First Meeting with Rimuru

These past few days, Mo Li had been eating nonstop, and the magicule content within his body had risen sharply.

While boosting his strength, Mo Li also searched for useful clues to determine exactly where he was.

But this cave was too vast. Mo Li had wandered for several days and still hadn't explored it all.

Mo Li flopped his legs out and sat on the ground, unable to help complaining:

"How big is this cave anyway? No matter how much I wander, I can't reach the end."

"Creak, creak."

Just then, a strange sound came from somewhere, like the gnawing of a rat's teeth.

Mo Li quickly looked toward the source of the sound. Though it wasn't very loud, he still managed to pinpoint it by instinct.

If he had just arrived in this world, Mo Li would never have bothered with something so unnecessary, but after so many days without seeing any other living creatures...

After all, Mo Li wanted to see what the creatures of this world looked like.

Driven by curiosity, Mo Li slowly walked toward the source of the sound.

He came to a rough, uneven wall and reached out his hand toward the spot where the noise was coming from.

He moved a stone aside.

Through the gap, Mo Li could see the scene behind the wall.

What met his eyes was a peculiar sight.

A giant rat-like creature and hundreds of its kind were chattering away, as if discussing something.

Mo Li listened for a long time but couldn't understand a single word.

Just then, he accidentally stepped on and crushed a small stone.

"Damn it."

Mo Li exclaimed inwardly.

The Rat Leader also noticed the commotion.

He looked at Mo Li.

Just as Mo Li thought he was about to be surrounded, something unexpected happened that left him stunned.

The Rat Leader turned and ran without any hesitation.

The rest of the Rat Pack, seeing this, stood frozen in place as if they hadn't snapped out of it yet.

All the rats were dumbfounded.

"Boss, what the hell are you running for? No, wait for us!"

The whole Rat Pack finally came to their senses and hurriedly chased after him.

"Wait for you? I can barely save my own skin—how could I have time to wait for you?"

The Rat Leader squeaked as he ran.

Seeing this, Mo Li quickly gave chase.

"Don't run! I just want to look, I won't do anything to you."

Mo Li explained as he ran.

"You think I believe that? Who are you trying to fool? You don't look like a good person—no, a good beast—and with that aura of yours, this smart rat isn't about to be tricked by you."

The Rat Leader rolled his eyes and ran off without looking back.

The Rat Pack behind him hurriedly followed.

In no time, they had vanished from sight.

Seeing this, Mo Li couldn't help feeling speechless.

"Am I really that scary?"

"Forget it, go ahead. It's not like I care."

Mo Li pursed his lips and snorted with a hint of pettiness.

Staring at the pitch-black path ahead, Mo Li steeled himself and resolutely chose to walk forward.

After walking for a while, he couldn't help complaining to the Gamer.

"Gamer, when do you think I'll finally get out of here?"

"I don't know. I'm just a skill, not an encyclopedia or some sage. So I can't answer your question."

The Gamer replied coldly.

"You're really useless. Compared to the Cute King's Great Sage, you're far inferior."

Mo Li said sarcastically.

"Fine, fine. So that's how it is, huh? A few days ago, you said I was your favorite skill, and now you're saying I can't compare to the Great Sage? Just you wait. Don't let me find an opportunity later, or else, hmph."

The Gamer thought to himself.

Just then, Mo Li sensed an aura, and it wasn't weak—at least B-rank or even A-rank in strength.

After several days of research, supplemented by the Gamer's guidance, Mo Li was no longer the greenhorn who had just arrived in this world.

"This presence is at least B-rank, possibly up to A-rank. My current strength is A-minus, plus the old man's skills—overall, the advantage is mine."

Mo Li analyzed the situation.

Then he headed in that direction.

Crossing over a small hill, the creature emitting that aura came into Mo Li's view.

It was radiating a faint blue light all over.

A lump of blue, translucent, jelly-like monster was freely darting through a patch of Magic Ore and Hippocrates Grass.

And wherever it passed, the things beneath it vanished without a trace.

"Holy crap, isn't that the Cute King?"

Mo Li couldn't help but be startled.

He quickly snapped out of it and lowered his head in thought.

"The Cute King is still in the Storm Dragon's cave right now, which means Mikami Satoru just died and got reincarnated here. That also means the Storm Dragon hasn't been swallowed into the Stomach yet—the story hasn't started. No, it's just beginning..."

The more he thought about it, the more excited Mo Li became. That left a lot of room for manipulation.

After all, in his past life, Mo Li was a hardcore otaku. He'd watched the Cute King classic more than once.

He already had a thorough understanding of the Cute King's world.

"No, that's not right. This isn't a novel or an anime. Maybe this world isn't that simple."

Mo Li thought gravely.

Having read countless novels and watched countless anime in his past life, Mo Li knew full well that reality and anime were different. Even though he knew the entire plot, who knew what else this world might be hiding?

Before his transmigration, Mo Li hadn't believed in such a thing either. He'd thought this world was just a novel or anime. But when he actually crossed over, he realized it wasn't an illusion—this world was real.

It was no different from his original world, and even more exciting in some ways.

Moreover, Mo Li wasn't originally a being of this world. In web novels, there was always the concept of the butterfly effect—a tiny change could influence the course of events, let alone a living person like him. No, a dragon.

So to survive properly, Mo Li had to be cautious, cautious, and then even more cautious. No recklessness.

Mo Li continued observing this future protagonist, the future strongest being in the world.

Crawling, jumping, rolling, eating ore, eating herbs—it was no different from the survival methods of an ordinary slime.

"But eating all that stuff without excreting—aren't you afraid of an upset stomach? Oh, right, I forgot about that guy's skills."

Mo Li couldn't help but wonder.

Just then, the Gamer appeared.

[Don't forget, the Cute King has the skill Predator.]

Predator: The Cute King's Special Skill, possessing the functions of Predation, Analysis, Stomach, Mimicry, and Isolation.

Among them, Predation can absorb target objects into the body, with targets not limited to organic or inorganic matter, but also including skills and magic.

The Stomach can store prey. Additionally, it can preserve substances generated after Analysis. Items stored in the Stomach are unaffected by time.

Isolation stores harmful effects that cannot be analyzed, purifies them, and converts them into magic power.

These three functions allowed the Cute King to devour anything without consequence, making Mo Li deeply envious. And the Stomach could even be used as a portable space—the more he thought about it, the more his mouth watered.