"Hmm."


    This time, it focused on aiding Adhai''s hunt. It refrained from using the "Symbol of Hunt" and had no expectations of acquiring any traits. Yet, the result was entirely unexpected.


    "And yet..."


    ?‘Tyrantroid’ gic essence acquired sessfully.?


    ?Trait ‘Tyrantroid’ stolen from the Giganterium.?


    ?Would you like to apply the ‘Tyrantroid’ trait??


    Of all the traits, I never thought I would gain this one.


    The trait earned by devouring the Apex creature was called ‘Tyrantroid’.


    At first nce, it seemed to be either a physical trait or rted to internal organs. However, it actually fell under the category of ‘environmental adaptation traits’.ording to its description, the Giganterium''s body contained an organ that allowed it to effectively absorb and utilize energy under extreme conditions.


    ‘Tyrantroid’ was a special chemical substance secreted by this organ. Thanks to this, the creature could survive in virtually any environment with minimal limitations.


    The key detail, however, was that this substance enhanced itsbat ability. Every time the Giganterium grew enraged and increased in size, it was thanks to <em>Tyrantroid</em>.


    "Now, even I can utilize this trait."


    ‘Tyrantroid’ was a transformation-inducing trait simr to ‘Bone Beast’ or ‘Symbol of the Hunt’. However, it only activated under specific conditions, making it more akin to the ‘Revenant Organ’.


    "But it’s much easier to trigger than the Revenant Organ."


    The activation condition for ‘Tyrantroid’ was simple: severe physical injury. Once triggered, the trait significantly boosted strength and energy output, causing the body to erge dramatically.


    However, this came at a cost: movement became sluggish, akin to that of a lumbering beetle. The erged body made it a bigger target, and its slower speed was a critical drawback.


    "Of course, that’s assuming the trait stands alone."


    Whenbined with traits like Bone Beast, which hardens the body’s exoskeleton as it erges, or Revenant Organ, which activates only under grave injury, Tyrantroid bes immensely powerful. A weapon of destruction tailored for the Amorph.


    The drawback, however, was that thebo relied on sustaining injuries. If it failed to subdue its enemy while the traits were active, it would face significant disadvantages. At minimum, it needed a way to recover quickly from injuries or counteract the speed penalty.


    "Currently, I have two means of recovery."


    - Regeneration


    - Hand of the Predatory Leech


    The Predatory Leech Hand required it to physically seize its target, and the Regeneration ability had limited speed. While neither was poor, they were far from perfect.


    This wasn’t a game—it was reality. Death meant the end. Until it could fully mitigate the drawbacks, thebo would remain sealed.


    "Still, it’s better to have it than not."


    The unexpected gift left it in high spirits.


    ?Why??not moving??


    ?Big One??head??eating??sometimes??like that.?


    ?Taste??amazing??


    ?Probably.?


    "Ah."


    Sensing thought-waves from various directions, it dismissed the semi-transparent text box.


    In the darkness, purple eyes, like amethysts, glimmered as they stared at it. They appeared to be waiting for it to finish consuming the head.


    [ZZ ZZZ (I’m done eating.)]


    Upon hearing its words, Adhai used her Red Armor-empowered wings to sever the Giganterium’s two massive arms.


    The Giganterium’s body, resembling a mix of gori and bear, had heavily developed arms. Each severed limb was enormous, spanning about 10 meters in length.


    cing the hefty chunks of meat on the ground, Adhai sent a wave of thought to her kin.


    ?Big One??reward??done.??Now we??eat too.?


    As her thought-waves spread, the Gagons lunged at the severed arms.


    The White Gagons moved in first, using their sharp ws to strip away fur and hide, embedding their facial tendrils deep within. Adhai skinned the hide to make the meal more essible for the others before joining the feast herself.


    The Green Gagons, rtively weaker, inserted their tendrils into the wounds created by Adhai and the others, drinking the blood.


    Though their scales were of varying hues—green, white—the tendrils shared a uniform color. As the violet, living siphons wriggled within the severed arms, the massive limbs visibly shrank.


    Adhai had brought a total of ten Gagons: three White Gagons and seven Green Gagons. Including herself, the eleven Gagons fervently drained the blood, reducing the two arms of the Giganterium to shriveled husks in no time.


    ?Taste? ?Excellent?


    ?Delicious?


    ?Insufficient? ?More? ?Food? ?Needed?


    The Gagons, their brief meal concluded, raised their heads. The younger Green Gagons, seemingly unsated, cast longing gazes at the rest of the Giganterium’s body.


    Noticing this, Adhai mmed her hind leg into the ground with force. The sharp sound echoed, causing the Gagons to flinch.


    ?Food? ?Nest? ?We will take it? ?Eating? ?Ends now?


    ?Great Adhai? ?Command? ?Obey?


    At their queen’s icy warning, the Green Gagons quickly bowed their heads. Adhai, having chastised the greedy among her kin, severed the Giganterium’s intact left leg with precision.


    ?Sha Velma? ?This? ?For your mate? ?Nel Germa? ?Gift?


    ?Great Adhai? ?Kindness? ?Gratitude?


    The slim White Gagon, Sha Velma, bowed low to Adhai, expressing his thanks. While the queen stood tall and dignified, Sha Velma retrieved the gift she had bestowed.


    ‘So, Nel Germa is nesting eggs right now?’


    Nel Germa, the White Gagon who had been most helpful to us in the Dragon’s Nest, hadid eggs shortly before we arrived and was now tending to them in her nest.


    Adhai had initially intended to bring Nel Germa, her battle partner, on this hunt. However, given the circumstances, Sha Velma had stepped in for his mate.


    ‘Gagon reproduction, huh.’


    I’m no Gagon enthusiast, but it’s an intriguing topic. Even in the game, how Gagons reproduced was a mystery.


    ‘Now that I think about it, it might not have been implemented.’


    As with most VR games, Space Survival had a significant amount of sexual content—interactions between yers, services offered by NPCs, and so on. True to its focus on detailed ecosystems and lore, Space Survival even depicted the reproductive behaviors of some wildlife species.


    ‘Not all of them, though.’


    Species with strong bonds between sexes or where maternal care yed a significant role often had their reproductive activities portrayed. For instance, the Crystal Wing, which I had hunted in the Dragon’s Nest, was one of those species.


    However, this level of detail had caused controversy, with the game receiving criticism for its explicitness. This ultimately affected its certification.


    ‘The damn “mature content”bel blocked its release.’


    The game wasn’t officially released domestically, so I had to resort to obtaining a foreign version, relying on the VR device’s built-in trantion feature to y.


    Still, Gagons were a species many yers hoped would have their reproduction mechanics depicted. Rankers even infiltrated Gagon nests to find out, but no one seeded in uncovering the mystery.


    ?Big One??


    [ZZ (Hmm?)]


    ?Nest? ?Let’s return?


    Lost in nostalgia, I was brought back to the present by Adhai’s telepathic wave. The other Gagons were already spreading their wings, preparing for the journey back.


    ‘Guess we should head back.’


    I secured the Giganterium’s corpse, now missing its head and limbs, with my invasive tendrils, fastening it tightly to my body. Unfurling my massive wing-arms, I prepared to take flight alongside the Gagons.


    The underground tunnels and caves where the Giganterium had made itsir were rtively confined spaces in this subterranean world. When I and the eleven Gagons spread our wings simultaneously, the area felt cramped.


    However, once we emerged from the narrower confines of these caves, an entirely different world awaited us.


    Following the eleven Gagons ahead, we emerged from the underground passage into an unexpectedly vast, open space.


    Whaty before us was not merely a hollow chamber but a subterranean world so immense that the term "underground world" seemed more appropriate.


    The ceiling,posed of a thickyer of ice, could rightly be called a "second sky". Beneath it stretched a boundless expanse ofnd.


    This wasn’t just poetic imagery—gazing at the ice ceiling truly evoked the sensation of looking at the sky. The effect came from the microorganisms spread across the surface of the ice.


    Resembling moss, these organisms emitted light and heat as they digested their food, creating an effect that, from a distance, resembled stars scattered across a night sky.


    The sight of Gagons soaring beneath the frozen, starry heavens was breathtaking—an unparalleled beauty I had neither seen nor could have imagined in my homnd.


    Turning my gaze downward, I saw a dense underground terrain filled with nts ranging from a few meters to tens of meters in height. Among the unique flora, a mix of mushrooms and rainbow grass, wild animals moved about freely.


    Our journey with the dragons of the universe was not long. Passing through the forest of nts, we soon encountered a canyon thick with rising steam.


    The steam, produced by geothermal activity, marked the site of the Gagons’ new pce.


    Entering the canyon, we found numerous caves. Inside thergest one, a ck dragon, Ham Ort, greeted us.


    ?Ham Ort?


    ?Great Adhai?


    ?Hunt?


    ?Sess?


    ?Congrattions?


    ?Mm, thank you.?


    Ham Ort bowed respectfully, and Adhai nodded in acknowledgment.


    It had been a while since Ist saw Ham Ort, and she had changed significantly. The scars that had once marred her scales were now gone, and her body had grown slightlyrger.


    "She must’ve thrived in such a good environment; she seems to have gained some weight."


    Not that she was fat—far from it. As expected of Adhai’s mother, her distinctively alluring beauty remained unchanged. Her obsidian-colored scales gleamed smoothly, and her long, muscr body exuded vitality thanks to her well-toned muscles.


    Her horns, however, hadn’t fully regenerated and remained asymmetrical, but the contrast only added a wild charm to her elegant form.


    After greeting Adhai, Ham Ort turned to me, dipping her head slightly.


    ?Thank you.?


    [ZZ ZZZ ZZ (I didn’t do anything.)]


    ?Adhai’s mate?


    ?Thanks to you?


    ?Kin?


    ?Were unharmed?


    ?Mate??


    ?Not yet.?


    ?Big One, you made it back safely??


    From deeper within the cave, a massive pink creature emerged. Clutching a group of tiny blue Gagons, it was Number 26.


    ?This time, you’re unscathed??


    [ZZZZ (Of course.)]


    ?Well done!?


    26 seemed delighted that I had returned without a single injury. Its bioluminescent body, 25 meters in size, lit up the dark cave, turning it bright as day in an instant.


    ?What’s this??


    ?So fascinating.?


    ?Again.?


    ?Do it again.?


    The little Gagons nestled against 26, absorbing its psychic energy, curiously prodded its body with their tiny front legs.


    I ced the carcass of the Giganterium, which I had been carrying, in front of Ham Ort.


    [ZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (This. Adhai brought it.)]


    ?The Beast King?


    ?Carcass?


    ?Why??


    Ham Ort tilted her head in curiosity, and Adhai answered in her stead.


    ?For the young??To feed them??Growth??Nutrients??Necessary?


    ?Great Adhai??Mercy??Thank you?


    When Adhai exined that she had brought it to feed the younger Gagons, Ham Ort wagged her tail gently—a clear disy of pride in her daughter’s maturity.


    [Z ZZ ZZ ZZ (Do we have more to hunt?)]


    ?Yes.??But??Kin??Rest??First?


    [ZZ ZZZZ (Makes sense.)]


    Since we were staying on this for at least another week, there was no need to rush.


    The hunt was over; it was time for a well-deserved rest.