Ch.79Monument (2)

“Master Akira. We will soon arrive at the T&C Special Trade Center.”

Akira Yujin, who had been resting in a special capsule that regulated his body, opened his eyes at his subordinate’s voice.

As the capsule opened and he rose, a young woman approached him.

She was strikingly beautiful, but her eyes contained no emotion whatsoever.

She was one of Akira’s closest confidants, having been granted the Code Black status among the shadows of House Yugin.

Black handed Akira a towel and a black drink.

“How much time has passed?”

“It’s been a week since we began our journey.”

“So we’ll be a day late from the scheduled arrival.”

He didn’t ask what had happened or why they were delayed.

The shadows would have handled everything properly anyway.

This vessel they were on, House Yugin’s flagship “Heavenly Sword,” carried three shadows to escort Akira.

Besides Code Black who stood beside him, Code Red and Code Blue were performing security duties somewhere else on the ship.

Akira carelessly tossed aside the towel he had used to wipe his mouth and left the room with the capsule.

Black followed behind Akira, leaving the cleanup to other servants.

As they walked toward the bridge together, he suddenly spoke.

“T&C Special Trade Center. It was already flourishing even before I became the head of the family.”

“Is that so?”

Before Akira Yujin had served three consecutive terms as CEO, two houses had occupied the throne of Megacorp for the longest time.

House Vedas, famous for android and AI development, and House Garmelda, renowned for their enhancement suits.

In the early days of Megacorp, House Vedas monopolized the CEO position, but they rapidly declined after the emergence of Star Union.

Currently, House Vedas barely maintained their position at the bottom of Noble Capital.

In contrast, House Garmelda had maintained their prosperity for a long time because they had the support of the elders of House Egerton.

After Garmelda, House T&C was the house with the most formidable power.

As the most influential house in space development, T&C had never lost its upper-tier status in Noble Capital.

“At that time, House Yugin didn’t have much influence. Some even disparaged us as a house that only provided food for the lower classes.”

Though slightly exaggerated, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

The impact of House Yugin’s inexpensive genetically modified food on the livelihood sector of lower Capitals was by no means small.

In fact, House Yugin’s share of Megacorp’s food supply rate was nearly half, which was remarkably high.

However, regardless of its importance within Megacorp, House Yugin had relatively little influence over other Noble Capitals.

This was because the consumption of genetically modified food decreased dramatically as one moved up to higher Capitals.

As a result, House Yugin had no choice but to repeatedly taste the bitter cup of defeat at the board meetings where the CEO was elected.

House Yugin began to surpass other houses when they started deploying Hulk Mutants to the front lines.

Previous heads of the family had continuously worked to utilize genetically modified soldiers in warfare, focusing on their potential.

And finally, under the leadership of the head just before Akira, they saw the fruits of their labor.

In this situation, Akira, who became the new head of the family, secured the CEO position by proposing a strategy to sell Hulk Mutants to other houses.

Of course, there was considerable opposition within the family to Akira’s decision to sell what was essentially a secret weapon, but he wasn’t worried.

House Yugin’s genetic manipulation technology was truly unparalleled.

Other houses had attempted to develop Hulk Mutants independently, but all failed due to technological inadequacies.

“It seems the coward from Egerton has been playing games lately, but it’s futile.”

Akira already knew what the head of House Egerton was planning because he used shadows to scout various houses within Megacorp.

“Are you referring to the Silver Lion Knights?”

“Yes. Isn’t it amusing how they mix just two or three genes and then boast about it being the pinnacle of genetic technology?”

Danver would be highly indignant if he heard this, but Akira had the right to say such things.

After all, just look at Code Black standing before him.

All those belonging to the shadows were ultimate biological weapons with dozens of different genes synthesized.

“It seems the snake from T&C intends to extract benefits through Egerton, but he’s made a mistake from the start. He would have been better off supporting our House Yugin instead.”

Of course, there was little chance that Salman, who coveted the CEO position more than anyone, would ally with Akira.

And even if he did make such a request, Akira wouldn’t grant it anyway.

During this conversation that wasn’t really a conversation, the two arrived at the bridge.

The soldiers focused on their duties at the bridge quietly bowed their heads when they saw Akira.

“Kuk kuk kuk, this board meeting promises to be quite enjoyable.”

Seated on the throne of the bridge, Akira laughed as if in anticipation.

–

‘The freezer storage. It’s been a while since I’ve been here.’

Under the blue lights, dissected creature corpses were visible everywhere.

Some were piled on stainless steel tables, while others that looked like human bodies hung from ceiling hooks, vacuum-sealed in plastic.

The uniquely cool lighting and eerie scenery were just as they appeared in the game, but there were two differences.

The cold air coming from the cooling units attached to the walls, and the smell emanating from the corpses.

These sensations were things that couldn’t be experienced in the game.

‘So this is what it feels like in reality.’

I once hid inside a corpse here and ambushed users, and they complained to me.

They asked why I always jumped out from scary places.

At the time, I didn’t understand their pointless complaints, but looking at it now, it’s definitely an atmosphere worth complaining about.

“H-here’s the gene list you requested.”

While I was lost in reminiscence, the dissection team leader, controlled by a parasite, handed me a terminal pad.

I had asked him to check what was in the gene repository before coming here.

‘I need to choose what to eat first.’

In case something unexpected happens and it becomes difficult to acquire gene samples, I need to consume the necessary ones first to minimize losses if something goes wrong.

‘Let’s see.’

I used my small arms to check the list displayed on the pad.

‘Hmm.’

The variety of species itself is less diverse than I expected. There are just many samples taken from the same creatures.

‘That’s not necessarily a bad thing though.’

I’ve gained quite a few traits from humans alone.

The same applies to other creatures.

Even if there aren’t many different species, one creature can provide multiple traits.

‘I need to target samples from creatures with good traits.’

I carefully checked the list, scrolling down slowly.

When I first looked at the list, I thought it was quite mediocre, but midway through I noticed two species with traits I needed.

‘They have Metallic Gremlin? And…’

The sample of this creature that caught my attention is one that normally couldn’t be obtained here under any circumstances.

‘I understand the Metallic Gremlin, but…’

I could roughly guess why they possessed samples of a creature that poses a significant threat to space cities.

The entire Metallic Gremlin species carries a negative trait called “Dwarfism.”

Just as AMorphs have the handicap of being unable to interact with other species, Metallic Gremlins cannot grow taller than 1m no matter what they do.

Even the King Gremlin, a higher species, only reaches about 1m 50cm.

‘They probably intend to inject the dwarfism trait into employees to weaken them.’

While I understand the Metallic Gremlin, I’m puzzled about how T&C obtained a sample of “that.”

“How·did·you·get·this·one”

“That sample was collected while dissecting a smuggled animal.”

The world is wide and full of strange people.

I never thought someone would try to smuggle “that.”

Considering its size, they would need a container at least 5 times larger than those in the port district.

‘Well, in a world where people smuggle mountain crawlers and Gallergorn…’

I accepted this explanation and looked at the rest of the list.

Apart from these two creatures, I didn’t see any others with particularly important traits.

‘Still, obtaining the genes of that creature would be an incredible achievement.’

That’s because this creature possesses traits related to unlocking a new type.

If I get that type, I’ll be able to do much more.

‘It’s a trait that enables space flight.’

I inwardly rejoiced and selected about 30 samples, then gave instructions to the dissection team leader.

As I expected, the dissection team leader showed reluctance when he saw the gene sample of “that.”

“T-this creature?”

“Yes”

“Five rare species samples require p-permission. Perhaps another…”

“No”

Even if I have to give up everything else, I must extract “that” one.

Eventually, the dissection team leader left the freezer storage with a dejected expression.

“W-what should we do?”

“Wait”

Despite being told they didn’t need to do anything, anxiety filled the faces of the three researchers.

Unfortunately, they have only one future left.

Sacrifices to suppress the aftereffects of the Hunt’s Emblem.

‘Now, how should I lure out the Cult who contacted me?’

If I’m going to eat them, it’s best to do so while the emblem’s effect is still active.

It’s an opportunity to gain precious psychic ability traits.

‘If I remember correctly, each surveillance team has a total of 3 members.’

It would be ideal to lure all three at once, but that’s unlikely.

‘The rule is that one person must always remain on standby in the control room.’

My original plan was to use the researchers to lure them to the freezer storage and inject parasites into the Cult members who came.

But after seeing the list, my thoughts have changed slightly.

‘If I gain the traits of the Metallic Gremlin, I can be more proactive.’

Metallic Gremlins have traits like EMP that can break nearby machines.

If I acquire that trait, it wouldn’t be difficult to take over not just one Cult member but an entire control room.

That’s why I deliberately requested multiple samples per creature to increase the probability of extracting good traits.

Since the Metallic Gremlin and “that” samples were most important, I asked for all available ones.

There were 8 samples of Metallic Gremlin and 8 samples of “that.” A total of 16 samples were stored in the repository.

In other words, I have 8 chances to acquire traits from each of these creatures.

‘Of course, it’s all for nothing if I only get dwarfism every time.’

Even if I acquire the dwarfism trait, I can employ various strategies.

Like moving through ventilation ducts as I did during my hatchling days, or hiding inside human corpses to ambush, and so on.

There are many spaces in this Monument where a small body can move around, so the dwarfism trait isn’t bad for conquering this building.

‘The problem is that in this game, once you acquire a trait, you can’t discard it.’

Unless I remove the dwarfism trait through the transcendence system, I won’t be able to exceed 1m in size until ascension.

I’ll have to face numerous enemies in the future, and some will need to be subdued through physical strength. It’s not easy to navigate alone with a small stature.

‘Not that I plan to acquire it anyway.’

“I’ve brought them.”

While I was contemplating how to deal with the Cult, the dissection team leader returned.

He placed capsules containing the samples on the stainless steel table.

‘Good. Let’s begin.’

I activated the Hunt’s Emblem.

“Hiiik?!”

As my body rapidly grew, the researchers in the freezer storage gasped.

The exoskeleton covered my eyes, and the horns on my head grew larger.

My body swelled greatly, increasing from 3m to nearly 5m from foot to head.

My tail also grew enormously to match the body transformation, making the combined length of my body and tail approach nearly 10m.

On my combat arms, shield-like exoskeletons grew at what would be the wrist area for humans, and two new arms with bone blades sprouted from my back.

“Grrrrrr”

Having completed the transformation, I growled softly, feeling the exhilaration throughout my body.

One of the researchers, overwhelmed by my transformation, moaned with an expression that suggested he might faint.

“Uuugh…”

And the rising smell of ammonia.

But no one blamed him. They all had the same expression.

Ignoring their reactions, I used my small arms to pick up a capsule containing a sample.

The surface of the capsule had the word “Skywhale” printed in small letters.

‘Now, let’s unlock a new type.’

I poured the gene sample of “that,” the Skywhale, which had the trait I needed most, into my mouth, capsule and all.

The capsule broke in my mouth, and the genetic essence contained in the sample seeped into my body.

Then I felt the distinctive heat that usually accompanies acquiring a new trait.

‘Good. Success…’

“Predation effect activated! ‘Space Flight(0.5)’ genetic essence acquisition successful.”

“‘Space Flight(0.5)’ stolen from the biological traits of ‘Skywhale’.”

“Apply ‘Space Flight(0.5)’?”

“P.S.: Cheating is not allowed.”

“An urgent message has arrived.”

The translucent text box that always appeared whenever the predation effect activated.

There was a new message added to it.

‘What? Cheating is not allowed? Could it be?’

I hurriedly checked the urgent message.

“When the predation effect is activated on samples during the application of ‘Hunt’s Emblem,’ only 0.5 portions of genetic essence are acquired. To fully obtain a trait, the predation effect must be activated twice on the same trait from the same sample.”

“P.S.: This is for balancing the transcendence system, please take note.”

‘Damn it.’

There have been several crises since I came here.

I was confused by an unfamiliar body, and I struggled to survive when I encountered strong enemies that I shouldn’t have met in the early stages.

I was also surprised by the appearance of unfamiliar systems, or found myself in danger when faced with situations different from the game.

But I am the only player who has entered the ranker tier among AMorphs.

I’ve overcome obstacles by actively utilizing the experience and knowledge I’ve accumulated from playing AMorph for a long time.

That’s why I had forgotten.

That Space Survival was originally a really messed-up game.