Chapter 7: 007
What is the essence of Aimov play?
Space Survival is a game that guarantees a high degree of freedom, but it is not without so-called standardized play methods.
For example, if you start with Megacorp Noble Capital, the standard method is to purchase mercenaries or ships with initial support funds and roll a snowball. This is because the racial characteristics are optimized for using mercenaries or slaves.
So what is the standard of Amorph play? What makes Amorph qualitatively different from other races?
'Hunter.'
Obtain information about the enemy in advance, set traps, lure them in, and sneak up on them from behind.
No matter how many genetic essences they collect to become stronger, Amorph's essence is a hunter.
In the latter half of the game after completing essence farming, many users can be slaughtered, but even then, the above formula remains.
The reason why I was able to become the best in the game with Amorph was simple.
'Because I'm good at hunting.'
Unlike other users, I had to fight alone without any party members.
His physical strength was not as good as that of younger users.
They lacked equipment and characteristics compared to users who had been playing for a long time.
In all kinds of adverse conditions, I always trampled on them and won.
I took the genes of those who whined and protested and copied their unique characteristics.
As my hunting trophies accumulated, my hunting know-how also accumulated. The more the foolish victims didn't give up and kept attacking me, the stronger I became.
As a result of repeating this process endlessly, I became the most notorious predator in the space survival world.
Now, I am targeting a new prey.
"shit! "It takes too long to stabilize."
Yujin Kisaragi got angry and hit the desk.
Although I had been watching her from above in the lab earlier, she was not aware of my presence. This was because his keen intuition had been dulled by anger.
She is alone, but it is not yet time. There are guards outside and soldiers walking around.
"Damn it…"
She got up from her seat while fiddling with the machine and got irritated. She went to another test tube and started operating the terminal.
I don't know what they were trying to do, but it didn't seem like a very pleasant situation for the organism in the test tube. Every time she passed by, the test subjects writhed in pain.
"This guy and that guy."
What she was doing was not an experiment, but just torture to vent her anger. The laboratory was filled with silent screams.
"And then you were there too."
The one in front of her is experiment number 26.
I can feel the guy's anxiety up to this point.
When Kisaragi took out the psionium, test subject number 26 trembled.
Was it satisfying for the test subject to be scared? She smiled crookedly.
"This is an experiment."
She invested all her psionium. Number 26's entire body was torn and its color faded in an instant.
The bubbles bubbling up inside the test tube seemed to reveal the test subject's screams.
After the sadistic torture under the pretext of an experiment, number 26 survived again.
Kisaragi clicked his tongue and left the laboratory.
'….'
She is a woman who only chooses things she doesn't like until the end.
As I was about to move to chase her, Subject 26 shot a wave at me.
｢Nice to meet you.｣
'….'
Even in times like this, he greets me the same way as usual.
I left without responding.
There is no need for conversation between us anyway. Rather than offering a few words of comfort, I plan to give him what he really needs.
'plural.'
I left the lab and followed Kisaragi.
She was heading to the captain's cabin. Two guards followed behind her.
They showed signs of dissatisfaction to the extent that there was no need to check with my auxiliary agency. Kisaragi seemed to know that too, but didn't say anything.
The icy atmosphere became even more intense after arriving at the captain's cabin.
"Two hours have passed. "What about the results?"
"The search has just begun. You have to wait a little longer…"
"Captain, no, Yoosung Samuel. Are you going against Noble Capital's will?"
Captain Yoosung Samuel's face hardened at her words. Anyone could see that he looked angry, but that was just a bluff. He was clearly in a state of panic, as his pupils constricted and his legs trembled in his sweat pants behind his neck.
Although he is the captain of the ship, Kisaragi is the ruling class of Megacorp. Because the hierarchy itself is completely different, you can't help but feel scared.
"I am the captain of this ship. Research team leader. Please be careful what you say."
"I can make you relinquish that position as captain."
"No matter how Noble Capital is, we cannot tolerate abuse of power. "I have the right to detain the research team leader."
"under. Detention? "Did you say you're detaining me now?"
"Anyone who disturbs order on board the ship may be detained by the captain."
"Are you crazy? Yusang Samuel?"
Things are getting interesting. It seems like there was a conflict between the two even before I watched.
In fact, there is no way Anhamuin's Kisaragi would not want a captain, so this catastrophe may have been a planned result.
The two glared at each other for a long time. The person who turned his attention at the end was Kisaragi.
'In a way, is this as expected?'
If Kisaragi goes wrong, the fate of this ship's crew will be over.
But the law is far and the fist is close. This is the middle of space. Even if something goes wrong with her, Megacorp is far away to help her.
Even if the captain gets sick of his harsh words and tries to kill her, she cannot resist. Even though she may have superior intelligence compared to others, her body is that of an ordinary woman.
"…We'll see later."
Kisaragi gritted his teeth and left the captain's cabin.
As soon as she left, the captain called his aide and screamed at her to come get that damn cat immediately.
'It must be urgent.'
If this continues, the captain will die as soon as he arrives, regardless of whether it is a planet or a space base. Since he dared to threaten me with detention in front of Noble Capital, there is nothing I can do about it.
The only thing left for him to do is find the cat and solve this problem.
'Already dead.'
Anyway, the captain is also on my kill list. No matter what he does, he cannot escape his fate of death.
Afterwards, Kisaragi continued to roam around the ship and behave viciously.
The more she is hated by the crew, the better for me. It's easier for me to work when she's out of people's sight.
Her last stop after wandering around the ship was the bathroom. She said she was going with two guards.
"Let me go to the bathroom for a moment."
"yes."
As far as I know, at least one guard would have followed her in.
However, the guards did not follow her in because they were bothered by her tyranny all day.
I don't know if she knew that they were breaking orders for emotional reasons, but she didn't say anything, perhaps because she didn't like the guards.
"Hey, I need to go to the bathroom for a moment too."
At that moment, one of the two guards also left the room to go to the bathroom.
She was alone in the women's restroom and there was only one security guard outside.
'It's an opportunity.'
There are no security features in the bathroom to impede my movements. Inside the ventilation shaft surrounding the bathroom's outer wall, I prepared for an attack.
After loosening the screw with two claws, I carefully removed the wire mesh. I walked with my claws raised as high as possible to avoid making any noise.
She is washing her face in front of the sink. The sound of pouring water drowns out my sounds.
I approached her, being careful not to reflect my reflection in the mirror.
After finishing washing her face, she turned off the faucet. She stroked her water droplets of hair.
You have to get to the point where you can reach her with one leap.
The four pairs of legs move more carefully than I have ever seen before. Paralyzing poison fills the tip of its tail. Just like a cat, the body is preparing to end it in one blow.
"Whoa."
Kisaragi was looking at the mirror with a blank face. But suddenly she wrinkled her nose.
'this!'
Has my mind become clearer thanks to washing my face? Her senses sensed me.
A crisis signal is fired from her brain and spreads throughout her body. The muscles in your neck twitch upon command. Within a second, her head will turn towards me.
I can't put it off any longer.
My legs kicked into the steel ground. My body became a bullet that left the muzzle and was ejected at her.
There is still quite a bit of distance left. Now is the time to use your wings.
The wings that were eagerly waiting to be called upon received my command and spread wide. My body, which had been losing momentum, suddenly came to mind.
The wings, which show off the unique black-brown luster of chitin, flap vigorously.
The distance from her is now about 50cm. Tails takes out the sting he had hidden.
Kisaragi's eyes turned to me.
Her face suddenly distorts. A cocktail of negative emotions, including surprise, disgust, crisis, and fear, engulfs her.
When an unexpected crisis arises, people unconsciously cover their faces with their hands. Her arms move up.
My tail passed between my arms as my wrists half covered my face.
A tail that neutralizes the opponent's defense with its flexible movements. The small needle at the end pierced her carotid artery.
"oh?"
A short scream escaped her mouth. In fact, even if I wanted to scream for a long time, it was impossible. The poison injected into the neck spread quickly and paralyzed the entire body.
Until it is detoxified, there is nothing she can do but breathe.
"…."
She collapsed in front of the sink. The figure lying on the floor looked like a mannequin modeled after her.
I approached her who was barely breathing.
My image is reflected in her eyes, which are trembling mercilessly. An alien creature the size of a human head is drooling. The alien creature's appearance grows larger and sharp teeth are visible in its mouth.
What is she thinking now?
Fear of seeing a strange creature?
Anger at your situation?
Or fear of death?
I guess it doesn't matter. Yujin Kisaragi dies anyway.
Suddenly
my teeth bit into her neck.
The light goes out from her eyes. I can feel my breathing slowing down through my clenched teeth.
'bye.'
My strong jaw instantly broke my cervical vertebrae. When I shook my head while biting her neck, her neck was easily torn off.
That was the end of her short life.
Megacorp's Noble Capital no longer exists on this ship.
All that remained was the decapitated body of a woman.
Human blood passed through my throat. Only genetic information escaped separately on the biological conveyor belt called the stomach.
The moment the information reached my brain, I felt it.
That one of the puzzles of possibilities that had been dormant in me had been put together.
I knew it instinctively. I have shown that the genes that make up beings can be rearranged under the spiral of evolution.
｢'Hatchling- >Fluid' evolution conditions have been met. Do you want to evolve?"
If I agree, we can start the evolution work right here. I was going to accept.
This would have been the case if my auxiliary organs had not sounded the alarm.
｢A security guard came in after hearing the sound of Kisaragi falling.｣
｢His gun was pointed at me.｣
｢A bullet pierced my body.｣
｢I died.｣
'What was that just now?'
Various scenes flew by as if reality had been filmed on video and sped up dozens of times. It was a speed that could not be properly perceived if it were not for evolved senses.
'Predator sense!'
What I just saw was the crisis ahead. His predator senses were looking into the future and warning him.
'Is this how it works?'
Like a movie, it shows what will happen in the future. It is a powerful trait, except that it only activates in times of crisis.
Anyway, it was soon time for the security guards to come in. I ran behind the door and hid myself.
In the future I saw through my predator senses, there was only one security guard who attacked me. The other one hasn't returned from the bathroom yet.
'Shall I run away?'
I could see the ventilation shaft on the other side.
'no. I do not have time.'
Unless the security guard was blind, there was no way he would have missed me running away.
The guards must not know about my existence. If that's the case, even if Kisaragi dies, he can't avoid the chase.
'We also take care of expenses here.'
Fortunately, there is only one opponent. If you surprise them, you can kill them.
My body went into battle mode again. As I pressed myself against the back of the bathroom door, the door started to push forward little by little.
The tips of military boots are visible beyond the door. Soon his body completely enters the bathroom.
"omg!"
A startled voice.
He is preoccupied with the corpses on the sea of blood.
I was hiding behind the door and jumped towards him.
My body clung to his shoulder. I felt him startled.
He should have picked up his gun right away, but he didn't. Instead, I shook my shoulders.
In some ways, it was a very realistic reaction. If something like a winged desert spider were attached to one's shoulder, everyone would be like that.
However, in this situation, such action is difficult to consider wise.
The price of a wrong choice is death. Thanks to the time he gave me, my tail was able to sting his ear.
My tail, which pierced the other person's ear, was slowly pulled out. He died instantly after being injected with paralyzing poison in an area close to his brain.
The bathroom door closed as he fell to the floor.
Just a few minutes after Kisaragi died, an unfamiliar security guard also died.
It was quiet outside. No one saw the two people dead.
'We have to hurry.'
My colleague will be back soon. I returned the wire mesh of the ventilation shaft to its original state and quickly left the bathroom.
I was afraid that there might be a tracking method that I wasn't expecting, so instead of going straight to the nest, I walked around in circles.
When I arrived at the nest, I activated the text box.
｢'Hatchling- >Fluid' evolution conditions have been met. Do you want to evolve?
The long-awaited time for evolution has come.
After looking around one last time, I agreed.
Mucus for evolution flowed from the body like water.
The mucus that poured out to cover the entire body hardened into a hard solid. The solid mucus piled up and became a shell.
If someone saw me, they would probably think I was in a cocoon or an egg.
'That's unusual.'
Entering the cocoon is a strange feeling that is difficult to describe. If I could somehow explain it in words, it feels like something is 'different'.
The feeling that I am becoming a completely different being.
The mucus secreted inside the cocoon is reassembling me into something foreign.
If you had memories of your fetal life, wouldn't this be what it felt like? If I could become aware of the process by which my mother's womb creates my being, I would definitely feel like this.
I wanted to open my eyes and see for myself, but it was impossible. This is because he completely lost control of his body after entering the cocoon.
I don't know if this sensation I feel comes from my physical senses, or if my mental body exists and is aware of the changes in my physical body.
'You won't know until you think about it. Let's wait leisurely.'
I did everything I could. I decided to rest in this cozy cocoon until evolution was over.
–
Ventilation passage above the cooling room.
Not long ago, it was a place full of polluted air and spores spewing out disgusting liquid.
It was a space full of unclean moisture, but now it was so dry that it was impossible to imagine what it used to be, let alone humid.
All the spores had dried up, and the slime stalks that had stuck to the wall like spiderwebs had crumbled like dry twigs.
In the middle of the ruined nest, there was a cocoon the size of a young boy.
Despite the cold air rising from the cooling room, the surface of the cocoon was as rough as deserted land.
As if it were absorbing the moisture around here.
Then the cocoon shook.
Something is moving to come out from inside the shell.
After being shaken a few more times, cracks appeared on the outside of the cocoon.
The shell fell to the ground and something black stretched out from inside.
It was a heterogeneous human arm bone covered in black chitin, but it was clearly an arm. At the end of the arm were four long fingers that resembled the feet of a bird of prey.
Starting with the first arm that popped out, several arms broke the shell and popped out from the cocoon.
Finally all the cocoons came off and it was revealed.
I opened my eyes to see it with four long arms, two small arms near its chest, thick and sturdy legs, and a long tail that was about 1.5 times the size of its body.
The black thing looked down at the body with glowing gray eyes.
"Grrrrrrr"
It laughed as if satisfied.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone