Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 111



Only Noblemtl

Ep. 111

–

“Do you know who Rick is?”

“Rick the Bullshitter? Of course I know. Why him?”

“They lost contact at their campsite.”

“what?”

Even in broad daylight, the pirates at the campsite were keeping a strict watch.

This was because the order came down from the cruiser, which could be considered their home base.

“I heard that other campsites have lost contact recently, too?”

“That’s why we’re also standing guard at this time.”

“… Ha, wasn’t this area safe?”

The pirate on guard duty stiffened his face at his colleague’s ominous voice. Then his colleague continued to speak as if to reassure him.

“Don’t worry. They said upstairs that the boss will be back on the cruiser in a day or two.”

“Really? That’s good. But why were you out for so long?”

“They didn’t teach me that. They said it was because of the prisoners they captured recently.”

“I want to hear more”

“I want to tell you more, but I don’t know… huh?”

“ok?”

The pirates who had been chatting looked at each other at the sudden interruption of a voice.

They are the only two people standing guard at this location.

Their two gazes went up.

There was “it” there, imitating the pirate’s voice.

–

Today marks a week since I came to Saintopia 02.

Meanwhile, I raided several campsites in the forest to get information on the players.

One of the pirates at the camp said that the Mask of Indomitable I have was originally given to the second-in-command by the pirate leader.

That means the cult pirate I killed before was the head of the Humanity Cartel.

Among the camps we raided to get information, there was a large camp with many pirates stationed there. There, we met someone wearing the cult’s quest reward equipment similar to the owner of the Indomitable Mask.

That gave me half a confidence.

The leader of the Humanity Cartel is either a player or someone closely related to a player.

This meant that I was facing a very serious threat.

I interrogated the pirates and obtained additional information about their leader.

If we summarize what the pirates said, the leader had three main characteristics.

That their race is a cult, that their gender is female, and that they continue to bring in strange artifacts through unknown means.

As pirates, their opponents are by no means benevolent beings, and they possess cruisers and various equipment.

Therefore, the power gap between me and the pirate leader is by no means small.

‘No matter how well I fight in the jungle, it won’t be easy when the gap is this big.’

And if the pirate leader is really a player, there’s a good chance he knows about me, and if so, there’s a good chance he knows a lot of the tactics I have.

It’s a bit weird to say this myself, but the strategies I used in the jungle, like corpse bombs and skinned corpses, are so well-known that most users who have been playing the game for a long time are aware of them.

‘The only good thing is that the boss isn’t here.’

I don’t know the reason, but my subordinates say that the leader is far away and will return to the cruiser in two days.

The cruiser side also made no response as if they were trying to catch me after the leader arrived.

As the pirates said earlier, I only warned them that I would raid the campsite.

‘It must be an intention to collect my information.’

The intention would be to use the campsite as bait to gather as much information as possible before the boss arrives, and then launch an all-out attack to capture me when he arrives.

Of course, the situation is not entirely unfavorable to me.

‘There’s still time before the boss arrives.’

Time is usually not on my side, but this time is an exception.

‘You have to evolve into a semi-adult within two days.’

I activated the translucent textbox while chewing on the loot I got from the campsite.

“Some of the evolution conditions of ‘adult->semi-adult’ have been met.

“20/20 races that can transform (achieved)

Humanoid Race 20/20 (Completed)

Races that use psychic powers 20/20 (Completed)

Type 2/4 (not achieved) held

‘The condition of having to eat a playable race has been completed.’

All that remains is the number of types.

In order to evolve into a semi-adult, you need a total of 4 types. I have already acquired the physical enhancement type and the super power enhancement type, and there are a total of 3 types that can be acquired in the future.

“Specialization Possible Types (3)

Infection Enhanced Type (6/8), Special Defense Enhanced Type (4/4), Nest Enhanced Type (1/4)」

“There is one ‘type’ that can be specialized.”

“Would you like to unlock ‘Special Defense Enhancement Type’?”

During the week, I also caught and ate other wild animals in addition to pirates, so I acquired two new traits.

The special defense-related trait ‘Disease Resistance’ obtained from the Nightstalker, and the infection-related trait ‘Hallucination Bug’ obtained from the mushroom-like carnivore ‘Red Clown’.

Thanks to this, the special defense enhancement type has been unlockable since two days ago, but it is still being postponed.

‘Because once you acquire a type, the number of characteristics needed to acquire another type increases.’

For example, if I get the infection enhancement type now, the number of characteristics required to get other special defense enhancement types and nest enhancement types will each increase to 8.

So, in the current situation, it is advantageous to obtain the infection enhancement type first.

‘Just looking at this, it seems like evolution is still a long way off.’

I have a secret weapon.

Today marks one week since I took over the spaceship with my erosion tentacles.

That is, you can use the symbol of hunting.

‘You have to get as many prey effects as possible in 20 minutes.’

If this were another planet or another continent, it wouldn’t have been easy to collect the genetic essence needed for evolution.

But this is the continent of Saintopia 02. It is a place teeming with creatures possessing rare genetic essence.

‘There just happens to be a place suitable for using the symbol of hunting.’

There is a place in this forest that I can go.

To be honest, it’s a very dangerous area for me right now, but it’s a place where I can get a lot of the traits I need.

‘Swamp.’

If you go south along the river from here, you will come across a vast swamp area that is home to a large number of terrifying creatures.

‘To be exact, it’s not that each one is strong, but rather because of their compatibility with the surrounding environment.’

The monsters in the swamp commonly contain incredibly powerful poisons and viruses.

Even for experienced players, it is impossible to conquer without careful preparation against poison and virus defense.

If I were a game, I would have tried to conquer it after becoming a semi-adult or an adult, and I would not have thought of entering the swamp as a sub-adult.

‘That’s how it was supposed to be.’

After eating all the pirate corpses, I left the camp.

I now have everything I need to conquer the swamp.

First of all, I have a disease resistance trait that grants me immunity to all types of diseases.

‘If it was a game, I would never have accepted it.’

Upon reaching adulthood, you automatically become immune to all biochemical attacks as an evolutionary perk.

So, it’s hard to see disease resistance as a useful trait, but if you’re in a situation like mine where you have to enter the swamp right away, it’s a very useful trait.

If you use the symbol of hunting here, the special effect will be strengthened, so even if you enter the swamp, you will take almost no damage.

And since the symbol of hunting itself enhances all of my physical abilities, I won’t have much trouble fighting the monsters in the swamp. They are strong, but their direct combat power is inferior to that of the Hond Gigant.

‘And this.’

In the small hand on his chest he holds a half-broken Mask of the Unbreakable. This silver death mask grants its wearer immunity to poison and mental attacks, and the ability to detect hidden targets.

The important thing is that this mask is made of metal.

That is, it becomes the target of metal absorption.

‘Because it can absorb anything made of metal, except for unique equipment.’

If you also get the mask’s poison immunity effect, it will be a great help in conquering the swamp.

With all the preparations completed, today I finally take on the challenge of conquering the swamp.

‘Almost there.’

The wide, blue river gradually narrowed, and yellow moss and aquatic plants began to appear on the water.

The surrounding area was filled with rotten and broken trees, mushroom spores emitting toxic mist, and bugs glowing with bright colors.

A foul odor wafted through the air, and poison seeped through the thick outer skin.

‘It’s a shocking space every time I see it.’

I looked around, enduring the tingling pain I felt all over my body.

These swamps don’t have imposing giant trees hundreds of metres tall, but instead are home to mushrooms that grow between five and 10 metres tall, leeches the size of an adult man and stink bugs the size of a bus.

There was a movie that came out before I was born that had a giant ape as the main character. In that movie, there’s a scene where explorers get stranded in a valley, and there, they’re attacked by hideous bugs.

According to rumors floating around the community, the swamp area on the continent of Saintfoy02 is said to be modeled after the valley area that appears in that scene.

In other words, you can see that bizarre pests carrying toxins and viruses on their bodies are popping out from all kinds of spaces.

Because of this, many top players avoid this place not only because of its difficulty but also because of its disgusting visuals.

‘But it’s very good for me now.’

You could say that it is literally a treasure trove of genetic essence.

After activating my metal absorption, I took a bite of the Indomitable Mask.

A tickling sensation ran through the area near the skin, and then the tingling pain soon disappeared.

I decided to double check just in case I was mistaken.

I grabbed a squirrel the size of a person’s head crawling next to me and swallowed it.

The official name for this squirrel is the squirrel-mouthed bug. It is a creature that has a ticklish venom on its body that inflicts debuffs on its victims.

Even though I ate a maggot, my stomach was fine.

‘Poison immunity has been applied.’

After completing the verification, I put down the Mask of Indomitable and activated the Symbol of the Hunt.

My body, which had already evolved once into the Nightmare Horizon, transforms into a much more perfect predator.

Two new arms sprout from my thick, heavy back. The bone blades at the end of them are extremely hard and sharp, capable of easily cutting through even the hardest metal.

Then, all six erosion tentacles hidden inside the back came out.

The tentacles only grew in size, not much in shape. Instead, the six appendages at the end transformed into claws on my combat arms, becoming vicious weapons in their own right.

The back, which had sent out all of its bone blade arms and erosion tentacles, shrank rapidly and transformed into a more sleek body than before.

Of course, there were still nests around the waist area where cute tooth fairies lived.

The body itself may have become more sleek than when Nightmare Horizon was applied, but the overall size has become much larger.

My current height is 12 meters. If I were to compare it to an apartment building, it would be almost as tall as a 4-story building.

The length of my tail has also increased significantly, so my entire body length is now just under 20 meters. In terms of size alone, it would be fair to say that I am almost on par with the Hondo Gigant.

In addition, as always, the detailed parts, such as the shells attached to the combat arms and legs, have been strengthened.

It has transformed into a lethal form, with sharp thorns growing on the carapace of its arms and legs, capable of inflicting significant damage even when striking an enemy.

Finally, the transformation was complete as the shell of my head covered my eyes.

“Grrrrr”

A symbol of the hunt on the horizon of nightmare.

Its huge body, which is as big as a 4-story apartment building, is filled with tremendous power.

The power to feel like you can do anything.

I lightly swung my tail and hit the old tree behind me.

A rotten old tree with a diameter of 5 meters was shattered into pieces like a tree branch breaking. The large martens that had been nesting inside were startled and ran out.

‘good.’

I swung my erosion tentacles and caught the fleeing bugs. The hook-shaped appendages cut into their bodies.

The erosion tentacles suck in prey and continuously display translucent text boxes.

As I watched, I took a deep breath and roared loudly.

｢■———!｣

The air exploded and the polluted water in front of me split apart in an instant. The mosquitoes the size of cats flying over the swamp in front of me were hit by my roar and disappeared into the air without a trace.

‘Then shall we begin?’

The goal is to obtain enough essence to evolve within 20 minutes.

It’s time to prey after a long time.