I Became an Ancient All-Host Lifeform - Chapter 19

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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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019 A Life in the Sewers

Snap—! A gulp. Swallow.

In an instant, everything around me plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Something had swallowed me whole.
I knew what it was by pure instinct.

‘Damn it, that’s a fish!’

A fish swimming contentedly through this murky, foul-smelling sewage—such a creature existed.
It had to be a magical beast. Any ordinary fish would have perished the moment it gulped this filth.
But there was no time for amazement. If I let myself drift down the esophagus into the stomach, I’d be digested by this monstrous fish.
I burrowed rapidly into the damp mucous membrane before the digestive juices could touch me.

[Activating Skill «Parasitism lv 3».]
A sharp tingle.
An electric sensation as nerve networks connected, and the notification appeared.

[Successfully established the ‘Mutant Sewer Catfish’ as your Host.]
[Acquired genetic information from the ‘Mutant Sewer Catfish’.]

Phew. I lived.
Now that I’d caught my breath, let me check the specs of this fish magical beast I’d just obtained.

【Mutant Sewer Catfish lv 5】
【Traits】
「Gills」, 「Pollution Resistance lv 3」
【Skills】
「Mud Hiding lv 2」, 「Swimming lv 2」

Hmm, there’s nothing here I can use immediately.
Still, there might come a time when I need to graft 「Swimming」 or 「Gills」 onto a host, so I’ll keep these in reserve for now.
In any case, my hands are full at the moment.
Now that I’ve acquired a reasonably safe and robust body, should I finally get to that important matter I’ve been putting off?
I summoned the status window notification I’d been postponing.

[Your primary form has reached its level limit. Will you undergo «Mutation» to an advanced form?]

I pressed ‘Yes’ without hesitation.

[Beginning mutation to advanced form.]

In that instant, a searing heat roiled through my entire body, and a terrible drowsiness crashed over me.
The backlash of genetic recombination.

‘Ugh. Here it comes.’

Safe within the catfish’s body, I surrendered to the encroaching exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Not long after, investigators from the Northeast Border Guard arrived in haste at the Monster Breeding Facility.
They had come to investigate an incident in which one official mage from the Mage Tower had been killed and three security personnel from the facility had been slaughtered by a magical beast known as the ‘Ghost Rat’.
Bern laid out everything he had seen and heard during the inquiry with complete honesty.
The investigator who heard his statement wore an expression of utter disbelief.

“So what you’re telling me is… a single rat, no bigger than the palm of your hand, killed an official mage from the Mage Tower and nearly wiped out the entire security detail?”

An investigator from the Northeast Border Guard furrowed his brow deeply as he posed the question.
Bern then withdrew a Throwing Knife from his garments—the one that had a rat’s tail lodged in its handle—and began cleaning it slowly before he spoke.
The rat’s tail had already been submitted as critical evidence.

“That was no ordinary rat. It was an intelligent monster.”
“Intelligent? How could a rat possibly be intelligent?”

At the investigator’s skeptical reply, Bern’s temper flared.

“I’m telling you the truth! Because of the Fire Magic, thick smoke blanketed the entire cavern, and that creature exploited it. It moved through the darkness with no presence whatsoever, targeting the ankles of our team members with precision. If that’s not intelligence, then what is?”

As Bern gave his account, the investigator’s quill moved rapidly across the page.
Bern stared at the blade of his knife, muttering quietly to himself.

“I should have pierced its torso properly back then. If I had, we wouldn’t have ended up with such a disastrous outcome.”

The investigator, having recorded the earlier testimony as stated, posed another question.

“To be frank… it’s hard to believe. So how exactly did the mage die? Did that rat rip him apart?”

At that moment, Bern replied gravely.

“No. That creature suddenly spat at him. Once it hit him, he started flailing around, and then—Bang!—he just exploded. I’ve never seen an attack like that in my life.”

In that instant, the investigator’s quill, which had been moving without pause, came to an abrupt stop.

“I’m sorry… the creature spat… and the mage… exploded?”
“I’m serious! I saw it with my own two eyes. And then a red cloud spread across the air, and our team members started going mad, I tell you? Even I breathed in that red mist and my mind was starting to feel strange.”
“A red cloud, you say?”

The investigator pressed further, but recalling the horrific memories from that time, Bern ground his teeth.

“I don’t know what method it used, but it’s the truth. All of it happened because that creature spat. The red cloud appeared, people went mad, the mage suddenly exploded.”
“Hmm….”

The investigator scratched his head with a troubled expression.
Even as he wrote it into the incident report, he doubted whether this made any sense.
A rat spits, people go mad, and a mage explodes?
It was the kind of nonsense that wouldn’t even appear in a third-rate ghost story.
Yet Bern’s eyes gleamed with absolute conviction.

“I don’t know what kind of terrible hybrid those bureaucrats at the Mage Tower cooked up in their laboratory, but that thing wasn’t some wild beast driven by instinct. It definitely had intelligence. And cunning intelligence at that!”
“Ah, well… yes….”

After recording all of Bern’s statement in the report, the investigator was still scratching his head.
Bern continued.

“What they created was a real monster. One that drives people insane and wields strange magic. A terrifying chimera.”
“Yes. I understand….”

With this, the investigator concluded his questioning of Bern, thinking it best to let this addled man leave as soon as possible.
The aftermath of the battle in the Underground Cavern seemed to have left him not yet in his right mind.

“Thank you for your cooperation. You may go now.”
“Very well. Thank you for your trouble.”

The moment the questioning ended, Bern rose from his seat.
He then slung the equipment and weapons he’d prepared beforehand over his shoulder, and the investigator hastily tried to stop him at this sudden movement.

“Wait—surely you’re not fully recovered yet. Where are you trying to go?”

Bern answered as though it were obvious.

“Of course I have to track it down. That thing is an extremely dangerous Chimera. We have to nip it in the bud before it grows any further.”

The investigator stopped him with a pained expression.

“For heaven’s sake, don’t talk such nonsense! You don’t have two lives. A person still recovering from their injuries shouldn’t be out hunting monsters.”

But Bern’s resolve was unwavering.
He politely brushed aside the investigator’s restraining hand and moved toward the entrance.

“I survived the Black Forest Incident three years ago. You think I’m going to die to some rat? Stop your worrying!”

After that, Bern left without looking back.
In his possession was a Parchment Map.
The map left behind by the dead mage.
On the map inscribed with Tracking Magic, a red trace still flickered across the surface.
He quickened his pace, following the trail marked on the map.
But before long, a problem emerged.

Fzzzt… then nothing.

The red trace on the map, which had been growing fainter and fainter, suddenly vanished entirely.
Staring down at what had reverted to an ordinary map, Bern cursed under his breath.

“Damn it. The Magic Power must have run out.”

It was inevitable—the mage who needed to continuously feed Magic Power to the detection spell was now dead.
But Bern did not give up.
He had seen the creature’s last position before the magic failed; in fact, that was fortunate.
The last trace of it had been marked at the Riverbank southwest of the Facility.

“I will find it. I must find it and destroy it. I cannot allow what happened three years ago to happen again!”

With renewed resolve, Bern hurried toward the river.

* * *

Splash, splash.
Gyu-sik reached the entrance of the damp cavern that led to the river.
Once he swam through the water ahead, he would be outside.
Just as Gyu-sik was about to plunge into the water—

Stop! You cannot go outside yet!

Morgul cried out urgently from the Jewel on his forehead.

Look at your feet! The detection spell is still glowing brightly! If you go out now, they will know your exact location! It is safer to remain in the cavern for now!

When Gyu-sik looked down, the red Magic Power footprints still shone vividly beneath him.

Hmm. I will now completely dispel this detection spell for you. Remain silent and wait!

Morgul called out confidently and drew upon his Magic Power.
But five minutes passed, then ten, and the red footprints showed no sign of fading.

Ugh… why is their magic these days so crudely made? Unnecessarily complicated….

Morgul, pouring sweat that no one could see, stammered helplessly—no different than when he had tried before.

– Ugh! I’m so frustrated I could just break it! If I just destroy it outright….

It was the very moment Morgul, pushed past his patience, was about to force his Magic Power through roughly.

Poof.

The red Magic Power that had been circling beneath Gyu-sik’s feet scattered like a lie, dissolving away.

– Ahhahaha! Did you see?!

Morgul, witnessing this spectacle, cried out with triumphant, resonant pride.

– Behold the power of the great founding Mage Tower Master, the Archmage Morgul! How dare you cast such crude Tracking Magic in my presence?

Crackle! Pop!
Gyu-sik finally confirmed that his footprints had been erased and bounded about in joy.
Whoever had done it, he could now roam freely in search of his master without worry.
Morgul, emboldened by Gyu-sik’s jubilation, pressed forward with a show of pride.

– Ahem, now you understand my magnificence perfectly, yes? So forget that insolent parasite and come join me in a great and glorious undertaking….

But Morgul’s words could not continue.

Splash—!

Gyu-sik dove straight into the water.

– …Huh? Wait, are you listening to me? Hey!

But Gyu-sik was already plunging into the cold river current.
The pompous prattling of the cranky old sage echoing in his head meant nothing to him.
With singular determination to find his master, Gyu-sik surged forward into the wide river beyond the cavern.

* * *

Ding.

I snapped my eyes open at the notification from my status window.

[Mutation to ‘Sub-Adult Form Stage 1’ is complete.]

Before my eyes still stretched the murky polluted water and the massive underground Sewers, stinking and vibrating with foul reek.
Hmm, I’m still in dirty water, but I don’t feel those violent currents like before. Rather, it feels calm and stagnant, like there aren’t even any ripples?
Probably swept into some kind of settling basin in the middle of the Sewers.
But what mattered most was the mutation result of my main body.
To see what had happened, I immediately pulled up my status window.

【Paleonucleus Sub-Adult Form Stage 1 lv10】

【Active Essences】
– Slot 1: “Ancient Dragon Blood Gene” (Incomplete)
– Slot 2: “Essence of Fungus”
– Slot 3: [Empty Slot]

【Traits】
“Universal Host”, “Scar Tissue Resistance lv 2”, “Nutrient Absorption”

【Skills】
“Invisible Presence”, “Insignificant Insight”, “Lizard Tail”, “Hardening lv 2”, “Predation”, “Parasitism lv 3”, “Spore Dispersal lv 1”, “Vibration Sensing lv 1”

My Status window had become considerably richer.
And thanks to my evolution into a higher specimen, I’d gained one additional Essence slot.
Once I climb back to the surface, I’ll slot the Flame Mage’s Talent into the empty space and give it a test run.
Just imagining myself wielding fire with perfect control brought an involuntary smile to my face.

Anyway, ‘Sub-Adult Form, Stage 1’? I’d never heard the term before, but I could grasp its meaning well enough.
Probably the stage before reaching Mature Form. The “Stage 1” bit suggests there are multiple stages to traverse before achieving full maturity.
Which means I still have quite a journey ahead before becoming a complete, fully-formed Adult….
Ah, ancient parasite… wait, did I almost say that out loud?
Ahem. As an ‘ancient life form,’ the road to maturity stretches long and treacherous indeed.

Just then, an unfamiliar menu flickered in the corner of my Status window, glowing softly.
It was a newly appeared [Genetic Manipulation] button.

Oh, ‘Genetic Manipulation’? Now that’s intriguing.
Curious, I opened the menu and found a [Species Generation] function already active inside. The rest remained locked behind seal symbols.
Fascinating… Does ‘Species Generation’ mean I can combine the genetic information I’ve gathered in my genome archive to create my own original monsters?
This is serious. I could literally synthesize new traits and birth entirely novel species at will?
It feels as though I’ve become a creator god, bringing life into being as I see fit.
Right as I was bubbling with anticipation over this new capability, something happened.
Suddenly, my host convulsed violently.

‘Gaaah!’

Sharing senses with the fish, I too felt my skin begin to burn with unbearable sharpness.
Pure agony—as if bone and flesh were melting away.

‘What—what is this? What’s happening?’

I spun around frantically, scanning the surroundings.
But there was nothing. Only the serene landscape of the sewers.
Yet looking more closely, I noticed an unusual concentration of skeletal remains—various aquatic monsters stripped down to bare bones—drifting around me.
Ah. Could it be…? This isn’t a sewer current chamber at all, is it…?

Glorp~ glurrrp….

In an instant, the entire mass of unidentifiable liquid surrounding me began to roil, then suddenly pulled upward out of the water.
Through the viscous, murky mucus, I could see the sewer landscape below.

‘Impossible… I wasn’t in a sewer current chamber at all. I was inside a slime’s belly!’

This insane, gelatinous green blob had swallowed the fish monster whole.

Glorp~ glorp~

The slime crawled at a sluggish pace into a cramped passage beside the sewer.
If I stayed in the slime’s belly churning along like this, I’d end up digested into nothing but sediment along with the fish bones.
There was only one answer to survival.
My trait is ‘Universal Host’ for a reason, isn’t it? There’s no reason I can’t make the slime itself a host.
I immediately exited the fish and threw myself into the slime’s mucous mass.

[Using skill Parasitism lv 3 on target.]

Please. Please succeed.

Zap.
The moment my nervous system connected with the host’s, a welcome notification appeared.

[Successfully parasitized the Sewer Slime as your host.]
[You have acquired the genetic information of a Sewer Slime.]

Phew. That was too close.
But honestly, relief isn’t the only thing washing over me—there’s frustration too.

‘Sigh… what kind of life have I been living?’

The egg I arrived in rotted away and ended up crammed into a garbage can, then I encountered a sewage rat and suffered through nightmare after nightmare,
and now I’m crawling around in sewer filth as a Sewer Slime?

‘…Why is my life always stuck in the sewers!’

Squelch~ squelch~
Paying no mind to my lament, the Sewer Slime oozes forward with a wet, sluggish crawl.
Slow, so terribly slow….
Squelch~ squelch~

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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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