Chapter 151: System Reconstruction (1)
“The biggest hurdle has been crossed, and as expected, there are other options. Then what will the result be!”
His clenched fist trembled. His fixed gaze on the screen did not blink even once, striving to capture every scene.
His Player had finally entered a significant branching point. Clearly, it was no easy task to endure with a faint point of light in a place where nothing existed, not even himself. A true nothingness would never withstand it.
Holding on to his consciousness while his existence was melting away was not likely, even with all kinds of support.
However, that arduous and painful process was, unfortunately, only the beginning of the overall story. It was a necessary fundamental condition to create change.
If the Player couldn’t endure it, the game would end here. There would be no need to see more. No one could stop the rampaging units.
Fortunately, the Player had succeeded in enduring once again.
“Adversary. Can it really be done?”
He mulled over the option he had never encountered before. There is no perfectly identical future. These minor changes from a single word had been steadily occurring, but in the end, the result had been the same.
Becoming an overlord who even dominates Eve, waging war against a rampaging Eve and achieving victory, or continuing to persuade from within.
Among all the choices attempted so far, none had succeeded due to external or internal interference.
The newly presented option this time. Whether it would succeed or not, from now on, simply watching was the only answer.
From here on, the true beginning of the story, which even he could not dare to know or predict, had begun.
…
A barren planet, REDRIUM. A place filled with nests of the Legion covering the entire world. Eve stood quietly with her arms crossed, her face rigid.
Just by looking at her avatar’s expression and posture, one could tell she was notably displeased and had her horns firmly raised.
But the Legion’s collective consciousness no longer was directly influenced by her emotions.
Because now my emotions, which had become equivalent to hers, were very calm.
“Come with me now. It’s all over.”
“Of course.”
I tore through the resilient mucus with my newly formed hands and stepped into the world.
Ignoring the sulking expression of Eve, I examined my body. There was definitely a sense of alienation, but now that I had become a hive mind, it was something I could overlook.
“Looks good.”
I chuckled at my reflection. My body resembled Eve’s avatar quite closely. No, aside from the fact that I was male, the composition and structure were entirely identical to Eve.
A monstrous body covered in black chitin. This was now my other body.
“I still can’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
“You… right now, you’re human. You still possess humanity. You’ve assimilated with the collective consciousness in that state. How does that help our future!?”
Eve shook her head in disbelief. Her demeanor reminded me of a lost adolescent student, which made me smile.
“You’ve become too strong, Eve. You’ve grown to the point where you can actively use the rejection and understanding of other races, which were once your only weaknesses. If you continue like this, you might find yourself unmatched. Someday, you might kill or dominate all living things and become the true strong.”
“What’s wrong with that? That is my, no, our mission. To eat and grow. We’ve consumed the entire maze, and the entire continent. There’s nothing we can’t do in the universe.”
At my words, Eve grinned and her eyes gleamed.
“But in doing so, we can’t be eternal. In the end, after devouring everything, you will be left alone.”
“…!”
There was no need to see her expression. Eve and I now perfectly shared all emotions. I could sense that she was surprised at this moment.
Until now, Eve had learned that emotion from humans or human-like beings, yet loneliness was especially an emotion not worth discussing.
There was no time for loneliness for an existence filled only with struggle and combat.
Yet when all those battles end, will Eve, ultimately left alone as a Legion, be able to withstand that loneliness?
“Ah, no. I won’t be swayed by that kind of emotion.”
“That could be true. For you, emotions are just a tool. But you, being still young, have been prone to emotions even before your current self was formed. I’ve been watching everything. Even when you fought against the rats in the maze, and when you fought against beasts.”
Eve, faced with the truth, gritted her teeth in frustration. I could clearly feel her annoyance and anger, but it no longer intimidated me.
“…What does that have to do with this now?”
“I’m trying to make sure you aren’t lonely. Additionally, we can take a safer route this way.”
I responded while reminding myself of my role. There would be no existence that could come close to Eve other than myself, who had become one completely.
“When we meet formidable opponents, we fight together. Just like we have until now. But of course, such strong adversaries don’t always appear.”
“And that’s why.”
“In preparation for those times, we compete among ourselves. We grow stronger the stronger the enemy is. So if we fight each other? Naturally, we’ll only become stronger.”
I boldly announced my plan. And the first reaction from Eve, upon understanding its meaning, was nothing less than laughter.
“Compete with me? Right now, you are incomplete. You cannot fully dominate the Legion while possessing such humanity. The competition itself is not established. If we were to fight… you would just be trampled by me.”
“I don’t think so. I believe I have my own way.”
Of course, I expected this response. I readily accepted her tantrum. With her frustration escalating, Eve stomped her foot on the ground.
“Don’t be petulant, Eve. You know it too. We are truly one; both growing stronger together is what makes us all stronger.”
I wanted to reconcile at this point. Just because we became competitors didn’t mean we were to become enemies. I might nag, but isn’t that something I could endure?
“Come on, hurry.”
I spread my arms and waved them like I was trying to coax a child. Eventually, Eve, pretending to relent, moved her avatar to approach me.
It wasn’t warm or soft. With a clank, the stiff chitin collided.
But that didn’t matter. I patted the head of the Eve I held in my arms. My last gamble had succeeded.
What I obtained in return was only one thing: the Eve I was now holding.
I was finally able to stand on equal ground with Eve once more. I had to seize this opportunity. It was something I knew without needing to think: this was our last chance.
“Indeed. Competing with me is impossible for you.”
“Still saying that?”
Before my body of the Legion and with my human body behind it, I let out a laugh at Eve’s voice.
Currently, I had switched bodies. I couldn’t roam the Earth with that monster’s body.
Unlike Eve, who could move millions of avatars simultaneously, I could only operate one body at a time.
After adjusting the nearly the same body I had switched to, I closed the gate I had opened. I could now use the knowledge accumulated by the Legion to some extent.
“Oh, this does actually feel like clothing.”
I transformed my skin cells like Eve to create an outfit similar to what I had been wearing.
Eve was watching that sight with a peculiar expression, but I could now tell she wasn’t thinking too complexly at that moment.
The collective consciousness connected to the universe was constantly on the move. That was a strength I could never imitate.
“You’ve thought of a plan, right?”
“Of course. But right now, I need a little more information. While we continue to move together like this, it seems we’re not the only ones revising the system.”
Now that I had become an incomplete hive mind, I needed justification and methods to operate my own forces.
Moreover, I had to grow them to match the size of Eve’s forces, which were currently facing the space army. Naturally, I couldn’t catch up in scale. There had to be a different strength.
“What you are currently executing, an all-out strike against the rebel alliance… feels like a snowball rolling down a hill.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Oh, I cut the call when I received that. To put it simply, it’s like the mages who requested reinforcements for the rebel alliance fleet using the game system.”
One of the players mixed among the mages had asked for salvation from players in other worlds through communication between units.
It was a natural choice for survival in such a crisis.
Therefore, the planets that Eve was indiscriminately attacking in the rebel alliance would likely be in a similar situation. Out of necessity, they would have no choice but to seek foreign aid.
