Chapter 40: Metamorphosis

-Imperial Calendar 507, May 24th. Human physical ability is too weak compared to other races. At this rate, humans will be culled. Therefore, we decided to find a new way.

-Imperial Calendar 507. June 7th. Finally, permission was granted from above. The name of the project is ‘Metamorphosis’. Now we will evolve humanity in a better way than it is now.

-Imperial Calendar 508, April 17th. We finally found a clue. We have discovered a being with special abilities. We decided to call her Eve. She will surely lead humanity to a new place.

-Imperial Calendar 508, November 30th. We finally succeeded in the first synthesis based on Eve’s ability. Although it was a normal animal, not a monster. The experimental subject was breathing normally even after the fusion was over. Now we are not far from our goal.

-Imperial Calendar 510, January 12th. Failed. What on earth was the problem? I tried it in exactly the same way as the first experiment. It caused a rejection reaction. I think I need to change the method a little.

-Imperial Calendar 513, December 14th. Damn. I failed again. What on earth was the problem? The thirteenth experimental subject, which had been quiet until now, suddenly changed into a strange shape. Now, if I take one more step forward…!

-Time is running out. Suddenly — a meeting was decided to discuss the suspension of the project. We decided to try every method we could use.

! In the end, the — guys cut off all support. A little more in the future. Then humans can be perfect!

-When support was cut off, all the other team members left, leaving only me here. In a month, I will be kicked out of here. Until then, I must somehow succeed.

-There is not much time left until the day when I will achieve my noble will to save mankind. But now you’re going to ruin my research? …Who decides.

-I eventually decided to try the last method. If this method also fails, then-.

-Humanity–. ———.

…What is all this?

After reading the entire contents, I put down the lab log again.

So, it means that chimera research was conducted more than 100 years ago?

But.

“Does that make sense?”

Life fusion.

It’s not that simple.

The technology of combining two or more different creatures into one living being.

It is clear that the difficulty is comparable to that of black magic that brings the dead back to life.

It’s not simply about attaching arms and legs, it’s about the birth of a new life form.

And of course, it is possible that something very dangerous will be born.

Imagine.

An Ogre with the regenerative power of a troll spitting out breath.

It is nothing short of a disaster.

That’s why it’s a forbidden technique.

Because it is clear that it is a technology that will bring chaos to the world.

But according to the records I just read, it seems that there were guys who set foot in that forbidden area more than 100 years ago.

Is all this just someone’s dream?

But compared to that.

“It’s too detailed.”

The content written in the log is too thick to be made up.

It has a weight that cannot be called someone’s imagination.

Gradually, the weight began to shift to the possibility that everything contained in it was real.

Then the important thing is.

‘I don’t know if the last experiment was successful….’

The last experiment written in the log.

I wonder if the last experiment that a cornered human tried without thinking about the aftermath was successful.

The last words full of the madness of the person who seems to have written the log.

It kept making me anxious.

“Could it be that the possibility of the end that the Sage’s Bookmark said at that time is talking about this?”

But soon I shook off the thoughts that began to fill my head.

No, is that too much thought?

According to the log, the project is clearly a thing of the very distant past.

But if nothing has happened for more than 100 years, there may be no need to worry.

But.

“Why am I so anxious….”

I can’t erase the ominous delusions that keep popping up in my head from the moment I read the record.

If the last synthesis was successful as written in the log.

If something that records that method falls into someone’s hands, then the story becomes serious.

I turned my head and looked down at the chimera, which was not moving at all in the cage.

A bizarre appearance with the head of a snake and a body like a dog.

According to the records, this is probably the first completed product.

This is what a chimera is.

It loses its essence and becomes a terrible sight that doesn’t even fit and evokes disgust.

[AE-1]

Letters attached to the cage.

It seems that the people who conducted the experiment did not even give this guy a name.

Feeling a little pity.

As I was looking around, I couldn’t find anything else and returned to the first place.

The second door next to the wide open first door.

I’m already starting to worry about what’s in here.

Creak

The door opens with a loud noise, and the scene beyond the door unfolds before my eyes.

Various magic circles and various instruments placed here and there made it easy to guess that this was a laboratory.

I looked inside from beyond the door with wary eyes for a moment.

But.

“Ugh…!”

As I was looking inside for a moment, I immediately retched as soon as I discovered something.

The deepest part of the lab.

Something of unknown identity placed there.

There was something huge, red, and taking up space there.

It wriggled as if it were alive, and it was swinging something long and thin around.

Thud

A living mass of terrible appearance.

Every time the lump moved, a disgusting sound echoed in all directions.

And what was attached to such a lump was like a human arm.

“….”

I immediately closed the door.

I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.

Something disgusting and terrible.

My mood has gotten dirty in an instant.

The log said something about the evolution of mankind.

What on earth were you making?

I closed my eyes to calm my pounding heart.

But even when I closed my eyes, the scene I had just seen could not be erased.

Only after somehow calming my heart did I begin to see the third door that had not yet been opened.

“Ah….”

I’m already afraid.

What terrible thing will be here?

I haven’t even met the owner of this dream yet, but I feel so exhausted that my eyes are closing.

But I can’t stay here forever.

I made up my mind and reached for the doorknob.

And the door slowly begins to open.

Creak

And inside, a completely different atmosphere from before was blowing.

A landscape reminiscent of an underground prison in the Middle Ages.

Only old, rusty iron bars and darkness with no light welcomed me.

I illuminated the surroundings with a glowstone that I had prepared in advance.

A dark and humid place like a prison.

And in the innermost corner of such a prison.

Soon, I discovered a woman tied up in chains and hanging helplessly.

And when I saw that person’s appearance, I could guess who she was.

“Lisa…?”

Pink hair and a huge mana pouch on her chest.

One of Edmund’s heroines who appeared in the original work.

The identity of the person tied up alone in the dark prison is Lisa.

Why is she here….

Did Lisa hear my voice, she carefully raised her head.

Only then did I realize that her eyes were covered with a bandage.

Lisa’s eyes, covered with bandages, began to shed tears as she struggled to raise her head to where my voice was heard.

And so pathetically.

She burst into tears as if she was endlessly sad.

But.

“What?”

No matter what she said to me.

No sound can be heard, as if wearing earplugs.

But I could infer what she wanted to say now through her lip shape.

“Save me…?”

When I uttered what she said.

In an instant, the whole world was filled with light, and at the same time.

“Gasp…!”

“Are you okay?”

I woke up from the dream.

I could hear a voice from the side that seemed to worry about me, but I quickly organized what I had just seen in my dream.

‘Why is Lisa trapped in a place like a prison?’

Lisa, who was trapped in a place like a prison.

And for some reason, her crying figure screaming for me to save her.

“Ah…!”

I was rolling my eyes with a dazed mind when I suddenly felt a tingling pain on the back of my hand, and I looked down at the back of my hand.

What is this again…?

Turning my gaze to check, there was an unfamiliar scar on the back of my hand.