**A whirlpool. No, it stopped abruptly, resembling a dragon’s ascent, and now it was strangely quiet.**  

Yet there was still no sign of anything.  

Worrying that something might have truly happened, I waited. Suddenly, a massive vibration accompanied by something appearing caught my attention.  

The water parted, revealing a staircase leading downward.  

And I could hear Yong-yong’s voice.  
“Kyuu.”  

Is he telling me to come down the stairs?  

Cautiously, I took one careful step after another, but the steps were quite slippery due to the water.  

If I’m not careful, I might just slip and fall.  

As I descended slowly, a vast space came into view, along with a gigantic statue.  
“Yong-yong, where are you…?”  
“Kyuu.”  

A sound came from behind the statue.  

As I approached to check, I saw Yong-yong wrapped around something.  
“What is that?”  
“Kyuu.”  

He showed me what he was holding—a piece…?  

He mentioned that if I gathered three more pieces, they would combine into one but didn’t say what they were.  

Yong-yong then told me the other three pieces were in this space as well.  

In other words, he was telling me to find them.  

This feels suspicious…  
“You find them!”  
“Kyuu.”  

He whined that he used all his strength to open this space, and that sight was just too cute…  

No, do you think that will make me give in!?  
“Kyuu!”  

Yong-yong promised he would act cute for a whole day if I found the remaining pieces.  

Hearing that, I couldn’t just stand by as the owner.  
Confidently, I told him to trust me and checked the inscriptions carved into the statue or wall, but I couldn’t read them at all.  

Giving up on the words, I guessed by looking at the pictures.  
“Clearly, there’s one each in the east, west, south, and north! What do you think!?”  
“Kyuu.”  

Yong-yong replied nonchalantly, saying he didn’t know.  

But something felt off.  
What was this strange sensation?  

And then it hit me.  
That isn’t our Yong-yong.  
“You, who are you?”  
“Kyuu!”  

Suddenly angry, he responded, but I was certain.  
“Where did our Yong-yong go?”  
“Haha! You caught me!”  

With that, a bright light enveloped the surroundings, and as the light faded, a beautiful yet sinister woman appeared.  

“Hello! I’m having a little wager with your precious dragon. Something about resolving his absence, or something like that.”  

The suspicious woman droned on for a while before continuing.  
“If you find all four pieces, that means I win, but too bad. Good for you! You’ve won!”  

With those words, our Yong-yong fell from the sky into my arms.  
“Yong-yong!”  
“Kyuu!”  

I thought we would have a touching reunion, but it was a misunderstanding.  

Yong-yong was glaring at me with a look that said, “Why didn’t you know?”  
“No, how could I know? He looked exactly the same!”  
“Kyuu!!”  

Yong-yong’s voice trembled, asking if I was the only one who took it seriously, making me feel guilty.  

I apologized, and only then did Yong-yong forgive me, while the pretty lady rolled on the floor, laughing heartily.  
“Haha! You guys are so amusing! I’d love to watch you from the side, but that won’t be possible. Here! Since I lost the wager, take this!”  

She handed a bead to Yong-yong, who swallowed it in one bite.  

Before long, Yong-yong, who had been dazed, looked at me and opened his mouth.  
“Kyuu.”  
“Huh? What’s wrong?”  

Yong-yong rubbed his face against mine, realizing what had happened while he was gone.  

Could it be that Yong-yong also forgot everything up until now? Like the others?  

I thought he would definitely know, but it seems my expectations were off.  

If he had just asked sooner, I would have told him.  
“Why didn’t you ask?”  
“Kyuu.”  

Yong-yong replied that he couldn’t bring himself to ask because his memory was unclear.  

I hugged him tightly and said,  
“We’re family, after all. So it’s okay to tell me anything.”  
“Kyuu.”  

At that moment, a clearing of the throat interrupted us.  

“Ahem, I’m sorry to interrupt your touching moment, but could you please leave? This is our home.”  

With that, we were kicked out.  

We were moved back to the place we were before entering the lake, where a protective shield formed around my body.  

It was time to head home.  

Wait a minute, are we really flying back again?  
“Yong-yong, can’t we take a bus when we go?”  
“Kyuu!”  
“Save me!!!”  

Once we got home, I spent a long time in the bathroom before finally lying down on my bed to rest when Yong-yong started urging me to go.  
“Kyuu Kyuu!”  
“Just a little more rest…”  
“Kyuu!”  

Yong-yong, being mischievous and insisting he wanted to eat mana stones, wouldn’t let up.  

Reluctantly, I put on my gear and logged into Arkana Online.  

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the middle of a forest inhabited by slimes.  

**[Summon: Yong-yong requests a summoning.]**  

Accept/Decline  

“Accept.”  

With that, a bright light burst forth, and Yong-yong appeared.  
“Kyuu!”  
“Wow, you really can come in!”  

Overjoyed, I hugged Yong-yong, but he quickly pushed me away.  

He was eager to have his mana stones.  

As I took out the mana stones, he excitedly started eating them.  

After finishing the meal, we moved to the slime habitat, where the slimes had evolved into female forms to greet us.  
“You’ve evolved safely! Thank goodness! So, shall we get started?”  
“…”  

The slimes nodded, looking serious. I distributed flags and headbands to them.  

The revolution was about to begin.  
 
*

*

*

**[Did you know there’s another protest happening in Cradle Village?]**  
This time, they brought the slime “Eonni” to protest! LOL  

**[Comments]**  
- A slime is a slime, but what’s a slime Eonni?  
- [Author] Eonni means older sister!  
- So what does that even mean!?  
- [Author] Explaining that isn’t very Eonni-like!  
- Aaargh!!!!  
- Calm down and have a drink~  

**[Slimes are indeed Eonni (video)]**  
Can you see them? Are our slime Eonnis visible? LOL  

**[Comments]**  
- Eonniiiiiiiiiii!  
- Let’s go see the Eonniiiiiiiii!  
- This is definitely the village’s fault.  
- The Eonnis did nothing wrong! It’s the village’s fault!!  

**[Do you know how much the Eonnis have suffered until now!?]**  
They’ve endured all kinds of hardships from mean travelers and villagers, and now you’re exposing that. But you think they’ll just sit quietly?  

**[Comments]**  
- But aren’t those travelers us?  
- [Author] Not me, I haven’t hunted!  
- Then where did you level up, LOL?  
- [Author] I don’t play the game!  
- Then why are you on this board, you jerk? LOL  

The forum was ablaze.  

After the rabbits, today it’s the slimes.  
So tomorrow, it’ll be goblins, and the day after that, orcs?  

Sipping coffee while my mind was elsewhere made it taste sweet.  

I felt the urge to take a nap, buried under fatigue.  

If only it were whiskey instead of coffee.  
“Give me some alcohol.”  
“Team Leader, you shouldn’t lose your composure.”  
“Then what do we do about those slimes making a fuss over there!?”  

On the monitor, Traveler #1 was leading the slimes in protest in front of Cradle Village.  

Not just any slimes, but slimes that had evolved to take human forms.  

Moreover, their appearance was provocative; if it weren’t a 19+ game, it would have been a huge problem.  

The chants echoed from the monitor.  
“Cradle Village must change!”  
“Cradle Village must change!”  
“Cradle Village must change!”  

What on earth are they demanding this time?  
“So what are they asking for?”  
“Well, you see…”  

This time, the demands were more complicated.  

With their intelligent forms, they claimed the right to be treated equally and with respect by the villagers.  

Furthermore, they were demanding rights and welfare commensurate with their newfound intelligence from evolution.  

“Is that really a thing!? Aaargh!!”  
“Team Leader!? Calm down!”  
“Phew, okay. Is that all?”  
“There’s more.”  

My head started

 throbbing. Upon further inspection, it was outrageous.  

They even demanded a representative to voice the slimes’ opinions in the village’s administration.  

“Why don’t they just ask for a whole slime village to be created!?”  
“Well, that’s included.”  
“…”  

I desperately needed a drink.  
A lot of it.  

“Bring me alcohol!!!”  
“Team Leader!? It’s working hours!”  
“Argh! How can I just watch this!!”  

With each passing day, the stress was beyond imagination.  

What can the management even do? They can’t do anything.  

At this rate, I felt like I might be the one to throw in my resignation first.  

At that moment, the door opened, and the Representative walked in.  
“I’ll meet with them and discuss it again.”  
“Please, I beg you!! If this continues, we’ll all die!!”  
“Fufufu, that was a promise…”  

What does the Representative mean? Did they make some sort of agreement with that traveler back then?  

I don’t care. If I can just avoid seeing protests for at least a day.