Chapter 9: The Fragile Mortals

Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe – 9

EP.9 The Fragile Mortals

"Ugh, ughh…"

"Euaaah…"

Regaining consciousness, Reus and Allegros clutched their throbbing heads as they got up.

Pshh─

The treatment incubators they were lying in opened up.

"What? Why am I…"

"What's this."

Still groggy, they couldn't remember why they were in the treatment incubators.

They looked around with dazed expressions.

A typical treatment room in a standard Galactic Union base.

It was quiet, seemingly with no other patients besides the two of them.

"Oh, you're awake."

Then, Jupiter entered the treatment room and noticed the two who had gotten up.

"Elder Jupiter…?"

"Ugh, my head…"

Seeing Elder Jupiter, their heads began to throb again.

Memories started to come back to them.

"That's right, we were here to investigate a Terran named Eugene…"

"And then there was an explosion due to a mechanical failure in the base…"

They had identified that Elder Jupiter was with someone named Eugene and had detained him for questioning.

However, they ultimately found nothing suspicious about him.

It was determined that Eugene had no connection to the massive object presumed to be an Outer God that suddenly appeared in galaxy B-02345.

He was simply a Terran whose identity had been erased because he was presumed dead, which explained his lack of official status. There were no other issues.

Just as they were about to leave without any significant findings, an explosion occurred in the base, causing them to lose consciousness from the shock.

"It seems there are no significant issues with your bodies. You should be able to return now."

"…Hmm, I see."

Allegros responded, internally clicking his tongue.

They had come with such confidence to conduct an investigation, only to leave empty-handed.

"Tsk, how does this base manage its equipment to the point where a mechanical failure causes an explosion?"

Moreover, the explosion was powerful enough to destroy part of the building and knock out two Lubaran members, despite their enhanced bodies and nanosuits.

They thought it was fortunate that there were no casualties.

Since their bodies were fine, Reus and Allegros left the treatment room to return.

As they saw Jupiter following them to see them off, they spoke.

"Elder Jupiter, there will be a disciplinary committee convened soon regarding the re-registration of a nullified identity without proper notice."

"Well… it's not a big deal, so I won't receive a severe punishment. Don't worry."

"…Understood."

Hearing this, Jupiter's eyes trembled slightly, as if he felt an inexplicable fear.

'Hmph, no matter how much he tries to keep his composure, he's still just an Elder. Is he worried about losing his position if he gets caught?'

'Pretending not to care, but in the end, he's tasted power.'

Reus and Allegros thought Jupiter was afraid of the disciplinary action, but that wasn't the case.

'Their memories were manipulated perfectly, without any sense of oddness. As if it really happened that way…'

The source of Jupiter's fear was Eugene… or more precisely, the main body that created Eugene's avatar.

Their memories were altered, but since there were no other staff around, and Jupiter and Lowie were directly involved in the incident, there was no need to manipulate their memories.

Thus, it was clear that their memories had been manipulated.

Outer Gods possess transcendent abilities that defy the common sense and laws of the universe.

They can disintegrate objects at the atomic level with a mere touch, corrupt minds to cause mental collapse, create phenomena that defy natural laws, and even bring entirely new forms of life into existence.

Manipulating the memories of cosmic beings is a trivial task for them.

However, Jupiter, having never experienced such overwhelming "irrationality" firsthand, felt fear from this encounter.

He was also terrified by the realization that if his own memories were manipulated, he would have no way of noticing it.

Perhaps some of the memories he currently held had already been altered by an Outer God.

The idea that his very existence could be distorted by an Outer God, or might be in the future, was pure horror.

He couldn't help but wonder if the favorable feelings he had towards Eugene were also manipulated or fabricated.

Such thoughts kept surfacing in his mind.

'No, don't doubt. He helped me. He manipulated their memories to prevent me from receiving severe punishment.'

That fact was happening right before his eyes.

There was no choice.

As a mere mortal, he could only judge and conclude based on what he saw, heard, and felt.

Even if everything he saw, heard, and felt was distorted,

there was no way to know or break free from it.

#

Alright, if left alone, they'll go back to headquarters and explain everything properly.

I've adjusted their behavior slightly to ensure that.

Still, just in case, I should move the main body to a place where no one is likely to come.

There's a massive void in Sector B of the universe.

Yes, there's a completely empty region between these superclusters.

With the nearest galaxy being 5 million light-years away within the void, there shouldn't be any entities that could be affected.

Let's move the main body there.

That way, the Galactic Union will think it moved to an empty space on its own and feel reassured, right?

"…Wait."

Hold on a second.

There's a better way.

Looking at beings like Nyarlathotep or Shub-Niggurath, it seems that higher-ranked entities can freely traverse dimensions and move between different realms.

Even mid-tier beings can pierce through dimensions, though it takes them longer.

For some reason, information about entities above a certain level doesn't come to mind… but I should be able to use similar abilities, right?

In that case, it might be better to move to another realm to avoid causing trouble for my cosmic friends.

With that thought, I tore open the space in front of the main body.

Riiip─

Ah, but what happens to my avatar, Eugene, if I move to another dimension?

Since it's not the same universe, will the connection be severed?

Even if not, the change in dimensions might severely limit my abilities.

The answer was quickly found in the information in my mind.

Crossing dimensions doesn't completely sever the connection with the avatar, but it does impose several limitations on abilities.

I wouldn't be able to manipulate memories or create desired materials as freely as I have been.

…Alright.

Here's what we'll do.

I'll bestow various abilities upon Eugene now, and then move to the other realm.

That way, those abilities will be inherent to Eugene, not reliant on my connection.

This approach is akin to life creation, so there are limits to what abilities I can grant without violating the laws of the universe.

The avatar, Eugene, must remain within the bounds of a Terran, adhering to the universe's principles.

Alright, let's enhance the body… Oh, and add mana abilities. I'll have Jupiter teach him.

That sounds good.

He can learn and use magic directly.

Of course, I could make him a magic prodigy and let him use all the magic knowledge I have, but… that wouldn't be fun.

Alright, let's not make him too overpowered; that would be boring.

Just to be safe, I'll create a backup personality so he can act independently if our connection is severed.

Everything's ready… Shall we go? To the other dimension.

Ssssk─

The main body entered the massive rift in the dimension.

What appeared inside was an astonishing sight.

Oh… this is quite fascinating.

The other dimension.

To be precise, it's a kind of "dimensional rift" where multiple universes float around.

A place where one can travel to other universes if they wish.

No physical laws apply here—no light, no sound, nothing.

Naturally, there's no color, and nothing can be felt in this void.

The only sensation is the distortion enveloping the entire body.

Mortals wouldn't last a second here.

Even the strongest Lubaran, aboard the most advanced spaceship created with all the universe's technology, would be the same.

The concept of "strongest" only applies within their universe's laws, which are meaningless here.

Light, matter, and life all cease to exist.

Yet, there are things that can be felt in this place where nothing should exist.

Well… it's obvious.

If there are inhabitants of this rift, they must be like me.

Like this rift, without any laws and where nothing exists… such beings.

They are Outer Gods.

It seems they sensed me, and some are approaching out of curiosity.

Oh no, what should I do?

I expected to meet other Outer Gods, but I wasn't mentally prepared yet.

What if they look too grotesque?

As an Outer God myself, just seeing them won't cause my mind to collapse, but if they're too horrifying, it might affect my mental state…

[Who are you? I've never seen you before.]

At that moment, someone spoke to me.

Of course, it wasn't a real spoken word.

In this place, it's not about the medium of sound; the concept of sound itself doesn't exist.

It was like a system language, directly speaking into my mind.

The being that spoke to me had a grotesquely twisted mass of tentacles.

An entity with a form so bizarre it defied any definition.

I knew this being.

I had no information about it, but I knew what it was called in that universe.

The one who, in just ten minutes, destroyed the minds of countless beings on dozens of planets and Galactic Union bases, leaving them completely paralyzed.

Known as the 'Crawling Chaos,' it is presumed to be a high-ranking Outer God.

The code name given by the Union is… 'Nyarlathotep.'