Chapter 37
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The Secret of the World (3)
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[The survivor we managed to find in these ruins was not sane. Therefore, the Legion halted its reconnaissance and deployed a soldier to subdue the target.]
An all-purpose Legion soldier was urgently dispatched.
The target’s condition didn’t seem normal, but our soldier stood two meters tall and could exert several times the strength of an orc.
[The plan was to have them fight one-on-one to gauge its power.]
The Legion soldier, having arrived in no time, approached the target without a hint of hesitation.
But in that moment.
“No way.”
It was the target who charged first.
The Legion soldier extended its arm toward the enemy, who was screaming and charging madly across the ground, and caught it.
Given the difference in height and arm length, the target was easily pinned down.
“Kyaaak! Kiik…”
But the target, not the least bit intimidated, thrashed wildly in the soldier’s grip, gnashing its teeth and letting out unearthly shrieks.
[Its loss of reason was similar to the cursed wraiths, yet different. For one, no strange power could be felt from it.]
The woman continued to struggle, seemingly tireless.
Just watching it was starting to make me uncomfortable.
[We would understand once it was subdued and analyzed. However, an unexpected situation occurred.]
That’s when the variable appeared.
As she was thrashing about, she suddenly stopped, then bit down hard on the Legion soldier’s hand.
[The Legion soldier’s entire body is covered in armor, and even its exposed joints are treated with tough, durable leather to enhance defense. However, this attack was strong enough to leave a minuscule scratch on the leather of a finger joint. Of course, under normal circumstances, such an invisible scratch would mean nothing.]
“What’s happening…?”
[See for yourself.]
This video was, after all, a recording of past events.
Suddenly, the playback slowed, and the screen began to zoom in.
Closer, and closer still.
Beyond the finger that filled the screen.
Only when the view was magnified as if through a microscope could I understand what was happening.
[It has been some time since we engaged in cellular warfare, but we are not without experience. The problem was that the Legion soldier's cells had most of their autonomous functions removed for energy efficiency, leaving them helpless.]
“No, this is…”
[What was mixed in its saliva was not poison, but countless living bacteria. The toxins they secreted weakened the Legion soldier's leather, allowing those fragile teeth to leave a scratch.]
“It’s a zombie!”
No matter how I looked at it, it was a zombie, just like the ones I knew.
A creature from fiction that bites and infects people.
Two types of cells were now visible on the screen.
One side was the normal, original cells; the other, the invaders.
Upon seeing the healthy cells, these bizarre invaders shot out thorn-like protrusions, eventually piercing and killing them.
[An infected cell has all its organelles destroyed and soon becomes one of them. The entire process is much like that of a cancer cell.]
The screen zoomed back out.
The Legion soldier’s arm was swelling and twisting grotesquely.
The enemies, having spread throughout its body via the bloodstream, soon took control of the soldier’s entire form, corrupting it.
[Interesting. While it is the infection of other cells, it can still be considered a form of accelerated growth. Moreover, the Legion soldier has no brain to control its body, yet they continued their encroachment without issue. We cannot be certain yet, but this suggests the possibility of another 'hive' aside from our own.]
“Is ‘interesting’ the right reaction…? Can you handle this? Our Legion soldier is pointing its sword at us right now.”
[…Of course.]
The video ended there.
What I was seeing now was real-time.
“I can win!”
I could see Kang Do-yeon charging forward.
For a moment, I clenched my fists, worried my sister might be in danger.
[Do not worry. The Legion will not allow your sister to fall into peril.]
“How can you be so sure? The Legion still…”
[Because she is your sister. I declare, the Legion does not wish to see you grieve.]
I was at a loss for words.
In that time, Kang Do-yeon aimed her sword at the charging, infected Legion soldier and launched herself from the ground.
[Could a soldier that has left the Legion's embrace exert even half of its strength? It is a being designed solely to be the Legion's fangs and claws.]
Kang Do-yeon’s sword cleaved the opponent in two.
Even from my perspective, the movements of a Legion soldier not under the Legion’s control were pathetic.
“So you’ve secured a sample. The question is whether you can analyze it or not. This is a bioweapon that could just as easily turn on you.”
[Analysis is, of course, possible. Other creatures may be helpless against these unidentified bacteria, unable to resist. But our Legion, capable of manipulating even on a cellular level, may be the only worthy adversary for these tiny predators that have annihilated a brilliant civilization and species.]
Such a bold declaration. In that case, I had no choice but to believe it.
“I’d like to watch more, but I don’t think I can.”
[As always, any unusual developments will be sent as notifications and recorded, so it matters not.]
I had to turn off my phone.
Not long after I’d settled in for the stakeout, the target appeared.
“A Unit…?!”
“As you know, Shin-woo, I’m in a position where I can’t act rashly.”
When I met Cha Ji-yeon and accepted her request.
She made me a proposal.
“Thanks to that, I can’t move freely even if I find information on a Unit. So I’ve essentially given up on operating in Korea.”
“…Right. There are only a handful of lightning-ability users in the Republic of Korea.”
“Instead, my Player said they would give you this if you succeed in this request.”
She handed me something.
It was a piece of stone, like the one I’d seen when I first met her.
“What exactly is this?”
“A Mana Stone. A precious object my Player personally crafted, with a spell engraved inside.”
She explained the concept of a Mana Stone to me.
As I listened to her explanation, one thing flashed through my mind: the jewel embedded in the vajra the Legion had found.
Engraving a complex spell onto an ore that holds energy to activate it.
Weren’t the concepts remarkably similar?
“Will it be useful?”
“Yes. I’ll take it. And this isn’t the real prize, anyway.”
I nodded.
My true goal wasn’t this kind of reward.
It was to gain recognition and participate in the upcoming Gate expedition.
The things I could salvage there would surely aid the Legion’s rapid growth.
“Then…”
“Oh, don’t worry too much.”
Her blue eyes darkened, as if she was worried about me.
It made sense. The me she knew didn’t seem to be in a stable state.
“Thank you. I’ll see you next time.”
But right now, I was confident I was calmer than ever before.
I had, with my own hands, made my sister—who had been on the brink of death because of me—a part of the Legion.
Compared to that, other things were trivial.
Even if it meant murder.
After all, the moment you join this app, whether as a Unit or a Player, you’ve stepped into the wild, haven’t you?
To kill and be killed is the law of the ecosystem.
If I don’t kill, I will be killed.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m heading in now.”
Returning to the present, my target walked past me, talking on his phone.
He looked like an ordinary, large man.
But according to the information Cha Ji-yeon gave me, he was a Unit acting under a Player’s orders.
I chugged the potion I had prepared in a drink bottle.
*
[He has now begun his mission. Solely for you.]
“…That’s a lie. He doesn’t know about me.”
[Why have you not informed him of your existence?]
Why, indeed?
It tilted its head.
Meeting and communing with him was something it had yearned for from the moment it became aware of his existence.
But now that it possessed the means, it hesitated.
“What is a… ‘god,’ you ask? A god is…”
Kang Do-yeon had also explained the concept of a god.
Of course, it was a rather lengthy explanation, the kind of knowledge a typical high school girl would have, but it contained the core idea.
And the Legion had made its judgment.
[Is he not a god? Then what is he to you?]
“I wonder.”
The Legion furrowed the brow of its mask.
It was one of the methods of emotional expression it had learned from Kang Do-yeon.
Who was he, really?
Not a god. A parent, but not a parent either.
A Player? A Unit?
It was clearly a Unit belonging to the system, but that was of no concern to the Legion.
“One.”
It placed a hand on its chest and murmured softly.
A single connection links their souls.
They can share each other’s emotions. The more it develops, the more clearly they can feel it.
He had been involved with it since it was a mere cell.
The entire Legion, including the Nest, throbbed.
“We are one.”
[…The sample has arrived at the Nest. It is time to deconstruct and analyze the new enemy.]
Nothing was certain yet.
Its thoughts concluded, the Legion turned its attention elsewhere.
The corpse that Kang Do-yeon had brought back in pieces.
Information about the enemy still remained in that corpse.
[There is a risk that they could reverse-infect the Nest, but that would only be the case if we were to lose the war.]
The Legion began to digest it, as it always had.
As the corpse sank into the Nest’s flesh walls, the still-living bacteria spotted the new cells, recognized them as prey, and charged.
Their goal was to infect and increase their numbers.
But this time, their opponent was completely different from any they had faced before.
[As the enemy jabbed with its thorns, our own cells—their walls reinforced and equipped with tentacles and pincers—surged forward as a group.]
In the end, it was the same as all the wars it had fought before.
The Legion steadily killed and broke down its enemies.
Faster and stronger than the rate of infection.