Chapter 78

24 ～Lily's Perspective～

“...sigh”

The sigh dissipated into the cool mountain air.

I was walking alone in the mountains.

I had been separated from everyone else because I was caught in the landslide caused by Gerbera to repel the incoming ‘Virtuous Heavens.’

Now, I was heading toward Master.

“...”

Despite the refreshing mountain air, my steps were heavy.

And my heart was even heavier.

“sigh”

Once again, a sigh.

...I couldn’t protect Master properly once again.

Of course, saying I “couldn’t protect” him implies that he is safe now, which I know through the bond.

But that’s just the result.

The fact that I couldn’t protect Master remains unchanged.

I was the closest to Master when Iwanogawa attacked.

Yet, I let Iwanogawa through so easily, and Master was struck.

It was fortunate that Iwanogawa didn’t intend to kill him; otherwise, Master might not be alive now.

After that, things were just as bad.

No matter how many times I attacked, Iwanogawa’s defenses were impenetrable.

Being brushed off repeatedly, and later learning that she was even holding back, was disheartening.

“I thought I had gotten stronger...”

The muttered words were partly true.

After being easily defeated by Jūmonji at Cheria Fort, I deeply felt my own inadequacy.

I had been trying to improve.

As a result, I had undoubtedly grown stronger.

Not just in combat experience, but also in my monster rank, I was far superior to when I first met Master.

Especially at Cheria Fort, I had consumed many monsters.

Now, hundreds of monsters swirl within me.

While I couldn’t fully utilize their power in my current form, my combat ability had improved to the point where even the monsters in the surface layer of the forest were no match for me.

...But it still wasn’t enough to face ‘Virtuous Heavens’ Iwanogawa Yuna.

Of course, the opponent was formidable.

Iwanogawa Yuna, known as ‘Virtuous Heavens’ in the colony, was one of the few named individuals in the exploration team, which was composed of cheaters.

She was almost the strongest warrior in this world.

Even Gerbera, who could hold her own against Jūmonji, was defeated.

It was understandable that I couldn’t stand up to her.

However, the fact that I had clashed with Jūmonji and Iwanogawa within the past two months made it impossible to ignore the situation.

...What should I do?

I hadn’t been idle.

For example, partial mimicry.

I had been trying to change parts of my body into other monsters while maintaining my human form, hoping for a significant power boost.

But it wasn’t working.

There was no hope of it working.

The limits of my species stood as a wall before me.

Moreover, I couldn’t mimic the cheat ability of Mizuho Kuroshima.

My mimicry ability, which inevitably degrades, couldn’t reproduce such an extraordinary power.

Or perhaps, since Mizuho Kuroshima herself hadn’t awakened to her cheat ability, there was no target to mimic.

In any case, the conclusion was the same.

Ultimately, there were things that a fake like me could never achieve, no matter how hard I tried.

This obvious fact hurt my heart.

The pain, like waves, brought up futile thoughts.

—If I were Mizuho Kuroshima instead of me.

—If I were the real one, I could do what the fake can’t.

I knew these were meaningless assumptions.

I knew it was a bad habit.

Still, recently, I had been thinking about such things more often.

If only I were the real one.

Because I am a fake, I can’t help but think this way.

...However, Kato-san seemed to have a different opinion.

According to her, the degradation that comes with my mimicry ability means that I can mimic things, but imperfectly.

Therefore, I should be able to imperfectly mimic the ‘potential to manifest cheat abilities’ that Mizuho Kuroshima had as a transferer—this was her argument.

Whether I am a fake or not doesn’t matter.

There must be some other reason.

Indeed, now that she mentioned it, it did seem to make sense.

...But that didn’t change the fact that I couldn’t do it.

“sigh”

I realized I had unconsciously sighed again and shook my head.

There was no point in dwelling on it.

Being alone was the problem. It made me feel down.

I needed to rejoin Master quickly.

I naturally quickened my pace and hurried forward.

“...Master”

A burning feeling welled up in my chest.

I wanted to see him with my own eyes, to confirm that he was safe.

The slow progress to my destination was frustrating.

I had been walking for quite some time...

“...Huh?”

How long had I been walking like this?

Confronted with this unignorable question, I stopped in my tracks.

Wait a moment.

This is strange. Why can’t I even remember how long I’ve been walking?

“It’s only natural that you don’t know.”

I realized a girl was standing in front of me.

“Because this is a dream.”

—Suddenly, the world shattered.

The mountain scenery I had been walking through scattered like glass, and I was thrown into darkness.

I couldn’t react at all.

In the pitch-black world, the girl who had called out to me was floating in front of me.

With her hands behind her back and leaning forward slightly, her flaxen hair swayed like she was underwater, and she looked up at my face from below—she was ‘me.’

...I see.

The suddenness and incomprehensibility of this situation were indeed characteristic of a dream.

This must be a lucid dream.

But where did it come from?

I was definitely walking in the mountains, trying to rejoin Master after being separated by the landslide.

Then... then.

What happened? I can’t remember.

The ‘me’ in front of me asked, as I pressed my forehead.

“Isn’t there something else that’s strange?”

Something else? ...Ah, yes.

I am a mimic slime, a monster that doesn’t need sleep.

So why am I dreaming?

Naturally, to dream, one must lose consciousness.

This means the real me has lost consciousness.

Something must have happened. Something that caused me to lose consciousness.

“Come on, wake up.”

Right, I need to wake up.

“Hurry, or ‘Shimada-kun’ will die—”

◆Business Announcement:

As already corrected in the activity report,

This week’s release of ‘My Master, the Monster ③’

is not on 4/27 (Mon) but on 4/30 (Thu).

It was a mistake on the official page. Apologies for the inconvenience.

◆Due to the above report, I split what was supposed to be one chapter, so it’s shorter.

Grr. I couldn’t finish everything in time...

I’ll update again soon.