Chapter 15: Slime Trails and Tribulations
Location: Forest of Suspicious Goo and Unpaid Therapy Sessions
Time: Now-ish. Heart Rate: Elevated. About Five Screams Past Midnight
Mood: Slightly Panicked Hero Mode (Trial Version)
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Carl used Sprint rank E.
He sprinted through the woods like a man late for his own funeral, chasing the shimmer-trail of gelatine that sparkled faintly under patches of moonlight, twisting like a glimmering breadcrumb path laid by a gelatinous idiot.
His boots slammed against mossy roots, breath ragged as low-hanging branches whipped past him like nature's slapstick routine. His heart? Galloping like it knew the script said "danger incoming."
"Bouncy," he wheezed, "if this is you just joy-bouncing through monster territory, I swear—"
[Target Identified: Variant Slime Signature – Confirmed as "Bouncy"]
[Status: Nervous. Loyal. Possibly about to lead you into a horror scene.]
"…Oh no," Carl muttered.
The trail pulsed ahead.
Another bounce mark. Another wet smear on a tree trunk. Still fresh.
Then—
A soft glow through the mist. A wiggle.
Carl skidded to a halt.
There, perched on a log like a sentient stress ball, was Bouncy. The little slime lit up at the sight of him, pulsating in happy yellows and excited squeaks.
Carl's breath caught.
"Bouncy?"
It paused mid-bounce, like a dog realizing it just heard its name.
Then it launched itself at Carl.
"Whoa—!" Carl flinched, bracing for impact. Instead, the slime splattered across his chest like a sentient hug, quivering affectionately.
Carl blinked. "You do remember me!"
[Bond Detected: Variant Slime – "Bouncy" has recognized you as its ally.]
[New Companion Acquired: Bouncy (F-Rank Variant Slime)]
• Type: Support Slime
• Abilities: Absorb Minor Projectiles, Emotional Detection, Mood Lighting
• Temperament: Curious, Loyal, Questionably Smart
"…Mood lighting?" Carl asked, staring as Bouncy changed color based on his tone.
He whispered: "You suck."
Bouncy turned red.
"…Sorry, I didn't mean that."
Blue.
"…Okay that's kinda cute."
Green.
[Note: Bouncy's usefulness is highly contextual. Do not taunt the jelly.]
Carl grinned and patted the squishy blob. "Welcome back, buddy."
But his grin faded when he noticed the slime trail didn't end here.
It continued deeper into the forest—thicker, messier. Like Bouncy had been following something, or someone.
"Wait…" Carl turned, heart pounding. "Were you chasing something?"
Bouncy shimmered crimson, then turned and began bouncing away again—urgently this time.
"Oh no. You found trouble, didn't you?"
Carl followed, tightening the Gek Spear on his back. The crude weapon jostled against his spine, jagged and uncomfortable, but dependable enough to skewer something squishy. He had no idea what Bouncy was leading him to, but it couldn't be good.
Spoiler: It wasn't.
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A cold breeze slipped past him. The trees shifted—leaning too close, like they were listening.
Carl slowed.
They reached a clearing.
Then he smelled it.
Coppery, thick, unmistakably wrong. Then his eyes adjusted to the moonlight.
And what he saw was Three bodies.
What was left of them…
Twisted limbs. Torn cloth. Blood splattered across trees like abstract art from a psychopath. One corpse was missing a face. Another had a gaping chest cavity, like something had reached in and dug around for fun.
Carl's stomach turned.
"Slime buddy…" he whispered, "what the hell did you find?"
Bouncy trembled. Not with fear—anticipation.
Carl stepped forward—and froze.
She was standing near the far tree line, back to him, silhouetted against the fog.
Long, wild black curly hair clung to her shoulders like wet silk. Her cloak was torn, revealing pale skin streaked with dirt and blood. She clutched a broken blade in one hand, and she was trembling—not from cold, but from pain.
Then she turned slightly—and Carl's breath caught in his throat.
She was beautiful.
Not just "model at a disaster site" beautiful. Something about her hit deeper, like a chord he didn't know he had got plucked hard. For a moment, everything else—the blood, the bodies, the horror—blurred into static.
Then he saw the gashes along her side. Not clean cuts. Jagged tears. Monster work. One leg was barely holding her weight. She was swaying.
Carl's instincts flared.
His face shifted from startled to unreadable.
Quietly, smoothly, he stepped to the side, scanning the shadows. The treetops. The mist.
Nothing moved.
But something watched.
The girl's voice broke the silence.
"Who the hell are you?!"
She staggered back, blade raised. "Answer me!"
Carl didn't reply.
Instead, he whispered, "You're bleeding from three different angles. You won't last a minute in another fight."
The girl gritted her teeth. "I said—!"
Click.
Carl's eyes snapped up.
From the trees, one… two… three dark shapes dropped like nightmares spun from bone and venom across the night.
[Threat Identified: Stalker Widows – E+ Rank (x3)]
• Traits: Ambush Predators | Coordinated Hunters | Venomous Bites | Ceiling Creeps
• Status: Aggressive. Hungry. Focused.
Carl yanked the Gek Spear off his back, jagged tip gleaming with old rust and vengeance.
The woman's eyes widened. "Behind you!"
Too late.
One lunged—Carl rolled forward, spear sweeping up. The tip slashed across a leg-joint. Not deep enough.
He spun and jabbed. The spear connected—crack—right in the soft underbelly of the second one.
[Hit: Moderate Damage. Bleed Chance: Successful]
Black ichor sprayed.
"Stay low!" Carl barked.
The woman dropped to a crouch, gripping her blade with both hands despite the shaking.
The third spider circled. Smarter. Waiting.
Carl adjusted his stance. "Come on. One at a time."
Bouncy launched like a cannonball and slapped into the lead Widow's eye.
[Bouncy used 'Slime Flash!']
[Result: Temporary Vision Obstruction – Success]
Carl seized the moment, driving the spear deep into the blinded spider's head.
It shrieked.
[Enemy Defeated: Stalker Widow – +600 EXP]
One down.
The second hissed, leaping.
The girl intercepted it, jamming her broken blade into its mouth. It reared—Carl followed up, piercing its flank.
[Hit: Vital Spot – Bonus Damage Triggered]
Another screech. Another collapse.
But the third was already diving at the girl.
Carl's body moved before his brain caught up.
He tackled her to the ground, rolled them behind a fallen log just as the third spider impaled the space where they'd stood.
Bouncy bounced once—then exploded into three blobs and reformed mid-air, slamming into the spider's back.
Carl surged up, caught the monster mid-recovery, and drove his spear home through the thorax.
[Enemy Defeated: Stalker Widow 2x– +1,200 EXP]
[Level Up! Carl Reyes is now Level 6.]
[HP Fully Restored. 3 Stat Points Gained.]
Breathing hard, Carl fell back beside the woman.
Silence.
Only the distant rustle of wind and Bouncy's faint squelches.
She was staring at him, eyes wide.
Carl wiped black ichor from his face. "You alive?"
She blinked, slowly. "Y-yeah…"
Then her gaze softened. Her voice, though strained, carried a strange warmth—like a quiet fire that refused to go out. "You're not from around here, are you?"
Carl didn't answer.
She tilted her head, wincing slightly, and gave a small smile. "You've got that lost puppy vibe. Kinda heroic, kinda exhausted, mostly confused."
What is that supposed to mean? Wait. Is she flirting with me? No—probably not. Don't assume things, Carl. Don't blush. Carl thought, trying to keep his expression neutral. Was that actually a compliment? Or a roast wrapped in a compliment? Stay stoic. Look mysterious. You've got ichor on your cheek. That's rugged, right?
He blinked. "…What?"
"Yeah. Total Earth energy." She leaned back against a rock, eyes fluttering shut for a second. "I'm from there too. Earth, I mean. Got dragged here yesterday when my school swallowed itself. Portal-sinkhole-whatever. It was stupid."
Carl's brain short-circuited.
She's from Earth. Another person. Another human.
She's not a monster, not a corpse, not the system…
She's real. And—oh no—she's cute. That's just illegal. My defenses weren't ready ahhhh.
"Why are you not answering?" she asked, cracking one eye open. "I said I'm Human, local Earth vintage. Name's Ayla. I do fencing, drink too much tea, and scream internally about forty percent of the day."
Okay, focus. Tea girl. Earth. Fencer. Internal screaming. I can work with that. Just don't smile like an idiot. Don't stand weird. Are my arms doing a weird thing? What are arms supposed to do?
"And you?" she added, teasingly. "You gonna keep doing the brooding mystery guy thing, or can I get a name to go with the dramatic spear stabbing?"
She noticed the spear stabbing. Is that a good thing? Did I look cool? Wait, no, don't care.
Brooding mystery guy. Yes. That's the brand. Stick to the brand. Even though my heart is punching my lungs. Smile? No. Nod? Maybe? Crap, is she looking at me? Don't stare at her lips—TOO LATE. Abort!
Carl sat back, forcing his posture into something he hoped looked calm and collected and not like someone having a panic attack in slow motion.
But then he remembered the clearing. The blood. The bodies. Torn, twisted, brutalized.
"…If you've only been here for a day," he said slowly, "then who were they? Those… people over there I mean." Pointing at the three dead people.
Ayla's smile faltered. Her gaze drifted to the corpses—twisted and torn like toys tossed by something hungry.
"…They were already here when I found them," she whispered. "I heard a human sound, so I followed it. But I wasn't even able to get close before something else showed up. The spiders, I think. I tried to ran... But as I tried to escape... It was already too late. I was already surrounded."
Her voice cracked, just slightly.
"I tried to help them in my mind. I wanted to. But I was outnumbered, and I didn't have—" She stopped, biting the inside of her cheek, like the words had betrayed her, eyes flicking away.
Ayla's smile faded. She followed Carl's gaze, and her lips parted in silent realization.
Carl looked at her for a long moment, expression unreadable.
On the outside? Calm. Cold. Mysterious.
On the inside? Full system meltdown.
God, that tremble was illegal levels of cute. And the way she looked at me—gah. Stop it. She's literally injured and traumatized, Carl. This is not the time. DO NOT DEVELOP A CRUSH WHILE SHE'S BLEEDING OUT.
"I'm not a fighter," she added. "I just… survive."
Carl stood slowly, eyes scanning the treeline again.
"Yeah," he muttered. "I know the feeling."
Carl stood slowly, then he offered her his hand.
This is normal. A totally normal gesture. Not romantic. Not awkward. Just helping someone. You are helping. You are not blushing. Stop blushing, Carl.
She blinked at it.
Then up at him.
"…You're weird," she said, soft smile returning. "But, like, dependable-weird. I'll take it."
He didn't smile back—but inside, his thoughts screamed: DEPENDABLE. SHE THINKS I'M DEPENDABLE. That's basically a love confession, right? No? Okay, shut up. Don't ruin this.
She took his hand anyway.
"…I'm Ayla," she said again, this time more gently. "Just so you don't keep calling me 'the girl with the broken blade' in your head."
"…Carl," he said after a moment, voice carefully even. "Carl Reyes."
Ayla tested his name with a faint grin. "Carl. Huh. Kinda suits you. You look like someone who yells at inanimate objects and wins."
"…What?"
She just chuckled.
She's laughing. Why is she laughing? Wait, is that good? Am I accidentally being funny? No, I'm being mysterious. Stay mysterious. Be a cryptid. That's your power now.
[Quest Updated: Escort Ayla to Safety]
• Bonus Objective: Don't let her bleed out.
• New Objective Added: Uncover More Earth Survivors
Bouncy gave a proud squeak and bounced in place.
Carl slung the Gek spear across his back again and glanced into the trees.
More questions. More monsters. More trouble.
But this time, he wasn't alone.
And definitely not blushing.
Nope.
Totally composed.
…
Crap.
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TO BE CONTINUED…
NEXT CHAPTER: "Web of Truth, Blades of Bone"