Ep 1 Survive (1)
When I was young, I read a story about a man named Jonah who ran away
from God’s command and was swallowed by a whale in the sea. Although an
ordinary person would have died, Jonah was a person blessed by God and
did not die. He stayed in the whale’s belly for three days before
escaping. After his near-death experience, Jonah faithfully followed
God’s words.
The reason why I brought up the old story out of the blue is because I
look similar to Yona in the belly of a whale. I too am searching for
cockroaches in the belly of a steel whale swimming in zero gravity.
As I waited, sticking to the wall motionless, a cockroach passed
beneath me. I used my tail, which is like a fishing line with a hook, to
catch the little pest.
Hooked.
Like a fisherman pulling a net, the tail rises cautiously but
powerfully. Like that, the target hanging on to the end felt his fate
and struggled to escape somehow.
‘You’re not going anywhere.’
Sharp teeth pierced through the cockroaches head. Then my small but
sharp teeth constantly moved to make the tough outer shell and thick
flesh more digestible. The remains of the cockroach were turned in to
juice like in a blender with my teeth before it could pass through my
throat.
In terms of nutrition, calorie bars were overwhelming, but in terms
of taste, cockroaches were much better. Thanks to this, I could eat a
cockroach that I couldn’t even imagine doing in my human life without
any hesitation.
‘Although it may sound funny, it somehow tastes like silkworm.’
It literally tastes like soju.
‘This is the 20th one with this. And no results again.’
As I used to do when I was a human, and used my front legs to gnaw on
my teeth and recalled the text window. And according to my will, a text
window appeared in front of my head.
｢ Species: Unidentified Aggressive Space Morph
Status: Hatchling
Goal: Survive
Attributes: Hyper-sensitivity, Wings, chitin exoskeleton」
It seems that getting the wings for the first time was beginner’s
luck. After that, I caught and ate 19 more cockroaches, but I only
obtained one genetic essence.
‘As for the chitin exoskeleton, it’s not necessarily bad, but…’
The chitin exoskeleton is a powerful attribute that greatly increases
defense depending on the growth level. It becomes more useful as time
goes on, but it is unnecessary in the current situation.
There is no point to slightly increase defense capabilities in a
state where the defense is close to zero. Instead, other attributes are
more important.
‘I need to secure a robust vitality attribute first, but I am not finding one.’
Robust vitality is a common attribute found in many insect or
plant-like species. Of course, its effect is as straightforward as the
name implies.
‘Reducing energy consumption and delay aging.’
In a game where the concept of lifespan does not exist, it is a
attribute that concept-focused users or players paid attention to.
However, in a situation where the game has become reality, its status is
completely different.
‘With robust vitality, the need to be overly concerned about food supply diminishes significantly.’
Living in this cargo compartment is not sustainable indefinitely. The
vibrations felt beyond the walls, and the faint sound of footsteps that
can be heard. Each time I sense them, I realize that my time is running
out.
The owner of this ship, my enemy, is humanity.
Even without considering the background story of the game, it’s
difficult to imagine that they would view me favorably when they see me.
If they realize that the supply is decreasing in the cargo
compartment, they will likely come to check the cargo. And if they catch
me? It’s either death or being subjected to experimentation.
To avoid a bleak future, I need to evolve as quickly as possible to
surpass the Hatchling stage by meeting the evolutionary conditions. To
do this, I need to expand my range of activity beyond the cargo
compartment.
In short, if I want to survive, I need to diligently catch cockroaches.
‘Let’s explore.’
Cockroaches are sensitive and intelligent insects, so they never
ventured into areas where their comrades had died. They were aware of
the danger lurking in the places where their comrades had perished.
Initially, unaware of this fact, I wasted 30 minutes waiting in the same
spot.
‘I got it!’
Bending all eight legs, I pressed my body tightly against the wall
and then suddenly exploded with force, extending them in an instant.
As my body bounced like a rubber ball, I swiftly propel myself forward in an emergency escape.
While floating in mid-air, wings spread wide open from my back. The
muscles in my upper back, equivalent to the human latissimus dorsi, were
tightly contracted. As I began to flap my wings, my body, which was
falling, slowly rose up into the air.
T/L Note- The meaning of this word “Latissimus dorsi” it refers to the broad back muscle. It is responsible for shoulder movements and is involved in activities like swimming and rowing.
A creature resembling a desert spider, fluttering its wings as it
flies around? I am pretty sure a person with a weak heart would faint in
the spot upon seeing that?
Even while flying, the visual and sub-processor systems never rested as they searched for the whereabouts of the cockroaches.
‘At this point, it’s truly going to become an infamous A-morph moment.’
While lost in thought with pointless ideas, a cockroach is detected.
There is one cockroach stuck to the wall, and another one is diligently scurrying atop a plastic box.
I decided to start with the one that is closer to me, the cockroach
on the wall. I adjusted the angle of my wings and maneuvered my body
accordingly, rotating towards the direction where the cockroach is
located.
The cockroach seemed to be busy thinking about his life and was
completely unaware of my approach. I grabbed it with my front legs, much
like an eagle catching a fish.
Before the cockroach could escape through the gap between my claws, I
swiftly stuff it in my mouth. The pristine-looking exoskeleton
shattered, and juices and fragments of organs burst out from its side.
Since there is still one more left, so I kept the cockroach in my mouth and aimed for the next target.
‘What?’
The cockroach that was on top of the box noticed my presence. And quickly evaded my attack and went under the box.
The direction to which those legs attached to the small body are
heading is the gap in the floor. Once it slips through the cracks of the
alloy steel plate, the hunt will be over.
‘I can’t let it get away!’
I pushed myself against the wall with my four pairs of legs to gain
momentum and flew towards the cockroach like an arrow. However, it had
already pushed its antennae and head through the gap in the steel plate.
When only the lower half of the creature was visible, I landed with a
slam onto the unforgiving alloy steel floor. The impact against the
unyielding alloy sent waves of pain through my entire body, with no
trace of softness to be found. However, my focus remained fixated on the
cockroaches tail end.
My tail shot out like how a scorpion targeting its prey. The tail cut
through the air, and the thorn at the end went into the hole in the
alloy plate.
The cockroach, who thought everything was fine and sighed in relief,
was startled. His brain, which thought about escaping immediately, was
unable to fulfill that intention and was split in two by the sharp
thorn.
‘Phew.’
By a hair’s breadth, I succeeded in hunting down both cockroaches. My
tail gracefully returned to its original position, proudly displaying
the dangling spoils at its end.
After finishing off the carcass I had in my mouth, I began devouring
the creature hanging from my tail. Just as I was about to finish
consuming it, the long-awaited message appeared.
｢Plundering Effect Activated! Successful acquisition of ‘Robust Vitality’ gene essence.｣
｢Extracted the ‘Robust Vitality’ biological trait from the Attribute of the ‘cockroach’.｣
｢‘Would you like to apply the trait ‘Robust Vitality’?｣
‘yes I accept.’
A qualitatively different vitality can be felt throughout my entire body compared to before.
The once slender and elongated legs have now become thicker and
muscular, while the chitin exoskeleton covering my back and abdomen has
gained a lustrous shine.
From now on, the game truly begins.
The cargo compartment, which is incredibly large and spacious, but is only a small part of the entire ship.
The time has come for me to step out and break through the place I first set foot in.
