Chapter 36: Secret of the World (2)
In the dark center of the nest.
While someone was resolutely initiating an action, and someone else was observing the nesting of the occupied territory.
In the deepest place, where the origin of the Legion and the brain exists, something was happening.
The sound of a throbbing heartbeat could be heard periodically.
The source of that heartbeat was a special nest set up on one side.
Inside that special nest, a life was sleeping.
Until now, all Legionnaires had been produced in the form of eggs.
Only one being had ever been born from this special nest that resembled a womb.
[To be precise, it wasn’t a birth. But yes, this time it’s different. From start to finish, we created it using our abilities.]
The flesh walls split open, and a fluid that also served the role of amniotic fluid gushed out.
Then, something suddenly popped out from the gap.
Soft, white hands.
Those hands held the flesh walls apart and soon revealed its entire body.
[…Currently, the Legion possesses only one human gene. So everything we create can be exactly like her.]
She, or rather, ‘it,’ descended onto the ground, dripping with mucus.
Despite its chilling expressionless face, its features were identical to the only human it knew, Kang Do-yeon.
Kang Do-yeon was unaware of this fact.
The Legion had controlled the information.
[Why would you? After putting in such enormous energy to create it, are you going to discard it? Does it not please you?]
However, the copy of Kang Do-yeon soon pointed a sword at its own neck.
[Are you pondering what this means? That you cannot fully represent yourself with a face identical to his sister? You’ve already grown that much.]
Its fingertips trembled.
This was proof that it was indeed pondering.
[But isn’t it amusing? Your identity is still being formed. You should think efficiently. This body, perhaps it could be useful somewhere.]
“Ah, ah.”
It opened its mouth and produced sound.
The Legion had not yet learned the human language.
What was emitted now was solely a recall of the muscle and nerve responses that Kang Do-yeon used when she spoke, imitating her vocal apparatus.
“Sil.ence.”
[…Yes. That would make sense.]
The Legion repeated the words that Kang Do-yeon had uttered in annoyance towards the enemies when she screamed.
It was not something understood or manipulated deliberately.
But at least it knew the meaning.
Its body twisted, and its skeleton rearranged, beginning to change its form.
As a result, it took on a shape similar to the currently active part of the Legion, which resembled Kang Do-yeon.
However, after a moment of hesitation, the Legion added one more feature.
[You can’t stand to have the same face as her, even if it means dying?]
A carapace enveloped its face like a mask.
Red light glimmered from the eye slots of the mask.
[Go to her and learn. Only then can you get closer to him.]
It began to move.
It was thoroughly a specimen infused with the desires of the Legion.
[This will… be recorded in history. The moment the Legion’s self expands to a higher dimension.]
From somewhere, the sound of paper fluttering could be heard.
“Uh?”
On the 36th level, inside a temple where spells were cast.
Kang Do-yeon, who had been searching this place to some extent, flinched at a strange presence.
She could sense it because she was connected to the collective consciousness of the Legion.
“…What is it?”
She instinctively revealed hostility at the appearance of an unknown opponent, despite being a part of the Legion.
Moreover, if that opponent, even while wearing a mask, shared a similar physique, hairstyle, and even posture with her,
“…”
However, it was standing still, its mask merely glowing with light from the eye slots, without a word or movement.
In that moment, Kang Do-yeon felt a shiver run down her spine. Although she had no pores to actually shiver, she still felt that sensation.
“You… are from the Legion.”
Even with her information controlled, she instinctively hit upon its identity.
Instincts and intuition were things that the rational and calculated race of the Legion lacked, even if they possessed them, they wouldn’t use them easily.
[Can you not feel it? The Legion wants to learn from you.]
“Learn? What? You already know everything.”
[Something that cannot be understood through genetic analysis. The Legion is transmitting parts of the information it had been controlling back to you. Your mission is temporarily paused.]
Kang Do-yeon furrowed her brows and bit her lip.
The flowing information contained more than just simple data.
“Understood.”
She, too, was ultimately a part of the Legion.
Understanding that meaning, Kang Do-yeon sighed.
“Shall we start… with words? We already know what learning is.”
“Sure.”
For the first time, an answer came back.
Hearing her own voice with her own ears made her flinch and hesitate.
Of course, the word ‘sure’ was also an utterance based on memories, deducing its meaning and reproducing it.
“You’re curious about the emotions I’m feeling right now? This is what it means to feel flustered.”
She ultimately began her class.
Pouring out everything she knew onto a blank white canvas.
Every word, every emotion, and even the most basic common sense, one by one.
“I understand.”
However, that canvas was essentially a massive hive mind with nonsensical hardware.
The knowledge and experiences accumulated by the 17-year-old human girl, Kang Do-yeon, were completely assimilated within mere hours.
There were subtle changes in the process of interpreting what was learned, but they were not significant.
“…Really?”
“Easy. Compared to calculating and analyzing the genes of various lifeforms with just a handful of clues about entirely new concepts and worlds.”
It, the Legion, turned its back.
“Kang Do-yeon. The first leader of the Legion. The rest of the learning will be later. Go to the 37th level. Another enemy awaits.”
And it pointed towards the passage leading to the 37th level with its finger.
At the same time, a vision of what the Legion was currently observing was transmitted to Kang Do-yeon’s mind.
“I’m going! I’ll go!”
With her face pale, she hurriedly left the spot.
However, it stood still.
[Now do you understand? What you feel, what you see and hear, and how those thoughts are expressed.]
“…”
[But I know. We are not humans. Although we learned humanity from humans, the moment we made that learning our own, it is not humanity. In the end, it’s merely reference material.]
Certainly, Kang Do-yeon taught the Legion everything she knew as much as she could.
However, that was never perfect, nor did it satisfy itself.
[What do you think about that?]
“…That. Kang Shin Woo.”
She muttered blankly.
Her knowledge was piled up arbitrarily, flawlessly memorized, but matching what she knew to reality could not simply be solved by having good hardware.
The Legion’s self was still akin to a baby.
Any emotion learned from Kang Do-yeon could not explain this.
—
“What is it? What’s going on?”
[A certain incident is presumed to have occurred in the 37th level, and a scout has discovered something.]
“Oh, it seems there’s still time.”
I checked my phone, which had been buzzing with notifications.
The situation indeed looked urgent.
The Legionnaires led by Kang Do-yeon were waking from their dormant state to save energy, moving in unison.
“What the hell is going on?”
[A movement detected at the 37th level. Show the video footage.]
This time, the perspective switched to the scout.
It was undoubtedly while searching through the ruins.
But at that moment, something was spotted.
“Person?! Ah, no. Anyway! A living being! Could it be that they’re dead?”
I tangled my words in excitement.
But it was definitely exciting.
[Yes. Their appearance and exterior resemble the phantoms we encountered on the previous levels. Of course, it’s not a long-dead corpse. There are no magical markings drawn on their body.]
“What the hell is going on?”
I furrowed my brows and looked more closely.
It appeared to be female.
Given the tattered rags clinging to her body, it was hard to gauge how much time had passed.
She certainly seemed to be alive, yet she sat, head lowered as if dead, not moving at all.
[The scout approached closely, but there’s no movement. However, she’s definitely alive. The scout detected faint breathing.]
The scout zipped in and landed right on her face.
But even with a bug larger than a thumb crawling across her face, she remained silent.
“Could she be sleeping?”
[No.]
But in that moment.
With lightning speed, the scout was captured.
The view spun dizzyingly before disappearing between red membranes and white teeth.
Then came the sound of a crunch.
“Did she just… get eaten?”
[The biggest issue isn’t that. Here’s the next footage.]
Setting aside the fact that the scout was eaten, I held my breath as I watched the continuing video.
This footage was from another scout’s recording.
It showed the exact moment the first scout was devoured by that monster.
“…That insane.”
I couldn’t help but exclaim.
The creature that had instantly consumed the scout rose to its feet.
The twisted body, eyes wide open, drooling saliva, and its snarling breath indicated that the woman was not normal.
I began to suspect that perhaps the reason for their downfall and self-imposed seal was related to that.
