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Chapter 190

A blond man woke up on a bed. With impressive muscles, he wiped the sweat off his neck.

“Phew, thought I was dying… Wait, where am I?”

His relief at finding his throat intact was short-lived as he realized he was in an unfamiliar space. It was a room, adorned with posters of famous heavy metal bands on the walls and character posters received as gifts from Japanese animation Blu-rays.

On the desk below the posters sat an expensive computer and black headgear with futuristic design. Seeing the black futuristic headgear, he realized where he was.

“Home, I… I’m back home!”

The blond Caucasian man, or rather Jason Turningham, shouted with joy. This was his hometown. He had finally returned to reality.

“How long has it been? 10 years? No, 15?”

Jason looked down at his hands. Instead of the cult’s characteristic fair hands, he saw dark-toned palms and hairy wrists. It felt awkward, considering he had spent more than half of his life in a game. Perhaps it was natural.

He cleared away the nostalgic-smelling blanket and got out of bed. His height, once close to 2 meters, was now just around 180cm.

“Jason! How long are you going to sleep?!”

It sounded like he’d turned into a dwarf overnight, hearing voices from outside.

“Mom!”

He had enjoyed a life more blessed than anyone else in the world of space survival, but there was one thing he regretted: his memories of his parents.

Jason quickly dressed and went outside. The smell of his mother’s baked meatloaf filled the air up to his room on the second floor.

He stumbled down the stairs. In the living room connected to the kitchen, he shouted loudly.

“Mom!”

His mother, who was laying out food on the table, was startled and scolded him. How old was he to be causing a fuss since morning? She grumbled, telling him to hurry up and eat.

That was the image of his mother that Jason remembered.

It was supposed to be like that.

What he saw was completely different from what he expected. The neat kitchen was tainted red like uncooked meatloaf. There was a strong metallic smell emanating from the liquid staining the walls.

“Huh?”

Jason stared blankly at the tired kitchen. And there, holding what used to be his ‘mother,’ was an entity that shouldn’t be there.

“Ah, no, no….”

With its dark purple exoskeleton and elongated head, the monster had six arms, two legs, and a tail as long as its body. It was the ‘Amorph’ that appeared in space survival.

The creature was chewing on Jason’s mother in the kitchen.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Jason screamed, tightly closing his eyes. If only all of this were just a dream.

And then, as if in a lie, he opened his eyes on the bed.

“A dream?”

Metal group posters, Japanese anime character posters, and a computer. It was the scene he had seen upon waking up a while ago.

He was in his own room, not in the world of the game.

“Jason! How long are you going to sleep?!”

“Mom!”

Without a moment to rejoice in his return, Jason quickly got up and headed out of the room. He practically flew down the stairs to the kitchen.

“Jason, I told you not to run in the house.”

Hearing his beloved mother’s voice, Jason gasped for breath. He could hardly breathe at all.

Out of happiness? No.

His mother wasn’t supposed to be speaking. Especially not with only her throat remaining, unable to speak.

“……”

“Jason, come and have your meal.”

The Amorph holding his mother’s head muttered in his mother’s voice.

“Jason? Why are you dawdling?”

“Jason?”

“Jason.”

“JasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJasonJason….”

“Aaaah!”

In the living room, where his mother’s voice echoed, he covered his ears. Tears of blood were now flowing from his eyes.

When his vision blurred with tears of blood, he opened his eyes again.

“Ah, no, no….”

Posters with metal group names printed in rough fonts on black backgrounds and posters depicting moe characters.

Seeing the familiar scenery, he realized.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

He cursed, flipping the blanket over.

Now he remembered.

The day he entered space survival, he wasn’t at his hometown house. His last memory was wearing VR equipment in his cramped apartment for a broadcast.

The situation he was experiencing now was incredibly realistic but definitely not ‘reality’.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Jason! How long are you going to sleep?!”

“……”

“Jason, I always sa… Aaaah!”

“Mom?”

He glanced at the door, startled by the piercing scream from outside. Moments later, red liquid began seeping in under the door.

“Ugh, ugh! Aaaah!”

Guilt for losing his mother drove Jason to tear at his hair frantically.

Then, the firmly closed door handle slowly turned.

“Gasp!”

Once again, Jason opened his eyes on the bed in the same position.

Where this was didn’t matter.

What mattered was the fact that he had become a prisoner in this nightmare-like world.

“Jason! How long are you going to sleep?!”

His mother’s voice from outside.

The voice he had always longed for now felt terrifying.

***

Thanks to devouring the green Gallagon, the urgent fire was extinguished. Number 26, who suffered the most severe injuries among us, ate more meat than usual. It devoured two wings, each almost reaching 10 meters in length, all by itself.

The creature, now with a full stomach, swelled up and promptly fell asleep. Thanks to it, we were able to inject psychic power into the dormant PS-111 to awaken it.

We handed over some debris of the screamer to the awakened PS-111. While biological tissues might not mean much, the metal parts wouldn’t help with energy charging.

As a ‘clever weakling’ I could maintain my form with a small supply of food, gaining enough energy. The penetrating wound in my neck had almost healed, and the side effects of the hunt had disappeared.

So we spent the night in the pit I dug.

Quietly rising, I looked at the sleeping Number 26 and PS-111.

I wanted to examine the new gains obtained from devouring Jason in detail.

‘It seems like it’ll be noisy to check here.’

I planned to summon Jason’s interface and ask him. Considering his personality, even as an interface, he would likely be quite noisy.

As I walked out of the pit and wandered among the trees, I heard footsteps behind me.

The Griffin, still recovering from her wounds, was the mother of the sky.

｢You’re going to check the gains, right?｣

[ZZZ (Yes)]

｢I’ll come with you.｣

I was about to say there was no need, but I relented when I looked into her eyes.

During the day, she was indifferent, but Jason was one of her enemies. He was the who Muriel to kill her family.

An interface inherits some memories from the original. Recent experiences and elements considered important by the original remain even after becoming an interface.

Perhaps Jason’s interface remembers details about Muriel.

｢I suppose you have a lot to say.｣

Compared to Muriel, Jason met a relatively merciful death. We had no choice but to use unknown means to escape.

But she went as far as implanting parasites in his head to repay her family’s grudge. It might be cruel to tell her to forget, given her circumstances.

‘I’ll need information on other colleagues anyway. It wouldn’t hurt if she overhears.’

[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ ZZ (If that makes you feel better.)]

｢Thanks.｣

I moved away from the pit with the mother of the sky.

The pitch-black forest was quite eerie due to the relentless sound of the snowstorm, but none of us were scared by it.

‘This should be enough.’

Finding a suitable spot, I half-turned my body and transformed my interface characteristics. One of the interfaces hidden in the fur was sucked into my body.

Then, a new face emerged from the sticky liquid. With smooth skin like a newborn baby, it was the face of Jason, the cult priest.

Moments later, Jason’s eyes snapped open.

“Ugh, aaah!”

‘Quiet.’

When I gestured with my finger to quiet him down, Jason closed his mouth.

An interface is one of my body parts. I have complete control over all his movements.

‘Answer the questions I asked.’

“……”

Jason, still blinking his eyes absentmindedly, replied. I allowed him to speak.

‘I-I’ll tell you everything! S-so please, please don’t send me back to that hell!’

Since becoming an interface usually means losing all control over one’s body, he tends to listen to me. And for some unknown reason, as time passes, he seems to prefer being used as an interface rather than sleeping.

‘He’s surprisingly obedient for that.’

Jason, who used to be arrogant in life, showed a cooperative attitude beyond imagination. Even the mother of the sky watching beside me seemed bewildered.

‘It’s probably irrelevant to me.’

It’s better if he acts high and mighty. I started asking him questions.

What perks he possessed, his influence, information about his colleagues, and so on.

Though I had only conversed with the interface for about an hour, the amount of information obtained was substantial. It was unprecedented to obtain such high-quality information recently.

‘Let’s think about that later.’

What’s important now is the part about the perks.

Jason had three perks. One was the unique ability he gained when he came to this world, and the other two were obtained by killing players.

“Psychic technology synthesis, Coldblood’s particle biocontrol ability, and Metalic Gremlin’s warp ability.”

The second ability was manifested as a golden shape hanging on his back, and the third ability was the one he intended to use for escape.

‘…He really won this one.’

The decisive reason Jason lost was that he possessed such powerful strength unexpectedly. If he hadn’t been intoxicated by his own power, we would have lost.

‘I should be careful too.’

It’s ultimately my fault for letting Ham Ort steal Adhai. After killing Jason, I made a reckless decision in haste.

I have a lot to lose now. The current situation is different from the game, where I only had to take care of my own life.

And in the game, even if you die, you respawn, but not here. It’s game over if I, Number 26, Adhai, the Mother of the sky, or PS-111 die.

‘It’s not that there isn’t a resurrection perk, but…’

I can never obtain it now. Even after becoming an adult, it’s a perk that can only be obtained by risking your life, so it’s faster to assume it doesn’t exist.

‘I need to be more careful to protect them.’

I gathered my thoughts again and reactivated the text box I checked during the day.

[Predation effect activated! Successfully seized the perk ‘Jason (Jason Terningham)’!]

[‘Space Bacteria’ and ‘Hallucinogenic Flames’ fusion possible. Please select a perk. The selection result is affected by the perks used as materials.]

[Note: You are at a critical juncture. Please choose carefully.]

[Time remaining until perk selection: 13:09:30]

[You are the target of the perk enhancement system. Do you want to use the system?]

‘This is related to the second perk Jason had.’

It’s the ability to control particle biology obtained from Coldblood, which dominated the golden form he used.

The remaining two perks are locked because there are no perks among the ones I have that can be used as materials. Jason doesn’t know which perks are compatible. That part seems to require experimentation with various perks.

‘It’s probably related to the nature of the perks.’

The ‘Trophy of the Strong Enemy’ perk I obtained from killing the previous Muriel, and the ‘Plunderer’s Irregular Polyhedron’ used ‘Metal Absorption’ as a material. Thanks to that, I gained the ability to eat weapons and specialize their properties.

‘That means there are two perks I can use as materials.’

One is the infection-related perk ‘Space Bacteria’, and the other is the psychic-related perk ‘Hallucinogenic Flames’. It’s surprising that such different perks were selected for fusion.

‘I have some idea of what it might be.’

Looking at the nature of the perk, it’s not completely unrelated to compatible perks.

First, looking at the part about space bacteria, there’s a similarity in producing and managing small particles.

Jason said the ability to control particle biology involves freely manipulating golden particle organisms through a special organ between the spinal cord and the brain. It also heavily relies on the host’s senses because the particle organisms are attached to the special organ.

In short, it’s like creating new arms and legs as needed.

‘Maybe merging with space bacteria will make it similar to the ability he used.’

It’s not certain, though.

‘Anyway, let’s move on.’

Next is the Hallucinogenic Flames.

Hallucinogenic Flames is like a downgraded version of the Purple Spray Gun. It’s a perk that emits flames made of psychic power, as the name suggests.

‘It would have been nice if the firepower was a bit stronger.’

The firepower of the Hallucinogenic Flames is truly dismal. It’s so bad it might be called purple urine in the game.

However, considering the future, it’s worth obtaining because it can be used as a powerful fusion material later on. Moreover, here, through the transcendental system, it could be used to create powerful perks.

The reason why a perk that doesn’t seem particularly useful besides its potential is used as a material for the Trophy of the Strong Enemy perk can be speculated upon.

‘This part is definitely related to the original owner.’

The original owner of the ability to control particle biology was a Coldblood player.

Coldblood, due to a misguided contract with the Vortex one, is a race that fell into bondage as a whole.

Therefore, Coldblood players often use abilities derived from the Vortex one. In fact, depending on the player’s choice, there are events where they borrow the Vortex one’s unique ability, ‘Abyssal Power’.

Anyway, based on this, it can be speculated that using psychic-related technologies as materials may stem from the unique settings of Coldblood.

‘The Vortex is the strongest psychic power creature.’

According to Jason, the Coldblood player who possessed this perk was a Vortex one.

In other words, if fused with psychic-related abilities, it could be implemented in a form similar to the abilities used by the original Vortex one.

‘Let’s summarize again.’

If Space Bacteria is used as a material to create the Trophy of the Strong Enemy, there’s a possibility of obtaining a perk similar to the golden form that Jason used.

Conversely, if Hallucinogenic Flames are used as a material, it could be implemented as a perk similar to what the original Coldblood player used.

‘Well, it’s all just speculation anyway.’

In the world of Space Survival, there’s never a case where players are taught anything directly. They have to figure everything out themselves.

‘Should I postpone it?’

There are still 13 hours left. If by any chance, a mine perk comes out when the perk is specialized, the impact could be quite significant.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I shook my head.

‘No, let’s choose now.’

Spending all 13 hours pondering wouldn’t likely lead to an answer. While it’s important to move cautiously, it doesn’t mean delaying decisions indefinitely.

Regardless of what perk comes out, it’s far more productive to quickly grasp its characteristics and research how to use it.

With that decision made, I selected the perk to be used as the material for the Trophy of the Strong Enemy.