Kai blinked. The ceiling above him wasn't the flickering white of the academy's dorms or the sterile glint of the training halls. It was damp stone, cracked piping, and the faint trickle of greenish water echoing through the tunnels.
"…Ugh," he muttered, pushing himself off the floor. "I slept in this filthy tunnel?"
Next to him, Akari was still snoring gently, one leg hanging off a cracked ledge. Her hair was matted, her shirt stained with sewer grime, but somehow, she still managed to sleep like they hadn't nearly died yesterday.
Kai stretched his neck—and nearly yelped when something massive pressed up against his back.
A familiar guttural chirr echoed.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
The massive worm had coiled itself beside him like an oversized puppy. When Kai moved, it chirped again and pulled him into another crushing, slimy hug.
"You again…" He laughed quietly, patting its side. "Yeah, yeah, I missed you too."
Then came the familiar ping of the system. A welcome one.
[SYSTEM ALERT: GeneDevourer Mission Complete]
[Rift Cleared: E+ Rank]
[Reward: €15,000 CredCoins transferred]
[Reward: 10x Common Material Packs, 10x Uncommon Material Packs, 3x Rare Material Packs]
→ [Convert to Normalized Fragments? Y/N]
He selected Yes and exhaled.
"It's over."
Akari stirred, rubbing her eyes and blinking at her surroundings. "Hey, Kai…" She sniffed. "God, this is disgusting. This whole tunnel reeks."
"Welcome back to the real world."
She glared at him, then stared up at the worm still nuzzling Kai's back like a puppy. "It followed us?"
"It's loyal," Kai grinned. "Smarter than most people I know."
"You say that like it's not a thirty-foot sewer parasite."
He stood, placing his hand on the worm's slick hide. "I'll be back," he whispered. "Try not to destroy the pipes while I'm gone."
The worm chirped sadly as they left it behind, slithering deeper into the shadowy tunnels.
—
Back in the safety of the dorm tower's perimeter, Akari unlocked the side entrance and led him into her hallway. Her dorm, unlike his, was... immaculate.
Polished wooden floors, clean marble sink, ambient light strips that didn't flicker, even a digital picture frame showing her family from back in Kyoto.
Kai looked around. "Wait, why does your place look like a showroom?"
"Perks of being top ten in Classroom 3," Akari said with a cheeky grin.
He folded his arms. "And why do you have two bathrooms?"
She flicked her ponytail smugly. "I'm built different."
He rolled his eyes.
Once inside, she motioned for him to sit. She pulled over her smartboard, flicking through encrypted overlays. "Kai. There's something I need to explain."
He frowned. "What's going on?"
She leaned in, voice low and serious. "You've heard of the GCC, right?"
"Yeah, they're the frontliners—the ones handling major Rift outbreaks."
"Well, they're being picked apart. There's another organization out there, Kai. One no one's talking about officially. We don't even know their full name yet. Just codenames—Black Stem, Ghost Widow, Project Silencer."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"They've been capturing GeneDevourers, twisting parasite strains, fusing Riftborn tech into human systems. We suspect they've already infiltrated parts of the Coalition."
"…And you want me to get involved."
"I want you to be ready," she said. "In case something happens. We're not strong enough yet to fight them head-on. But when the time comes, I need someone who can think like you."
Kai didn't respond at first. Then he nodded once. "Alright. I'm in. But I'll need time."
"You've got it."
She stood up, stretching. "Anyway, I'm soaking in sewer stink. I'm taking a bath."
He blinked. "Wait, how are there two bathrooms again?"
She threw a towel over her shoulder. "I'm built different."
He snorted.
—
Inside the male side of the bathroom, Kai stripped off the layers of mud-caked gear and sank into the steaming water. His muscles finally relaxed.
But his mind didn't.
I have a rare gene now. And I know how to use it. The Yearly Standoff's coming soon… Then I need more power. I need a way to turn these weird abilities into something strategic.
His fingers tapped the edge of the bath.
Then his lips curled.
I have a plan.
—
Minutes later, a knock hit the bathroom door.
"Kai! I left your clean clothes on the doorknob!"
He stepped out, dried off, and pulled them on. Fresh, clean, tailored academy gear—probably borrowed from her spares.
He grabbed his bag, slung it over one shoulder.
"Thanks, Akari."
She peeked around the hall corner with a smirk. "Don't mention it."
And with that, Kai vanished down the corridor, thoughts already racing toward what came next.
Kai stepped onto the familiar cracked stone path of Wolfram Campus, watching the metal towers and moss-bitten bridges sprawl around him like a rusting beast asleep in the sun.
This place was as brutal and unpolished as ever, but today he walked through it with something different burning in his chest.
I've got a Rare Gene. I've got a living war-worm under a sewer. And I've got fragments to burn.
The thought made him grin.
He'd stockpiled more than most F-rankers ever touched in their first month—Normalized Fragments from rift rewards, dismantled junk materials, and junk genes. And now, it was time to spend them for new parasites and the evolution path. He needed to overhaul his loadout before the next mission.
But first… the bathroom.
He pushed open the door to the nearest locker-level restroom—scratched mirrors, old concrete, one flickering light that buzzed above like it was about to fall.
Then he heard it.
A soft, muffled moan from the next stall.
Kai froze.
"…What the hell."
The sound repeated. A bit louder. A kind of strained groan, mixed with the rustle of fabric and some thudding. He knocked on the metal door, half-weirded out, half-annoyed.
"I'm sorry," he called. "But you're being really loud. At least do it in your dorm like a normal person—"
"What? Do what?" The voice on the other side cracked with embarrassment. "I'm just trying to wear this stupid thing...!"
Kai narrowed his eyes. Wait... I know that voice.
"…Emric?"
A pause. "Ottokai?"
There was a desperate shuffle, and then the stall door creaked open slightly. Kai peeked inside.
And sure enough, there was Emric—half-wearing, half-wrestling with what could only be described as the edgiest jacket in the city. It was pitch black with silver-threaded seams, asymmetrical straps, and a stylized red claw mark tearing across the back. The collar practically stood up on its own.
Kai blinked. "That's a sick jacket."
"It's cursed," Emric said. "It keeps trying to choke me."
Kai chuckled and stepped in to help, tugging the sleeves and adjusting the inner latches. After a moment of quiet teamwork, the jacket finally slipped into place like it had accepted its fate.
Emric twisted his arms, struck a pose. "It actually feels good now."
"Yeah," Kai said, smiling faintly. "Looks like it was made for you."
"…Thanks, Kai."
Then Emric slipped past him, muttering something about being late to a module test and disappeared down the hallway.
Kai was alone again in the bathroom. The mirror in front of him flickered with its shattered silver lines. He looked at himself.
Slicked-back hair damp from steam. Scars faint beneath the collar. Steel-gray eyes—sharper than before.
Now. Time to evolve.
He pulled up his interface and opened the Gene Management Hub. The Rare Mutation Analyzer flickered online for the first time, revealing new branching upgrade paths, combination synergies, and cross-class compatibility trees.
Then he slid open the Gene Market tab.
Kai sat back in the worn-down purchasing booth as his interface finished updating. The cold glow of the system screen pulsed faintly across his eyes, casting reflections like fractured light through water.
All my Genes… he thought, scrolling through them. Are useless. Except maybe the sac and the Knight's exoshell, but they're outdated. Nothing synergizes with the new Rare Gene.
He tapped a few icons, dismantling batch after batch.
Gene shards were stripped down into Normalized Fragments. Useless instincts, twitch-response mutations, failed sensory glands—they all got converted. The total climbed faster than he expected.
And when the final confirmation pinged...
[Fragment Total: 124 Normalized Fragments]
Kai exhaled sharply. That's more than I ever thought I'd have at this level.
He was about to confirm the purge when a strange file caught his eye.
Regicore Lattice (E+ Rank) – Sovereign Control Node.
"Regicore…?" he muttered aloud. "Where the hell did I even get that one?"
Then Sekh's voice echoed dryly inside his skull.
"You got it from the Spider King."
"…Spider King?"
Kai frowned. Now that she mentioned it, that fight had been a blur. But this Gene… it wasn't just a leftover fragment. It shared a synergy field with the Pheromelody Node—the rare vocal node he'd just acquired.
Sovereign Control Node. That's the link. Control-based compatibility… Damn. This might be useful.
He didn't sell it.
Instead, he switched to the Evolution Path Tree.
Two main paths flickered open in front of him, both rooted from his current parasite core.
▸ [Symbiote Core Stabilization]
— Adrenal Trigger: Auto-activates defensive genes under critical threat
— Stability Boost: Reduced mutation backlash during combat
▸ [Predator Instinct Protocols]
— Enhanced Aggression Tracking: Increases movement prediction of hostile Riftborn
— Organ Remapping: Can temporarily reroute internal organ function to bypass damage
— Low-Light Adaptation: Improved performance in dark environments
Both trees cost him only 40 fragments total. He didn't hesitate.
He slammed Confirm.
[New Pathways Unlocked…]
▸ [Efficiency Matrix]
— Minor Metabolic Regulation: Slightly lowers energy consumption during prolonged combat
— Muscle Fiber Reinforcement: Small increase in endurance and strain resistance
— Internal Cooling: Reduces overheating during gene activation bursts
▸ [Sensory Dampening Loop]
— Flash Disruption Resistance: Briefly buffers against light-based disorientation
— Pain Signal Filtering: Lowers non-critical pain signals to maintain focus
— Ambient Noise Suppression: Reduces distraction from chaotic environmental sounds
Perfect.
With 44 fragments left, he dove into the Parasite Market. The catalog was massive, but he filtered through it fast—eliminating the fluff, the duds, the risky betas.
And then—
[Parasite Created: New George 2]
[Parasite Created: New George 3]
[Parasite Created: New George 4]
The screen flashed again—
[Congratulations! You obtained your second RARE Parasite!]
[System Unlock: Rare Mutation Analyzer → Available in Parasite Management]
New George 5
Rarity: D
Mutation: [Subcutaneous Fang Bloom]
Level: 1
Type: Reactive Construct Parasite
Kai gawked. "Another rare?"
Sekh chuckled smugly. "Luck favors the genetically unstable."
And now that he looked closer, his current parasite roster had evolved naturally into a tight, terrifying squad:
▸ PARASITE MANAGEMENT
George 1
Rarity: E–
Mutation: [Thunder Mutation]
Level: 5
Type: Sky Parasite
George 4
Rarity: F–
Mutation: [Bone Hardening]
Level: 6
Type: Exoskeletal Augmenter
New George 2
Rarity: F+
Mutation: [Spore Pulse]
Level: 1
Type: Fungal Burst Parasite
New George 3
Rarity: E
Mutation: [Limb Spasm Reflex]
Level: 1
Type: Neural Hijacker
New George 4
Rarity: E+
Mutation: [Echo Flare Glands]
Level: 1
Type: Sonic Beacon Parasite
New George 5
Rarity: D
Mutation: [Subcutaneous Fang Bloom]
Level: 1
Type: Reactive Construct Parasite
He leaned back and grinned.
The GeneDevourer had evolved.