Chapter 29:Cure or Curse
Alex lay in bed, quietly absorbing the implications of what he'd done. The others had left him to rest after he passed out, and now silence filled the room, save for the faint hum of medical devices monitoring his vitals. He flexed his fingers.
Glowing veins pulsed softly beneath his skin—greenish-white tendrils of light that branched through his arm like roots beneath soil. He stared at them, mesmerized and uneasy.
"I shouldn't have done it," he muttered to himself. Recklessness. That's what it was. He had let the desperation to reclaim autonomy blind him to the danger. In fusing two items—especially when one of them had become part of his cardiovascular system—he could have died.
But the voice of the man creature echoed in his mind even now, a phantom whisper from the nightmare:
"I'm doing this for you, Alex. Look at you—so fragile, so weak… Tsk tsk. I'll help you whether you like it or not. You will be the best of us."
Alex clenched his jaw. That thing had seen itself as a prophet, or worse—a devout. And somehow, he had unknowingly played the role of a god. A false one.
He opened the Mindcube interface to read the item's updated entry:
---
[ Item: Verdant Maw]
Type: Bio-Integrated Relic
Rarity: Legendary
Description:
A flower bred for parasitic adaptation, Verdant Maw attaches to living systems, absorbing their traits, enhancing their function, and forming deep neural and organic connections.
Effects:
•Has parasitized the Summoner's root-augmented cardiovascular system.
•Grants increased recovery speed and physical durability.
•Able to form instantaneous connection to compatible bio-organic or techno-organic items.
•Grants root-link sensory input (hear, feel, and pulse through root-touched matter).
Note:
•As the item has been summoned directly by the Summoner, it will not attack or parasitize the host.
•Attempting to remove it is highly dangerous.
---
Alex leaned back, his eyes heavy but mind racing. The threat of the man creature lingered, but now at least, he had wrested some control back.
Maybe this was dangerous. Maybe it was madness.
But now, the heart was his. Not a parasite. Not a gift. His.
He glanced at his hand once more, the veins glowing faintly like threads of destiny. The next time they met—him and that creature—it wouldn't be as puppet and prophet. It would be as equals… or as enemies.
___At the office, the atmosphere had shifted. Leena, usually reserved and wound tight with anxiety, seemed… relaxed. A soft glow played on her face as she gently misted one of her newly grown seedlings. Yurei stood near the window, her arms crossed as she kept watch, while Toru sat on the workbench, tinkering absently with a wrist-mounted sensor.
Kian wasn't present. He had taken on the full responsibilities of fieldwork during Alex's recovery, slipping into the role of frontline Hero with a natural ease—though never without leaving updates for Alex or checking in through Yurei.
Yurei and Toru shared a glance.
Now? Toru's eyes asked.
Now, Yurei responded with a subtle nod.
Toru cleared his throat, standing. "Hey, Leena," he began casually, "you've been… watching Alex pretty closely lately. Did you notice something?"
Leena, still focused on the plant in front of her, paused. She didn't look up immediately.
Then softly, almost in a whisper, she said, "Alex finally feels… complete."
Yurei turned to face her. "Clarify."
Leena set the sprayer down and finally met their eyes.
"Before, when I visited him in the hospital, I always had this strange sensation—like something had been planted inside him. But not something by choice. It felt like a Kudzu vine… invasive, forceful, eating its way through his spirit."
Toru and Yurei were silent.
Leena continued, her voice growing stronger. "But now… after the fusion… the energy has shifted. It's not something planted in Alex anymore." She touched her chest. "It feels like Alex himself has planted something. Something that's growing outward. Taking root."
Yurei's eyes narrowed slightly. "You mean, he's the one in control now?"
Leena nodded. "Yes. Before, it was like he was being shaped by an outside force. Now, he's shaping it. The difference is subtle… but powerful."
Toru leaned back, processing. "So the heart… it's his now."
Leena gave a small smile. "And it knows it."
Yurei looked out the window again, toward the direction of the infirmary. Her expression unreadable. "Let's hope the roots he's growing… don't turn into thorns."
___
Alex leaned back into his bed, a faint hum in his ears—not from the room, but from within.
At first, he had braced himself. The constant thrum of the Verdant Maw in his chest made him wary. He had been so certain that it would consume him completely—his mental energy, his will, his freedom. But now, as he sat quietly and focused inward, he felt something… different.
The heart wasn't just devouring his power—it was refining it.
He closed his eyes, letting his senses stretch through the Mindcube's interface. There it was: the unmistakable flow of mental energy leaving him, winding through the roots coiled in his veins—and then returning, sharper, cleaner, purer than before. Like an ancient forge, burning away impurities and returning only the steel.
He breathed out slowly, a genuine breath of relief this time.
It wasn't parasitic anymore. It was adapting… becoming a part of him, truly this time.
For the first time since the sewer incident, since the horrifying altar, since waking up in that healing pod with half his body fighting against itself—Alex felt a sliver of calm. A rare, fragile peace.
Maybe… just maybe, he thought, watching the faint green glow pulse in his wrist, my life can finally get back on track.
There were still dangers. Still shadows looming from within and beyond. But if the Verdant Maw was no longer fighting him—if it was truly his now—then he might just have a fighting chance.
And that, in this moment, was enough.
___
Somewhere deep underground, within a dimly lit lab, a phone buzzed against metal. A nervous scientist wiped the sweat from his brow and picked up the receiver. His voice trembled.
"Sir… CR1S1S is dead."
There was silence on the other end for a moment—then a low, furious growl.
"What?" The Boss's voice cracked like thunder. "It was alive just three hours ago. I saw it myself—breathing, stable, prepped for combat assessment. What the hell happened?"
The scientist swallowed hard. "I-I don't know, sir. It was sleeping peacefully, readings were normal, but then—suddenly—it writhed. No signs of attack, no external interference. It was like… its mind was in unbearable pain. And then… it just shut down."
Another pause. Then the Boss exhaled slowly, voice low but deadly.
"…Don't worry. I'll be there soon."
He ended the call and stood by his office window, staring out into the dusk. A single gnarled tree stood in the lot outside, grown unnaturally tall—a byproduct of the Verdant Neurospore. Its twisted branches creaked in the wind, unmoving.
And yet, he felt it. A presence. Something… watching.
His lips tightened. He turned from the window, grabbed his coat, and stormed out of the office. Moments later, his car roared to life and vanished down the street.
Unnoticed behind him, the ground near the tree shifted.
A mangled rat, half its face burned away, crawled from beneath the roots, its limbs twitching unnaturally. Its single remaining eye gleamed with quiet, malevolent hunger.
And then—it began to follow.
[End of Chapter]