Ch.1Survive (1)

‘…I guess there’s no point in worrying about it.’

I decided to stop wallowing in despair.

It’s not that I’m more optimistic than others and just brushing things off.

AMorphs are a combat species with powerful vitality, but not when they’re Hatchlings.

I may have potential and possibilities in abundance, but right now I’m just a fragile being who will die if I don’t eat something within an hour.

So I need to move diligently before my remaining strength runs out.

Currently, I’m inside a massive metal structure.

I know very well that this is a ship made of alloy swimming through the sea called space—a spaceship.

‘Judging by the design, it looks like Megacorp or Star Union.’

Neither faction is particularly welcome to me.

Looking around, I spotted containers about three people tall. Between the stacked containers, I could see plastic boxes.

As the auxiliary organs under my chin twitched, various information pierced my mind.

‘What a strange sensation.’

Experiencing “hypersense”—which was implemented as a mini-map through game mechanics—directly with my body feels completely different.

It’s like smells sound like noises, sounds become visible—all senses mix and transform into information. It’s the sensation of simultaneously perceiving everything within range.

I can feel the pulsing vibrations of the nuclear fusion engine through the tips of my claws. The auxiliary organs at the edge of my senses are stimulated by various elements mixed subtly in the air—phosphorus, carbon, and more.

My auxiliary organs extracted the fact that food exists among the various smells and transmitted it to my brain.

My current top priority is nutritional replenishment. The fact that food is not far away is encouraging.

My three pairs of legs moved diligently toward the food, stepping on cold metal plates.

Each time my claws touch the grating floor, they make a clanking sound.

After passing through the forest of containers, I arrived at the plastic boxes and used my claws to climb on top. Once up there, I found the box was locked with a password.

‘Good thing it’s just a password. Let’s see.’

I brought my chin close to the number pad. As my auxiliary organs twitched and crawled over the number pad, fingerprints on the surface flowed into my mind.

‘1, 2, 3… wait, seriously?’

This combination of numbers seems oddly familiar. I pressed the buttons with my front legs to check.

Immediately, I heard the lock on the box release.

‘Wow. 1234? For real?’

Even in the space age, security standards like this exist. I thanked whoever set this password and opened the lid.

Inside the box were stacks of vacuum-packed calorie bars. I took out the topmost bar, tore open the packaging, and took a bite.

The dry texture felt like chewing an eraser. Even in the game tooltip, it said these were designed solely for nutrition, and that seemed to be true.

‘Well, at least I’ve successfully replenished my nutrition.’

Perhaps it’s because of the high calories, but I could feel strength flowing all the way to the tip of my tail.

Just as I was about to raise my front legs to eat another one, something was caught by my senses. My tail moved as quickly as a shot arrow, impaling the unidentified object.

‘A cockroach?’

Impaled on my sharp stinger was a cockroach. It struggled to escape before going limp.

As if possessed, I bit into the cockroach. Its carapace shattered under my teeth, and juices sprayed out. It seemed well-fed and juicy.

After devouring it completely, a different text box appeared than before.

「Predation Effect Activated! ‘Wings’ Gene Essence Acquisition Successful.」

「Stole ‘Wings’ from ‘Cockroach’ biological traits.」

「Apply ‘Wings’?」

‘Oh?’

Getting gene essence this quickly—I’m quite lucky.

Gene essence is the alpha and omega of AMorph operation. The more diverse essences you acquire, the stronger creature you can evolve into.

‘Wings, huh.’

In a space-based game, wings themselves don’t hold special meaning. But this isn’t a game—it’s reality. Considering I’m a vulnerable larva, it’s quite a useful trait. It gives me air superiority when hunting and advantages when escaping.

‘Accept.’

「Applying trait.」

I felt a tickling sensation on my back, and wings with the smooth, elastic texture characteristic of chitin grew.

「’Wings’ trait application complete.」

‘Good.’

I decided to try moving my wings.

‘But how do I move them?’

Unlike legs, wings aren’t familiar parts for humans.

Since they’re on my back, I tried flexing muscles near where trapezius muscles would be. It must have been correct because my wings slowly fluttered.

‘Energy consumption is higher than I thought.’

After moving them a few times, I understood immediately. Flight consumes tremendous energy.

I stopped moving my wings and opened another calorie bar.

‘To properly utilize wings, I need something else.’

While gaining wings was welcome, there was another core ability I needed to get from cockroaches.

An ability essential for smooth and comfortable survival.

‘My first goal is set.’

I thought while munching on the calorie bar.

First, I need to become a cockroach slayer.

–

In my childhood, I read a story like this.

A man named Jonah tried to flee from God’s command and was swallowed by a whale in the sea. An ordinary person would have died, but Jonah was under divine protection, so he survived three days in the whale’s belly before escaping. After this near-death experience, Jonah faithfully followed God’s words.

Why am I suddenly bringing up this old story? Because my situation resembles Jonah in the whale’s belly.

I too am searching for food inside a steel whale swimming through the zero-gravity space.

I stayed motionless, clinging to the wall, when a cockroach passed below me. My tail became like a fishing line with a hook, catching it.

*Thwack*

Like a fisherman pulling in a net, I carefully pulled up my tail. The creature, impaled on my stinger, sensed its fate and struggled desperately to escape.

‘That won’t work.’

My sharp teeth sank into its head. Small but razor-sharp teeth continuously worked to break down the cockroach’s exoskeleton and flesh into an easily digestible state. The remains could only pass through my throat after being reduced to an almost blended juice.

In terms of nutrition, calorie bars were superior, but in terms of taste, cockroaches were much better. Thanks to this, I could do things without hesitation that I couldn’t have imagined in my human days.

‘It tastes like pupa somehow.’

Literally a taste that calls for soju.

‘That’s the 20th one. Still no results?’

Out of habit from my human days, I picked my teeth with my front legs while bringing up the text box. A translucent text window appeared in front of my head according to my will.

「Species: Unidentified Agressive Space Morph

Status: Hatchling

Objective: Survive.

Traits: Hypersense, Wings, Chitinous Exoskeleton」

Getting wings first must have been beginner’s luck. Since then, I’ve eaten 19 more, but only gained one gene essence.

‘Chitinous exoskeleton isn’t bad, but…’

Chitinous exoskeleton is a powerful trait that greatly increases defense depending on growth level. It becomes more useful in later stages, but it’s unnecessary in my current situation.

There’s little meaning in slightly increasing defense when you’re a Hatchling with near-zero defense. Other abilities are more important.

‘I need to secure the Robust Vitality trait, but it’s not coming up.’

Robust Vitality is a common trait possessed by most insect-type and plant-type creatures. Of course, its effect is also quite simple.

‘Reducing energy consumption to slow aging.’

In games where lifespan doesn’t exist, only concept-focused players would bother with this trait.

But when games become reality, its status is completely different.

‘With Robust Vitality, the need to constantly find food is greatly reduced.’

I can’t live in this cargo hold forever. The vibrations felt through the walls, the faint footsteps heard. Whenever I sense these, I realize time is running out.

The owners of this ship, humanity, are my enemies.

Even without considering the game’s background story, it’s hard to imagine they would react well upon seeing me.

If they notice items disappearing from the cargo hold, they’ll come looking for me. And if I’m caught? Death, or becoming an experimental subject.

To avoid this grim future, I need to fulfill evolution conditions as quickly as possible to move beyond the Hatchling stage. For that, I need to expand my activity range beyond the cargo hold.

I’ve rambled enough. In short, if I want to live, I need to diligently hunt cockroaches.

‘Let’s change position.’

Cockroaches are sensitive and intelligent insects that never go to areas where their companions have died. They know danger lurks where companions have perished. At first, not knowing this, I wasted 30 minutes staying in the same spot.

‘Heave!’

I bent my eight legs, pressing my body tightly against the wall, then explosively extended them in an instant.

My body bounced elastically and took flight.

While suspended in the air, wings spread wide from my back. The muscles in my back, equivalent to human trapezius muscles, tensed. As my wings began to beat, my falling body slowly rose upward.

A monster resembling a desert spider flapping wings and flying around—wouldn’t someone with a weak heart faint at the sight?

Even while flying, my vision and auxiliary organs continuously searched for cockroaches.

‘At this point, I’m truly an honorary AMorph.’

While lost in idle thoughts, cockroaches were detected.

One clinging to the wall, another diligently crawling on a plastic box.

I decided to catch the closer one first—the one on the wall. My wings adjusted their angle, and accordingly, my body turned toward its direction.

The cockroach, perhaps lost in thought, didn’t notice my assault at all. I grabbed it with my front legs like an eagle snatching a fish.

Before it could escape between my claws, I quickly put it in my mouth. Its exoskeleton, looking like well-polished shoes, shattered, and juices and entrails spurted from its side.

With one more remaining, I kept this one in my mouth and targeted the next.

‘Oh no.’

The one on the floor had noticed me. It fled under the box to escape the predator.

Those small legs were heading for a gap in the floor. If it escapes through the gap between the alloy plates, the hunt ends there.

‘I can’t let it escape!’

I pushed against the wall with my four pairs of legs to gain momentum and flew toward it like an arrow leaving a bowstring. It was already pushing its antennae and head into the gap in the metal plate.

When only its lower body was visible, I crashed onto the floor. The pain surged from the impact with the unyielding metal, but my mind remained focused on its rear end.

My tail shot out like a viper targeting prey. It cut through the air, and the stinger at its end entered the hole in the metal plate.

The cockroach, which had just begun to feel safe, was terrified. Its brain, which had just decided to flee, was split in two by the sharp stinger before it could act.

‘Phew.’

By a narrow margin, I succeeded in hunting both. My tail returned to its place with an elegant movement. At its end, a proud trophy dangled.

After finishing the corpse in my mouth, I started eating the one on my tail. Just as I was about to finish it, the message I had been waiting for appeared.

「Predation Effect Activated! ‘Robust Vitality’ Gene Essence Acquisition Successful.」

「Stole ‘Robust Vitality’ from ‘Cockroach’ biological traits.」

「Apply ‘Robust Vitality’?」

‘Of course I accept.’

I feel a qualitatively different vitality throughout my body.

My legs, which were long and thin, grew thicker with muscle, and the chitinous exoskeleton covering my back and abdomen gained a better luster.

This is just the beginning.

The cargo hold—enormous compared to my body but just a tiny part of the ship.

The time has come to break out of this world where I took my first steps.