Chapter 33
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Legion's Gratitude (4)
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The Ship of Theseus. A paradox of change and persistence.
The body that had once been hers was being replaced, one cell at a time.
Its function and appearance were certainly the same as before.
So, when all the cells were completely new, was it still her? This was one of the strange, chilling feelings of alienation that Kang Do-yeon was experiencing.
[If you cannot endure this alienation, your mind will shatter.]
An unfamiliar voice echoed in her ear.
It was a voice the Legion had heard tirelessly, yet one it could not comprehend.
The voice was deep and masculine, yet it carried a raspy, wounded quality.
[Who are you?]
'I... I am...'
Curled up like a fetus, she winced.
Everything was so confusing.
An overwhelming amount of information flooded her mind.
The knowledge of the Legion, too vast for a small human brain to bear.
And so, the Legion had appropriately controlled the information flowing into her.
Because of this control, she possessed the strongest ego within the Legion, yet she was relegated to the second-highest rank.
'I am Kang Do-yeon. I'm just me.'
[Is that all?]
'And... a part... of the Legion.'
She overcame the sense of alienation with sheer willpower.
She had succeeded in not losing her sense of self.
She remembered the final moments vividly.
The red, cross-shaped eyes of the blue suit that had dismembered her limbs and ultimately left her half-dead.
'That bastard.'
Rage boiled within her.
But that rage was not hers alone.
The entire Legion resonated with her fury.
The ground, covered by the Legion's nest, vibrated with such intensity.
[The first existence has been born. This has been recorded in the history of the Legion.]
She slowly opened her eyes.
At the same moment, the fleshy wall of the nest she was in cracked open.
Light streamed through the fissures, and mucus spewed out.
"Kuh... Kehek..."
She was swept out with the fluid.
Instinctively, she gasped for air, her lungs filling.
"Ugh..."
Her vision was blurry. Pushing herself up from the fleshy floor of the nest, she staggered.
Even though she had overcome the alienation, it still lingered in her body.
The feeling that this was not her own body.
But gritting her teeth, she took a deep breath and steadied herself.
As her mind calmed, her body quickly finished adapting.
[Do you know what must be done?]
"Yeah. I know, uh... Mister."
Clutching her throbbing head, she let out a smirk.
The Legion had controlled the information, but it had also decided to actively and efficiently use Kang Do-yeon, the only individual with a developed brain.
So, of course, she knew.
Where she was now, why she was in this state, what the Legion was, and what had to be done.
"It's furious at those damn bastards. But it's not angry because of me. Right? To you, I'm just individual number one. You're only angry because Oppa is sad, because he's angry."
She began to walk slowly.
She paid no mind to the grotesque and disgusting sight of the nest and the Legion units, which would have made an ordinary girl scream, nor to the fact that she was completely naked, without a single thread on her body.
None of that mattered to her anymore.
"Let's go."
As she ascended, the waiting Legion units moved to follow her.
The procession stretched on endlessly.
It was a march to completely conquer the 35th floor.
There was no fear or doubt on the face of Kang Do-yeon, who stood at the vanguard.
[You, and we, are the Legion.]
In the end, she too was a part of the Legion.
In exchange for her life, she had become one with it.
'So war, fighting, is my duty.'
There was no need for a reason.
War and consumption were the Legion's very purpose for existence.
"What the hell is this? To me... they look like elves from a fantasy story. Disgustingly pale corpses, though. What kind of structure is this? A shrine? A temple?"
Kang Do-yeon led the Legion units and reached the 35th floor.
Through her, the Legion made its first concrete assessment of the enemies on the 35th floor.
[They charged at us once more. Just like last time, the emblems on their bodies began to glow.]
The Legion responded to the guardian soldiers who, once again, charged mindlessly.
The Legion had never lost a rematch.
In the second engagement, it always deployed stronger, more innovative forces and tactics.
"Euk..."
It was the same now.
Leaving the charging Legion units behind, Kang Do-yeon staggered, her eyes wide as she trembled.
[Get used to it. The Legion has granted special power to a special individual. An application of the Legion's other racial trait, Accelerated Growth. It is the height of inefficiency, but it was an individual worth the investment.]
"Agh... Aaaargh!"
Kang Do-yeon screamed from the pain of her body twisting and reconstructing itself.
Simultaneously, her entire body began to transform.
Her skeleton shifted rapidly, her mutating skin began to be covered in black leather and carapace.
Muscles were rearranged, nerves twisted.
In the end, her entire body, except for her head, was completely changed.
Her form, which looked as if she were wearing a black suit, was not so different from the other all-purpose Legion units.
"Kyaaak!"
As she gasped, swallowing her pain, an enemy lunged at her with a spear.
She lifted her bowed head.
Her eyes, now glowing red, glinted as she gritted her teeth and kicked at the enemy.
The compressed muscles created by the Legion, packed to their absolute limit, exploded with superhuman leg strength.
"That really hurt like hell..."
A shockwave erupted, and the enemy's spear shattered as its upper body burst apart.
From her hand, she drew a sword formed from her own mutated cells.
Rage boiled within her.
The entire Legion, resonating with her, felt the same.
And that intense fury helped them crush their enemies.
She leaped from the ground in a single bound and cleaved in two an enemy that had been locked in a struggle with a Legion unit.
The composition and scale of the Legion's forces were identical to before.
But the result was completely different.
In a flash, the Legion pushed back the enemies and began to annihilate them.
With the advent of a developed brain in Kang Do-yeon, the Hive Mind became faster and more cohesive, and the newly learned, fiery anger turned into a frenzy that cut down enemy after enemy.
Mindless corpses animated by magic?
They were certainly excellent guards who would not hesitate to die, but the same was true for her side.
[All enemies have fallen. But it is not over. We must head up there.]
"...What in the world is this place?"
Sheathing her sword, Kang Do-yeon muttered as she looked at the massive hole in the ceiling.
*
"Is Mom okay? Did you tell her the truth?"
"...I told her I would definitely come back alive."
"Really? But... can I even go back to Earth?"
He spoke, looking into the empty air.
At me, on the other side of the screen. Though his gaze wasn't aimed correctly, of course.
"There has to be a way."
"I think we'll be able to go back soon."
Contrary to my own feelings, Kang Do-yeon said with a smirk.
Her body was still in that state.
Similar, yet clearly not human.
That appearance, like a female Legion unit, was just so unnatural.
[Is there anything else you wish to convey?]
"No. That's not it."
I shook my head.
My words were now being relayed by the narrator, the one my sister called "Mister."
"I'm not just saying that. Oppa, you might not know, but I'm directly connected to the Legion, so I know. It's... truly amazing. That weird tin can that attacked us? I could rip it to shreds with one punch now."
She clenched her fist.
It was a hand with sharp claws, looking as if she were wearing a gauntlet.
"Yeah. You're right. But we have to get out of this labyrinth first."
"To me, this place looks like some kind of ancient ruin. The things that attacked us, they acted like they were trying to protect this place. But they were all size and no substance."
Kang Do-yeon got up and began to investigate the 35th floor.
Unlike the other floors, this place was nothing more than a barren cave.
A nest seed had been planted and was expanding its territory, but there was little for it to digest.
[The Legion has decided to take a moment to regroup. To replenish lost forces and to ascend, it will first turn this place completely into a nest.]
The nest was an essential space that both produced Legion units and supplied them with nutrients.
In the pursuit of efficiency, it was foolish to pour out Legion units like consumables, no matter what they were.
"Ugh... I really hate this."
A tentacle from the nest flowed toward my sister.
As it pierced the lumbar region of her back, she shivered and grumbled incessantly.
"I can send food. I'm still buying and sending it regularly."
"It's fine. My body doesn't even have digestive organs right now, and besides, it's more efficient to eat like this than to digest it with my own system."
"...You don't want bread either?"
For a moment, her ears perked up.
I smirked and stood up.
At least this... I wanted to do this for her.
"Hey! You're listening, right?! We'll do all the fighting here, so just stay hidden! Stick right by Cha Ji-yeon's side!"
"...Tell her I understand."
[Very well.]
I smiled bitterly.
Kang Do-yeon had become a part of the Legion.
But her thoughts did not always align with the Legion's.
The superior entity was, naturally, the Legion.
My sister worried about me, and thus wanted me to hide safely.
But the Legion did not.
The Legion worried about me, and thus wanted me to become stronger and stronger.
Now I, too, could understand. It wasn't just the Legion that could read my emotions.