Ch.74Disguise (1)

I hate to say this, but I wasn’t very popular in the game.

To be precise, I was well-known, but not exactly popular.

Players in Space Survival called me “Morph-obsessed.”

It got to the point where even in foreign communities, that nickname became a proper noun specifically referring to me.

Of course, I have my own defense.

‘The character design is naturally like this, so you shouldn’t blame me.’

AMorph is a species specialized in ambush and hunting.

So there probably isn’t any other user who plays as orthodoxly as I do, following exactly what the game company intended.

Anyway, the reason I’m bringing up the past is because of a nostalgic trait applied to my body.

‘Fake death state.’

For AMorphs, simply surviving until they grow sufficiently is not easy.

Even if they evolve safely, unlike other species, they can’t entrust their backs to companions or clans, so they must always fight alone.

What would be the most necessary trait for such an AMorph?

Among surviving, hunting prey, and evolving, ironically, the most important thing for an AMorph is the first one.

‘Survival.’

Surviving tenaciously like a cockroach is the core of AMorph gameplay.

You have to survive to do the rest—hunting prey, evolving, and so on.

But other players, unless they’re fools, wouldn’t leave a potential threat alone.

There are players who specialize in hunting AMorphs, and besides them, most users try to kill AMorphs when they find them.

So how can one survive safely?

‘They want me dead.’

This is where I changed my approach.

I decided to give them what they wanted, in reverse.

I often disguised my death to escape from the enemy’s surveillance.

The ‘Fake Death’ trait, as the name suggests, puts the caster in a half-dead state.

In Space Survival, when a player dies, their corpse remains in place until they respawn. So even if my corpse remains, enemies find it difficult to notice anything strange.

Since it’s judged the same as death by the system, to NPCs’ eyes, I appear completely dead.

For example, Megacorp’s scout mercenaries can’t distinguish whether I’m pretending to be dead with this trait or not.

They just report to players that they found my corpse.

‘Actually, since that’s how the system works, it’s not entirely the NPCs’ fault.’

When the fake death state activates, the caster’s health and status are all falsely displayed.

Even players with abilities to read information can’t distinguish whether I’m really dead or not.

Apart from the caster, the only way to cancel the fake death state is to use equipment, techniques, or traits that nullify traits.

When enemies who don’t possess means to cancel it see my corpse, their reactions typically fall into two categories.

Most just leave.

Either satisfied with having killed me, or judging that I might be up to something and quickly trying to get away.

Those who leave cautiously aren’t necessarily timid or cowardly. They have reasons to act that way.

I always prepare various things on the battlefield before fighting enemies.

Setting up nests in unexpected places and ambushing from there, and so on.

‘Since there’s a trait that changes the respawn location to a nest among nest-related traits.’

I’ve reversed seemingly hopeless situations more than once using these methods. So players who have been burned by me before tend to be more cautious.

Of course, there were brave users who tried to desecrate my corpse.

There were definitely users who lost their reason due to vengefulness and tried to harass me.

In such cases, there was only one thing I could do.

‘An eye for an eye, desecration for desecration.’

Anyway, I had many enemies, and among them were players who were comparable to rankers or ranked higher than me.

For me, who always lived in danger, the fake death state was one of the most useful traits.

‘Getting a good trait, I’m lucky.’

After expressing gratitude to the knight who tasted like pork, I carried the female knight and the plasma launcher.

I headed to where I first lured the knights to fight.

There are four knight corpses left there, so I need to collect them.

‘I’ll give the female knight to the kids and eat the rest myself.’

It would be nice to make new bait with the signal chips I hid while going there, but it seems difficult given the state of the sewers.

A significant portion of the surrounding walls have collapsed, so the signal chips would be broken too.

‘Anyway, the signal wouldn’t be properly transmitted due to the psychic breath’s influence.’

Upon arriving at the location, I cleared away the collapsed debris to retrieve the corpses.

Protected by advanced reinforced suits, the corpses were in good condition.

I threw the female knight nearby and chewed on the corpses.

‘I’d like to eat leisurely, but there’s no time.’

I need to hurry since I don’t know when other enemies might come here.

‘Did they use the same genes? They all taste like pork.’

I like pork, but having the same taste repeatedly makes it a bit tiresome.

‘One left, should I just give this to the kids?’

Maybe it would be better if I ate the female knight and gave this corpse to the kids.

While contemplating over the corpse, my auxiliary organ sent me a signal.

‘Someone’s coming this way.’

I took the female knight and the remaining corpse and submerged into the water.

Pressing my body flat against the bottom, I could barely hide except for my back.

‘Fortunately, there’s a lot of debris around.’

Disguised as collapsed ruins, I heard voices from a distance.

“Honestly, do we really need to go rescue the knights?”

“What, you think knights are omnipotent? They get hungry and die if they don’t eat, get crushed and die if buildings collapse, just like anyone else.”

The newly appeared people were six in total.

All wore gas masks and mid-grade reinforced suits, carrying Gauss rifles.

‘Defense forces.’

This is a space city managed by T&C. Naturally, those in charge of city security and defense are soldiers from the defense fleet, not knights.

‘As expected, the two units are conducting joint operations.’

I had suspected this since they employed dozens of hired hands, but now it’s confirmed.

Those soldiers came here looking for knights who were in this area. They probably came to check if everything was alright since the sewer collapsed.

They passed by without realizing I was right next to them.

‘A joint operation between two houses.’

The seven great houses of Megacorp are set to have bad relationships with each other.

This is because they compete for the CEO position, which is the pinnacle of power.

Only Noble Capital has the right to nominate CEO candidates, but Prime Capital also competes with them.

Prime Capital only has voting rights and not the right to nominate CEO candidates, so they always dream of promotion to Noble Capital.

To do that, the only way is to pull down one of the five houses above and rise up themselves.

Given this, it’s natural that they fight fiercely.

‘They must be cooperating for some reason ahead of the board meeting.’

Egerton is Prime Capital, T&C is Noble Capital.

Perhaps Egerton made a contract with T&C in exchange for voting for them.

If a major security issue arises at the T&C Special Trade Center, the venue for the board meeting, it would be disadvantageous for the two who have made a secret agreement, so they’re deliberately conducting joint operations.

‘Can’t I use this situation appropriately?’

In fact, my situation isn’t very good.

Although I’ve annihilated a team of knights and eaten dozens of hired hands so far, the overall situation is still unfavorable to me.

My existence has already been discovered by them, and they have weapons that can kill me instantly.

‘Due to the nature of the sewer as infrastructure, they can’t attack recklessly, but…’

If the T&C house judges that leaving me alone would be more damaging than destroying the sewer, they’ll mobilize the defense fleet.

‘Even the Hunt’s Symbol can’t block battleship fire.’

To fight directly with a ship, you need a special trait. Unfortunately, that can’t be obtained here.

‘Let’s organize the situation and conditions.’

Organizing the information I’ve gained from the sewer:

‘Currently, the enemies threatening me are T&C and Egerton, two houses.’

The reason I’m a threat to them is because I’m disrupting security ahead of the big event.

They’re conducting joint operations in the sewer to eliminate me, an unstable factor, as quickly as possible.

‘I need to break that cooperative relationship.’

Given the structure of Megacorp, conflict is inevitable.

Even a slight conflict would greatly shake the friendship between House Egerton and House T&C.

Of course, as long as they have a secret agreement, it’s hard to see the conflict deepening significantly because of just me. I don’t expect that much either.

‘It’s enough to throw them into confusion.’

Then how can I shake up their relationship?

‘Since the communication state is unstable, information won’t be properly delivered…’

Fortunately, I have tools to sow discord between the defense forces and the knights.

‘I have the launcher and the knight’s corpse.’

I operated the launcher with my small arms.

A small terminal on top of the meter-long barrel lit up.

‘The launcher is fine.’

Checking the knight’s corpse, it was intact except for the broken neck.

Unless someone came close and looked carefully, they wouldn’t notice anything strange.

‘Good. I’ll leave the bait here.’

Before entering the operation, I broke all the female knight’s arms and legs.

“Mmph!”

A faint wailing sound was heard from inside the helmet, but I didn’t care much.

The reason I didn’t kill her, though I could have, is simple.

‘If I kill her, it might not count towards the kids’ growth conditions.’

Unlike me, who follows game rules despite being in reality, No. 26 and Adhigh are creatures of this world. So they’re likely to be different from me, but I don’t know for sure.

After hiding the female knight well in the water, I followed the defense forces with the knight’s corpse and launcher.

On the way, I contacted No. 26 in advance.

About what to do after my “death.”

No. 26 reacted very intensely to the fact that I was going to die, more than I expected.

It said it would rather die than let me die.

‘Unexpectedly sensitive to death.’

Is it because it’s grown mentally? I didn’t expect No. 26 to dislike it this much.

I persuaded it by promising to bring tasty food instead.

It seemed more interested in ensuring that I would definitely return than in the food.

“If big one doesn’t come back, I’ll really get angry.”

With those words, No. 26 sent no more waves.

‘Of course.’

This is all to avoid death, so what’s the point if I die?

After explaining the plan to No. 26, I increased my speed to close the distance with the soldiers.

‘They didn’t go far.’

Unlike knights in advanced reinforced suits, their movement speed wasn’t very fast.

They still didn’t know that something was chasing them from behind.

‘This should be enough?’

After calculating the distance between us, I set up the knight’s corpse to stand appropriately.

Thanks to the armor-type reinforced suit, it wasn’t difficult to make it look like it was standing.

From behind the knight, I activated the launcher while half-submerged.

“Charging 10…20…”

A half-ruined sewer, waist-high dirty water, darkness.

And a mysterious monster hiding somewhere within.

‘A perfect environment for losing one’s mind.’

I don’t intend to just make the enemies antagonize each other.

‘What’s important is action, and results.’

I need to gain something by inducing a chaotic battle.

‘Anything can happen during a chaotic battle.’

“Charging 40…70…”

For instance, what if I appear while they’re firing launchers at each other?

What if I “die” from being hit by a launcher during their fight?

‘That would end the pursuit of me.’

I, the cause of the joint sewer operation, would be eliminated, and an indelible gap would remain between the knights and the defense forces.

Moreover, if I convince the enemies that I’m dead, my range of action would expand further.

‘It reminds me of old memories.’

It was like this when I fought against four clans on a jungle planet before.

The enemy forces were overwhelmingly strong, and I was just a weak individual compared to them.

The reason I could win even in unfavorable battles was that I used everything I could.

Among those factors was my own death.

“Charging 90…100%”

When the terminal’s number reached 100, the cutting-edge weapon capable of destroying even ships spewed fire towards the soldiers.

–

“Is it real that I can smell something even with a gas mask on?”

“Cough, and somehow the atmosphere doesn’t feel right. I’ve been feeling chills since earlier…”

“Hey, do you really have to say such things in this shitty situation?”

“After this operation ends, I’m going to propose to my fiancée.”

“What nonsense are you—”

“A guy who jerks off to VR TV every dawn talking about fiancées, my ass.”

“It’s true! Not at this Special Trade Center, but on another planet…”

While the soldiers were chatting with each other, suddenly a green light flew from behind.

The chillingly pale green beam not only vaporized the upper body of a soldier but also turned the corridor wall into powder.

“Enemy attack! Everyone take cover!”

“Take cover!”

As the commanding soldier shouted, the other soldiers nimbly hid behind the debris of the collapsed sewer.

“Damn! What was that just now?”

“S-Squad leader! It’s a plasma launcher!”

“What? Friendly fire?”

“That possibility is slim. The launcher is managed by a small computer.”

That meant someone on the other side was deliberately targeting them.

The squad leader peeked slightly from behind cover to confirm the enemy’s appearance.

Even in the darkness, the silver armor was clearly visible.

Facing the worst situation he hadn’t wished for, he spat out curses.

“…Have those motherless knight bastards gone crazy? Why are they shooting at us?”

“Either they mistook us for monsters or…”

“Wait.”

Interrupting his subordinate, the squad leader shouted loudly from behind cover.

“Hey! This is the defense fleet! We’re allies!”

His voice echoed through the sewer.

As if in response to his words, green light flashed again from the darkness on the other side.

“Damn it!”

The squad leader quickly dove into the dirty water of the sewer. The plasma beam grazed over his back by a hair’s breadth.

“Squad leader!”

“Those fucking bastards!”

He didn’t die, but his subordinate who was taking cover with him wasn’t so lucky. The subordinate’s body was disintegrated along with the cover by the high-temperature energy.

“We don’t have enough firepower to fight knights! I’ll cover you, everyone retreat!”

“Yes, sir!”

While the squad leader fired his Gauss rifle at the enemy, the other soldiers jumped out from behind cover and ran into the darkness.

“Go tell anyone, any team! The knights here have gone crazy… Argh!”

A scream from behind.

It wasn’t hard for the soldiers to imagine what had happened to their leader.

“S-Squad leader!”

“The squad leader is gone! Run faster, you bastards!”

The highest-ranking soldier among those remaining led his comrades down the corridor.

The quiet ruins were filled with the sound of splashing water and the soldiers’ panting.

The deaths of two comrades and the squad leader had made their senses extremely sensitive.

So they could tell.

That there was something alien mixed in with the sound of their footsteps.

“Aah!”

Following the scream, there was a loud splash of water. The comrade who was at the very back had fallen.

His comrades quickly turned around, but he was instantly sucked into the water and disappeared.

In his place, only the Gauss rifle floated, abandoned by its owner.

“Shit!”

“Run!”

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!”

The fleeing soldiers were almost out of their minds.

Darkness, ambush, the sudden deaths of comrades, and an unusually poor physical condition.

All these factors combined to turn well-trained soldiers into a disorganized rabble.

In their frantic minds, there was only the thought that they must survive.

Perhaps that’s why.

Although no more plasma beams flew after the squad leader’s scream, they didn’t notice anything strange.

After running for a while like that, they finally met other team members.

“Who goes there!”

“S-Save us!”

“Huh? Why are you here? Wait, aren’t you all from Camp 3?”

The team that the escapees encountered was a mixed search party from Team 1.

Among the soldiers wearing gas masks and mid-grade reinforced suits, knights in silver armor could be seen.

“Eek?!”

“Have they all gone crazy? Why are they suddenly like this?”

The escapees screamed and writhed at the sight of the knights. While Team 1’s defense forces were perplexed by their panic-stricken behavior, the leader of the search party, the Crisis Management Deputy Team Leader, appeared.

“What’s going on?”

“These are exploratory team members from Team 3. They suddenly came here and…”

“D-Deputy Team Leader! Please save us!”

“Hmm? Did you find the creature? Calm down and tell me.”

The Crisis Management Deputy Team Leader calmly soothed them.

The escaped soldiers seemed somewhat stabilized, as the highest-ranking one among them pointed at the knights and shouted.

“Them! Those knights attacked us with plasma launchers!”

“What?”

“Three out of six died in action! All from the knights’ attacks!”

Hearing this, the deputy team leader looked at Vicars, the leader of the knights.

Vicars hurriedly managed his expression, but the deputy team leader didn’t miss it.

The emotion that appeared and quickly disappeared on Vicars’ face was closer to embarrassment than surprise.

Like when a hidden secret is discovered.