Dark, so dark—pitch black. I can't see anything; I can't even see my own hand.
Wait… where's my hand?
"Answer: A Slime's body is entirely a collection of identical cells. Each cell functions as a brain cell, a nerve, and a muscle. There is no such structure as a 'hand.'"
Hearing the voice in his mind, Nikki immediately brightened and asked mentally, "Are you Great Sage?"
"Yes."
Oh my goodness—Great Sage, Rimuru's divine skill!
"Great Sage, please report your abilities."
"Understood. Great Sage has five effects:
'Accelerated Thought: Increases perception speed by a thousandfold.'
'Analysis and Appraisal: Analyzes the target and appraises it.'
'Parallel Processing: Separates the matter to be analyzed from the main thinking area for computation.'
'Chant Annulment: Removes the need for incantations when using magic or other skills.'
'All of Creation: Comprehends all unshielded phenomena in this world.'"
It really was the same Great Sage Rimuru possessed—familiar formula, familiar taste. Simply perfect.
"Great Sage, where am I now?"
"Answer: This is the Sealed Cave in the Jura Great Forest."
Hearing this, Nikki had only one thought—this is a sure thing!
He had definitely transmigrated into the anime and become the protagonist, replacing Mikami Satoru.
As long as he followed the "history" of the anime—meet the Storm Dragon, exchange names, leave the Great Forest, gather the Goblins, Dwarves, and Great Ogres along the way—he would definitely become the king of the Tempest Kingdom.
It couldn't be more awesome!
The legend of the Slime Overlord would be written by him!
But the top priority now was to eat grass—yes, eat grass.
These weren't ordinary grasses, but Hipokte Grass, a magical herb that only grows in places rich in magicules, and the core ingredient for wound medicine and Recovery Potion.
The higher the purity of the Recovery Potion, the better the effect. In the anime, Rimuru could purify potions to 99%—even a severed limb could be instantly restored.
Nikki moved his body, and his "eyes"—if he had eyes—would have turned into slanted lines.
Slippery~~~
He had walked on legs for years, yet never imagined he would one day move in such a… "unique" way.
It was like crawling, yet also like wiggling. Very slow—but surprisingly satisfying.
In the anime, Rimuru's signature way of moving wasn't wiggling but bouncing.
Nikki tried applying pressure to his body, and instantly felt the difference.
Ahhhhh—his body was super soft, super elastic!
So bouncy, so springy!
Maybe he was too idle, or maybe bouncing just suited him too much, but Nikki played with it endlessly.
Bounce, bounce, bounce!
Jump, jump, jump!
Hahaha—it was way too fun!
Extreme joy leads to sorrow. With a smack, Nikki slammed headfirst into a sharp stone.
Like jelly being scooped with a spoon, a hollow instantly appeared in his body.
Nikki was startled. Oh my goodness!
Maybe because he had been stabbed in the kidney by a sharp stone before transmigrating, Nikki now had a permanent psychological shadow regarding sharp rocks.
But… it didn't hurt at all. Honestly, this body was amazing in that regard.
"Answer: Due to the skills [Physical Attack Resistance] and [Pain Nullification], the host will not perceive pain. Current tissue damage: 3%. Unique skill [Self-Regeneration] is activated."
A few seconds later, the pit in his body fully recovered, leaving Nikki amazed.
As expected of the Slime Overlord template—this physique was divine!
Speaking of which, a Slime's inherent skills were incredible! ([Self-Regeneration] is the racial talent of Slimes—just as humans bleed and heal, Slimes rapidly regenerate after injury.)
"Precious magic ore detected. Would you like to use the Unique Skill [Predator]? Yes/No?"
"Precious magic ore?"
Nikki immediately recalled the scene in the original work where Rimuru replicated magic swords using magic ore.
Don't think Rimuru casually replicated twenty swords and didn't care about the ore. In the Dwarf Kingdom, Dwarves had to risk their lives fighting monsters repeatedly to obtain this rare magic ore.
This was treasure!
Without hesitation, he selected "Yes."
In an instant, the ore was decomposed, digested, and absorbed.
"Great Sage, please report Predator's abilities."
"Understood. Predator can absorb target objects into the body. If the target retains consciousness, the success rate decreases drastically. The target is not limited to organic or inorganic matter, but also includes skills and magic. Predator has five effects:
'Analysis: Analyzes absorbed targets to generate possible tools. Replication can occur when material conditions are met. After successfully analyzing a technique, there is a chance of learning the target's skills or magic.'
'Stomach: Stores prey. It can also store substances generated after analysis. Items stored will not be affected by time.'
'Mimicry: Can reproduce absorbed targets and use equivalent abilities, limited to targets whose information has been successfully analyzed.'
'Isolation: Stores unanalyzable harmful effects, purifies them, and converts them into magicules.'
Another heaven-defying ability—the Stomach was practically a spatial bag.
Mimicry was incredibly powerful too. After devouring a monster, its abilities could be gained and replicated once fully analyzed.
In the original work, Rimuru gained [Metamorphosis] by devouring Shizue Izawa's body, allowing him to obtain a human form.
As for analysis failure?
Heh—did you forget about Great Sage?
Great Sage and Predator could link together, and the combined effect was far beyond one plus one.
Although in the anime Rimuru eating herbs and ores was shown briefly, Nikki ate for half a month and still hadn't finished them all.
This Sealed Cave was huge!
He eventually grew tired of eating; if he hadn't remembered that these herbs and ores were treasures, he would have been too lazy to continue.
What annoyed Nikki was that even though Slimes relied on eating for everything, he couldn't taste anything—not even a hint. It frustrated him deeply.
Losing one's sense of taste was like losing two-thirds of the world!
From boredom, he swallowed half a lake of water over the past half-month, successfully learning [Water Manipulation] and [Magic Perception].
Especially [Magic Perception]—it completely changed the world in Nikki's "eyes."
Since he wasn't seeing through eyeballs, a full 360° view with no blind spots was simply incredible.
"The herbs and ores are almost all eaten. Time to go visit the tsundere dragon!"
In Rimuru's world, monsters are divided into six main ranks from A to F, and subdivided with + and - into eighteen ranks.
But these eighteen only classify ordinary monsters. Above them are Demon Lords—S-Rank—each capable of destroying a nation alone.
Above Demon Lords are even more powerful beings, capable of destroying the entire continent if they rampage. These are Special S-Rank—Calamity Rank.
In the original work, when Rimuru was born, he was roughly B-Rank. After receiving a name and evolving into a Named Monster, he reached A-Rank.
Fortunately, Rimuru had two broken skills—Great Sage and Predator. He never needed to chant when using magic, and could grow stronger simply by eating.
Thus, after leaving the cave and fighting monsters along the way, Rimuru climbed to roughly A+ Rank by the time he exited.
And the so-called tsundere dragon was the Storm Dragon, Veldora, a Calamity-Rank monster at the pinnacle of all monsters.
Three hundred years ago, he was defeated by a Hero and sealed using Infinite Prison after burning down a town in a human kingdom.
Even while sealed, his draconic aura alone deterred all monsters from entering, and many weak races in the Jura Great Forest worshipped him as a guardian deity—proof of his power.
To be honest, meeting the tsundere dragon made Nikki nervous.
After all, this was the Storm Dragon—a true Dragon. Especially after learning Magic Perception, the natural suppression from a higher life form weighed heavily on him.
The stronger a creature was, the more clearly it could perceive Veldora's terror.
Nikki approached cautiously, probing as he went.
But as he neared the sealing barrier, a deep, arrogant voice resounded in Nikki's mind:
"Greedy little one—in just half a month, you've eaten up all the precious herbs and ores in this cave. Do you finally dare face this venerable one now?"
A powerful, vast voice boomed directly into his mind.
It was so sudden that even though Nikki was prepared, he still jumped.
But Nikki couldn't help smiling. Just like in the original work—despite sounding loud and furious, there wasn't a shred of hostility.
A true tsundere! Since ancient times, schemers have conquered tsunderes!
"I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll be leaving now!"
Veldora immediately panicked. "Ahem, you can take the herbs—it's not impossible. It is rare to have a visitor. Consider these herbs and ores a Meeting Gift. This venerable one is willing to lower himself to see you. Wait, don't go! Stay and talk with me! I haven't spoken to anyone in three hundred years!"
Watching the anime and experiencing it first hand were two very different things. Seeing the Storm Dragon, a skyscraper in his "vision," desperately pleading for company—the impact was overwhelming.
The loneliness and desolation were almost tangible!
Nikki chuckled. "Since you're asking so sincerely, I'll stay!"
"Really?"
The tsundere dragon was moved to tears. "I am truly grateful!"