Chapter 44: Chapter 43: Common Sense

It Failed.

I stared at the ceiling, feeling a bit dazed.

What comes to mind when you think of mazes in amusement parks or resorts?

If you proceed without hesitation, it’s fine, but if you wander around a bit… I think everyone has been gripped by the urge to just see the path from above.

Sometimes, looking down at the maze from high up, I thought of those who were heading the wrong way and came up with a brilliant idea to get through this bizarre maze.

…The idea was to climb up the walls that make up the maze and find the exit or whatever right away.

If I were an ordinary human, I wouldn’t have thought of it, but the current me could climb walls like a friendly neighborhood red spandex-wearing hero.

So.

As I proceeded with the two blobs of jelly, I came up with that brilliant idea.

And climbed up the wall.

Inwardly, my jelly quivered. If I looked in a mirror, I wonder if the corners of my mouth that had no reason to be there would be turned up?

But… how do I endure this?

The sensation of gazing down at this incomprehensible space, just imagining it, made my jelly tremble.

I was excited to see what kind of scenery awaited me up there.

There was a time when I had such thoughts.

Let me say it again.

…It failed.

Perhaps it was my fault for hoping for common sense despite saying it was a space that couldn’t be understood with common sense.

I climbed the wall… and kept climbing, but I couldn’t see the end.

Excited, I don’t think I noticed that the scenery visible below kept getting farther away.

Just how high have I climbed now?

The bottom is so far down. Even for me, if I fell from here… I feel like I’d become a puddle of jelly.

Daesik and Sosik, who I’ve been carrying on my head, are probably trembling because they feel the same way.

…Hey, wouldn’t it have been nice if you had stopped me before things turned out like this?

Huh? Sosik, why… did you stay still?

Are you saying we should die together when I stretch out my tentacles?

In a space where not a single breeze blew, it feels like a bitter wind is blowing.

Phew… let’s stay calm.

If I could climb up, that means I can climb down, too.

I can’t use my jelly like a rope by attaching it to the wall and climbing down, but can’t I just go down step by step?

Yeah, even this time, it only felt like a crisis from a human perspective.

I just need to go down step by step.

One step at a time.

No.

One jelly at a time.

I almost thought with human standards again.

Even if I feel I can’t go back, the path I’ve trodden thus far won’t vanish in an instant.

…Just as I ascended here, intoxicated with myself.

I’m losing my mind, really.

As I was climbing down one step– no, one jelly at a time like that,

The brick my right hand was holding suddenly popped out with a *boink!*

My body was very startled because there was no problem on the way up, and I instantly lost balance.

As my body swayed, the two blobs of jelly sitting nicely on top of my head swayed.

In the blink of an eye,

I saw Sosik, who was at the very top, fall down.

I felt my jelly shrinking.

Although our first meeting wasn’t good enough for me to say nice things, even as a lie, for some reason, I didn’t dislike him that much.

The reason is… I don’t know.

I hurriedly stretched out my arms, but it was already too late.

The jelly tentacles that stretched out belatedly only waved in vain in the air.

Sosik instantly became a small dot, and soon… with a pathetic *plop*─

…Huh?

Something was strange.

To me, who was feeling a sense of loss at Sosik’s fall, the sound of jelly bouncing *boink* was heard from a very close place.

It was very… cute for a sound coming from way down there.

In the first place, it’s strange that I can hear it.

…And even if I could hear it, a grim sound like *splat*… or *splat!* should be heard, shouldn’t it?

I focused my gaze below where Sosik fell.

No matter how much I look around, it’s still far down. So much so that my jelly trembles just from focusing my vision.

But… it doesn’t match the sound I heard just now.

…Hmm.

Could it be?

Common sense.

Is it dying here again?

I tried throwing the brick-like thing I happened to be holding in my hand on the floor with a *fwoosh*!

Then I saw it this time.

The brick, which I thought was falling, became a dot at a speed too fast to be called falling. Judging by the *thwack!* sound that was heard right away, I think I can be sure now.

I hugged Daesik, leaped backwards onto the floor, and–

*Thump!*

…I felt the sensation of the backpack I was wearing on my back pressing into my body.

The ceiling that seemed endless had come down in a single stride, and next to me, Sosik was looking at me with a pathetic face (probably).

Yeah, I was the fool for thinking common sense….

I suddenly fiddled with the choker around my neck and jumped up.

…I decided to take a short break.

I don’t know about physical fatigue, but mental fatigue is no joke.

It feels like I was drunk on excitement about discovering a cheat code and then encountered the GM.

Anyway.

I put the backpack that was on my back in front, opened it… and took out something that I grabbed.

Then something long and heavy came out.

When I opened the packaging… there was a pitch-black chocolate bar that smelled strongly sweet.

Just by looking, the food’s combat power (the calories) seemed very high.

I wondered if it would have any meaning for me, but–

Oops.

I thought with common sense again.

I don’t know. Han Seori must have prepared it for a reason.

I immediately tried to shove the long, black thing into my body, but I saw the two wriggling blobs of jelly, and my hand stopped.

I had no choice but to break the chocolate bar in half… no, why won’t this break?

Anyway, I snapped it in half with a *crack*, then cut it in half again and put one each into the two.

Normally… I would have only given Sosik the wrapping, but I heard food is important for soldiers.

How sad would it be to eat only the shell in this situation?

…I don’t know if they feel emotions… I don’t know. They probably do.

I watched the two blobs of jelly melt the chocolate bar with a gurgle, and then I put the remaining chocolate bar into my body.

Along with the gurgling sound, an overwhelming sweetness enveloped my jelly.

A sweetness that makes it seem like your teeth will rot. Perhaps that expression exists for this.

Ah, of course, I can eat as much as I want since I don’t have teeth to rot!

…Should I like this?

But now that I’m actually melting and eating it, I feel a bit empty.

Honestly, it’s a bit disappointing that I can’t chew.

These days, I’m realizing anew how important the element of ‘texture’ is when it comes to savoring food.

Actually, if I had been born with this kind of body from the beginning, it wouldn’t really matter, but I originally had strong teeth.

Daesik and Sosik are lucky.

They were born without teeth from the start.

Deprivation is an emotion felt only by those who have experienced something.

As I blankly melted the chocolate bar, I confirmed that Daesik and Sosik had completely melted their chocolate bars and got up from my spot.

…Since I wasted time for no reason, I should hurry and proceed inside.

I hope… Han Seori isn’t watching me right now. Please, not that.

Because it’s embarrassing.

By the way.

Why does this thing on top of my head keep twitching?

The state of the knowledge pouch was unusual.

“Puhaha….”

Han Seori, who was looking at the monitor with a worried face, finally burst out laughing.

It was because the slime girl showed the same behavior as the expedition team that had gone down earlier.

Since the screen was looking at the ceiling, it seemed the slime girl had also realized the truth.

Han Seori wiped the tears that had welled up in the corners of her eyes while giggling.

‘I wonder what expression adorns her face now….’

She was very curious.

Separate from that, the intelligence of the slime girl… certainly showed signs of being special.

The fact that she thought to climb up there… isn’t that proof that she has quite excellent thinking abilities?

Even the way she follows training well.

As expected… I wonder if she fully understands everything that’s being said.

Han Seori, who was watching the slime girl’s small hands distribute the chocolate with satisfaction, put the french fries in front of the monitor into her mouth.

The well-fried french fries felt crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Meanwhile, the slime girl who finished digesting seemed to start moving as the screen began to shift.

‘It’s about time.’

You’re advancing into unknown territory.

After walking for a while like that, Han Seori felt a question.

‘…You haven’t been caught in a single trap yet?’

Is that possible?

It’s a strange feeling that can’t be expressed as just being lucky.

Han Seori tapped on the desk and fell into thought.

Soon, as if exceeding its limit, the screen sent by the slime girl began to experience severe noise.

All that remained was… a very small signal showing the slime girl’s path.

Han Seori, who cleared the screen full of noise, looked at the slime girl’s path.

Looking at it, her feeling of unease deepened.

The steady path the slime girl progressed on…

It’s like footsteps heading towards a precise destination.

‘…Perhaps.’

She might actually accomplish something?

No way.

Because the slime girl’s path was strange, it was too peculiar to be dismissed.

Han Seori focused on the monitor, feeling a puzzling sensation.