Ch.41Conspiracy (2)

–

Jax-01.

Sihyeon Yujin was sitting in a garden lush with greenery and trees.

She stared blankly at a small bird chirping while perched on a tree.

Just then, servants appeared from somewhere, pulling a cart filled with food.

“Miss. It’s time for your meal.”

“……”

She turned her head at the butler’s words. The hologram of the garden disappeared, and a laboratory white as fresh snow took its place.

The servants set up a small table and placed dishes of food on it one by one.

The butler introduced the food with a respectful posture.

“The main dish is roast duck with maple sauce.”

The Star Union prohibits its members from owning private property and indulging in luxury. The Machine Committee has decreed that all cyborg citizens must consume only designated food and nutrients.

Therefore, even in big cities, it was difficult to obtain any unusual ingredients beyond necessities.

She looked down with emotionless eyes at the food that was as difficult to obtain in Jax-01 as plucking stars from the sky.

“Miss?”

“……”

“Miss, this is one of your favorite dishes.”

She knew that.

Even when she had infiltrated Space Dog, how much she had wanted to eat this dish.

‘Yes. This is Sihyeon Yujin’s favorite dish.’

As if reading her mind, the butler’s voice hardened.

“‘Miss’ told us about the side effects of cloning technology and demanded this. She said everything must be identical—the food she ate, her living habits, her clothing, everything.”

“……”

Though humanity had reached the era of faster-than-light travel, there were still paths they had not taken.

One of these was the creation of human clones.

Creating clones was prohibited by Megacorp and was difficult even for House Yujin with their advanced genetic science technology.

It was possible to make a copy identical to the original. But making it think and act the same way was an entirely different matter.

Let alone transferring the original’s memories to the clone to make it move identically? That was truly the realm of gods.

Sihyeon Yujin solved what would have been impossible with Megacorp technology by relying on non-scientific methods.

She learned from a Cult master how to transfer souls and memories using psychic power.

This peculiar man who called himself Bumho despite being a Cult taught her many things at the request of her father, Junwoo Yujin.

He taught her not only fighting techniques but also how to use various equipment, and even knew about different organisms’ genes and their applications.

His teachings included methods to protect and transfer souls and memories using psychic power. Thanks to this, she could maintain her consciousness even when forcibly turned into a shadow.

She picked up garlic fried in duck fat with her fork and put it in her mouth. The sweet taste and crispy texture stimulated her taste buds, but she felt no pleasure.

‘This isn’t my pleasure.’

The soul transfer technique had clearly succeeded. All the memories she had until her death were perfectly transferred to the clone’s body.

‘But why do I feel this way?’

Bumho hadn’t told her about these side effects. He had spoken as if it were an easy method anyone could use.

Of course, Sihyeon wasn’t a fool and had anticipated that simply transferring a soul with psychic power wouldn’t be the end of it.

It was essentially a technique that could make a person immortal if conditions were met. There must be side effects he didn’t know about.

So she had prepared a machine that recalibrated the clone’s brain to match her soul and memories, using Star Union’s precise processing technology. Thanks to this, she was now almost indistinguishable from the original.

The only difference was that her genetic modifications were incomplete.

She had also given detailed instructions to her subordinates on how to manage the clone and how to treat a clone with a transplanted soul.

She had made thorough preparations to handle any side effects that might occur.

But she hadn’t imagined feeling this much alienation from her own body. Even during meals, the thought that these were things “Sihyeon Yujin” liked—not herself—wouldn’t leave her mind.

‘…Damn it.’

After forcing herself to finish the meal, she received reports from her subordinates.

“The board meeting is soon?”

“Yes. According to intelligence, Akira Yujin is also visiting the T&C Special Trade Center as a tourist.”

“Tourist, huh. Seems that old man has taken to making jokes now.”

Speaking coldly, she fell into thought.

Akira was paranoid about preserving his life, but he wasn’t a coward. It was inconceivable that he would hide on Earth during such a massive event as the board meeting.

‘Akira always travels with at least two shadows.’

He might not know it, but Sihyeon knew all the weaknesses of the shadows. Even the weaknesses of Code Black, who was stronger than her.

Even in her extremely weakened state, she was confident she could defeat a shadow of lower code than herself.

“How is the transport of the Gallergorn disguised as Fairywing going?”

“According to Jade’s report, it’s still safely in the city.”

“If there’s a shadow present when the Gallergorn attacks, that old man will try to escape somehow.”

“That’s highly likely.”

The original plan was for her to personally eliminate Akira’s guards and escape, leaving the rest to the enraged Gallergorn. Since competitors like Noble Capital and Prime Capital wouldn’t protect Akira, he would be as good as dead once his guards were gone.

‘The old man doesn’t know I’m alive.’

No matter how remarkable the old monster was, he wouldn’t think a clone of a dead person would be plotting to kill him.

The best condition for an assassin is when the victim believes no one is targeting them.

If she used this well, she had a good chance even with her body being incomparably weaker than before.

‘And opportunities to destroy a space city don’t come easily.’

It was a chance to eliminate many Prime Capital nobles, including Lila Chamberlain. She couldn’t postpone or delegate this just because her physical condition was poor.

“What will you do?”

“…Proceed with the plan as is. Tell Jade there are no changes.”

“Understood, Miss.”

After dismissing her subordinate, she gritted her teeth.

“That bastard…!”

All her pain and confusion were because of him.

She swore she would turn that monster who killed her into pieces of meat.

–

It had been two days since Sander offered me the mutant Gallergorn.

I didn’t kill the Gallergorn.

‘The nest is a better reward anyway.’

Eating Gallergorn meat is a gamble. If you’re lucky, you might gain powerful traits, but if not, that’s the end of it.

Conversely, making a deal with it might not yield immediate benefits, but it makes things much easier after evolving to the next stage.

‘Gallergorn nests are extremely difficult to find on your own.’

Recalling how much I struggled to find Gallergorn nests in the game, knowing the location of a nest is definitely advantageous.

Of course, that’s assuming it stays alive until then.

“Big one. Look.”

No. 26 on my shoulder spoke to me as I was lost in thought.

I had given one of the prey items received from Sander today to No. 26. This was to help it grow.

I didn’t feed it just any creature, but specifically those with traits not useful to me or species too few in number to expect predation effects.

As if it had just met its growth conditions, No. 26 now had one more tentacle. Thanks to this, it now had three tentacles.

“Big one. I got a new arm.”

[Zzzzz (I see)]

Perhaps happy about growing from the food I gave it, it kept showing off its tentacles to me. Every time the thin tentacle waved in the air, purple translucent energy emitted light before disappearing.

‘It’s definitely stronger than before.’

I can’t tell No. 26’s exact growth level. Being able to visually confirm its strengthening like this is certainly a good thing.

“I” “food” “thank”

[Zzzzz zzzzz (It wasn’t from me)]

“Small adult” “thank”

The Gallergorn, Adhigh, sitting on my head expressed gratitude to No. 26 for sharing food.

It introduced itself as Adhigh Orr, an outcast from the Odd Grad pack. It asked me about my pack name, but I don’t particularly belong to any group.

Since then, it has simply called me “adult.” I just call it Adhigh.

“Must protect small baby too.”

No. 26 on my shoulder expressed joy by emitting light with wavelengths.

Its appearance looked like a child puffing out its chest, and I unconsciously patted both Adhigh and No. 26.

‘This never happened in the game.’

It’s a strange yet interesting change.

An AMorph, an outsider species that survives and evolves alone, already has two creatures accompanying it.

And these companions are a Gallergorn and a Sea Demon, both untamable in the game.

When I first came to this world, I had three goals.

Survive, hunt, and evolve.

And reach Ascension.

Those goals haven’t changed. But the process of getting there has become very different from what I imagined.

‘Perhaps I’m changing as I blend into this world?’

The prey I’ve eaten most so far is humans. Their genes might be influencing me.

Humans are social animals.

They don’t survive independently but in groups.

Some animals mimic their predators as a survival mechanism.

Perhaps I too am evolving to match humans as I continue to interact with them.

From an AMorph that survives independently to a predator that hunts by forming a society.

While lost in these thoughts, I soon approached the residential district.

After exiting the secret passage and evading surveillance networks, I entered the complex.

As I was about to climb the apartment’s outer wall, my auxiliary organs detected an unfamiliar person.

‘Huh?’

There was a man in front of the neighbor’s apartment. With his rough appearance and tattoos on both arms, he didn’t look like someone engaged in ordinary work.

He was kicking the corridor wall with his foot, looking bored as if waiting for someone.

‘He doesn’t seem to be police, but who is he?’

I told No. 26 and Adhigh to hide for a moment, then activated my mimicry organ.

As I walked down the corridor in the appearance of the neighbor, he looked at me.

“Where the fuck is this bastard coming?”

He cursed, seemingly not caring about my presence. From his behavior, it appeared he didn’t know what the apartment owner looked like.

‘Should I ask?’

I pretended to enter Las’s apartment and spoke to him.

“What’s the matter?”

“…None of your business. Just go in and sleep.”

“Do you have business with my neighbor?”

He looked at me with an annoyed face for a moment, then sighed.

“…Do you know the person in this apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck, then do you also know this guy steals other people’s girlfriends?”

“What?”

“I love my girlfriend so much that I put a little tracker on her communicator. She hasn’t contacted me for a week, so I checked and found she’s in this apartment.”

Saying this, he showed me his communicator screen. There was an internet map on it. On the simplified map of the residential district, a red mark was pinpointed exactly at this location.

“Look even now. It clearly shows she’s inside, but they’re pretending she’s not.”

“I see.”

This was completely unexpected.

I never thought Lloyd would have a boyfriend. Since he enjoyed visiting establishments with Las and indulged in decadent entertainment, I hadn’t considered he might have a separate lover.

‘No. Actually, this might be good?’

While pretending to think, I secretly scanned the entire apartment complex with my auxiliary organs. There was no sign of police or androids in the vicinity.

The man’s actions were clearly illegal. He must have come alone to find his missing girlfriend without reporting her disappearance to the police.

“Hmm. Maybe he went out to buy something.”

“No, I’ve been waiting for so long…”

“Why don’t you wait in my apartment for a bit? He’ll be back soon.”

At my words, he looked me up and down. When his gaze reached my face, he flinched slightly but soon nodded.

“…Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”

The physique I projected with my mimicry organ is much smaller than the man’s. He probably thought that even if there was a problem, he could handle it despite my strange face.

When I opened the door, the man entered without any suspicion.

I signaled with my finger to No. 26 and Adhigh, who were hiding with just their heads peeking out from the far end of the corridor.

“Damn, can’t you keep your place clean?”

“I’m sorry.”

“And what’s this fucking smell…”

The man froze as he turned his head toward me. By then, No. 26 and Adhigh were already blocking the apartment door.

“I guess you didn’t hear that story when you were young?”

“Wh-what?”

“You shouldn’t follow strangers.”

I closed the door.