The sound behind Yi Lin was getting closer. It sounded like a bathtub full of mud being aggressively stirred by a giant spoon. It was the sound of the Tarr.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Yi Lin gasped, his boots slipping on the slick, dew-covered grass. "Why did I stay for the berries? I don't even like beets!"
He risked a glance over his shoulder and immediately regretted it.
The darkness behind him was alive. The black, oily sludge he had seen earlier had multiplied.
Rainbow-colored spirals spun dizzily on their amorphous bodies, and gaping mouths snapped at the air, hungry for anything that moved.
One of the Tarr monsters lunged forward, extending a long, goopy tentacle. It slapped the ground inches from Yi Lin's heel, hissing as it dissolved the grass.
[Alert: Tarr proximity critical.]
[Stamina: 12%.]
[Host Body Status: Trash (and exhausted).]
"I know I'm trash! You don't have to keep rubbing it in!" Yi Lin yelled at the blue screen, forcing his legs to pump faster.
But he was slowing down. He could feel it. The adrenaline that had carried him this far was fading, replaced by the heavy lead of fatigue.
He scrambled up a small incline, his breath coming in ragged wheezes.
Ahead of him, the path ended. It was a dead end—a jagged cliff dropping off into the dark, churning Slime Sea below.
Yi Lin skidded to a halt at the edge, pebbles tumbling into the abyss.
"Oh, come on," he whimpered, looking down at the black water crashing against the rocks. He turned around.
The wall of Tarr was cresting the hill. Dozens of them. They blocked the only exit. They writhed and bubbled, sensing their prey was trapped.
"Well," Yi Lin said, his voice trembling.
"It was a good run. I sold two crystals. I made forty gold. I died rich."
He gripped his Vac-Pack, wondering if he could suck up a Tarr. Probably not. The manual said they exploded if you tried.
Just as the lead monster prepared to launch itself at him, Yi Lin saw a flicker of movement above his head.
He looked up.
Hovering about ten feet above the cliff edge, drifting lazily in the night breeze, was another one.
A large, grey-brown Dusk-Wing Phosphor Slime. It was glowing with that warm, amber light, its translucent wings fluttering rapidly.
It looked completely unbothered by the carnage happening below. It was just out of reach.
Yi Lin looked at the Tarr. He looked at the cliff. He looked at the flying slime.
An insane idea formed in his brain.
"Sorry, buddy," Yi Lin muttered to the oblivious slime above.
"I'm gonna need a lift."
He didn't hesitate. He stepped back three paces, roared a war cry that sounded more like a frightened squeak, and sprinted at the cliff edge.
At the very last second, he planted his foot on a raised rock and launched himself into the air.
For a terrifying second, he was suspended over the ocean, flailing in the void.
His fingers brushed the slippery, rubbery skin of the slime. He clawed at it.
"Gotcha!"
He wrapped both arms around the slime's round, squishy midsection in a bear hug.
The slime let out a startled, high-pitched Warp?!
Gravity took hold. They plummeted.
"Nonononono!" Yi Lin screamed, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Fly! Fly, you glowing beach ball!"
They dropped five feet. Ten feet. The ocean spray hit Yi Lin's boots.
Then, the slime panic-flapped.
Its wings buzzed so hard they became a blur.
The phosphorescent core inside its body flared bright orange. It was fighting for its life, trying not to be dragged down by the sweaty human clinging to its belly.
The descent slowed. Then stopped.
Then, miraculously, they started to rise.
"Holy shit," Yi Lin gasped, opening one eye.
He was dangling over the ocean, his arms buried in slime-flesh.
The creature was straining, grunting with effort but it was lifting him. Slowly, wobbly, like a helium balloon trying to lift a brick, they drifted upward.
Yi Lin kicked his legs, trying to help, though it did absolutely nothing.
"Good boy! Good slime! Go up! Away from the scary oil monsters!"
They rose past the cliff edge. Below, the Tarr monsters snapped their jaws in frustration, watching their dinner float away.
Yi Lin laughed.
"Suck on that, you goopy nightmares! I'm the Balloon Man!"
The slime buzzed angrily, vibrating against Yi Lin's chest.
It clearly didn't appreciate being used as public transport.
"I know, I know, I'm heavy!" Yi Lin apologized. "Just get me to safe ground!"
As they drifted higher, the view opened up. And Yi Lin's laughter died in his throat.
From this vantage point, hovering fifty feet in the air, he could see the Dry Reef in its entirety.
During the day, it was a paradise.
At night? It was hell.
The landscape was crawling. The Tarr weren't just on the hill; they were everywhere. Patches of black ooze stained the colorful grass. But worse were the Feral Slimes.
He saw packs of pink slimes that had turned jagged and angry, their eyes glowing red, chasing down smaller, terrified slimes. He saw rock slimes smashing into trees, knocking fruit down not to eat, but to destroy.
The sweet, sugary world had transformed into a war zone.
"The System wasn't kidding about hazards," Yi Lin whispered, tightening his grip on his savior. "If I was down there... I'd be slime-chow."
The wind whipped at his clothes. It was cold up here, but the slime radiated a gentle, feverish warmth. It was kind of cozy, in a life-or-death sort of way.
He looked at the slime's face, which was pressed awkwardly against his shoulder.
The poor thing looked exhausted. Its light was flickering, dimming from bright amber to a dull brown.
"Don't you dare quit on me now! We're a team! I'll give you a carrot! I'll give you ten carrots!"
The slime let out a long, wheezing Ploo...
It stopped flapping.
"Oh, f—"
They dropped like a stone.
The wind rushed past Yi Lin's ears. He saw the ground rushing up—a high, flat-topped plateau of rock that rose above the chaos of the valley floor.
"Brace for impact!" Yi Lin yelled, twisting his body so he would land on his back (and on the Vac-Pack), trying to shield the slime.
They hit the rock. Yi Lin rolled, skidding across the stone surface, clutching the slime like a football.
He slammed into a smaller rock and came to a halt.
"Ow," Yi Lin groaned, staring up at the stars.
"My back. My poor, trash-meridian back."
He lay there for a moment, checking for broken bones. Surprisingly, nothing snapped.
The Vac-Pack had absorbed the brunt of the hit, and the slime had acted like an airbag for his chest.
Speaking of the slime...
Yi Lin sat up. The Dusk-Wing Phosphor was lying next to him, deflated and panting. Its light was very dim. It looked at Yi Lin with a betrayal that transcended species barriers.
"I'm sorry," Yi Lin whispered, guilt washing over him. He quickly dug into his satchel. He pulled out a Cuberry.
"Here. Payment. I'm sorry I used you as a parachute."
The slime sniffed the berry. It took a weak bite.
As the sugar hit its system, its light brightened a little. It let out a soft chirp.
"We're cool?" Yi Lin asked.
The slime wiggled. It seemed to say, Give me another one and we're cool.
Yi Lin fed it another berry. Then he stood up and looked around.
They were on top of a high, isolated mesa. The sheer cliffs on all sides meant the Tarr and Feral Slimes down below couldn't reach them. They were safe.
"Okay," Yi Lin exhaled, the adrenaline finally leaving his system, replaced by bone-deep weariness.
"We're alive."
He walked to the edge of the mesa and looked out across the dark, dangerous expanse of the Dry Reef.
And there, in the distance, he saw it.
It was far away, maybe a mile or two across the treacherous terrain, but it was unmistakable.
A beam of soft, blue light piercing the darkness. The swirling vortex of the portal home.
"There it is," Yi Lin smiled, feeling a surge of hope.
It looked beautiful. It looked like safety. It looked like a warm bed and a pouch of gold.
But between him and that blue light lay a mile of nightmare territory.
"System," Yi Lin asked, looking at the sleeping slime at his feet.
"How long until sunrise?"
[Time until dawn: 4 hours, 12 minutes.]
Yi Lin sighed, sliding down to sit next to his glowing friend. He patted the slime's rubbery head.
"Looks like we're camping, buddy," Yi Lin muttered.
"Hope you don't snore."
He pulled his knees to his chest, watching the chaotic dance of the monsters below, clutching his sword with one hand and a Cuberry in the other.
He was stranded in an alien dimension, surrounded by death, with only a glowing blob for company.
And weirdly enough... he was starting to enjoy it.
"Just wait until I tell Chen Yue about this," he grinned into the dark.
"She thinks ice cultivation is hard? Try surfing a slime over a pit of doom."