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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Choosing My Skills
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He was hungry.
His tiny stomach filled up quickly and emptied just as fast, leaving him hungry at all hours.
The baby had lived many lives and held many memories.
He figured that at this young age, it was best to act on instinct rather than restrain himself. Especially when it came to eating and sleeping.
"Waaah, waaah."
As he cried, Seo Eunhye came over with a bottle of formula mixed with warm water.
"My dear Seojun. Are you very hungry?"
Seo Eunhye alternated between feeding seven-month-old Seojun baby food and formula. Personally, the baby still preferred the taste of formula.
*Suckle, suckle—*
As he held the bottle and drank, his mind drifted.
The baby had decided to become an actor. No, more than an actor—a superstar.
Fortunately, this world was similar to his first life. At least, that's how it seemed from the perspective of a baby whose entire world was the small confines of his home.
The television his mom and dad watched showed news and variety shows just like in his first life, but the celebrities on screen were all strangers to him.
Of course, everything he knew about his first life came from books, so it was possible this was the same world and he simply didn't recognize anyone.
'Well, it doesn't really matter either way.'
Lying on a soft, fluffy white blanket, the baby suckled on his formula.
It was delicious. His little feet kicked, bending and straightening.
His mother, Seo Eunhye, knowing this was what he did whenever he was content, smiled softly and stroked his tiny feet.
Her touch tickled the soles of his feet, and the baby wiggled them in the air.
He had finished; no more formula came from the bottle. The baby's tiny stomach was full.
His body was lifted gently. Seo Eunhye held him and patted his back. Seojun rested his cheek on his mother's shoulder.
*Buuurp!*
"My Seojun. You eat so well, don't you? Ahahaha."
The baby's burp made Seo Eunhye burst out laughing. The baby giggled along.
* * *
Seojun thought. What would he need to become an actor—no, a superstar?
In his current 'body,' which couldn't even stand on its own, he could only open a small, doghouse-sized blue door he had created during his life as a slime.
Inside this door were only the memories of his lives as small monsters—his time as a slime, his time as a palm-sized fairy, and so on.
Such monsters usually had short lifespans, dying early or getting caught in the crossfire of greater beings.
'Would any of that be useful?'
Seojun recalled his time as a small slime.
He had lived near a dragon's lair. While loitering nearby in search of food, the slime was hit by the breath of a half-asleep dragon—it was probably just a yawn—and died. He had only been born for three days.
Shaking his head at the sigh-worthy past, Seojun decided to enter his library.
He pressed his palm firmly against the blue door. It slowly swung open. Inside, small, two-tiered bookshelves stood in long rows.
Most of the books were thin and small, like children's picture books. Few had text; they were filled with fairytale-like illustrations.
Seojun crawled slowly, examining the titles.
[Slime 1] [Slime 1-2]... [Fairy 1] [Fairy 1-2] [Fairy 2]... [Ant 1]... [Plant 1]...
The shelves were organized by monster type. He had been reincarnated as a slime multiple times, and as a fairy multiple times as well. Sometimes they were the same type, sometimes different. He couldn't remember them all.
The baby pulled out [Slime 1] from the front of the shelf, opened it on the floor, and sat before it. It was a book filled with large pictures.
There was a picture of a green slime dissolving its prey and another of it extending a tentacle to strike a tree.
With a slime's intelligence, recording things in pictures was probably the best it could do.
'Slimes dissolve things with acid and extend their tentacles...'
It was just as he thought. Slimes were shaped like water droplets and could change their form to fit any mold. Other than that, they seemed useless. After all, even a child could defeat one.
He opened [Fairy 1].
It showed a flower blooming, with a tiny fairy resembling the flower inside. There were pictures of the fairy flitting about, and on the final page, a picture of it seemingly asleep as the flower wilted.
Seeing the pictures jogged his memory of this fairy.
The fairy in [Fairy 1] was a mischievous flower fairy. It was born from a flower, smelled of flowers, and died when the flower died.
Its defining feature was its gorgeous appearance, which resembled its flower. It had no special skills. It was a fairy that simply lived a joyful, mayfly-like existence before dying.
'The appearance might be helpful, but...'
To use this fairy's ability, he would need a host flower. If he found a beautiful flower and registered the skill, he would gain an appearance similar to that flower.
The problem was.
'If the flower dies, I die.'
No matter how long it lived, a flower was a fragile thing. It would die from too little water, too much water, if its stem was broken by the wind, or if it was stepped on.
The baby quickly closed the book.
He slowly scanned the books on the shelves.
'Maybe because this is my first life trying to become a superstar... I'm not sure what I need.'
The uncertain future filled him with anticipation. The baby slowly moved along the shelves, examining the contents of the books.
'This one's no good... This one seems promising!'
For now, Seojun chose two abilities.
[Slime's Digestive Ability] from [Slime 3] and [Fairy's Sparkle] from [Fairy 15].
[Slime's Digestive Ability - Lowest Grade]
Can digest anything. Converts excess nutrients from digested matter into necessary nutrients for the body.
Expels all components that cause status abnormalities.
Since it was the lowest grade, it wouldn't have a dramatic effect like a complete physical transformation, but it would be incredibly helpful for a baby whose main job was to grow. Plus, it would surely have great synergy with [Elf's Basic Breathing].
[Fairy's Sparkle - Lowest Grade]
A sparkle produced from a fairy's wings.
Shining the sparkle can draw the attention of those who can see fairies.
Waving the sparkle while performing an action will cause some of those who can see fairies to imitate it.
[Fairy's Sparkle] was a bit of a gamble, but he chose it thinking it would be good to be popular with his peers.
'If my parents see their son is popular with other babies, won't they think, 'Shouldn't we make him a celebrity?'?'
It was all about planting the seeds early.
[Slime's Digestive Ability] manifested as a round, green orb. Seojun lifted the orb with both hands and brought it to his stomach.
*Flash!*
The orb, [Slime's Digestive Ability], passed through his belly and settled into the baby's tiny stomach.
A blue pattern appeared on Seojun's chubby belly. The orb-like marking was visible only to Lee Seojun's eyes.
[Fairy's Sparkle] appeared in the shape of a small, leaf-topped staff that a fairy might carry. Seojun brought the staff to his right index finger.
In his current baby body, the only parts he could wave were his arms, legs, and tiny fingers. He thought it might be a bit strange to wave his arms and legs every time he wanted to use the sparkle.
*Flash!*
The staff was registered.
'Ah, here...'
He had intended to register it to his index finger, but it seemed the finger's capacity was smaller than [Fairy's Sparkle - Lowest Grade], so the mark was engraved on his palm instead. It was a grass-green pattern.
The baby clenched his fist.
*Clench, unclench.*
'...It should be fine.'
When he curled his tiny fingers, the green staff pattern disappeared, and when he opened his hand, it reappeared.
*Clench, unclench.*
His baby instincts found the disappearing and reappearing staff pattern amusing, and he fell into a trance, opening and closing his two tiny fists.
*Clench, unclench.*
* * *
"Seojun really is a good eater."
said Jiyun's mother, who had a seven-month-old daughter.
Jiyun, who was also born in March, was being fed baby food and formula alternately like Seojun, but lately, her daughter refused to eat at all.
She would shake her head at the bottle and spit out the spoon of baby food whenever it was put in her mouth.
Seo Eunhye brought some fruit from the kitchen.
It was a Saturday afternoon when everyone was off, but Seojun's busy father had gone to work again, so his mother had invited some friends over.
It was a gathering of mothers with babies of a similar age from their apartment complex. Five babies were gathered in a corner of the living room.
There was Lee Seojun, who had just finished his formula; Kim Jiyun, who wasn't eating; the twin brothers Park Jiho and Park Jiu; and Mina Owen, whose father was American.
They were all between seven and nine months old.
The other babies paid no mind to Seojun's toys, playing with their own instead. Seojun took out his dolls to play. For him, in his state of half-instinct, half-reason, playing with dolls was quite fun.
Jiyun's mother let out a deep sigh. The other mothers felt the same. They wished their babies would just eat when they were hungry enough to cry, but they wouldn't, even though they weren't sick. It was frustrating.
Seo Eunhye said as she peeled an apple.
"It'll get better. You said she's not sick, right?"
Jiyun's mother had been so worried about her not eating that she'd even taken her to the hospital. Everyone had been concerned, but thankfully, nothing was wrong. The doctor said Jiyun simply didn't want to eat.
"If it's this hard when they're babies, I can't imagine how tough it will be when they're older…"
The twins' mother's words made everyone sigh. Only Seo Eunhye, the mother of the ever-compliant Seojun, smiled awkwardly.
After that, the mothers' conversation continued. They talked about their babies—how the competition for nearby kindergartens was too fierce, or recommended ingredients for healthy baby food.
The baby, who had been fiddling with his toys alongside the others, felt hungry. *What a healthy appetite this body has,* he thought, as he burst into tears.
"Waaah, waaah."
"Oh my, is it time to eat already?"
Seo Eunhye looked at the clock in surprise. The time had flown by. When Seojun cried, the other babies started crying one by one.
Waaah! Waaah!
The living room filled with the sound of crying babies. The mothers scrambled to get formula from their bags.
Seeing this, Seojun stopped crying as if he'd never started. His mother would bring his formula soon, so there was no reason to waste energy wailing.
But the other babies, whose thoughts were limited to eating, pooping, sleeping, and playing, continued to cry.
'Did I start something I shouldn't have?'
The sharp cries hurt the baby's sensitive ears.
But if I don't cry, I don't get fed.
Seojun shrugged. With his small shoulders and large head, it wasn't noticeable.