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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Movement (2)
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The master of the 20th-floor stem—a creature of bizarre appearance, its name and identity still a mystery.
But no matter what it was, the Legion had already determined victory and initiated its attack.
Relentless reconnaissance and observation by the scouts.
[The Legion would not have initiated a fight if it thought it would lose from the start.]
'They' began to move.
Towards the bewildered enemy, they grabbed the venom-sac toads they were with and 'hurled' them.
"Grruuuuuh—"
The toads burst one after another, spraying the creature's body with strong acid.
Its low, rumbling cry echoed throughout the stem.
As if to prove this wouldn't be easy, the creature, despite being doused in acid, didn't seem to have taken much damage.
[Its hide is tougher than expected. In that case, what about stingers and fangs?]
Beast-type Legionaries continuously charged at the violently struggling creature.
Though obviously outmatched in strength, they could cover for it with numbers.
A dozen lizards clung to one of the creature's arms, biting and refusing to let go.
The flying types that swooped down from above frantically stabbed with their stingers, searching for weak points like its eyes.
[The creature had no eyes, ears, or nose. Weak points were almost nonexistent. But we still have one more method.]
"…Finally."
While the creature's movements were restricted.
Those who had been on standby kicked off the ground and began to run.
It was impossible to know how strong the swords they brandished in their hands were.
"Gyaaaak!"
The creature screamed.
To attack the flying types that kept pestering it, it stretched its neck and opened its mouth wide. A soldier who had dug in leaped from the ground, swung his sword up, and plunged it straight into the inside of its mouth.
[A great giant collapses from a single small scratch.]
"So its mouth was the weak point?"
The Legion began to swarm the body of the creature as it staggered and fell.
They knew the mouth was its weakness.
The large types, possessing immense strength, began to forcibly pry open its mouth.
"Ugh…"
I grimaced at the gruesome sight.
Soldiers began to crawl into the creature's forcibly opened mouth.
As long as it didn't chew, its teeth couldn't damage their carapaces anyway.
The soldiers who crawled deep into its throat began to slash the inside of its neck to ribbons with their blades.
[Great Stem Guardian Spirit: 4c0080]
"A spirit…"
After that, the history ended, and I returned to reality.
The monster we defeated and assimilated was called the Great Stem Guardian Spirit.
[Behold. It seems they are not alone.]
"…Just how vast is this place?"
In the meantime, the Legion prepared for war again.
More of them were continuously appearing from the other branches connected to this stem.
Of course, to the Legion, which had already experienced victory and acquired data, they were nothing more than food rich in nutrients.
[The Legion's developed intelligence and analytical abilities have discovered a peculiar trait in the Guardian Spirits.]
"A peculiar trait?"
[How did they come so quickly upon hearing of their kin's death? It is the power of communication. We can now understand it.]
Among the Guardian Spirits' organs, they discovered one that emitted an ultrasonic wave of unknown meaning.
The Legion of the past would not have understood the significance of this organ and simply overlooked it, but not now.
Observing it emit a constant ultrasonic frequency, they had grown enough to surmise that this was an organ for communication among their own kind.
"So, in the end, you have to keep pushing the limits and developing the brain to improve overall analytical ability. But why is the Legion interested in a means of communication? They're already linked by the Hive Mind. Don't tell me?"
[Your guess is correct. The Legion is attempting to communicate with an external being. Namely, you.]
A shiver ran down my spine the moment I read those words.
They recognized me. Me, finally.
"I, I am…"
[To the Legion, which is in the midst of cultivating its curiosity, you are the greatest object of interest. To a life form developing intelligence, the presence of a parent is naturally of great importance.]
"Then I should give you a reward. I don't know if you'll think of it as a reward, though."
Feeling pleased, I took pictures of the high-calorie foods I had bought in bulk with the money my sister gave me and sent them over.
Would they even recognize this as a reward?
[Victory, followed by sweet food. The Legion has reached the stage of assigning meaning to these repeated actions and inferring their reasons.]
"Ooh!"
At least now, they weren't just blindly accepting and eating.
I felt a sense of pride watching the food be rapidly absorbed.
It was a sense of accomplishment greater than watching a pet dog follow its training well.
Parent. It definitely said that.
It wasn't a perfect analogy, but to me, the Legion was certainly not just a simple pet.
[There are no more enemies on this stem. Therefore, this place, too, is ours.]
The Legion moved without rest.
Scouts had already spread out in all directions, searching every branch connected to this place, and they had also found a passage leading upward.
As they had always done, they would devour all the smaller branches, leaving not a single life form alive, while simultaneously continuing to ascend.
"The place we were in. It seems more like a 'root' than a branch, actually."
[That is correct. The place where the Legion awakened is the lowest level of this labyrinth. The deepest part of this place. Therefore, this stem we have now advanced to also belongs to the lowest part of the stem system.]
"This cave does have an end, right?"
I grew anxious. It felt like I was rushing them, but I couldn't help it, given my unease.
[There is no need to worry too much. This cave is not some starting point. Your account has leveled up to 4. Your slots and capacity have increased.]
"This is!"
[And, as we reached the lowest stem, Chapter 1 of the Legion's history has ended, and Chapter 2 has begun.]
The screen changed.
Two new icons were added on the left side.
"What are these?"
[If Chapter 1 was adaptation, Chapter 2 is the beginning. From now on, the Unit and the Player can communicate with each other in earnest. The String is strengthened.]
For a moment, I felt a tickling sensation in my chest.
Of course, this alone didn't bring any noticeable changes.
[The first icon. It is a Bestowal.]
I touched the first icon.
The camera turned on.
[I did not mention it since you did not choose it, but did you not feel it when you sent the samples? When transmitting samples, objects could not be sent.]
"…Come to think of it, that's right."
When I took a picture of the termites, the breeding container remained.
When I sent the goblins, their weapons also remained.
No, in the first place, the ability to send specimens was a specialized skill unique to us.
[Think back to the rats you faced. The items they possessed. Those were all Bestowals. That is a basic function all Players have from the start.]
"W-wait, so all the other guys moved on to Chapter 2, and I'm only just getting there now?!"
I panicked as I slowly pieced it together.
Just think of how long ago it was that I met the rats.
[It is slow. But it could not be helped, and the reason is a kind of penalty.]
But it was calm.
Hearing that it was unavoidable, I let out a sigh.
[Bestowals have a time limit. Let's move on to the second. The second is an Offering. This is a token of gratitude that Units present to their Player.]
"You mean like the stigma Oh Yoon-ah's units gave her? But didn't you say you could only communicate like that in Chapter 3?!"
[No. Bestowals and Offerings are limited to objects only. Skills and teachings are their own abilities, unrelated to the system. If they were truly exceptional, they would be strong enough to transfer even objects with just the faint String of the initial stages.]
"…"
The image of the dowsing stone Cha Ji-yeon had flashed through my mind.
I doubted she had made it herself.
Damn, that's so unfair.
I left my room and rummaged through the kitchen.
I happened to have a thick, new Chinese cleaver.
My mother never used it, saying it was scary, so I could probably make use of it now.
[The Legion is reacting to your Bestowal.]
"You know what this is, right?"
The gleaming Chinese cleaver fell with a thud into the middle of the nest.
The Legion moved immediately.
[The tentacles that slithered out recognized the shape and composition of the Chinese cleaver as a metal already in their memory. They know what this is. They are merely analyzing its intent.]
"Ooh…?"
Analyzing its intent. That single phrase was satisfying.
At any rate, it meant they weren't just passively receiving things anymore.
"Wh-what. You're not giving me anything?"
[The Legion does not yet have a concept of equivalent exchange, of paying a price for something received. Thus, this is the conclusion it has reached.]
But after that, the Legion never made an Offering to me.
At least say thank you!
Instead, a goblin-type Legionary trudged over and simply snatched the Chinese cleaver with its hand.
[Become stronger. 'He' wants us to become stronger. Therefore, we will become stronger. That is the conclusion.]
Until now, the Legion had only walked a single path.
So, that was all it knew in the first place.
I was at a loss for words.
In any case, it was the path I wanted for them.
"I'll just… wait a bit longer."
[Having conquered all of the lower levels, which were thought to be branches but were in fact roots, the Legion now turned its gaze upward. The second stem. The scouts have not detected any threatening enemies.]
Still, the Legion was steadily—no, more rapidly—growing.
Before I knew it, they had extended their forces toward the next stem.
Mediocre beasts and factions were no longer a match for us.
Ever since our encounter with the rats, another Player's Units, we had yet to see any worthy adversaries.
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