Ch.285Fable (2)

I once saw an old classic movie like this.

It was a thriller about clone humans living inside the Earth who looked exactly like the humans on the surface.

The meeting between surface humans and underground clones didn’t end well. Like the doppelgänger legend where meeting someone who looks exactly like you means death.

That’s the situation I’m in now.

A man screaming. He was “me” from my human days.

‘…I should try talking to him first.’

I tried to calm him down by mimicking a human voice with my “mimicry organ.”

But the sound that came out of my mouth was completely different from what I expected.

“Grrrr?”

‘What?’

A beast’s growl erupted from my muzzle with its sharp fangs. “I” swallowed hard, apparently interpreting it as a threat.

Was it because this was an illusion? Or because my body was transforming inside the cocoon? My mimicry organ wasn’t responding.

Plus, my current body is only about human-sized. I was able to enter this small studio apartment easily because my body had shrunk.

Just then, the other “me” kicked my head.

“Gruk?!”

‘Ugh?!’

If it had been my original body, I wouldn’t have budged, but that wasn’t the case now. I felt intense pain as if I’d been hit by a battleship’s artillery.

Struggling through the unexpected pain, I collapsed onto the desk where the computer sat. Meanwhile, “I” rushed out of the apartment.

‘What is this?’

I rubbed my head with my wing-arm to ease the pain.

‘This isn’t an illusion?’

The area where I was kicked continued to throb. I had never felt pain like this before when experiencing illusions in the cocoon.

As I stroked my head, the pain subsided, but anger surged in its place. I wanted to smash the computer in front of me and chase after the escaped prey.

“Grrrrrr”

‘…No, stay calm.’

I forcibly suppressed the burning rage.

Come to think of it, previous illusions had elements that stimulated my senses too. Like the strong chemical smells I encountered in the hospital and that unknown facility.

If I could smell things, I could feel pain too. I just hadn’t realized it before because no one had attacked me.

The problem is that the first one to harm me in this illusion was “myself.”

‘I need to catch him.’

The human version of “me” wouldn’t have appeared without reason. I need him to understand why this illusion is happening.

I followed the escaped “me” out of the apartment.

A gray corridor and firmly closed doors greeted me.

‘He went to the stairs.’

Unless he entered another apartment, there was only one place he could go. The corridor echoed each time my six elongated arms touched the hard floor.

As expected, the door leading to the stairs was slightly open.

The light from the lamps shone brightly, illuminating the stairs. Judging by the activated motion sensor, “I” must have gone down there.

Just as I was about to descend the stairs, a thought occurred to me.

If that being really was “me,” how would I respond when faced with an inescapable monster?

Would I just be scared and run away like now?

Or…

‘Behind!’

“Die!”

The elevator door on the opposite side of the stairs opened. Without turning around, I quickly ducked my head. A broken mop handle flew and lodged in the back of my head carapace.

‘Damn!’

“Damn!”

I swung my tail. The pincer at the end of my tail swept across the floor dust as it flew. But “I” was already diving away the moment the attack failed.

The pincer on my tail crossed paths with him in mid-air. His shoe sole scraped against the pincer, making a sharp sound. Having dodged my low-flying attack, he immediately ran down the stairs on the opposite side.

While he escaped, I pulled out the mop handle that had pierced my head carapace.

The hardest parts of my body are my head carapace, thorax, and tail pincers—three areas in total. Parts that wouldn’t even flinch if hit by a battleship’s main gun had been pierced by this crude makeshift spear.

“Grrrrrrrr”

Fierce anger boiled up to the limit of what I could endure. Without realizing it, I bit down on the broken mop handle, chewed it, then spat it out.

The anger that had been clouding my mind since earlier was now hard to control. I wanted to catch the other “me” and tear his head off to eat it right away.

‘…Stay calm. Calm.’

Struggling to suppress my anger, I reviewed what had just happened.

‘That action—he read my reaction.’

“I” wasn’t just identical in appearance. His thinking was the same too.

He predicted I would check the stairs and hid in the elevator behind me to ambush me. I would have done the same if I encountered an AMorph in real life.

‘He aimed for my head.’

AMorphs die when their heart or brain is destroyed. If I hadn’t noticed his attack and ducked, the mop handle would have pierced my brain.

‘Grrr, next time I see him, I’ll subdue him first.’

Just as he read my thoughts, I could understand what he was thinking. He must be waiting somewhere down those stairs with a weapon.

‘He probably, gruk, grabbed the fire axe.’

There are fire axes and extinguishers placed in the corridor downstairs.

While my size is much more advantageous, it’s hardly an advantage in this situation. It just means I have a larger area that can be hit.

My head carapace was weak enough to be pierced by a mop spear. I definitely couldn’t withstand a fire axe.

‘The location is, grrrr, behind the door leading to the corridor, not the stairs.’

The stairs have motion sensors, so they’re not good for hiding. They’re also too narrow, making them inefficient for fighting a large enemy like me.

I looked at the stairs where he had fled. Then I turned my gaze toward the elevator he had jumped out from. He would be preparing to immediately strike my head with the axe no matter which way I went down.

I extended my wing-arm to press the elevator button, and the door opened with a ding. Inside the brightly lit elevator was the mop part of the broken mop handle.

I had a good idea.

After entering the elevator, I hooked my tail in the door, then pushed the stainless steel ceiling with my wing-arm. With a clunk, the stainless steel panel separated.

I climbed up to the ceiling, making sure to press the button for the lower floor with the tip of my tail.

With a metallic sound, the elevator beneath my feet descended. I moved the separated stainless steel panel back to its original position.

The elevator stopped with a cheerful sound. As the door opened, there was a thud from below.

He must have swung the fire axe timed with the opening of the door.

“What?”

His action was a swing and a miss. I struck the stainless steel with all my might using my tail. The hard pincer pierced through the thin elevator ceiling.

“!”

The startled “me” backed away. I used my tail to snatch the fire extinguisher he had placed on the floor.

His bright red axe blade sliced across the surface of my tail as it passed.

“…Tch!”

He fled toward the corridor. I climbed down from the ceiling and grabbed the fire extinguisher with my small chest arms.

Then I did what he had intended to do. I sprayed the fire extinguisher all over the corridor.

“Cough?! Damn, cough!”

The powder from the fire extinguisher filled the corridor like fog. He couldn’t help but cough violently.

I took advantage of the moment and rushed into the corridor.

“Get away!”

The axe made a menacing sound as it cut through the fire extinguisher powder. His target was slightly above my head. If I had moved along the ceiling upside down as usual, the axe blade would have lodged precisely in my head.

However, I was moving with my lower jaw almost touching the floor. The axe he swung struck the back of my head carapace.

It was embedded so deeply that it would be impossible to pull out easily. He flinched. He was debating whether to use force to pull it out or retreat.

To hesitate during a fight… I swung my wing-arm and struck him.

“Agh!”

He let out a short scream as he slammed into the wall. The smell of human blood spread sharply.

The moment I encountered that sweet smell, only one thought filled my mind.

I needed to eat “me” to obtain genetic essence.

“S-save me! Someone help me! Please!”

He crawled along the floor, bleeding. I raised my claws and stabbed his thigh.

“Aaaaargh!”

The pitiful screams of “me.” That sweet melody stimulated my appetite.

‘Grrrrrrrr’

I firmly grabbed him with my wing-arms and opened my mouth.

I could see his face wet with tears, snot, and blood. Soon his head would be minced and become nutrients for my body.

“■on ■ust ■■!”

“■■■ ■■!”

Just as I was about to bite his head off with my teeth.

An incomprehensible message and wavelength seized my body.

‘What was that just now?’

The message and wavelength disappeared instantly, but the shock continued to echo in my head.

‘What was it?’

I put down my enemy, or rather, the other “me.”

‘Why did I do that?’

Now I remember. My plan was to capture him to discuss what this illusion meant. Not to eat “me.”

“H-hieek! Monster! Die! Die!”

He tried to pull out the axe embedded in my head carapace. I pushed his hand away, then removed the fire axe myself and threw it far away.

‘This isn’t right. I need to talk.’

I held the struggling “me” with my wing-arms and wiped his blood with my small chest arms. Then I wrote on the floor.

“W-what?”

‘Talk.’ After seeing those two words, “my” eyes wavered. But soon he started screaming.

“F-fuck! Lies! What dialogue can an AMorph have! There’s a monster here! Please, someone help me!”

Irritation welled up inside me again, but I strongly suppressed my emotions. I patiently continued writing to convey that I had no intention of harming “me.”

After a few minutes passed, “I” finally calmed down.

‘Is he calm now?’

I asked him a question.

Who are you?

“Who am I?”

“I” raised his head after seeing that.

“You stupid bastard. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?”

‘What?’

Covered in blood, he curled his lips and sneered.

“You think you’re shouldering all the world’s misfortunes? There are so many people suffering in the world. You’re just trash. What, because of one burn? You need family? You’re the one who abandoned your parents who sacrificed everything for you.”

Hearing those words, the strength unconsciously drained from my wing-arms.

Freed, he stood in place like a wooden puppet hanging by a thread.

“You like monsters? There’s only one reason you like monsters. Because kids teased you for being a monster. ‘Since you called me a monster, I’ll become a real monster’—something like that, right?”

“Grrrrrr”

“Your taste, or rather, that pathetic behavior that’s hardly worth calling a taste, is nothing but miserable self-gratification.”

He picked up the axe that had fallen in the corridor while hurling insults at me.

“The reason you got addicted to games. It’s the same. You just escaped into the game world because you couldn’t overcome reality. Even now, you’re killing people in that world with the same gaming mentality. That’s why you can’t kill the ‘real me’ either. You’re afraid it would become real murder.”

He raised both hands holding the axe. The blade gleamed coldly, reflecting the light from the lamps.

“You may be pathetic, but I am also ‘you.’ I’ll help you. To live in reality.”

“……”

“Then goodbye, coward.”

As his words ended, blood splattered across the corridor. My body instinctively curled up from the extreme pain.

The axe blade embedded in my “wing-arm” hurt quite a bit.

“You…?”

[Zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz zzz(Your words aren’t completely wrong. Except for two things)]

My monster tentacles trembled as they conveyed my thoughts. It doesn’t matter if he can’t understand my wavelength since he’s human.

I grabbed his wrist with another arm.

[Zzz zzzzzzzz zzz zzz zzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz zzz zzzzz zzzzz(I cherish all the experiences I’ve had in ‘that world.’ It’s not just an escape)]

Maybe it was like that at first.

Because of the life-threatening situation, I made excuses about achieving the goal of returning to reality, but somewhere in my heart, I was using the ‘Space Survival world’ as an escape.

But not anymore. If someone asked me now if “that world” is still an escape for me, I could firmly deny it.

When I reach Ascended, I might have to part with the kids. Or I might lose them before reaching that point. I could also be defeated fighting other rankers, or die fighting a strong enemy before fulfilling the conditions.

Even so, I don’t consider what I’ve experienced with them worthless. Whatever end my journey comes to, I want to help them live happy lives.

So until then, I absolutely cannot die, no matter what.

‘And…’

The reason I’m not killing “me” here isn’t simply because I’m afraid of murder.

[Zzz zzzzzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz(It’s because I’ve determined that I need you)]

“You bastard! Let go!”

[Zzz zzzzz zzzzz(I won’t kill you)]

“I” won’t die until I determine what this illusion wants from me. He’ll just remain subdued by the AMorph.

Held by me, he thrashed about with a demonic face, but it was impossible to escape from the AMorph’s arms.

“You idiot! We don’t have time for this! Either kill me! Or die by my hand…?!”

After spouting incomprehensible words, he froze as if paralyzed. Then his body began to convulse violently. As he started shaking, the colors of the surrounding corridor became blurry.

‘Is the space disappearing?’

It seems my evolution in the outside world—in reality—has completed.

“I” in my grasp also became blurry like the corridor. He who had been wearing a menacing expression until just now had a blank face.

“O■ ■orn, ■for■tion U∬⫱⪿….”

Leaving behind incomprehensible words, he disappeared.

As soon as “I” vanished, my senses also sank into darkness.

When I woke up after a brief sleep, I was submerged in sticky mucus.

I extended my arm to tear the cocoon, and a familiar pink body came into view.

“Big baby, hello!”

No. 26, who had waited by my side until my growth was complete.

My new family welcomed me.