A party of trio walks through the meadow. Their faces are determined.

  This time, they will not fail. They’re coming in prepared.

  In the hands of the Priest, she has a crystal pebble. It’s not just a pebble. It’s a magical device capable of using Identify with high accuracy. The best thing is that it can safely store that information.

  All they have to do now is to find that thing again. They don’t have to fight it. Identifying IT is enough.

  There in the meadow, right before the forest…

  “What is that?!”

  “?_?”

  “…”

  “C???????????????U???????????????????????????B????????????????????????E???????????????????????”

  It looks at them. A structure completely out of place. A massive cube of green.

  It sloshes idly, jiggling in the wind. It’s almost like something is trapped within.

  It tries to communicate, but its joyous jiggling doesn’t translate to human language.

  The young hotheaded party can’t hear its mirthful greeting.

  “What do we do?”

  “Well… it's not like this is IT.”

  “B-But. I-it is definitely weird!”

  They shrug and scratch their heads.

  “The question is. Do we want to waste Identify on… whatever this is?” He points his sword at the distant structure.

  “The way I see it. Sure, this is odd, but this is just a cube. So let’s not.” The ranger looks away from the cube, clearly threatened by its superior symmetry.

  “W-we can’t just let t-this be!” The priest protests, her eyes gazing into its jiggling depths, almost appreciating its cubical perfection.

  “Agreed. It’s our duty as adventurers. We can carefully investigate the thing from a distance, right?”

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” The ranger protests the swordsman's gaze.

  “You have the best eyes, so…” He blushes for no good reason.

  “My Level 1 ranger eyes tell me it’s just an oversized grass cube!” She shrugs. “Maybe someone made it as a prank. Let’s leave it be.”

  “… b-but there is s-something about it!” The priest utters as if in a trance.

  “Then you go and check it out! Humph!”

  “…” To the shock of the rogue, the priest actually steps forward and towards the cube.

  “What? Really? Let’s just ignore it!” The ranger looks at the swordsman. “Stop blushing and stop her!”

  “No… I think… we should investigate it.” The swordsman rushes after the priest.

  “Seriously. You two…”

  The young and hotblooded party approaches the cube.

  It looks back at them. The cube seems passive. Almost inviting. Almost…

  Tempting them to come closer. To appreciate its beauty. To touch its sacred form.

  The party gets super close to the cubical structure.

  “Hmm… I-I don’t detect anything unholy about this. Actually, if anything it is…” The priest concludes but never finishes, trailing away.

  “Huh? We way I see it is just a cube… It’s almost disappointing.” The swordsman fails to appreciate true art.

  “Then why is your base so flushed? Is it? Is it really just a cube?” The rogue glares at it in suspicion.

  “C???????????????U???????????????????????????B????????????????????????E???????????????????????” It invites them to dance and party.

  Her rogue ears twitch. She doesn’t hear it. She feels it with her mind. A celebratory mood which doesn’t seem fitting.

  Then…

  She fires an arrow.

  “AHA! I thought so!” The rogue looks at a deeply embedded arrow.

  “Thought what?”

  “H-hey. W-why did you do that?”

  “Ranger’s intuition! Look!”

  She points at the trembling cube, only to be interrupted by a sudden message.

  > The Cube of Cubes has been Disturbed. Undoing the Containment.

  > Congratulations! You’ve released IT’s blessing upon this world!

  > +100 EXP!

  “Rusted Arrow! Snapped String!” The ranger panics right that instant. “I shouldn’t have done that!”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ““No, you shouldn't!”” They agree, urgently backing off.

  The Cube of Cubes breaks apart rapidly, blessing the meadow with a party of 10 000 slimes (cube variety).

  The cubes jiggle and dance, infusing the meadow with a celebratory mood.

  “There is so many!”

  “W-why are they cube-shaped?”

  “Who cares? Let’s run!”

  The meadow is overrun with tiny cubes.

  “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty?”

  The slimes jiggle and wobble as if dancing to an unheard tune.

  “Aah, everybody, get on the floor, Let's dance?”

  They dash and zoom showing off their dance moves.

  “Don't fight the feeling, Give yourself a chance?”

  The ’music’ fills the minds of running humans.

  It’s an eerie, distorted tune, but reidly catchy at the same time.

  They FLEE! Or try to…

  The breakdancing cubes are just too fast, their moves too nasty.

  A green cube latches on the ankle of the slowest runner, tripping up the priest.

  “N-No! Help!”

  ““!!!””

  The two look back but it is already too late. The slimes are crawling all over the priest, swallowing her into their slime.

  “No! I won’t let this happen. [Charge]!” The swordsman turns around, charging at the breakdancing legion of slimes.

  “Don’t. We can’t… Tch!” The rogue clicks her tongue. “Just hurry! [RapidFire]!”

  A hail of arrows rains on the slimes. A few dozen arrows are only a drop in an ocean of slimes.

  The swordsman strikes at the cubic slime covering the priest, careful not to hit her with his blade,

  They do what they can to save their ally. Slashing and firing at the slimes.

  And despite all odds, they… they FAIL.

  The arrows fail to do any damage whatsoever, and the sword simply gets stuck in the slime.

  Soon, the swordsman is pulled into a cube of slime, but not before another cube breaks down on his incapacitated body.

  “X_X”

  “No-ooo!”

  The ranger turns to flee alone. She can’t win this battle. And yet…

  Whoever said that slimes were slow and sluggish was spreading disinformation!

  These slimes are quick! And their moves are slick.

  They are faster than the ranger.

  *Slurp, *Glob, *Blurp – she is pulled into the mass.

  Her body, against its will, is dancing to the eldrich tune.

  She spins and turns, breakdancing.

  And then… she is dissolved.

  This is it. The Level 1 hotblooded and hotheaded party met their demise.

  Death by a legion of slimes!

  Rest In Slime. RIS!

  … … …

  The priest emerges from the joyous cube. Her bare skin is shiny and sparkling.

  “Guys! I am alright!” She looks for her friends.

  The swordsman, too, emerges from the slime. His muscles are taunt and glistening.

  “Huh? No damage?”

  The rogue emerges from the slime.

  “I thought I was… Hey, why are you naked?”

  “No, it’s you who’s…”

  “Ee-eee-ep!” The priest tries to hide her shame.

  They are fine but their clothes aren’t. The slimes have liberated them of their clothes and equipment.

  Then, losing interest rapidly, the horde of slimes scatters away from the trio. Breakdancing towards the forest.

  “Not again! The Guild won’t believe us.”

  “Use it! Use it quick!”

  “Y-yes!”

  “[Identify]!” The pebble glows in purple.