3 – Massachusetts Crack

[Pladirko Karpakostia]

In the language of the non-humans of the Dark Mountains, connected to Earth in 2041, it translates to “human-faced jellyfish” or “parasitic jellyfish.” It is the dominant life form in the current Massachusetts Rift.

All Rifts contain separate worlds, but occasionally, like the Dark Mountains or the Massachusetts Rift, some were originally a single world.

“Parasitic jellyfish are not individual, independent organisms.”

So said the elven researcher from the Dark Mountains, currently the deputy director of the Seoul Municipal Rift Research Institute.

“They divide themselves, scattering fragments of their bodies like spores into the air. When these spores attach to the mucous membranes of humanoid life forms, they eat away at brain cells as they grow… eventually dominating the nervous system by moving between the host’s head and spine.”

And in that process, once they control the nervous system, they begin to secrete a special hormone. This hormone provides the host with pleasure and mental stability, so even if the host recognizes the parasitic jellyfish’s existence, they begin to defend and protect the jellyfish as if suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

Such intense pleasure makes dying seem acceptable.

Since life is lived for enjoyment and pleasure anyway, one might as well revel in the pleasure and willingly offer one’s body to the jellyfish.

The victim willingly surrenders their body to the jellyfish. Eventually, the creature that was once human completely yields its nervous system, including the pituitary gland, spine, and spinal cord, to the jellyfish.

To protect the jellyfish, the host’s body activates tremendous regenerative abilities and muscle activity through hormonal manipulation, and the host antagonizes all life forms, including other humans, for the sake of the jellyfish within.

This is the first stage, called the [Head Repository].

As time passes, the jellyfish consumes the entire nervous system of the intelligent being, then spreads spores centered around the human head. It begins to swim through the air with tentacles made from the spine and nervous system.

The tentacles floating in the air spread spores to find new victims or grab them with their tentacles, inserting the tentacles directly into the brain to begin reproduction.

This is [Pladirko Karpakostia].

The basic ecosystem of the human-faced jellyfish.

“However, human-faced jellyfish are not simple parasitic creatures acting on instinct.”

So said the elf from the Dark Mountains.

He praised them, saying that although his world was destroyed and most intelligent life forms became hosts to the human-faced jellyfish, the human-faced jellyfish were not monsters or demons but creatures that had achieved transcendence and unity of mind with the planet.

“The star hated the intelligent life forms that lived on it. It despised the intelligent beings that polluted the land and nature. But the star showed mercy to those who knew their sins and voluntarily offered their bodies.”

Those who voluntarily offered their bodies to the star.

Nothing remains but records of elves who revered deer antlers, but they attempted and succeeded in uniting with the star as a race.

Thus, the elves who voluntarily offered their bodies to the star out of remorse and regret became the origin of the human-faced jellyfish.

“Human-faced jellyfish have the ecological cycle of parasitic organisms, but at the same time, their minds are a kind of giant biological network, with the minds of all their kin linked together, systematically destroying the ecosystem of intelligent beings.”

The linked minds reached a state of unity. The minds of the race that reached the state of unity achieved easier hunting and the annihilation of intelligent beings.

The annihilated world was divided into Rifts and Otherworlds, drifting in the void. These fragmented worlds flowed to Earth and appeared in the form of Rifts.

“We failed to keep pace with the dance, driving an entire world to ruin, and we brought about our own extinction. The best way for us to end the dance with this world is to become the world itself.”

Thus, although the world was destroyed, the purpose of the human-faced jellyfish remained the same.

“To infect and devour intelligent beings who desecrate the great Mother Nature, the Earth Mother, and to seize the bodies of those who defile the star! What a noble duty this is.”

Although they appear to be grotesque, they are a race with a noble disposition and pride, claiming to be agents of the cycle seeking unity with nature, unlike hateful intelligent beings.

The Massachusetts Rift that appeared in Uiwang City was merely an outpost for the human-faced jellyfish. The human-faced jellyfish were heralds of planets and stars, a warning to those who pollute nature.

“When the body discovers a disease, it designates that disease as a germ to protect the host. And what will the planet and stars see us as, our hosts?”

The elven researcher from the Dark Mountains, who argued this, was sent to a forced mental re-education center.

Anyway, the danger of a single human-faced jellyfish is only about C-grade, but the danger of the Rift itself is such that it could destroy the world.

If even one spore gets out and infection begins, it will become uncontrollable.

But with the abilities of ordinary Hunters, it was impossible to eradicate the Rift and the human-faced jellyfish.

No matter how powerful the ability user, they cannot incinerate all the small, microscopic jellyfish spores scattered throughout the world and in the air.

No matter how many infected individuals and human-faced jellyfish are killed, small spores will remain somewhere. If even one spore exists, the Rift will not disappear and will still threaten Earth.

That’s why the Hunter Association was holding off on dealing with the Massachusetts Rift.

Then, suddenly, Jaehee appeared.

The Succubus Empress, who considers all the beauty in this world as aesthetics, taste, and purpose, suddenly descended upon the Rift of the nature-protecting human-faced jellyfish.

Originally, the entry of Hunters should be restricted or prohibited, but Hunter Association headquarters AI Sarah highly valued the abilities of Succubus Empress Lee Jae Hee.

Even if no one else could, Lee Jae Hee could conquer this complex and difficult Rift.

And that was actually happening.

• Us
• Let’s go out
• The Rift, opened
• Let’s go out
• Betrayers of the star
• Let’s eat them all

The moment Jaehee entered the Massachusetts Rift, all the jellyfish sensed the anomaly.

Because they were united in one mind, they found the location of the Rift where Jaehee had entered. They wanted to go to a place where there would be new nature desecrators, not the already devastated world.

• New world
• This star also suffers.
• Let’s free the star from suffering
• We are the vanguard of nature
• We are the agents of the star
• Let’s spread everywhere
• Kill humans, and reclaim
• To what it should originally be….
• Eliminate the germs
• Eliminate them with us
• Mother’s land to its original form!

But then, suddenly, a foreign substance invaded their mental network.

• Hello~
• Who?

-Who?

What is it?

-Something?

What?

-Who is it?

The human-faced jellyfish.

No, the elves of the deer antlers, who had long ago voluntarily offered their bodies and minds to the Earth Mother, glared at the foreign substance that had invaded their mental world.

They didn’t have eyes, but if they had bodies, they would have widened their eyes and looked dumbfounded.

Who is it.

Who the hell is it?

Who let that thing in here?

Who let that thing into us?!

Apart from the confused hive mind, Jaehee cheered as if she had found an interesting toy.

Oh my, what an interesting place~

“Ah, hee, hee…!””

Jaehee laughed.

She found something fun.

Where is this?

Not land, sea, or sky. Not wind or clouds.

A starlight space full of hive intelligence.

Originally, if a human’s mind fell into this mental world, it would melt and become one.

They could not maintain their ego and reason, and like falling into a dream, the human’s mind and reason would melt away, becoming nothing more than a part of the numerous spores and cells that make up the human-faced jellyfish.

But the Incubus Empress was different.

Succubus Empress.

The master of dreams and the master of all pleasure, beauty, and aesthetics.

She covets and admires everything she considers beautiful.

And that was no exception even in a united, high-dimensional mental world.

The moment the Incubus Empress’s hand touched the jellyfish’s mental world, the world allowed the intrusion of a terrible foreign object.

-Who are you?

The Incubus Empress, who was not swept away by the waves of the mind, began to eat their memories like a dream.

The human-faced jellyfish were originally children of the forest who cherished deer antlers and revered nature.

She was able to read their intention to unite with the planet and annihilate all intelligent beings.

Only then did the human-faced jellyfish.

The descendants of the deer antler elves felt a great threat and eeriness.

ㅡGet out

ㅡGet out

ㅡGet out

ㅡGet out

ㅡGet out

ㅡGet out

ㅡGet out

ㅡGet out!!!

To the children who had achieved harmony, the Incubus Empress, who controlled and made dreams and unconsciousness and beauty her own, felt terrible and disgusting just by her existence.

Especially in the world of the mind, Jaehee was even more terrifying.

Who let that thing in here!

Get that thing out of here right now!

No!

Get it out.

Get out.

Get out.

Please get out.

You shouldn’t come here!

“Heehee, heehee. Heeheeheehee!”

As the real Jaehee laughed, the Empress in the mental world also laughed.

But Jaehee’s hand tightly gripped the jellyfish’s tentacle with her fingers intertwined.

No.

You can’t escape.

Absolutely not.

Come here.

The human-faced jellyfish, which manipulates the minds and nervous systems of others and parasitizes them, was now stuck to Jaehee and could not move.

The jellyfish attached to Jaehee’s body struggled to detach its body and tentacles from Jaehee.

This has now invaded our mental world.

It hasn’t melted even after entering the mental world.

We have to get it out of here right now.

Even if I die, I have to get this out!

The jellyfish hurriedly pulled out the tentacle that had been inserted into Jaehee’s head.

It tried to pull out the tentacle that had been inserted into her ear and swim through the air again to escape.

“No way.”

But as if mocking that determination, the jellyfish captured by Jaehee’s hand was screaming.

Please let me go!

No way.

I’ll never let you go.

Jaehee laughs and grabs the jellyfish’s tentacle.

And… she took off the veil.

“Come here.”Ah, aaaaa…!”

An intense fragrance of fascination.

Irresistible beauty.

Before she knew it, the jellyfish re-inserted its tentacle into Jaehee’s head, and guided by the tentacle, Jaehee once again became an impurity and invaded the pure collective mind.

Ahahaha.

• No.

Please get out.

Your existence is polluting this place.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

-Beauty.

Disgusting.

Go away.

We don’t want beauty.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

“Beautiful things are good, you know, ah, hahahat, hahahahat! Heehee! It feels good to dig into my head!!!!”

Jaehee laughed.

Then many jellyfish screamed.

Beautiful.

Beauty.

Those who loved nature were tainted by the secular thing called ‘beauty’.

The giant and pure group of minds was addicted to the beauty and aesthetics of the Incubus Empress, so there was only one thing left.

“Now, it’s time to become beautiful~!!!Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yes.

It’s time to become beautiful.

Becoming a slave to beauty.

Because they were mentally vulnerable mental creatures, they were ready to become beautiful at Jaehee’s words.

Now, what is beauty here?

The hideous and grotesque human-faced jellyfish adorn the sky.

Ah, disgusting.

Not beautiful.

But, no matter how unbeautiful something is, if it becomes one….

Let’s become one.

Let’s become one.

Let’s become one.

Let’s become one.

Let’s become one.

Let’s become one.

Words that human-faced jellyfish often say to their victims.

‘Let’s become one.’

But this time, becoming one was not a word for the victims.

It was for the human-faced jellyfish to the human-faced jellyfish.

To unite all their bodies according to the contaminated beauty and aesthetics.

To aesthetically remodel what was grotesque based on aesthetic viewpoints!

Thus, all the jellyfish scattered throughout Massachusetts began to gather in one place.

Single entities, spores, incomplete nervous systems.

All entities gather, gather, and gather again.

At the very bottom are the spores.

Above the spore layer are undigested humans.

Further up, like a whirlpool. Human-faced jellyfish began to take on geometric shapes.

“As in the beginning, deer antlers grow.”

-Thud!

Deer antlers grow randomly on the bodies of human-faced jellyfish and their hosts.

There’s no reason to enter the mental world anymore, right?

The remaining energy is your original form.

Be embalmed in the form of elves who love deer antlers and revere nature.

Thus, deer antlers grow grotesquely on the cross-sections and junctions of the host and jellyfish.

Tentacles, horns, and cross-sections of humans are intertwined everywhere.

Thus was created the [Tower of Humans]

The end of those who worshiped what should not be worshiped.

“Ah, hahahahat. How beautiful….”

Thus, Jaehee threw the last jellyfish attached to her body into the united Tower of Humans.

The mentally destroyed jellyfish was pierced by deer antlers and became one the moment it touched the Tower of Humans.

Originally, it was impossible to conquer the Rift… Jaehee created an Otherworld where grotesque creatures existed in spore units into one.

★

★

★

Jaehee, caressing the Tower of Humans, smiled and turned around.

It’s not as beautiful as I thought.

If it’s bizarre.

If it’s hideous.

Even if it’s grotesque, I thought there would be aesthetics blooming like flowers within it…

“Ah, it’s a failure~”

She was disappointed.

But it’s okay.

The real beauty is somewhere else.

Let’s see…

Ahead….

Ta-da~

-Kwaang!

“Huk! Huk! Huk! Jae, Jaehee, Jaehee, Jaehee!!!!”

Officer Dan, panting, has arrived~

Aha, hahat, her expression is delicious.

Looking at me.

Her face seems to be frozen.

The face that is quietly looking at me.

Ah, that’s the most delicious.

That expression of worrying about me.

I seem to be in danger… Officer Dan, who was horrified by the sight of the beautiful me entangled in tentacles and seemingly in danger… seemingly perishing, is the most delicious.

“Are you, are you okay…?”

Officer Dan took a breath and barely asked me.

Actually, I feel sorry.

I showed Officer Dan a scene that looked really dangerous and like I was dying to others.

But entangled in dangerous tentacles and human-faced jellyfish… my appearance of perishing.

Wasn’t it too beautiful?

Right?

Of course, I’m aware that I went too far.

Hmm, am I going to get an earful?

I’m sorry to Officer Dan, but I can’t help it because it’s my instinct.

“Haa, haa, haa….”

But Officer Dan just looked at me closely, panting.

If I’m okay.

If I’m not hurt.

Officer Dan, who was panting, said softly.

“Let’s, let’s go back together….”

“….”

Hmm, I wish she would just get angry.

…I’m sorry.

I think I’ll have to work hard on recycling for a while…