I Became an Ancient All-Host Lifeform - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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010 The Blood-Sucking Specter Has No Eyes

‘Is that… is that the Blood-Sucking Specter the workers were talking about?’

The ‘Blood-Sucking Specter’ in the Breeding Grounds was nothing like what I’d imagined.
When people spoke of ‘specters,’ weren’t they supposed to have a human form?
But this thing was whitish and translucent, sure enough—yet it looked more like fog or smog, some natural phenomenon, than any specter.
And its movements were far too physical to be a ghost.
Then again, it didn’t seem to have a liquid body like a slime either.
So what on earth was it?
The unidentified creature glided toward the massive black ox that lay convulsing from the electric shock just moments before.
Its pale form suddenly fractured into tens of thousands of hair-thin filaments—

Uuuuuh—!

And enveloped the black ox’s entire body.
The ox, unconscious until then, immediately convulsed in terrible agony.
Ten thousand filaments burrowed through the ox’s hide, draining its blood at a frenzied pace.

‘This is insane. It’s literally sucking the blood straight out.’

What had been white with light was now staining red.
A bizarre, bewildering sight.
The workers who witnessed this scene recoiled in horror.

“It’s—it’s the Blood-Sucking Specter!”
“Damn it! That thing won’t go down—run!”

Confronted by the shocking spectacle of the Blood-Sucking Specter draining the black ox, the workers scattered in panic.
Well, at least this bizarre creature had gotten rid of the unnecessary nuisances.
Now it was time to learn the truth about this grotesque life form.
I immediately cast Mediocre Insight on the strange monster.

【Mist Mushroom Mycelium lv ??】
【Status】
「Hive Mind」, 「Mental Domination」

…Mushroom mycelium? That thing is a fungus?
I was at a loss for words.
The ‘Blood-Sucking Specter’ from the rumors about draining the Breeding Grounds’ creatures of their blood was no undead or phantom.
In fact, this bizarre monster was actually a collective of countless fungal mushroom spores.
How shocked would those people be if they learned the truth?
The thing they’d cowered before in terror, thinking it a Blood-Sucking Specter, turned out to be nothing more than a lump of fungi feeding on nutrients.

Then my attention snagged on two words in the status window.
「Hive Mind」 and 「Mental Domination」.
There’s no way mindless fungal spores could move with such unity or hunt so intelligently.
These creatures had infiltrated the complex Drainage System with stealth to reach the pen where prey awaited, targeting their quarry with precision.
Hundreds of millions of mycelial threads moved as one will, bound together by 「Hive Mind」.
Which meant there had to be a main body somewhere, remotely 「Mental Domination」-ing all of them.
It was like someone sitting at a distant monitor, controlling everything with a mouse.
In that moment, the name of a legendary species from the annals of gaming history flashed into my mind.
The Zerg.

‘What if I found the main body—the commander of those mycelial threads—and hit it with Parasitism?’

If I claimed just one body as my host, I could command hundreds of millions of fungal spores bound by 「Hive Mind」 like they were my own limbs.
Wow, that’s basically an Overmind, isn’t it?
From the rat-tier struggle in this shithole existence, I could ascend to ‘Supreme Commander’ of a fungal legion—the smell of a legendary jackpot was unmistakable.

Once I’d decided on my course of action, I immediately focused on the drainage duct at the base of the Breeding Grounds where the mushroom mycelium had been creeping upward.
After it finished feeding, the creature would certainly return through that duct to wherever its main body lurked.
The inside of that drainage system was bound to be pitch-dark.
To track it reliably, I needed perfect vision.
Without hesitation, I opened the Genome Archive from my status window.
A single Genome Point—the one I’d been saving for when I ascended into a more powerful, massive creature later on.
It was a shame to spend it now, but with a certain path to growth right in front of me, this was no time to hold back.
From the list of applicable genetic lineages, I selected the Gluttony Shadow Cat’s.

【Gluttony Shadow Cat】
∎ Individual Description
A feline demon with patchy yellow fur and a vicious appearance. Its obsession with prey and relentless tenacity are admirable, though it has a somewhat dim-witted side.
∎ Genetic Lineage
Demonic Mammal ⊃ Carnivora ⊃ Felidae ⊃ Gluttony Shadow Cat

【Traits】
「Predator’s Majesty」, 「Dark Vision」
【Skills】
「Silent Footsteps」, 「Leap」

While I coveted both 「Silent Footsteps」 and 「Leap」, what I needed right now to pierce through that pitch-black sewer was only one thing.
I invested the point in 「Dark Vision」 without hesitation.

[Consuming 1 Genome Point, implanting trait 「Dark Vision」 into host ‘Gyushik’.]
Kee-ing… Krrgh….

The moment the status window chimed, Gyushik’s body trembled delicately and his breathing grew labored.
It was the backlash of a new genetic sequence being forcibly etched into him.
Fortunately, unlike when I’d implanted the skill initially—when his body had boiled with agony and he’d nearly lost consciousness—this time seemed far less severe.
Perhaps because it was a passive trait affecting only vision, the toll was milder.
Then, for a moment, everything went dark before my vision returned.
Ah, like a graphics card driver update.
While I was fine-tuning Gyushik, the black ox had become a pallid mummy, stripped to bone and leather by the fungal swarm.
The massive frame that the ox had once boasted had already shriveled to half its former size.
Come to think of it, the poor thing really was pitiable.
This was the ox’s inescapable fate, I suppose….

Sssslip—.

Then the mass of mycelium, sated with the ox’s blood, coiled itself into a long, serpentine form.
It began to slip furtively toward the drainage system at the base of the Breeding Grounds.

‘Oh. Had your fill, have we? I can’t very well let you simply slink off like that. Gyushik!’
Chirp!

Completely recovered, Gyushik answered with bright, alert eyes.
I gave him his orders.

‘From now on, you’re going to tail that fungal bastard. Don’t make a sound—follow silently!’
Chirp!

We began to follow the creature’s trail, barely breathing, as it slipped away into the drainage duct—a bizarre, shadowy mass disappearing into darkness.

* * *

In the Interrogation Chamber beneath the Magic Tower.
Hans, covered in wounds, lay sprawled on the cold floor, his voice breaking with desperate pleas.

“Please… please believe me! Everything I know, I’ve told you exactly as it is!”

With his limbs bound by binding magic, Hans had long since discarded whatever meager pride he’d once held as an elite researcher.

“That damned senior… I only did what he told me to do. I really don’t know anything! He dumped it all on me and just vanished!”

His voice grew hoarse with pleading, but the interrogator’s face remained impassive as he raised his whip.

“Give me a plausible excuse. Who’s backing you? And where is the real Ancient Dragon Egg now—tell me the truth!”

Hans protested loudly.

“I really did throw it in the waste bin!”
“What fool throws something so precious into the trash?”
“Ahhhhh! Please!”
Whiiiip—!

The moment the interrogator’s whip rose again, the heavy iron door of the Interrogation Chamber swung open.
Only then did the interrogator lower his raised whip.
Cornelius, the Third Magic Tower Master, had come in person.

“Tower Master. You’ve arrived.”

Cornelius walked toward Hans without a word.
His boot came to rest inches from Hans’s face.
Hans pressed his head against Cornelius’s foot, begging desperately.

“Tower Master, please! I beg for your mercy…!”

But Cornelius’s cold eyes held not a shred of compassion.
Instead, he let out a scornful snort.

“Mercy? Does this worm dare ask for mercy after destroying my life’s masterwork—a work I poured astronomical sums and years into?”

He smiled coldly and snapped his fingers.

Crackle-crackle!
“Screeeeeech—!”

In that instant, powerful electricity surged through the binding magic that shackled Hans’s entire body.
His eyes rolled back as he convulsed and writhed on the floor, foam flecking his lips.

“Please… save me….”

As Hans’s consciousness began to sink slowly into darkness amid the agony of burning flesh and bone, he heard voices through his fading awareness.
The interrogator and the Tower Master were speaking.

“Tower Master. This one really does seem to be just a fool who followed orders from his superior who escaped. How should we dispose of him?”

Cornelius responded flatly.

“Does following orders erase the guilt?”
“….”

A chilling silence settled over the Interrogation Chamber.
Cornelius shook his head despondently.

“Sigh… my life’s work destroyed by the hands of such incompetent fools… It’s beyond absurdity.”
“Tower Master….”

Cornelius’s wrinkled face twisted grotesquely.
He opened his mouth, his gaze turning glacial.

“Throw that wretch into the Demonic Convict Prison immediately. A creature beneath contempt has no right to walk the Magical Path.”

With his sentence delivered, Hans’s consciousness plunged into absolute darkness.

* * *

Ssssshhh—

A blood-red mass of mycelium slithered like a serpent down the damp Drainage System.
Gyushik and I moved with muted footfalls, carefully trailing the grotesque appendage.
Thanks to Gyushik’s newly acquired Dark Vision skill, the lightless Drainage System was as visible as broad daylight.
Though not in color—it had the uncanny quality of night-vision goggles or thermal imaging, but it was enough.

Ssshhh…

The narrow passage wound on and on, through countless twists.
How long had we been following it?
As the air grew steadily more humid and my sense of direction began to blur, I realized something.

‘At this distance, we’ve long since left the Breeding Grounds behind.’

In that moment, the cramped Drainage System opened onto a vast Underground Sewer that loomed before us.
Murky sewage cascaded noisily, reeking of filth and decay.
Apparently the Breeding Grounds wasn’t the only facility connected to this massive Underground Sewer—others nearby shared it as well.

‘Wait, what’s that…?’

I stopped short.
A large opening was cut into the stone wall of the sewer.
The mycelium that had been leading us scrambled up and slipped cleanly into the hole.
These creatures deliberately tunneled their way through for hunting. Clearly they possessed genuine intelligence.
Without hesitation, I followed into the opening.
The moment my foot touched the threshold, I could only stare in astonishment.

‘What in the world is this?’

Beyond the opening lay a vast and spacious natural Cavern—and inside it was, quite literally, a kingdom of mushrooms.
From ceiling to floor, every wall was carpeted with countless fungi of every color imaginable, covering the entire Cavern.
But what was truly shocking was that the Cavern didn’t contain only ordinary mushrooms.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

Lumbering slowly through the darkness.
Mushroom monsters with thick limbs sprouting beneath fungal caps—the sort of creatures you’d encounter in the early hunting grounds of an RPG game—wandered throughout the Cavern.

‘Incredible. This is literally a mushroom kingdom, isn’t it? Looks dangerous though.’

If I accidentally drew the aggression of hundreds of mushroom creatures, there wouldn’t be so much as bones left of me.
But I couldn’t abandon my dream of becoming a ‘legion commander’ so easily.
I racked my brain until the answer came to me.
Mushrooms have no eyes!

[Activating the skill Unnoticeable Presence.]

Originally it had been Dragon Fear, but my body’s insufficient magical reserves caused it to be demoted to this inferior form.
Yet it was perfectly suited for infiltration—a skill that renders my presence barely perceptible to a target’s awareness.
And if the opponent had no eyes at all?
It became something close to perfect invisibility.
Draping Gyushik in the Unnoticeable Presence, I pressed myself against the cavern wall and began moving cautiously deeper into the darkness.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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