Ch.121Muriel (1)

Darkness, and fog.

Screams and explosions echoing faintly from all around the base.

All of it is the result of what my nest and I have created.

Despite the commotion, Muriel and I stood observing each other without the slightest hint of agitation.

When to strike, how to retreat.

How to counter the enemy’s moves, and how to recover if we fail.

Though we are enemies, we’re thinking the same things.

Just before raiding the camp, I had received information about the enemy from the Sky Mother.

‘So she’s the type who fights while enhancing herself.’

From what I heard, Muriel had a combat style quite different from ordinary Cult members.

Space Survival guarantees high freedom, but that doesn’t mean players can completely deviate from the gameplay styles suggested by the game developers.

For example, a Megacorp player can’t eat people to collect essence like an AMorph, or pursue being a vegetarian AMorph—such playstyles would make game progression impossible.

Because of this, when you reach ranker level, you can generally predict what tactics and strategies your opponent will use based on their race and faction.

If your opponent is a Star Union cyborg, they’re likely to enhance themselves with various modules or prepare traps to fight with, and if they’re Cult, they often pressure you with Psychic Power techniques that have various utilities.

There are exceptions, but it’s fair to say they don’t deviate from the general framework.

So if you’ve drawn the best card—a deer-horned Cult—the most effective approach would be to adopt “Cult-like” tactics, namely toying with enemies using dozens or hundreds of Psychic Power techniques.

‘That would normally be the case, but.’

The Sky Mother told me that Muriel is actually more skilled in physical combat than in handling Psychic Power techniques.

According to the setting, Cult members are a race skilled in supernatural abilities but with physical abilities below those of humans.

Since this is reality, no matter how much one improves their physical abilities, it’s nearly impossible for a Cult member to engage in close combat with a Volf who has learned Incarnate and win.

Yet Muriel defied this common sense.

‘This style is one that many cyborgs choose.’

For example, the navy bodysuit she’s wearing.

It looks very similar to when the Nano Spartan module is activated.

The Nano Spartan module, as the name suggests, is an auxiliary equipment that dramatically increases physical abilities by covering the entire body with a nano-enhancement suit. It enhances the wearer to a level slightly below AMorphs or Volfs, so cyborg rankers often use it when engaging in physical combat.

‘That’s a cyborg-exclusive module, how is she using it?’

For some reason, Muriel was openly wearing equipment that should be impossible for other races, including Cult members, to use.

‘Even checking with Insight doesn’t reveal anything.’

「Name: Muriel (real name ■■■)

Race: Contains information that cannot be verified.

Status: Contains information that cannot be verified.

Equipped items: Golden Spear of Shaman (Unique grade), and others

Skills: Contains information that cannot be verified.」

I tried using Insight just in case, but all that showed up was the golden spear she was holding, the “Golden Spear of Shaman.”

‘Is this a new technique that nullifies Insight, or…’

I can’t tell whether it’s because Muriel is a player.

‘I have a lot to ask.’

After a brief deliberation that lasted mere seconds, I extended my corrosive tentacles from the holes in my back.

Just as I had felt when I first saw Muriel, she too frowns at seeing my abilities, which she’s never encountered in the game.

Muriel slowly moves sideways. She seems to have decided where to target first.

Now only one thing remains.

The signal flare to end the reconnaissance phase.

“Hah!”

Muriel took the first strike. She let out a short battle cry and kicked the ground.

The moment her foot left the ground, my corrosive tentacles shot toward her all at once.

Muriel deflected the tentacles with her spear.

Well then, can she block my tail too?

I pressed my upper body close to the ground and violently swung my massive tail upward.

Judging this would be difficult to block, she rolled in mid-air. Completely ignoring the laws of physics, she moved through the air as if it were solid ground and stretched her left hand toward me.

As her hand glowed purple, my movements slowed dramatically. This was the effect of “Distortion Field,” one of the advanced Psychic Power techniques.

Distortion Field extremely slows the movement of enemies within a certain area while making the caster’s movements very fast. She’s slowing me down while enhancing herself, but there’s something she’s overlooked.

‘I have the Psychic Reflection Gloves.’

“How annoying!”

Her expression sours as she hovers in the air. About 30% of the negative effects of Distortion Field are being reflected back at her.

Still, she can move much faster than me, that’s a fact.

She avoided my slowed tail and counterattacked with her spear. Having consumed quite a lot of blood, the Golden Spear of Shaman easily penetrated my tail’s carapace.

After successfully making a small hole in my tail, Muriel landed on my back carapace. Her consecutive thrusts created multiple holes in my shell.

‘I need to get away.’

The wounds on my body heal quickly thanks to the nest’s effect, but that doesn’t mean I should take just any attack.

I rotated my body sharply to shake her off my back. Then I tried to strike her with the horns on my head as she flew away.

Unlike before, she didn’t dodge. Instead, as if intending to cut off my head along with my horns, she swung her spear vertically in a wide arc.

When the horn and spear met, a metallic sound similar to a blacksmith hammering a sword reverberated through the air.

“What?!”

Muriel’s eyes widened at the unexpected result.

My horns are made of the same structure as my head carapace, the hardest part of my body. So even when they collide with the Golden Spear of Shaman, they only get scratched rather than cut.

‘Of course, they would be cut if hit a few more times.’

She obviously knows this too. After spinning her spear once, she aimed its tip at my horns.

To block this, my corrosive tentacles rushed at her from all directions.

I shot my corrosive tentacles again to prevent her from approaching. My corrosive tentacles rushed at her from all directions to block her.

“Tch!”

Muriel clicked her tongue briefly and kicked the ground to retreat. The tentacles, a beat too slow, struck the spot where she had just been.

As she dodged the attacks with elegant movements, she briefly swung her spear. The metal blade, swung horizontally, cut one of my tentacles.

「Pain Reduction activated!」

An intense pain surged through me, but thanks to my trait, it was bearable.

By sacrificing one tentacle, I created a gap to escape from the Distortion Field’s area.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Muriel resumed her pursuit. I swept the ground forcefully with my tail.

She easily avoided my tail while moving freely in the air, but my intention just now wasn’t to hit her.

When the strong dust cloud created by my tail sweeping the ground obscured the space between us, I frantically dug into the ground with my combat arms.

A hole was completed in an instant. I quickly crawled inside.

Even with her vision obscured, Muriel seemed to have a means to see me, as she targeted my rear.

Her spear cut through the dust. To block her, the spine-shooting organ at the end of my tail released a barrage of spines.

“Tsk.”

While she deflected the spines flying through the dust, I completely burrowed into the ground.

“How annoying!”

I can hear Muriel expressing her irritation above ground.

She probably has detection skills to know my position, but since I’m underground, it would be difficult for her to deploy Distortion Field.

‘She can only deploy it where her sight reaches.’

Muriel followed me and began stabbing the ground with her spear. The spear, which pierced the ground as easily as tofu, stabbed my back and tail.

Fortunately, her detection skill isn’t perfect, as she couldn’t inflict critical wounds on me.

‘This much will heal quickly.’

Ignoring Muriel’s harassment, I traversed the underground of the central plaza at a ferocious speed.

As I dig through the ground rapidly, I can see the tunnels I previously laid that lead to my nest. Those will be useful at a crucial moment later.

‘But first, this comes first.’

The tooth fairy nests near my lower back began to burst one by one. The enhanced flesh fleas climbed to the surface, digging through the soil with their sharp teeth.

At the same time, I activated my acid fungal glands and held the fungi in my mouth without firing them.

‘This should do it.’

After completing preparations in just a few minutes, I burst through the surface.

My movement, at a size of 20 meters, twisted the ground, and a wave of sand, stones, and soil engulfed Muriel.

While her vision was momentarily obscured by the tsunami of dirt, I brought down a bone axe on her head.

With lightning-fast speed. However, she calmly responded by deploying Distortion Field.

With the bone just inches from her head, my body slowed dramatically. She bent her waist backward and easily avoided my axe.

Following this, the golden spear, guided by its owner’s will, pierced my side. Black blood gushed from my wound, and a smile appeared on her face.

But I’m the one who should truly be smiling.

‘Got you!’

My combat arms grabbed the spear stuck in my side. To prevent her from pulling it out.

Muriel’s expression froze with that smile still on her face. Her eyes showed she realized it was a trap, but it was already too late.

The tooth fairies I had summoned from underground earlier jumped out and clung to her face and upper body.

“Such petty tricks…!”

Muriel shouted in annoyance as the tooth fairies obscured her vision. As she said, it’s just a petty trick. Distortion Field isn’t canceled just because her vision is blocked.

‘That’s not what I’m really aiming for.’

My jaws opened wide on both sides, and the acid fungi I had been holding inside shot out like a stream.

Distortion Field only slows the movement of living beings within its area; it can’t distort other physical laws.

“!”

Sensing this by instinct despite her blocked vision, Muriel quickly turned her head. Thanks to this, most of the fungi missed, with only some splashing on one side of her face.

But the terror of acid fungi isn’t just in its strong acidity.

Even a single drop of fungal liquid can spread instantly.

“Kyaaaah!”

Muriel screamed as the fungi spread, dissolving one side of her face and her horn. The tooth fairies blocking her vision were also heroically oxidized by the fungi.

‘Now’s my chance!’

Perhaps because her concentration was broken, the effect of Distortion Field weakened.

I didn’t miss the opportunity and swung my tail forcefully.

“Kuk!”

The spear embedded in my side was pulled out, and it flew away with its owner. Muriel landed awkwardly on the chaotic plaza floor.

‘I underestimated her.’

Despite the pain of her melting face, Muriel simultaneously used several defensive measures to block my attack.

Ghost Skin, a Psychic Power technique that makes her take only 10% of physical damage but 50% more psychic damage, and a circular shield that suddenly emerged from the wrist part of her suit.

My attack did hit, but it probably didn’t inflict critical damage on her.

‘If she were a Cult member, she would have been knocked down by that attack, but…’

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!”

She quickly regained her composure while leaning on her spear. The suit covering her body extended like a web to her face, healing her wounds.

‘…As expected.’

In her rapidly healing face, I saw things not found in ordinary living beings.

Inside her half-melted skin were ivory-colored alloy skeletons instead of white bones, and small mechanical devices and chips embedded between red muscles.

I had been wondering from the beginning.

According to my memory, Muriel in the game was a cyborg belonging to Space Dog.

She also freely used Psychic Power techniques, the specialty of Cult members, while using equipment that only cyborgs could use.

During our fight, I thought it was strange that she preferred physical combat unlike typical Cult members, but now all my questions have been answered.

‘A fusion of Cult and cyborg.’

This is the combination that all cyborg players in the game desperately desire, and one that was absolutely impossible for balance reasons, standing right in front of me.

The cyborg, having completed her recovery except for the melted horn, glares at me.

“How·is·this·possible?”

Apart from balance issues, Cult members, who are physically weak according to the setting, cannot withstand cyborg modification procedures. None of the Cult members I’ve met so far have attempted to resist parasites because they simply cannot endure the pain.

Considering this, it’s unlikely that Muriel started as a Cult member and was modified into a cyborg.

‘Rather, it’s the opposite.’

She might have started as a cyborg and changed her base race to Cult through “some means.”

‘It’s similar to the transcendence system I possess.’

Transformation abilities similar to Volf, ship domination abilities exclusive to Outspacers, and so on.

Me, transcending the limitations of AMorphs with the transcendence system.

Muriel, surpassing the limitations of cyborgs and grasping Psychic Power.

It felt somehow similar.

“…Alright. So you’re ranked 5th, is that it?”

Instead of answering my question, Muriel pressed the neck area with her empty left hand. Translucent button-like objects appeared and disappeared where her fingers passed.

Soon, the effect of the buttons she pressed became apparent.

The muscles in her body swelled greatly, and her eyes glowed intensely with purple light. Her left arm, not holding the Golden Spear of Shaman, transformed into a mechanical arm, fusing with her suit.

‘She absorbed Psyonium.’

Just as AMorphs can tap into the next stage of evolution abilities when consuming Psyonium, the same applies to Cult members and cyborgs. In the case of Cult members, they can use Psychic Power techniques that can only be unlocked through specific quests, and for cyborgs, the limit on the number of modules they can equip at once is removed.

‘I wonder which race she upgraded?’

For cyborgs based on humans, since their race is considered cyborg, the Psyonium effect would remove the module limit, but Muriel is a more complex being.

Since her race is the extraordinary combination of Cult cyborg, it’s hard to determine which aspect was enhanced.

‘Perhaps both were affected.’

The headband she was wearing transformed into a purple halo floating behind her head, completing her transformation.

“Because of you, I had to use Psyonium and equipment I was saving. I’ll make you pay dearly for that later.”

After saying that, she instantly appeared before me. It was so fast that even an AMorph with transcendent senses could barely detect it.

‘Danger!’

As I instinctively turned my head, a threatening sound of air being torn followed. It was the sound of her thrusting spear.

If I hadn’t dodged, that attack would have pierced my crown, putting me in danger.

‘Her physical abilities have increased unbelievably.’

Recognizing this fact, I swung my tail.

Unlike before when she was dodging my tail, this time she didn’t move. Instead, she grabbed my tail with her mechanical arm. And then she began to apply pressure with the hand holding my tail.

「Pain Reduction activated!」

She was not only crushing the thick carapace of my tail but also breaking the bones inside. With this level of strength, she could tear off my tail with her left hand.

I drew a bone axe with my combat arm and struck down at her.

However, she easily blocked my attack with her spear. Her strength had increased so much that my arm that delivered the attack felt numb in return.

“Don’t you get tired of this? Do you think such methods will work on me?”

“What·about·this?”

“What?”

She questions me, her face bearing a sadistic smile.

‘I already know you have a twisted personality.’

She’s not the only one with hidden cards.

And I’ve been holding her in place to use that card.

I held her with my combat arms and corrosive tentacles to prevent her from escaping.

From beneath our feet, the parasite I had planted earlier sends a signal.

The host is coming up now.

“No way?!”

Just as Muriel shouted, the ground where we stood exploded.

「Murieeeeeel!」

What burst through the ground was a lion’s massive forepaw.

With a roar like lightning striking from the sky, the lion’s forepaw flew toward Muriel’s legs.

“Damn it!”

When her calves were half-severed, her body glowed purple and disappeared from my grasp.

Then she appeared in perfect condition some distance away.

“You fucking AMorph bastard! What kind of AMorph are you?!”

“What·do·you·mean?”

“Since when do AMorphs bring companions?!”

“Oh·that’s·just·in·the·game.”

“Eek!”

While I calmly answered the enraged Muriel, the Sky Mother crawled up from underground.

“Choi Seoa, you bitch, you’re still not dead…!”

「Until I complete my revenge for my family, until I chew every piece of your flesh one by one, I cannot die even if I wanted to.」

Muriel who used Psyonium, the Sky Mother vowing revenge with tears of blood.

And me, now a Subadult.

Now that all the main characters are gathered, it’s time for the second round.