Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Mod7
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Chapter 4 - Awakening
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I lay unconscious for three or four hours, gasping for breath,
But strangely, my mind remained awake, acutely aware of every sensation, every emotion.
The gentle breeze,
The cool night air,
The unsettling presence that surrounded me, the tendrils of Alraune burrowing into my skin.
I felt it all, unable to escape.
There was no pain, only a deep, pervasive discomfort.
Alraune had extended her roots into me. I was both grateful and disappointed that I hadn't witnessed the process.
“Ah…”
When I regained consciousness, it was already over.
The moon had retreated, its light hidden by the rising sun,
And Alraune, leaving only her withered petals behind, had vanished beneath the crimson dawn.
Only the empty, hollow petals remained. And even they began to crumble in the sunlight.
The red and yellow flowers in the meadow swayed gently.
They didn't speak like Alraune,
Or try to bind me.
They simply released their sweet fragrance, a gentle caress against my nostrils.
Surrounded by the scent of flowers, I raised my arms,
Confirming that this wasn't a dream, that I was still alive.
I hadn't died.
A hollow laugh escaped my lips, a heavy sound born from a mixture of relief and resignation.
The image of the moon flickered in my mind.
That monstrous, grotesque moon that had stared at me before I lost consciousness.
I couldn't stop laughing.
The absurdity of it all.
I finally understood the moon in the mural.
It was a living being.
A being beyond my comprehension, beyond my ability to control.
Something that defied human understanding.
“Ahahaha…”
I laughed, staring up at the sky, until tears streamed down my face. I didn't know when the laughter had turned into sobs.
“Haha, hic… sob…?”
But even in this despair, I noticed a strange change.
A plant was growing from my left arm.
It felt like an extension of my own body.
It grew rapidly,
Then bloomed, a beautiful crimson flower, more vibrant than any in the meadow.
As if offering comfort,
Its petals swayed gently in the breeze.
“…”
My laughter and tears ceased abruptly.
Alraune was still with me.
I remembered her actions while I was unconscious.
How far had her roots spread within me?
Amidst all the mystery and uncertainty, one thing was clear:
The lingering effects of the narcotic honey had subsided.
And the reason was obvious.
“…”
I plucked a petal from the flower growing on my arm,
And it released Alraune’s sweet, honeyed fragrance.
She,
Was inside me.
…The narcotic no longer mattered.
I had become my own factory, producing the substance,
And my body had developed an immunity.
***
I returned to the cave, my mind reeling from the influx of new information.
My steps were light, almost too light, and it unnerved me. My physical abilities had improved significantly.
“Doctor?”
Amy’s voice reached me. Her tone was as monotonous as ever, yet it sounded strangely concerned.
“Ah, Amy… scan my body. Quickly…”
Cold sweat trickled down my skin.
While my physical condition had improved, my mind struggled to process the changes.
“Doctor, what-”
“Just scan me…!”
Even though we had just been reunited,
My voice, thin and reedy, was filled with a desperate urgency.
“Hmm? Uh, quickly…”
I didn't understand what was happening.
And the memory of that [strange being]…
“Quickly! Damn it!”
Amy’s eyes glowed, the laser scanning my body.
As she processed the information,
I saw, in the faint light, the changes within me.
Something was wrong.
Beneath my skin, among the network of blood vessels, nerves, and bones, was a strange, green substance.
Something that shouldn't exist within a human body,
Resembling the roots of a plant…
“G-good… good heavens…”
It was impossible. This defied everything I knew.
Alraune’s roots, having invaded my body, had replaced some of my blood vessels and nerves, becoming a part of me.
“It’s okay… it’s okay…”
I took deep breaths. While having a foreign entity inside me was unsettling, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
She was beneficial.
She had saved me.
This wasn't a parasite.
I had to calm down, to rationalize this.
Removing Alraune’s tendrils, which had reached my heart, was impossible anyway.
Survival was paramount.
My relationship with Alraune was different from Dan’s.
The memory of Dan’s gruesome end flashed through my mind, but I pushed aside the anxiety and the fear, repeating my mantra.
“…It’s okay. This is good.”
As my emotions stabilized, new leaves sprouted from my skin.
A flower bud emerged from the back of my hand, its beauty both captivating and terrifying.
But it wasn't the deep breaths or the blossoming flower that calmed my fear,
“…Yes, this is good.”
But the image of the moon, which had haunted me,
Now seemed less threatening.
***
When I was younger,
I used to fantasize about developing superpowers.
What if I could suddenly shoot fireballs from my hands,
Or fly through space?
A childish dream, a small hope.
It didn't take long for reality to set in.
All living creatures had limitations. Humans were no exception.
We had to accept our limitations and make the most of our abilities.
That was our purpose, our duty. We had lost sharp claws, wings, and tough hides, but we had gained the powerful weapons of thought and adaptability.
“…”
And I,
Alone on this desolate planet, in this remote corner of the galaxy, was no exception.
I studied the plant growing on my skin, the leaves, the tendrils, the blossoming flowers, memorizing every detail.
I couldn't do anything extraordinary with this. A few flowers wouldn't change my desperate situation.
But I could feel it.
“Experiment commencing.”
My enhanced physical abilities,
And Alraune’s fierce protectiveness…
Slice-
“Ugh…”
I cut my hand, and before the blood could flow freely, an explosive immune response occurred.
Thread-like tendrils stitched the wound closed, and a bark-like substance formed around it, sealing it shut.
“See?”
“Yes.”
I used Amy as an observation camera, exploring the possibilities of this newfound ability.
The tears,
The despair,
Were fleeting.
Before the tear stains could even dry, I gritted my teeth and began experimenting with Alraune’s legacy.
I ignored the physiological revulsion, the mental resistance.
Rapid adaptation and self-justification were my greatest weapons.
“Okay, that’s enough recovery testing for now.”
Yes, good.
This was nothing.
The real problem was,
That monstrous moon in the sky, watching me.
The thought of that grotesque being filled me with a strange gratitude towards Alraune.
Every day on this planet had been filled with terror,
And the [encounter with the unknown] had been the most primal, the most deeply unsettling experience,
But it had also ignited a fire within me, a fierce determination to fight back.
A desire to defy that massive, repulsive moon.
Regardless of the odds,
Having a clear enemy focused my rage and resentment.
All that mattered now was preparing for the long battle ahead.
“…Next, let’s see if I can communicate with it.”
I spoke to Alraune, who instinctively protected me.
“Alraune, if you can hear me, respond. Why are you protecting me?”
My information was limited.
“What did I see?”
What were those horrifying fingers?
What was that moon creature?
I had to find some answers.
“…”
“…”
Amy and I,
Waited in silence for Alraune’s response.
But she didn't answer.
We waited, but nothing happened.
I sighed, frustrated, and declared the experiment a failure.
This was useless.
What was I supposed to do, alone?
“Sigh- it’s fine. Communication is imposs-”
“…Doctor, negative.”
But,
After two minutes, a small change occurred.
A vine sprouted from my fingertip,
And began drawing on the cave wall.
A sun.
A large, burning star,
And flowers blooming beneath it.
“…That’s a good drawing.”
A simple, yet recognizable image.
Alraune drew a male figure, with two arms and two legs, inside the large circle representing the sun.
“What is this?”
The vine tapped my hand, then the male figure within the sun.
It clearly represented me.
“…Yes, that’s me. I’m the sun.”
The drawing offered a possible explanation.
But one question remained.
“Thank you. But what about the fingers?”
Alraune couldn't answer my final question.
“The fingers. You’re helping me because of that thing, aren't you?”
She drew a symbol on the wall, a symbol humans used to represent a question.
A question mark (?).