Why must I die like this here?
What even is the state doing? I wish someone would help me…
After wallowing in despair for a long time, I tried to move my body, still conscious.
But my body wouldn’t budge at all.
I’m not sure if my eyes are open or closed, but all I see is pitch-black darkness.
When I became aware of the darkness, I felt a damp sensation.
Not just part of me, but my entire body felt damp.
I was sure I was dead, so it’s strange that I can feel these sensations.
Still, why does my whole body feel so damp?
If I miraculously survived, shouldn’t I be lying in a hospital bed?
Even if I’m blindfolded with bandages, this damp sensation feels very strange.
While my whole body felt damp, one thought crossed my mind.
Could it be…
Have I become a brain in a vat?
That would explain everything.
My melted body.
The dampness felt all over.
Goodness.
Has the scientific technology of this country already reached that level? At this rate, won’t we soon see full-dive games?
If I’ve become a brain in a vat, wouldn’t I be ahead of anyone else? I could play all day.
While indulging in foolish thoughts and escaping reality…
SLOSH.
A sensation accompanied this, and something jumped into my body.
It wasn’t like something being held in my arms, but the literal sensation of ‘jumping in.’
It was revealed that I was not a brain in a vat, and a cry of an unknown animal was heard from very close.
The cry resonated through my entire body.
The struggle of something is blatant. I’m extremely confused and have no idea what is happening to me right now.
BUBBLE, BUBBLE…
A strange sound was heard, and the taste of raw meat became vividly apparent.
Then, a fishy odor was felt, as if I were drinking a wrung-out cloth.
I felt nauseous.
GLUNK!
I finally felt able to move my body after sensing something leaving my body.
GLOP!
Something disgusting, presumed to be what I had just spat out, entered my body again.
At this point, I was filled with the thought that something was wrong.
Still feeling the disgusting sensation, I moved toward the faint light I could see far away to assess the situation.
GLOP… GLOP.
SPLASH! BUBBLE… BUBBLE.
EEEEEK! CRUNCH!
Meanwhile, something similar to what happened earlier continued to occur to me.
Something entered my body, and the sensation of chewing raw meat and a disgusting taste were felt.
At least, the more something kept colliding with me, the more vivid were the sensations I felt.
A faint sound of flowing water was heard. The sound of something running fast and entering my body was also heard.
With the GLURP, GLURP sounds, I realized I was atop something hard and solid.
GLOP, GLOP.
The sound of something sticky sticking to and falling from the floor was heard.
I soon realized I was crawling on the floor.
Light.
It was right above me.
Feeling that, I heard the sound of water flowing nearby.
It seemed like the water was flowing right in front of me.
Since the light was above, I thought my reflection might be visible in the water.
I wanted to see.
As I thought about wanting to see my appearance, a bubbling sensation was felt inside my body.
Gradually, the view before my eyes became clearer, albeit blurry.
I momentarily lost for words at the sight.
Anyway.
The first thing that caught my eyes was what I had vaguely thought of as ‘light’ until now.
It seemed to be a small light bulb.
Around the bulb, a colorless gray wall could be seen.
Due to lack of maintenance, plants of unknown origin were growing through the wall, and there were numerous cracks.
Not having been in such a place in my entire life, I didn’t know where it was, but this scene seemed like what people commonly referred to as a sewer.
Considering the foul and unpleasant smell I’d been sensing since a while ago… It was probably that.
So that’s why I felt damp.
How am I still alive?
With doubt in mind, I gazed at the water surface.
BUBBLE.
There was something that looked like a lump of blue jelly looking back at me.
Startled, I stepped back, and the lump wobbled as it pulled back its body.
What the hell.
Is that… me?
A jelly-like mass roughly in the shape of a person moved as if it were me.
At that moment.
SQUEAK!
Out of nowhere, a rat came running and jumped onto what looked like my head.
I realized what the sensation of chewing raw meat, the taste of a wrung-out cloth, and the fishy smell from earlier were.
GLUP!
From what should’ve been my face, the source of the fishy smell and the cloth-like taste—entrails and fur—fell off with a splat.
Damn it.
This is seriously f*cked up.
And it’s more like rat-shit messed up.
Accepting what happened to me took quite a long time.
Suddenly becoming a liquid monster that kids played with and touched, I exclaimed, ‘Ah! I’m not human anymore!’ and wasn’t mentally strong enough to cheerfully accept it.
As mentioned earlier, I was an ordinary company employee.
Just because of my strong interest in the romance of exploration and adventure, the mystery and the unknown…
Anyway.
Frankly, it’s strange to immediately accept everything that happened and actively start moving.
Perhaps it’s because there’s nothing threatening me right now.
If something was charging at me, threatening to kill me, I wouldn’t be complaining like this. I’d already be adapting…
…or maybe I’d already be dead.
While I was lost in thought, deranged rats kept launching suicide attacks on my body.
It reminded me of my grandmother who had passed away, who always laid out so much food it would break the table, and gave me a displeased look if I didn’t eat it.
It’s a pity.
If I’d had this body back then, my grandmother would’ve been so happy, I might’ve even eaten everything on the table.
Now, it’s just annoying spitting out intestines and fur.
Looking at the rats disintegrating and bubbling inside my body, I headed back toward the flowing water.
SQUEAK, SQUEAK.
Even though my body isn’t human, it seems the movement patterns from when I was a human remain.
Each time my body left the floor, a sound like a foot stuck to a mat was heard.
Looking at my reflection in the water again revealed a slightly more distinct human silhouette than before.
…Perhaps eating those rats was filling me with some kind of power.
Still… there were many flaws in calling this human.
Firstly, my bluish and translucent body made my insides visible.
To the extent that when the rat that attacked me earlier started bubbling and disintegrating, it could be seen from where my ‘gaze’ was directed.
Who would call this human?
When I lifted what I thought might be my hand, sticky liquid dripped down.
…It gives the feeling of drooling at the sight of prey.
Because the water is murkier than expected and I can only see the silhouette, I don’t know exactly what I look like.
Still, I feel pretty small.
A unique feature is that…
There’s something round and dark inside my body.
It somehow seems extremely important.
It feels precious and like something I want to hug tightly.
When I try to touch it, though, my body merges and I can’t reach it.
In conclusion.
I’ve become a sticky something that somewhat mimics the shape of a small human.
If I have to compare it to something, it’s like I’ve become a ‘slime’ as in games or novels.
…Perhaps I’ve reincarnated into a different world.
Still, there was nothing certain.
Except for the fact that I now have a sticky body.
SLOP.
For now, I decided to wander around this damp place.
It would be quite sad if the only friends I have, and my only food, are these rat pups.
Though I’m not sure if they consider me a friend.
Could it be they think of me as a friend and that’s why they’re charging at me?
They’re truly appreciative, alleviating my hunger and loneliness. If I consider this as some form of exchange, maybe when I leave here, I should get a hamster.
While watching the little guy, who I named “Jerry,” dissolve, I aimlessly wandered around somewhere unknown.
SLOP, SLOP.
An unaccustomed sound keeps ringing in my ears.
For how long had I been wandering like this?
With only the bulbs in the passageway to provide light, I couldn’t tell how long I’d been lost.
Examining while incorporating the rats charging at me,
I understood that this place is quite vast.
I had thought it might connect to the outside somewhere since it seemed like a sewer, but… I couldn’t get out.
I couldn’t even find a blocked-off spot.
I originally thought it was a straight path, but it seems this place has a complex structure like a maze.
Thanks to my friends, I didn’t have to worry about hunger, but even so, I didn’t want to live here.
After all, just because I ended up with a sticky body doesn’t mean I want to live in a sticky place.
Still…
I’m worried whether I can properly survive once I go outside.
I might be considering this a bit too early since I don’t even know where I am right now.
But if I don’t think about these things, I might go crazy.
There was nothing I could do.
While I didn’t feel physical exhaustion, I felt mental fatigue.
To take a break, I squatted down and curled up.
Although I was definitely in the shape of a human, the stuck-together bodies stubbornly fused together into one mass.
…Nothing is under my control. It was frustrating.
Then…
From beyond the dark passage came a loud sound.
A heavy, massive sound.
It was so loud that it gave the illusion that the entire space was shaking.
It was an extremely ominous sound.
It appears that I’m not the only one living here.
I missed Jerry from earlier who had dissolved away. My sticky body shivered.
