Modern World Magical Marionette

Each breath felt like a searing fire in Sian's lungs. His legs felt like lead, but the memory of the slime's acidic maw replay in his mind made him run forward. The forest floor became a blur of brown and green, the air thick with the scent of roots and damp earth.

Sweat dripped from their bodies, soaking their clothes.

"Panting," Bob stumbled over a root, his chest burning. He glanced back, expecting to see the slime's monstrous form, but it was gone.

Only the silence of the forest remained, broken solely by the frantic drumming of his heart.

Bob's mind raced. Slime, he thought. That's impossible. I'm not in some fantasy book. This is real, and I'm going to die. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the panic to subside.

"This week is so bizarre. I think this isn't our world anymore," Bob continued.

"I think that was a slime. I read about it in a novel when I was a kid. It has a gelatinous body that's transparent and an acidic mouth that dissolves corpses in seconds," Sian replied.

"What the hell? I thought you were high! Did you just mention a slime I used to beat the crap out of in the beginner's village in the game?"

After a few minutes of running, the gunshots finally subsided. They stopped, and exhaustion hit their bodies. They decided to rest before continuing their escape from the unknown creature they had now named Slime.

After a few minutes, they set out to find food and shelter, unaware of their new predicament.

As Sian searched for food, he stumbled upon a ripe papaya, its sweetness tantalizing. His body screamed for sustenance, today had been long and exhausting, and without food, he might collapse from hunger.

*Growl*

His stomach rumbled, and he started to feel weak.

But before he could step forward, the surroundings shifted like a mirage, revealing a modern house with white marble flooring.

"What could go wrong now?" Sian said in dismay as if life had a knack for throwing him curveballs.

Unsure of what was happening, he decided to play it safe. He stepped back slowly, unwilling to startle anything that might be lurking inside.

With each step, Sian's heartbeat grew stronger, and sweat trickled down his face, making it feel as if his feet were tied to lead.

*Bump!*

"Fuck! Not again," Sian cursed, feeling as if his luck had run out.

...

Grid was intrigued. Unlike the beasts he had encountered in his past life, this one was unlike anything he had seen before.

After dispatching every mercenary like a shark in a tank, it devoured everything in its path, leaving only tattered weapons and destruction.

Grid had been observing everything when the blue slime appeared, he didn't intervene and simply watched.

He had witnessed countless deaths, it didn't matter to him if everyone died in front of him.

But if the situation would complicate his work, helping the trio a little wouldn't hurt.

Grid understood that situations like this were bound to happen, unlike the rest of the world, this place seemed to be one of the poorest and most dangerous cities on the continent.

His last scan in the city when he first searched the black market revealed how poorly the military treated the civilians.

"Now no wonder why an orphanage is located outside a city, isolated without any neighbors for blocks."

The city Mayor doesn't even care about their city and just lets a black market open it placed.

He looked at the struggling trio. Despite the danger, the trio displayed unwavering trust in each other and kept to their word despite their circumstances.

"Looks like I've found a helpful lackey," he mused.

Grid watched, using one of his newest creations, the surveillance bettle, as the trio fled from the rampaging slime, which tore apart the limbs of the mercenaries while devouring another.

*Blink!*

Grid appeared before the blue slime, its damaged body dripping blue liquid that seemed to be its blood.

It then charged at Grid without hesitation, like a boar with its front tusk forward it, its body slid into the ground, defying gravity.

But before it can hit Grid.

*Bam!*

Grid slapped it away, sending the slime flying at great velocity before it collided with a massive tree.

*Boom!*

The tree cracked, and the slime's body stopped moving, its transparent form ruptured, leaving a deflated film behind.

Its blue blood flowed out, sizzling against the soil, which began to corrode, leaving a depression in the ground.

Grid looked at his hand and then at the slime.

'Did it die suddenly?' he thought it would survive that, he pondered in confusion.

To be certain, he decided to use Life Search.

This Journeyman Magi-level magic, just above an Apprentice Magi, allowed him to sense living beings in his vicinity.

While an Apprentice Magi is just starting their journey in magic, a Journeyman Magi has mastered second-tier spells, capable of conjuring flame spells with the destructive power of a cannon.

Life Search uses natural mana to trigger a search specifically for living beings.

Being cautious as always doesn't hurt, Grid thought.

A small magic circle appeared at his fingertips, unleashing a green ethereal wave that spread through the surroundings.

*Ping!*

"BINGO!"

With a flick of his finger, an invisible figure revealed itself near the dead slime.

A blue slime, now ten times smaller than its previous form, slowly moved away from his line of sight.

This time, its body glimmered with a light transparent blue hue, making it less visible in bright areas, unlike its previous dark blue body.

*Clank!*

Metal chains inscribed with magic shot up from the ground, ensnaring the slime in a shimmering grip.

Its cries echoed throughout the forest, and in a puff of air, the slime disappeared.

"Now, let's finish what they started. Overflowing ideas aren't good for my health, as modern doctors suggested, I need to let this idea out. Lucky me, an experimental subject just put itself inside my cage."

Grid looked at Sian, trapped in an illusion, struggling against the barrier. Amusement danced in his eyes.

The barrier might appear thin, but it could withstand a tier 4 spell, equivalent to a missile barrage strike. A flimsy banging wouldn't even make it tremble.

But first, he needed to clean up the mess.

Grid swung his hands forward, and a green light illuminated the surroundings as trees began to shift, swallowing the destruction. The ground healed, filling in the depression.

Like an illusion, everything returned to its original, untainted state.

"Now, let's do this," Grid said, excitement tingling in his shoulders.

*Blink!*

...

Unlike the tranquil sky with blue clouds that offered a gentle breeze, Sian felt out of place. His body was drenched in sweat from the effort of trying to break the invisible wall.

His hands began to bruise, and despair set in. Unlike the times he had faced disasters with his comrades, this time he was alone.

Trapped in this invisible barrier, he had no choice but to move forward into a place that filled him with dread.

"Shit, how is this fair? This all started with that damned diamond. Who would have thought this could happen to us, and how is any of this possible?" Sian grumbled, his voice wavering with nervousness.

*Clank!*

The gate opened slowly, revealing the interior of a two-story house. A blue box with silver lines appeared near the pathway, its lamp gave him chills, the light seemingly emanating from nowhere. It floated in the air with no visible means of support.

The brick walkway with grass that seems to be arranged equally and clean ground that doesn't even have any speck of dust

The brown double doors, likely the house's entrance, had no knobs, and the grass nearby swayed in an irregular, eerie manner, further unsettling him.

But with no other choice, Sian steeled himself and stepped forward.

'This day doesn't make any sense. A slime as big as a truck and an invisible barrier as hard as steel. Even idiots would complain about this ridiculous plot,' he thought as he spoke loudly in his mind only, afraid his voice would trigger more bad luck.

Before he could calm his racing heart,

*Bang!*

The gate slammed shut, leaving Sian no chance to retreat. The box that was supposed to open now transformed, and the sound of clanking metal filled the air.

*Ting! Clang!*

Gears echoed in the whole ground, and its light began to shine.

The first box morphed into a weapon that looked like it belonged in a fantasy world—a massive silver blade with glowing lines. Its size seemed impossible for any human to watch as if it were made for giants.

The second box opened to reveal futuristic mech armor inside. It resembled something from the movies he had seen, its bluish-silvery metal radiating a cool aura.

"This seems too good to be true. This doesn't align with this creepy house. None of this makes sense…" But before Sian could finish his thought, the mech armor flew toward him with great speed.

In an instant, Sian felt his body fly like a kite as his consciousness faded away.

'Shit!' was his last thought before everything went dark.