Ch.248Test Subject (3)

What I saw when I opened my eyes was a completely different place from the cargo hold.

Numerous green glass tubes. A chemical smell so strong it made my auxiliary organs ache.

The place, with its eerie atmosphere created by the light from the glass tubes, looked more like a catacomb from the distant future than a research facility.

‘…What is this?’

It was a place with such a bizarre atmosphere that I could confidently say I’d never seen it before in my life.

Yet somehow it felt familiar. No, beyond familiar—it felt comforting.

As if I had come home.

I crawled out of the glass tube.

‘I remember.’

I had seen visions when entering Transcendence Level 2 on the Cult’s sacred planet before. This was the exact place I saw then.

‘How could I have forgotten this?’

It felt like someone had sealed and then unsealed the memories and thoughts in my head. The idea that some unknown entity was controlling my consciousness filled me with anxiety and fear.

‘…Stay calm.’

Based on my experiences so far, what I’m seeing and feeling is likely a hallucination. In reality, I’m probably in a semi-liquefied state inside the cocoon.

‘Let’s look around.’

Doing something would be better than just trembling in fear. Maintaining my composure with difficulty, I crawled forward.

The cavity was quite spacious. It was so large that even I, at tens of meters long, couldn’t see the end as I crawled.

The green glass tubes I saw along the way were densely packed not just on the floor but also on the walls and ceiling.

I glanced inside each tube as I passed, but they were empty. They were just filled with some unknown green liquid. Small terminals were attached to the tubes, but they were all powered off.

As I moved past the foul-smelling glass tubes, I spotted a door. It was a heavily rusted iron door. I pushed it slightly with my combat arm.

The door, which didn’t budge at first, began to move little by little. Bright light streamed through the gap.

Eventually, the door opened wide, and white light enveloped me.

‘Where is that?’

When the light faded, I found myself in a very familiar space.

‘My home?’

The door to my studio apartment, where I lived before entering the world of Space Survival, was right in front of me. I could hear someone’s voice from inside.

As if entranced by that familiar voice, I grabbed the doorknob with the small arm on my chest.

The moment the door opened and I faced whoever was inside.

I woke up.

My bodily senses returned, and I felt warm liquid enveloping my entire body. And I felt something soft like a wall constricting me.

‘What was that just now?’

I had forgotten last time, but not this time. Though hazy like morning fog, what I had just seen remained in my head.

The strange facility filled with glass tubes, and my studio apartment.

The former was a place I had never seen before, while the latter was a space very familiar to me. There was no connection between the two.

‘Could it be my body’s memory?’

My mind is human, but my body is an AMorph. Perhaps the memories contained in the AMorph’s flesh appeared as visions.

‘…Considering the settings revealed after Ascension, that could be possible.’

But according to my memory, such a facility never appeared before or after Ascension. The place that appears after Ascension is the planet where AMorphs were first born, the planet with ancient ruins.

I kept pondering in the cocoon, but I couldn’t figure out what the vision meant.

‘Still, I have a clue.’

There’s a commonality between when I forgot last time and the current situation.

‘Back then, it was when I entered Transcendence System Level 2, and now…’

With the unique trait created through transcendence becoming my fourth one, my Space Morph type rose to Level 1. That means the memory related to the mysterious place might be connected to the Transcendence System.

‘I might see something else when I reach Space Morph Level 2.’

There’s no point in spending time speculating when information is still lacking.

Besides, the bodily changes were complete. I don’t know how much time had passed, but seeing my liquefied body solidify into a new form, my transformation was already complete.

I extended my combat arm and tore the cocoon.

Mucus gushed out of the cocoon like when poking a half-boiled egg with chopsticks. After tearing through the soft cocoon, cold air brushed against my carapace.

After breathing in the fresh air, I checked the changes in my body.

The first unique trait I synthesized, “Complete Organism,” transformed my body into a large, sleek carnivore form. The second one, “Nightmare Horizon,” made me heavy and massive to store corrosive tentacles on my back.

The third, “Organic Evolution,” didn’t change my body much since it’s a trait that changes my body in specific ways.

So what about the fourth synthesized unique trait?

In conclusion, it changed me significantly, like the first and second cases.

The body shape itself maintained the Subadult’s characteristic giant snake-like form. I still used combat arms and wing arms for movement without legs.

However, what changed was that my body length had significantly decreased from before. I used to be nearly 40m long, but now I was barely over 25m.

While my lower body and tail had shortened considerably, my combat arms had grown enormously.

I stood up on the metal floor with my combat arms. Previously, my lower body and tail would drag on the ground, but not anymore.

To put it simply, my current body shape is closer to that of a spider with a long, thick tail attached.

The biggest change was in my body shape, but there were changes in specific parts as well.

Starting with the head, the head carapace and shape hadn’t changed much.

The fangs created by the “Reaper’s Maw” trait, the four auxiliary organs under the jaw, the crocodile or theropod dinosaur-like head, the huge but imperfectly grown horns, and the elaborately extended back head carapace were all the same.

The difference was more in the neck area than the head. The “Monster’s Tentacles” that spread like a mane inside the head carapace and across the neck were the beneficiaries.

Currently, the Monster’s Tentacles were stored in holes inside the neck and head carapace.

Just as I used to hide the corrosive tentacles in my back carapace and have them burst out through the membrane when needed, the Monster’s Tentacles had taken a similar form.

‘This is really a good change.’

So far, two things have been major weaknesses in my body: the auxiliary organs under the jaw and the Monster’s Tentacles.

While the auxiliary organs are fine since they get covered with carapace when using the Icon of Hunting, the Monster’s Tentacles had limited protection. That’s why strong enemies targeted the tentacle bundles flowing down my neck first.

‘Now I don’t have to worry about that.’

Because I can hide the Monster’s Tentacles if things get urgent during combat.

I tensed my neck to extend the Monster’s Tentacles. My neck stiffened like when walking with a straight neck, and tentacle bundles flowed out from small holes in my neck and the back of my head.

After the Monster’s Tentacles, the wing arms changed the most.

They were already longer and larger than other combat arms due to having wings, but now they were more than a third longer than before. And with a double-layered carapace folded vertically, they were twice as thick as other arms.

‘It’s become a form where the membrane is folded and stored inside.’

When I moved my wing arms with the sensation of spreading wings, the folded carapace opened, and the membranes inside slowly unfolded, like a well-folded tent being set up.

Like the enlarged wing arms, the other combat arms had also become considerably larger. Thanks to additional joints like the wing arms, they could now move in more diverse ways.

A minor change in the neck, arms, and other parts was that the blunt claws from before had disappeared. Instead, small bio-pipes had sprouted where the claws used to be.

‘An ordinary person would faint seeing this.’

I was scary-looking before, but now I seem even more ferocious. I like it.

‘Now let’s see what changes have occurred in the text box.’

After checking all the changes in my body, I looked at the text box.

「Great Infector: You are one and many. You can select 3 traits each from Infection and Nest Enhancement types to grant strengthening effects.

*Enhancement targets: ① Infection type traits: Unset, Unset, Unset

② Nest type traits: Unset, Unset, Unset

*Note: Once all strengthening effects are applied, you cannot apply effects to other traits until the enhanced traits disappear.

*P.S.: Depending on perspective, an individual can also be a collective.」

「’Organic Evolution’ has unlocked a new special status, ‘Mutant Virus Host’!」

「’Space Morph (Unique)’ type has reached Level 1! Level 1 reward is activated!」

‘As expected.’

I had guessed from when it required Infection and Nest-related traits, but the newly created unique trait was one that strengthens the effects of these two traits.

‘Apply strengthening effects to 3 traits belonging to Infection and Nest types.’

Unlike other unique traits that uniformly strengthen all traits and types, this one doesn’t seem to do that.

‘Instead, does it mean it concentrates the effect that much more?’

Considering that the unique traits obtained through the Transcendence System have all been non-standard traits, my guess is probably correct.

‘No need to set it right away.’

Since it says I can’t change my mind once decided until the trait disappears, I need to be careful in my decision.

‘But there’s something more important right now.’

Thanks to obtaining ‘Great Infector,’ the Space Morph type has reached Level 1. It required four unique traits, which are hard to obtain even one of—I wonder what reward came.

After checking the message that arrived as a reward, I gaped.

「Space Morph (Unique) type has reached Level 1.」

「As a Level 1 achievement bonus, the ‘Essence Rearrangement’ effect is applied.」

「Essence Rearrangement: Types already unlocked and acquired are not affected by penalties. When unlocking new type information in the future, penalties will be reset from that type.

*P.S.: Evolution is like a puzzle. Remember that it is always in an incomplete state until it is completed.」

‘Wow?’

The Level 1 reward for the Space Morph type.

It was a radical reward that I had never seen before.

–

“Captain Nern, how much further to the artifact?”

“We’ll arrive soon. It’s not far from here.”

“That’s good.”

“…Damn, it wasn’t like this when we stored the artifact. I don’t understand why.”

Former captain of the Imperial Mothership, Nern, and Siheyon Yujin.

They were at the front of the moving group, conversing with each other.

Watching her, Lila recalled the data chip she had seen earlier.

When Lila first heard Siheyon’s words, she thought she was crazy.

That she had gone insane from living in the shadows under Akira Yujin for too long.

‘If only she were just crazy, I could understand…’

Regardless of whether Siheyon was insane, the material she handed over was difficult to see as fabricated.

In fact, there weren’t many image files. There were only about a dozen or so. However, the annotations and research papers attached to interpret the navigation charts and characters in the images were substantial.

As the general manager of the T&C Special Trade Center, Lila receives weekly reports on the city’s general affairs. Therefore, the knowledge and information accumulated in her head is truly enormous.

From her perspective, the contents of Siheyon’s data chip were neither fabricated nor the result of a mentally ill person’s patchwork.

‘That’s why it’s even stranger.’

The records left by Cult, Bumho, who was said to be Siheyon’s teacher in the past, were about two weapons.

One of them only had an incomplete navigation chart, so there was no need to worry about it, but the other was different. The effect of the weapon, which was about 60% successfully interpreted, was truly absurd.

‘A weapon that selectively kills specific organisms.’

According to Siheyon’s interpretation, the weapon’s effect is to fire particle beams that are fatal to specific organisms for mass slaughter. By inputting the genetic data of new targets into the weapon, it can be reset at will.

Simply put, it’s like the Star Union’s nano-weapon, the Gremlin Torpedo, but with the target changed from metal to living organisms.

From what Captain Nern said, it largely matched the characteristics of the weapon described in the records. He said that with just that one weapon, they had wiped out the Outspacer’s legion.

‘The problem is that no one knows how the weapon works.’

When they first met, Nern said.

An unidentified crew member left only the weapon and disappeared, but no one dared to use it. It’s a weapon with tremendous destructive power, but no one knows how it works or what powers it. Few people can freely handle a weapon like a nano-nuclear bomb that only kills specific organisms.

So they chose to hide the weapon deep in a volcano on this remote planet.

‘…There are too many elements I don’t understand.’

Even if we accept that the weapon exists, there are still many problematic areas.

If the owner of the weapon was Siheyon’s father, Junwoo, why didn’t he use it when fighting Akira? If he had, he wouldn’t have lost his life or had his position as head of the family usurped by Akira.

It’s also ambiguous to see it as a provision for his descendants. If it were, it would have been better for this Bumho person to give the weapon directly to Siheyon.

Because he didn’t, it’s only now, long after Junwoo Yujin’s death, that they’re finally setting out to find the weapon. And they’re doing so under the guidance of Captain Nern, who has no connection to her family.

‘What was this Bumho person thinking?’

Siheyon Yujin, Captain Nern.

It felt like these beings—the highest echelon of Megacorp, the elite of the Cult Empire—were being played by Bumho’s hand.

While she was lost in complex thoughts, the group reached a dead end.

“It’s a blocked path. What’s going on?”

“Hmm, there should be a passage here…”

As soon as she heard Nern’s words, Siheyon transformed her arm into a blade and cut through the wall. The cave wall collapsed instantly, revealing a large open space.

“What is this…?”

“My goodness. There are so many corpses.”

When they illuminated the darkness-filled space with flashlights, the first thing they saw were corpses. The bodies of dangerous creatures they had encountered on their way here and unidentified organisms were scattered everywhere.

“What kind of creature is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Siheyon’s subordinates frowned at the monster with eight sturdy legs mixed among the corpses. These monsters, which they had never seen on their way here, looked more like machines than naturally born beings.

“This one too. The ones here seem to have died recently.”

Unlike outside, it’s relatively warm here. That means it’s a good environment for corpses to rot. Yet the corpses strewn here were still in the process of decomposition.

Why did they fight and die here when food wasn’t scarce? Everyone was visibly perplexed by the incomprehensible scene.

“Was it like this when you came before?”

“Of course not. There was nothing in this mountain when we came.”

“What do you think… Siheyon?”

Lila called out, but Siheyon didn’t answer. She walked between the corpses as if hypnotized.

Then she reached into a mountain of corpses inside the cavity and pulled something out.

“What’s that?”

“That’s it! The artifact we buried in this clearing!”

Lila still showed a skeptical reaction. Nern’s face was a mixture of surprise and fear.

They didn’t know.

What Siheyon Yujin was looking at right now.

“Perk ‘Forge of the Omnipotent’ created ‘Deep Destroyer'”

“Current owner: None (Temporary owner: Shin Bumho)”

“Acquisition condition: Genetic similarity with ‘Player Junwoo'”

“New user ‘Siheyon Yujin’. Acquisition condition confirmed. Disabling defense wall.”

“Ownership of ‘Deep Destroyer’ has been transferred from ‘Player Shin Bumho’ to ‘Siheyon Yujin’.”

The semi-transparent text boxes that felt like they were being inserted directly into her brain. She couldn’t understand even half of the content contained in them.

But there was one thing she could be certain of.

This object would now serve a new master.