Chapter 26

chapter 26

the medical officer couldn’t blink his eyes.

so this is what a beast fighting arena operated by the starunion looks like.

two monsters are now facing each other under the watchful gaze of the stars.

his new owner, elchen dvara, seemed like a machine from hell cast by a demon. abnormally long and massive arms, aggressively flailing red fur, alloy gloves adorned with dried blood and flesh. there was not a single element that wasn’t ominous.

a monster daring to confront the machine of hell. his gaze turned to the opposite side.

there, a ghost was present.

with a color close to black-brown, an exoskeleton covering the head and chest, a mass of tentacles resembling hair, four arms giving the impression of human bones clad in armor, and a tail almost twice the size of the body.

the medical officer knew very well how many souls that black ghost had devoured. the dying cries of soldiers before his eyes still echoed in his ears.

the machine of hell and the ghostly butcher.

the massive and sturdy monster and the agile and tough one rushed towards each other.

***

every time the creature took a step, the corridor of the ship vibrated. the approaching boss swiftly raised his arms.

the bone shield covering his arms flew towards my head to break it. i leaned my head down to avoid the blow, and i shot my tail toward him.

just as my flexible tail was about to pierce his chest, i hesitated.

‘bomb!’

hesitation during battle is strictly forbidden. the boss did not miss my weakness. the shockwave from his rock-hard fist turned the corridor into a battlefield, shattering the lights hanging from the ceiling one by one.

“what?!”

the boss seemed equally confused as i was. since the toughest parts of my body are my chest and head, targeting them would have been an effective attack.

i had already withdrawn my body.

he laughed confidently. he seemed to believe that my attacks were useless and that there were no weaknesses in his body.

considering the current situation, he wasn’t entirely wrong. there weren’t many places i could target when a chest attack was impossible. the bone armor surrounding his arms and legs was tougher than my enhanced body. unless i used a plasma weapon, i couldn’t penetrate it. even if i aimed for the parts not covered by bones, he would do whatever it took to defend himself.

‘but...’

currently, there were two things he didn’t know.

one was that i had the ‘neurotoxin glands’ trait. if i succeeded in stabbing him anywhere on his body, the fight would be over.

‘he already seems to have guessed it, though.’

the boss is particularly focused on my tail. even before going berserk, when i aimed for him with my tail, he chose to dodge rather than block it. i’m not sure if it’s an instinct from the wild or if he obtained information in the situation room, but he seems to be aware that my tail is dangerous.

‘but what to do with this?’

he might not know, but i can extract poison from my teeth and claws. if i break through his exterior and attack, i’ll win.

so, how can i penetrate the tough exterior that the boss relies on so firmly?

while the boss is concentrating on my four arms and tail, there is actually one more weapon in my arsenal.

the small arms near my chest are holding a thin rod, the sonic blade. i picked it up just in case from the gym, but i didn’t expect to use it so soon.

the sonic blade excels in cutting power alone. it might break when i strike the bone exterior, but that doesn’t matter. once i make a wound on the armor, the rest will be no problem. no matter how thick and huge a dam is, it will collapse with a small crack.

the moment when fortune smiles upon me is when a crack appears in his iron fortress.

“that’s it!”

the boss leaped. thanks to his enhanced reflexes, he jumped at an unbelievable height and lunged at me.

i used all six of my arms and legs to quickly get out of the way. the place where i was standing was destroyed, and the corridor shook.

‘fast and strong.’

he’s fast because he has mixed various genes, but his movements are incredibly fast. even though he’s using all limbs except for his small arms to evade, it’s still quite close. usually, fast movements come at the expense of strength, but he doesn’t compromise on either.

‘of course, there’s no such thing as perfection.’

hulk mutants have a persistent weakness. i have to endure until that weakness comes to the surface.

as we rushed through the ship’s hull, we entered a massive space. the rusted smell of damp metal permeated the cargo containers. this is the world i first faced when i opened my eyes – a cargo container.

all six legs strained, and my body soared in height. as i roamed above the containers, shouts from below reached my ears.

“arrogant!”

as if to say that such things can’t stop him, he plowed straight into the containers. rectangular metal blocks weighing several tons each tumbled in a chaotic manner. grating steel plates on the floor danced in the air in response.

bugs hidden everywhere suddenly appeared in response to the impending catastrophe. after catching a cockroach fleeing, i hid my body behind a container.

facing such overwhelming power, direct confrontation is difficult. the only option i have here is to wait.

‘i’m waiting.’

i’ve done more than just run away so far. hulk mutants consume a lot of energy and have a short ‘rest period’ in the middle of exertion. if i keep pushing him to use his strength recklessly, even if he doesn’t want to, his body will be forced to stop the attack.

‘there’s not much time left.’

the auxiliary unit tells me that the chemical reactions and energy regulation mechanisms occurring inside his body, which are in close proximity, are revealing the optimal timing for my attack.

the auxiliary unit tells me that there are two hearts in his body, and they regulate their output appropriately.

‘speaking of which, he has two hearts.’

where is the detonation device connected? hulk mutants’ main hearts are usually on the left, so it’s likely on the left, but he’s a wicked monster. i’m not sure which side it’s on.

while i was briefly distracted by thoughts of the heart, he spotted me and charged.

“aaaagggghhhh!”

‘this is bad.’

a fist filled with unimaginable power, capable of throwing containers weighing over ten tons like toys, grazed my shoulder.

the throbbing pain surged, but it wasn’t unbearable, so i immediately retaliated.

my tail struck between his joints, like a spear thrust by a master of spear fighting, into the part of his body not protected by bones.

“bastard!”

he quickly bent his arm, causing my attack to fail. before he could charge at me again, i quickly moved backward, and a container crashed down where i had been standing.

“damn it! running away, you cowardly bug!”

‘that was a mistake. let’s not fixate on the heart.’

i shouldn’t fall into his trap. i moved out of his line of sight and focused all my senses on the auxiliary unit.

i raised my head, and i saw a person standing at the entrance to the cargo container. with a slender figure and long black hair, it was clear that the person was a woman.

‘that’s a woman?’

my auxiliary systems and amoph’s unique senses were blaring alarms like crazy.

‘do not confront that ‘monster’.’

‘...si-hyun yujin.’

the mysterious presence who had come aboard the ship with the pirates. the adversary i had been thinking about facing last had come looking for me.

“future vision, huh? which gene is it? i’d like to hear it.”

she casually chatted as she entered the cargo container. despite her seemingly casual tone, she was prepared to strike at any moment.

in her hand, or rather the back of her hand, a white blade protruded.

it had a similar appearance to the boss’s bone armor, but i knew exactly which gene had given rise to that blade.

‘she mixed the genes of a white gallagon with those of other high-level organisms.’

obtaining such a gene was so difficult that i had contemplated whether it was worth acquiring as a genetic essence. besides that, even the visible genetic traits alone were numerous, and all of them were rare and valuable features. in the game, players who modified themselves to this extent were only a step away from becoming rankers.

‘i can’t beat her in my current state.’

i need to retreat immediately, regroup, and prepare a strategy. however, she didn’t give me the time to do so.

“you... gar...?”

“good job until now.”

kuk!

she approached the incapacitated boss and pierced the detonation device with her blade. the boss, who was also stabbed through the heart, spat out a large amount of blood before collapsing.

‘darn it.’

“we can’t just let you run away, can we?”

the bomb timer had already started. i didn’t know how much time was left, but it couldn’t be much.

my intention to withdraw and prepare for an attack was thwarted.

‘what should i do?’

however, engaging in combat without any information about the enemy would be suicidal. fighting without knowing the opponent’s combat sense and strategy would only result in defeat.

i cautiously observed the enemy, and she smiled broadly.

“i have a proposal.”

‘a proposal?’

with a relaxed attitude, si-hyun smirked. it was an attitude i didn’t particularly like, but my current situation was one of absolute disadvantage. for now, i needed to focus on how to strategize against her, rather than getting annoyed.

‘what are those eyes? are they outspacer’s observers? no, it’s more likely to be a terror devil’s possibility...’

“you seem somewhat similar to me, so i’ll spare you.”

‘what?’

“if you serve me, in simple terms, you’ll become my pet.”

it sounded like an absurdity, but her expression was different from before. even by observing her body’s reactions through my auxiliary systems, i didn’t get the sense that she was lying.

‘...there’s no need for her to lie.’

just as i felt her strength, she knew that i was weaker than herself. that’s why she was coming out with such a relaxed attitude.

“you also manipulate genes, don’t you? i could be a suitable master for you.”

‘...’

“so, come with me.”

overwhelmingly strong, si-hyun yujin was telling me to serve her, to become her slave.

「baby...」

honestly, following si-hyun’s words would be a rational choice. the blade on her wrist was gallgon’s claw, with destructive power surpassing plasma weapons, and even my reinforced exterior couldn’t withstand it.

besides that, there are various weapons on her body that could easily kill me.

i approached her, using all six arms and legs, like a well-trained pet before its owner.

“that’s right. it’s the right decision.”

‘don’t be scared. i’m here.’

however, si-hyun was overlooking one thing about me.

why i liked amorph and why i was immersed in this cheesy, useless character, earning me the nickname ‘amorph lover’ in the community. she didn’t know.

the reason i liked amorph was simple: ‘freedom of choice’. i loved amorph because it was a being that could become infinitely stronger through my ‘choices’.

therefore, my choice was already predetermined.

[zzz (it’s okay)]

「baby.」

when si-hyun’s face came close enough that i could clearly see her satisfied expression, i narrowed the distance further. i kicked my leg towards her face, using all six limbs for balance.

“!”

she quickly evaded my foot, but that wasn’t my intention. i had been waiting for a brief opening. acidic blood that had been flowing from my torn exterior splashed into her eyes.

“huh?!”

a momentary gap was all i needed. i couldn’t hurt her with acidic blood; it couldn’t even harm a strand of her hair.

[zz (hold tight)]

「yes!」

while she was momentarily disoriented, i jumped with 26’s support, using all six limbs to run away. i heard the sound of the cargo hold breaking apart from behind.

“alright, let’s have some fun! hahaha!”

with her eyes closed, si-hyun laughed like a maniac. she pulled out gallagon’s claws from both hands and slashed the containers as if they were tofu.

“let’s have some fun?”

si-hyun yujin was much stronger than me. indeed, she was my first true enemy since i became amorph. but i would show her that the outcome of a battle wasn’t solely determined by strength.

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