Chapter 33

She looked at the enormous egg that filled the living room.

Despite being told that the baby with her had turned into an egg, it definitely didn't look like the size of an egg. Did it suddenly grow, or did it become a cocoon?

Perhaps it was because she was still young, but she couldn't grasp what kind of creature the baby had become. Nothing she had ever seen resembled this. Still, she didn't pay it much mind.

When she emerged from the disgusting liquid prison, she made a vow. No matter what happened, she would protect the baby. However, until now, she had been protected by the baby more often than she had protected him, which made her uncomfortable.

The baby seemed to be very hungry, and she fed him every time she saw food, but there wasn't much she could do. Would things have been different if her tentacles were stronger? Would things have been different if she were bigger?

In her restless state of mind, she reached out with a tentacle to caress the egg. The moment the tentacle touched the egg, she was surprised. Unidentified energy was absorbed from the tentacle's end into her body. It felt as though she had consumed a highly nutritious meal; a feeling of satiety washed over her, and her strength surged.

***

'This time feels a bit different, doesn't it?'

When I evolved into a metamorph from Hatchling, I could feel the changes in my surroundings inside the egg, but this time was different. All my physical sensations were severed, and I stood alone in the darkness. As I looked down at my hand, a hand that now felt unfamiliar reached out to me. The clothing was the same as what I had worn before entering the world of space survival.

'It feels like my own imaginary world here.'

Looking around, there didn't seem to be any threatening elements. Just an endlessly vast, pitch-black space.

'It's a dark place, but it's familiar.'

In my childhood, whenever my parents argued, I would always hide under the bed or in the closet. If I plugged my ears and huddled there, I felt much more at ease.

'I'm reminded of the past.'

It's not a memory I want to dwell on. I shook my head to shake off unnecessary thoughts.

'I wonder how much time is left.'

In the game, it takes 6 hours to become a Pre-saint. I don't know how long it will take in reality, but when I turned into a metamorph, there wasn't much difference from the game, so it should be similar this time.

'Why did the developers create it like this?'

Applying such a severe penalty to evolution, which is essential for Amorph operations. I can't understand it at all. In a game where real-time PK occurs for 24 hours, being incapacitated for 6 hours is a serious flaw, almost like a bug.

Moreover, in Amorph, cooperation is impossible, so it's impossible to ask your comrades to protect you during evolution. Unless you hide in a place where no one knows, most players are caught during evolution.

'Some players even hunt Amorphs exclusively.'

Especially because of me, there are many players who hate Amorphs, and some ruthless Amorph users have been attacked. Many Amorphs failed in evolution and were shot with anger shotguns. I also died a lot, caught by Amorph hunters during evolution.

Failing in evolution doesn't have a specific penalty. It's just a hassle to find a hiding place again. Moreover, you have to wait a long time again, so it's impossible not to get annoyed.

So, the Amorph hunters who disrupted evolution were even more terrifying than usual.

'Looking back, I was a bit harsh too.'

There was a time when a hunter recorded me being hunted and posted it on the community.

The reaction at that time was explosive, to be precise, there was an overwhelming amount of resentment and criticism directed at me. People were saying all sorts of strange things like, 'How can a person do that?' or 'Are you really an Amorph?' or 'I'll catch kill you' and so on.

Sigh. Whether it's because of the magical influence of this pitch-black space, these unnecessary memories keep resurfacing. If I have the time, I shouldn't waste it and should use it wisely. There's a lot to do in the future, so I need to figure out where to start when I go out.

'Maybe I should think while walking.' I took a step forward, and the ripples spread out as if I had placed my foot on the surface of the water. Starting with that, I aimlessly walked in the black void.

'After evolving, the first thing to deal with should be the wolves living next door and on the fifth floor. That should help resolve the issue with the transformed race to some extent…'

As I pondered how to approach the trading hub after evolving, something dark brown appeared and blocked my path.

'Huh?'The entity that appeared in the black void was a metamorph stage Amorph. I could tell that instinctively as soon as I saw it.

This creature is the remnant of the Amorph still present in my body. It seems that when I fell into this surreal world, the instincts of the Amorph came with me. The creature growled as it revealed itself, but I wasn't particularly afraid. Instead, it felt strangely familiar.

I reached out my hand to it. The creature, which had been growling threateningly, closed its mouth and lowered its head obediently. When my hand touched the creature's head, I woke up.

'Where am I?'

As soon as I opened my eyes, I was blocked by a thin wall. A soft and sticky film of blood enveloped me. Sensation returned to my body.

At present, I was crouched over my body, wrapping my arms around it as if a baby was in the womb. My long tail was wrapped around my waist like a belt. When I released my combat arms and stood up, the plastic was torn apart with a ripping sound.

A text box appeared in front of me on the torn Amorph.

[Race: Unidentified Aggressive Space Morph

Status:: Pre-saint

Objective: Survive (2nd Evolution successful)

Possessed Traits – Physical Related (Applied Type): Wings, Chitinous Exoskeleton, Regeneration (Fusion), Neurotoxin Glands (Fusion), Reinforced Exoskeleton, Acidic Blood, Enhanced Reflexes, Mimicry Organ (Fusion), Serrated Tentacles, Contamination Organ, Spine Projectile Organ

Psychic Related: Predator Sense (fusion), Human Nature, Monster's Tentacles, and Clairvoyance, Psychic Resistance

Type: Physical Enhancement Type]

[You have received new unread messages. Would you like to read them?]

'Messages?'

This was the first time I had received a message after evolving. There had been no such occurrences in the game before, so I accepted the request with curiosity.

[New system 'Transcendence' system unlocked! Would you like to see the instructions?]

'A new system, it seems there are some changes.'

When I consumed psyonium last time, no such messages appeared. It seemed that this new system was unlocked only through formal evolution.

I chose to confirm, and a text box filled my vision.

[The 'Transcendence' system allows you to combine three or more of your existing traits to create a completely new and unique trait, referred to as a 'Unique' trait.

Available trait list: Chitinous Exoskeleton, Reinforced Exoskeleton, Enhanced Reflexes

Note: It's important to be aware that not all combinations will result in advantages, and there may be potential drawbacks.]

'Transcendence system, huh?'

Originally, in Space Survival, trait fusion was only possible one-on-one.

So, for races that relied on traits, it was difficult to remember what traits they themselves had as the game progressed. I, too, had a hard time remembering them all because I had over 500 traits when I was about to see the ending. Even for someone like me who was a hardcore player, the system was so frustrating that I was trembling. But who would have thought they would revamp it like this.

I never expected such a drastic overhaul of the system.

'What should I do?'

If it were a game, I would have accepted it immediately, but this was reality. A wrong decision could lead to great danger. If a new system I was not familiar with had been introduced, I needed to carefully assess and decide, just as the note suggested.

'Obtaining a unique trait has its merits.'

In Space Survival, there were no separate grades for traits. The efficiency of a trait varied greatly depending on how someone used it. The only consensus was that fused traits were generally considered stronger, to some extent.

However, among those, there were special traits that outperformed others significantly. These were commonly referred to as 'Unique' traits. While it was difficult to obtain them, their performance was exceptional.

'But that doesn't mean there are no drawbacks.'

Unique traits were indeed very powerful, but they had one major drawback.

While regular traits remained intact even if the character died, unique traits disappeared completely upon death. If you wanted to obtain a unique trait, you had to start from scratch. Therefore, when using unique traits, one had to be extremely cautious.

'But here, it's reality, so the drawback doesn't apply, right?'

After all, in reality, when you die, it's over. The fact that unique traits disappeared upon death was not a consideration.

'However, the reduction in the number of traits is a risk.'

The actual concern was not the drawback of the unique trait itself but rather the overall number of traits. Currently, I have 11 physical-related traits. If three of them were removed, I wouldn't be able to meet the condition of having 10 for the Physical Enhancement type.

You might think of first obtaining unique traits and then acquiring physical-related traits later, but there was a problem with that approach.

'Releasing a type in the middle doesn't remove the trait penalties.'

Currently, I had a penalty of six traits for the Psychic Enhancement type. If I were to regain the Physical Enhancement type after that, what would happen?

Unfortunately, the penalty would be added, and the required number would increase from 6 to 12.

'…Let's postpone the Transcendence system.'

Physical-related traits were relatively easy to obtain. Honestly, the appeal of unique traits was strong, but in times like this, you had to be cautious. Choosing the safer path, even if it took a bit more time, would be beneficial.

The moment to utilize the Transcendence system would be after I had secured enough physical-related traits. I unlocked the text box and left the egg.

'Surely, I've grown quite a bit.'

Having been on a spacious research vessel before and now in this small house, I could distinctly feel the difference in my body size. As I removed the egg shell pieces attached to my body, Number 26 approached.

｢Wow!｣

[ZZ ZZZ ZZZZZ (How have you been?)]

｢That's the big baby from before, isn't he going back this time?｣

[Z ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ((Yeah, I briefly transformed back then.)]

The way he moved his tentacles seemed to express fascination.

'Huh? Tentacles?'

Now that I looked closely, Number 26's appearance had indeed changed from before. The body, which was slightly smaller than a human head, had grown even larger. Moreover, two tentacles sprouted from the body.

[ZZ ZZZ(What's that?)]

｢This? It's new! It appeared when the baby entered the egg.｣

[ZZZ(When?)]

｢When I touched it while the baby was inside.｣

When the child said that and lightly brushed its tentacles, a brief wave of purple energy emanated and then disappeared. Seeing this, I was certain of something.

'Sea Demon.'

Those tentacles were probably Serrated Tentacles. They might seem small and cute compared to mine, but I knew what was hidden inside them – sharp blades.

If those tentacles swept across someone's face, the flesh would likely be torn away. But more importantly, I was curious.

'Why did it evolve suddenly?'

There didn't seem to be any specific trigger for it. I had monitored my surroundings with the auxiliary system during my time in the egg, but there were no special traces of any events happening around me.

'It said it touched the egg when I was in the middle of evolution, right?'

I wasn't sure about the exact cause, but it was possible that a portion of the energy generated during my evolution had been absorbed by it. Considering that the relationship between Bubble Amoebas and Sea Demons had not yet been clarified, this was just speculation.

｢Now I can protect the baby!｣

Number 26 said confidently, and I affectionately petted it to express my approval.

'I had expected it, but it really happened.'

There was a time when I had contemplated whether to eat it or not, but now, such thoughts didn't cross my mind.

'Though it still looks weak, if it's a Sea Demon, it'll be helpful at full strength.'

The sea demon I saw was over 20 meters in size, and it had hundreds of tentacles. If a colossal monster that was treated as a mini-boss in games is following me, it will be incredibly helpful. I won't give up my genetic essence, but I should consider providing unnecessary food.

[ZZ ZZ ZZZZ Z(Then let's go eat.)]

｢Alright.｣

I had just completed my evolution, and I felt a gnawing hunger. The child seemed hungry too, judging by its response. After all, it had only eaten a sandwich for over six hours. I carried Number 26 on my shoulder and opened the door.

The appetite-stimulating food was waiting next door.