Chapter 2: Homie
The man turned, thinking someone had tapped his shoulder, but instead, something squishy and transparent was happily bouncing up and down on his shoulder.
"Oh... is that you, Bounciechomie?" The man chuckled, recognizing this small slime as his pet in the novel. Bounciechomie, a tiny slime of blue-green color, was the only loyal friend of Arthur D. Bump, a side character in the novel who was known to have terrible luck. Although it was just a minor character that appeared occasionally, the slime faithfully accompanied Arthur.
"I even forgot you were in that story," the man said, patting Bounciechomie’s squishy body. The slime made a little sound, "Bloop bloop!" and leapt down, bouncing enthusiastically around the man’s feet.
The man laughed softly. "Turns out, even as a character with bad luck, at least I have this cute pet."
He looked at Bounciechomie, who continued to bounce happily around him. "Alright, Bounciechomie. In the original story, you were just a pet with a brief role, but now... you’re my friend. You are my homie, Bounciechomie!"
Bounciechomie responded with a gentle "Bloop bloop!" sound that seemed to affirm Arthur’s statement.
However, the man’s laughter quickly faded as he heard rustling behind him, as if something was moving quickly through the grass. Bounciechomie immediately jumped up, reacting with sudden alertness, though its squishy body still bounced playfully.
"Who’s there?" he murmured, his eyes searching for the source of the noise.
From behind the dense trees, a tall figure in a dark cloak emerged. The man wore a black mask, his face hidden, but an aura of power radiated from him, sending chills through the air.
The man recognized the figure that appeared. He is Kaelthorn, one of the villains in the lonely Chinese web novel, a character known for giving dark powers to others.