episode_0003
by adminThe date had been set.
One week later.
Escape with Shaela.
Though I wanted to prepare more leisurely, time was not on our side.
“Why aren’t you bearing fruit? It seems like growth has halted. Surely it’s absorbed all the nutrients… Should I try burning it?”
Alberto began to doubt me.
If it bears fruit as desired, that would be enough, but the real issue is Shaela.
According to him, he might die soon in the Chimera fusion experiment.
When that time comes, it will be too late.
I cannot escape with my power alone.
I must escape somehow in a week.
Therefore.
Swoosh~
Seizing the opportunity when the man left, I trained.
Training involved separating and moving high-quality energy within the body, or spraying venom through the stem at once, among other repetitive exercises.
There’s no guarantee Shaela can defeat Alberto.
I must enhance my own power.
Perhaps I can find weaknesses if I do well.
One week remains.
Let’s strive.
For ways to become stronger.
*
Training results.
I gained a new ability.
I can regulate and differentiate growth, if I wish.
Sizzle~
Pop!
I can separate stems.
Furthermore, I can control the separated entities as I desire. It’s not direct movement, but they follow my clear intent.
For example,
“Move over there.”
With just that intention, the detached stem wriggled like a worm to the designated spot.
With practice, the separated body might move on its own.
I couldn’t explain why, but it felt possible.
That too is me.
Even when apart, it’s still me.
It seemed like something I could practice.
Trickle~
Reabsorbing the stems is also possible.
Sending specific components to the point where the stems touch turns them momentarily into a viscous liquid for fusion.
Upon reabsorption, the stem transfers not only its senses but also memories it experienced.
Something impossible for humans.
I realize anew.
I’ve become a monster.
“Not bad.”
Originally, I didn’t aspire to be human. There are no good memories as a human.
Instead, now is better.
Money.
Material possessions.
Society.
Not bound by any of them.
I can rest quietly for life.
Move as I please.
This is the ultimate form I desired.
Hence, I must escape.
For true freedom.
“…Tomorrow, perhaps.”
Tomorrow marks the escape deadline Shaela mentioned.
Everything will be decided then.
Either death for the man or a safe escape.
I ignited my enthusiasm. I harbored the strongest desire for life I ever had.
I want to live freely.
*
“How boring. When will he arrive~”
Shaela.
Before becoming a loser in the ruined world, she was hailed as a supreme deity. She could unleash pure power, enough to move mountains.
But that’s ancient history.
Now, she has lost all her power.
Her body improved with the fruit given by Mu-chan, but beyond physical recovery, her body weakened drastically from various experiments.
In essence, it’s all show.
The chances of winning are slim.
“Still, I have to try.”
Alberto.
He is the enemy who subjected him to all sorts of bizarre experiments and hometown humiliation. If he can seek revenge even in death, this place is the best battleground.
So, even if his body deteriorates—
Tap.
“Why are you muttering to yourself so much?”
“Oh, you’re here.”
While lost in thought, a thin stem grew from the ventilation shaft and tapped his shoulder.
Mu-chan, an experimental subject like himself.
A being turned into a plant.
An existence he must tolerate, despite wanting to kill it for sucking his blood, a creepy and unfortunate yet ambiguous entity he must cooperate with.
“If I survive, how should I deal with this guy…”
Thinking such thoughts, Cha.
Boing!~
A fruit sprouted on the stem.
Immediately, he changed his mind.
“The fruit was delicious… This is truly a divine fruit. I must cultivate it.”
Thud!!
“Splat!!?”
The fruit was forcibly shoved in.
He changed his mind again.
“I’ll kill it. Such disgrace… I must kill it!!”
…Drip drip.
Squelch squelch.
The sweet taste that simultaneously rises.
A fullness spreading throughout the body.
Changed my mind again.
“…There’s nothing wrong with the fruit. I should grow it after all……”
Swoosh~
Having fed the fruit, Mu-chan began to coil and bundle up in front of Shaela.
Shaela brushed away her distractions and looked at Mu-chan.
“What are you doing.”
“……..”
Is she concentrating?
Mu-chan pulled a stem from the vent without answering and gathered it in one place.
Not long after.
Swoosh~
“Huh?”
A human appeared in front of Shaela.
More precisely, part of a plant stem twisted and bundled into a human form.
The ability to control growth.
The power to move freely.
The culmination of efforts practiced while being confined.
In other words,
He became a plant-human.
Shaela stared in disbelief.
“You… Is that even possible?”
*
“You… Is that even possible?”
Shaela looks surprised.
“I… don’t…..”
She couldn’t answer.
Creating vocal cords and artificially producing wind was extremely difficult.
But it is possible.
One day she might be able to speak for herself.
Pluck.
Taking a stem from behind her neck, she placed it back on Shaela’s shoulder.
‘How’s your physical condition.’
“I feel like 1% has been restored.”
‘Even if you say that, I can’t give you more.’
“Tsk. Think what you want.”
‘Can you break free from the restraints?’
“Well, maybe if I use all my strength. It might be possible. But I’ll probably make a mess.”
‘Then stay still.’
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
Shaela must fight Alberto. She can’t afford to waste the strength she just regained.
Swish~
Awkwardly moving her arm, she grabbed the chain.
“What are you doing. You can’t possibly break it with your strength-”
Creak!!!
The chains began to melt.
“What!?… What’s happening!!!”
I wasn’t just standing by.
There were too many uncertainties to leave everything to Shaela.
Therefore, I created the strongest poison by mixing Black Dragon’s blood and numerous venoms, almost burning the stem in the process.
It was named Bai Lindok.
Upon contact with air, it melts everything it touches.
This kind of poison can be concocted within the body at any time.
“Insane. It had suppression magic on it, but it never even twitched against my strength……”
Creak~~
Thud.
It didn’t take long.
After severing all the chains with Bai Lindok, Shaela stood up from her chair.
Thud.
“I give up.”
Crackle!….
Snap.
She brushed off the chains clinging to her body and looked down at herself in disbelief.
“I never thought this day would come.”
Shaela completely freed.
Now all that’s left is for her to defeat Alberto unscathed and find a way out. No, find an escape route alone in the meantime.
“Hey. There’s no need for much talk now that I’m free. Just wait here. That bastard Alberto. He’ll be dead soon.”
She headed straight for the wall.
An incredibly thick inner wall.
A wall of unknown material.
A wall with durability far beyond that of steel.
However.
“Whup!”
Kwaang!!!!
It was just one punch.
When Shaela’s fist hit the wall, immense power condensed and exploded.
Thud!!-
Puff!!
A few fragments stuck into the stem.
But I focused more on the sight ahead.
There was a passage about the size of a person.
“It may have been solidly built, but it doesn’t matter. The owner of this place will change today.”
“……..”
Whoosh!!
Shaela disappeared into the hole-ridden wall.
I didn’t know I could break the wall with a punch….
Anyway.
The operation has begun.
I have to act as well.
Although it seems like Shaela will succeed in defeating Alberto, there is no guarantee.
No, even if she succeeds, it’s a problem.
A temporary alliance.
A relationship of mutual exploitation.
Shaela is not an ally but a potential second Alberto.
I have to escape.
But before that….
Gush!!
I moved the stem towards the vent.
What I need to do now is replenish energy.
Swoosh~
After parting ways with Shayella,
I inserted a single strand of vine into every room connected to the ventilation shaft.
The goal: the test subjects confined in each room.
Humans with enlarged body parts.
A human with two cow heads.
A giant plant similar to me.
A living cube floating in the air.
A foul-smelling giant bug.
Swoosh.
Squelch~
I tightly wrapped all those test subjects with vines.
Most had little to no reaction or even failed to properly perceive their own situation.
In other words, there was no resistance.
Baelindok.
Chiiiing!!!!-
“Kyaah!!….”
“Kkiing…..”
“….Goo?”
Creatures dissolve.
Those ruined by experiments.
Rather than suffer a life of ruin, become my nourishment.
Swoop~
The life melted into liquid is absorbed by the vines.
Many nutrients and mana circulate throughout my entire body.
However….
Absorbing a creature whole seemed new. A disconcerting event occurred.
Brief memories flashed through my mind like a film reel.
“I’ll kill youuuu!!!!!”
Memories of someone undergoing an experiment.
A deep-seated hatred towards Alberto.
I couldn’t help but be surprised.
Although very limited, I glimpsed the memories of the deceased.
While absorbing life forms, I had a premonition that such incidents would occur again in the future.
Is this a benefit?
Or could it be a curse?
I’ll have to wait and see.
Thud!!!
Kugugugu!!!
Suddenly, the entire building shook.
It must have been Shayella and Alberto colliding.
Shriiick!~
I moved as well.
Adjusting the size of the massive vine, I moved it towards the ventilation shaft, while concealing the small main body like a bean and transporting it.
The target: Shayella’s room.
Escape through this opening.
*
Kwagwagwa!!!
Kugung!!
The building shakes.
Thud, thud.
I walked down the corridor of such a building.
Currently, I am a round mass of tangled vines.
Pulling out two vine legs curved like sickles, I awkwardly moved forward.
With great effort, I could manage to walk at the speed of an adult male.
Koohwoong!!!
I headed towards the opposite end of the vibration.
Just as there were dozens of labs observed through the ventilation shaft, the building was quite spacious.
Endless corridors.
Ziiing~
Pressing buttons to open doors only revealed more corridors.
Fortunately, no one else was in sight, but it would take a while like this.
Joorook~
The vines extended in all directions.
Stretching the vines as long as possible into every room and corridor, I grasped the structure of the building.
And then, I saw an unbelievable truth.
There was no entrance.
No, it couldn’t be.
Entering a hemispherical wide room, what the vine saw was surrounded by a transparent glass enclosing the entire rounded wall.
“Earth?….”
The world beyond the glass.
Earth.
The solar system.
A vast universe.
“What the….”
It became clear in an instant.
This was inside a spaceship.
I was looking at the solar system through the transparent glass from what seemed like the control room.
Drip.
The entire body of the vine stiffened.
More bewildering than becoming a plant.
This is strange.
Why am I in space?
Is there a way to escape….
None?
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