Chapter 19: Game Board (2)
“First of all, any unit belonging to a different faction is considered an enemy without exception.”
Kang Do-yeon began to calmly organize her thoughts.
With my mouth sealed shut, I nodded in agreement.
“Similarly, players are hostile toward other players. But here comes the contradiction. What if the units of the opposing player are in entirely different worlds? What if it’s a different ‘server’?”
“Right, you’re correct.”
Units from the same world are always enemies, but that might not necessarily be the case for players.
In fact, they could end up forming an alliance under certain circumstances.
For the purpose of targeting another player of the same faction.
A chill ran down my spine.
“And those units causing trouble on Earth are not related to us. But think about it differently. What if the ones wreaking havoc on Earth have owners that are players in your world?”
“They would definitely try to hunt not just the units, but also that kind of faction.”
Killing a player would eliminate the need to go through a war.
I started to feel a headache coming on.
It’s all too complicatedly intertwined.
“But what does that have to do with using Oh Yu-na? That you’re in danger. That you’re hurt!”
“I won’t forgive either. But anyway, Yu-na doesn’t know about you.”
He opened his mouth slowly with somewhat rough breathing and shaking eyes.
“She prioritizes her own safety and wants to make contact with other players. Players whose worlds don’t overlap. She said she would actively move to expand her force.”
“She plans to stay by your side?”
“I’ll keep bringing information to you, so look for a more certain opportunity.”
There’s an advantage to being the one to act first.
Gaining information unilaterally and using it in reverse.
Rational. Yes, thinking efficiently and rationally, my little sister was right.
But if that happens, am I a legion or a human?
“I’m worried about you.”
“…Then buy me some bread.”
He laughed weakly.
In the end, I left the room as it was.
“Is it certain that that guy is not a ‘unit’?”
[Yes. Units and players are determined from the beginning. Additionally recruited, bound, or contracted individuals are not affected by the rules.]
Upon returning to my room, I put to rest the last possibility I had been concerned about.
[Don’t blame yourself.]
“Do you think I won’t?”
[On the contrary, your goal has become clearer. Confirm it. Your account level has risen to 3.]
Leveling up feels terribly slow.
But it’s a relief that the number of usable samples and nutrients has increased.
“…This is an investment.”
I shook a bag containing one million won.
It was money earned with her life at stake, which I hadn’t spent even a single penny of, but now I had to use it.
I fiddled with my cellphone.
I remember the words that it was not yet time.
But someday.
When that time comes.
I will record anything and feed it.
Even if it’s a person.
[Do you want to see the legion? With the size increase, the maintenance costs are also high, but due to the characteristics of the species, both growth and digestion are correspondingly faster.]
I checked the screen.
Indeed, the legion was in the process of erasing the traces of the little rats that had been abundant in the great levels.
I would bet that in the grand scheme, is there really a creature larger than us in this cave?
We filled all 20 levels, including 2 great levels.
“Won’t we stop?”
[Of course not. A victory is just a victory. There are still too many places we need to devour.]
I could see the legionnaires collecting the tools from the rats.
For some reason, they looked deep in thought.
[Tools, while a fascinating concept, do we really have to use them just as those guys do?]
“I’m not sure. There are definitely limits right now.”
[Correct. The legion has made that judgment as well.]
The legion gave up on the tools.
To be precise, they gave up on tools obtained from the outside.
After all, steel was something we couldn’t create.
[But that doesn’t mean there’s no alternative. Someday, we might be able to produce weapons that are tougher and sharper than steel.]
“…It could be entirely possible.”
While retaining the concept of tools, the legion sent scouts out to new locations.
[This area has already been devastated by the rats. However, we can digest both their corpses and the mushroom houses or structures they built.]
The surroundings had already become the rats’ front yard.
I don’t know where they fled with their species preservation rights, but if they ran far enough, I wonder if they could survive.
“Still, since those guys cleared the paths, it won’t take long to devour them.”
[Yes. In fact, it would take longer to consume their corpses… Look at this. A scout has discovered something else.]
“What the hell is this inconvenience?”
I checked the screen.
What the scout found was a pathway leading to the upper levels, already cleared by the little rats.
And at the end of that path, which they had claimed for their territory, was something.
“It’s definitely another path, so why did they block it all?”
A large stone, chunks of mushrooms, soil tightly sealed a single passage.
It was undoubtedly the work of the rats.
Context suggests that this is the only way to go up.
That means they themselves blocked the only route to expand upward.
“I wonder why. They had been able to come down freely. Or perhaps if we hadn’t acted deftly, they would have blocked the lower path as well.”
[Unfortunately, the legion does not possess the ability to analyze data in the brain. But the legion knows this much. The rats intentionally blocked that passage.]
“So what are you planning to do?”
[Isn’t it obvious?]
The legionnaires began to move.
They deployed the strongest soldiers to gradually break down the blockage.
[We will not stop. Stopping means death. Our size has grown too much to hesitate now.]
Even if there are some bizarre creatures beyond that.
We had to fight and devour.
“Of course, I believe that.”
And now I wanted that too.
The legion had to become stronger.
To grow and become stronger so that they could support me.
[Almost cleared. The scouts are now entering through the revealed faint gaps.]
As soon as the gap opened, a few small scouts went inside.
At the same time, the view of the scouts synced up.
For now, it was an ordinary cave.
It was an ordinary cave, but…
[This time, the legion was less shocked based on their first experience reaching a ‘branch’ in the great level. This place can undoubtedly be called a part of the ‘stem.’]
“It’s both overwhelming and magnificent.”
It was indeed a cave.
But it was just superficially a cave; I had never seen a cave this large.
Dense vegetation including mushrooms as large as common trees, the towering ceiling dozens of meters high, the luminescent stones shining like stars from the ceiling.
The caves I had seen until now seemed trivial.
[Is it a problem?]
“Of course not.”
I chuckled.
In any case, it wasn’t that important what kind of place this was.
The legion would continue to devour this place.
[What is most important is whether there are competing units present. Next is whether there is a faction daring enough to match us or any strong entities.]
The scouts continued to roam without stopping.
Perhaps due to the rapid changes in the environment, everything around was new information.
“Earth dragon?”
Amid this, I saw something familiar.
A massive, flame-spewing, red-scaled burrowing lizard the size of a car.
The lizard that had once been the ruler of the 10th level was crawling through the mushroom forest.
Though I felt glad to see a familiar face.
“Uh?”
[As expected, this place is a higher level. The ones who lived confidently below are easily hunted in a place like this.]
I blinked in surprise.
That massive earth dragon was swiftly hunted down.
“…Huh.”
The monster that hunted the earth dragon was a huge beetle.
Its size was comparable to that of the earth dragon.
What I had thought to be a nearby rock was actually the shell of the dust-covered beetle.
A world where common sense does not apply.
That is what this cave is.
[We haven’t fully scouted every part yet, but I don’t see any groups that can be called a faction. If that’s the case, it means there are no ones here that would hinder our progress in this intermediate level.]
The cave that blocked the pathway was completely destroyed.
As expected, the legion immediately began its operation.
It incurs maintenance costs. So the sooner, the better the effect.
[We won’t charge recklessly. We are learning beings, and all the experiences we’ve accumulated are recorded in history.]
“I’ve already experienced a proper war.”
I acknowledged it too.
We had now surpassed the mere concept of a pack hunt.
These were ones mixed with various types of soldiers, maximizing combat power, combined solely for war and not mere hunting.
The soldiers of the legion, having transformed from mere hunters into a sharp and cold army, began to overwhelm the beetle that was devouring the earth dragon.
[The shell is quite hard. Even tougher than the shells of the lower level creatures we possess. Hence, it’s tempting.]
The beetle trusted in its carapace and quickly dug into the ground, preparing for defense.
Most predators would probably give up if it ended up like this.
But we were not.
The legion relentlessly succeeded in flipping over the creature that had tormented it.
Seeing the one torn to pieces while still alive caused me to frown.
[Isn’t it trivial? After all, no matter how much it evolves, it’s just a large beast and cannot dare to compare to us.]
“…You’re not speaking your mind, but relaying the legion’s perspective, are you?”
[Correct. Did you feel something?]
Did I feel something? I hesitated a bit as I gazed at the black wave steadily encroaching on this cavity.
“What if I lose my composure?”
The legion had undeniably developed a seed of emotion from the last battle.
I did not wish for this creature, which was like a child, to become arrogant and twisted.
