Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 249
Only Noblemtl
Ep. 248
When I opened my eyes, what I saw in front of me was not the cargo hold, but a completely different place.
A lot of green glass tubes. A chemical smell so strong that it makes your auxiliary organs tingle.
The place, with its eerie atmosphere due to the light from the glass chambers, seemed more like a catacombs from the distant future than a research facility.
‘…what?’
It was a place with such a strange atmosphere that I was confident I had never seen it before in my life.
Yet somehow it felt familiar. No, it went beyond familiarity and even felt warm.
It’s like coming home.
I crawled out of the glass case.
‘I remember.’
I also had a vision when I entered the second stage of Transcendence on the former cult’s holy planet. The place I saw at that time was this very place.
‘How could I forget this?’
It felt like someone had sealed my memories and thoughts in my head and then released them. I felt anxious and scared at the thought that an unknown person was controlling my consciousness.
‘…Let’s calm down.’
Based on my experience so far, I think the situation I see and feel is likely an illusion. The real me is probably half-liquefied inside the gochi.
‘Let’s take a look.’
It would be better to do something than to just tremble without doing anything. I barely managed to keep my composure and crawled forward.
The size of the space was quite large. I could crawl around for tens of meters without seeing the end.
Green glass tubes that could be seen along the way were hung densely not only on the floor but also on the walls and ceiling.
I glanced at the glass case every time I passed it, but there was nothing inside. It was just filled with a green liquid of unknown purpose. There were small terminals attached to the glass case, but they were all turned off.
As I passed through the glass chambers that gave off a strong smell, I saw a door. It was a rusted iron door. I raised my combat arm and pushed the door open slightly.
The door, which had been motionless at first, began to move little by little. Bright light streamed out from the crack in the door.
Soon the door opened wide and white light enveloped me.
‘Over there?’
The place that appeared when the light disappeared was a very familiar space to me.
‘My house?’
Before entering the world of Space Survival, the door to the studio I was living in was right in front of me. I could hear someone talking inside.
I gripped the doorknob with my small arms, as if entranced by that familiar voice.
The moment the door opened and I encountered someone inside.
I woke up.
My physical senses returned, and I felt a warm liquid enveloping my entire body. Then I felt something like a loose wall squeezing me.
‘What about now?’
Last time I had forgotten, but not this time. Although it was hazy like the fog at dawn, the things I had just seen remained in my head.
A strange facility filled with glass tubes, and my studio.
The former was a place I had never seen before, and the latter was a very familiar space to me. There was no connection between the two.
‘Is this my body’s memory?’
My mind is human, but my body is Eimov. Perhaps the memories contained in Eimov’s body are illusions.
‘… Looking at the settings you learn after ascending, that could be possible.’
However, according to my memory, such a facility never appeared before or after the ascension. The place that appears after the ascension is the planet where Aimov was first born, which means the ancient ruins are located.
I kept thinking about it in my head, but I couldn’t figure out what the illusion meant.
‘Still, there are clues.’
There is something in common between the last time I forgot and this situation.
‘At that time, it was time to enter the second stage of the Transcendence System, and now… .’
The space monster type has been raised to level 1 as the unique trait created through transcendence has become 4. This means that the memories related to the mysterious location may be related to the transcendence system.
‘If you go up to Space Monster Level 2, something else might come out.’
There’s not much point in spending time guessing since we don’t have enough information yet.
My body’s transformation has also just finished. I don’t know how much time has passed, but seeing my liquefied body solidify into a new form shows that my transformation is already complete.
I extended my fighting arm and tore the cocoon apart.
The mucus gushed out of the cocoon like a half-boiled egg pierced with chopsticks. As I tore through the soft cocoon, cold air swept over my shell.
As I took a breath of fresh air, I noticed changes in my body.
The first unique trait I synthesized, ‘Perfect Organic’, transformed my body into the form of a large, agile carnivore. The second one I acquired, ‘Nightmare Horizon’, gave me a heavy and bulky image due to the erosion tentacles stored on my back.
Thirdly, in the case of ‘organic evolution’, since it is a characteristic that changes my body into a specific form, it did not cause any significant changes to my body.
So what about the fourth unique feature we synthesized?
In conclusion, it is very different from the first and second cases.
The body shape itself retained the giant snake-like form characteristic of semi-adults. It still had no legs, but used its fighting arms and wing arms as a means of locomotion.
The only difference is that my body length has decreased significantly compared to before. I used to be close to 40m long, but now I am barely over 25m long.
The length of the lower body and tail area was greatly reduced, but in return, the fighting arms grew extremely large.
I stood up, using my fighting arms to support myself on the metal floor. Before, my lower body and tail would drag on the floor, but not anymore.
To put it simply, my current body shape is similar to a spider’s body with a long, thick tail.
The biggest change was the body shape, but there were also changes in more detailed areas.
First, if we look at the head, the shape and shell of the skull have not changed much.
The tusks that developed due to the ‘harvester’s jaw’ characteristic, the four accessory organs under the jaw, the head shape like that of a crocodile or theropod dinosaur, the large but incompletely grown horns, and the ornately extended occipital carapace were all intact.
What was different was the neck area rather than the head. The ‘monster tentacles’ that spread out like a mane across the inside of the skull and neck were the ones that benefited.
The monster’s tentacles were currently stored inside the holes on the inside of its neck and skull.
Just as the monster usually hides its tentacles inside its back shell and then tears the membrane to reveal the tentacles whenever needed, the monster’s tentacles have a similar shape.
‘This is a really good change.’
Up until now, there were two things that had been my greatest weaknesses: the auxiliary organs under my chin and the monster’s tentacles.
Even if it was okay to use the symbol of hunting as an auxiliary organ because it would be covered with a carapace, the monster’s tentacles had limited means of protection. Perhaps because of this, the strong enemies targeted the bundle of tentacles flowing down the neck.
‘You don’t have to worry about that anymore.’
If you’re in a hurry during battle, you can hide the monster’s tentacles.
I strained my neck to pull the tentacles out. The back of my neck became stiff as if I were walking with my neck straight, and bundles of tentacles poured out of the small holes in my neck and the back of my head.
The next most significant change after the monster’s tentacles were its wing arms.
Because it has wings, it was originally longer and larger than the other fighting arms, but it is now more than a third longer than before. And the vertically folded shell has a double-layered structure, making it more than twice as thick as the other arms.
‘It has become a form that can be stored inside by folding the membrane.’
Let’s move the wing arms with the feeling of spreading wings. The folded carapace opens and the membranes inside it gently unfold, just like a well-folded tent unfolding.
Like the enlarged wing arms, the other combat arms have also grown considerably in size. Thanks to the addition of joints, like the wing arms, a wider range of movements are possible.
The only minor changes, as far as the neck, arms, and other parts of the body, are concerned, are the disappearance of the blunt claws that were there before. Instead, small, biological pipe-like things have sprouted in the place where the claws used to be.
‘If an ordinary person saw this, they would faint.’
He already looked scary before, but he looks even more evil now. I like it.
‘Then let’s take a look at what changes have occurred in the text box.’
After checking all the changes in my body, I checked the text box.
“Great Infection: You are one and many. You can choose 3 each of the Infection and Nest Enhancement types to grant enhancement effects.
*Target of reinforcement: ① Infection type characteristics: Not set, Not set, Not set
② Nest type characteristics: Not set, Not set, Not set
*Note: Once all the enhancement effects are applied, you cannot apply the effects to other characteristics until the enhanced characteristics disappear.
*P.S. Depending on your perspective, an individual can also become a group.」
「A new special status, ‘Mutant Virus Host’, has been unlocked in ‘Organic Evolution’!」
「’Space Monster (Only)’ type has reached stage 1! Stage 1 rewards are activated!」
‘also.’
As expected when asking for the Infection and Nest related traits, the only new trait I made was one that enhanced the effects of both traits.
‘Infection, grants a strengthening effect to 3 of the nest type characteristics.’
Unlike other unique traits that strengthen traits and types across the board, this trait doesn’t seem to do anything like that.
‘Does that mean that the effect will be concentrated and increased instead?’
Considering that the only traits obtained through the Transcendence system were all non-standard traits, my guess would be correct.
‘There’s no need to set it up right away.’
You have to decide carefully because once you decide, you can’t change it until the trait disappears.
‘There’s something more important right now.’
Thanks to obtaining the ‘Great Infected Body’, the space monster type has advanced to stage 1. I asked for 4 unique characteristics that are difficult to obtain even one, so what kind of reward did I get?
I opened my mouth wide when I saw the message that came as a reward.
“Space Monster (Only) type stage has reached stage 1.”
“The ‘Essence Rearrangement’ effect is applied as a stage 1 achievement privilege.”
「Integer Rearrangement: Types that have already been unlocked and acquired are not affected by the penalty. When you unlock new type information later, the penalty will be reset from that type.
*P.S. Evolution is like a puzzle. Remember, it is always incomplete until it is completed.」
‘omg?’
Stage 1 reward of the space monster type.
It was a compensation so extravagant that I had never seen it before.
–
“Captain Nereun, how much further do we have to go to find the relic?”
“I’ll be there soon. It’s not far from here.”
“That’s fortunate.”
“… Damn, I don’t know why it wasn’t like this when the relic was stored.”
Former captain of the Imperial Carrier, Nern and Sihyeon Eugene.
They were standing at the head of the moving group and talking to each other.
Looking at her, Layla recalled the memory of the data chip she had seen earlier.
When Layla first heard Shihyeon’s words, she thought she was crazy.
He said he went crazy because he lived in the shadows under Akira Eugene for too long.
‘I could understand if you were crazy…’
Regardless of whether Si-Hyeon was crazy or not, it was difficult to see the information she handed over as fabricated.
In fact, the image data itself was not that much. It was only a dozen or so pages at most. However, the attached notes and research papers to interpret the navigational charts and texts in the images were quite a lot.
As the general manager of the TNC Special Trade Center, Laila receives reports on the city’s affairs every week. As a result, the knowledge and information accumulated in her head is truly enormous.
In her view, the contents of Si-Hyeon’s data chip were not manipulated or the result of a psychopath’s fabrication.
‘That makes it even stranger.’
The contents of the records left behind by Beomho, a cult member who was said to have been the master of the past, were about two weapons.
One of them only had an incomplete navigational chart, so there was no need to worry about it, but the other one did not. The effectiveness of the weapon, which was about 60% successful in interpretation, was truly absurd.
‘A weapon that only kills certain creatures.’
According to Shihyeon’s interpretation, the weapon’s effect is to mass-kill by shooting particle rays that have a fatal effect on certain organisms. The weapon can be reset at any time by inputting the genetic data of a new target.
Simply put, it is a Gremlin torpedo, a nano weapon of Star Union, but its target has been changed from metal to living things.
Even listening to Captain Nern’s words, it was largely consistent with the characteristics of the weapon described in the records. He said that he had wiped out an entire army of Outspacers with just that one weapon.
‘The problem is that no one knows how the weapon works.’
When we first met, Nern said:
The unidentified sailor disappeared leaving behind only a weapon, but no one dared use it. It is a weapon with tremendous destructive power, but no one knows how it works or what powers it. Few people are able to freely touch a weapon like a nano nuclear bomb that only kills certain creatures.
So they chose to hide their weapons deep within the volcanoes of this remote planet.
‘…there are too many elements that I don’t understand.’
Even if we admit that the weapon exists, there are still many problematic areas.
If the weapon’s owner was Shi-Hyeon’s father, Jeong-Woo, why didn’t he use it when fighting Akira? If he had, Akira wouldn’t have taken his life or usurped his position as the head of the family.
However, it is ambiguous to see it as an arrangement left for descendants. If it was an arrangement, it would have been better for Beomho to personally give the weapon to Sihyeon.
Because of that, it was only now, a long time after Jungwoo Eugene’s death, that I finally set out to find the weapon. I was guided by Captain Nern, who had no relation to her family whatsoever.
‘What on earth is this guy Beomho thinking?’
Sihyeon Eugene, Captain Nern.
It felt like the highest levels of Megacorp and the elite of the cult empire were being manipulated by Beomho.
While she was lost in her complicated thoughts, the group reached a dead end.
“The road is blocked, what happened?”
“Hmm, there should be a passage on this side….”
As soon as he heard Nern’s words, Sihyeon transformed his arm into a sword and cut through the wall. The cave wall collapsed in an instant, revealing a large open space.
“What is this…?”
“Oh my god. There are so many dead bodies.”
When they shined their flashlights into the dark empty space, the first thing they saw were corpses. The corpses of the dangerous creatures they had encountered on their way here, as well as unidentified creatures, were strewn all over the place.
“What kind of creature is this? I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
Shihyeon’s men frowned at the sight of eight sturdy-legged monsters mixed in among the corpses. These monsters, which they had never seen before on their way here, looked more like machines than natural beings.
“This guy too. Those guys here, they look like they died not too long ago.”
Unlike the outside, the temperature here is warm. That means it is a good environment for corpses to rot. However, the corpses strewn about here were still in the process of decay.
There was no shortage of food, so why did they fight each other and die here? The subordinates were bewildered by the incomprehensible sight.
“Was it like this when you came last time?”
“No way. There was nothing on this mountain when we came.”
“What do you think… Sihyeon?”
Layla called, but Sihyeon didn’t answer. She walked among the corpses as if under a trance.
And then he put his hand into the mountain-like pile of corpses inside the cave and took something out.
“that?”
“That’s it! The relic we buried in this empty lot!”
Layla still reacts with a mixture of doubt and Nern’s face is a mixture of surprise and fear.
They didn’t know.
What is Sihyeon Eugene looking at right now?
“Abyss Destroyer” made with the special feature ‘All-rounder’s Forge’
“Current owner: None (Temporary owner: Shin Beom-ho)”
「Acquisition Condition: Genetic Similarity to ‘Player Jungwoo’」
“New user ‘Sihyeon Eugene’. Check acquisition conditions. Remove the defensive wall.”
“The ownership of ‘Abyss Destroyer’ has been transferred from ‘Player Shin Beom-ho’ to ‘Si-hyeon Eugene’.”
Translucent text boxes that felt like they were being directly inserted into her brain, but she couldn’t understand half of what they contained.
But there was one thing I could be sure of.
This object will now serve a new owner.