Chapter 270: New Employee Neri (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 270: New Employee Neri (2)
Necroumbra.
She—it was now fair to call her a she—was highly intelligent.
Intelligence isn't merely about memorization or mental math.
It's the ability to read social cues and atmospheres, to reason, to comprehend, and to possess meta-cognition—the capacity for objective self-assessment and the deduction of solutions.
In short, it is the power to turn any situation to one's advantage.
Ultimately, it is the power of survival.
In that sense, Necroumbra thought to herself.
‘Do I really need to maintain this plant body?’
She had always possessed the power to assimilate with her surroundings.
And what would happen if this power were pushed to its absolute limit?
What if she could live not as a plant, but as a human?
The pinnacle of assimilation.
To improve her chances of survival, she had to become like them. She had to make them perceive her as one of their own, a member of their community.
Perhaps now that she was a Summoned Beast, it wasn't strictly necessary... but no.
As a Summoned Beast, wouldn't her chances of survival increase if she were the most beloved of them all? Besides, assimilating with her surroundings was part of Neri's very instinct.
On top of that, her master and mother, Lee Do-hee, had neglected her for months, not even giving her breast milk.
It was unfair, infuriating, and sad.
‘I want to be loved, too!!’
The Building Owner Lady was there for her, but the love she offered felt different from the love of her mother, Lee Do-hee. This bitter feeling remained unresolved.
Dependency.
Neri had always been a child who craved love.
So, what kind of human did she need to become to be loved?
She observed, analyzed, and understood.
How to be loved by Lee Do-hee, by the Building Owner Lady who had Do-hee wrapped around her finger, and furthermore, how to increase her survival rate by being loved in this society!
The conclusion was easy to reach.
‘A beautiful woman!’
Lee Do-hee liked pretty women.
The Building Owner Lady doted on young, pretty women as if they were her own daughters.
The world went crazy for pretty women.
In a crisis, she could offer her body or lower an enemy's guard.
Could there be a more suitable form for survival and for being loved?
Having been registered as Lee Do-hee's Sacred Beast, the overflowing power already allowed her to ascend to a higher state of being.
She gathered a vast amount of nutrients from the Building Owner Lady and began her metamorphosis.
"Neri? Are you okay?"
Despite the Building Owner Lady's concern, Neri extended a single stem and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
Now, she focused inward.
She shed all her small branches and flowers, blooming into a single, massive bud.
A giant, human-sized red flower bud.
Like the chrysalis of a pupa, she began a two-week transformation.
And two weeks later,
The red petals slowly unfurled, revealing a lovely, naked girl sitting within.
"Neri?"
The Building Owner Lady, who happened to be in the living room, called out to her, and she opened her eyes.
In that moment, the name 'Neri,' given to her by the lady at her birth, ceased to be the name of her species and became her true name.
"Ah... ugh, ahhh..."
With the Building Owner Lady's help, she instinctively walked not to a room, but to the full-length mirror in the living room.
"Hee... This... is me?"
Beautiful.
Not the kind of massive breasts that were an acquired taste, like Do-hee's, but beautiful, full, teardrop-shaped breasts that anyone with a normal sex drive would adore.
Her waist was slender, and her healthy-looking hips and thighs were plump in a way that was practically begging to be fucked.
And above all, her face.
A lovely, beautiful face that stirred one's protective instincts.
Black hair with a stylish green two-tone and highlights that gave her a unique look.
And her eyes, sparkling like emerald jewels...
‘Perfect!’
She had finally obtained the beautiful human body she had always wanted, the one she had dreamed of!
"Neri? It's you, right, Neri?"
"Ah, ah. A-Aunty?"
And most importantly, she could now speak.
She could communicate with humans.
"It really is you... I was so worried something had happened..."
Fwump!
"Aah... Ugh, A-Aunty..."
The Building Owner Lady pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her like a person, not a plant.
"Hnng..."
It was the first human hug she had ever felt.
It warmed her heart... and felt so very comforting.
*
And now, the present.
"No, does this even make sense?"
"Huuuung!!! Sob, sob!!"
The only side effect, however, was that having completely transformed into a human, she was now subject to human hormones.
She cried when she was sad and laughed when she was amused.
Her plant-like functions were still intact, but the human influence was far greater.
Perhaps because she had just been born, she had trouble controlling her emotions, much like a small child. One might think it was an act, but she truly felt wronged. Right now, she genuinely couldn't control her feelings.
"Hey, wait a minute. Can you even fight like this?"
The moment she saw her in human form, the psycho bitch Lee Do-hee's first concern was, ‘Can this wench even fight properly?’
Of course, her concern was valid.
Now that Neri was registered as a Sacred Beast, the contract couldn't be terminated. It would be quite a problem if she turned out to be a useless weakling incapable of combat.
"Hmph... I can too fight, you know?"
Neri said, puffing out her cheeks with a pout that screamed, ‘I'm mad now.’
‘This bitch... Why is she suddenly acting all cute...’
Do-hee was a little taken aback, seeing the creature that once reveled in rape and murder acting this way.
Still, business was business.
"Oh, yeah? Then let's spar!"
"Heh? S-Spar? Wait... the first thing you say after seeing me become human is..."
"Ahem, get over here!!"
There were no touching, warm words from the testosterone-filled Do-hee.
She only proved things with her body.
*
At the edge of the 10th Floor's neutral zone.
A wasteland where farming had not yet begun.
"I'm just gonna go easy on you, nice and easy."
"Y-You didn't just bring me here to beat me up, did you?"
"I told you, no! It's hard to find someone else with stats similar to yours."
Through the Sacred Beast registration, Neri had given some of her stats to Do-hee, and Do-hee had given some to Neri.
Of course, since Do-hee received stats from all three of her Sacred Beasts, Neri actually received less in return, but Neri's traits also came into play, so they were more or less on par.
Looking at her status window,
------
[Neri]
Race: Necroumbra
Unique Traits: [SS-rank Assimilation], [SS-rank Nutrient-rich Breast Milk], [SS-rank Humanization], [S-rank Memory Transfer], [S-rank Digestion], [SS-rank Genius], [D-rank Dependency], [S-rank Doppelganger]
Skills: <Charm Lv.25>, <Mutation Lv.27>, <Poison Injection Lv.43>, <Stealth Lv.55>
------
It seemed like a few minor things had changed, but there were no major differences.
Some trait names had been altered or their grades had increased, her skill levels had gone up across the board, and she had gained the Doppelganger trait and the Stealth skill.
Her overall base stats were slightly higher than mine.
After creating some distance, we began the spar.
"Alright, here I come!"
Whoosh!
[Lee Do-hee throws her spear.]
It was just a normal spear throw, but her throws were different.
With perfect form and distribution of power, it packed an incredible punch even without divine power.
"Kugh..."
Neri barely managed to dodge to the side, but in the next moment, Do-hee was upon her, swinging her spear.
"I-I don't want to take this out...!!!"
Shwwwaaak!
Openings appeared all over Neri's body as stem-like tentacles whipped out.
I could see why she hated it.
Seeing those tentacle-like stems emerge from that pretty face was, well, a little grotesque.
But her opponent wasn't about to wait for such sentiments.
"Hey, if you think like that, you'll lose the fight!"
Do-hee parried and sliced through the tentacles flying at her from all directions.
Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-shk!!!
Hundreds of stems lashed out from every direction, delivering hundreds, even thousands of slashes per second, but Do-hee blocked every single one with a swing of her spear.
"Is that all you've got? You don't have any skills?"
"I-I only have poison!"
Other than swinging or stabbing with her plant stems, she had no other attacks.
And poison wouldn't work on me anyway.
To an outside observer, the simultaneous, unpredictable attacks coming from all directions without any openings might seem anything but simple. But for someone at Do-hee's level, it was a rather simplistic form of attack.
Clumping the stems together for a thrust, striking the ground to obscure vision before attacking from below, using stealth on a single stem for a surprise attack.
She tried various unconventional tactics, but Do-hee easily blocked them all.
"Hmm... a little disappointing."
And then came the counterattack.
[Direct Heart Thrust]
She held her spear straight and charged!
KRRRRRRRACK!!!
All the stems in the path between Do-hee and Neri were instantly torn apart like paper, and in the blink of an eye, the spear stopped right before her neck.
"Heh...?"
Neri wore a dumbfounded expression, as if she couldn't believe it.
The spar naturally came to an end.
"Hey, your stats are similar to mine, so why are you so weak?"
The sound of her mother's disappointed voice.
Do-hee, who had been looking for a good sparring partner, had been thrilled to find a good match, but she couldn't hide her disappointment at Neri's surprisingly clumsy performance.
"Hic... Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!"
And upon hearing her mother's harsh words to her face, Neri burst into tears.
"Ah, no, hey! Don't cry, you brat! Uh, umm..."
Strong against the strong, weak against the weak.
Lee Do-hee had a soft spot for the vulnerable.
Whether it was Neri's strategy or not, Do-hee's heart softened.
"Hey, don't worry. Y-You're human now, so... you can wear equipment! And learn from secret manuals! I'll buy them for you! No, let's just sell your sap to buy them. Wait, where does the sap even come from?"
But Do-hee's resolve hardened a little in the face of sexual harassment.
"Eh...? S-Sap?"
"Don't tell me you..."
"W-Wait a minute!"
Do-hee ripped Neri's clothes off, exposing her breasts.
"Kyaaak!! Wh-Where are you touching... Hyaaaahng!!!"
She grabbed a nipple with her fingers and pulled.
Streeeetch—squirt!
"What the, it really comes out from here?"
[Neri's Breast Milk]
All stats +4 (per 200ml, stacking not possible)
"What the hell, when did this change?"
I had glossed over it before, but now I saw that her trait had also changed from sap to breast milk.
And the stats had doubled.
Though it was still lacking compared to my own breast milk, an all-stats +4 elixir was an incredible item worth anywhere from one to nearly two billion won.
"Wow... this bitch?"
I was about to start sucking greedily, but seeing her with tears welling up in her eyes, I felt sorry for her and let go.
"Ahem... Right, since you're human now, I'll get you a secret manual and some gear, so let's train hard. You can become strong like me, too!"
"Huuu... Waaah!"
"Hey, stop acting like a human brat!"
It was a little frustrating, but honestly, it was cute.
There was something about her seemingly helpless appearance that stimulated my protective instincts.
‘Don't fall for it. It's one of her tricks!’
That's what my head was telling me, but when I met her eyes, I couldn't bring myself to be too harsh.
I pulled on Neri's cheek, and when she cried even harder, I pulled her into a hug to soothe her.
As if she liked the warmth of a human body, Neri quickly stopped crying once I held her.
We made up and left the Tower, heading home together.
However,
"Waaaaaah~ Auntyyyyyyy~~~!"
The moment Neri saw the Building Owner Lady, she ran and threw herself into her arms.
"That, that traitor! A minute ago she was clinging to me all happy... Hey, you, get back here!"
"Oh my, Do-hee, you didn't hit Neri, did you?"
"N-No, I didn't hit her. Oh, and I need to collect Neri's breast milk..."
"Ah, I'll take care of that. Don't you worry."
The lady said she had given Neri her own room, just like the other humans living here.
But apparently, Neri rarely stayed in her own home and spent almost all her time at the lady's house...
"Hiiiing...! M-Mommy's mean!"
"What did you say? Wh-Why am I your mom!"
"Waaaaaaaah!!"
"D-Do-hee! I told you not to bully Neri!"
"Ah... no..."
Neri had realized that the lady's gentle embrace was warmer than her scary, fierce mother's.
Not that she had started to hate Lee Do-hee.
‘Someday... I'll earn her recognition with my skills!’
Inwardly, her will was burning.
*
The next day, the CEO of the onahole company came in person with an onahole for registration. He said he had something special to show me.
"Please take a look at this. It's a new, compact onahole we've produced."
The CEO held something in his hand and showed it to me.
"...What on earth is this?"
This... was me.
"We received a request to produce an onahole like this, so we made one. You remember when you were with the Ogre and the Troll, right? People said they wanted to experience that feeling for themselves. We made this based on your actual body, just compressed a little. It required a precision process, so the price is a bit high, but what do you think? Of our special onahole?"
"...People really wanted this?"
"Of course!"
It really looked like they just made it because they wanted to, but I decided to let it slide. I registered ten of these as clones as well.
For reference, my Lewd Power had seen a tremendous increase over this time.
[Lewd Power: 35212]
I had no idea how much Faith they had been using, but it was getting to the point where I needed to increase my divine power recovery rate.
With 350 onaholes in her possession, Lee Do-hee was now an onahole tycoon.
From now on, guild member registration would proceed even faster.
And that meant my Lewd Power would accumulate even more quickly.
Incidentally, I heard that prostitutes had been completely wiped out not just in Seoul but all of Korea, and many were now going abroad. It was a slightly shameful phenomenon, but it would likely be resolved to some extent once I had more onaholes.
‘Getting stronger automatically... but it's still not enough.’
I wasn't the only one getting stronger.
My enemies had also grown stronger than in the past, and they were still pushing themselves to climb the Tower, getting stronger even now.
[Giant Guilds Break Through the 81st Floor!! Immediately Challenge the 82nd!]
[The Tower Climbing Competition Heats Up, Are the Giant Guilds the Inevitable Victors!?]
The alliance of Giant Guilds had already cleared the 81st floor and were planning to climb to the 82nd to widen the gap with the Sword Saint's Guild.
‘I need to climb faster, too. There's no time to waste.’
I began to gobble down the pile of spirit herbs in my Waiting Room that increased divine power recovery speed.
I stuffed myself with the elixirs I'd splurged a fortune on until I was about to burst.
I purchased secret manuals and skill books for the Pukteu warriors and mages, for Neri, and for the giant monsters.
I got them equipped, too.
The equipment for Bicorn and the other giant monsters had been commissioned from a master craftsman in England, so it would still take some time.
A massive amount of funds had been spent, but I didn't regret it.
They were all beings who would one day fight for me.
‘Now, there's only one thing left...’
Irene's physical training secret manual.
It was time to go meet that pervert Irene to find a solution for the aphrodisiac.