Ch.7The Hunt (3)

What is the essence of AMorph gameplay?

Space Survival guarantees high freedom, but there are still standardized play styles.

For example, when starting with Megacorp Noble Capital, the orthodox approach is to use initial funding to purchase mercenaries or ships to snowball. This is because their racial traits are optimized for utilizing mercenaries and slaves.

Then what is the orthodox approach for AMorph gameplay? What qualitatively differentiates AMorphs from other races?

‘Hunter.’

Getting enemy information in advance, setting traps, luring, and ambushing from behind.

No matter how many genetic essences you gather to become stronger, the essence of an AMorph is being a hunter.

In the late game, after finishing essence farming, you can slaughter multiple users, but even then, the formula remains the same.

The reason I could become the best in the game as an AMorph was simple.

‘Because I’m good at hunting.’

Unlike other users, I had to fight alone without party members.

My physical abilities weren’t as good as younger users.

I lacked the equipment and traits of long-time players.

Under all these adverse conditions, I always trampled them and emerged victorious.

I made the genes of those who whined and protested my own, and copied their unique traits.

As trophies from my prey accumulated, my hunting know-how grew with them. The more those foolish victims kept coming at me without giving up, the stronger I became.

After endless repetition of this process, I became the most notorious predator in the Space Survival world.

And now, I’m targeting new prey.

“Damn it! The stabilization process takes too long.”

Kisaragi Yujin slammed the desk in anger.

I had been watching from above the laboratory, but she hadn’t noticed my presence. Her sharp intuition was dulled by anger.

Though she’s alone, it’s not time yet. There are guards outside, and soldiers patrolling around.

“Damn it…”

She got up from her seat in frustration after fiddling with the machine. She went to another lab and began operating a terminal.

I’m not sure what she’s trying to do, but it doesn’t seem pleasant for the creatures in the lab. The test subjects writhed in pain as she passed by.

“This one and that one.”

What she was doing wasn’t experimentation but torture to vent her frustration. The lab filled with silent screams.

“Oh, you’re here too.”

In front of her was Test Subject No. 26.

I can feel its anxiety from here.

When Kisaragi took out the Psyonium, Test Subject No. 26 trembled.

Was she satisfied by the test subject’s fear? She smiled a distorted smile.

“This is an experiment.”

She injected all the Psyonium. No. 26’s entire body tore apart and its color instantly bleached.

The bubbling foam in the test tube seemed to express the test subject’s screams.

After the sadistic torture disguised as an experiment, No. 26 survived once again.

Kisaragi clicked her tongue and left the lab.

‘……’

She always chooses the most disagreeable actions.

As I was about to move my feet to track her, Test Subject No. 26 sent me a wave.

「Greeting.」

‘……’

This one greets me the same way as always.

I left without responding.

There’s no need for conversation between us anyway. Rather than a few words of comfort, I plan to give it what it truly needs.

The life of the one who tormented it.

I left the lab and followed Kisaragi.

She was heading to the captain’s quarters. Two guards followed behind her.

Their discontent was evident enough that I didn’t need to check with my auxiliary organs. Kisaragi seemed aware of this but said nothing.

The icy atmosphere intensified after arriving at the captain’s quarters.

“Two hours have passed. What progress have you made?”

“We’ve just begun the search. You’ll need to wait a bit longer…”

“Captain, no, Eusung Samuel. Are you defying Noble Capital’s will?”

At her words, Captain Eusung Samuel’s face hardened. Anyone could see he was angry, but it was just bravado. Judging by his constricted pupils, sweat on the back of his neck, and trembling legs inside his pants, he was clearly in a state of panic.

He may be the ship’s captain, but Kisaragi is part of the Megacorp’s ruling class. Of course he’d be scared.

“I am the captain of this ship, Research Team Leader. Please mind your words.”

“That captain position—I can make you step down from it.”

“Even Noble Capital cannot be allowed to overstep its authority. I have the right to detain you.”

“Ha. Detain? Did you just say you’re going to detain me?”

“By the captain’s authority, I can order the detention of anyone disrupting order on the ship.”

“Are you insane, Eusung Samuel?”

The situation is getting interesting. There seems to have been conflict between them before I started watching.

Well, it’s not surprising that this confrontation was inevitable, given Kisaragi’s arrogant nature.

They glared at each other for a long time. In the end, Kisaragi was the one who looked away.

‘Is this also as expected?’

If something happens to Kisaragi, the fate of this ship’s crew ends there.

But the law is far away, and fists are close. This is the middle of space. Even if something happens to her, the Megacorp that could help her is far away.

Bluntly speaking, if the captain goes crazy and tries to kill her, that’s the end. Despite her superior intelligence compared to others, she’s still just an ordinary woman physically.

“…We’ll see about this later.”

Kisaragi left the captain’s quarters, grinding her teeth.

As soon as she left, the captain called his aide and shouted to find that damn cat immediately.

‘Well, he must be desperate.’

With this, the captain’s fate is sealed. Whether they reach a planet, space station, or anywhere else, he’s a dead man. He threatened to detain someone from Noble Capital, so it can’t be helped.

His only lifeline is to find the cat and resolve this issue.

‘Though it’s already dead.’

The captain is already on my kill list anyway. Whatever he does, he can’t escape his fate of death.

Afterward, Kisaragi continued to cause trouble around the ship.

The more she’s hated by the crew, the better for me. The less attention people pay to her, the easier it is for me to work.

After stirring up the ship, her final destination was the bathroom. She said to the two guards accompanying her:

“I’ll just use the bathroom for a moment.”

“Yes.”

As far as I know, at least one guard should have followed her in.

But the guards, having suffered her tyranny all day, didn’t go in with her.

“Hey, I need to use the bathroom too.”

Coincidentally, one of the two guards also left to use the bathroom.

Only Kisaragi is in the women’s bathroom, and only one guard is outside.

‘This is my chance.’

The bathroom has no security systems to hinder my movements. I prepared for an attack from inside the ventilation duct surrounding the bathroom wall.

After unscrewing the bolts with two claws, I carefully removed the wire mesh. I walked with my claws raised as much as possible to avoid making noise.

She’s washing her face at the sink. The sound of splashing water swallows my sounds.

I approached her, careful not to let my reflection appear in the mirror.

She finished washing and turned off the faucet. She brushed back her hair, beaded with water droplets.

I need to get close enough to reach her with one leap.

My four pairs of legs move more cautiously than ever before. Paralyzing venom fills the tip of my tail. Like a cat, my body prepares to end it with one strike.

“Phew.”

Kisaragi looks at the mirror with a blank face. Suddenly, she wrinkles her nose bridge.

‘Oh no!’

Did washing her face clear her mind? Her intuition seems to have detected me.

A danger signal fires from her brain and spreads throughout her body. The muscles in her neck twitch upon command. Within a second, her head will turn toward me.

I can’t delay any longer.

My legs kick off the steel floor. My body becomes a bullet fired from a gun barrel, shooting toward her.

There’s still quite a distance. Now is the time to use my wings.

My wings, which had been eagerly waiting to be called upon, spread wide at my command. My body, which was losing momentum, suddenly rose.

My wings, with their distinctive dark brown chitinous sheen, beat powerfully.

The distance between us is now about 50cm. My tail reveals the hidden stinger.

Kisaragi’s gaze turns toward me.

Her face contorts dramatically. A cocktail of negative emotions—surprise, disgust, danger, fear—consumes her.

When faced with an unexpected crisis, people instinctively cover their faces with their hands. Her arms move upward.

When her wrists half-covered her face, my tail passed between her arms.

With flexible movements that neutralized her defense, my tail—with its small needle at the end—pierced her carotid artery.

“Ah?”

A short scream escaped her lips. In fact, even if she wanted to scream longer, it was impossible. The venom injected into her neck spread instantly, paralyzing her entire body.

Until the venom is neutralized, all she can do is breathe.

“……”

She collapsed in front of the sink. Lying face down on the floor, she looked like a mannequin modeled after her.

I approached her, who was barely breathing.

My image is reflected in her trembling eyes. An alien creature the size of a human head is drooling. The alien’s appearance grows larger, and sharp teeth inside its mouth become visible.

What is she thinking now?

Fear of seeing a strange life form?

Anger at her predicament?

Or fear of death?

It doesn’t matter anyway. Kisaragi Yujin’s life ends here.

Crunch

My teeth bit into her neck.

The light fades from her eyes. Through my biting teeth, I can feel her breath becoming weaker.

‘Farewell.’

My hard jaw broke her neck bone in one go. With her neck in my mouth, I shook my head, and her neck was easily torn off.

Noble Capital of Megacorp no longer exists on this ship.

Only the corpse of a beheaded woman remains.

Human blood passed through my throat. On the biological conveyor belt that is my stomach, only genetic information was extracted.

The moment the information reached my brain, I felt it.

One of the dormant possibility puzzles within me had been completed.

I could instinctively tell. The genes constituting my being informed me that they could be rearranged under the spiral of evolution.

「’Hatchling->Morphlet’ evolution condition has been met. Would you like to evolve?」

If I agree, I can immediately begin the evolution process right here.

The desire to accept immediately surges through me. If my auxiliary organs hadn’t sounded an alarm, I would have accepted.

「The guard heard Kisaragi collapse and entered.」

「His gun barrel pointed at me.」

「The bullet pierced my body.」

「I died.」

‘What was that just now?’

Several scenes passed by rapidly, like a video of reality played at dozens of times the normal speed. Without evolved senses, I couldn’t have properly perceived the speed.

‘Predator Sense!’

What I just saw was the crisis about to come. Predator Sense had foreseen the future and warned me.

‘So that’s how it works?’

Showing the future like a movie. Except that it only activates in times of crisis, it’s a powerful trait.

Anyway, it was almost time for the guard to enter. I jumped behind the door and hid.

In the future I saw through Predator Sense, only one guard attacked me. The other hadn’t returned from the bathroom yet.

‘Should I run away?’

I could see the ventilation duct on the opposite side.

‘No. There’s no time.’

Unless the guard was blind, he wouldn’t miss seeing me escape.

The guard must not know about my existence. Even if Kisaragi dies, I won’t be able to avoid being tracked.

‘I’ll deal with the guard here too.’

Fortunately, there’s only one opponent. If I ambush him, I can kill him.

My body went back into combat mode. Pressing myself tightly against the bathroom door, I felt the door being pushed slightly.

The tip of a military boot appears beyond the door. Eventually, his body fully enters the bathroom.

“Gasp!”

A voice of shock.

He was distracted by the corpse in the pool of blood.

Hidden behind the door, I leaped toward him.

My body clung to his shoulder. I could feel him startling.

He should have immediately drawn his gun, but he didn’t. Instead, he shook his shoulder.

In a way, it was a very realistic reaction. Anyone would do the same if a winged desert spider-like creature attached to their shoulder.

However, in this situation, it was the wrong decision. Thanks to the time he gave me, my tail was able to pierce his ear.

My tail, which had penetrated his ear, was slowly pulled out. With paralyzing venom injected near his brain, he died instantly.

As he collapsed to the floor, the bathroom door closed.

Within minutes of Kisaragi’s death, the unfamiliar guard also met his end.

Outside was quiet. No one had seen two people die.

‘I need to hurry.’

His colleague will return soon. I put the ventilation duct’s wire mesh back in place and quickly left the bathroom.

In case there were tracking methods I hadn’t anticipated, I took a roundabout route instead of going directly to my nest.

Upon arriving at my nest, I activated the text box.

「’Hatchling->Morphlet’ evolution condition has been met. Would you like to evolve?」

The time for evolution I’ve been waiting for has come.

After checking my surroundings one last time, I accepted.

Mucus for evolution flowed from my body like water.

The mucus, which poured out enough to cover my entire body, hardened into a solid. The solidified mucus piled up to form a shell.

If someone saw me, they might think I was inside a cocoon or egg.

‘This is strange.’

Entering the cocoon gives me an indescribably peculiar sensation. If I had to explain it in words, it feels “different.”

The sensation that I myself am becoming a completely different being.

The mucus secreted inside the cocoon is reassembling me into something alien.

If I had memories from my fetal stage, would it feel like this? If I could be aware of the process of my mother’s womb creating me, it would surely feel like this.

I wanted to open my eyes and see for myself, but it was impossible. Since entering the cocoon, I had completely lost control over my body.

I’m not sure if this sensation I’m feeling originates from my physical senses, or if some kind of mental entity exists that perceives the changes in my body.

‘There’s no point in pondering this. I’ll just wait patiently.’

I’ve done all I can. I decided to rest in this cozy cocoon until the evolution is complete.

–

The ventilation duct above the cooling room.

Until recently, it was a place full of spores that spewed contaminated air and disgusting liquids.

It was a space filled with unclean moisture, but now it was so dry that one couldn’t imagine its previous state.

All the spores had withered, and the mucus strands that had clung to the walls like spider webs crumbled like dried branches.

In the middle of the ruined nest was a cocoon the size of a young boy.

Despite the cold air rising from the cooling room, the cocoon’s surface was as rough as desertified land.

As if it were absorbing the moisture around it.

Then the cocoon shook.

Something inside the shell was moving to get out.

After shaking a few more times, cracks appeared on the cocoon’s surface.

As the shell fell to the floor, something black stretched out from inside.

It was clearly an arm, though it had an alien form with black chitinous exoskeleton covering what resembled a human arm bone. At the end of the arm were four long fingers shaped like a raptor’s foot.

Following the first arm that protruded, several more arms broke through the cocoon and emerged.

Finally, all the cocoon was shed, and it revealed its form.

With four long arms, two small arms near the chest, thick and sturdy legs, and a tail 1.5 times longer than its body size, it opened its eyes.

The black creature looked down at its body with ash-gray glowing eyes.

「Grrrrrrrr」

It laughed, seemingly satisfied.