Ch.415Welcome (2)

The toxic underground cavity was filled with hazardous pollutants.

Inside it sat a massive cocoon easily exceeding 100 meters in length. Each time the pitch-black egg-shaped cocoon pulsated slowly, a tar-like liquid continuously flowed down its surface.

A small spider-like entity approached the living black hill. It was MPS-03, a fusion of machine and organism.

“Collect. Collect.”

The mini screamer repeated the word “collect” with a glass tube in its mouth as it poked the liquid generated from the cocoon with its metal legs. It gathered the droplets of liquid that stuck to its legs into the glass tube, repeating this action several times.

After a while, when the glass tube was full, MPS-03 swallowed it whole, storing it inside its throat.

“Sample secured.”

PS-111, who was controlling the mini screamer from a considerable distance away from the underground cavity, muttered quietly.

“I must upgrade my functions to protect the controllers.”

PS-111 had felt powerless during the recent battle.

She had never neglected body modifications until now. But her enemies were advancing much faster.

At this rate, she might someday be defeated by enemies and have her functions terminated. If that happens, it would be impossible to protect her “little sister.”

Her sister Isabelle would struggle to survive without PS-111. Only she could calibrate her sister’s physical body.

To prevent potential dangers, she needed to become more useful.

“If I can mimic the evolutionary abilities of AMorph, I can enhance my functions.”

In PS-111’s view, AMorph was a singularity of genetic engineering. It was centuries ahead of even the mutant screamers, which were the culmination of cutting-edge technology.

Even analyzing the sample she just collected wouldn’t allow her to fully understand its mechanism, but that was fine. Successfully analyzing even a portion would greatly help strengthen her functions.

“Now that sample collection is complete, I will proceed with the original mission.”

The important work was done anyway.

PS-111 sent a signal outside using a communication satellite. She was calling the “middle child” who had gone to another star system to search for the dangerous creature “Arcane Orca.”

The other party had taken MPS-05, which specialized in communication and hacking. They would respond immediately once the signal was sent.

As expected, MPS-05 quickly replied.

However, the content of the response was not what she had anticipated.

“Already on the move?”

The “middle child,” who had gone to meet the Volf natives on U-08, had already left the planet several days ago.

“Secured important clues. Did they say they needed support?”

After a moment’s consideration, PS-111 sent a communication to the mini screamer coming to Jer-11.

Tell me what you need, she said.

–

“What are you doing?”

An enchanting voice caressed my ear. I opened my eyes reflexively.

Before me stood a woman with black hair. I couldn’t see her face, but somehow I felt she was beautiful. I also felt a sense of familiarity, as if I had met her before.

The mysteriously charming woman reached out and gently stroked my cheek.

“Still half asleep? You look tired.”

It was strange.

Despite being touched by someone without a face, I didn’t feel any awkwardness at all.

“I am tired. I was just thinking.”

A voice both familiar and unfamiliar flowed from my mouth.

“What were you thinking about that made you so absent-minded when I called?”

“I was thinking about the breakfast menu.”

“Oh? Really?”

“I thought I’d show off my skills after a long time.”

My body continued to move, naturally conversing with this unknown person. I was cooking something now.

On the arm holding a frying pan with a light coating of oil, I could see familiar marks. The red, wrinkled burn scars were identical to those in my memory.

But the arm itself was very different from what I remembered. My body, which had been immersed in virtual reality games, was in a state that could hardly be called good even as a polite lie. I couldn’t have imagined having arms with lean muscles like now.

“I like your cooking the best, oppa.”

“Really?”

“Well, that’s not the only thing I like.”

She approached and lightly wrapped her arm around my waist. Along with this, the woman’s invisible face drew closer to mine. “I” responded to this naturally.

The voice that seemed familiar yet subtly mature, the burn marks identical to my memory but on an unfamiliar body. And a kiss with a woman who gave the impression of beauty.

Suddenly I realized. This is “me” but not me.

Perhaps what I had wished for and dreamed of…

‘An ideal future.’

The moment I thought that, I woke up.

The warmth on my lips and the cozy kitchen atmosphere disappeared instantly. Instead, I was greeted by glass tubes filled with green liquid and a chemical smell so strong it numbed my sensory organs.

This space was familiar to me. I had visited it each time I entered the cocoon before.

But this was the first time I had seen such a vision.

‘It wasn’t the reality I knew.’

All the visions I had seen until now were related to my memories. Things like childhood experiences, or memories right before crossing over to the world of Space Survival. I had never seen anything unrelated to my reality like this.

‘To be precise, it’s closer to the future I wanted…’

Whether in the game or reality, I rarely had proper conversations with others. Naturally, I had no memory of kissing someone of the opposite sex.

Moreover, my appearance in reality wasn’t pleasant to look at. No human would like the burn scars all over my body, my wretched and sickly form. Honestly, AMorph’s physical body felt more impressive.

‘Come to think of it, Alshas mentioned this before.’

He said that as you get closer to the ending, you see visions of your future in reality. The 4th and 7th ranked players among the Return faction had seen such visions.

Conversely, Jason, a ranker of the Dominion faction, directly killed “his real self” in his vision. Perhaps because he gave up on reaching the ending, he never saw another vision after that.

I experienced something similar. When I entered the cocoon to grow into an adult, I saw a vision where “my real self” tried to kill me.

At that time, I made a different choice. I neither killed “my real self” nor did “I as AMorph” get killed.

Looking at the cases so far, it seems the visions differ depending on which faction—or rather, which world—you’re getting closer to.

Then which side do I belong to? Is what I just saw also related to my choice?

‘The vision isn’t over yet.’

Lifting my head to look around, I could see countless green tubes. At some point, I started coming to this vast space every time I entered the cocoon.

This was a place I had never visited before, either in reality or in this world. The fact that I keep coming here must mean something.

‘Let’s check it out.’

I put strength into my legs and stood up.

Although my body had grown very large after becoming an adult, my current size was roughly similar to the test tubes scattered around. I remember being about this size as a subadult too. It seems my size is adjusted to fit the vision.

‘Huh?’

One difference from before was the heads on both sides.

After becoming an adult, my heads increased to three. The two heads that normally follow my control sometimes move on their own when needed.

And now both heads were pointing their snouts upward.

‘The ceiling?’

This space was so vast that it was difficult to gauge its width. The same was true for its height. Looking up, all I could see was darkness, not the ceiling.

‘Upward, huh.’

Come to think of it, I had always crawled on the floor, never examining what was up there.

‘Let’s check it out.’

Just as I was about to move toward the wall to climb up, I noticed elongated arms. They were wing-arms with folded membranes.

‘Can I fly?’

I spread the folded membranes wide and flapped them once. With the air pressure, my body lifted slightly. Despite the reduced size, flying didn’t seem to be a problem.

Using my wing-arms to lift my body, I flew in the direction my heads were pointing.

As I went higher, the strong chemical smell and unpleasant humidity gradually faded. Along with this, the dense darkness above began to change.

Green particles could be seen scattered across the darkness that spread like black paper. Just like on the ground, there were many green test tubes attached above.

And below them, a black spherical structure was floating in midair.

‘What’s that?’

It’s a peculiar structure I hadn’t seen before. I circled around, examining the sphere.

At that moment, my left and right heads stretched their necks straight toward the sphere.

‘Hm? You want me to get closer?’

The heads nodded their snouts up and down.

Looking at it up close, it was quite large. At a glance, its diameter easily exceeded several hundred meters. The surface was smooth and flawless, as if carved from obsidian.

Flapping my wing-arms, I extended my combat arm to touch the surface. The surface rippled like water when a pebble drops, and my fingertips entered without any resistance.

‘Looks like I can go in.’

There must be a reason why AMorph’s heads guided me here. I jumped into the sphere.

The moment my body passed through the surface membrane, the surrounding scenery changed instantly. Just a moment ago I was flying, but now I was standing in a black space without any light.

‘Where is this?’

Every time I move, concentric ripples form on the floor. Seeing that, I remember.

‘…This is where I came when growing into a juvenile.’

The first time I saw a vision was when I entered the cocoon to become a juvenile.

At that time, unlike now, I came with my human body. I walked through this space for a while, met AMorph in its Morphlet stage, and then woke up.

Perhaps I’ll meet someone this time too.

‘Let’s walk for now.’

Just like the first time I came, I walked across the barren space where nothing existed.

After walking for some time, following the rippling waves, something caught my eye.

It was a person. A man with large burn scars on his face. ‘My real self.’

Wondering if I had to fight again, I became wary, but ‘I’ spoke.

“No. I will not fight.”

‘What?’

“I am not deceiving you.”

‘My real self’ raised both arms as if showing no hostility. The way he spoke fluently without being asked made it seem like he could read my mind.

“That’s correct.”

‘I’ nodded affirmatively to my doubt.

“I intervened by targeting the situation where your brain is being reconfigured, so I can read your thoughts. That’s also why I took this form.”

‘Who are you?’

“I am an Information Unit in charge of recipient selection and thought system coordination within the projection system. I have intervened to deliver important information to you.”

‘Projection system? Wait… could it be?’

System, recipient, selection.

Hearing these three words, something suddenly came to mind.

“I cannot answer that question in detail due to security reasons.”

Though he said he couldn’t answer, that was enough of an answer in itself.

This being who introduced himself as an Information Unit.

It seems he’s the one responsible for bringing rankers into this world.