041

Ep. 41

–

JAX-01.

Sihyeon Eugene was sitting in a garden filled with bushes and greenery.

She sat on a tree and looked blankly at the little bird chirping.

At that time, servants appeared from somewhere and brought in a cart full of food.

"miss. "It's meal time."

"…."

She turned her head at the butler's words. The hologram that resembled a garden disappeared, and a pure white snow-like laboratory took its place.

The servants set up a simple table and placed plates of food on it one by one.

The butler introduced the food in a polite manner.

"The main dish is roast duck with maple sauce."

Star Union prohibits its members from owning private property and luxuries. This is because the Machinery Council has decreed that all cyborg people must consume only prescribed food and nutrition.

So, other than daily necessities, it was difficult to find even the slightest unusual food ingredients, even in big cities.

She looked down with dry eyes at the food that was as difficult to find in Sachs-01 as picking stars from the sky and cooking them.

"miss?"

"…."

"Miss, this is one of your favorite dishes."

She knows too.

How much she wanted to eat this dish even when she infiltrated Space Dog.

'okay. 'This is Sihyeon and Eugene's favorite dish.'

The butler's voice became hard as if he had read her mind.

"The 'lady' asked us this while telling us about the side effects of cloning technology. "Everything, including food, lifestyle, and clothing, should be the same as what the 'lady' used to eat."

"…."

Although humanity has entered an era of moving at faster than light speed, there are still paths that they cannot travel.

One of them was the manufacture of cloned humans.

Manufacturing cloned humans, which was banned in Megacorp, was not an easy task even for the Eugene family, whose genetic science technology was at its peak.

It was possible to make a copy identical to the original, but making it think and act identically was a completely different matter.

Even more so, by transferring the original's memories to the replicant and making it move in the same way as the original? That was truly God's domain.

Sihyeon Eugene relied on non-scientific areas to solve problems that would have been impossible with Megacorp's technology.

He learned from his cult teacher how to transfer souls and memories using psychic power.

Even though he was a cultist, that strange man who called himself Beomho instead of his real name taught her many things at the request of Sihyeon's father, Jeongwoo Yujin.

He didn't know anything, not just fighting techniques, but also how to use various types of equipment, and even the types of genes of various creatures and how to use them.

Among his teachings was how to use psychic powers to protect and transport souls and memories. Thanks to that, she was able to not lose her mind even when she was forced into a shadow by someone else.

She picked up garlic fried in duck fat with a fork and put it in her mouth. The sweet taste and crunchy texture stimulated her taste buds, but she felt no pleasure.

'This is not my pleasure.'

The technology to transfer souls was clearly successful. Because the memories she had before her death were transferred to the clone's body.

'But why do I feel this way?'

Beom-ho did not tell her that there were these side effects. He talked about it as if it was a very easy method that anyone could do.

Of course, Si-hyeon was not a fool, so he expected that it would not end with simply transferring the soul with psychic power.

Since it is a technology that effectively makes a person immortal if the conditions are met, there will definitely be side effects that he is not aware of.

So, she used Star Union's precise processing technology to create a machine that readjusts the clone's brain to fit her soul and memories. Thanks to that, her current appearance was almost indistinguishable from the original.

The only difference is that the genetic modification is less complete.

She also gave detailed instructions to her subordinates, including how to manage clones and how to treat soul-implanted clones.

She is fully prepared to fully respond to any side effects that may occur.

But I never imagined that I would feel this much foreignness to my body. Even during the meal, the thought that it was 'Sihyeon Eugene' who liked it, not her, did not leave her mind.

'…Damn it.'

After forcing herself to eat, she received reports from her subordinates.

"The board meeting is just around the corner?"

"yes. According to intelligence, Akira Yujin is also visiting the T&C Special Trade Center for sightseeing."

"It's tourism. "It looks like the old man enjoys joking now."

She spoke coldly, lost in thought.

Akira is a man who values life to the point of paranoia, but he is not a coward. There is no way he would be hiding on Earth during such a huge event as a board meeting.

'Every time Akira moves, he is accompanied by two or more shadows.'

He didn't know, but Sihyeon knew all of the shadows' weaknesses. Even the weaknesses of Code Black, who is stronger than her.

Even though she was extremely weak, she was confident that she could beat at least one shadow of a lower code than her.

"What happened to the Gallagon transfer that was disguised as a Fairy Wing?"

"According to Jade's report, they are still alive and well in the city."

"If there is a shadow even during Gallagon's attack, the old man will try to escape somehow."

"That is very likely."

The original plan was for her to personally eliminate Akira's guards and escape, leaving the rest to the enraged Gallagon. There was no way his competitors, Noble Capital and Prime Capital, could protect Akira, so if his escort disappeared, he was as good as dead.

'The old man doesn't know I'm alive.'

No matter how great the old monster is, he would never think that a clone of a dead man would be planning to kill him.

The best condition for an assassin is for the victim to think that no one is targeting them.

If she used it well, she had a good chance of winning even though her body was weaker than before.

'And the opportunity to destroy the space city doesn't come easily.'

This is an opportunity to eliminate many of Prime Capital's nobles, including Lila Chamberlain. Just because she is not in good health, she cannot put it off or pass it on to someone else.

"What would you like to do?"

"…The plan continues as is. "Tell Jade there are no changes."

"All right. miss."

She gritted her teeth as she sent her subordinate away.

"That bastard…!"

All the pain and confusion she experienced was because of him.

she swore He said that he would definitely turn the monster that killed him into a meat pie.

–

Two days have passed since Sander presented the mutant Gallagon to me.

I didn't kill Gallagon.

'Because the nest is a better reward.'

Eating Gallagon meat is a gamble. If you're lucky, you'll get powerful traits, but if you're unlucky, that's it.

On the other hand, if you trade with him, you won't get anything right away, but it will be much easier after evolving to the next level.

'Because it is very difficult to find Gallagon's nest directly.'

When I think back to how hard it was to find Gallagon's nest while playing the game, knowing the location of the nest is a benefit.

Of course, he doesn't die, he has to be alive until then.

"Big baby. "Look."

Number 26 on my shoulder spoke to me while I was lost in thought.

One of the feeds received from Sander today was handed over to No. 26. It was to grow No. 26.

I don't feed just any living creature, but I mainly pass on those that have characteristics that are not useful to me or those that are small in number and for which it is difficult to expect a predatory effect.

As if all the growth conditions had been met, No. 26 had one more tentacle. Thanks to this, it now has three tentacles.

"Big baby. I got new arms."

[Zuzuzu (That's right)]

It must have been happy that it grew thanks to the food I gave it, as it kept showing off its tentacles to me. Every time the thin tentacle waved, purple translucent energy emitted light in the air and then disappeared.

'It's definitely gotten stronger than before.'

I don't know the level of growth of #26. It's definitely a good thing that you can easily see that he's getting stronger visually in this way.

｢Me｣｢Food｣｢Thanks｣

[Zuzuz zuzuzu (I didn't give it to you)]

｢Little Adult｣｢Thanks｣

Gallagon Adhai, who was on top of me, expressed gratitude to No. 26 for sharing the food.

The guy introduced himself as Aadhai, a member of the Odd group, and asked me the name of the group, but I don't really belong to any group.

He swore to serve me as an adult. Since I had no problem, his name automatically became Aadhai, minus the group name.

"You have to protect the little one too."

Number 26 on the shoulder expressed joy by shining with waves.

It looked like a child stretching out his chest, so I unconsciously stroked Aadhai and No. 26.

'I've never seen anything like this in a game before.'

It's a surprising but also interesting change.

Amorph, an outsider race that survives and evolves alone, already has two creatures with it.

In addition, the animals he carries around are Gallagon and Sea Demon, which cannot be tamed in the game.

When I first came to this world, I had three goals.

Survive, hunt and evolve.

And reaching ascension.

Even now, that goal remains the same. But the process of getting there was much different than I imagined.

'Maybe I will change as I blend into this world?'

The food I've eaten the most so far is humans. It may be that their genes have an effect on me.

Humans are social animals.

Rather than surviving independently, they form groups.

Among animals, there are types that imitate their natural enemies as a means of survival.

Maybe I, too, will continue to interact with humans and evolve accordingly.

From Aimorphs, who survive independently, to predators who form a society and hunt.

While I was thinking about random things, I quickly got closer to the residential area.

I escaped through a secret passage, moved secretly to avoid surveillance, and entered the complex.

I was trying to climb the exterior wall of my apartment when my assistive system detected a stranger.

'huh?'

There was a man in front of the man next door's house. Looking at his rugged appearance and tattoos on both arms, he did not look like a person engaged in ordinary work.

He was kicking the hallway wall with a bored look on his face, as if he was waiting for someone.

'I don't think it's a police officer. Who is it?'

I told No. 26 and Adhai to hide for a moment and then activated their mimicry organs.

As I walk down the hallway looking like the guy next door, he looks at me.

"When the fuck are you coming?"

He cursed as if he didn't care about me. Looking at that, it seemed like the author didn't know what the landlord looked like.

'I should ask.'

I pretended to go into Lars' house and started talking to him.

"Is there a problem?"

"…Nothing to worry about, just go in and get some sleep."

"Do you have anything to do next door to me?"

He looked at me for a moment with an annoyed look on his face and then sighed.

"…Do you know this house?"

"yes."

"Fuck, then do you know that this bastard is a bastard who steals other people's lovers?"

"yes?"

"I love my girlfriend so much that I wrote a secret message on her communication device. "I couldn't contact you for a week, so I checked and it said he was at this house."

Saying that, he showed me the communicator screen. There was an internet map there. On the simplified map of the residential district, a red mark was placed at this exact location.

"Look at it now. "It's obvious what's inside, but you're pretending it's not there."

"okay."

I didn't expect this at all.

I never thought Lloyd had a boyfriend. Because he was a person who enjoyed going to restaurants with Lars and enjoying decadent entertainment, he never thought he would have a lover.

'no. Rather, did it turn out well?'

I pretended to worry and secretly scanned the entire apartment complex with my auxiliary device. There was no sign of police or androids around.

The man's actions were illegal under the circumstances. It was clear that he had come alone without reporting his girlfriend's disappearance to the police.

"hmm. "Maybe he went out to buy something."

"No, how long have I been waiting?…"

"Don't do that, just wait at my house for a while. "It will come soon."

At my words, he glanced over my body. When his gaze reached my face, he flinched slightly but then nodded.

"…I guess it doesn't matter."

My physique, embodied by a mimicry organ, is much smaller than that of a man. My face was strange, but they probably thought it was worth a try even if it caused problems.

When I opened the door, the man went inside without any suspicion.

I pointed my finger at No. 26 and Adhai, who were hiding on the other side of the hallway and just sticking their heads out.

"Let's keep this damn house clean."

"sorry."

"And Nimi, why does it smell like shit…"

The man stiffened as soon as he turned his head towards me. Before I knew it, No. 26 and Aadhai were blocking the door of the house.

"I guess you didn't hear that story when you were young?"

"Uh huh?"

"You shouldn't follow someone you don't know."

I closed the door.