078

Ep. 78

High-rise building monument in the administrative district of the special trade center.

Older players call this place Black Horse.

'It sure looks similar, just looking at the way it's twisted into a twist.'

Of course, it only looks similar to the alien artifacts in classic horror games, but the setting is completely different.

Because Space Survival's monuments don't make people crazy or turn them into strange things.

'Instead, it has a characteristic that gives a buff to the owner.'

If a specific clan owns a monument, it can obtain a clan-exclusive trait called 'Slave Trade'.

Clans with this characteristic will have their profits from their owned planets pumped to more than double.

Therefore, it is a monument that large clans want to obtain at any cost.

Thanks to this, there was always war in the special trade center.

'In a way, it may be right to pay homage to Black and White.'

There were more than a few clans that recklessly went to war to get a monument and ended up being defeated.

For your information, I was not interested in the ownership of the monument.

'Rather, I was interested in the clan members who came to get the monument.'

In the past, in order to steal the genetic essence of clan members, they infiltrated the Monument using various methods.

Like now, there have been times when he came in pretending to be dead due to the 'suspended state' characteristic.

"Ha, I was planning to go to the entertainment district today and have some fun."

"You're married and you still go to places like that?"

"Tsk, I'm getting married so I'll go. "You must not get married."

"Crazy guy."

"It's almost the end of the year, so is it true that you're working overtime?"

"You don't have a lover anyway, so why are you so upset?"

"Ai, if you don't have a lover, aren't you even a person? I also want to spend a relaxing time at a resort. Meeting in an exotic place, fateful love, and separation…."

"Stop bitterly and move on quickly."

Researchers move tools and chat.

He didn't seem to think I was alive at all.

'good.'

While they were busy chatting about nonsense, I activated the parasite colony.

One by one, black threadworms crawled out from the fingertips of his lower right arm.

'Everyone down on the dissecting table.'

Four parasites followed my command and hid themselves under the dissecting table.

"hmm?"

"what? what's the matter?"

"weird. "It sure looks like it's moving?"

"He's dead, so what? "Don't worry about unnecessary things."

One of the researchers looked at me closely and then went back to preparing.

'There are a total of 4 researchers. 'Everyone is wearing a mask.'

Since the parasite has no attack ability, it cannot enter the mask using its own strength.

'You have to create a gap so the parasites can get in.'

It would be possible to make a hole by shooting out the thorn hairs on the tail.

However, there are surveillance cameras so you can't move right away.

When I checked the direction of the camera through an auxiliary device, I found that there was no blind spot on the dissection table where I was.

If it's a thin and small object like a parasite, if I move too much, it's caught on camera right away.

'A smokescreen is needed to hide the tail's movements.'

Coincidentally, chemical supplies to create smoke are placed near my tail.

'But it would be difficult to produce great acting with just that.'

A catalyst is needed to create a chemical reaction from those items.

For example, something like acid. And it has a strong acidic effect on my blood.

'I guess I'll have to wait a little longer.'

They came here to dissect anyway.

When they let my body bleed, it will be time for me to move.

–

"Okay. "I guess you're ready, right?"

The head of the anatomy team under the scientific research institute's biological management team applauded and brightened the mood.

Next to the dissecting table was a stainless steel alloy table on which various tools were placed.

On the table are medical tools such as scalpels and medical saws, plasma cutters to cut hard skin, chemical solutions to store the cut skin tissue of living creatures, and more.

Even in the space age, dissection procedures did not deviate significantly from their primitive forms.

"Then where do I start?"

"I'm lying down, so from my back?"

"Let's take it slow. "First, take a skin tissue sample."

At the words of the dissection team leader, the researcher picked up a scalpel.

The auxiliary arms of the exoskeleton suit each carried a cover glass and a genetic data testing device.

"Let's start by checking what kind of animal it is."

He cut the arm of the monster's corpse with a scalpel.

"what?"

Instead of cutting off the outer skin of the arm, the blade of the scalpel was damaged.

"It's really hard, isn't it? "This is almost the size of an adult mountain crawler."

"Try this."

A colleague next to me handed me a sonic blade. It was a medical cutting tool rather than a military one, so it was much smaller, but the effect was the same.

When the researcher pressed the switch on the sonic blade, a thin blade protruded from the end of the thick stick. The blade made an eerie sound due to the super vibration effect.

"Where…"

when he was about to bring the sonic blade to the monster's corpse.

"uh?"

"It's moving?"

His eyes saw the monster's tail moving slightly.

This time, his colleague next to him tilted his head as if he wasn't the only one who saw it.

"It seems like the muscles that were stiff when you died are loosening up."

"That's something like that, right?"

"Oh, what a surprise. Well, if he's alive, we'd already be dead, right?"

"Hey, don't be scary."

"Enough chit-chat. "Quickly take a skin sample first."

A researcher scratched the monster's arm with a sonic blade.

The monster's outer shell was so hard that the sound of metal rubbing against metal was heard and sparks flew out.

"Isn't this a sound made by an animal's body?"

As he continued to scratch with the sonic blade, scratches finally began to form on the monster's skin.

"Oh good. Now just a little more… ah."

At that moment, the Sonic Blade's blade was completely damaged and the super vibration effect was turned off.

The tool was completely destroyed, but fortunately I was able to cut off a very small piece of the skin.

"It's small, but it can be sufficiently tested with an analyzer. "Put the sample into the analyzer."

"What an ignorantly solid guy."

"This time, let's try the plasma cutter."

Two researchers picked up the plasma cutter.

Usually, the cutter is fixed and used in a place where it will not shake due to recoil, such as the floor.

But now they are wearing exoskeleton suits with assistive arms. The auxiliary arm is designed to withstand high weight, so it can withstand the recoil of the cutter.

The auxiliary arm held the plasma cutter tightly to prevent it from shaking.

Using the cutter's terminal, the two researchers adjusted the tip of the cutter to point towards the corpse and pressed the operation button.

A thin green beam shot out and struck the surface of the shell.

No matter how strong the monster's biological armor was, it was bound to break through in the face of plasma energy.

The data analyzer that was analyzing the sample displayed a message saying that the analysis was complete.

The researcher who saw this was surprised and called the head of the dissection team.

"Why are you doing that?"

"This species is not registered in the Megacorp database."

"okay? "So is it a new species?"

"What's strange is that they share dozens of genes…"

Before the researcher could finish speaking, a problem arose on the side where the cutter was cutting through the outer shell.

"Anatomy team leader! "Smoke is coming out of his body!"

"No wait! "This is not acting!"

"crazy! "Blood is acidic, right?"

As the researcher shouted, the blood flowing from the corpse was melting the dissecting table.

"Blood is splattering here! be careful!"

Not only that, but the cutter's beam caused acid blood to splatter towards the researcher. If the researcher next to him had not pulled him back, he would have probably suffered serious injuries.

"Thank you, Mr. Awoo."

"Keep your head straight."

While checking to see if his grateful colleague was okay, the researcher noticed a strange object attached to his body.

"uh? "What's that on your body?"

There was a black threadworm attached to my colleague's side.

I thought I had seen it wrong, but no.

It was writhing and crawling upwards.

"huh? "What is it?"

Just as he was horrified, worms were already attached to the bodies of other researchers.

"What is this…"

As the researcher was getting fed up and trying to use the auxiliary arm to remove the worm, the sound of breaking glass was heard in his ears.

Then I heard the sound of something spraying water and felt a burning heat behind my back.

As I turned my head, I saw a fire burning on the table where the chemical solution had been placed.

Black smoke from the chemical solution rose instantly and enveloped the researchers.

"Boo fire!"

"Kek keek! Cough!"

"Bring the fire extinguisher!"

While the panicked researchers were struggling, the corpse of the monster that had been lying still began to stir.

Its tail twitched and the barbed hairs on the end shot towards the researchers' faces.

"oh?"

"What was that just now?"

Fortunately, the thorn hairs probably missed the mark and only passed by the faces of the researchers, including the head of the dissection team.

The mask was torn and the skin underneath was exposed to toxic smoke.

"what's this?"

"Where did it come from?"

All the researchers were confused when their masks were torn by a sharp object that suddenly flew at them.

But there was something else they really needed to pay attention to.

Black threadworms attached to their bodies.

Parasites from the monster's body climbed up the body at breakneck speed and stuck to their faces.

"Ugh!"

"Help me too!"

"Keuuk! "Kek!"

The researchers quickly touched their faces, but the parasites had already entered the mask.

The researchers coughed to get rid of the parasites that were burrowing into their noses or scratched their faces with their hands to catch them.

If they had been a little more calm, they would have been able to pull the parasite out with their strong auxiliary arms.

However, a sudden fire and an attack by parasitic creatures they had never seen before made it difficult for them to remain sane.

The pot

smoke caused the sprinkler in the laboratory to activate and pour out water.

In the pouring water, the researchers were attacked by parasites one by one and stopped moving.

"… Okay."

"…."

The last remaining dissection team leader tried his best to remove the parasite that had entered his mask.

When the parasite penetrated halfway into his body, he was barely able to catch its tail with his hand.

His palm felt slimy and unpleasant, but he tried to pull the parasite out anyway.

It was stuck deep inside his nose and irritated the back of his neck to prevent it from being pulled out.

"Wow! Wow! "Wow!"

Even while the dissection team leader was nauseous, he did not relax his hands to somehow pull out the parasite.

He had almost pulled it out like that when he suddenly felt his body relax.

'Come on?'

A strand of long thorn hair was stuck in the limp wrist.

Meanwhile, parasites quickly burrowed into his nose, but he could not feel any pain.

Before I spontaneously fell to my knees.

he saw

A monster lying on a dissecting table in a prone position.

The monster's white eyes staring at me.

The guy didn't die.

–

Monument's 3rd Central Management Office.

It's the first day of the board meeting, so the first meeting has already ended, but that doesn't mean the management office can rest.

Anna, a female cult manager with goat horns, was checking the surveillance cameras with a bored expression.

Her co-worker, a male cult member with goat horns, stretched and stood up.

"Where?"

"coffee. Would you like a drink too?"

"uh. "It's rich, without the sugar."

With the male cult gone, Anna returned to her focus on surveillance.

Because she had psychic powers specialized for observation, she was able to monitor over hundreds of surveillance cameras at the same time.

Not only she, but each cult member working in this administrative district possesses special psychic powers that help manage the city.

'Ha, I just want to go home, wash and sleep.'

Just because you have the ability to help at work doesn't mean it's a good place to work.

Originally, the 3rd Central Management Office had a total of three monitors, including a female cult member named Jenet.

If Jeanette hadn't gone missing, she wouldn't have had to work overtime for days like this.

'That bitch ran away without saying a word. 'I want to run away too.'

As she continued to watch while grumbling to herself, something strange caught her eye.

"Laboratory 30 of the Science Institute? "Is it a fire?"

The area beyond the camera was filled with smoke, and the researchers could be seen looking confused.

Eventually, the sprinklers started working and the laboratory quickly became a sea of water.

"…what? "Why are they like that?"

The researchers, who had been struggling, suddenly stopped moving at the same time, as if they were talking to each other.

They remained at attention and just faced the pouring water.

One of them seemed to have lost consciousness and was lying on the ground, but no one was there to help him.

Seeing that, Anna felt something uneasy.

A feeling that something is wrong.

In any case, if there is a fire, you need to check. She picked up the communicator.

When she contacted them, the people on the other side of the camera, who had been sitting still, moved all at once as if someone had told them to do it, and started cleaning up after them.

One of them, a researcher, took out a communication device from the arm of the dissection team leader.

"This is the 3rd Central Management Office. "There was a fire there in laboratory number 30, right?"

"Oh, it looks like the chemical solution fell and started a fire. "It will get back to normal in no time."

"Do you need a fire department?"

"Oh no! "Never call me, don't call me!"

"Hmm? "Some people have fallen, so is there really no need?"

"Uh, uh, I inhaled toxic smoke and fainted for a moment. "He will wake up soon."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, yes. Anyway, when the team leader wakes up, we have to go out to transport this body, so you don't have to watch him anymore. "Okay then."

Even after the communication ended, Anna glared at the communicator as if it were strange.

'Why are you shaking so much?'

Is it because an unexpected situation occurred? The researcher's voice was particularly trembling.

As if afraid of something.

'And you're transporting the test subject at this time of night?'

While she was pondering, a fellow cult member came in carrying coffee.

"what's the matter?"

"No, there was a fire in the dissection team, and the reaction was a bit strange."

"It's a place that only weirdos go to. Never mind."

"is it?"

Because what her colleague said made sense, Anna eventually gave up wondering about the fire in Laboratory 30.

'Well, there are a lot of things to do besides this.'

With everything about the dissection team in the back of her mind, she drank coffee with her colleague.

–

'I'm sure you'll hear back soon.'

The call was answered by a researcher under my control, but I know who called him.

'Cult.'

One of the characteristics of the Monument is that the cult takes charge of indoor surveillance.

Humans have many weaknesses, such as being easily shaken by unexpected events, and androids lack the ability to think autonomously, but cults have relatively fewer such weaknesses.

Additionally, thanks to their psychic power, they have much better senses than humans and can easily spot enemies or traps that sneak up on them.

Thanks to such characteristics, cults that immigrate to Megacorp mainly take on the role of watchdogs or scouts.

'By its nature, the cult has a tradition of enjoying hunting down powerful enemies.'

Cult, similar to Wolff, is an innately excellent hunter and watchdog.

Even though we have entered an era of traveling through space on ships, remnants of the traditional hunting culture remain throughout the cult society.

'If you look at the cult's unique system called Quest, all it does is hunt some animal and bring back its horns or bring its heart.'

Still, cults that work with humans tend to be relatively less so.

If it had been a planet inhabited by cults, my plan would have been caught immediately, but the cults that came from Megacorp tend to be relatively less keen.

This is because there are many things to pay attention to in human society, making it difficult to rely only on one's senses.

They probably thought it was strange, but it's highly likely that they thought it wasn't their problem and just ignored it.

'Of course, if this happens often, we will take action.'

That is something I need to pay attention to in the future.

Anyway, half of my plan to infiltrate the administrative district, which was my primary goal, was successful.

I made new friends and didn't get caught.

"I will transfer you when the head of the dissection team wakes up."

I nodded slightly at what the researcher said.

The next place I will go is the freezer.

It's a place to store the carcasses of large animals like me, but as far as I know, there are no surveillance cameras inside.

I'm sure this is because I've sneaked around animal corpses in previous games as well.

｢Around, around, in possession, in possession, in storage, in storage, in storage, yes?｣

"Yes?" "Of course. It's right next to you, so you don't have to worry."

In addition, the facility layout is the ideal shape I want.

'Just ask the researcher to bring the sample.'

Since the distance is close, there is no need to leave many authentication records while moving.

In other words, there are not many elements that would make the monitors suspicious.

'After eating all the genetic samples, we can eat the researchers.'

If you call them when the effect of the symbol of hunting is over, the side effects can be resolved.

'Is there any way to make it more perfect here?'

A way to ensure that even if a researcher suddenly disappears, the monument's managers don't find out until it's too late.

Suddenly a good idea occurred to me.

'That phone call from a while ago.'

I think it could be useful.

.

.

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