Chapter 16: Sour

They unleashed a Thorn Armour out of fear and a familiar voice sounded. Opening their eyes they seen that it was Food Giver rubbing their hand, he had dropped the food. They calmed down slightly but still shook as the Player bent down to get the food. They gently and cautiously placed the food before them, surprisingly it wasn’t dirtied from hitting the ground.

“Sorry to scare you,” the Player said as they slowly sat beside them from a safe distance away. Looking over to the Player they noticed that they were softly smiling, they felt bad that they had hurt them, ‘but who is to say that they wouldn’t hurt me in return? Could they be trusted, really trusted to not harm me in any way...’ they wearily glanced at the Player, “Were you mad that I was gone for so long?”

“Hmph!” they looked away remembering the Broken Promise, to the Player it just showed an angry mark in a speech bubble.

“Sorry,” the Player laughed and they sat in silence afterwards. ‘That was it? Nothing else? Well... it wasn’t like I was counting on them to tell me everything.’ they ate the food without the cautious bite but still hesitated for a moment before eating more. They happily bounced as they ate and without realizing they ate the plate too. The Player laughed and returned their attention to the world around them.

Looking around themselves they noticed that the Flower Path had been upgraded to a smoother stone path, with different flowers gently waving in the wind. Taking a breath in they finally relaxed until the Tamer’s would arrive to poke them with their persistence. They decided that they were in an awful mood and started attacking them, they already hurt someone today why not continue the recent trend for the day? They slapped a few swords away and even ate a few and gained new abilities that would actually be helpful. They ate in content curious silence as they looked at the other Tamer’s as they chewed on the swords. The Player’s having enough of their weapon eating habit they backed away and moved along while some stayed and watched them.

It was a plus to have some stay to watch, it means that they were wondering what they were like when they weren’t being pestered nonstop for half a day. Only very few knew what happens after the Tamer Rejection Centre or TRC as they now like to shorten it and have a name for. The few Player’s that remained sat around the trees and just watched them occasionally checking a few things in town before coming back.

Then the Favourite comes out and they bounced happily at seeing the Food Giver with food for them. They were about to eat until they noticed something about the food. They could see if it was Poisoned or not. ‘That’s neat!’ They bounced ever so happily and ate without worry, much to the surprise of Food Giver after feeding a ravenous dog that ate everything quickly from the hand.

They took out a Coin for the Food Giver as a Thank You and Apology. This made him happy and run back into town. Whatever the Coin was used for it sure made the Player happy, the other Player’s that were around got up and started to give them food. Although they only stared at them and turned the food away, they already ate it wouldn’t be good if they were over fed... maybe just one?

[Tamer ANGLER_33 would like to Tame you]

REJECTED!

They just didn’t get it it seems, having strings attached to food was no fun. The Rejected Tamer turned away in a huff and started yelling about their Tame Ability going down a few levels. Is that what happens when they Reject them their ability level goes down a few levels. Well that mostly explains why some of them don’t come back. Now if only they could Reject them harder so that it drops to 0, that would be hilarious!

The day passes by without much else happening other than the new additions to the Flower Path view. They weren’t thinking of the smoother path but the Player’s now camping beside the path watching them creepily. They weren’t even sure if they could-

“Sleep.”

[SAVING...]

[SAVE-POINT SAVED]

[LOADING...]

[SAVE-POINT LOADED]

“You need to stop doing that,” they said annoyed at the Clear Slime beside them.

“You won’t sleep otherwise,” Protect said back equally annoyed. “I know you only pretend to sleep most of the time, you need rest.”

“And if I decide I’ve rested enough?” They countered back until they noticed that the Player’s were starting to move about again. ‘What did she mean pretend to sleep?’

“You wouldn’t look so tired, you’d be happy and try to bounce as much as possible.”

“You need to change those thoughts,” they said and yawned.

“There’s nothing wrong with my thoughts, I’m right.”

“That’ll make you lots of friends, but it’s exhausting for me to even try to argue with you.”

“Hmhp, I win!” they sighed as the young Slime remained proud of herself and sat watching Player’s pass by.

The Tamer Rush came in and went, and now the Repeats have come along to attempt their approach towards them. After rejecting their added contracts to the food the Tamer’s yelled at how annoying they were. They bounced happily at being called annoying and enjoyed their suffering and despair at loosing even more Tamer Levels. Once they had passed and returned to watching them wondering what was wrong with their tactic. Food Giver walks out carrying food, a quick analysis revealed that there was no poison or added clause they ate the food quickly. Happy once more about the new ability and their Food Giver.

He stayed for a few minutes before going back into town. They looked at their retreating back confused but didn’t question it further. The Player’s that were watching went into town as well, they were left to their own thoughts again.

[Hello?] well almost. At least they can ask about a few things now.

‘Oh? Welcome back. Did you fix the Bugs?’

[Kind of?]

‘Well... you’re doing great!’

[Thanks?]

‘Did you have something to tell me?’

[Yes]

‘Blink Twice if you are in trouble.’

[...]

‘... you know I can’t see you, right?’

[I hate you]

‘Perfect, another name to the list.’

[I’m trying to fix the Code that glues you to the spot. The Bug seems to have turned into a Slow Acting Virus. They took a bite out of you but they couldn’t do much else.]

‘Is that why I have no limbs? Interesting.’

[Quit being funny! This is serious! Ohno...]

They sat in silence until they decided to talk more but it seems it was the end of the conversation as the day was turning into night. It also seems that their question about the Coin will have to wait, maybe less goofing off?

The Tamer’s returned and offered their food, none of them were poisoned and they don’t seem to have any added favours. But they weren’t about to just take the food from them and refused it just to see what they would do. The Tamer’s got mad and threw the food to the ground and one of them went into their Inventory and threw something yellow at them.

It smacked them in the face and stuck, they took the yellow weapon and realized it was a Lemon. The Player’s stared at them and started to laugh. Protect took this as an opportunity to attack and scare them off.

“Shame on them! You can’t help but turn into a...” Protect stared at them and looked concerned.

“Is it serious? How long do I have left to live Doc?”

“You are a unique individual,” Protect said slowly but didn’t come near them, “I’m sure it will go away soon...”

“Sour.”

“You are a Lime.”

“Sweet,” they stared at Protect for a long while until they could slightly see a reflection of themselves in her clear body. They were indeed a green lime, and they look hella tired! No wonder Protect is worried. The lines from their eyes to the sides was visible for miles! Why do they look so sad? Is this how they were viewed by others? Well, the more others avoid them the better. It’s exhausting to even attempt to smile. In a quick poof they were spherical but still looked as tired as before. They wondered how they look if they actually did try to smile, or even bounce.

Well others will just have to accept it as it is. Because changing who they are is exhausting and even attempting to be happy with Food Giver was also taxing. They relaxed as Protect went back to their side, they yawned and settled to watch the lights before Protect knocks them out with her stupid ‘Sleep’ skill.

It didn’t happen for a long while as Dinner walked up and sat beside them and seen the Player’s huddled around a small campfire, ruining the nice view of the glowing lights and deep blue sky. The silence between the three was peaceful and comfortable, at least for them they weren’t so sure about the other two. Well is good that they were used to it. If not then they better.

[Hello?]

‘Welcome back.’

[You’re being kind...]

‘I’m having an off day, now shut up or tell me what you want to tell me.’

[There you are, I’m updating your Code right now. You’ll be able to go on the Quests that you want and apparently the Tame Quest will be tweaked to Acquaintance with someone.]

‘Neat, now to figure out who will get rid of this annoying Quest.’

[I still don’t understand most of your Code, but you seem like a laid back Player that found their fun in just staying in one spot like an NPC]

‘That also sounds fun, I should have thought of that sooner. Do I get to give out things like Coin’s to Players?’

[Yes... have you been doing that?]

‘Was I not suppose to?’

[Well, Coin’s are rare Items and giving them out freely defeats the Quest’s for a few Player’s. How many have you given out?]

‘So far, two Coins to one Player. I had 11 to start with and ate one because I was told to.’

[Right... So those are really important items and it’s best to safe guard them. I’ll open a few Tabs for you so you can store them in the Bank. Or use them in the Store. Since you lost a few of the Coin’s I’ll give you some]

[Received 454, 416 Coin from Player @%m%n]

[You should have gotten 5 Coins]

‘You sure about that?’

[Positive, why did you not get them?]

‘I got them plus a few extra.’

[That’s not suppose to happen... Let me check what went wrong]

[SAVING...]

[SAVE-POINT SAVED]

“...ven ... o..., you hear me, Draven? You’re gonna be ok! Just hang in there!”