Ch.295Rest (2)

This time, I focused on helping Adhigh Orr with the hunt. So I didn’t even use the Mark of the Hunt.

I hadn’t expected to gain any traits at all, but the result was unexpected.

‘Moreover….’

「Successfully acquired ‘Tyrantroid’ genetic essence.」

「Stole ‘Tyrantroid’ from the biological traits of ‘Giganterium’.」

「Would you like to apply ‘Tyrantroid’?」

To think I’d get this out of all those numerous traits.

The trait I obtained from devouring the apex creature was called ‘Tyrantroid’.

At first glance, it might seem like a physical trait or internal organ trait, but this trait belongs to environmental adaptation.

According to the lore, Giganterium’s body contains an organ that helps it effectively acquire and utilize energy in limited situations. Tyrantroid is a special chemical substance secreted by this organ. Thanks to this substance, survival is possible in almost any environment without major limitations.

The important thing here is that this substance is related to Giganterium’s combat ability. The way it grows larger whenever it becomes enraged is all thanks to Tyrantroid.

‘Now with the trait I’ll be using too.’

Tyrantroid is a trait that significantly alters the body, similar to ‘Bone Beast’ or ‘Mark of the Hunt’. However, it’s similar to ‘Revenant Organ’ in that it only activates under certain conditions.

‘It’s easier to activate than Revenant Organ though.’

Tyrantroid has just one activation condition. It automatically triggers when you sustain a major injury. As wounds increase, strength and energy output rise, and the body grows enormous.

However, the trade-off is that movement becomes sluggish like a caterpillar. When your hit area widens but your speed decreases, it’s quite a significant disadvantage.

‘Of course, that’s only when considering this trait in isolation.’

It becomes extremely powerful when combined with Bone Beast, which hardens the carapace while growing larger, or Revenant Organ, which activates conditionally only when sustaining very serious injuries. You could call it an AMorph-style death spear.

Of course, as a combo that presupposes injury, failing to subdue an enemy would put me at a great disadvantage. I need a means to quickly recover my body or remove the speed penalty.

‘Right now I have two recovery methods.’

‘Regeneration’ and ‘Feeding Leech Hand’.

Feeding Leech Hand has the condition that I must directly grab the enemy, and Regeneration is slow to recover. These alone aren’t enough.

This isn’t a game but reality. Death is the end. This combo remains sealed until I can sufficiently compensate for its weaknesses.

‘Well, it’s still better than nothing.’

I feel good, perhaps because I received an unexpected gift.

「Why」「Not moving?」

「Great One」「Head」「When eaten」「Sometimes」「Like that」

「Taste」「Moved?」

「Perhaps」

‘Ah.’

Sensing the thought waves coming from all around, I deactivated the translucent text box.

Amethyst-like purple eyes were staring at me. They seemed to have waited until I finished eating the head.

[Zzu Zzuzzu (I’m done eating)]

With permission granted, Adhigh Orr sliced off Giganterium’s two arms with her wings covered in Red Armor.

Since Giganterium’s body resembled a mix between a gorilla and a bear, its arms were well-developed. The severed arms were about 10m long.

Adhigh Orr placed the large prey on the ground and spread her thought waves.

「Great One」「Reward」「Done」「We too」「Eat」

As soon as the thought waves spread, the Gallergorn rushed toward the arms.

First, the White Gallergorn stripped away the fur and skin with their sharp claws, and inserted their mouth tentacles inside. Adhigh Orr also helped with skinning.

The relatively weaker Green Gallergorn inserted their tentacles into the wounds created by Adhigh Orr and the other Gallergorn to suck blood.

Though the Gallergorn had different scales—green and white—the color of their tentacles was identical. Each time the purple biological straws embedded in the arms wriggled, the size of the arms visibly decreased in real time.

Adhigh Orr had brought a total of 10 Gallergorn. Three White Gallergorn and seven Green Gallergorn. With Adhigh Orr included, when all 11 Gallergorn ferociously sucked blood, both of Giganterium’s arms quickly became mummified.

「Taste」「Excellent」

「Delicious」

「Insufficient」「Food」「More」「Needed」

The Gallergorn raised their heads after finishing their brief meal. The young Green Gallergorn seemed to covet Giganterium’s body, directing their gaze toward it.

Seeing this, Adhigh Orr stomped the ground hard with her hind legs. When the sharp impact sound echoed, the Gallergorn flinched.

「Food」「Nest」「Will take」「Eating」「Now」「Over」

「Great Adhigh」「Words」「Follow」

At the queen’s cold warning, the Green Gallergorn hastily lowered their heads. After giving the warning, Adhigh Orr cut off Giganterium’s intact left leg.

「Sha Belmarg」「This」「Companion」「Nel Germa」「Give」

「Great Adhigh」「Consideration」「Grateful」

The skinny White Gallergorn Sha Belmarg bent his forelegs and expressed gratitude to Adhigh Orr. While Adhigh Orr stood with her head held high and proud, Sha Belmarg collected the gift bestowed by the queen.

‘Come to think of it, wasn’t Nel Germa incubating eggs?’

Nel Germa, the White Gallergorn who helped us the most in the dragon’s nest in the past.

She had laid eggs just before we arrived, and now she was incubating them in the nest.

Originally, Adhigh Orr had planned to bring Nel Germa, with whom she had fought and coordinated well, on the hunt. But due to the circumstances, Sha Belmarg participated in the hunt in place of his wife.

‘Gallergorn reproduction.’

Though I’m not a Gallergorn enthusiast, it’s quite an interesting topic. Even in the game, how Gallergorn reproduce was never revealed.

‘Come to think of it, it might not have been implemented at all.’

Like most VR games, Space Survival contained a fair amount of sexual content. Physical interactions between players, sexual services provided by NPCs, and so on. Similarly, you could observe the reproductive activities of wild animals.

‘Not all of them though.’

In the lore, reproductive activities were depicted for creatures with good relationships between males and females, or those with strong maternal instincts where nurturing played an important role. For example, Crystalwing, which I hunted in the dragon’s nest, was one of the species with implemented reproductive activities.

However, these detailed aspects became controversial in a negative way and eventually affected the rating.

‘Couldn’t pass the rating because of that damn sensuality.’

Since it wasn’t officially released domestically, I had no choice but to get a foreign version. Relying on the translation function provided by the VR device itself.

Anyway, Gallergorn was a creature likely to have its reproduction depicted, so it received much anticipation. There were even rankers who infiltrated Gallergorn nests to find out, but they ultimately failed to discover anything.

「Great One?」

[Zzu (Yes?)]

「Nest」「Let’s return」

While I was briefly lost in old thoughts, Adhigh Orr’s thought waves woke me up. The other Gallergorn were preparing to return with their wings spread.

‘Let’s go back.’

I picked up the Giganterium corpse, which had lost everything from its head to its limbs. I firmly secured the corpse to my body with corrosive tentacles and spread my wing arms. I soared upward with the Gallergorn, flapping my wings that were as large as my body.

The underground cave and passage that Giganterium had used as a hideout were relatively confined spaces. But once you leave them, a completely different world unfolds.

Following the 11 Gallergorn ahead, as I emerged from the underground passage, my field of vision suddenly opened up. What existed there was a space so vast that “underground world” would be a more appropriate term than “cavity.”

The ceiling made of thick layers of ice could rightfully be called a second sky, and beneath it stretched a vast land.

This isn’t just a description. Looking at the ice ceiling gives you a feeling similar to the sky. The reason is the microorganisms covering the surface of the ice layer. These moss-like creatures emit light and heat whenever they digest food. Seen from a distance, they look like stars in the night sky.

The sight of Gallergorn flying under the stars densely embedded in the frozen sky—it was a beautiful scene I had never seen and could never see in reality.

Looking down, I could see plants ranging from several meters to tens of meters tall densely packed. Wild animals roamed among these plants with unique appearances that mixed mushrooms and rainbow grass.

The journey with the space dragons wasn’t long. After passing through the plant community, we came to a ravine with thick steam rising.

That place, where steam gushes out due to geothermal heat, is the palace of the Gallergorn.

Inside the ravine were numerous caves. Entering the largest cave, the black dragon Ham Oort greeted us.

「Ham Oort」「Great Adhigh」「Hunt」「Success」「Congratulations」

「Yes」

Adhigh Orr nodded to Ham Oort, who was bowing with a respectful attitude.

Ham Oort, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, looked quite different from the last time I saw him. The scars on his scales had all disappeared, and his body had grown slightly larger.

‘He seems to have gained a bit of weight from living in a good environment.’

That’s not to say he’s fat. Like Adhigh Orr’s mother, he still maintained his characteristic seductive charm. His obsidian-colored scales shone smoothly, and his four legs and elongated body were full of vitality thanks to firm muscles.

His horns hadn’t fully regenerated and remained unbalanced, but in contrast to his elegant physique, they gave a wild impression, creating a unique charm.

After greeting Adhigh Orr, Ham Oort slightly bowed his head to me as well.

「Thank you」

[Zzu Zzu Zzuzzu Zzuzzu (I didn’t do anything)]

「Adhigh’s companion」「Thanks to」「Kin」「Not hurt」

「Companion」「Not」「Yet」

「Big baby, did you have a good trip?」

At that moment, a large pink creature appeared from inside the cave. It was No. 26, hugging many small Blue Gallergorn.

「You’re not hurt this time?」

[Zzuzzuzzuzzu (Of course not)]

「Well done!」

He was so happy that I returned without a single wound that his body glowed brightly. Thanks to the 25m luminous body, the dark cave instantly brightened.

「What is this?」

「Amazing」

「Again」「Again」

The babies who were absorbing psychic power while being held by No. 26 tapped his body with their front legs, finding it fascinating.

I put down the Giganterium corpse I had been carrying on my back in front of Ham Oort.

[Zzu Zzu Zzeueueueu Zzuzzuzzu (This. What Adhigh collected)]

「King of beasts」「Corpse」「Why?」

As he tilted his head and expressed doubt, Adhigh Orr, who was beside him, answered instead.

「Young kin」「Feed」「Growth」「Nutrients」「Needed」

「Great Adhigh」「Mercy」「Grateful」

When Adhigh Orr said she had brought it to feed her kin, Ham Oort gently swayed his tail. Anyone could see it was the look of a parent proud of their daughter’s growth.

[Zzu Zzu Zzuzzu Zzuzzu (Is there more to hunt?)]

「There is」「However」「Kin」「Rest」「Needed」

[Zzuzzu (True)]

We need to stay on this planet for at least a week anyway. There’s no need to move hastily.

Now that the hunt is over, it’s time for a brief rest.