Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 168



Only Noblemtl

Ep. 167

–

“…Dad, are you busy today?”

“Today, Dad prepared to go somewhere special with our cutie.”

“A special place?”

“Yeah. I’m going straight to Mom’s filming location.”

“Wow! Really? Oh, but Mom told me not to come.”

“This time, let’s throw a surprise party for Mom. What do you think?”

“Hehehe, this will be fun! I want to go!”

“Someone help me! My baby is under the car!”

“Engine is on fire, dangerous! Get back!”

“■■! No!”

“If you hadn’t taken me that day, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Is that what you’re talking about to me right now? Do you know who’s paying for the expensive medical treatment?”

“Huh, medical expenses? You don’t even care about the child.”

“Eww! Teacher! Let me change seats! This kid smells!”

“Hey, isn’t that a strange smell coming from somewhere?”

“Oh. There goes that skin monster.”

“■■, do you really need to skip school just because you’re not feeling well? Don’t you need to change yourself instead of just hoping for your friends’ understanding?”

“Damn, did I just see a monster?”

“Me too. Wow, I thought today was Halloween.”

“Poor thing. If I were to become like that, I would rather bite my tongue and die.”

Poor thing.

Disgusting.

Why do we live?

monster.

–

“bowl?”

When I opened my eyes, slightly cool and humid air greeted me. My dormant senses were activated, and I felt lukewarm liquid flowing on the floor.

‘dream.’

Since I fell into this world, I have rarely had dreams. At most, I have had visions of myself evolving or utilizing the transcendence system.

‘Is it because I remember seeing it a while ago?’

A memory from my childhood that I saw when I moved on to the second stage of transcendence.

The days I spent in the intensive care unit because of burns. It was a past I didn’t want to remember.

‘phew.’

I’ve been forgetting about it lately, but when I think about what’s happening in the real world, I feel upset.

Ascension, the next stage after adulthood.

Although it is not certain, it is likely that if you achieve ascension, you will be given the means to leave this world.

I’m not the only one who thought that. Heavenly Mother said that players who came before me also had similar goals.

‘They all failed though.’

In the aftermath of the failure, the number one player died, and the remaining players split up, each seeking a new goal. That is how the seeds of conflict began, and they have continued to this day.

‘It’s the ending.’

If you can’t even clear the first level, you can’t even guess how difficult it is.

Even in the original game, Ascension was notorious for its murderous difficulty. Unlike other evolution stages, Ascension did not end with all conditions met.

The final battle. There is a final test given by the being that holds the secrets of the world, and only by passing that test can one ascend. There were players who met the conditions for ascending among the Eimorphs, but I am the only one who succeeded.

‘If it was the same difficulty as the game, other players would have cleared it first.’

If that doesn’t happen, then there are changes I’m not aware of.

But I have no intention of giving up halfway. I have become an Aimov ranker that everyone said was impossible. If the rankers higher than me failed, I just need to prepare better than them and go.

‘but….’

I sat up slightly.

Then the kids near me started tossing and turning. Number 26, Adhai, and Heavenly Mother were all sleeping together in an underground space that had turned into a shallow swamp.

‘What will happen to this place if I leave?’

Putting aside the cause or process of falling into this world.

I don’t think this world will disappear or collapse if I disappear. I’ve come too far to think of it as just being dropped into a virtual game world. It would be more appropriate to think of this place as something new, similar to the universe of Space Survival.

All the experiences I’ve had are real, and that fact disturbs me.

‘It’ll be a real shame to break up with those guys.’

The longer I stay in this world, the deeper my feelings become. My mother in heaven, who arrived about 10 years before me, is already married.

The feelings I had for them were not love, but at least it was definitely a deep affection. A special feeling I hadn’t had since I was a child.

‘… There are also some things to worry about.’

I wonder if No. 26 and Adhai will be able to get along without me?

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about wanting things to be okay and not doing well.

In the former case, it is a kind of pure wish that they live out their given life to the end.

The latter, on the other hand… .

‘It’s a twisted desire.’

That messy feeling of wanting to know that I’m not there, to be sad, to remember, to be lonely.

‘Ugh.’

There’s still a long way to go until ascension, and you’re already thinking useless thoughts.

I woke up from a fucking dream and I’m in a bad mood so I need to do something.

‘Doesn’t the nest temperature still seem a little cold?’

The underground space that was nothing but dirt and ice was transformed into a completely different environment by my hands. This was thanks to two of the nest-related traits, ‘Swamp Creation’ and ‘Environmental Master’.

These are all traits obtained while roaming the swamp before ascending to the second stage of transcendence.

‘Both of these traits were useless in the game, but they’re used like this.’

Swamp Creation is a trait that creates a swamp in the nest, as its name suggests. It is difficult to use alone, and it is only useful when combined with a trait that sprays poison or germs.

It can be used like when you spread space bacteria in the sewers of the former TNC Special Trade Center. Of course, there are many powerful healing skills and equipment in the game, so it is difficult to show that level of ripple effect.

‘At least the swamp creation was used to inflict debuffs.’

Master of the Environment is a trait that, despite its grand name, is not very useful in the game.

‘The nest and the effect overlap.’

The effect of this trait is to change the environment above the nest to my liking. It is of no use to Amorph, who can manipulate the surrounding environment through the nest.

Aimorph’s nest has the effect of creating an environment useful for Aimorph’s survival. It has beneficial effects such as increasing healing power and replenishing lost energy.

On the other hand, the master of the environment does not provide any particular benefit other than changing the temperature or the surrounding scenery.

‘I never thought such a trait would be used for something like this.’

I kept it in case it could be used as a transcendent material, like a superpower organ, but it ended up being used in an unexpected place.

Thanks to the mastery of the environment, the temperature of the underground space has dropped to a level where it feels cool. You might think that the ceiling and walls would melt, but this has been resolved thanks to the mucus, the material used in the nest.

Nests laid within a 100m radius insulated the heat, preventing the ice from melting and maintaining a cool temperature inside.

And the swamp on top of it. If the light could get here, you could see the steam rising above the swamp.

‘Heat release and swamp formation. I think I’m the first person to use these together.’

Lying on the swampy ground that formed on top of the nest, it slowly released heat, literally turning into a mud hot spring. Thanks to this, Adhai and the Heavenly Mother, who were feeling cold, were able to sleep comfortably.

‘If I think about it, even my superpowers and other traits that I hadn’t used before are being rediscovered one by one.’

I don’t think there’s any user among Aimorph players who plays as colorfully as I do, but I need to reflect on that.

I still have a lot to learn.

With that thought in mind, I adjusted the temperature I was emitting. As the heat generated from my body grew stronger, the temperature of the swamp rose accordingly.

“Big baby? What are you doing?”

[Zuzu zuzu zuzu zuzuzu (Sorry, I woke you up)]

No. 26 sensed my movement through the flow of the waves and sent a wave. I stopped emitting heat and reached out to pet the guy.

[Zzuzuzuzu zuzu zuzu zu (don’t worry about it and go to sleep)]

“Aren’t you sleepy, big baby? Then I’ll put you to sleep!”

Before I could even refuse, the guy hugged my head tightly with his large body.

The 10m-sized balloon was less than half the size of my body, but it had no problem serving as a pillow.

‘This is a strange feeling.’

Up until now, he’s been on my head, but I’ve never been on top of him.

But perhaps it’s thanks to the guy’s body that he maintains a reasonably cool temperature.

“Good night, big baby.”

I closed my eyes, feeling a strange sense of comfort.

–

Megacorp’s Noble Capitals have colony planets all over the universe.

Some planets are strategic points coveted by other powers, while others are lesser-known.

The Eugene family also controls numerous planets to obtain materials needed for genetic modification and creating Hulk mutants.

Among those planets, there is one that is unnamed.

This is a planet that Akira Eugene discovered while exploring on his own in the past, and it is not even recorded on the ship maps shared by many forces.

On that unnamed planet is the home of the space dragon, Gallagon.

That cold, frozen planet was the only source of Gallagon genes.

However, since none of the Gallagons were free from cruelty, one had to risk one’s life to enter the planet. It was such a harsh place that only one out of every 100 people could enter.

Risk and value.

For these two reasons, the location of this planet is known only to a very few within the Eugene family.

And Sihyeon Eugene was one of the very few who knew the location of the planet.

In the first place, the Gallagon gene that entered her body came from here, so she couldn’t not know.

But it’s not just her genes that make her aware of how dangerous this place is.

She is the only Noble Capitalist who has been here in person, aside from Akira Eugene.

Because on this planet, there was a time when Gallagon eggs were stolen and mutant Blue Gallagons were captured.

At that time, her forces suffered great damage from the pursuing Gallagons. Although she was now a clone, she retained most of the original’s memories. Knowing how terrifying an enraged Gallagon was, she never dreamed of coming back here again.

She, who was like that, has now set foot on this planet inhabited by the Gallagons again.

“… I think he’s gone.”

Shihyeon, who was wearing the White Maiden, a special reinforced suit, slowly rose from the snow. The people hiding nearby heard her words and rose one by one.

Her subordinates wore specially made reinforced suits, as their power source would instantly freeze if they wore regular reinforced suits.

The color is white like snow, and the thickness is thick, resembling a spacesuit. This is equipment used when exploring volcanic planets or ice planets like now. In addition, the communication equipment and weapons held are all specially treated to prevent freezing.

Like everyone else, Laila Chamberlain, who had her exterior painted white with camouflage paint, approached Sihyeon.

“The Gallagons seem quite diligent. Do they usually move around that often?”

“No, that’s not true. They spend most of their time in the nest except when they’re hunting.”

All crew members who landed on the planet had to quickly hide because of the White Gallagon that suddenly appeared a little while ago.

“It’s a good thing the flagship didn’t land. Otherwise, the exploration would have ended three days ago.”

It was three days ago that Sihyeon’s flagship arrived at the unnamed planet.

As Lila had said, instead of landing on the planet aboard the flagship, Shihyeon entered via a transport ship.

A flagship of such a large size was easily discovered by Gallagon, and there was a possibility that it might require external support, so it was deliberately chosen that way.

But looking at the situation, that decision turned out to be a good one.

‘It’s strange. I don’t usually go out that often.’

The planet’s top predator is the Gallagon, but there are many creatures as strong as them. The White Gallagon is tasked with protecting its nest from its powerful enemies.

It was clearly abnormal behavior for them to keep leaving the nest even though they were not hunting.

“Captain Nern. You said you buried the relic in that mountain range?”

“That’s right. Could you give me some guidance?”

Shihyeon handed a small computer pad to Nern, a middle-aged cultist with yak horns.

He was the former captain of the imperial carrier ‘Judgment of Damos 08’, but he came to this planet to seek revenge after losing his ship and his men to a being called the ‘Three-Headed Demon’.

Unusually for a cult, he skillfully manipulated human tools and marked a red dot on a mountain range that appeared on a map.

“I buried it here.”

“It’s quite a distance.”

“But it will take less time if you go this way.”

“I don’t recommend going in this direction. The White Gallagon might fly in again.”

Both Nern and Layla have a point.

“How about going across the plains instead? It shouldn’t take too long.”

“That’s difficult. There are dangerous monsters on the ‘Ice Plain’ side.”

In the underground space where Layla pointed with her mechanical hand, there lives a very powerful beast. When she came in before, over 100 of her soldiers were killed because of it.

It was not that he died fighting Gallagon, but he lost many of his subordinates to an unexpected being, so he could not forget it even if he tried.

‘It’s dangerous to go there if he’s still alive.’

“I can’t help it. I’ll take the safe route even if it means taking a detour.”

Si-hyeon doesn’t have much time, but if she fails here, Min-seok on the flagship will no longer trust her.

‘I still need his trust.’

She looked ahead as she took her eyes off the map.

A black barrier stretches across the horizon. One of the peaks of that mountain range contains the artifact she seeks.