— “Take me to church… Oh, fully me… Doggie za night…”

  Humming random tunes as I walked leisurely down the road, I noticed a shift in my surroundings.

  Among the tall grass beside me appeared living creatures—small, translucent blobs filled with what looked like water. Slimes? So this place really does have things like that…

  I decided to observe them.

  They came in a surprising variety of shapes and sizes. The main features I used to tell them apart were the number of eyes and body size: the more eyes, the larger the creature. The tiniest ones had no eyes at all, while the biggest stood knee-high to me and sported two eyes. Their color, however, was uniform—green—clearly helping them blend into the grass and hide from predators.

  I also witnessed an unexpected glimpse into their lives:

  They eat each other.

  It was horrifying. I saw two slimes pin down one of their own, then swallow its remains through a mouth-like opening in their bodies.

  The wild nature of these magical creatures is shockingly ruthless. The same scene repeated everywhere: the big ate the medium, and the medium ate the small.

  I never figured out where the tiny, mouthless ones even came from—but their numbers didn’t seem to shrink much.

  I also tried (with my nonexistent eyes) to spot the largest one of all—only to realize, oddly, that none grew taller than my knee.

  I wonder why that is?

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  After watching these odd little blobs for a while, I decided to kill one.

  Naturally, I chose the smallest—a creature just slightly bigger than two of my fists.

  I waited until it crawled a bit closer, then swung my rusty axe down hard.

  The little thing exploded into nothingness.

  Literally—no trace remained. Not even a wet spot. Its goo sprayed in every direction; a few drops even splattered onto my boot.

  — That was easy, I thought.

  But instantly, I sensed hidden danger.

  The slimes—previously busy devouring each other—suddenly froze.

  Then, as one, they turned toward me.

  Their gazes (whether one-eyed or two-eyed) became sharp, focused…

  Focused on me.

  — “What the—?!” I wanted to shout, but of course, no sound came out.

  They began crawling toward me. Not fast—but with unsettling certainty.

  All of them.

  I gripped my axe tighter, torn between fighting and running.

  I chose to run.

  I bolted down the dusty road, stumbling, refusing to look back.

  I ran for nearly an hour before realizing—no one was chasing me.

  Slimes still crawled through the grass on both sides of the road, but they showed no aggression whatsoever.

  That had been dangerous…

  Who could’ve guessed they’d react like that?

  I’ll need to be more careful in the future.

  The rest of my walk passed without incident.

  The sun shone overhead, and all around, in bushes and grass, countless slimes quietly practiced cannibalism.

  Isn’t that just a lovely day, Living?