Ch.81Monument (4)

“The ‘Signal Interference’ trait has been applied.”

“Can be fused with the existing ‘Dexterity’ trait.”

“‘Signal Interference’ and ‘Dexterity’ traits have fused. Evolved into the ‘Hijacking’ trait!”

“Hijacking: Inherits the effects of the Signal Interference trait. You can control electronic devices within 10m for a short time. Only one device at a time, and cannot be used on cyborgs.

P.S.: In the space age, a human who cannot use machines is no different from a primitive.”

As I applied the newly acquired fusion trait, a mutation occurred in my body.

The change happened on my back.

My back had nothing but wings and two arms with bone blades attached.

New organs formed on that area, which had previously been covered only with hard outer skin.

Two rows of thin bone plates grew along my spine. The plates rose from my back all the way to just before the spiky hair at the end of my tail.

The bone plates had a rough, unrefined appearance and were a deep black color.

The black was so perfect it absorbed even light, making the plates look like refined obsidian fragments attached to my back rather than actual bone plates.

This was originally a passive ability possessed by Metallic Gremlins, but it was reborn in a completely different form when AMorph absorbed it.

With these bone plates alone, I could cause malfunctions in nearby devices.

‘Let’s try it out.’

While I’ve used this trait many times in the game, this is my first time in reality.

I focused on the sensation in my back while half-lying down. When I flexed the muscles in my back, like doing spine exercises, the bone plates began to tremble.

“Tstststststs”

The bone plates made strange sounds as they touched each other.

The sound somewhat resembled distant cicada calls.

Though very small and faint, it contained an ominous rhythm fundamentally different from ordinary animal sounds.

A dissonance that would surely make ordinary people uncomfortable if they heard it continuously.

But the true value of the bone plates isn’t in their unpleasant noise.

Thanks to the Mark of the Hunter, I’m much stronger than before and can feel it.

I can sense the machine-breaking wavelengths flowing from the bone plates.

If someone capable of reading electrical flows or wavelengths were here, they could see what was happening with my bone plates.

As the wavelengths created by the vibrating plates spread around, the lights in the cold storage room began to turn off one by one.

“Ahhh!”

“E-everyone stay calm!”

“I can’t see anything!”

The researchers screamed as the cold storage room was suddenly plunged into darkness.

‘Next is hijacking.’

My highly developed auxiliary organs didn’t detect any movement from the male Cult yet.

To finish my experiment before he arrives, I focused my senses on the terminal next to the cold storage door.

My auxiliary organs and bone plates worked together to find the control signal coming from somewhere above among the minute electrical signals flowing through the terminal.

Finally, the wavelength that found its target became like sharp scissors, cutting the control signal.

Then, the wavelength adjusted to mimic the control signal, taking a similar form. This was to replace the severed control signal.

As the wavelength became the new control signal, information about controlling the terminal flowed into my auxiliary organs.

‘Open sesame.’

With my command, the cold storage door opened.

The Hijacking trait literally has the effect of “stealing” control of electronic devices.

Normally, an ID card would be required for authentication to enter, but not now.

The control of the door belongs to me.

With this trait, even hijacking a spaceship would be possible.

‘Of course, the time limit is too short to be practical.’

Thanks to the Mark of the Hunter effect, the time has been extended, but originally the Hijacking trait can only maintain control for 3 minutes.

Because the control time is so short, ironically, Hijacking is used for purposes other than spaceship theft.

‘It’s perfect for infiltration and sabotage.’

You can move without being caught on camera, or disable an enemy’s weapon without touching it when encountering them at close or medium range.

‘That’s enough experimenting with the new trait.’

I relaxed the muscles in my back.

As the wavelengths from the bone plates disappeared, the trait effect was canceled and everything returned to normal.

‘I’ve satisfied the conditions for the Transcendence System.’

However, I don’t plan to create it right now.

There are two reasons.

‘First, I don’t know what unique trait will emerge.’

The unique trait created by the Transcendence System is a completely new trait that doesn’t exist previously.

Being a unique trait, its effect would be very powerful, but the problem is not knowing what kind of trait it will be.

‘Plus, I need to consider the penalty.’

When I obtained a complete organism, restrictions were placed on my wings and mimicry organs.

While the wings were one thing, the mimicry organs were traits I had been actively using when hunting in the city.

Because of those restrictions, I had to completely revise my city attack strategy.

‘I don’t know what penalty will come with this unique trait.’

If I’m unlucky, restrictions could be placed on traits I frequently use, like Parasitic Swarm or Neural Toxin Glands.

So I need to make a careful decision.

‘In contrast, the Hijacking trait will help me conquer the Monument right now.’

In this skyscraper full of cutting-edge devices, having a counter ability against electronic equipment is invaluable.

‘Originally I planned to conquer it slowly with parasites, but…’

With Hijacking, my tactical options have expanded significantly.

Not having to fear cameras and other surveillance devices is a huge merit.

‘Alright. I’ll postpone the Transcendence trait until I’m in a safer state.’

Having made my decision, I stood up.

I sensed movement in the corridor outside the cold storage.

‘Time to prepare for our guest.’

The researchers flinched as I turned to look at them.

They still had work to do.

–

The male Cult Andre was a Cult who had immigrated to Megacorp with his colleague Anna.

Just as Megacorp was an arena for the seven Houses, the Cult had also been suffering from internal strife for many years.

Andre and the other Cults working at the Monument were all those who couldn’t bear to see their kind fighting bloodily and came to Megacorp.

“Sigh, it’s tiresome everywhere.”

But where there are intelligent beings, there will be conflict.

Though an outsider, Andre knew what was happening here.

What they grandly called the Board was actually just an ugly battlefield where everyone tried to satisfy their own greed.

Even though he had changed his name when immigrating as a child, he wondered if continuing to work in this city was the right choice.

“All this trouble because of barbaric monkeys. Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue and exited the elevator.

The cold storage was just past this corridor.

As he passed by, he waved at the camera in the corridor.

Thinking of his fellow Cult Anna made Andre feel a bit better.

‘Come to think of it, Janet could have at least said goodbye.’

Thinking of his kind reminded him of a colleague he used to work with.

She had suddenly submitted her resignation before the Board meeting and disappeared.

“Well, she was quite a decent friend… huh?”

Walking down the corridor, Andre was seized by a strange feeling.

The corridor, with its bright silver metal plates neatly arranged, looked the same as always.

But Andre found the ordinary appearance of the corridor unfamiliar.

An inexplicable sense of alienation filled the space.

‘What is this?’

If he had continued living in the Cult homeland, he would have easily recognized what he was feeling now.

It was a warning.

“Why is it so cold?”

Andre hugged his goosebump-covered arms and slowly walked down the corridor.

Arriving at the cold storage at the end of the corridor, he took out the Third Central Control Room master card.

With a short mechanical sound, the door opened, and a chill far more intense than before poured out.

“Wow, it’s freezing.”

The extreme cold suggested that the cooling system itself was working fine.

Stepping into the storage, he called out to the researchers.

“Hey!”

There was no response.

Sensing the situation was serious, he quickly grabbed his communicator.

“This is Andre from the Third Central Control Room! Can you hear me?”

“Tstststststs”

“Third Central Control Room, Andre. Abnormal situation detected. Oh no…!”

There was nothing but static from the communicator.

Andre was about to go outside to signal the camera when he heard a sound nearby.

“Who’s there?”

“Ugh, uuugh…”

“Are you a researcher?”

“Ugh, uuugh!”

The sound was the pain-filled groan of a human male.

Andre moved toward the sound.

Under the ice-blue lighting, bodies hanging from metal rings on the ceiling, fragments of organisms carelessly left on metal tables.

It was a spine-chilling sight even for Andre, who wasn’t human.

Finally, past a large organism lying prone on a stainless steel table, he saw two people.

One person was collapsed in a bloody state, and beside him, another researcher was kneeling on one knee.

He was trying to stop the bleeding of his fallen colleague with a helpless expression.

“Gasp! Are you alright?”

The floor and the researcher’s hands were completely covered in blood.

Swallowing a groan, Andre quickly picked up his communicator and tried to communicate again.

While the communicator still only emitted “tstststs” noise, the kneeling researcher asked him for help.

“Please help us!”

Responding to the researcher’s urgent request, Andre hurried over to check the fallen researcher.

“There’s too much bleeding! We need to get to the hospital upstairs immediately!”

From Andre’s perspective, the fallen researcher was in a very critical condition.

The communicator was completely malfunctioning.

‘The wound is too severe to move him right away.’

Andre pressed firmly on the researcher’s wound to try to stop the bleeding.

“I’ll stay here, quickly get other people…”

He shouted at the fellow researcher to go out and call for paramedics.

But the researcher behind him didn’t move. The response from behind was completely unexpected.

“Ugh, I-I’m sorry…”

“What?”

Andre questioned the researcher’s sudden apology.

At that moment, the large organism lying on the table behind him began to stir.

–

“Where is he? He’s been gone for a while.”

Anna, sitting in the control room, picked up her communicator.

She was calling her colleague who hadn’t returned despite going down several minutes ago.

After the signal tone rang for a long time, her colleague finally answered.

“Why didn’t you answer? Is something wrong down there?”

“Ah, no, th-that, just. I’ll, be, up, soon.”

“Okay? But this communicator seems weird. There’s static. Get it checked when you come up.”

“Yeah.”

After ending the call, Anna checked the cameras again.

The corridor in front of the cold storage.

While waiting for her colleague to come out, the camera screen suddenly became severely distorted.

“What’s this?”

She tapped the monitor lightly, and the screen returned to normal.

But something was wrong, as the camera screens were repeatedly distorting and recovering one by one.

“What’s wrong with this?”

Annoyed, Anna grabbed her communicator to contact the facilities team.

As she was about to press the call button, the camera screen flickered once dramatically and then returned to normal.

“Huh?”

The corridor on the screen looked exactly the same as before.

But Anna clearly saw it.

Just before the screen recovered, a black object had flashed across the screen.

‘What was that?’

Anna put down her communicator and operated the computer.

Soon, the records from before the error until recovery were displayed as holograms in the air.

Anna arranged the holograms in a row and examined them carefully.

There seemed to be nothing on the bright silver corridors captured by the cameras.

No, except for one spot.

“What is this?”

There was something small in the corner of the screen. It resembled a long, sharp spine.

These spines appeared in different positions but were common to all screens.

Just as Anna was about to lean in closer to examine them more carefully.

Beep

Behind her, she heard the sound of a terminal checking a master card.

At this hour, only one person would come to the Third Central Control Room.

It would be her colleague, Andre, who had gone down to check.

“What took you so long?”

As Anna was about to turn around and say something, she paused at a sudden thought.

‘Come to think of it, I didn’t see anything on the camera?’

Even while she was reviewing the records, the cameras were still running.

In none of those screens was Andre captured coming here.

Pssshhh

With the sound of air escaping, the door opened.