Chapter 1: Do You Admit Your Guilt? I Admit You’re a Fool!
Episode 39 – Secret of the World (5)
[It’s taking too long for the Legion to deal with the massive enemy with the firepower currently at hand. The Legion decided to utilize the new weapon they acquired immediately.]
The newly acquired weapon is infection.
The artillery-type soldiers began to shoot toxic thorns at the massive beast.
Dozens of spikes pierced into the skin of the creature, which was crushing the legionnaires beneath its overwhelming mass.
[What’s embedded in the thorns is not acid poison anymore, but an upgraded legionnaire. A bacterial-type legionnaire.]
It doesn’t take long to create soldiers at the cellular level.
As the gigantic body staggered, it let out a mournful cry.
The legionnaires, including Kang Do-yeon, slowly retreated.
[A large number of bacteria were injected at once, increasing the spread rate.]
“…The effect is good.”
As the wildly thrashing body of the beast exploded, the bulbous tumors and flesh fell to the ground in a heap.
Even the devouring fungus modified into a legionnaire is taking on a black hue.
Thanks to that, the transformed beast looked as if it were covered entirely by black veins, resembling tree roots.
“Grooooh!”
It howled and turned its thick head in the opposite direction.
The legionnaires could hardly match the weight of the massive creature bearing down on them.
“Let’s go!”
Leading the way with the beast, Kang Do-yeon charged forward once more, directing the legionnaires.
The scouts quickly moved towards the next level, crossing through the air.
[Indeed, it seems they sealed off the entrance and decided their own end.]
“…Is there an end to that?”
[It doesn’t matter whether there is an end or not. The devouring fungus has thrived so far with an unwearied body, overwhelming numbers, and relentless ferocity.]
I was disgusted by the never-ending sight of the infecting entities on the screen, but the Legion showed no signs of agitation.
[But what are we lacking compared to them? Neither are we fatigued, nor afraid of any situation, and our numbers surpass theirs.]
The Legion unleashed the energy it had stockpiled by feeding on the lower vegetation it had conserved.
I saw countless military units being produced in real-time throughout the entire nest.
[Their corpses are our food. The vegetation that is starting to reappear is also our food. They only consume living animals, but we consume everything alive, including them.]
The legionnaires who had managed to push their way up from the 37th level began to engage in battle once more with the hordes charging into the 38th level.
Various types of monsters came rushing in with terrifying roars.
In response, a chilling wave of silence and darkness swept over them.
A war of thousands unfolded in the vast cavern illuminated by the moonlight-like glowstone.
I gazed at the war endlessly, unaware of the passage of time.
This was not a battle that would end lightly.
It was a war of attrition, pouring in all its might until one side is pushed back over several days.
“…I’m back.”
Late at night.
Having been focused solely on the screen on my way home, I returned home.
The house was quiet.
My mother was there, but she sat vacantly staring at a photo of my younger sibling.
There was nothing I could offer at this moment.
If I mentioned the app and the game, it would surely only deepen her worries.
After all, my sibling had turned into a monster, leading other monsters in an endless fight.
“…”
I quietly apologized in my heart and went into my room.
While I was concerned for my sibling, I also needed to take action, or rather, I had already taken it.
“Yes, Chae Yeon. It succeeded.”
I contacted Chae Yeon.
I intended to join her now.
Being with me, the Player, would also put my mother at risk.
“Pack your things and come to that place.”
Chae Yeon instructed me to come to the safehouse we frequented.
I gathered my belongings without a word.
I had already informed my mother. She would understand it as a school-related retreat.
[The Legion wants to offer you a tribute.]
“What, huh?”
[What you feel now is the confusion. The Legion has noticed that too.]
However, just then, a sudden sound rang from my cellphone.
“What on earth is… No, I haven’t given my offering yet?”
[There’s no strict rule that you must give something first.]
Soon, a beam of light appeared before me, accompanied by something.
I accepted it blankly.
“Could this be…?”
[It’s a device that can shoot toxic thorns by pulling the trigger and causing an internal gas explosion.]
The Legion delivered me another useful item once again.
To such an incompetent Player like me.
[Incompetent? No, you must change your thinking. In the ecosystem, merely surviving is everything. Especially as a Player. Compared to those who fall and die, you are doing enough.]
“I’m incompetent compared to Chae Yeon.”
[You’ll know whether that’s true or not when this game ends.]
Will this game truly end?
I refrained from opening my mouth again.
The only thing that provided me with some solace is that the Legion doesn’t seem to think of me in a bad light.
“I also need to give something.”
I took out the last remaining glucose candies that I had previously purchased online and took a photo.
The food supply feature is a mechanism set up for the early stages, so it probably wouldn’t matter to the now-massively grown Legion.
I only hoped that it would convey my feelings.
In the process, I also bought bread to give to my sibling and took a photo.
*
[Don’t rush too much. He will soon send you a return gift.]
Deepest within the nest where the tribute appeared.
There, the Legion was preparing its body.
Soon enough, something appeared with a flash of light.
The Legion picked it up with trembling hands.
It was just simple candy which it had been consuming all along.
But now, it had a different meaning.
“It contains his feelings.”
The mask began to dissolve only at the jawline, revealing red lips and a small mouth.
And it put a pack of candy into its mouth, crunching it.
“This is… delicious, right?”
[…]
As it chewed on the paper wrapping along with the candy, the Legion faintly smiled at the sweet taste it was experiencing for the first time.
It devoured every candy sitting there.
Of course, it had no digestive organs, so everything needed to be excreted back into the nest, but the Legion took the effort to eat directly, even suffering inefficiency.
[That bread was meant to be given to Kang Do-yeon.]
“…I know.”
What was left was a bread bag.
But the Legion stared at it vacantly.
A strange feeling furrowed its brow.
[Are you planning to eat that?]
“Kang Do-yeon is also a part of me. What I eat is what she eats.”
Eventually, the Legion did not hand the bread over to Kang Do-yeon.
It wasn’t due to gluttony.
Kang Do-yeon would also merely chew and taste it, but ultimately would have to vomit it back up since she couldn’t digest it.
“It’s delicious.”
The bread began to vanish into its mouth.
With that softness and sweetness, the Legion learned yet another feeling.
“I wish it was given for me.”
This bread was not for itself.
Of course, he had indeed considered it for himself.
However, it wanted to monopolize all of it.
Entirely, as its own.
In the end, the Legion shoved the last piece of bread into its mouth.
It wasn’t difficult.
After all, Kang Do-yeon was just another part of itself.
[The battle with the infecting entities is still ongoing. Even now, while you are turning your attention to the bread, it continues.]
“No problem.”
The Legion was capable of hearing, seeing, and thinking all at once.
Moreover, present at the scene was Kang Do-yeon, possessing a brain, the Submind, so there were no issues with control.
If anything was lacking, it could borrow Kang Do-yeon’s brain.
A fierce battlefield.
Here, the unending swarm of infecting entities clashed with the legionnaires, who continued to replenish their ranks, for hours on end.
[The enemies keep pouring in, but we have already occupied half of this cavern. The energy from killing and absorbing them is sufficient to break even.]
The Legion swiftly moved the corpses it had captured back to the nest for immediate absorption as energy.
Through that process, the Legion even developed a method to recover the cells mutated and altered by the devouring fungus.
[Moonlight Fairy: 1k2232]
[Great Hollow Bison: 3j5569]
With that power, it was also possible to restore and understand the genetics of the infecting entities.
And the analyzed genetics became the power of the Legion simultaneously.
“Fairy.”
The Legion remembered the explanation Kang Do-yeon had given about fairies and elves.
Of course, she had only described what she saw in fictional works, but the Legion’s analysis of the genes revealed several intriguing aspects.
[The infection hasn’t been long-term. Perhaps, there is a chance that surviving individuals are hidden somewhere in this labyrinth.]
“The value is sufficient.”
The moment the Legion saw the possibility, it rapidly made a decision.
The situation was a bit different from the past.
Previously, it was just about devouring and disassembling, but now it had various methods to obtain information.
The Legion’s scouts began to soar above the frenzied infecting entities and scattered into different passages.
Here and there, they were all just devouring fungal infecting entities.
All the living animals had already suffered, and soon, a scout that climbed up to the upper level discovered a trace.
[A relatively recent scar… This is clearly the mark of a battle. It serves as evidence for the possibility of the existence of survivors we speculated about.]
Bloodstains scratching and smudged all over the walls and floors did not appear to be the work of infecting entities that do not attack each other.
