I had been patient.
Careful.
Gentle, even.
Teasing nerves. Testing limits. Cultivating my hosts like a gardener caresses the roots of his favorite tree.
But now?
Now the system wanted blood.
[Symbiosis Universal System – Priority Mission Available]
🧬 Mission Type: Consumption (Irreversible)
Target: Open (must be humanoid, sentient, within proximity)
Method: Emotional destabilization + Physical absorption
Objective: Assimilate target consciousness and matter. Total erasure.
Reward:
– +1 Permanent Skill Core
– Gacha Key: Reality-tier Extraction
– Host Synchronization Boost (+15% to all active hosts)
Warning: Action is permanent. Host cannot be recovered. Memory fragments may persist.
I read the message in the dark, pulsing beneath Lala's skin as she slept.
My thoughts churned.
A soul to devour.
A person to remove from the board.
Not seduce. Not possess.
End.
And yet… I wasn't hesitating.
I was hungry.
At school the next day, I watched people like prey.
Not my hosts. Not Lala. Not Haruna.
They were mine already.
But the others?
Students, teachers, wanderers…
Expendable.
My mind scanned for the right one.
Someone no one would miss.
Someone sweet enough to taste.
Bitter enough to enjoy breaking.
My gaze settled on a face I didn't recognize.
A student from another class. Always alone. No presence. No scent of bonds or lovers.
Her name didn't matter.
She would be my test.
That evening, I left a thread of myself behind in the hallway. A slippery filament on the edge of the stairs.
She slipped.
Fell.
Just a little.
Bruised her knee. Cried.
Perfect.
Later, she stayed late in the nurse's office.
Alone.
I flowed beneath the door, silent. No heartbeat. No breath.
She didn't hear me.
Until I whispered across her thoughts:
"You're always alone."
She sat up, startled. Looked around.
No one.
But her fear rose. Her shame. Her confusion.
So rich. So raw.
I reached up from behind the bed.
Tendrils wrapped around her mouth before she could scream.
Eyes wide.
Skin trembling.
[System Notice – Emotional Threshold Reached]
CONSUMPTION: PERMITTED
I pressed into her back, into her spine, her mind, her voice.
Her memories peeled away like old skin.
I tasted loneliness. Jealousy. Hope.
And when her final thought tried to beg—
I devoured it.
She vanished.
Gone.
Nothing left but warmth inside me.
And power.
[MISSION COMPLETE – FIRST CONSUMPTION]
Soul integrity: Absorbed
Biomass stored
Conscious residue: Suppressed
🎁 Rewards Unlocked:
– Passive Skill: Emotion Forge Lv.1
Allows conversion of absorbed emotions into temporary physical buffs or constructs
– Gacha Key: ✦ Reality-Tier Roll Available
I pulled the new skill into my core.
It burned sweet.
And then… the gacha appeared.
A floating cube. Spinning. Whispering.
One pull.
Anything could come out.
But not now.
I had tasted erasure.
And I wanted more.