Chapter 29: What He Truly Desires (5)


    The soul strings created by the app were very important to both the yers and the units. Of course, it made those beyond the dimensional wall into sympathetic beings, but it also allowed them to strongly influence each other. Although for the units, sharing a single string with other units made it weak, it was different for the yers. In fact, there were yers who actively utilized it with their own abilities.


    "This is...


    [It is a medium that will aid the yers sorcery. Use it in the moment of battle. It is an object that can explode the potential engraved in your soul, making you forget fear.]


    Cha Ji Yeon received the item. At first nce, it was an ordinary, transparent potion.


    "Now theyre trying to make us into junkies, huh.


    The sturdy white man beside her snorted. He too was a unit, having received a potion as well.


    [The goal is to annihte their base in a short time.]


    The date had already been set. Along with the allied forces of several countries that had decided to cooperate after sensing the gravity of the recent situation, they were nning to go through the gate, beyond Earth, and attack the base of the monsters who kept raiding them.


    "Literally a war. Phew...who wouldve thought Id be fighting a war against monsters.


    "Youll have to get used to it, Chris. We dont know how many times this will be repeated in the future.


    "Is it easy to get used to war? This isnt some simple defensive battle.


    He snorted. It wasnt an inurate statement. Cha Ji Yeon was barely managing to keep herself mentally prepared.


    [The fact that souls are connected is tremendous. That fear, that hesitation. You will be able to ovee it all once you realize through the potion what existence you are connected to.]


    The voice echoed in her head, seemingly aware of her anxiety. Connection. She found herself disliking that term. Despite sharing a bond with over a hundredrades, it felt as if her most private parts were exposed. *


    [Can you feel it?]


    Given that, the feeling received by the singr existences connected by a string that did not simply branch off but remained as one was even more powerful.


    [What he truly wishes for. You will surely be able to discern it now.]


    The legion strained toprehend the deluge of information, striving to understand the essence of a soul. The most significant piece of information, flowing through the connection of the string - the soul - was the emotions of the other party. This was especially true since it was a single, unbranched string.


    [He is anxious and afraid. Terrified of losing something precious, he mes his still weak self. He is far too weak...both in body and mind.]


    The entire legion trembled. They grasped his emotions and deduced the situation he was in.


    [In any case, he is of utmost importance to us. Without him, we cannot grow stronger. He is our progenitor.]


    [So we must aid him.]


    [The first step is to strengthen ourselves.]


    As they evolved, they began to understand the significance of his actions. They finally realized that he provided them with sustenance and samples for their benefit, which led the legion to redefine their perception of him.


    [He has given us many things. What can we give to him in return?]


    After much contemtion, the legions thoughts converged on this question. As if waiting for this moment, a function was activated.


    [I have confirmed your will. I will activate the offering function.]


    A radiant pattern materialized within the dark nest. What should they offer? The legion nced around hesitantly, then cautiously extended a tentacle. A small tentacle carefully climbed onto the pattern.


    [Investigate further. Living things cannot be transmitted through the offering function.]


    Disappointed that nothing had changed, the tentacle quietly withdrew. Since the tentacles attempt had failed, the legion tried other things. They tried all sorts of legionnaires, pieces of the nest, eggs, and so on. Finally, they seeded in transmitting something.


    The light shed, and the pattern, upon which an object had been ced, vanishedpletely. *


    "Ugh...


    Morning arrived. I twisted and stretchednguidly before finally leaving thefort of my bed. I sat in a daze for a moment before rising and heading to the bathroom to freshen up. My body felt heavy, likely due to recent fatigue, but I managed to stand by grasping the handrail next to the bed.


    "...Handrail?


    I paused, startled, as I realized what I held in my hand. It was a shiny stone object that hadnt been there before.


    "Waaah!


    Recognition hit me like a bolt of lightning. I couldnt believe my eyes. Something Id only seen on screen was now embedded in the floor of my apartment.


    "What on earth is this?!


    [The legion has repaid your favor.]


    I opened the app, my shout echoing in the room. The response left me dumbstruck.


    "So, this is... paying back.


    I pulled the object from the floor. It was a sword, forged and sharpened from the hardest shells of the legion.


    [It is an offering dedicated to you.]


    I swallowed unconsciously, captivated by its sparkling, obsidian-like appearance.


    "Just how did this happen?


    [...It is because the legion has grown that much.]


    "Is that really all there is to it? What was that moth?


    [The moth was a kind of clue. By analyzing and absorbing it, the legion gained that clue and has grown even more. For example, the attack it sprayed in a sh of light had the power to disrupt ourmand system. We concluded it was a power rted to interfering with our souls.]


    "How exactly have they grown to send me this?


    I examined the sword closely, a wry smile on my face. This thing, carved from a single shell, was heavy and incredibly sharp.


    "Still, receiving this makes me want to give them something more, but I dont have anything lying around right now.


    [That is sufficient. Already...the legion is receiving many things.]


    "Receiving things?


    This guys words seemed particrly meaningful today. For now, I hid the sword in a corner. It would be bad if Kang Do Yeon or my mother saw it.


    "I dont know how long this everyday life willst.


    I exited the room, my day beginning as usual, yet a lingering anxiety remained after the recent attack.


    [The legion has discovered an anomaly from analyzing the guardians specimens.]


    "Anomaly?


    [It appears we can now understand why theyve been behaving so peculiarly. They possess artificially engraved genes.]


    This revtion was a shock. If the guardians were artificially created beings, what did that imply about thebyrinth?


    "Is that...all?


    [At present, all we know is that their genes have been tampered with. However, we can infer the nature of this tampering from their unscientific behavior.]


    "Just who...


    [The answer still lies above.]


    Right, its probably up there.


    The screen shifted upwards, revealing the passage leading to the stem. My heart pounded in my chest. Was it because I was nearing thebyrinths secret, causing my heart to race?


    [The legion has begun to regroup. One of our strengths is that we require no rest.]


    Unlike before, when they would consume everything in sight, the legion now left many of the biomes organisms in the newly upied floor untouched. They could be emergency rations, or perhaps they deemed it a waste of time to digest them.


    [There are no guardians. It seems they were all killed in thest battle.]


    The conclusion was anticlimactic given the previous tension. Only ordinary biome organisms remained. The legions scouts dispersed quickly, scouring the various caverns and passages.


    [Ah, what is this?]


    Then, it seemed the leading scout discovered something.


    "Its definitely not natural. So, what else in thisbyrinth isnt natural, apart from us?


    [It must be the work of the guardians. It appears quite some time has passed.]


    What they found gathered on one side of a mega-stratum, ssified as a ''branch, were remains or carcasses. Most had long since been broken down and rotted by scavengers. They were the size of... mammalian hand-sized vertebrates at first nce.


    [The extent of the damage makes it impossible to identify gic samples. Based on this information, the legion has deduced a rational suspicion.]


    "...You mean units?


    Even I could deduce this much. We had found traces of others after the rat bastards we encountered before. But it seemed they had no luck, unable to evolve and were massacred.


    "I wonder if those rats that escaped before are still alive.


    [Since they are absent from the areas we have upied so far, it means they made a new start from higher up. There is a high probability they failed in their re-evolution as well. ]


    "Yeah.


    The guardians aside, the variety and scale of the wildlife on this level were unmatched by anything on the lower floor. We hade a long way since then, evolving and advancing beyond measure. Yet, if those rats had strayed into a particrly challenging area, their chances of survival would have been slim.


    [We must go higher.]


    As more questions arose, the legion promptly sent scouts to the next floor as soon as their cursory investigation wasplete. From there, faint changes began to emerge.