I Became an Evolving Space Monster - Chapter 248

Ep. 248

When I opened my eyes, what I saw in front of me was not a cargo bay, but a completely different place.

Numerous green glass tubes. The smell of chemicals so strong that it makes your auxiliary organs go numb.

The place, which gave off an eerie atmosphere due to the light from the glass tube, seemed more like a catacomb created in 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.

Still, for some reason, I felt familiar. No, it felt more than familiar and even felt cozy.

It’s like coming home.

I crawled out of the glass tube.

‘I remember.’

I also had a vision when I entered the second stage of transcendence on the previous cult’s sacred planet. This was the exact place I saw it at the time.

‘How could I forget this?’

It felt like someone had sealed the memories and thoughts in my head and released them. When I thought that my consciousness was being controlled by an unidentified person, I felt anxiety and fear.

‘…Let’s stay calm.’

If I think about it based on my experience so far, there is a high possibility that this situation I see and feel is an illusion. The real me is probably in a semi-liquid state inside the cocoon.

‘Let’s look around.’

It would be better to do something than to do nothing and tremble. Barely able to keep my composure, I crawled forward.

The size of the cavity was quite large. Even though I crawled for tens of meters, I couldn’t see the end.

Green glass tubes visible along the way were lined not only on the floor but also on the walls and ceiling.

Every time I passed the glass tube, I took a quick look, but there was nothing inside. It’s just filled with a green liquid with an unknown purpose. There were small terminals attached to the glass tube, but they were all turned off.

As I passed the glass pipes giving off a foul smell, I saw a door. It was a heavily rusted iron gate. I raised my fighting arm and pushed the door slightly.

The door, which was stuck at first, moved little by little. Bright light streamed from the crack in the door.

Eventually, the door opened wide and white light surrounded me.

‘Where?’

The place where the light disappeared and appeared was a very familiar space to me.

‘My house?’

Before entering the world of space survival, a visit to the room I lived in was in front of me. I heard someone talking inside.

As if mesmerized by that familiar voice, I held the doorknob with my small arm.

The moment the door opened and I encountered someone inside.

I woke up.

My physical senses returned and I felt warm liquid surrounding my whole body. And it felt like something like a soft wall was squeezing me down.

‘What about that now?’

I forgot last time, but not this time. Although it was hazy, like a fog in the early morning, what I had just seen remained in my mind.

A strange facility filled with glass tubes and my own room.

The former was a place I had never seen before, and the latter was a place I was very familiar with. There is no connection between the two.

‘Is it my body’s memory?’

My mind is human, but my body is Aimorph. Perhaps the memories contained in Aimov’s body appeared as an illusion.

‘…If you look at the settings you learn after ascension, it may be so.’

However, according to my memory, such facilities never appeared before or after Ascension. The place that appears after Ascension is where Aimorph was first born, that is, the planet where the ancient ruins are located.

I kept thinking about it in my cocoon, but I couldn’t figure out what the illusion meant.

‘Still, there is a clue.’

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…’

As the unique characteristics created through transcendence became four, the space monster type rose to the first stage. That means that memories related to the mysterious place may be related to the transcendental system.

‘If we go up to the second level of space monster, something else may come out.’

There is still not enough information, so there is no point in spending time guessing.

At that moment, my body’s transformation was over. I don’t know how much time has passed, but seeing as my liquified body has solidified into a new form, my transformation has already been completed.

I stretched out my fighting arms and tore the cocoon.

Like when you stab a soft-boiled egg with chopsticks, mucus poured out of the cocoon. As I tore through the soft cocoon, cold air passed over my carapace.

As I breathed in the fresh air, I noticed changes in my body.

The first and only characteristic I synthesized, ‘Complete Organism’, transformed my body into the form of a large, agile carnivore. The second ‘Nightmare Horizon’ I got had a heavy and bulky image due to storing the erosion tentacles on its back.

The third case of ‘organic evolution’ is the characteristic of changing my body into a specific form, so it did not cause any significant changes to my body.

So what about the fourth unique characteristic synthesized?

In conclusion, much has changed like the first and second cases.

The body shape itself maintained a gigantic snake-like shape, which is characteristic of subadults. It still has no legs, but uses its fighting arms and wing arms as a means of locomotion.

The only difference is that the body length has decreased significantly compared to before. It used to be close to 40m long, but now it is barely over 25m long.

The length of the lower body and tail was greatly reduced, but instead, the fighting arms grew very large.

I tried to stand up, my fighting arms resting on the metal floor. Before, his lower body and tail were dragging on the floor, but not now.

To put it simply, my current body shape is similar to that of a spider with a long, thick tail.

The biggest change was the body shape, but there were changes in the details as well.

First, if we look at the head, the carapace and shape did not change much.

The four auxiliary organs under the jaws of the tusks created by the ‘harvester’s maw’ characteristic, the head like that of a crocodile or theropod dinosaur, the huge but imperfectly grown horns, and the splendidly extended occipital carapace were all intact.

What changed was the neck area rather than the head. The ‘monster’s tentacles’ that spread like a mane across the inside of the carapace and neck were the ones that benefited.

Currently, the monster’s tentacles were stored inside the holes inside the neck and head carapace.

Just as the monster’s tentacles were usually hidden in its stomach armor, and the tentacles popped out by tearing the skin whenever necessary, the monster’s tentacles took on a similar shape.

‘This is a really good change.’

There are two major weaknesses in my body so far. These are the auxiliary organs under the jaw and the tentacles of the monster.

Even if it was okay because the auxiliary organ was used as a symbol of hunting to cover the shell, the monster’s tentacles had limited protection. Perhaps that’s why powerful enemies first 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 tried to strain my neck to pull the monster’s tentacles out. The back of my neck became stiff, as if I was walking with my neck stretched out, and bundles of tentacles came out of the small holes in the back of my neck and head.

The part that changed the most after the monster’s tentacles was the wing arms.

Because it has wings, it was originally longer and larger than other combat arms, but is now more than a third longer than before. And the vertically folded carapace became a double-covered structure, making it more than twice as thick as the other arms.

‘It became a form where the membrane was folded and stored inside.’

When I moved my wing arms with the same feeling as when I was spreading my wings, the folded carapace opened and the membranes inside it unfolded gently. Like when a well-folded tent unfolds.

Like the enlarged wing arms, the other combat arms also grew in size. Thanks to the addition of more joints like wings and arms, more diverse movements are possible than before.

Another minor change to the neck and arms is that the blunt claws that were there before have disappeared. Instead, there was something like a small biological pipe growing where the claw was.

‘If an ordinary person saw it, they would just faint.’

It had a scary appearance before, but now it seems to have become even more vicious. Like it.

‘Then let’s see what changes have occurred in the text box.’

After checking all the changes in my body, I checked the text box.

“The Great Infector: You are one and many. You can select 3 of each of the characteristics belonging to the infection nest enhancement type to apply strengthening effects.

*Enhancement target: ① Infection type characteristic: Not set Not set Not set

② Nest type characteristic: Not set Not set Not set

*Caution: Once all strengthening effects are applied, effects can be applied to other characteristics until the strengthened characteristic disappears. doesn’t exist.

*PS: Depending on your perspective, an individual can become a group.｣

｢The new special status ‘Mutant Virus Host’ has been unlocked in ‘Organic Evolution’!｣

｢The ‘Space Monster (Unique)’ type has reached level 1! Stage 1 rewards are activated! ‘

As expected.’

I guessed it from the time I asked for infection nest-related traits, but the only newly created trait was one that strengthened the effects of the two traits.

‘Gives strengthening effects to 3 of the characteristics belonging to the infection nest type.’

While other unique characteristics strengthen the entire characteristic and type at once, this characteristic did not show anything like that.

‘Does this mean that the effect will be increased by focusing on it instead?’

Considering that the only characteristics obtained through the transcendence system were all characteristics outside the standard, my guess would be correct.

‘There’s no need to set it up right away.’

They say that once you decide, you cannot change it until the characteristic disappears, so you have to be careful about your decision.

‘There’s something more important than that right now.’

Thanks to obtaining the ‘Great Infection’, the space monster type has entered stage 1. I asked for four unique characteristics that were difficult to obtain, but what kind of reward did I get?

When I checked the message I received as a reward, my mouth widened.

｢Space Monster (Unique) type level has reached level 1.｣

｢The ‘Essence Rearrangement’ effect is applied as a perk for achieving level 1.｣

｢Essence Rearrangement: Types that have already been unlocked and acquired are not affected by the penalty. not. Afterwards, when you unlock new type information, the penalty will be reset from that type.

*PS: Evolution is like a puzzle. Don’t forget that it’s always incomplete until it’s completed.”

‘Huh?’

Level 1 reward for the space monster type.

It was an unprecedented compensation that I had never seen before.

–

“How much further do we have to go to where Captain Nern’s relic is?”

“It will arrive soon. “It’s not far from here.”

“Thank goodness.”

“…Damn, it wasn’t like this when I stored the artifact, so I don’t know why.”

Former captain Nern and Sihyeon Eugene of the imperial carrier.

They were standing at the head of the moving group and talking to each other.

Looking at her appearance, Lila recalled the memory of the data chip she had seen earlier.

When Lila first heard the vision, she thought she was crazy.

He said he went crazy because he lived in the shadow of Akira Yujin for too long.

‘I would understand if Si-hyeon was crazy, but…’

Regardless of whether Si-hyeon was crazy, it was difficult to say that the data she provided itself was fabricated.

In fact, there wasn’t much image data itself. Because it was only a dozen pages at most. However, the annotations and research papers attached to interpret the navigation charts and texts in the images were considerable.

As Lila was the general manager of the T&C Special Trade Center, she received reports on all aspects of the city every week. Therefore, the knowledge and information accumulated in her head is truly enormous.

In her opinion, the contents of Sihyeon’s data chip were not manipulated or the result of a psychopath putting them together.

‘That makes it even weirder.’

The contents of the records left by a cultist named Beom-ho, who is said to have been a teacher of vision in the past, were about two weapons.

One of them only had an incomplete navigation chart so there was no need to worry about it, but the other one did not. The effect of the weapon, which had been interpreted about 60% of the time, was truly outrageous.

‘It’s a weapon that only kills specific creatures.’

According to Si-hyeon’s interpretation, the effect of the weapon is to mass murder certain organisms by shooting them with a particle beam that has a fatal effect. The weapon can be reset at any time by inputting the genetic data of a new target to kill.

Simply put, it is Star Union’s nano weapon, the Gremlin Torpedo, and its attack target has been changed from metal to living things.

Listening to Captain Nern’s words, many of them matched the characteristics of the weapon described in the records. It was said that the army of Outspacers was wiped out with that single weapon.

‘The problem is that no one knows how the weapon works.’

Nern said when they first met.

An unidentified sailor disappeared leaving behind only a weapon, but no one dared to use the weapon. It is a weapon that has tremendous destructive power, but we have no idea how it works or what its power is. There are few people who can freely touch weapons such as nano nuclear bombs that only kill certain living things.

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 acknowledge that the weapon exists, there are still many problematic aspects.

If the owner of the weapon was Si-hyeon’s father, Jeong-woo, why didn’t he use it when fighting Akira? If that were the case, Akira wouldn’t have taken his life or usurped his position as head of the family.

However, it is also ambiguous to see it as an arrangement left for future generations. If it were an arrangement, it would be better for Beom-ho to personally give Si-hyeon a weapon.

Because he didn’t do that, it was only now, long after Jungwoo Eugene had died, that he finally started looking for the weapon. While being guided by Captain Nern, who was not related to her family at all.

‘What on earth is this guy named Beom-ho thinking?’

Captain Sihyeon Eugene Nern.

It felt like the elites of Megacorp’s highest-ranking cult empire were playing into Beomho’s hands.

While she was lost in complicated thoughts, the group reached a dead end.

“The road is blocked. What happened?”

“Hmm, there was originally supposed to be a passage over here…”

As soon as he heard Nerne’s words, Sihyeon transformed his arm into a knife and cut the wall. The cave wall collapsed in an instant, revealing a large empty space.

“What is this…?”

“oh my god. “There are a ton of corpses.”

When I shined my flashlight into the dark clearing, the first thing I saw was a corpse. The corpses of dangerous creatures and unidentified creatures they had encountered on their way here were strewn everywhere.

“What kind of creature is this? “This is my first time seeing something like this.”

Sihyeon’s men frowned when they saw a monster with eight strong legs mixed in among the corpses. The monsters I had never seen before on my way here looked more like machines than natural beings.

“This guy is like that too. “It looks like the people here have been dead for a while.”

Unlike outside, the temperature here is warm. This means that it is a good environment for a corpse to rot. However, the corpses scattered around the area were still in the process of decomposition.

There was no shortage of food, so why did they fight and die here? The subordinates were embarrassed by the incomprehensible sight.

“Was it like this when I came before?”

“It can’t be. “When we came, there was nothing in this mountain.”

“What do you think… Sihyeon?”

Lila called, but Sihyeon did not answer. She walked among the corpses as if hypnotized.

Then, he put his hand into the pile of sheets piled like a mountain inside the cavity and took out something.

“That?”

“That’s it! “The relics we buried in this vacant lot!”

Lila still reacts with suspicion. Nern had a mixture of surprise and fear on his face.

They didn’t know.

What is Sihyeon Eugene looking at now?

｢’Abyss Destroyer’ made with the special ‘Universal’s Forge’｣

｢Current owner: None (Temporary owner: Shin Beom-ho)｣

｢Acquisition condition: Genetic similarity to ‘player Jeongwoo’｣

｢New user ‘Sihyeon Eugene’. Check acquisition conditions. Lift the defense wall.｣

｢Ownership of ‘Abyss Destroyer’ has been transferred from ‘Player Shin Beom-ho’ to ‘Sihyeon Eugene’.’

Translucent text boxes that feel as if they are inserted directly into the brain. She reads half of the content contained therein. I couldn’t understand either.

But there was one thing we could be sure of.

This thing will now serve a new owner.