So I've been watching a lot of anime lately and Isekai is a thing that really frustrates me. It's an overused and quite frankly unimaginative plot device that only really provides an element of inclusion for the reader/viewer. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Long Title Page is a really good example of this. It's meant to be a "fix it" story with an overpowered main character. Anyone who has read a lot of fanfiction will know that either of those two things aren't always the best of starting points to work with in fiction but they can work in given scenarios. Despite it all this anime is actually enjoyable and light hearted. It's good enough to come back and see what happens to everyone else and the world at least. I'm honestly not that interested in Rimuru as a character.
So why write this? My truck with this anime is twofold:
First, Magical Cortana also known as "Great Sage" for copyright reasons I guess is so mind bogglingly story breaking. It denies Rimuru any chance to make mistakes or enter a scenario uninformed which is cancer on storytelling in my opinion. That scene where (spoilers?) the Sage runs autopilot for Rimuru is so cringey and laughable. Not even Superman gets autopilot as one of his superpowers. Might aswell write Contessa the ultimate Mary Sue herself as the MC because she'd at least have a tougher time of it, in theory.
Secondly is the use of the isekai trope. It's boring, it's overdone and childish and makes me feel like my intelligence is being insulted. I'm more than capable of projecting myself on a main character without you being so obvious about it thank you very much… This anime really frustrated me because by actually avoiding the isekai trope the opening could have been far more exciting. I'm not a brilliant writer but I decided to see if I could write my own version of Rimuru's "arrival" in this magical world. I came up with this concept and think it's pretty neat. So here it is.
Bounce…
Bounce…
Bounce…
Veldora was slowly roused from his slumber at the odd noise.
"What is that? Someone here to challenge me finally?"
Veldora lifted his head and looked towards the entrance of the cave room listening carefully.
Nothing.
"My mind is playing tricks on me…" The ancient dragon huffed and lowered his head. Nothing had come within hearing distance of him even in his cave for so long now.
Fitting now that he would only start to lose his mind now there was so little time left.
Bounce…
Veldora lifted his head again.
Bounce, bounce, bounce. Okay, definitely not his imagination.
It was faint. A sort of elastic noise the dragon knew he had heard before but just could not place the origin of.
Bounce…
Bounce…
Silence.
Veldora strained his hearing but the suspicious noise did not reappear.
Bounce…
It was louder this time. Veldora could hear it approaching, whatever manner of creature it must be it would have to be powerful to dare approach him.
Bounce, bounce, bounce…
Then it turned around a corner and Veldora could see it and finally he recognised the noise for what it was.
A slime? Of all creatures to approach him it would be the lowest of them all wouldn't it? Something so weak and mindless that not even the intense magical aura the dragon unconsciously gave off was enough to divert it.
The slime was small. It was barely a fraction the size of Veldora's smallest claw but still its mindless bouncing brought it closer, and then into the room proper.
Veldora watched closely as the creature continued to jump up and down, using its gelatinous form to create motion. It was the only thing the creature could do Veldora remembered.
Slimes weren't even technically living creatures, completely mindless, created as a quirk of magic in older areas of high magicule concentration. Apparently Veldora's cave-prison was now old enough and had a high enough magicule concentration to begin spawning them, just like it already spawned the crystals that grew at intervals around the room and no doubt further out.
"Hello, little slime," The ancient storm dragon said.
There was no response. Obviously, it's a slime.
Veldora watched the creature as it bounced around the room randomly. They had no senses or for that matter any control of their motions apparently. Veldora had learnt that from a friendly priest he had met briefly.
Veldora watched in interest. Slimes bounced around randomly not unlike certain species of fly until they encountered food…
Like just now.
The slime had come into contact with one of the smaller magicule crystals on the wall. The little blue blob adhered itself to the crystal and then changed shape. The slime's body flowed around it to cover a large portion of the crystal. Very slowly the slime would dissolve the crystal, absorbing the magicules into itself until they ran out. Then the slime would become active again and continue bouncing until it found another source of magicules. Slimes in the outside world would undergo this process again and again until some more dangerous creature inevitably encountered and killed it, thereby dispersing the magicules back into the environment.
Veldora continued watching the creature for a few hours as it very slowly munched on its magicule treat until eventually he got bored of watching the almost completely stationary organism and decided to go back to sleep.
Bounce, bounce, bounce.
Veldora was woken from his slumber again when he heard the slime bouncing around once more. He was not sure how long he had been sleeping for this time but estimated it to have been at least three months. With interest Veldora roused himself and sat to watch the creature as it bounced around the cave floor. This went on for some time and Veldora watched.
Pathetic though it sounded, watching the slime's random movement was the most fun Veldora had had in decades.
Occasionally the slime would bounce close to another magicule crystal, only to miss. Other times the random bouncing would bring the slime perilously close to the magical force field that held Veldora contained. Veldora gasped in worry as the slime came so close to certain destruction and felt sympathetic frustration on behalf of the slime whenever it barely missed contact with another magicule crystal.
Eventually though the slime found another crystal to gorge itself on. Veldora sat watching it for a little while longer, contemplating the simplicity of the slime's existence before returning to sleep for the second time since his small companion had arrived.
It was now three years since the slime had come to him. Just about three hundred years left before Veldora's magic was completely depleted. Not very long at all the ancient dragon decided upon internally observing his remaining magical power. For a being that had lived literal millennia a handful of centuries was nothing. After the containment magic holding him finished siphoning away his power he would die, permanently.
Veldora was not used to introspection of this sort. He'd avoided thinking about it. Back at the start the magic that was part of his prison would have taken several centuries to drain his power fully and he hadn't worried overmuch.
In all that time he had honestly expected some bold adventurer or prince to come by and inadvertently release him while trying to slay him. Or maybe another princess with a complex about imprisonment.
That had been a very strange few months.
Or perhaps an upstart Demon Lord might think they were tough enough to try controlling him and break his containment. Those always made for entertaining afternoons back in the day. None of that had happened though. Nobody had come and now Veldora was left with the startling observation that he might truly die.
"It's odd, but I don't really fear my death," Veldora commented to the slime as he watched it bounce around the cave. "I understand most mortals go through their lives trying to avoid it. But I have lived so long, seen so much I can't help but feel curious more than anything what will happen to me. Will I simply disappear and cease to be? Or perhaps there is a place for my consciousness and soul to go as the Humans like to preach about."
The slime's bouncing brought it closer to Veldora where it stopped and stayed put. Veldora had noticed that the blue creature occasionally sat still for a period every now and then, perhaps to recover its energy before it could begin moving again.
Veldora sighed, "Though, of all the ways to go out this is certainly not one I would have chosen. An epic battle with another entity for supremacy, that's how I would have chosen if I had wanted to. Maybe that Hero girl could have truly slain me, she was smart and strong enough to trap me here. Given enough time she might have grown powerful enough to have truly killed me in open battle," Veldora commented to the slime before falling silent.
"I suppose if I am to die and leave this world forever," Veldora began, "I don't… I don't want to be forgotten."
Veldora suddenly felt incredibly lonely.
"At least I won't die alone my friend. I have you with me little slime, right?" the dragon chuckled weakly.
"Look at me," he muttered, turning to look away. "Pretending to have a conversation with something that isn't even technically alive. I might as well talk to the wall. How pathetic."
The slime suddenly moved, bouncing towards Veldora. The ancient dragon tensed in worry as the slime sailed through the air towards the magical barrier that would surely destroy it if they came into contact with each other.
The slime landed only a hairs breadth away from the barrier, closer than it had ever gone before before falling still again. Veldora let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding.
When the slime didn't move for a minute or so he allowed himself to relax properly again and Veldora's thoughts turned once more to leaving a mark on the world outside.
"You know It's funny I never even gave anyone a name back when I was free. I won't even leave that kind of legacy behind either."
Names and titles were a personal thing. Many Demon Lords were quite casual in who they used their magic to empower but for the True Dragons it was rarely if ever they thought to give any monster or other creature their favour. Veldora had never heard any of his siblings having done the deed so it might never have been done at all. He knew it was possible though. Any high tier being with enough power could give their lessers titles or names if both parties were willing and the name-giver had sufficient magic. The process was capable of moulding the recipient's bodies and minds to reflect the name and even giving them a drive to accomplish a goal if that was the the name-giver's intention. It was a truly intimate process that was not for the faint hearted. Seeing your own ideals, some of your values and personality reflected in another could be quite a jarring experience for some. It was just another thing Veldora had never really thought about. Leaving a legacy was unimportant when you had eternity at your fingertips.
"I wonder what a being I named would have been like…" Veldora mused. "Powerful to be sure. I suppose of all my traits that might get passed on, perhaps my enjoyment of combat… No, I suppose I only really started doing that because it was just a slightly less dull way to pass the time. A sense of adventure? I used to enjoy exploring back when I was young…
"Hmm, but I also wonder what kind of title I might have bestowed on someone. I'm the Storm Dragon so something themed around that?"
Veldora considered a few potential names. "Bolt? Thunder?" Veldora tried, to see how the words rolled off the tongue.
"Maybe Cloud, no that's not exciting at all. Tempest? Hmm, that sounds pretty good."
"And now I have a name to bestow," Veldora mused looking towards the entrance to the cave. "It'd be pretty good timing right now for some brave and noble adventurer to come here so I could bestow my remaining power to them…"
Nothing.
Veldora gave off a huff. That would have been such good timing too.
"Well I suppose I'd better begin waiting for the end huh?" Veldora commented to the slime, voice tinged with melancholy. Nobody was coming. This cave would be his grave and Veldora would have no opportunity to pass on a title or do anything to leave a lasting legacy in this world.
Unless…
Veldora looked down.
…
No, surely it wouldn't work. Nothing would happen. It would be like multiplying by zero. Exactly what kind of powers would magically empowering a slime do anyway? They didn't have any special skills, or any abilities to evolve for that matter. The most remarkable thing about slimes beyond the ridiculous pointlessness of their existence was that they were fairly resistant to fire and cold.
But was he desperate enough to try?
Yes, yes he was. So much of his power was gone already, he couldn't really afford to wait any longer.
"I suppose, if there's no other option available to me…"
"Tempest is a fine name, but perhaps something else for normal conversation aswell? Something a bit more benign than Tempest."
Veldora shifted and forced a claw past the magical barrier. Perhaps because he wasn't trying to leave this time there was no real resistance beyond an initial warning shock. Veldora reached out to touch the slime as delicately as a dragon the size of a mountain could manage.
"Little slime," Veldora began, pulling forth his magic and willing it all into this last act. "You came to me in my dying days. You were the only company I have had in so long and I owe you dearly for that. In thanks, I will grant you a name with but one charge. I charge you to ensure that my name Veldora lives on through you. After I pass on leave a mark on this world in my stead that will never fade."
Veldora paused there. Despite not having any intelligence or anything, the slime had really made the last little while bearable and dare he say enjoyable? Such a simple little creature had brightened Veldora's world for just a little while, chasing away the melancholy and loneliness. Veldora hoped that whatever fate befell the slime no, not just a slime. Veldora hoped whatever fate befell his friend it was a good one.
"I name you, Rimuru Tempest!"
So there you have it. A slight info dump on exactly how pathetic slimes are in this world. Otherwise, we only have our outside understanding to work with as readers and viewers so that all gets established pretty quickly. Then we have an introspective Veldora, lonely and while not afraid of death wants to leave something behind. We have a set motivation for Rimuru to work towards and some expansion immediately on what Naming does which is one of the more exciting parts of the lore as far as I am concerned. All of that in under two thousand words.