Episode 1 – The Strange App (1)
“What is this?”
On that day, which was utterly ordinary as usual, I was searching through my cellphone when I discovered something.
An app I had never seen before was unintentionally installed among my other apps.
It had no name, and the icon was just a solid black square.
At first, I thought it was some kind of error, but then a chill ran down my spine.
These days, smartphone fraud and hacking crimes were on the rise.
Could it be that I had become a target?
Were they going to hack my camera and blackmail me with it?!
Panicked, I involuntarily dropped my cellphone from my hands.
I immediately searched through my memory.
But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find any excuse.
I had never clicked on a strange link in a text or visited a suspicious website or downloaded anything.
“This can’t be.”
However, I collapsed at the sight that followed.
The mysterious app on the cellphone, which had fallen onto the bed from my hand, suddenly activated by itself.
It was as if my cellphone was moving on its own, not possessed by any ghost.
Dumbfounded, I watched in disbelief before I quickly pressed the power button.
[It won’t work]
At that moment, I gasped.
I was left frozen, unable to breathe, by the mere four characters that floated on the black screen.
“…”
[Bringing it to the repair center won’t help. This is an opportunity for you, so listen carefully.]
I quietly wrapped my cellphone in a handkerchief to put it in my bag when new words appeared again.
As if it could read my thoughts.
“What the hell…”
[If you refuse to play the game, I will distribute your internet usage history and locked files, along with screenshots, to your acquaintances.]
“Who the hell are you?”
In this situation, it was useless to make a fuss. I composed myself, covered the camera lens, and placed the cellphone down again.
On the black background, white letters appeared smoothly, and this time a new screen emerged.
“Account linking?”
[Didn’t I say? It’s a game. You’re the one who installed this app by yourself, so why such a reaction?]
It was the familiar account linking screen often seen when starting a game.
I swallowed dryly.
The moment I linked here, I’d be hacked… No, maybe I had already been completely compromised, so it wouldn’t matter.
What nonsense was this about me installing it myself?
Considering how cautious I had always been.
[Link it. I’ll give further explanations afterward.]
“Damn…”
There was no choice.
This unknown hacker had used the word ‘game,’ but how was this a game?
Right now, this madman was eavesdropping on me and having real-time conversations as if talking to me directly.
With the anxiety of feeling that I might be socially ruined at any moment, and the fear of this crazy hacker causing me harm, I reluctantly entered one of my junk email addresses.
“This can’t be good?”
[Participants of this game do not link through emails.]
While puzzling over this, with a sudden click and flash from the front camera, my picture was taken.
[Your soul is the price.]
The moment my photo was taken, I could sense it.
Others might laugh it off as nonsense, but the chilling cold that had passed through my body was no lie.
My heart raced, and cold sweat dripped.
This was real.
[Start the game.]
No matter how shocked I was, the screen flipped automatically.
The newly appeared environment boasted incredible graphics, like a live-action movie.
“A cave.”
[Behold. As the price of your soul, you have gained everything of a species.]
This place was indeed a cave.
Faintly glowing stones were embedded in the walls, so it wasn’t too dark.
I shifted my gaze to the message that floated on the screen.
There was ‘it.’
“What the hell is this…”
It referred to this as life.
However, no matter how I looked at it, it only appeared to be dark water pooling on the cave floor.
[Ah… such an ambiguous situation.]
“What kind of nonsense is this?”
[An unremarkable soul like yours, but it has enough potential. Depending on how it grows, it can sway between extremes.]
I laughed in disbelief.
Wasn’t this just a failure of an attempt? At least give a heads-up in advance.
[If you want to see more detailed information, try touching it once.]
Looking at it this way, it was quite a friendly tutorial guide.
I touched the screen as it instructed.
“Cells?”
[Correct. But they are not just ordinary cells.]
On the enlarged screen, the cells were writhing, extending roots, and dividing at an astonishing speed.
To the extent that I could visually see the pool growing.
[To make it easier to understand, let me show you their species characteristics. The species characteristics are unique properties possessed by each species.]
[Collective Consciousness] [Genetic Manipulation] [Rapid Growth]
The three functions unfolded before me.
I sensed the characteristics of these cells from those keywords.
“Those x?”
[Similar but different. They can replicate explosively and literally become anything, but the process is akin to carving a rock to create a beach.]
At least say it in simpler terms.
I returned the screen to its original state.
What was it trying to say? It didn’t even have a flashy UI like a game, just showing the screen plainly; what was the point?
[Now, I will proceed with the tutorial.]
Even the progress wasn’t in my hands but at its whim.
[You lack power. While unlimited explosive replication is an advantage, it also has the disadvantage of energy depletion.]
“So what are you saying?”
[Right now, provide samples to them, who are at the cellular level, and also provide energy.]
It was issuing commands to me without asking.
Samples, and energy.
Energy was fine, but what the hell did samples mean?
[A genetic sample that can be obtained as such. With your current growth state, you cannot replicate a large organism.]
“I see what you’re saying.”
I stood up from my seat.
I already had an idea of what this species I was supposed to oversee was about.
They eat, replicate, combine, and grow stronger.
To do that, I needed various samples.
“How about those? They’re small.”
Stepping outside, I spotted what I was looking for.
A small ant was crawling up the wall.
[In your current state, it is definitely possible. Take a picture of it.]
Soon, the app moved on its own, the camera switched on.
With a dazed mind, I pointed the camera at the ant and took a shot.
“…It’s gone.”
[Look. Your children have seen a ray of light. This moment will be recorded in the history of their species.]
The screen shone again, showing that pool.
The ant I had photographed fell into that pool.
Consumption, and disassembly.
I frowned at the sight of the ant being surrounded by countless cells, disassembled at a cellular level.
[A macro roadmap is needed. How will you nurture these with abilities? What kind of species will they become?]
“Suddenly asking something grand.”
Back in my room, I scratched my head.
Why was I worrying about this when I should just be concerned about midterms and reports?
But I had heard that to survive, I needed to continue to grow stronger.
If what was happening was not just a dream, I couldn’t just ignore it.
“I’ve heard that the species characteristics are the strongest weapon, so I should head in the direction that maximizes that.”
Starting at a cellular level, I had obtained those three characteristics as the price.
So it seemed I had to act in the best way to highlight those.
[Then you must constantly acquire energy and samples toward that goal. First of all, prepare for war. There are intruders.]
“Huh?”
An unexpected event occurred.
Hastily enlarging the screen, I saw that there really were intruders.
They were… spores of something I couldn’t identify.
[These are a type of fungus that lives in this cave. The fungal spores that came with the wind have come into contact with your children.]
Though they were called fungi, they seemed a bit different from the mold I knew.
Outwardly, nothing was visible.
However, when I touched and expanded the view, the fierce battlefield unfolded before my eyes.
[Fungi possess weapons of strength and hair. And their size is far larger than your children. But your children have already obtained their own weapons.]
Among the cells, there were some peculiar ones.
They had protrusions resembling the jaws of ants.
Those cells swarmed in and began to bite at the fungi.
[The overconfident fungi began to be torn apart gruesomely. They started to break apart. We have achieved our first victory. This will also be recorded in the history of the species.]
An icon appeared on one side of the screen.
It was evidently meant to signify the history of the species that was mentioned.
[And you have obtained the genetic information of the fungi. Check it out.]
Another icon appeared below.
I clicked on it as it instructed.
[Cave Glowing Mushroom: 1A1237]
It contained information about the creature we had just fought.
It was a fungus, as stated, and it took on the form of a softly glowing mushroom.
“What’s this…?”
[It’s mimicking the absorbed fungi.]
Some of the cells began to divide violently, at an incredible speed once more.
The appearance was similar to the fungi we had just consumed.
I hadn’t accelerated it; the mushroom was genuinely growing rapidly.
One peculiar point was that the absorbed glowing mushroom was white, but the mushroom I was seeing now was black.
[It’s trying to mimic the mushroom’s method of reproduction to expand its numbers beyond this place. It aims to spread widely through spores.]
Hearing the reason surprised me a bit.
This unknown species was smarter than I had thought.
