A freak accident in his sleep ends the ordinary life of thirty-nine-year-old Japanese office worker Ryoma Takebayashi, and three gods give him a second life as a child in a world of swords and magic. Rather than chase adventure, Ryoma settles into a forest alone, hunting, studying magic, and raising a growing collection of slimes he's tamed and cross-bred. The original light novel behind the manga and anime follows his unhurried second life among the creatures and people he comes to know.