Rimuru Becomes a Girl

"Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. Thinking won't make it mine anyway."

Mo Li shook his head, as if he could shake away all his worries.

"The most urgent task now is to get to know the Cute King."

Mo Li thought and thought, pondering for a long time, but couldn't come up with a solid plan.

"That's not right, why am I overthinking this? Wouldn't it be better to just go out and meet him? What's the point of all this thinking? I'm not trying to harm him; I just want to be friends with him."

Mo Li realized he had been overcomplicating things. For someone like the Cute King, who had such an easygoing, kind, and tolerant personality, one only needed to act like a normal person to make friends. Being too calculating would only backfire and do more harm than good, though some basic social graces were still necessary.

Mo Li lifted his dragon foot and walked toward the Cute King.

[Ding, a powerful lifeform has been detected approaching. Please prepare for defense.]

Rimuru turned around and saw Mo Li.

"Whoa, a dragon? That's so cool! Wait, no, who are you?"

Rimuru was shocked at first, then immediately became vigilant.

Having grown up in Japan in his previous life, Rimuru had naturally never seen a creature like a dragon, which only existed in myths.

"Hello, I mean no harm. I just wanted to get to know you."

Mo Li's words to Rimuru were full of goodwill.

Rimuru looked into Mo Li's eyes and found no malice.

"Great Sage, what do you think?"

[Detection confirms the target harbors no hostility. Please rest assured, Master.]

"Uh, even if there was hostility, I'm not sure I could win. This is a dragon, after all! I'm just a tiny Slime. I also feel like he doesn't mean any harm, otherwise, I would have run away already."

Rimuru had a deadpan expression.

[Detection confirms the target's magicule count is higher than yours. Your current magicule level is B+.]

"That means he's at least A-rank."

Seeing Rimuru's silence, Mo Li knew he was communicating with the Great Sage, so he didn't interrupt.

"So, that means I can't beat him, right?"

[Correct.]

Then what should I do?

[You could try accepting the other party's request.]

That makes sense.

"Excuse me, have you decided?"

Rimuru heard Mo Li's voice and snapped back to reality.

"Oh, oh, hello! I'm a Slime."

Only then did Rimuru realize what he had said.

"Hello, I'm a young dragon. No, wait, I shouldn't be a dragon. No, that's not it either, I just look like a dragon. Yes, that's right."

Mo Li realized he didn't even fully understand his own race.

To be precise, Mo Li wasn't a dragon, but a manifestation of the Rock Attribute. Because he possessed the skills of Old Master Zhong, the World Voice had shaped Mo Li's appearance to resemble the original form of Old Master Zhong.

Watching Mo Li try to explain himself, Rimuru couldn't help but find it amusing.

He had expected Mo Li, as a high-level species, to look down on a low-level species like himself; who would have thought he would be so friendly?

Seeing Rimuru smile, Mo Li's nervous heart calmed down.

"Alright, let me reintroduce myself. I am a creature that looks like a dragon, though my status panel doesn't list me as one. As for a name, to be honest, I don't have one in this world yet."

Mo Li said, looking thoughtful.

Mo Li understood deeply that in this world, names were very important; names were not something the weak could possess.

Only the strong could bestow names upon others.

To be precise, naming was a thankless task.

Every time one bestowed a name, it consumed a massive amount of magicules, and under "normal" circumstances, this amount was uncontrollable. This was the reason why Rimuru fell into a deep sleep after naming others, though the main reason was his reckless naming. Because naming could potentially reduce the maximum magicule capacity of the namer, and in this novel, the strength of a monster was primarily determined by the amount of magicules it possessed, most strong individuals were unwilling to name other monsters. In that world, there wasn't a second fool like Rimuru who would name hundreds or even thousands of monsters at once. The only reason Rimuru dared to do so was his reliance on the Storm Dragon and the Great Sage. It was precisely because the Storm Dragon had named Rimuru that his magicule count skyrocketed, but that wasn't the only reason he could name so recklessly; the fundamental reason was that the Great Sage would always draw magicules from the Storm Dragon without permission to make up for any shortfall. That was the only reason Rimuru could name so many monsters so carelessly.

"In this world, that means..."

Rimuru's eyes lit up.

Mo Li's words took Rimuru by surprise.

"Could it be that you are also..."

Although Mo Li already knew, he still feigned surprise.

"When will the moon be clear and bright?"

Mo Li spoke aloud.

"Uh..."

"No, do you know Michael Jackson?"

"The world's king of dance."

"Jordan."

"The NBA star."

"You are also..."

"Could it be that you are also..."

"An Earthling?"

Rimuru widened his eyes.

"Countryman."

Rimuru sprinted into the arms of Mo Li.

"Countryman."

Rimuru's eyes were brimming with tears.

It really lived up to that old saying:

When countrymen meet, their eyes well up with tears.

"I thought I was the only transmigrator here," Rimuru said aloud.

"Same here. After all, who would believe in something like transmigration?" Mo Li agreed with a nod.

"By the way, how long have you been in this world?" Rimuru asked Mo Li.

"Not long. I was just born into this world as well, so I'm not entirely sure how long it's been."

"That's just like me!" Rimuru said, looking happy.

"You haven't been in this world long either?" Mo Li asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"Right, how did you transmigrate here?" Rimuru asked at this moment.

"This, huh?"

Mo Li told Rimuru about his past life's encounter.

"So you also came to this world after dying."

"Does that mean you did too?"

"Yes."

"In my past life, I was out shopping with my best friend when a lunatic suddenly popped out, pulled a knife, and stabbed me to death." Rimuru's words were filled with resentment.

"You really were unlucky," Mo Li said gently.

"Wait, 'best friend'? You were a girl in your past life?" Mo Li only just realized that what Rimuru said was different from the original story.

"Of course I was a girl. Do I not look like one?" Rimuru widened his eyes, looking puzzled.

"No, no, no." Mo Li was a bit dumbfounded now.

In the original work, Rimuru was a middle-aged man, an ordinary office worker who was stabbed to death while protecting a friend during a stroll, and thus reincarnated into this world as a Slime.

How could reality be that Rimuru was stabbed to death while shopping with a best friend?

How did the Cute King's past life turn into a girl?

This truly didn't make any sense.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Mo Li heard a call.

"It's nothing, I'm just a bit surprised," Mo Li explained.

"Surprised by what? Surprised that I'm a girl?" Rimuru asked curiously.