My Slime Wife: Training and Pampering Her Makes Me Stronger

Lydia’s body descended from the sky.

Her form had stretched into an enormous gelatinous mass that covered the forest.

The Ancient Forest Giant had barely managed to sit up when the green shadow fell over it.

FLOP!

Lydia’s body completely covered the boss of the simulated dungeon.

The giant roared and tried to stand.

Its enormous arms slammed against the gelatinous mass, trying to push it away from its body.

But Lydia didn’t give way.

Her body spread across its legs, torso, and arms, completely enveloping it.

The hunters standing around them watched the scene with wide eyes.

"She got it!"

"She’s covering the boss!"

"Is she really going to consume it?!"

Liam remained still, unable to look away.

Then...

BEEEEEP!

An alarm sounded throughout the forest.

Everyone jumped.

James’s voice echoed through the speakers hidden among the trees.

"Aspirants, the second test has ended."

The Ancient Forest Giant stopped moving.

Liam blinked.

"What?"

James continued speaking.

"Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far. The second test of the Selection has concluded."

The hunters began looking at one another.

Some cheered in celebration.

Others simply collapsed onto the ground, exhausted.

But Liam continued staring at Lydia.

The Ancient Forest Giant’s body began to disappear.

It simply started fading away inside Lydia’s body.

But it wasn’t as if it were being absorbed.

Pieces of bark, branches, and leaves slowly disappeared inside the enormous green mass.

Liam frowned.

’Lydia...’

The slime remained still for a few seconds.

’Are you okay?’

The answer came through the system chat.

[Lydia: I’m fine.]

Liam breathed a sigh of relief.

[Lydia: The boss is disappearing inside me.]

’Are you consuming it?’

[Lydia: I don’t think so.]

Liam raised an eyebrow.

’What do you mean you don’t think so?’

[Lydia: I don’t know.]

[Lydia: It’s strange.]

Chuck approached.

"Everything okay?"

Liam looked at him.

"I think so."

Little by little, Lydia’s body began to contract.

The enormous gelatinous mass shrank.

First, it covered only part of the giant’s body.

Then it became smaller.

And smaller.

Until finally...

Plop.

Lydia returned to her small, round form.

The Ancient Forest Giant had disappeared completely.

The hunters began celebrating.

"We did it!"

"The second test is over!"

Emily raised her arms.

"That was incredible!"

Jordan dropped down into a sitting position.

"I need to eat."

Carol began laughing.

"Seriously?"

"I burned a lot of fat."

Liam smiled slightly, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened.

Before he could ask his wife anything, a holographic screen appeared in front of everyone.

The enormous list floated in the air.

The aspirants’ names began changing positions.

Some moved up, others moved down.

The ranking rearranged itself before their eyes.

"The ranking!"

The hunters moved closer.

Liam looked at his name and smiled.

20 — LIAM DAVIS

He had climbed five positions.

"Not bad."

Emily peeked over his shoulder.

"Top twenty!"

Liam nodded.

"Yeah."

Chuck quickly searched for his name.

When he found it, his eyes widened.

9 — CHUCK MILLER

"NINTH?!"

Everyone looked at him.

Chuck immediately cleared his throat.

"I mean..."

He tried to adopt a serious expression.

"It was pretty predictable."

Emily began laughing.

"You’re excited!"

Chuck looked at the ranking again, and a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Well... maybe a little."

Then he became serious again.

"I don’t want the others to think I’m celebrating too much."

Jordan looked at him.

"You’re jumping."

Chuck slowly lowered his feet.

"I wasn’t jumping."

"You were."

"It was a small vertical movement."

Carol shook her head.

While they argued, another hunter began shouting.

"I climbed eight positions!"

"I dropped!"

"How did I drop?!"

The reactions multiplied.

Some celebrated.

Others complained.

But then a much louder voice was heard.

"WHAT?!"

Everyone looked toward Robert.

The hunter stood with his arms crossed, wearing an expression of absolute disgust.

6 — ROBERT HANKS

He had dropped two positions.

"How the hell did I end up sixth?"

Chuck grinned.

"Maybe you’re not as amazing as you thought."

Robert glared at him.

"Want me to remind you who saved you from the orcs?"

"That doesn’t change the ranking."

Robert gritted his teeth.

"Ridiculous."

Then someone pointed at another name.

"Carl moved up!"

Liam quickly searched for it.

5 — CARL CLARK

The white-haired hunter was sitting against a tree.

He didn’t even seem to have noticed.

His face was still pale, and sweat covered his forehead.

Robert pointed at him.

"How the hell is he fifth?!"

Carl opened one eye.

"I’m fifth?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

He closed his eye again and smiled.

"I don’t have the energy to celebrate."

Robert looked at him as if he had just insulted him.

"What a waste."

The rest of the ranking had changed as well.

Some hunters who had worked together had climbed.

Others had fallen.

But the top three remained unchanged.

3 — DUNCAN STEEL

2 — LILLY RUSSELL

1 — MAXWELL MASTERS

Chuck whistled.

"Those three don’t move."

Emily crossed her arms.

"I guess they’re on another level."

Then Chuck stared at fourth place, his eyes widening.

"Wait."

He pointed at the screen.

"Ruby?"

4 — RUBY RED

Chuck was completely stunned.

"She climbed from the top ten to fourth?!"

Emily looked at the name.

"That’s pretty impressive."

Chuck remembered the young woman devouring that enormous monster during the Trial of Strength.

"What the hell did she do in this second test?"

◇◆◇

Liam looked at his own name again.

Top twenty...

It wasn’t bad, but he didn’t know if it was really something worth celebrating.

They had defeated the boss.

Although technically, Lydia had covered it and the test had ended before they could even find out what had actually happened.

Then Lydia returned to her human form, appeared behind Liam, and walked toward him.

"Honey... is everything okay?"

Liam looked at her and smiled.

"Yeah."

He pointed at the ranking.

"We climbed five positions."

Lydia looked at the screen.

"That means we did things right."

Liam nodded.

"I guess."

One of the hunters nearby overheard them.

"Did things right?"

He turned toward them.

"Maybe it just means everyone else did things very wrong."

Liam looked at him.

The man seemed annoyed about having dropped several positions.

"Who knows."

Before the argument could continue, James’s voice echoed through the speakers again.

"Congratulations to everyone who has climbed in the rankings."

The hunters looked up.

"And to those who have fallen, don’t get discouraged. There’s still a third test."

The screen began to disappear.

"You’re already very close to the end."

James’s voice sounded cheerful.

"I hope everyone gives it their all in the final test."

Liam looked once again at the place where the giant had been.

Then at the ranking.

Top twenty.

They had climbed five positions.

But...

Was it really something to celebrate?

Maybe they had done a good job.

Maybe everyone else had simply made mistakes.

Or maybe he still hadn’t seen what the Selection truly expected from them.

Liam sighed.

’I guess we’ll find out in the third test.’

Then he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind.

Lydia rested her head against his back.

"We’re doing things right."

Liam smiled.

"You have no doubts, do you?"

"No."

Lydia hugged him a little tighter.

"We’re going to make it."

Liam closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he gently took one of her hands.

"Thank you, honey."

Lydia tilted her head.

"For what?"

Liam smiled.

"For always knowing the right things to say to cheer me up."

She smiled.