A Legion Grows From My Smartphone - Chapter 19: The Game Board (2)

“First, units will unconditionally consider units of other affiliations as enemies when encountering them.” Kang Do Yeon calmly began organizing her thoughts.

Unable to speak with my mouth sealed, I nodded.

“Likewise, players are also hostile to other players. But there’s a contradiction here. What if the units of the opposing player are in a completely different world? On a different ‘server.’” “Yes, you’re right.” Units from the same world are invariably hostile, but players may not necessarily be. Occasionally, they might even form alliances to target other players of the same affiliation. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.

“The units currently rampaging on Earth have no connection to us. But consider this: what if the owner of those units is a player in your world?” “They would aim to find and eliminate not just the units, but that type of player as well.” Eliminating the player would make war unnecessary. My head began to pound. The situation was excessively complex and convoluted.

“But how does that relate to Oh Yoon-ah being dangerous? You got hurt!” “I won’t forgive her either. But Yoon-ah doesn’t know anything about you.” The kid spoke slowly, her breath uneven and her eyes wavering.

I “She prioritizes her own safety first and seeks to connect with other players whose worlds don’t intersect. She doesn’t just stay still, she aggressively expands her forces.” “To keep close?” “Since I’ll keep asking her, wait for a clearer opportunity.” There’s an advantage in making the first move. Unilaterally obtaining information and exploiting it. Logical. Yes, thinking about it efficiently and logically, my sister was right.

“I’m worried about you.” “…Then buy me some bread.” The kid let out a weak laugh. In the end, I left the room as it was. “That kid isn’t a ‘unit,’ right?” [That’s correct. Units and players are predetermined from the start. Anyone recruited, bound, or contracted afterward is not affected by the rules.] Returning to the room, I dismissed the last possibility I had been worried about. *

[Don’t blame yourself.] “Do I look like I am?” [On the contrary, your goal has become clear. Check it. Your account level has increased to 3.] Leveling up was a painfully slow process. However, the bright side was the increase in the number of samples and nutrients I could allocate. “This is an investment.”

I waved an envelope containing 1 million won. It was money that the young girl had risked her life to earn, not spending a single penny until now. But now, it was time to use it.

I fiddled with my phone, reminding myself that it wasn’t the right time yet. But when that time came, I would capture and consume anything, even if it was a human.

[Observe the legion. As it has grown in size, so have the maintenance costs. But thanks to its racial traits, growth and digestion have accelerated proportionally.]

I glanced at the screen. The legion was in the process of eradicating the remnants of the rat hordes that once populated the area. I wondered, looking at the entirety, if any

organism larger than us truly existed in this cave. We had completely occupied 20 zones, including 2 entire strata.

“It won’t stop, will it?” [Of course not. Victory is victory. There are still so many places left to consume.] On my screen, I saw members of the legion gathering the rats’ tools. They seemed unusually thoughtful. [Tools are indeed a fascinating concept, but should we utilize them in the same primitive manner as the rats?] “Difficult to determine. The legion seems to have its own constraints at present.” [Indeed. The legion has reached the same conclusion.] The legion soldiers discarded the tools.

More accurately, they stopped acquiring tools from external sources.

After all, we couldn’t manufacture steel.

[However, there are alternatives. One day, we might be able to create weapons more robust and sharper than steel.] “…That’s a distinct possibility.” While preserving the concept of tools, the legion dispatched scouts to unexplored territories.

[The surrounding area has been depleted by the rats. But we can consume not only their carcasses but also the mushroom houses and structures they’ve constructed.] “They’re quite the pest, aren’t they?” I examined the screen.

The scout had discovered a route leading to the upper layers, already fully excavated by the rats.

And at the end of that path, which the rats had claimed as their domain, there was something. “They’ve completely sealed off another path here, I wonder why?” A passage firmly blocked with large rocks, mushroom fragments, dirt, and so on. It was undoubtedly the rats’ handiwork.

Given the situation, this was the only upward path.

Which meant the rats had obstructed the sole route available for their forces to expand upwards.

“I wonder why. They had no problem descending. No, if we hadn’t acted swiftly, they might have sealed off the lower levels as well.” [Regrettably, the legion lacks the capacity to analyze data in its brain. However, the legion is aware that the rats deliberately barricaded that passage.] “So, what’s the strategy?” [Isn’t it clear?] The legion soldiers began to mobilize.

They deployed the strongest soldiers to gradually dismantle the barricade.

[We cannot halt. Halting signifies death. Our size has become too large to stagnate.] Even if strange creatures resided beyond this point. We had to battle and consume to survive. “I certainly believe that.”

And now, I was hoping for that outcome as well.

The legion needed to grow stronger.

Expand and gain more power, to become my strength.

[The obstruction is nearly removed. Scouts are now entering the slight crevice that has been revealed.] As soon as a crack appeared, several small scouts slipped inside.

Simultaneously, the view of what the scouts observed was linked up. Initially, it was a typical cave. A typical cave, but… [Having experienced reaching a ‘branch’ known as the grand layer for the first time, the legion was less shocked this time. This place…can definitely be considered part of the ‘trunk’.] “It’s both awe-inspiring and amazing.” It was certainly a cave.

But only superficially, as I had never witnessed such a vast cave before.

The dense vegetation, including mushrooms as large as trees, the ceiling towering dozens of meters high, and the luminous stones twinkling like stars on that ceiling. The caves I had encountered so far paled in comparison. [Is that a problem?] “Of course not.” I sneered.

In the end, it didn’t really matter what kind of place this was. The legion would continue to devour its way through here. [The most important thing is whether competing units exist here. Next is whether forces or powerful beings that might dare to oppose us exist.] The scouts did not stop and continued scouting around.

Since the environment had changed so drastically, everything around them was new information. “Salamander?”

In the midst of it, I saw a familiar sight.

A fire-breathing giant salamander the size of a car, a red-scaled cave ground dragon. The salamander that had once dominated Layer 10 was crawling amidst the mushroom jungle. It was nice seeing a familiar face, but… “Hm?” [As expected, this is an upper layer. Beings that acted cocky in the lower layers become easy prey here.] I blinked in surprise.

The hulking salamander fell prey in an instant. “…Uh.”

Its predator was a giant beetle, as large as the salamander itself. What I had initially mistaken for a nearby boulder was actually the dust-covered carapace of the beetle. This fantastical world defied all logic. This was the reality of the cave.

[Does it matter?] “Of course not.” I smirked. Ultimately, the nature of this place was inconsequential. The legion would persist in its relentless consumption. [We don’t blindly charge in. We are learning beings, all experience accumulated so far has been recorded in history.] “You’ve already experienced proper war.”

I conceded. We had evolved beyond the rudimentary concept of group hunting. Our focus was now solely on warfare, maximizing combat power by integrating various troop types. The legion soldiers had metamorphosed from predators seeking prey into a sharp, cold army. They initiated their assault on the beetle that was tearing apart the salamander.

[The carapace is quite hard. Harder than the carapaces of creatures from the lower layers. That’s why it’s so tempting.]

Trusting in its sturdy back shell, the beetle swiftly burrowed into the ground, assuming a defensive posture. Most predators would have given up at this point. But we were different. The legion persistently harassed the creature until it succeeded in flipping it over. As I watched the screaming beast being torn apart, I furrowed my brow. [No big deal, right? In the end, beasts are beasts no matter how evolved, not worth comparing to us.] “…That’s the legion’s opinion you’re voicing, not your own feelings, right?” [That’s right. Did you sense something?]

Sense something? Watching the black tide engulfing this cavern, I hesitated briefly. “What if self-awareness disappears?”

The legion had clearly developed the seeds of emotion during the last battle. I didn’t want this nascent organism to become arrogant and twisted.