Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Ep. 7
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What is the essence of Aimorph play?
Space Survival guaranteed a high degree of freedom, but it wasn't without so-called standardized playstyles.
For example, starting as a Mega Corp Noble Capital meant using initial support funds to buy mercenaries or ships and snowball from there—that was the meta. Their racial traits were optimized for utilizing mercenaries or slaves.
So what was the standard for Aimorph play? What set Aimorphs qualitatively apart from other races?
'Hunter.'
Gathering enemy intel in advance, digging traps, luring them in, and ambushing from behind.
No matter how much Gene Essence you farmed to grow stronger, an Aimorph's core was always the hunter.
In the late game, after finishing essence farming, you could massacre droves of users—but even then, the formula held.
The reason I'd reached the top as an Aimorph was simple.
'Because I was good at hunting.'
Unlike other users, I had to fight solo without party members.
My physical skills weren't as sharp as those of younger players.
I lacked the gear and traits of long-time veterans.
Despite all those harsh conditions, I always crushed them and came out on top.
I turned the genes of whiners and complainers into my own, copying their unique traits.
As trophies from my prey piled up, so did my hunting expertise. The more foolish victims threw themselves at me without quitting, the stronger I got.
Through endless repetition of that cycle, I became the most infamous predator in the Space Survival universe.
And now, that same me had my sights set on fresh prey.
"Damn it! Stabilization is taking way too long."
Kisaragi Yujin slammed her fist on the desk in frustration.
She'd been watching from above the lab for a while now, but she hadn't sensed my presence. Her sharp instincts had dulled under her rage.
She was alone, but it wasn't time yet. Guards stood outside, and soldiers patrolled around.
"Goddamn it..."
She fiddled with the machine, then stood up irritably and headed to another lab, starting to manipulate a terminal.
I didn't know what she was up to, but it didn't look good for the creature inside. Every time she passed by, the specimens writhed in agony.
"This one, that one."
What she was doing wasn't experimentation—it was straight-up torture to vent her anger. The lab filled with silent screams.
"Oh, right. You're here too."
In front of her was Specimen 026.
I could feel its anxiety from here.
When Kisaragi pulled out the Psionium, 026 started trembling violently.
Maybe seeing the specimen terrified pleased her. She flashed a twisted smile.
"This is an experiment."
She dumped the entire vial of Psionium in. 026's body tore apart, its color draining in an instant.
Bubbles boiling up in the tank seemed to echo the specimen's screams.
The sadistic torture disguised as an experiment ended, and once again, 026 survived.
Kisaragi clicked her tongue and stormed out of the lab.
'...'
She always picked the most infuriating things to do right up to the end.
I moved to follow her, but 026 sent a psionic wave my way.
'...'
Even now, it greeted me the same as always.
I didn't respond and left.
There was no need for chit-chat between us. More than a few words of comfort, what it really needed was something else.
'Revenge.'
I left the lab and trailed Kisaragi.
She was heading for the captain's quarters. Two guards followed behind her.
No need to check with my auxiliary organs—they clearly reeked of discontent. Kisaragi seemed aware but said nothing.
The icy tension ramped up even more once they reached the captain's quarters.
"Two hours have passed. Any results?"
"We've just started the search. You'll need to wait a bit longer..."
"Captain. No, Yuseong Samuel. Are you defying Noble Capital's will?"
Captain Yuseong Samuel's face hardened at her words. Anyone could see he was pissed, but it was all bluff. His contracted pupils, sweat trickling down his neck, trembling legs in his pants—he was in full panic mode.
He was the ship's captain, but Kisaragi was Mega Corp elite. The hierarchy was worlds apart; of course he was scared.
"I'm the captain of this vessel, Research Team Leader. Mind your words."
"I can have you removed from that captain's seat."
"Even a Noble Capital can't overstep like that. I have the authority to detain you."
"Ha. Detain me? Did you just say you'd detain me?"
"Anyone disrupting order on this ship can be detained by the captain's authority."
"Are you insane? Yuseong Samuel?"
Things were getting interesting. There must've been bad blood between them even before I showed up.
Not surprising—an arrogant Kisaragi like her wouldn't hesitate to chew out the captain. This blowup was probably inevitable.
They glared at each other for a while. In the end, Kisaragi looked away first.
'Predictable, in a way?'
If anything happened to Kisaragi, the crew's fate was sealed.
But laws are distant, fists are close. This was deep space. Even if something happened to her, Mega Corp help was light-years away.
Worst case, if the captain snapped and tried to kill her, she couldn't fight back. Sure, she had superior intellect compared to most, but her body was just that of an average woman.
"...We'll see about this later."
Kisaragi ground her teeth and stormed out of the captain's quarters.
The moment she left, the captain called his aide and yelled to find that damn cat right now.
'He's desperate.'
As things stood, the captain was dead meat the second they hit a planet or space station. Threatening a Noble Capital with detention? No way out.
His only lifeline was finding the cat and fixing this.
'Too bad it's already dead.'
The captain was on my hit list anyway. Whatever he did, he couldn't escape his fate.
After that, Kisaragi rampaged through the ship, terrorizing the crew.
The more they hated her, the better for me. The less attention on her, the easier my job.
Her final stop after tearing through the ship was the bathroom. She was with two guards when she said,
"Gonna hit the restroom real quick."
"Yes, ma'am."
By protocol, at least one guard should've followed her in.
But after enduring her tyranny all day, they didn't.
I don't know if she realized they were breaking orders out of spite, but she didn't like them either, so she let it slide.
"Hey, I gotta go too."
Right on cue, one of the two guards stepped away for the bathroom.
She was alone in the women's restroom, with just one guard outside.
'Opportunity.'
No security blocking my moves in there. From the ventilation duct wrapping the outer wall, I prepped my ambush.
I unscrewed the panel with two claws, then carefully removed the grate. I walked with claws raised high to stay silent.
She was washing her face at the sink. The splashing water drowned out my noise.
I approached, careful not to reflect in the mirror.
She finished, turned off the faucet, and swept back her wet hair.
I needed to get within one leap's distance.
My four pairs of legs moved with unprecedented caution. My tail tip filled with paralysis venom. Like with the cat, my body readied for a one-shot kill.
"Hoo."
Kisaragi stared blankly into the mirror. Then suddenly, she wrinkled her nose.
'Damn!'
Did the face wash clear her head? Her senses picked me up.
A danger signal fired from her brain, spreading through her body. Neck muscles twitched in response. In one second, her head would turn my way.
No more delaying.
My legs slammed the steel floor like pistons. My body launched like a bullet from a barrel straight at her.
Still some distance left. Time to use my wings.
The wings I'd desperately awaited unfurled at my command. My faltering momentum surged upward.
Chitinous wings gleamed dark brown as they beat powerfully.
Distance down to 50cm. My tail drew its hidden stinger.
Kisaragi's eyes locked on me.
Her face twisted in horror. Shock, disgust, crisis, terror—a cocktail of negativity overwhelmed her.
When sudden crisis hits, people instinctively shield their face with their hands. Her arm started rising.
By the time her forearm half-covered her face, my tail slipped between her arms.
The flexible tail bypassed her defense. Its tiny needle pierced her carotid artery.
"Ack?!"
A short cry escaped her lips. She couldn't scream longer even if she wanted—the venom spread instantly, paralyzing her whole body.
Until the antidote kicked in, all she could do was breathe.
"... "
She collapsed in front of the sink. Face-down on the floor, she looked like a mannequin modeled after herself.
I approached the barely-breathing woman, whose eyes trembled uncontrollably. My alien form—human-head-sized—dripped saliva. It loomed larger, revealing razor-sharp teeth.
What was she thinking right now?
Fear of the monster before her?
Rage at her predicament?
Or terror of death?
Didn't matter. Kisaragi Yujin was dead anyway.
Crunch.
My teeth sank into her neck.
The light faded from her eyes. Through my jaws, I felt her breathing slow.
'Farewell.'
My powerful jaws snapped her neck bone in one go. I shook my head while clamped, tearing her head clean off.
Her short life ended there.
No more Mega Corp Noble Capital on this ship.
Just a beheaded woman's corpse remained.
Human blood flowed down my throat. On the biological conveyor belt of my gut, only the genetic data extracted.
The moment the info hit my brain, I knew.
One puzzle piece of my dormant potential had clicked into place.
Instinct told me: the genes making up my being could rearrange under evolution's spiral.
One agreement, and I could start evolving right there. I was about to accept.
If not for my auxiliary organ blaring alarms.
｢Guard hears Kisaragi collapse and enters.｣
｢His gun barrel points at me.｣
｢Bullet pierces my body.｣
｢I die.｣
'What the hell was that?'
It was like reality filmed on video and fast-forwarded dozens of times—scenes flashed by. Without my enhanced senses, I couldn't have processed it.
'Predator Sense!'
What I'd just seen was an incoming crisis. Predator Sense had foreseen and warned me of the future.
'It works like this?'
Showing future events like a movie. A powerful trait, except it only triggered in crises.
Either way, the guard was about to barge in. I dashed behind the door and hid.
In the future from Predator Sense, only one guard attacked me. The other hadn't returned from the bathroom yet.
'Run?'
I spotted the vent duct on the opposite wall.
'No. No time.'
No way he'd miss me fleeing unless he was blind.
He couldn't learn of my existence. Even if Kisaragi died, it'd make evasion impossible.
'Take out the guard here too.'
Luckily, just one. Ambush, and he's done.
My body shifted back to combat mode. Pressed tight against the bathroom door, it began inching open.
The tip of a military boot appeared beyond the door. Soon, his full body entered.
"Gasp!"
A shocked voice.
His attention was fixed on the blood-soaked corpse.
I lunged from behind the door.
My body latched onto his shoulder. I felt him jolt in surprise.
He should've raised his gun immediately, but he didn't. Instead, he tried to shake me off his shoulder.
A totally realistic reaction, really. Anyone would do that with a desert spider with wings on them.
But in this situation, not a smart move.
The price of a wrong choice was death. The time he gave let my tail stab his ear.
My tail slowly withdrew after piercing his ear. Paralyzing venom injected near the brain—he dropped dead instantly.
As he hit the floor, the bathroom door swung shut.
Minutes after Kisaragi died, the unfamiliar guard met the same end.
Outside was quiet. No one saw the two deaths.
'Gotta hurry.'
His partner would return soon. I repositioned the vent grate and slipped out of the bathroom fast.
In case of unexpected tracking, I didn't head straight home—instead, I looped around.
Back at the nest, I activated the text box.
The moment of evolution I'd awaited had arrived.
One last scan of the surroundings, then I accepted.
Evolution slime poured from my body like water.
It flooded over me, hardening into a solid shell that layered into a cocoon.
If anyone saw me, they'd think I was inside a pupa or egg.
'Feels weird.'
Inside the cocoon, an indescribable sensation. If I had to put words to it, something felt profoundly 'different.'
The sense that I was becoming a completely new being.
Slime secreted within the cocoon was reassembling me into something alien.
If I remembered my fetal stage, it'd feel like this—aware of my mother's womb shaping me.
I wanted to open my eyes and watch, but I couldn't. I'd lost all control over my body since entering.
Was this sensation from my flesh, or did some mental entity perceive the changes?
'No point overthinking. Just wait it out.'
I'd done all I could. I decided to rest cozy in the cocoon until evolution finished.
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Ventilation duct above the cooling chamber.
Until recently, it brimmed with spores spewing polluted air and foul fluids.
A space thick with filthy moisture—but now, it was bone-dry, unrecognizable from before.
Spores shriveled and withered, slime strands clinging like spiderwebs crumbled like dry twigs.
In the ruined nest's center sat a boy-sized cocoon.
Despite cold air rising from below, its surface was rough like desertified soil.
As if it'd absorbed all the moisture around.
Then the cocoon trembled.
Something inside moved to emerge.
A few more shakes, and cracks spiderwebbed the surface.
The shell fell away, and something black extended from within.
Human arm bone covered in black chitinous exoskeleton—an alien form, but unmistakably an arm. At its end, four long fingers like a raptor’s talons.
Starting with the first arm, more burst out, shattering the shell.
Finally, the cocoon fully shed, revealing its form.
Four long arms, two small ones near the chest, thick sturdy legs, and a tail 1.5 times its body length. It opened its eyes.
The black being gazed down at itself with glowing gray eyes.
｢Grrrrrr｣
It laughed in satisfaction.