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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: The Lowest Floor's Inhabitants (3)
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[10th Floor, a single massive branch with countless smaller offshoots. We have determined that the dominant species here are lizards of Category 3a.]
The map was in a constant state of update.
Though we had yet to see its end, it was an immensely vast place compared to the 'small branch' we had crawled up from.
Lizards were the dominant species, but in my opinion, the word 'lizard' felt like an understatement for many of them.
Winged lizards, swimming lizards, burrowing lizards, lizards that spewed poison gas, and so on...
And they were far too strong to be simple reptiles.
[You are correct. Therefore, the Legion has divided the lizards here into two types. One consists of the weak ones, which can be easily consumed. The other consists of massive creatures better described as earth dragons.]
"You have a plan, I assume?"
[Of course.]
As soon as it acquired the data, the Legion began to establish a new course for expansion, adapting to the drastically changed environment.
There were many powerful creatures here, like the twin-headed lizard we caught last time.
To hunt them, the Legion's soldiers grew even larger and tougher.
[There is one problem: the Blue-Scaled Twin-Headed Earth Dragon we hunted previously. While its body has been fully digested and converted into our nutrients, its scales have not.]
"Why is that? Those scales were impervious to teeth and poison stingers. I quite coveted them."
[We currently lack the enzymes to digest its scales.]
It was a shame that we couldn't fully utilize the power of the formidable enemy we had managed to defeat.
We had succeeded in replicating the organ that breathed fire, but the moment we realized the fuel for that fire was a compound that mushrooms took a long time to accumulate, we knew we couldn't use it indiscriminately.
"So time and diversity are our species' weaknesses."
This incident made me realize our shortcomings.
While we possessed an explosive growth rate, the ability to accelerate and shorten time ultimately applied only to us.
We couldn't do anything about the time that flowed equally for everyone else.
Furthermore, as our accumulated data grew and the combinations became more advanced and diverse, a single missing piece could often make realization difficult.
[The Legion is well aware of this. That is why it seeks to devour even more. It is difficult... Endless gluttony is both our medicine and our poison.]
Medicine and poison.
I agreed with that sentiment.
The only way to solve this problem was, in the end, to grow again.
[Behold. The next targeted cavern. It is dark and damp, but with sufficient vegetation. Aquatic life also exists in the flowing water.]
"Doesn't look like there's anything... special?"
[The Legion reached the same conclusion. The soldiers of the Legion moved immediately.]
The Legion always conducted thorough reconnaissance.
If, after scouting, a target was deemed weak, it would be crushed and annihilated without a second thought.
But it wouldn't back down just because an opponent was strong, either.
The Legion had already learned how to hunt large, powerful individuals.
[So far, no force comparable to the Legion has been discovered during reconnaissance. The lizards that dominate this area are individually strong but tend to form only small groups.]
"Another massacre, then."
At the same size and number, no ordinary life-form could defeat us.
The Legion's soldiers, even if based on existing creatures, were incredibly deformed.
All unnecessary organs, such as reproductive and digestive systems, were eliminated, their bodies composed solely of organs meant for combat.
They fought and fought, and upon falling, they returned to the Hive Mind, replenished their energy, and were reborn as new soldiers in a miraculous cycle.
Any enemy fighting us wasn't just fighting the soldiers, but this entire massive nest.
[The Legion is occupying the cavern. No living thing will escape.]
It was the same scene as always. I closed my phone.
"How were your exams?"
"...Nah, I probably bombed them completely."
It was likely the time when most students had finished their exams.
Sitting in the lecture hall, I gave a hollow laugh at my friend's question and shook my head.
How could I have done well when I spent more time looking at my phone than my books?
"Still, we should grab a drink, right? Jin-soo and Myungho-hyung are coming too."
"...Should we?"
Drinks? Honestly, I was tempted.
There was a party we always had after exams, and with everyone having finished their military service, this was the first chance for all of us to get together.
In the end, I made plans for dinner right then and there.
"You playing a game? Now that I think about it, you've been glued to that thing."
"It's nothing."
I hid my phone.
An alert would pop up if anything important happened, anyway.
After our afternoon lectures ended, we met up and started drinking before the sun had even set.
[Are you enjoying yourself? That act of putting alcohol into your body.]
"...Why are you suddenly killing the mood?"
Just as I was getting a little tipsy from the cheerful conversation and drinks, I went to the restroom, habitually checked my phone, and smirked at the message that appeared.
A quick glance at the screen showed nothing out of the ordinary.
"You guys do fine on your own anyway. There's not much for me to add anymore."
[I am not criticizing you for tending to your own desires. However, you have a mission that is also of great importance to us.]
"...What nonsense are you talking about?"
[To survive. That is the most important virtue of a Player. Your life is not yours alone.]
The moment I read the message, I froze.
And right after that.
"It's a surprise Gate!"
"Evacuate immediately! Now!"
"There's no time!"
Outside the restroom, a huge commotion had already erupted.
There was no time to think.
I scrambled out and ran with the crowd.
"Dammit, we were in the middle of a good meal!"
"Still, we're lucky nothing serious happened..."
Amidst the bustling crowd, I stared at the shimmering distortion in the space far ahead.
That was a Gate. The otherworldly disaster that had befallen the world.
I felt a strange sense of disappointment.
I didn't know what would emerge, but it was a chance to provide the Legion with food and specimens.
Beyond the defensive perimeter strictly set up by the police, they were there.
Hunters, those granted the power to fight those monsters by the miracle of a status window.
Less so now, but when I was younger, Hunters were my idols, my heroes.
They were the hope that would exact my revenge for me.
"Which company is it?"
"Gaebyeok Inc. A small to mid-sized one. Their star Hunter is Cha Ji-yeon?"
Of course, I wasn't the only one who admired Hunters.
My friends next to me were looking up information on the Hunters who had just rushed to the scene on their phones, as if they were watching celebrities.
"...That's Cha Ji-yeon?"
"Yeah. She's a C-rank, so not that high, but I guess that's because it's a smaller company."
Hearing my friend, I glanced back and forth between the scene and my phone.
The woman in the black suit standing in the middle of the intersection, barely visible in the distance.
And the woman in the profile on my phone, with long, sky-blue hair and blue eyes.
They were the same person.
The description said her hair and eye color weren't dyed but had changed due to her innate ability.
"The Gate is opening!"
"They said Cha Ji-yeon's power is electricity!"
Now in its tenth year, people had grown accustomed to monsters and Gates, cheering and watching the scene as if it were some kind of show.
And I was no different.
I watched with a 괜히 nervous heart for about a minute.
"Uwaaah!"
The moment something tore through space and appeared, lightning flashed from her body as she aimed her hand at the Gate. A blinding flash shot from her outstretched hand several times.
The blinding light and deafening roar, like watching lightning strike up close, echoed continuously.
"Whoa."
"Holy..."
It was over.
Cha Ji-yeon, still shrouded in sparks, slowly lowered her hand. In front of the Gate, a line of unidentifiable corpses tumbled out.
"You said she was a C-rank...?"
"Y-Yeah, I did. What kind of C-rank is that? She looks like an A-rank at least!"
The overwhelming spectacle left people so stunned they even forgot to cheer.
*
"That's all for today, right?"
"R-Right, Ji-yeon. Good work. Just a second, I need to handle some things."
Leaving the scene behind, Cha Ji-yeon settled into the back seat.
Her manager got out of the car for a moment to talk with the police, leaving her alone inside, leaning against the seat.
[He is pleased. He says that among His children, your learning is the most outstanding.]
"Thank you."
[The arts of lightning inherently strain your own body. Do not overuse them.]
"I'll keep that in mind."
[In that case, offer your blood.]
In the empty car, she muttered to herself as if possessed.
At the voice demanding blood, she let out a small sigh and took out a sharp knife from her pocket.
The knife, with its elegant wooden inlay on the handle, was a 'gift' that couldn't be found anywhere on Earth.
"Ngh..."
She drew the blade across her palm in a long line.
Blood naturally gushed out, but the knife absorbed it all as if drinking it.
Once a certain amount of blood had been absorbed, the wound on her palm healed in an instant.
"W-When will I receive the next gift?"
[When you have trained further, surpassed the humans around you, and reached the S-rank they so revere. Or, if you eliminate the Units of another Player.]
The unidentified voice echoing in her mind faded away.
By the time her manager got back in the car, she had already closed her eyes, seemingly asleep from exhaustion.