immediately rejected by the slime.
'Could it be... there's something wrong with me?'
Do I lack the talent to name animals?
In the end, half-giving up, I said the first name that came to mind.
"Since it's a slime, how about Lime?"
"Kyu."
Finally, the slime gave a positive response. The light, bouncy movements indicated it really liked the name.
So, I suddenly had a new family member named Lime.
"Kyu, nyu."
Lime circled around me. Its translucent, bouncy body looked soft and had a good texture.
Since red slimes don't have poison, I can probably touch it. I really want to touch it once.
"Can I touch you?"
"Kyu."
When I gently pressed it with my index finger, I felt a soft, elastic texture. It was slightly sticky but didn't stick to my hand, a unique feeling.
Rub, rub, rub...
Rub, rub, rub...
Whoa, I almost lost myself. The sensation is incredibly addictive. I could keep rubbing it for hours.
But what should I feed it?
I'm not sure if it even has a mouth, given its round, jelly-like shape. Even the sound it makes, "nyu," isn't clearly coming from its mouth.
I have no way to study slime ecology, so I decided to ask Lime. I'm not sure if I can understand its response.
"Lime, what do you eat?"
"Kyu."
Lime bounced and pointed to the coffee berries on the branches of Yggdrasil.
"Really, you eat these?"
"Kyu."
I picked a coffee berry and offered it to Lime. Lime's body softened and it swallowed the berry, then spat out the seed.
The seed... so it's the coffee bean.
Wait, does this mean Lime can eat the fruit and leave only the seeds?
"Lime, can you eat all of it?"
"Kyu."
Lime, with a somewhat boastful tone, approached the coffee berry I had thrown aside after peeling it.
It spread its body like a sheet and covered the coffee berries on the plastic sheet like a wave.
Thud, thud.
The seeds started falling onto the plastic sheet.
It took only a few minutes for all the fruit flesh to disappear, leaving only the seeds. It was a much larger amount than what Mii and I had peeled earlier.
Lime, looking full, returned more slowly than before. Behind it, a pile of seeds was visible.
So, the situation is...
Me + Mii < Lime?
I felt a bit of self-pity, but...
At least the job is done. Good grief, I have a really good new family member.
[Green Coffee Beans (★☆☆☆☆)
Status: Drying
Seeds from which the flesh of coffee berries has been removed.
They need to be dried in the sun to make good coffee.
Time remaining: Four days]
* * *
It took four days for the green coffee beans to dry completely.
During those four days, what did I do...
"Haam..."
I just played around.
For some reason, the system didn't give me any annoying tasks, and there was nothing else to do but wait.
What do you do when you have free time? Exercise? Self-improvement?
No, of course, I just lazed around.
For four days, I indulged in all sorts of trivial matters.
Today, I woke up late, lay in bed, and accessed the Hunter Channel on my phone.
[Issue] Let's discuss Hunter Supreme. (413)
[News] Tutorial Dungeon—Special Hard Strategy by Hunter Orimochu (133)
[Notice] Announcement regarding the punishment of user 'Supreme'
[Chatter] Is <Hunter Market> really this unfriendly? (57)
...
The world is peaceful today.
There was nothing special, so I skimmed through the posts and slowly got up as my stomach started to growl.
It was 1 PM, about the time the green coffee beans would be dry.
After washing up and going downstairs, I found Mii and Lime chatting. They had become close and often played together.
As I got closer, I heard Mii's clear voice.
"Why, can you understand me!"
"Kyu..."
"Your food bowl is here, the bathroom is over there, and drinks are in the fridge. If you need anything else, pester the human."
"Kyu."
Mii was explaining the locations of things, probably because she came in first.
"No, the TV is on the second floor. By the way, you have to watch KBS at 7:30."
"Kyu..."
"No, you have to watch the rerun. Meow!"
They started arguing over the TV channel.
'They look so happy...'
I left them bickering and went to check the green coffee beans.
[Green Coffee Beans (★★★☆☆)
Status: Dried
Seeds from which the flesh of coffee berries has been removed.
They are well-dried and suitable for roasting to make coffee.]
After three days, the well-dried green coffee beans looked just like the coffee beans I knew. The long journey was finally coming to an end.
I brought the green coffee beans back and prepared to roast them.
Fortunately, the store had a roaster. However, it was a home-use model that roasts beans over a gas flame, not a commercial roaster used in specialty cafes.
I originally planned to buy roasted beans.
'But how did it end up like this...'
If it weren't for the system's quest reward and the special effects of the coffee, I would have just prepared to open a normal cafe.
I placed the roaster over the gas flame, heated it, and put the well-dried green coffee beans inside the wire mesh.
This roaster was something I bought long ago for home roasting but never used.
Thanks, past me.
Without this, I would have had to wait a few more days to order and receive a roaster.
Of course, I never imagined I would be roasting coffee made from Yggdrasil's berries.
As the temperature rose and the wire mesh spun, the beans started to roast. Soon, a nutty smell and the sound of cracking should start...
Huh?
Why is nothing happening?
The gas flame is definitely on, and the roaster's temperature is normal. But the coffee beans inside aren't roasting at all.
This pattern again...
I had a bad feeling. It seemed like something very annoying was about to happen.
'Skip all the text and open the roasting section.'
There was nothing unusual...
As I quickly scanned the roasting section, my eyes caught a small note at the end.
The 3pt text was so small I almost missed it.
[*Caution: Roasting must be done with a flame fueled by aether. Ordinary gas flames will not work, so be careful.]
A flame fueled by aether? That sounds ominous.
I made eye contact with Mii, who was sitting in a corner watching the roaster.
"Why..."
She meowed softly, as if she had something to say, and looked at me.
This pattern is too much, right?
I wondered why the system hadn't shown any annoying notifications for the past few days. It was all for this moment.
I felt a huge sense of betrayal. The system is trying to send me into a dangerous situation with this cliché plot.
No way. I won't do it, no matter what.
How am I supposed to bring a flame?
But then...
Suddenly, the red stone in the ring on my finger started to glow.
The ring I received from the old lady at <Hunter Market>.
"What, what's happening..."
Whoosh.
A deep red flame, different from the gas flame, appeared at the bottom of the roaster. The roaster started spinning.
Oh, it works.
Soon, a nutty smell started coming from the roaster.