>>6188433For now, you remain hidden, crouching low behind a patch of dense undergrowth, watching. The world beyond your lake is unfamiliar, but danger is easy to recognize. Before long, one of the poisoned ones shambles into view. Its gait is slow, but not sluggish—an awkward, jerking stumble, almost mechanical in its relentlessness. It does not speak, only grunts and gurgles, its flesh peeling and discolored.
A foul stench fills the air as it draws closer. This is what sets them apart. Your usual prey carried scents of sweat, blood, or fragrant oils—things that marked them as warm and full of life. But these? They reek of rot, of stagnant death and corrupted meat. If only you were fast enough, you could use this scent to avoid them entirely. But there’s the problem—they move at least as fast as you, and you cannot run.
Worse, they are drawn to you.
The realization is sickening. Your scent, the essence that once lured in the desperate and the greedy, now calls to these lifeless horrors. They stumble toward you, sniffing the air, mindless yet relentless. If you do nothing, they will find you. If they surround you, there will be no escape.
You know from experience that if you dissolve their heads, they stop moving. That is the only mercy in this nightmare. If you can engulf just their heads and keep them submerged in your acidic mass long enough, you won’t lose too much of yourself in the process. But even that is a risk. As you attack, they thrash and claw, their hands raking through your body, peeling away at your form. You feel pain, not in the way flesh-and-blood creatures do, but a deep and gnawing awareness of your dwindling existence. And if one of them were to reach your core—if their jagged, yellowed teeth found that delicate, pulsing center—you would die.
Yet the worst truth remains: every interaction with these creatures costs you mass. Even if you kill them, even if you fight perfectly, you are still slowly dissolving away. If this continues, you will cease to be.
> Flee and find shelter – You cannot fight them all. Perhaps there is a cave, a ruin, or an abandoned structure nearby where you can hide and think.> Lure in fresh prey – If your old tactics no longer work, perhaps you must refine them. You need living, healthy creatures to restore your mass—can you find a way to attract them before it’s too late?> Consume a corpse fully – If their heads are the problem, perhaps there are other parts of them that can still be digested. Maybe there's a way to break down the poison or adapt to it.> Command your lesser slimes – The others follow you mindlessly, but perhaps you can use them. Can they fight? Can they serve as bait?> Write in 