Chapter 15

14. Slime King

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

The alarm on Taeju's tablet rang loudly. Taeju had thought Hui was just bored, but he quickly entered the garden, faster than the time it took to read her urgent message.

"Hui? Whoa! What's going on here?"

"Taeju, Taeju. It's a big problem. The slime cave exploded."

The garden was overrun with slimes. Colorful slimes were stuck to everything—vegetable patches, sheds, trees, and more. Taeju, alarmed by Hui's cries, ran to the inner part of the garden where the slime cave was located.

The rocks that decorated the entrance of the slime cave had been scattered by the explosion, littering the garden. The mound of earth that covered the back of the entrance had collapsed and spread across the ground. The wildflowers planted around the slime cave were a mess, covered in slime fluid and mushroom pieces.

"What on earth happened?"

"Taeju, there were too many slimes in the cave, it seems."

Ping!

Plop! Plop! Plop!

The slimes, curious about the outside world, were bouncing around everywhere. Taeju realized that this was the result of ignoring Hui's repeated warnings about not combining too many slimes.

"We need to gather the slimes somewhere. Should I buy an empty cave?"

"Taeju, the cave can be repaired. But there are too many slimes."

It seems I bought too many slimes. Taeju sighed and began to think about how to handle the situation.

"Meow!"

At that moment, Taesan, who had been crouching, leaped and pounced on a slime.

Crunch!

Taesan bit into the slime's core and shattered it in one go.

As Taesan successfully hunted the slime, a familiar message window appeared in front of Taeju. It indicated that one of the conditions for Taesan's growth, which had been completely unknown, had been met.

"Even though it's a mess, at least we gained something from this situation."

Taesan, seemingly excited by his first successful hunt, began to chase and hunt slimes all over the place. Despite being a small cub, he was a predator, and his hunting speed increased with each kill.

"Taeju, we need to catch the slimes quickly."

"Got it, Hui."

Hui suggested using an aquarium from the shop to contain the slimes.

"Sure, let's put them in the aquarium."

The aquarium Hui mentioned was quite remarkable. It was slightly smaller than a watermelon, and Taeju was worried about how many slimes it could hold. However, when he caught a slime and put it in the aquarium, he realized it was no ordinary aquarium.

He placed a fist-sized slime into the aquarium, and it changed size, becoming like a small glass bead. It seemed that the aquarium could hold dozens of slimes. Thanks to this magical aquarium, catching slimes wasn't so bad.

"Taeju, we need to catch the slimes quickly."

"Got it, Hui."

Taeju worked hard to gather the slimes into the aquarium, but it was impossible to collect all the slimes scattered throughout the garden in a short time. Taesan, despite being young, had already hunted over a dozen slimes, which was quite an achievement.

"What? The slimes are combining into a Slime King?"

Thud! Thud! Thud!

As Taeju closed the message window and turned his head, a slime as big as a small car was approaching from a corner of the garden.

"Ah! How do we catch that?"

"Taeju, go to the shop."

"Oh! The shop!"

Taeju ran to the shop to avoid the Slime King. He remembered laughing at the items in the shop that seemed like they belonged in a game. The consumables tab was filled with items like strength potions, agility potions, and attack spell scrolls.

"Buy, Magic Arrow Scroll. Buy, Wind Blade Scroll, Defense Spell Scroll. Hui, what else should I buy?"

"We need a spell scroll to immobilize or slow down the Slime King."

"Got it. Will a Freeze Spell Scroll work?"

"Yes. Use that first."

Taeju's heart was pounding. It was hard to stay calm with a monster like something from a movie right in front of him. Before tearing the spell scroll, he checked Taesan's position and found him on top of the treehouse.

'Huh, smart kid.'

"I'm tearing it."

Whoosh!

A cold aura shot forward. The Slime King couldn't avoid it and was hit directly. The area hit by the cold aura began to frost over and freeze.

"Taeju, Wind Blade Scroll!"

"Got it."

Following Hui's instructions, Taeju tore the Wind Blade Scroll, and a massive, blue, crescent-shaped blade appeared in the air, ready to strike.

"Taeju, now!"

The wind blade sliced through the Slime King's body, but it didn't cut the core. The core, still attached to the body, began to melt with a hissing sound.

"Magic Arrow."

Taeju shot a magic arrow at the melting body.

Thud!

A dull sound indicated that the arrow had hit its mark.

"Meow!"

"Taesan!"

At that moment, Taesan, who had climbed down from the treehouse, pounced on the Slime King's core and swiped with his front paws. Surprised, Taeju used the defense spell on Taesan.

Puff.

Sssss.

"Roar!"

Taesan let out a loud, joyful cry. Fortunately, the Slime King's shockwave attack was blocked by the defense spell. Unharmed, Taesan excitedly swiped with his front paws.

Squish!

The Slime King's body deflated and slumped. After a satisfying attack, Taesan approached Taeju, looking up at him as if seeking praise, and made a cooing sound.

"Taeju, Taesan says not to worry. He'll protect you."

"R-Really? Thanks, Taesan."

'I don't think I need protection from a 2-month-old cub.'

The garden was a mess. The grass where the Slime King had passed was flattened, and trees were knocked over.

"They give rewards. This place is really like a game."

"Taeju, let's open it."

"Should we?"

It had been a while since Taeju had opened a random box. After selling the crops from the rainbow seeds, he had bought whatever he wanted, so there was no need to test his luck with the random boxes. Besides, Hui often prevented him from buying unnecessary items.

"Opening."

"Okay."

The opening effect of the gold box was more spectacular than the red box. The gold light flickered, the box disappeared, and the item inside the light was revealed.

"A guitar?"

"It's shiny."

"Yeah, it's beautiful."

The guitar that came out of the box looked high-quality. It even had a pleasant smell.

"Wow! Hui, can you show me the description of this guitar?"

"Sure, it's a really good guitar."

"If I were a singer, I'd take this to a hospital and play."

He briefly thought about his half-brother who had received a bone marrow transplant, but the thought quickly faded. According to his half-brother Min-soo, his sister was recovering well. There was nothing more Taeju could do.

"Taeju, play for me."

"Huh? Now?"

The garden still looked half-destroyed. The Slime King was dead, but slimes were still bouncing around. Moreover, the fallen trees needed to be set upright.

"Hui, I'll play later. Let's fix the garden first."

"Okay, but you have to play. Promise."

"Got it. I promise."

Worried that the slimes might combine again, Taeju worked hard to catch them and put them in the aquarium. He had suffered quite a bit due to the slimes he had combined recklessly.

"Karma, I guess."

After catching all the slimes, Taeju set the trees upright and berated himself for his carelessness. He then remembered that he had said something similar to someone recently, which made him feel depressed.

*

After tidying up the garden and returning to reality, Taeju felt relieved. He resolved to pay more attention to Hui's warnings. He didn't want to see a giant slime monster again.

"Oh! The music video should be out now. It was supposed to be released at 12, right?"

The music video that Taesan had filmed was now being released. He had heard that the editing was already complete, but the release was delayed for some reason. Taeju held Taesan and played the music video.

"The song is good. Taesan, look, you're in it."

The music video had just been released, but the view count was already skyrocketing. The comments section was flooded with messages.

"Wow! There's a comment about Taesan. Of course, he's cute."

He had given Taesan various potions to film the music video, and it seemed that the effects were evident during the slime incident. The growth and enhancement potions were worth it. Despite being a small cub, Taesan had bravely attacked the large Slime King. Fortunately, his claws had split the Slime King's body, or it could have been a disaster.

"Bold little guy."

Taesan was asleep, his full weight on Taeju's arm. Seeing his peaceful face, Taeju felt a bit annoyed. He had been terrified watching Taesan leap at the Slime King, but Taesan had confidently declared that he would protect him.

"Who are you protecting, little cub?"

He was grateful, but he didn't want to be protected by a 2-month-old cub. He resolved to be more cautious in the future.

*

The awkward silence in the car was due to Taeju's deep thoughts.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking about the food vlog I filmed yesterday."

"I haven't seen the edited version yet, but the footage from yesterday was good."

"Um, it's not that. I usually don't like that kind of thing, but I didn't feel any resistance yesterday."

"Really? I thought you didn't care since you appear on Taesan's channel."

"Oh, I see. That's why."

He wondered why he had appeared in the food vlog yesterday. It seemed he was used to Taesan's channel.

He also felt less resistance to variety shows and other things. He felt more relaxed. He wasn't sure if it was because of the garden or the time he had already experienced, but it was a positive change.

The meeting with the company people was less formal than expected. Especially, the duo of Kim Do-jin, the head of the PR team, and Kim, the director, had a talent for easing the atmosphere when it got too heated. People who had raised their voices calmed down and participated in the meeting again.

Taeju's image had changed slightly from what he had initially thought. Instead of a high-class and sexy image, he now had a high-class and genius image. He had many special skills and a good memory, so he could memorize most scripts after a single read. They decided to focus on these points.

"Starting next week, we'll schedule vocal and performance lessons. We'll prioritize casting the theater actor you mentioned for acting lessons. Thank you for your hard work."

There were quite a few songs Taeju had to perform in the movie "Busking." Although he wouldn't sing all the songs, he was preparing to play and sing as many as possible. Therefore, he would take vocal and performance lessons twice a week.

The agency would inquire about casting Park Jae-sung, the acting teacher, for acting lessons. Although the agency had many good acting teachers, it was fortunate that they considered Taeju's opinion. It was uncertain if a working teacher would accept the request, but Taeju had really enjoyed Park Jae-sung's classes.

In Park Jae-sung's class, Taeju learned how to imagine, use his body, and interact with other actors. Later, he realized that there were many unqualified teachers who only took money and taught poorly. Meeting Park Jae-sung was very lucky.

After a month of learning acting under Park Jae-sung's strict guidance, Taeju started auditioning with his portfolio. Within three months, he was cast as the lead in an independent film and received recognition for his acting skills. Despite the agency's initial poor opinion of him after he signed a contract and went to the military, being cast as the lead in an independent film changed their evaluation.

"I wish we could work together."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Just talking to myself."