The World Is Overflowing with Monster, I’m Taking a Liking to This Life

I will become someone who can properly say ‘no,’ even when someone glares at me.

I leave the home center and walk through the town.

“Hmmm…”

I consider everything that I had just heard as I walked.

Increased SP and JP through ‘Rapid Development.’

I understood, now that I was able to compare with others. But this was more of a cheat ability than I had expected.

“It was only good luck that I was able to acquire it, but now it makes me really want an explanation on skills…”

Even after you acquired new skills and jobs, there was still no description on the status plate.

So you had no choice but to test the skill after acquiring it or speculate based off of the name.

“Perhaps I need the ‘Appraisal’ skill to see skill descriptions.”

‘Appraisal.’

A skill that analyzes skills.

I am reminded of how much I need it.

“I don’t even know what the requirements for getting it are… But it seems like it might be an advanced ‘Observation’ skill.”

I had acquired the ‘Observation’ skill when I got the ‘Spy’ job.

I was currently level 4.

If I was able to raise this to level 10, would it increase my chances of getting ‘Appraisal’?

I could only speculate about all of this, but it was worth trying out.

“I will need to raise my detection-type skills as well as ‘Observation’…”

I hadn’t thought about it all that much until now, but ‘Rapid Development’ was a permanent skill.

It was different from the other skills.

And so it was necessary for me to learn more about it.

It seemed that the list of things I needed to do kept increasing.

“Baark?”

Momo asked me if I was okay.

Oops. I had gotten so distracted by my thoughts.

“I’m fine Momo. Don’t worry.”

I kneel down and pat her on the head.

“….Wafoo.”

She replied. Which meant, ‘if you say so.’

I chuckled.

She always worried too much. Cutie.

“Uh, what is that…?”

Just as I turned my gaze away from her, a slime caught my eye.

It was near a garbage dump towards a wall.

And inside of the pile of garbage, were several slimes.

Who would have you’d find them in a place like this?

‘Danger Detection’ and ‘Hostility Detection’ had not been triggered, and so I had almost missed them.

They didn’t seem like they were up to anything. They just moved around in the same place.

No, wait. If you looked closely, they were melting the garbage.

These guys just ate anything, huh?

In fantasy novels, slimes were usually depicted as omnivores. And in reality, these guys were no exception.

Hmm, what to do.

It was a real hassle hunting them…

And there wasn’t much advantage to doing so at the same time.

“Hm?”

Looking closer, there was one particular slime that had a different color than the rest.

The other slimes were all blue, but this one was red.

Was it a high ranking slime?

I watched them for a while, but the red slime did not seem to be doing anything other than move around in the same area like the others.

“Strange little creatures…”

In a way, they were the most mysterious monsters.

Well, there was nothing to do about it now.

They seem to be low level, I don’t think there is any harm in leaving them alone.

“Ah, right.”

Curiosity took a hold of me, and I took out some ‘garbage’ from my Item Box.

It was stuff like plastic containers from finished lunch boxes.

I threw them at the slimes.

“…”

The slimes did not respond—no, they started to.

They surrounded the garbage and melted it.

…Very slowly.

“Huh…”

I stared at this very interesting sight.

It took the slimes about ten minutes to finish eating the garbage.

They jiggled a little before resuming their consumption of the remaining garbage.

“They sure eat a lot.”

It was like I was looking at huge microorganisms.

Hm? What was it?

Now the red colored slime was slowly coming towards us.

Neither ‘Hostility Detection’ or ‘Danger Detection’ were sensing anything.

But I still took a few steps back just in case.

Momo dropped into a fighting stance.

<<The Red Slime is looking at you like it wants to join your party. Allow it to join?>>

The voice echoes in my head.

“What?”

–For a second I wondered if I had heard that wrong.

<<The Red Slime is looking at you like it wants to join your party. Allow it to join?>>

The voice echoes in my head once again.

No, I hadn’t heard it wrong.

Wow. I didn’t think such things could happen with monsters.

I mean, this meant that slime’s had a ‘will’ of their own.

The slime was jiggling and staring at me…or I thought that it was.

Perhaps it was because I fed them?

“Hmm…”

But…

I wasn’t sure about this one.

People would often befriend slimes in web novels. But in real life…

I look at the red slime near the garbage pile and think.

It didn’t seem to be threatening to me, but it looked like there were no merits to it either..

If anything, considering my specialized skills, wouldn’t it actually be in the way?

‘Concealment’ and ‘Presence Block’ only affect me. And Momo could at least hide in shadows.

Also, the slime was slow, I would have to carry it to move around. And it didn’t seem like it would be useful in combat.

Having it around would just be a burden.

I choose ‘No’ inside of my head.

<<You have rejected its application>>

“…”

I don’t know if it was just me, but it looked like the red slime shuddered with sorrow.

But it was probably just me.

It was. It must be.

“…Let’s go, Momo. We’ll search for other monsters.”

“…Bark.”

Yes, I wasn’t wrong.

I couldn’t be wrong.

Just as I begin to walk out again, my stomach rumbles.

“…Now that I think of it, it’s almost lunchtime.”

I look at my watch and see that it is past twelve.

“Let’s take a break then, Momo.”

“Bark.”

We search for a building that we can rest in.

…That looks like a good place.

There was a multi-story apartment close by.

I turned my back to the jiggly slime and headed towards the building with Momo.

At the same time, on the roof of a certain apartment building—

“…As I thought, there are fewer and fewer monsters within this visible perimeter.”

‘She’ says as she looks at the town through a scope.

It was the third day after the monsters had appeared.

She had not taken a single step outside of the apartment, instead, she stayed here and sniped.

Due to this, her level had gone up and she received more than enough points.

However, it seemed that this strategy had reached its limits.

Because there were now much fewer monsters who were within range of her shooting.

“Maybe I should finally leave…”

Considering her own job and skills, it would be better for her to stay.

However, it was quite clear that she had reached her limits here.

“I could use my points to strengthen my skills and status. Then I could find another good building and hole up there…”

She could find another tall apartment building that fit the requirements of her job, and make it her new base.

“I wish I had someone to work with. …I do wonder if that guy and his dog are still alive…”

She recalled the guy and his shiba that had come here yesterday.

He had an interesting skill.

But ultimately, she had walked away without being able to talk to him.

“…Well, he seemed rather scummy. He’s probably alive.”

No, maybe not scum. But he did play dirty.

That is how she felt after seeing him fight at the supermarket and his reactions here.

Why did she think that?

Because she was the same.

She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live.

And so she would kill monsters, raise her level, and plan ways to ensure her safety.

That being said. She thinks…

“That dog was really cute…”

It always stuck close to him and wagged its tail.

It was so adorable.

She wanted to pet its soft fur.

She was a dog person, not a cat person.

And she had a special fondness for shiba dogs.

If this apartment hadn’t banned keeping pets, she would probably have had a cute dog like that as well.

Her cheeks became slightly flushed.

She was like a love-struck maiden.

“…I want to meet that dog again.”

She could barely remember the face of the guy. On the other hand, Momo’s appearance was beautified by about 200 times.

Shy people generally didn’t remember people’s faces.

“–‘Map.’”

She mumbled, and the status plate transformed.

It turned into a three-dimensional recreation of the town.

“…Yes, this one looks good.”

It was a tall apartment building that was a small distance away from the home center.

This place would fit the requirements of her job.

She would have to gather new furniture and food. But that was a compromise she had to make.

“Alright, I should go then.”

She leaned the now familiar rifle on her shoulder and stood up.

And so the girl, Natsu Ichinose, went out into the town to look for her new hunting spot.

And in a corner of her heart, she had a small hope that she would see that shiba again.