Ch.78Monument (1)

The Monument, a skyscraper in the administrative district of the T&C Special Trade Center.

Older players call this place “Bla*ma*.”

‘Looking at its twisted pretzel shape, it does look similar.’

Of course, it only resembles the alien artifact from that classic horror game in appearance; the setting is completely different.

The Monument in Space Survival doesn’t drive people insane or transform them into strange creatures.

‘Instead, it gives buffs to its owner.’

When a specific clan owns the Monument, they gain a clan-exclusive trait called “Slave Trade.”

Clans with this trait receive more than double the income from planets they own.

That’s why large clans will do anything to acquire this monument.

As a result, wars never cease in the T&C Special Trade Center.

‘In a way, it might actually be an homage to Bla*ma*.’

Many clans have been ruined after recklessly going to war just to obtain the Monument.

For reference, I wasn’t interested in owning the Monument.

‘Rather, I was interested in the clan members who came to obtain it.’

In the past, I infiltrated the Monument in various ways to extract genetic essence from clan members.

I’ve even pretended to be dead using the “Suspended Animation” trait, just like now.

“Sigh, I was planning to hit the entertainment district today.”

“You’re married and still going to those places?”

“I go because I’m married. Don’t get married.”

“You’re crazy.”

“It’s almost the end of the year, and we’re working overtime? Is this for real?”

“You don’t even have a girlfriend, so what are you complaining about?”

“Hey, am I not a person just because I don’t have a girlfriend? I want to spend time leisurely at a resort too. An exotic location, a fateful encounter, love, and then parting…”

“Stop talking nonsense and help move this stuff.”

The researchers chat while moving equipment.

They clearly don’t think I’m alive at all.

‘Good.’

While they were distracted with their idle chatter, I activated my parasite swarm.

Black worm-like creatures emerged one by one from the fingertips of my lower right arm, wriggling.

‘All of you, under the dissection table.’

Following my command, four parasites hid themselves under the dissection table.

“Huh?”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“That’s strange. I thought I saw it move.”

“It’s dead. Don’t waste energy on useless things.”

One researcher examined me carefully before returning to his preparations.

‘Four researchers in total. All wearing masks.’

The parasites have no attack capabilities, so they can’t enter the masks on their own.

‘I need to create openings for the parasites to enter.’

Shooting the barbed hairs from my tail to make holes would work.

However, I can’t move right away because of the surveillance cameras.

Using my auxiliary organs to check the camera angles, I realized there are no blind spots around the dissection table where I’m lying.

While small, thin objects like parasites might go unnoticed, any large movement from me would be caught on camera immediately.

‘I need a smokescreen to hide my tail’s movement.’

Conveniently, there are chemicals near my tail that could create smoke.

‘But those alone won’t create enough smoke.’

I need a catalyst to trigger a chemical reaction from those substances.

Something like acidic liquid. And my blood has strong acidic properties.

‘I guess I’ll have to wait a bit longer.’

They came here to dissect me anyway.

When they make me bleed, that will be my time to move.

–

“Alright. Everything ready?”

The head of the autopsy team, under the biological management division of the science research institute, clapped his hands to focus everyone.

Next to the dissection table was a stainless alloy table for various tools.

On the table were medical instruments like scalpels and medical saws, plasma cutters for cutting through tough skin, and chemical solutions to preserve tissue samples.

Even in the space age, autopsy procedures haven’t changed much from their primitive forms.

“Where should we start?”

“Since it’s lying face down, how about the back?”

“Let’s take it slow. First, let’s collect skin tissue samples.”

At the team leader’s instruction, a researcher picked up a scalpel.

The auxiliary arms of his exoskeleton suit held cover glasses and genetic data testing equipment.

“Let’s first identify what kind of animal this is.”

He cut into the monster’s arm with the scalpel.

“Huh?”

Instead of cutting through the outer skin, the scalpel blade broke.

“This is incredibly hard! It’s almost as tough as an adult Mountain Crawler.”

“Try this.”

A colleague handed him a sonic blade. Though smaller than military versions, this medical cutting tool had the same effect.

When the researcher pressed the switch, a thin blade emerged from the short rod, emitting an eerie sound from its ultrasonic vibration effect.

“Let’s see…”

Just as he was about to apply the sonic blade to the monster’s body…

“Huh?”

“It moved?”

He saw the monster’s tail twitch slightly.

This time he wasn’t the only one who noticed, as his colleague tilted his head in confusion.

“Probably just rigor mortis wearing off.”

“Y-yeah, that must be it.”

“Whew, that scared me. If this thing were alive, we’d already be dead.”

“Hey, don’t say scary things.”

“Enough chatting. Hurry up and collect the skin sample.”

The researcher scraped the monster’s arm with the sonic blade.

The monster’s skin was so hard that sparks flew with a sound like metal scraping against metal.

“This doesn’t sound like it’s coming from an animal’s body.”

After continued scraping with the sonic blade, he finally started to make a scratch on the monster’s skin.

“Oh good. Just a little more and… ah.”

At that moment, the sonic blade’s edge completely broke, shutting off the ultrasonic effect.

Though the tool was ruined, fortunately, he managed to cut off a tiny piece of skin.

“It’s small, but enough for the analyzer. Put the sample in the analyzer.”

“Tsk, this thing is ridiculously tough.”

“Let’s try the plasma cutter this time.”

Two researchers picked up plasma cutters.

Normally, cutters are fixed to stable surfaces like the floor to prevent recoil.

However, they were wearing exoskeleton suits with auxiliary arms designed to handle heavy weights and withstand the cutter’s recoil.

The auxiliary arms firmly held the plasma cutters to prevent shaking.

After adjusting the cutters to aim at the body, the two researchers pressed the activation buttons.

Thin green beams shot out, scorching the surface of the skin.

No matter how tough a monster’s biological armor might be, it couldn’t resist plasma energy.

Meanwhile, the data analyzer displayed a notification that the analysis was complete.

Seeing this, a researcher called the autopsy team leader in surprise.

“What is it?”

“This creature isn’t registered in the Megacorp database.”

“Really? So it’s a new species?”

“Strangely, it shares genetic material with dozens of species…”

Before the researcher could finish, a problem arose where they were cutting with the plasma cutters.

“Team leader! There’s smoke coming from its body!”

“No, wait! This isn’t smoke!”

“Shit! Its blood is acidic!”

As the researcher shouted, the blood flowing from the body was dissolving the dissection table.

“The blood is splashing this way! Be careful!”

The blood was also splattering toward the researchers due to the plasma beam. If the nearby researcher hadn’t pulled his colleague back, he would have been seriously injured.

“Whew, thanks.”

“Stay alert.”

While checking if his colleague was okay, the researcher noticed something strange attached to his body.

“Huh? What’s that on your body?”

A black worm-like creature was attached to his colleague’s side.

He thought he might be seeing things, but he wasn’t.

It was wriggling and crawling upward.

“Huh? W-what is this?”

Like him, the other researchers also had worm-like creatures attached to their bodies.

“What is this…”

As the researcher tried to use his auxiliary arm to remove the worm while shuddering in disgust, he heard the sound of glass breaking.

Then came the sound of water splashing, followed by a hot sensation on his back.

When he turned around, he saw fire blazing on the table where the chemical solutions had been placed.

Black smoke from the chemicals instantly rose and enveloped the researchers.

“F-fire!”

“Kack! Keuhhk! Cough!”

“Get the fire extinguisher!”

As the panicked researchers scrambled, the monster’s body that had been lying still began to move.

Its tail twitched, and the barbed hairs at the end shot toward the researchers’ faces.

“Ah?”

“What was that just now?”

Fortunately, the barbed hairs only grazed the faces of the autopsy team leader and researchers, missing their targets.

Their masks were torn, exposing their skin to the toxic smoke.

“What is this?”

“Where did that come from?”

All the researchers were confused when their masks were suddenly torn by sharp objects.

But there was something else they should have been more concerned about.

The black worm-like creatures attached to their bodies.

The parasites from the monster’s body had rapidly climbed up and attached themselves to their faces.

“Aaaagh!”

“H-help me!”

“Guhk! Kack!”

The researchers quickly brought their hands to their faces, but the parasites had already entered their masks.

They coughed trying to expel the parasites crawling into their nostrils, or frantically scratched their faces trying to grab them.

If they had been a little calmer, they could have used their strong auxiliary arms to pull out the parasites.

But the sudden fire and attack from unfamiliar parasitic creatures made it difficult for them to maintain their composure.

Pop

The sprinklers activated due to the smoke, showering water throughout the lab.

Under the falling water, the researchers one by one stopped moving as they succumbed to the parasites’ attack.

“…gack.”

“……”

The last remaining autopsy team leader tried desperately to remove the parasite that had entered his mask.

When the parasite had halfway penetrated his body, he managed to grab its tail with his hand.

Despite the slippery, unpleasant sensation in his palm, he tried to pull the parasite out.

The creature, firmly attached deep in his nose, stimulated the back of his neck as it resisted being pulled out.

“Ugack! Kack! Kuhack!”

Even while gagging, the autopsy team leader didn’t stop trying to remove the parasite.

He had almost succeeded when suddenly he felt all strength leave his body.

‘What’s happening?’

A long barbed hair was stuck in his wrist, which was now going limp.

While the parasite quickly burrowed into his nose, he could no longer feel any pain.

Before his knees buckled and he collapsed.

He saw it.

The monster lying face down on the dissection table.

Its white eyes staring at him.

It wasn’t dead.

–

The Third Central Control Room of the Monument.

Though the first day of the board meeting had ended with the first session, the control room couldn’t rest.

Anna, a female Cult administrator with goat horns, was checking the surveillance cameras with a bored expression.

Her colleague, a male Cult with ibex horns, stretched and stood up from his seat.

“Where are you going?”

“Coffee. Want me to make you one too?”

“Yeah. Strong, no sugar.”

After the male Cult left, Anna focused on monitoring again.

She had psychic powers specialized in observation, allowing her to monitor hundreds of surveillance cameras simultaneously.

Not just her, but all Cults working in this administrative district possessed special psychic powers that helped with city management.

‘Sigh, I just want to go home, shower, and sleep.’

Having abilities that help with work doesn’t necessarily make the work enjoyable.

Originally, the Third Central Control Room had three monitors, including a female Cult named Janet.

If Janet hadn’t disappeared, she wouldn’t have needed to work overtime for days.

‘That woman, running away without saying anything. I want to run away too.’

As she continued monitoring while grumbling to herself, something strange caught her eye.

“Science Research Institute Lab 30? A fire?”

Beyond the camera, the lab was filled with smoke, and researchers could be seen panicking.

Soon the sprinklers activated, turning the lab into a pool of water.

“…What’s going on? Why are they acting like that?”

The panicking researchers suddenly stopped moving simultaneously, as if on cue. They stood at attention, just letting the water pour over them.

Only one of them had collapsed, seemingly unconscious, but no one was helping him.

Anna felt something unsettling about the scene.

A feeling that something was wrong.

Anyway, if there was a fire, she needed to check. She picked up the communicator.

When she made contact, the people who had been standing motionless on camera suddenly moved in unison to handle the situation.

One of the researchers took a communicator from the autopsy team leader’s pocket and answered.

“This is the Third Central Control Room. Lab 30, is there a fire?”

“Ah, ch-chemical solution spilled and c-caught fire. It will be n-normal soon.”

“Do you need the fire team?”

“N-no! Absolutely do not call them!”

“Hmm? There’s someone collapsed there. Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Uh, he j-just inhaled toxic smoke and f-fainted briefly. He’ll wake up soon.”

“Is that so?”

“Y-yes. Anyway, once the team leader wakes up, we need to transport this body, so you don’t need to monitor us anymore. Bye.”

Even after the communication ended, Anna stared at the communicator suspiciously.

‘Why is he trembling so much?’

Maybe it’s because of the sudden incident. The researcher’s voice was unusually shaky.

As if he was afraid of something.

‘And they’re transporting a specimen in the middle of the night?’

As she pondered, her Cult colleague returned with coffee.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, there was a fire in the autopsy team’s lab, but their reaction was a bit strange.”

“That place is full of weirdos anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

“I guess so?”

Since her colleague’s point made sense, Anna finally dropped her concerns about the fire in Lab 30.

‘I have plenty of other work to do anyway.’

With that, she pushed thoughts of the autopsy team to the back of her mind and drank coffee with her colleague.

–

‘As expected, they called right away.’

Though a researcher under my control answered the phone, I knew who was calling him.

‘Cult.’

One characteristic of the Monument is that Cults are in charge of internal surveillance.

Humans are easily shaken by unexpected situations and have many weaknesses, while androids lack autonomous thinking ability. Cults have fewer of these weaknesses.

Also, thanks to their psychic powers, they have much better intuition than humans, easily detecting approaching enemies or traps.

Because of these characteristics, Cults who immigrated to Megacorp often work as monitors or scouts.

‘In the setting, Cults traditionally enjoy hunting strong enemies.’

Like Volfs, Cults are naturally excellent hunters and monitors.

Even in an age of spaceships traversing the universe, remnants of traditional hunting culture remain throughout Cult society.

‘Looking at the Cult-specific system called Quests, they’re all about hunting animals to bring back horns or hearts.’

Still, Cults who work with humans tend to be less focused on these aspects.

If this were a planet inhabited by Cults, my plan would have been immediately detected, but Cults in Megacorp are relatively less sharp.

In human society, there are too many things to pay attention to, making it difficult to rely solely on intuition.

They probably thought something was strange but likely dismissed it as not their concern.

‘Of course, if this happens frequently, they’ll take action.’

That’s something I’ll need to be careful about going forward.

Anyway, half of my primary goal of infiltrating the administrative district has succeeded.

I’ve made new friends and haven’t been caught.

“When the t-team leader wakes up, we’ll transport you.”

I nodded slightly at the researcher’s words.

My next destination is the cold storage.

It’s where large animal carcasses like mine are stored, and as far as I know, there are no surveillance cameras inside.

I’m certain because I’ve hidden in animal carcasses to infiltrate places in the game before.

“Is there a nearby genetic storage facility?”

“What? Oh, y-yes, of course. It’s right next door, so don’t worry.”

Plus, the facility layout is ideal for what I want.

‘I can make the researchers bring samples for me.’

Since the distance is short, there’s no need to leave many authentication records during movement.

This means there are fewer elements for monitors to find suspicious.

‘After consuming all the genetic samples, I can eat the researchers.’

If I call them when the Hunting Emblem effect is ending, I can also eliminate the side effects.

‘Is there a way to make this even more perfect?’

A way to prevent the Monument’s administrators from discovering the researchers’ disappearance for as long as possible.

Suddenly, a good idea came to mind.

‘That phone call just now.’

I think I can use it effectively.