Ch.174Screamer (1)

“Some conditions for ‘Subadult’->’Adult’ evolution have been fulfilled.

Apex (APEX) 1/30 (not achieved)”

‘Phew.’

I sighed as I looked at the Ice Horror collapsed on the floor.

I had successfully hunted one Apex, but my mind wasn’t particularly at ease.

‘This is definitely tough.’

Even in the game, hunting Apex creatures wasn’t easy. After all, creatures classified as Apex include only formidable beings like Gallergorn and Sea Demon.

But that was just a game. While Space Survival has quite severe death penalties, they don’t compare to death in reality.

Fighting for your life isn’t as easy as one might think.

‘It would have been difficult without them.’

Adhigh Orr, who helped me in this battle, landed beside me. No. 26 and Sky Mother, who had been riding on his back, also dismounted and approached me.

All three of them had been a great help in taking down the Ice Horror.

“Big baby, are you hurt? Big baby is badly injured.”

[Zzzzz zzzzzzz (I’ll be fine after a while)]

No. 26, who had returned to his small size, worried about me first as always.

“Strong opponent” “Hunt” “Success”

“…I can’t believe we actually killed this thing.”

Adhigh Orr jumped around on the corpse, hopping here and there. Sky Mother was staring at the body in disbelief.

[Zzzz zzzz zzzz zzzzzz zzzz (Let’s all eat quickly. We don’t have much time)]

The underground cavity where we are is barely holding up. After the Ice Horror and I wreaked havoc, it could collapse at any moment.

‘If this place collapses, it will affect the outside too.’

If this place caves in, the ice plains above would also collapse, creating a massive sinkhole. The Gallergorn would certainly find it suspicious if a perfectly intact ice sheet suddenly caved in.

Besides, I don’t have much time left.

The duration of the Hunt’s Emblem is 20 minutes. I spent most of that time fighting the creature, so only about 5 minutes remain.

Hearing my words, Sky Mother looked at the cracked wall and nodded.

“Indeed. Looking at the wall, it won’t hold for long.”

[Zzzz zzzzzz zzzz (You take out the heart first)]

“Got it.”

I picked up the Golden Spear of Shaman soaked in blood and threw it to her. She caught the spear effortlessly and walked into the wound I had created.

“Middle baby, I’ll help you.”

“…Thanks.”

While No. 26 and Sky Mother entered the creature’s belly, I prepared to eat the Ice Horror’s head.

‘The carapace is too hard to eat as is.’

I opened the creature’s jaw and crawled inside. Past the sharp teeth and hard protrusions, into the throat where soft flesh greeted me.

Flesh surrounded my body, all edible parts. I lay down and began tearing at the meat spread all around.

‘Hmm.’

I thought the meat would be tough since its carapace was so hard, but surprisingly it wasn’t. Despite half my teeth being broken, the creature’s flesh went down my throat with little resistance.

However….

‘It’s spicy.’

The Ice Horror’s meat boasted the spiciest flavor among all the prey I’d eaten so far. If AMorphs had tear ducts, tears would have welled up in my eyes.

‘Is it because of the poison?’

The poison that the Ice Horror spews is much stronger than the neurotoxin I possess. Wondering if other parts were like this too, I tasted flesh from deeper inside.

‘This part is less spicy.’

It seemed that only the throat and esophagus near the poison glands were this spicy, and other parts would be fine.

Still, I should warn the others just in case.

[Zzzzzzz zzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzz (Be careful, the meat contains poison)]

“I was wondering why it was so spicy, so it was the poison after all.”

Sky Mother was eating the Ice Horror’s heart that she had harvested. Through my auxiliary organs, I detected that she was in griffon form. She probably tasted it in humanoid mode, realized it contained poison, and transformed into a griffon with poison resistance.

Currently, none of us lack poison resistance. No. 26 and I have the highest resistance, but the other two can eat Ice Horror meat as long as it’s not from dangerous parts.

However, there was no way to avoid the spiciness, as No. 26 and Adhigh Orr’s waves and thought patterns poured out wildly.

“Spicy! It hurts! It hurts but it’s delicious!”

“Tingling” “Novelty”

No. 26 seemed to keep eating despite saying it hurt, and Adhigh Orr appeared to enjoy experiencing the new sensation.

‘I’m glad everyone seems to be enjoying it.’

Seeing No. 26 eating something spicy was something I honestly wanted to see, but I still had work to do.

Before the Hunt’s Emblem ends, I need to eat the entire head.

‘I wonder what I’ll get this time.’

Since the creature was hundreds of meters long, its head was well over 20 meters in size. I devoured pieces of meat half the size of my body at a ferocious pace.

As I was eating my way up from the neck to where the brain was located, Sky Mother called out to me.

“Come out for a moment when you’re done eating.”

[Zzzzzzz (What’s wrong?)]

“I found a Screamer in its intestines.”

[Zz (What?)]

I flinched for a moment upon hearing her words.

“Don’t worry. Only the remains of an already deactivated Screamer are left.”

Her follow-up words reassured me slightly, but not enough to completely relax.

[Zzzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzz (Do you think they’re nearby?)]

“I don’t think so. Judging by the corroded state, considerable time has passed. Almost 3 weeks.”

[Zzzz zzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzzz (It was in its stomach for 3 weeks?)]

“Looking at the remaining metal skeleton, it seems similar to the one we saw earlier.”

From what I heard, it seems the modified new Screamers had entered this underground area before. Then they encountered the Ice Horror and were completely wiped out.

‘Was the one I saw in the forest above a Screamer that escaped from here?’

Come to think of it, it didn’t look in great condition when I encountered it. At the time, I thought it was because it had been fighting with the Winterwalker, but perhaps it had been chased by this creature.

‘I’m curious, but…’

For now, eating comes first. I told her I understood and resumed my feeding activity.

By eating frantically at an increased pace, I managed to finish the creature’s head with exactly 10 seconds to spare.

And then.

“Predation effect activated! ‘Giant Creature’ gene essence acquisition successful.”

“Stole the biological trait ‘Giant Creature’ from ‘Ice Horror’.”

“Can be fused with previously possessed ‘Bone Axe’.”

“‘Giant Creature’ and ‘Bone Axe’ traits fused. Evolved into ‘Bone Beast’ trait!”

“Bone Beast: Inherits and enhances the existing Giant Creature trait. Once a week, you can transform into an extremely powerful ‘Bone Beast’. Transformation duration is 60 minutes.

*Note: Cannot be used together with ‘Hunt’s Emblem’.

*P.S.: Exoskeletons are not exclusive to certain species.”

“New message has arrived.”

With the notification of a new message, the famous trait beloved by all AMorph players, ‘Bone Beast’, came into my possession.

–

Jason of the Ashre tribe.

He was a Cult with many titles.

The respected ‘Shaman’ of the Empire and the ‘Leader of the Providences’ who protected tradition, the ‘National Hero’ who defended the capital from Outspacer attacks.

These were fitting titles for someone who shone at Rank 10.

However, recently his kinsmen had begun adding one word before these titles.

That word was ‘former’.

Due to a recent blunder, he had fallen from an object of admiration to a villain who shook the security of the Empire.

In truth, he could have endured that much. Though his body was Cult, his mind was human. As a human, it’s natural to make mistakes in life.

But what truly drove him mad was the being who greatly contributed to his downfall.

Rank 5 MorphBak.

Whether in reality or in this world, he was the being Jason hated most.

The bad blood between Jason and MorphBak was quite long. In reality, he had to restart characters countless times because of that bastard.

The reason he had been so zealous in eradicating AMorphs in this world was because he had suffered a lot at MorphBak’s hands. He did this despite knowing it would hinder quest completion.

Yet the bastard survived. No, he didn’t just survive—he properly got his revenge on Jason.

The day he heard the news that the Imperial Mothership and its fleet had been annihilated, he realized something.

Unless he mounted MorphBak’s head on his bedroom wall, he would never sleep peacefully again.

So unlike his colleagues, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Unique-grade equipment obtainable from late-game quests, loyal subordinates who followed him, and even a dedicated warship. He had prepared thoroughly enough to capture even an adult AMorph without difficulty.

That wasn’t all. He even had a sub-boss level creature, Black Gallergorn, supported by Akira Yujin. At this point, unless he deliberately went easy on his opponent, it would be strange to lose to that bastard.

When he first set foot on the cold ice planet, he was filled with confidence that he could finally kill MorphBak.

However, that thought was shattered after encountering the Black Gallergorn introduced by Akira Yujin, ‘The Great Odd Grad’.

“Damn it! When the hell are you going to take action yourself? That bastard isn’t someone an ordinary Gallergorn can defeat!”

Jason, clad in dragon armor made from Gallergorn materials, was shouting loudly inside a vast cave.

He wasn’t suddenly going insane and shouting alone. In front of him lay an enormous being.

A black Gallergorn lying on various sparkling minerals. This was the king of dragons inhabiting this planet, the Great Odd Grad.

“Odd Grad” “Spoke” “Important task” “Have”

Odd Grad leisurely replied while eating prey brought by young Gallergorn. Jason’s blood boiled at this calm and seemingly lazy attitude, but he barely suppressed his anger.

‘Stupid lizard! If you just took action yourself, you could subdue that White Gallergorn immediately!’

When Jason arrived, Odd Grad’s group was in a state of division.

When Gallergorn grow old and become adults, or Black Gallergorn, they gain the right to challenge the leader of the group.

For a long time, Odd Grad had been the only Black Gallergorn in his group, but there was a problem.

The second-ranked White Gallergorn female had begun to covet his position. Normally, one would challenge after becoming a Black Gallergorn, but this happened because no new Black Gallergorn had emerged since Odd Grad became the leader.

“If you just stepped up, everything would be resolved. Why are you hesitating?”

“Odd Grad” “Speaks” “Traitors” “Gathering” “Waiting”

Currently, some in the group questioned why no adult Gallergorn were emerging. They were rebelling, thinking that Odd Grad, the only Black Gallergorn, was up to something.

As Odd Grad told Jason, he planned to use this opportunity to eliminate all Gallergorn who opposed his reign. His pretense of secluding himself in the cave was intended to make his enemies lower their guard.

But that was the Gallergorn’s business.

To Jason, who knew that an unprecedented danger—a Rank 5 AMorph—was approaching, this seemed like pathetic politicking.

‘When the AMorph grows fully, you’ll all be finished! You stupid skink!’

As Jason was cursing Odd Grad internally, a Gallergorn flew into the cave from outside.

The white-scaled Gallergorn folded its wings and bowed its head before Odd Grad.

“I” “Great Odd Grad” “What you said” “Saw”

“What is it saying?”

“Odd Grad” “Speaks” “Lowly being” “What you want” “Young one” “Found”

“What? Is that true?”

Though he was called a lowly being, Jason didn’t mind. Finding the AMorph was more important right now.

“Odd Grad” “Great task” “Preparing” “Instead” “Lowly being” “Young one” “Follow”

“…So you’re still not going to take action yourself?”

With those final words, Odd Grad raised his foreleg and waved it. It meant there was nothing more to say, so leave.

It looked like a king gesturing to his servants, which greatly displeased Jason. He gritted his teeth at the arrogance of what was merely Akira Yujin’s pet, but there was nothing he could do.

With Jason’s power, he could kill Odd Grad, but then he would have to fight all the Gallergorn here. If they fought, Jason’s group would suffer tremendous damage.

‘And then we’d be picked off one by one by MorphBak!’

Even in the game, clan alliances often shattered because of that bastard’s troublemaking. Having no desire to recreate in reality what had happened in the game, he said nothing more and left the cave.

Once the traitors were expelled, that annoying Black Gallergorn would have no choice but to help him. Since Akira had ordered it, Odd Grad had an obligation to assist Jason.

However, there was far too little time to wait until Odd Grad’s help arrived. If MorphBak really was on this planet, they were in a very dangerous situation, to say the least.

“Hey, guide us to the place you just told that lizard about.”

“Understand”

So now he needed to act alone first.

Jason headed to the camp where his subordinates were waiting, accompanied by the White Gallergorn.

–

I opened my eyes while lying in the nest, focusing on recovery.

‘I haven’t been sleeping well lately.’

It’s not because of nightmares or unresolved worries like before. It’s because of the message I received after predating the Ice Horror earlier today.

After unlocking Transcendence Stage 2, a new system called ‘Trait Enhancement’ was unlocked. At the time, it wasn’t activated even though it was unlocked, so I had forgotten about it, but it activated today.

‘I never thought it would be such a system…huh?’

As I was about to examine the Trait Enhancement system, my auxiliary organs detected movement.

There are no other creatures in our nest besides us. I quickly linked with the nest to check what had moved.

‘No. 26?’

He had said he would go to bed early because he had used a lot of energy during the day.

I thought his sleep pattern might have been disrupted because he went to bed early, but his behavior was strange.

No. 26 left the nest and disappeared beyond the passage.

‘What’s going on?’

He rarely acts alone under normal circumstances. Unless it’s an urgent combat situation, he always tells me what he’s doing or wants to do.

For him to sneak out in the middle of the night was clearly suspicious behavior.

I got up and carefully followed him. He was so preoccupied with something that he didn’t notice me following behind him at all.

After moving quite far from the nest, he suddenly stopped in place. Then he began to take something out from inside his body.

“Eat this.”

“PS-111. Expressing deep gratitude for the dedication of the newly registered main controller.”

Hearing the voice in front of No. 26, I could no longer stay hidden. I hurriedly approached him.

“Huh? Big baby?”

[Zzzz zzzz (What’s that?)]

“Oh, this is, well.”

No. 26 was uncharacteristically stammering, but I couldn’t focus on that fact.

The small object in front of him. It was very similar to something I had seen recently.

“PS-111. Unknown creature detected.”

A human female face with mechanical parts and tubes attached.

It was a new model Screamer with only its head remaining.