Chapter 19: 019
'I was lucky.'
There are a total of 3 characteristics I acquired in the lab.
There were over 500 samples eaten, but the predation effect only activated 3 times. It was an unlucky result by all accounts, but I was still satisfied.
'The conditions for acquiring the type were satisfied, and besides…'
I also secured useful characteristics. It's not just about filling up the list, it's about characteristics that can be actively used in battle.
There are three newly acquired characteristics: 'Natural Recovery', 'Saw Blade Tentacle', and 'Pollution Engine'.
Among these, the natural recovery characteristic merged with the strong vitality to become the 'regenerative power (fusion)' characteristic.
'I was aiming for it next to psychic-related traits, and it worked out well.'
Aimorphs cannot protect themselves by wearing armor, so healing-related traits are more important than anything else. This is because you can recover quickly from a serious injury.
As long as I have the 'regeneration' trait, I will not die unless my brain is destroyed. Depending on the severity of the injury, it may take some time, but you will eventually recover.
The only exceptions are when attacked using supernatural powers or when attacked by a special weapon.
'Saw Blade Tentacle Contamination Organ These are all good traits too.'
I tried strengthening the upper arms of my fighting arms.
Then, a long, thin tentacle like a whip protruded from the palm of my hand. This tentacle, which has saw-like protrusions on its surface, tears apart the person it entangles.
'Originally, it's a feature that isn't used often because it's durability is weak.'
If you get a type, it's a different story. When upgraded by the body strengthening type, the saw blade protrusions become strong enough to be embedded in the outer walls of the ship. It is impossible for an ordinary soldier to block it.
I retrieved the tentacle extending from my hand.
'Finally a polluting agency.'
This time it's the lower arm's turn, not the upper arm.
I bent down and placed my palms on the floor. A mass of dark brown mucus and spores flowed from the hole in the palm.
To put it simply, 'polluting organ' is the trait that makes me a walking nest. Whenever I want, things that look exactly like the spores in the nest are released, just like now.
The one difference is that I can apply some of my properties to the spores that make them pollutants.
In other words, it can produce spores that emit neurotoxin or spores that emit acidic fluid. Or create spores that increase the regenerative effect of my body.
With this ability, it is not impossible to turn the entire ship into my fortress. It can be said to be a perfect ability when fighting powerful enemies.
From tentacles to spores. Any sane person would be shocked to see it, but I was very satisfied. After checking my newly acquired characteristics, I put down No. 26 from my shoulder for a moment.
A semi-transparent text box awaits my response. There is only one response I can give.
'consent.'
When I agreed, changes began to occur in my body.
The bones inside the body twisted and broke through the chitinous outer layer. The outer skin swelled greatly as if it had been infused with water.
Since it was all a natural change, there was no bleeding or pain. It felt like my skin and muscles were pulling in response to the change, similar to when I was stretching.
Unlike when evolving into a fluid, the change due to type did not take long. The transformation was completed and a translucent text window appeared again in front of me.
｢Species: Unidentified hostile space creature
Status: Fluid
Goal: Survive (successfully evolve once).
Characteristics
-Related to the body (applying type): Wings Chitinous shell Regenerative power (fusion) Neurotoxin glands (fusion) Enhanced exoskeleton Acidic skin Enhanced leg strength Mimic saw blade Tentacles Contamination organ -Related to psychic powers: Predator senses (fusion) Superpower organ type:
Enhanced
body Type｣
｢Currently, there is only one type that can be specialized.｣
｢Superpower Enhanced Type (2/6)｣
With the acquisition of the first type, the characteristics were completely reclassified to match the type conditions. Thanks to acquiring a body-related type, a message saying 'Applying type' appeared next to the body-related trait.
Also, as you can see below, the number of characteristics required to secure a super power enhancement type has increased from 3 to 6.
'Tsk. Type penalty.'
I knew it, but when I actually saw it, I felt a little disappointed. There is no limit to the number of types an Amorph can acquire, but there is a penalty as the number of types it has increases.
The number of characteristics required to obtain a new type is doubled.
For example, if I obtain the superpower enhancement type first, the number of physical enhancement types required increases from 10 to 20.
Or, in the current situation, if I unlock other types earlier than the super power enhancement type, the required number of super power enhancement types becomes 12.
'That's why there are cases where type unlocking is delayed on purpose.'
If you randomly unlock inefficient types, you may end up not being able to obtain important types.
If it were a game for me, I would have been more concerned about the timing of acquiring types.
It is burdensome to increase the number of restrictions on superpower-related characteristics that are difficult to obtain to six.
But this was reality, and a fight with pirates was waiting right away. A crisis is right around the corner, so you need to get stronger quickly, but if you put it off and die, it will be of no use.
'That's enough. 'Let's see what's changed?'
I'll have to rely on the body strengthening type for a while, so I'll check how much I've improved.
The first sensation I felt was heaviness.
Before, I felt agile and flexible, but now it's different. My whole body feels heavy and solid.
How should I explain this? You could say it felt like I went from a leopard to a rhinoceros.
'Well, it's bound to be heavy. These things happened.'
My head was now covered in a thick carapace similar to the exoskeleton of my thorax. Except for the joints, the arms and legs were also covered in thick, hard biological armor.
Perhaps to support the weight of his heavier body, he also grew slightly taller. His height, which was around 1m before, is now over 1m 50cm. The legs, which were given leg strength strengthening properties, became much thicker than other parts.
When I put my hand on the wall, I could still climb up the wall or the ceiling. Instead, the thumping sound was unavoidable. It must be said that the strategy of silently attacking the enemy has become impossible.
Lastly, one of my main weapons, the tail, also grew under the influence of type.
The length of the tail is slightly less than 2m. It is almost twice as big.
'It's a medium-range attack method. 'Good.'
There have been a few times when I was in danger due to distance when attacking an opponent.
To me, the tentacles and tail were like sweet rain in a drought.
"big! It's big!"
While checking the body, No. 26 next to him expressed surprise. It must have seemed to him that I had suddenly grown up.
[Zuzuzu (Growing up)]
｢Growing? What does it mean?｣
[Zuzuzuzuzu (a cub that has become an adult)]
｢A cub? It's a baby. The baby is big! "Baby!"
No. 26 looked at me and said the word "baby."
'You look at me like a baby.'
Well, it wasn't wrong. In terms of fluid, it was included as a biologically immature individual, so it fully met the definition of a baby.
Of course, parents raising Amorph babies probably feel like they want to die.
I would like to explain my changes in detail, but it seems impossible to accommodate his limited vocabulary. One day, when I learn all the words, I will teach them.
I hoisted No. 26 back onto my shoulder to head to my next destination.
"baby. Where are you going?」
[Zuzu (Armory)]
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway. If there were a flight attendant here, how would they act? Would he burst into tears at the sight of a monster he couldn't handle? Or should we hurry to the escape ship?
'Let's check that now.'
Whatever it is, one thing is certain.
They will witness the nightmare created by the universe and regret it. Why did they think of getting on this ship?
–
A day has passed since the disaster occurred in the bridge situation room.
At any other time, the entire crew would have mourned those who had met a tragic end, but now they had no time to do so.
Rumors had been spreading little by little that the Metallic Gremlin, or rather, something scarier than that, was quickly devouring the life within the ship.
Humans are strong animals, but when faced with something they cannot handle, they lose their minds.
Less than a day after the disaster, another monster attack occurred. This time, they attacked a restaurant and massacred over 50 unarmed soldiers.
When more than half of the troops protecting the research vessel died, Captain Yoo Seong locked himself in the captain's cabin with only the remaining soldiers and leadership.
Although the justification was to concentrate defense in one location and hold a sit-in protest, it was in fact an act of abandoning the remaining personnel. In fact, the number of neglected people was rapidly decreasing.
The interior of the research vessel was hell itself due to an unidentified monster that did not know whether it came from outside the universe or was born in the laboratory.
Recovery room in the medical room.
Wei, the temporary research team leader, was there.
Thanks to Megacorp's advanced medical technology, he was able to quickly regain consciousness. Thanks to this, he had to face the situation he was in against his will.
Permanent loss of sight and smell. Damage to half of the facial skin. Loss of taste and severe vocal impairment due to neurotoxic aftereffects.
Wei wanted to believe that he was dreaming. What crime have you committed that you have to suffer like this?
He is just a good human being who has lived a life similar to other people in Megacorp. Of course, there are quite a few people who died by his hands before reaching the position of senior researcher, but everyone lives like this. Because if you lose in a competition, it's natural to die.
Wei wanted to commit suicide, but the life support machines in the recovery room wouldn't let him. The only thing he was allowed to do was look down at his own miserable appearance.
As he spent every second and hour in pain, he was late in recognizing the changes around him. The sound of the doctors' footsteps that had been bothering his ears until just now disappeared. There was no sound other than the signal sound from the machine checking vitals.
'what? 'What happened?'
There is a critically ill patient in the medical room, and there is such silence. That's never a good sign.
The ominous silence that continued with no end in sight was broken by the sound of someone's footsteps. Wei thought it was the sound of military boots.
But no. The sound of footsteps was the sound made when something much heavier than a person moves.
Thump thump thump. A vibration echoes throughout the medical room.
Every time the recovery room rang, Wei's body trembled violently.
An unfriendly being is approaching him. He wanted to run away but couldn't. My body was not listening to the painkillers that were being automatically administered by the life support machine.
And finally the footsteps stopped.
Even though Wei couldn't see, he could clearly sense that it was next to him.
The breathy growl it emits. He sensed that the thing next to him was the monster that had attacked him in the situation room.
The bastard came all this way to end his life.
Something came up on top of his trembling head. He wanted to kill him now, but his expectations were wrong.
The being on top of his head was fluffy and soft. It flowed down like chocolate syrup on a round bun and covered my entire head.
He was taken aback by the strange touch that did not fit the atmosphere, and for a moment he felt terrible pain all over his face. It felt like someone had set my face on fire. He screamed inwardly as he felt his entire head melting.
'Kwaaaak! Someone please! 'Someone kill me!'
If it weren't for the ventilator attached to his mouth, Wei would have suffocated to death in less than five minutes.
Or, if it weren't for the painkillers and recovery drugs being injected into his body, he would have died of shock right away.
If the bubble amoeba on top of his head, which he called 'Subject No. 26', had grown a little more, he would have died sooner.
Coincidentally, all of these factors were contrary to his wishes. Fate did not grant Wei a comfortable death.
Wei was allowed to rest only after an hour.
–
[Zuzuzu (Did you eat everything?)]
｢Yes.｣
I finished eating and taking revenge and placed No. 26 on my hand. Perhaps because he had been fed to the point where his stomach was full all day, his body had put on some nice fat.
[Zuzu zuzuzu (How does it feel to have revenge?)]
｢Revenge? What is revenge?｣
[Zuzuzu zuzuzuzu (eating someone who harassed)]
｢Food. Delicious."
It seems that No. 26 does not have any high-level emotions such as revenge. I don't know if I haven't learned it yet or if I'm just born incapable of thinking like that.
'This is reality, so you never know.'
A creature that couldn't normally speak is now calmly talking to me. Moreover, seeing as the researchers are particularly interested in this guy, I think there must be something there.
'You're not just going to evolve into a demon, are you?'
Sea demons, like bubble amoebas, are creatures that only live on ocean planets. It looks similar to a bubble amoeba, but is over 30m long and has many tentacles hidden inside its body.
Due to their similar appearance, the community often wondered if Bubble Amoeba and Sea Demon were related. Of course, it was a meaningless claim because there were more than one similar creature in this game.
Number 26, who had no idea what I was thinking, sent a wave at me.
"baby. "I'm full."
A faint light came from his body. As far as I know, that was an expression of being tired.
I left the medical room with a guy who could now be described as chubby rather than chubby on my shoulder.
The hallway outside the medical room was nowhere near as neat and futuristic as before.
The hallway was full of dark brown stalks that looked like dirty mold. Spores were spraying slime from the ceiling and walls as if they were watering a garden overflowing with cursed life. It looked more like the inside of a rotten old tree infested with all kinds of bugs than an inorganic metal passage.
Inside the nest that took over half of the ship, I set out to find my next prey.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone