Chapter 3: The Goddess's Secret
Rin was happily hopping around, enjoying his new life as best he could, considering he couldn't simply cross the river to reach the other side of the first floor.
Boing. Boing.
Rin's body left the ground, but instead of hitting the hard floor, he landed on something unexpectedly soft.
"What the hell?"
"Hiii, Rin!" a soft voice rang out.
"Oh, for fuck's—" Turning around, Rin knew that voice all too well. "Hello, Goddess."
"Hi, Rin!" she said, a glowing, radiant smile on her face.
"What do you want?"
"Nothing... I just wanted to inform you that the strength ranks in this world are very different from your old one."
Rin stared at the Goddess, seriously contemplating if he should smack her. "How different?" he asked. "I mean, I saw the leveling system and it's not that bad. Killing a hundred Level 1s to reach Level 1 is insane, but I can manage."
"It's... actually worse than that, Rin," the Goddess said softly. She tapped Rin's metallic body, and a flood of information surged into his mind.
Rin stared at her, deadpan. The information detailed the leveling system and the "Influence Scale"—how many people your power could affect at each stage:
Level
Influence (Individuals)
0-1
1-5
2-10
3-100
4-200
5-500
6-1,000
7-2,000
8-5,000
9-10,000
10 -20,000
"You're telling me that at Level 1, I can only affect five individuals? And I'm supposed to kill a hundred just to get there?! What happens when I reach the higher levels?"
"I don't know," she shrugged.
"Then what about the EXP equivalent?" Rin asked, utterly confused. "How am I supposed to level up?"
"You don't," she said bluntly. "Go enjoy your vacation."
"Tsk. Fine. Just change me so I don't weigh so much."
"You want me to change your density so you feel like a regular slime?"
"Yessss! I have an ability that makes me heavy, but I don't want to be an iron blob twenty-four-seven."
"But you are an iron blob. You're a slime."
"..."
"..."
"Goddess, just do it and send me back," Rin said, annoyed. "And give me eyes!"
"Okay, okay, you angry blob," she said smugly. "Oh! Right, I almost forgot!" She tapped her knuckles against her head and stuck her tongue out, making a "cute" face.
"What is it now?" Rin asked, wanting to bury his face in the dirt.
"I have a fellow reincarnated person in this world. I want you to take her with you on your journey."
"Okay, that sounds reasonable. What's the catch?"
"The catch?" the Goddess responded, looking confused.
"Yeah, the catch." Rin bounced over to her legs and started poking her with the small tentacles he used as hands.
"Hehe... that tickles! Stop that!" She leaned down and scooped him up.
"Hey, put me down!"
"You're so adorable and squishy!" she cooed, squishing and pulling at Rin's metallic membrane.
"I'm not a toy, Goddess! Stoooop!" Rin's voice was muffled.
"Fine," she said, finally sitting down on her sofa. The mood inside the divine realm suddenly turned heavy. "Rin, the young woman I want you to find and take care of is named Naga. She's a vampire... and, well, she's a bit of a pervert."
"So she might behave strangely," she added softly.
"I can handle whatever she is, Goddess," Rin said smugly.
"...She may try to use you as... well, a 'reliever' of sorts," the Goddess said, trying desperately not to laugh.
"Excuse me?" Rin would have raised an eyebrow if he had any.
"Yeah, she's something else," the Goddess admitted.
"That's fine. It's okay. I'm going to be fine," Rin said aloud. "So... what does she look like? If you say, 'Oh, she's exactly your type—young, beautiful, tall, smooth skin, searching eyes, great curves, and a thick build,' I'm going to lose it."
The room fell silent. The Goddess said nothing; she just looked away nervously.
"Uh... uh... You! You perverted woman!" Rin shouted, shocked.
"It's nothing like that!" she rebutted.
"Is it?" Rin said sarcastically. "Lies! You just want us to grow close after I get bored of being trapped in the Labyrinth, and then have me fuck her with my tentacles! Am I right or am I right?!"
"You're making me sound weird, Rin! It's nothing like that... well, maybe a little bit like that, but you said it was fine!"
"Cool, cool," Rin said, before hopping off her lap and heading toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Nowhere."
"Rin... come back here. I don't know what you're doing, but I don't like it."
"Oh? Why are you so worried? Are you hiding something from me?" Rin asked, mentally raising an eyebrow.
"I'm not!" she squeaked, her voice cracking.
Shrugging his small slime arms, Rin sighed. "Ah, well, it's a shame. You made me do this... ADEN!" Rin shouted at the door.
"Wait, don't do that!" the Goddess screamed, her face flushing bright red.
Before she could reach Rin, an old man appeared in the room.
"Who dares call upon the great Aden—oh, it's you two," he said, looking at them with disappointment. "What do you want now?"
"The truth," Rin said sternly. "What's up with her?" He pointed at the Goddess, who was shrinking behind him.
"Oh, that."
"Don't tell him!" the Goddess interrupted, tears pricking her eyes.
"Tell me what?" Rin asked.
"She isn't a Goddess anymore," Aden said bluntly. "She lost a bet and is quite terrible at her job so now her soul belongs to you. You can command her to do whatever you want, though it takes a good amount of mana."
"Is that so...?" Rin turned toward the Goddess slowly. "Anything else I should know, 'Goddess'? Or should I call you something else now?"
"Her name is Milim," Aden said smugly.
"Hey! Stop talking about me, you're making me look bad!" Milim shouted, pointing an accusing finger.
"Not my problem," Aden said, stroking his beard. "Oh, also, you have a human form, Rin. You can use it once you get back. That [Divine Transformation] is still available for you."
"Huh. Nice," Rin said. "Well, it was good to see you, Aden. We'll be heading back now. Take care!" Rin waved his little slime tentacles.
"Oh, one other thing," Aden said as he began to fade. "Milim picked your human form... so, yeah. Bye!"
"I guess you are my boss now," Milim said nervously, fidgeting with her fingers.
"Yeah, I am," Rin said smugly. "Don't you worry about a thing. I'll take very good care of you."