Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 351
Only Noblemtl
“I see.”
She was staring at the traces near the neck that had been neatly separated, and then she snapped her fingers as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her.
“I remember why I came here. I have something to say.”
[Zuzu (what is it?)]
“According to PS-111, Isabel’s tuning will take about 30 hours.”
30 hours? That’s longer than I thought.
There’s nothing urgent that needs to be addressed right away, but it’s not pleasant to have Isabel incapacitated for a long time. She needs another guy to be by her side to protect her.
The Heavenly Mother, who had read my thoughts, continued to speak.
“They say that it’s because it’s difficult to make fine adjustments with Giga Cracker’s equipment.”
[Zuzuzuz zuuzuz zuuzuz zuuzuz zuuzuzuz (So you’re saying that if the equipment is good, it’ll be finished faster?)]
“Yeah. Maybe.”
When I hear that, something comes to mind.
40 Coldbloods on board the Gigacracker. I thought it would be a good idea to send them to an ice planet ruled by Adhai’s horde.
‘And there’s the Screamer support line.’
With the help of the Screamer production facility, the work efficiency of PS-111 can be further increased.
[Zuzu zuzuzuzuzuzu zuzuzu (I have one that comes to mind)]
“huh?”
I suggested that we bring the Coldblood slaves to live with Gallagon while we’re on the ice planet.
“This would never happen in a game, but it seems possible here.”
[Zuzuzu (right?)]
“The thing to consider here is not Gallagon, but the environment. I confirmed that there was oxygen the last time I was there. I’m worried about bacterial infection, but Coldblood is resistant to various viruses… .”
She ran her fingers over the tip of her beak, wondering if the ice planet was suitable for the Coldbloods.
“The problem is the temperature. Coldbloods are vulnerable to low temperatures. They won’t be able to withstand the cold underground.”
[Zuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzu zuzuzuzu (The area around the nest must be warm thanks to the river of sulfur?)]
“If they were healthy, they would endure as you say, but their physical condition is not good right now. It will be difficult to endure until they recover their strength.”
[Zuz …
“Reinforced suit? Ah, the reinforced suit from Giga Cracker.”
Giga Crackers are equipped with enhanced suits specifically designed for space operations. Wearing them will help them avoid temperature and bacterial infections.
‘Of course, I can’t wear it for the rest of my life, so I need to recover as quickly as possible.’
From there, it’s up to them. My job is to move the Coldbloods to safety.
“I’ll tell them.”
[Zuzu zuzuzuzuzu zuzuzu (I’ll go to PS-111)]
After sending off the Heavenly Mother, I turned the tip of the crown of my ‘left head’ towards the main body.
‘While we’re practicing, should we try this?’
I should go to PS-111 with the ‘left head’ to see what happens when the distance between me and the clone increases.
While the main body was lying down in the hangar and resting, I crawled up the hallway while connected to the ‘left head’. The alien sensation did not change much even as the distance increased.
I did some experiments while slowly crawling towards the manufacturing plant. What would happen if I lost touch with the main body while connected to the clone, and could I reconnect without making contact?
First, in the case of the former, consciousness returned to the main body as soon as the connection was released. It was impossible to focus my consciousness only on the ‘left head’ instead of the main body. This seemed to be because even if the guy had an independent self, it was only a part of my body.
As soon as I thought about controlling my ‘left head’ in that state, the sensation was reconnected. It was like holding my arm tightly to cut off the blood flow and then releasing it, and the sensation was shared with my ‘left head’ along with a numb feeling.
‘Plus, there’s one unexpected advantage.’
What’s interesting is that even at the point of consciousness separation, the ‘left head’ was still trying to do what I was trying to do. During the brief moment of unconsciousness, the guy kept crawling up the hallway and trying to get to the manufacturing plant.
‘Maybe the two heads are smarter than we think.’
Although they display behaviors close to instinct, they are beings who were born based on me. Even when they are not under my control, they are likely to imitate my fighting style, my strategies, etc. Even when a situation arises that I cannot pay attention to, I can instill commands in advance and make them fight strategically.
‘We’ll have to do more experiments to be sure.’
There are many things to check, such as how far away the main body is from the main body and how the connection is maintained, and how complex characteristics such as mimetic organs or a human-faced host will be utilized.
While moving around doing such a simple experiment, we arrived at the manufacturing plant.
Inside, PS-111 was touching the lying Isabel with its long hooked claws.
When fighting enemies, the menacing claws that cut apart the opponent’s body have now become delicate surgical tools. The guy’s sharp fingers move gracefully like a pianist playing a piano, manipulating various mechanical devices. Around him, the MPS series are busy moving their short metal legs to help their creator.
The guy who was busy with his work senses my presence and raises his head. The red camera lens that replaced his visual organ turns towards me.
“82% similar to sub-controller ‘Aimov’. Who are you?”
“Eimov. He preyed on Alshas and gained new strength.”
“New strength?”
The guy tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.
“It’s similar to how you control it in sync with the MPS.”
“It’s very exciting that we’ve created a terminal that’s similar to the original in such a short period of time. If you’d allow us to take skin samples, I think we’ll see a lot of progress in the MPS design.”
Jane is an interesting person, but she has other things to do first.
“I have something else to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“The Heavenly Mother says it will take 30 hours to complete the tuning? Wouldn’t the equipment on the Screamer support ship be able to shorten the time even further?”
I briefly explained the conversation I had with Heavenly Mother. PS-111 nodded after listening to my story to the end.
“If it’s equipped with a Screamer support ship, tuning can be completed in less than 10 hours.”
“okay?”
“Yes. I will stop tuning for a moment and start operating the Giga Cracker.”
“Please.”
“Please check on your ‘little brother’s’ condition in the meantime.”
As expected of a half-machine guy, he acts quickly once he makes a decision. He left the factory to launch a ship with the mini-screamers.
‘Then here… .’
“Aimop.”
The moment I thought about doing an experiment with the human-faced insect, I heard a voice from below.
Isabel, with wires and cables attached to her head, was looking up at me with her eyes wide open.
‘You were awake?’
I thought that PS-111 would be in a dormant state as it was being tuned hard, but it wasn’t.
Thanks to the transplant of Coldblood’s eyeballs, the guy’s eyes glowed blue like the ocean. Coincidentally, it was the complete opposite of his twin sister’s bright red mechanical eyes.
The guy opened his mouth and looked at me with his blue eyes.
“That flesh ate Alshas.”
“okay.”
Judging from the reaction, it seems that although the body has changed, the ability to read information from others has not been lost. I told PS-111 that at least the eyes should be transplanted because it might have something to do with the eyes, and fortunately, it was the right answer.
“This is the special privilege I received when I came to this world, the ‘Heavenly Eye of All Beings.’ As the name suggests, it can only be used if you have eyes.”
“It was a special privilege after all.”
“It may be funny to say this now, but I would have thought you would take it from me even if it meant killing me.”
To be honest, I still have a little desire to do that. The privilege of reading information about the other person is so attractive. However, I just made a different choice because I judged that it would be more beneficial for me to have that guy alive.
Of course, you don’t have to say exactly what you think.
“Your sister, PS-111 asked me to save you. I just did what he asked.”
“I knew it, but it’s still different.”
The guy muttered to himself, impressed by how differently he behaved in the game and in this world.
‘Looking at it, it seems like there isn’t much of a problem in having a conversation.’
Parts of its long torso were disintegrated and wires were stuck all over its head, but its mind seemed to be intact.
There’s still some time left before we reach the ice planet, so it might be a good idea to ask some of the questions you’ve been meaning to ask.
“Since you have the ability to read information, you must know more than others, right?”
“Yeah. If it’s something I can answer, I’ll answer.”
I asked Isabel directly, who nodded obediently.
“All the players I’ve met so far, and even myself, have all seen strange visions as we neared the end. Do you know what this means?”
The secret of the illusion that I had been wondering about without any proper clues. Among the rankers I had met so far, not a single one had given me a clear answer about the illusion.
Maybe that’s why he didn’t answer my question right away. He just stared at me silently with his sapphire-like eyes.
After a while, the little mouth of the silent guy opened and the answer to my question flowed out.
‘what?’
And the answer was something I didn’t expect.
“Illusion brainwashes the rankers?”
“Yeah. All the players I’ve seen have experienced a change in their way of thinking due to ‘memories’.”
I had a rough idea when I heard about the fantasy from Alshas.
What does it mean to kill the ‘real self’ or ‘self in this world’ that appears in fantasy?
I thought that perhaps fantasy was like a leash for strangers who came to this world. However, since there was no clear evidence, it remained a hypothesis.
The more I listen to Isabel, the more convinced I become.
“It wasn’t just Cynthia and Alshas who saw it.”
“That’s right. When I was with Sister Penelope and under Cynthia’s control, I met many rankers. And I saw them change because of their ‘memories’.”
I have also collected information about illusions through various rankers. However, I do not know how things changed before and after seeing the illusion. In the case of the Heavenly Mother, the deification level went up once, but there was no significant change. My case is also an exceptional case.
‘Still, it’s surprising.’
Isabel knew something that I didn’t. Even if you have the privilege of reading information, recognizing your own changes is a separate matter.
The guy who realized I was curious added an explanation.
“It was thanks to Sister Penelope that I realized there was something wrong with ‘memory’.”
“You found out thanks to number 18? How?”
“My sister and I were on good terms. We did everything together before she became independent. Thanks to that, I was able to quickly figure out that ‘memory’ changed my sister’s thoughts.”
Space Survival is a game in which players from various countries participate. As such, I understand that there are not many cases in which players meet in real life and continue relationships. At best, most players from the same clan or country see each other once in a while.
‘But Penelope and Isabelle are exceptions.’
The two were twins in real life. If they were family and on good terms, they would quickly notice changes in each other.
“It was something I clearly experienced together, but my sister remembered it completely differently.”
“Your memory has changed?”
“Yeah. After seeing the vision, my sister began to perceive life in the real world in a distorted way. She didn’t do that before.”
Hearing that, I could understand why she said ‘memory’ instead of ‘fantasy’. And why she said ‘brainwashing’.
‘For us, whose bodies have completely changed, memory is the only means of sustaining our egos.’
The scars I got from falling down when I was young, the relationships I have with family, friends, and other people. There are no elements in this world that prove that I am ‘me’. Only the memories of having lived in ‘reality’ define my existence.
‘What if memories are manipulated in that situation?’
In this world, it is impossible to compare elements of reality with memories, so it is impossible to prove that I am changing into another being.
“How much has Penelope changed?”
“It’s true that my sister originally liked this world, but her obsession grew worse every time she had a fantasy.”
“Is that why you risked your life to save the Coldblood slaves?”
18th Penelope is known to be a ranker who is particularly fond of Space Survival. Just as I was called Morphbak, she was called Gallagon Maniac. As such, it is not strange for her to care about the safety of her kind.
‘But that level is excessive.’
If you look at it, the goal of fantasy is not to completely change the personality and make it into a different person. Rather, it is closer to leading to a specific goal, in a specific direction. As Isabel put it, it could be called brainwashing.
‘But why?’
The problem is this part.
What does it mean that the ego is semi-forcibly reversed as we get closer to the ending?
“Someone wants to change us.”
“maybe.”
“What is your purpose? What do you want?”
“I don’t know. But I think I know who did it.”
“It must be the one who dragged us into this world.”
Isabel nodded instead of answering.
I don’t think any of the players who entered Space Survival were there voluntarily. At least not among the players I’ve met.
I also agreed to the email asking if I wanted to participate in the beta service, and then I woke up here. I don’t remember what happened in between.
“I understand that an unidentified entity is trying to change us. But why do we see different illusions? Some people seem to be the ‘me’ of this world, while others seem to be the ‘me’ of the real world and see illusions.”
“Just looking at the information I’ve collected, it seems like it has an impact on life in the real world.”
“Life in the real world.”
When I asked Jason, who had become a human-faced insect, it turned out that in reality he grew up in a bad family. I didn’t hear much from his heavenly mother, but it was clear that he had a difficult life.
‘Me too.’
“How were you and your sister?”
When asked how he lived in reality, the guy hesitated for a moment before answering.
“As you may have noticed when I mentioned my sister earlier, our lives were not so peaceful. Neither my sister nor I would have been able to survive without each other.”