As the slime bounced about in sheer delight, a new desire arose within it.

'I want to see more!'

It wanted to see other places, not just the cave before its eyes. It wanted to see a wider, more varied world.

The slime stopped bouncing and began inching forward.

▶Oh, it's moving.

▶Hot take: it's cute, but this view is dizzying as fuck.

▶Agreed.

▶Won't you switch the stream to third person? I want to see your cute little self again...

The viewers, still warmed by the sight, watched to see what the slime would do next. Among them, Squishy Queen—the Slime Queen—noticed something odd.

[Squishy Queen]▶Wait a moment. Why does it keep moving? At this rate, it will leave the cave.

▶Isn't it just trying to go outside?

▶I'm gonna be free~!

▶I'm getting out of this crappy cave!

[Squishy Queen]▶What!?

+++

The Slime Queen was utterly flustered.

'Why are you trying to leave the cave already! You've found such a fine habitat!'

The Slime Queen was a highest-ranking specimen. But she had not been a Slime Queen from birth. She, too, had started as an ordinary slime, growing and evolving into her current form.

Though her memories were incomplete, she remembered the broad course of her own journey. That was why she knew just how dangerous the slime's intended actions were.

'If it leaves the cave like this...!'

The kin she had finally found, who might someday become her conversation companion, could lose its life for nothing.

'I absolutely cannot allow that!'

The Slime Queen hurriedly typed into chat.

[Squishy Queen]▶Wait! Hold on! Stop! I said stop!

[Noblesse Fire]▶Why's that squishy throwing a fucking fit?

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Good grief. Does this fossil of a shut-in dragon have no manners? Show some courtesy and use her proper username, Squishy Queen.

[Noblesse Fire]▶Manners, my ass.

▷I wanna see more! I want to see more!

▶I... I wanna see too! I'm gonna see too!

As the slime continued onward, the Slime Queen grew even more frantic.

[Squishy Queen]▶No! Listen to me! I said listen!

▶Queen, what's up with you?

▶She's so fucking desperate lmao.

[Squishy Queen]▶It will die if it goes outside like that!

▶What?

▶???? What are you on about???

▶What did you say?

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Oh my goodness! Whatever do you mean???

The viewers' attention focused on Squishy Queen's messages.

▶What do you mean, die?

[Noblesse Fire]▶Is this some "It's dangerous outside the cave!" crap? When you're young, you're supposed to get out there and take a few knocks. That's how you grow, yeah.

[Squishy Queen]▶You fool! Do you think that kin of mine is like a dragon such as you, forever taking dips in lava!

[Noblesse Fire]▶The fuck?

▶The preachy old geezer is pretty ignorant, yeah.

▶He keeps backseating female streamers even though he gets kicked every time. Definitely ignorant, yeah.

[Squishy Queen]▶That kin of mine was only just born! It hasn't even had a chance to grow properly!

[Squishy Queen]▶Normally, it would need to eat and grow more, and at least learn Body Slam, just to have any chance of surviving!

▷I wanna see more! I want to see more!

[Squishy Queen]▶Aaaaargh! It's only posting messages, not reading any of them!

The Slime Queen's frantic reaction gradually helped the other viewers understand the situation. A newborn slime—one that had only just gained sight—was heading straight out of its cave? Obviously, even an ordinary animal, not just a monster, could easily kill it.

Of course, slimes were extremely weak monsters to begin with. They spawned in great numbers, and died in greater numbers than any other monster.

But the slime hosting this stream had already become a special slime, one the viewers cared about. Whether they had found it briefly interesting, heartwarming, or soothing, none of those viewers wanted this unusual young slime to die so soon.

▶Ooh lol, is the slime gonna croak now? Go go go go!

There were exceptions, of course: vile people who were happy as long as they could stir up trouble.

[Noblesse Fire]▶Then why the hell is it trying to leave!

▶Because the cave reeks lol.

▶A slime smelling things? What bullshit.

▶Bet you smell worse, yeah.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Hmm. It seems developing intelligence so young is what caused the trouble.

Normally, even after gaining sight, it would have felt no particular emotion and simply searched for nearby food as usual. But the wonder of seeing had set it in motion without a thought for its own safety.

'Wait! Come to think of it...'

Searching for a way to catch the slime's attention, the Slime Queen remembered something. She could use the wisecracker's method: send a donation message to draw its gaze.

▶[Squishy Queen has donated 5 coins]

▶[Message: Stop! You must not go outside now!]

The slowly moving slime came to an abrupt halt.

▷I can't? Why?

'At last, a response!'

[Squishy Queen]▶It is dangerous to leave the cave now!

[Squishy Queen]▶First, you must eat more food and grow!

▷I want to see more other things!

[Squishy Queen]▶If you wish to see them so badly, hurry and grow some more!

▷I want to see them now!

▶No backing down lmao.

'Ugh...! What stubborn kin. This is a problem.'

An innocent slime, only recently born. It had intelligence, but no knowledge. It did not yet know what was dangerous or what distinctions it should make before acting, because it lacked the experience to understand such things. And so, intelligent though it was, this innocent slime put its desires first, unaware of the danger.

'What on earth am I to do...?'

While the Slime Queen was racking her brain, a message appeared.

[Free Spirit]▶Tsk, tsk, tsk. Come on, Squishy Queen~ Do you think it'll understand if you put it like that? You've gotta get down to its level at times like this~.

The wisecracker stepped in and began demonstrating the right approach.

▶[Free Spirit has donated 2 coins.]

▶[Message: Squishy~ Wanna see more?]

▷I want to see!

First, the wisecracker caught the slime's attention with a donation message.

[Free Spirit]▶You must wanna see sooo much~ But if you go outside now, you won't get to see much.

▷I won't?

[Free Spirit]▶Yep. You'll see just a tiiiny bit, then never see anything again.

▷No! I don't want that!

[Free Spirit]▶Yeah, you don't want that, right? So if you wanna see sooo much more, first you have to eat loooads and grow some more.

[Free Spirit]▶Then you'll get to see sooo much more, Squishy. Yep.

The wisecracker appealed to the slime's desires, persuading it with an analogy it could easily understand.

[Free Spirit]▶So shouldn't you eat lots here first?

▷Yes! I'll eat!

▶Won it over instantly, huh lmao.

▶Is the wisecracker a dad? Why's he so good at this?

The wisecracker's persuasion immediately changed the slime's behavior. Instead of continuing onward, it approached some nearby moss and began absorbing it again. Just as the wisecracker had said, it would eat more so it could see more.

Watching this, the Slime Queen was profoundly shocked.

'I-impossible! My kin... My kin is obeying that wisecracker rather than me...!?'

Who was she? The Slime Queen herself. A highest-ranking slime. Unless it was a Slime King, another specimen of equal rank, no slime could defy her commands.

Yet this young slime had refused to abandon its stubborn intentions even after she warned it first. That much she could understand.

'Anyone who is to become my conversation companion ought to have that much spirit.'

But seeing it persuaded by the wisecracker could only come as a shock. It had been stubborn with her, yet followed another monster's words. That was not something she could readily accept.

Of course, her Slime Queen trait could hardly work through chat in the first place. Still, her pride as a Slime Queen was wounded, and she could not let this pass.

[Squishy Queen]▶Why! I warned you of the danger as well! Why did you ignore me, only to listen to that one!

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Hahaha, oh my. I never thought I'd see Squishy Queen jealous.

[Squishy Queen]▶What do you mean, jealous!

The Slime Queen angrily denied it in chat. But that reaction only gave more people reason to tease her.

[Noblesse Fire]▶The wisecracker stole your kin lmaooo! Hahahaha!

[Squishy Queen]▶Nothing was stolen!

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Slime NTR? Now, that is a rare sight.

[Squishy Queen]▶What nonsense are you spouting!

▶Slime NTR lmao.

▶The kin you were so obsessed with? Ah, you mean this little one?

▶You baaaastaaaard!

'If we tease her too much, Squishy Queen's going to explode.'

Before anger and teasing could overheat the chat, the wisecracker chose an appropriate moment to address Squishy Queen.

[Free Spirit]▶Come on, even if the message was the same, the approach was different. Can't help that~.

[Squishy Queen]▶A different approach! How was it different!

[Free Spirit]▶What would Squishy understand if you just said it's dangerous and not to go?

[Free Spirit]▶At times like this, it's better to focus on what Squishy wants and make it clear that doing something dangerous means not getting that.

[Free Spirit]▶If you'd said it like I did, Squishy would've understood you too. Yep.

▶And this, folks, is why teaching at the learner's level matters!

▶Aw, shame. It didn't die after all.

▶Typical shit-stirring scumbag.

"Uuugh. That damned wisecracker..."

The Slime Queen understood what the wisecracker meant, but she was still vexed.

"Next time... Next time, I shall make certain my kin listens to me."

As Squishy Queen made that vow, the slime was eating, trusting the wisecracker's claim that eating more would let it see more.

'I'll eat more... and see lots more!'

Absorbing the moss, the slime looked forward to the future ahead. Just then, a message arrived.

▶[Madam Cat's Cradle has donated 10 coins.]

▶[Message: Squishy~ First person is lovely, but I'd like to see third person too~.]

In the middle of its meal, the slime reacted to the request delivered directly to its soul.

'Third person?'

Third person meant seeing itself from a step away. But the slime wanted everyone else to share the sights before its eyes—to share this wonder.

Sensing that wish, the system offered the ideal suggestion.

[Would you like to begin split-screen streaming? The screen can be divided into left and right panels to stream in both first and third person.]

'...! Yes!'

▶[Switched to split-screen streaming mode.]

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Eee! Squishy, you're sooo thoughtful, granting my request right away! You're absolutely adorable when you eat~!

[Noblesse Fire]▶Ah, fuck. Both views at once are dizzying as hell.

[Gothic Luxury Bone]▶Getting too old to follow two things at once? Or have you developed an eye disease?

[Noblesse Fire]▶Ugh, why do these dentures keep picking fights with me?

[Squishy Queen]▶Yes, keep eating like that! Do not even think of leaving the cave until you gain a new skill!

[Free Spirit]▶Squishy Queen, Squishy's busy eating and isn't reading anyway. Yep.

[Squishy Queen]▶Silence! I shall do as I please.

The slime streamed in split-screen mode, endlessly alternating between eating and resting. With almost no change in its behavior, the stream gradually lost the interest of various viewers.

▶Ah, this is boring now.

Some left, tired of the monotonous routine.

▶Off to another stream. Later.

Some went to watch other streams.

▶Ah! S*x!

Others dropped in, said their piece, and left.

The slime's stream was steadily losing viewers.

"Another reverse-scale reveal stream!? Such shamelessness! Tsk, tsk, tsk!"

Those who remained included people with truly nothing to do, who left the stream open while watching another.

"Hoho, Blizzard Troll is busy smashing ice again today. Oh, today was Honey Queen's Sweet Honey Gathering stream? I cannot miss that."

There were those who habitually watched multiple screens at once.

[Madam Cat's Cradle]▶Eee! Those little trembles are just too, too cute~!

Those who simply enjoyed watching the adorable slime.

"I'm too worried to look away..."

And those concerned for the slime's safety.

Leaving the stream running, the slime moved forward, absorbing the moss before it. As time passed, its body steadily grew. Its once-tiny form swelled to about the size of a soccer ball.

Other functions besides sight began activating as well. Now it could hear sounds beyond the system's words and donation messages. And as it began feeling the sensations transmitted through its body more clearly...

[Skill acquired: Sensing.]

The slime gained its second skill.