Ch.126Maintenance (3)

After consuming the unique-grade equipment, I searched the campsite thoroughly for any other useful items.

During this time, the Sky Mother remained completely still. She was mourning her dead kin.

A day passed, and the Sky Mother came to find me resting in the nest.

She said she wanted to help hunt Players too. Otherwise, such tragedies would only repeat themselves.

‘If she’s volunteering to come along, I’m grateful.’

In truth, even if she had chosen to stay, I was planning to take her by force.

She might become necessary after I reach adulthood, and above all, her combat skills are too exceptional to leave behind. She would be helpful in supporting No. 26 and Adhigh Orr.

Since the Sky Mother volunteered to accompany me, I asked her all the questions I’d been curious about.

How many Players were there, whether groups like game clans existed, when they all arrived in this world, why no one had seen the ending yet, and so on.

I spent a day gathering necessary information from the Sky Mother.

It wasn’t a meaningless time. She knew far more facts than Muriel did.

To summarize what the Sky Mother told me:

‘So there was a gathering of Players.’

She fell into this world 15 years ago, but the Players’ gathering had existed long before that.

However, by the time she learned of the gathering’s existence, it had already split into several Player groups that were at odds with each other.

Their conflict started from a single difference in position.

‘Those who wanted to see the ending versus those who opposed it.’

According to the Sky Mother, many of the Players who attended the gathering had seen the ending. Thanks to this, those who participated knew what happened after the ending.

‘Before moving on to Galactic Conqueror, a message appears asking if you want to continue the game.’

They claimed that based on the message that appears when seeing the ending in Space Survival, they could escape this world.

‘But the method is the problem.’

To see the ending, one must kill the leaders of competing species or those of equivalent status.

Among the Players were those with high positions such as Megacorp CEOs and Cult shamans. Asking them to give up their lives naturally met with resistance.

Moreover, many questioned what would happen to this world after the ending.

Among the Players at the gathering were those who had survived for decades, even over a hundred years. For them, the time spent living in this world was much longer than in reality. Their lives here were far more precious than reality.

Surprisingly, someone at a previous gathering had attempted to reach the ending.

In the early days of the gathering, the one who challenged the ending was the #1 ranked cyborg.

He persuaded others who opposed him to see the ending together, and actually put it into action.

‘Number one, of course.’

The #1 ranked player boasted incredible game sense; I challenged him several times but never won.

Not only was his skill top-notch, but his Player Perk was also at an absurd level.

It was related to equipment and module crafting, allowing him to add options that were impossible to add in the game without any restrictions.

Anyway, thanks to his active use of abilities, the Players who participated in the gathering could bypass the condition of killing enemy species’ leadership.

What remained was defeating the raid boss, Voltex One.

The Players at the gathering weren’t too worried about this part.

The rankers who had seen the ending had already won at least once in the game. The #1 ranked player was even the only person who had killed two Voltex Ones simultaneously by himself in the game.

However, they failed.

What happened to them after the challenge remains unknown.

Whether they were annihilated by Voltex One or defeated by unexpected enemies, no one knows except the survivors.

What’s clear is that most Players who tried to see the ending died, including the #1 ranked player.

The Players who barely survived only said that seeing the ending was impossible.

Whatever happened, with #1 dead, reaching the ending peacefully became impossible.

Thus, conflict between those who wanted to see the ending and those who opposed it was inevitable.

And there was new information that intensified this conflict.

The looting of Perks.

All Players knew they each had received Perks.

However, they didn’t know these Perks could be stolen by killing other Players.

After #1’s death, this information spread throughout the gathering at some point.

What happened to the gathering afterward is predictable without being told.

A war among Players.

Those seeking the ending tried to devour those who chose to stay and grow stronger.

Conversely, those who chose to stay did the same.

They tried to kill other Players for their own benefit or to survive.

‘…In a way, seeing the ending or not might just be an excuse.’

In a different sense from the Sky Mother, they too may have become disconnected from reality and become true inhabitants of this world.

The war has been in a lull for several years, but before that, it was truly fierce. Most Players died, leaving barely more than ten survivors.

‘Of course, there might be people like me who arrive in this world later.’

After hearing about the Players, we briefly introduced ourselves to each other.

Only then did I realize exactly who she was.

‘To think she was the leader of the Savage Clan. I didn’t recognize her because she looks completely different.’

Her in-game nickname was entirely different from “Sky Mother.” Her appearance was based on a tiger Volf, and the animal she transformed into after becoming Incarnate wasn’t a griffon but a “Nue.”

With both her name and appearance completely different, I had guessed she might be someone I’d seen before, but I didn’t expect her to be from one of the four major clans I fought on the jungle planet.

The Savage Clan fell apart after fighting me. All clan members quit the game, leaving only the clan leader.

To think I’d meet such a person in a completely different world from reality and travel together—life is truly unpredictable.

“So where are we going now?”

[To the coast]

Currently, she was in griffon mode, traveling with me away from the campsite toward the sea.

I ran at full speed through the forest with a backpack full of spoils tied to the end of my tail, alongside the griffon.

Unlike me, who crawled through everything—trees, dirt, rocks—without discrimination, she gracefully alternated between ground and treetops as she ran.

Her body, once covered in blood scabs, now shone with smooth golden fur after being thoroughly cleaned before leaving the campsite.

Even when dirty, her lioness-like dense and firm muscles were impressive, but now with beautiful fur covering them, she truly had the majestic appearance befitting a griffon.

Just as I carried a bag, the griffon had a pendant with a sapphire embedded in it around her neck.

It was a necklace that allowed communication with others through thought waves—a tool that didn’t exist in the game.

‘Muriel has a comrade who’s in charge of equipment.’

All the equipment she used when fighting me—the modified Psyonium, Nano Spartan Module, Blood River, etc.—were all made by that comrade.

From what Muriel and the Sky Mother said, that comrade is a human affiliated with a Megacorp. If so, their identity is obvious.

‘Garmelda.’

The House responsible for developing enhancement suits among Noble Capital; in the game, their players mainly handled supplies.

‘Come to think of it…’

When I fought the armed police in the space city before, their enhancement suits weren’t ordinary.

‘They were mid-grade enhancement suits with shields.’

Shield-equipped standard enhancement suits were what most Megacorp players dreamed of.

In the game, they were impossible to craft due to balance issues, but this is reality. If I were a Megacorp player, I’d try to make them somehow.

Even if there’s no player in Garmelda, leaving such intelligent people alone would be disadvantageous for me in the long run.

‘After the dragon’s nest, I should deal with them first.’

If my goal is Ascension, I need to complete the conquest of Earth and Mars regardless.

But if there’s a player responsible for equipment development, the defense capability of the entire planet will increase endlessly, so I need to eliminate them in advance.

‘Or should I deal with them before the dragon’s nest?’

While lost in thought, the Sky Mother sent me a thought wave.

“The coast? I thought you’d target Horned Gigant first—that’s unexpected.”

[I have something I need to do]

“Something you need? Are you targeting the essence of aquatic creatures first to move to another continent?”

As far as I know, the Sky Mother was a rank 15 Volf player. Perhaps that’s why she knew well what an AMorph needs on this planet.

‘Unfortunately, she’s wrong.’

[No. We’ll go to other continents later.]

“No?”

[I need to find my friends first]

Because I need to find No. 26 and Adhigh Orr first.

But the griffon’s eyes turned strange after hearing my thought wave.

“You have friends?”

[Yes. We got separated when entering this planet]

Hearing this, the Sky Mother tilted her head.

“…You have friends?”

[Don’t make me repeat myself]

“Hmm. Hard to believe.”

[This isn’t a game, so there are no restrictions]

“No. It’s not because you’re an AMorph. It’s hard to believe that there are creatures friendly to you.”

The Sky Mother spoke as if making a statement.

Hearing this, I was dumbfounded.

‘She thinks I’m a monster?’

Looking at her eyes, she wasn’t joking but genuinely thought so.

Of course, it’s true that I had no friends in reality or in the game.

In reality, there were various reasons, and in the game, being an AMorph meant it was more efficient to eat friends or comrades than to make them.

[Here, having companions is more beneficial]

“…I wonder who these ‘friends’ traveling with you might be.”

[They’re good ones]

“……”

The Sky Mother opened her mouth wide, then quickly closed it. She seemed to have a lot to say but didn’t speak further.

We continued running for a full half day.

We handled meals by catching and eating wild creatures we found while moving.

Neither of us needed sleep to survive for weeks, so it wasn’t a problem.

She seemed half-convinced that I was really going to meet companions, but didn’t bring it up again.

Anyway, as we moved without rest, the thick, giant redwoods around us began to thin out.

The red and green paint scattered, replaced by a canvas painted with blue.

I untied the backpack hanging from my tail, then stood on the white beach where blue waves crashed.

I’m planning to use the monster’s tentacles to emit a psychic breath.

‘This is the first time since becoming a Subadult.’

Adhigh Orr, being sensitive to psychic power, should be able to detect it from a distance.

“What are you doing?”

[Step back. I’m going to call him]

Though she still didn’t seem to believe me, she wasn’t foolish enough to argue with me. Sensing the griffon retreating, I prepared my ability.

The tentacle clusters under my head carapace began working after a long time.

Vivid purple tentacles wriggled like octopus legs, all pointing forward.

Then I felt energy rapidly moving from the tip of my tail toward my head. Unlike before, the patterns on my exoskeleton emitted purple light in stages as the energy moved.

“……”

The Sky Mother behind me must have sensed the immense psychic power emanating from my body, as she retreated quite far back.

From tail to lower body, from lower body to waist and chest, and then to the tentacles near my head.

The monster’s tentacles drew out all the psychic power residing throughout my body.

And then.

‘That’s quite large.’

A purple sun with a diameter of 6 meters appeared before me. Given my length of 20 meters, it’s not large compared to my body, but it was incomparably larger than any psychic breath I’d used before.

‘Though it took longer to charge.’

I raised my head in that state. The essence of psychic power summoned by the monster’s tentacles also rose with my movement.

‘…It’s grown too large to handle easily.’

Though it appeared static on the outside, the dragon’s breath was surging inside the sphere.

Deciding this was enough, I released the sealed energy.

Above my head, the cosmic dragon spread its wings and soared. With each flap of its wings, the white sand scattered around us was blown away, and the waves reversed their flow.

The psychic power’s heat ray, which numbed the auxiliary organs under my jaw, tore through the air and rose endlessly upward.

More and more.

It flew until it tore through the white clouds floating above the blue sky sea, and finally stopped.

After the dragon flew away, all that remained was the blue sky without a single cloud and purple particle granules falling like snow.

Judging this was enough, I lowered my head that I had raised high.

[Now we wait]

“……”

The Sky Mother, who witnessed me shooting the psychic breath, was blankly staring at the sky.

“…This is strange. You’re clearly a Subadult, but how is this possible? Could this be the effect of a Perk? No, unless the species changes, this is…”

Even as I lay down on the beach to wait, the Sky Mother continued muttering incomprehensibly while looking at where the psychic breath had passed.

Half a day passed like that.

After muttering for a long time, the Sky Mother seemed to have somehow come to terms with it and lay down on the beach. However, judging by the fear in her eyes, she didn’t seem to be as comfortable as I was.

Ignoring her, I picked up a crab crawling in front of me and put it in my mouth.

‘It should be about time they arrive… hm?’

Just then, the Sky Mother stood up as if she saw something in the distance. With vision superior to mine, she glared at the sky that was turning orange.

“Morph.”

[What is it?]

“…Don’t tell me the companion you mentioned is a Green Gallergorn?”

There’s only one Green Gallergorn on this planet.

‘Adhigh Orr has arrived.’

I also got up and waited for them to arrive. After waiting about 5 minutes, I began to see Adhigh Orr as well.

‘Huh?’

But something was strange. Adhigh Orr’s movements were much slower than usual and somehow seemed unnatural.

‘What’s going on?’

Moreover, I couldn’t sense No. 26’s movements at all, who should have been following underwater.

‘Could it be?’

I quickly spread a new nest on the beach.

It just needed to be large enough for Adhigh Orr and No. 26 to lie down.

But while I was making the nest, the situation changed drastically. Adhigh Orr, unable to fly any longer, crashed onto the sand.

[Adhigh!]

The Sky Mother quickly took flight, caught Adhigh Orr in her mouth, and landed safely.

Adhigh Orr’s condition was difficult to describe as good even as a white lie. The griffon’s beak holding him and the beach sand instantly turned bright red.

I took Adhigh Orr from the Sky Mother, implanted symbiotic spores, and placed him on the nest.

As the symbiote wriggled and injected healing fluid into his body, Adhigh Orr’s breathing became easier. Even the severe wounds that exposed his internal organs and bones were visibly healing, albeit slowly.

‘What happened?’

Adhigh Orr flying in with serious injuries. And No. 26 nowhere to be seen.

A pitch-black anxiety, like the darkening night sky, settled over my heart.