A sea.
A sea of wriggling worms drowned a boy.
Things so small they slithered into the pores of his skin. In the warmth of his flesh, they made their homes.
Lost children, seeking refuge in the body of their keeper.
The boy was Han, and the larvae his children unborn.
This Han knew, for this was his dream... a message sent unto him from the Hive, so that he may whisper it unto the world.
*
Han awoke with a start, his obsidian skin still crawling from the nightmare.
What had it meant... that message?
He was not sure.
But as he opened his eyes, he realised that he had bigger things to worry about.
He was in a dark room, lying on a filth-ridden concrete floor. His enhanced smell picked up sweat and blood, and the slippery patch that one of his hands rested on had a soft squelch to it.
He pulled his hand away. "For fucks sake," he whispered, trying to shake the gunk off.
Even in this dim lighting, he could see that the only exit in this small cubicle was barred with a metallic gate. Not good.
"A cell?" he whispered.
"A cell indeed."
Han scattered back, squinting his eyes to see where the voice had come from.
"You speak English," the voice said. And from within the shadows past the cell, something shifted. "So I'm guessing that Jack was right. You really are human," the voice said, in a musing tone.
"Or... an intelligent monster," it added. And again, the shadows beyond the cell shifted.
"Who are you?" Han asked, slowly getting to his feet. However, his legs buckled right as he was fully erect, and he fell back to the floor.
A quiet giggle echoed in the room as Han struggled to pick himself up. "You're like an insect on rollerskates," the voice said. "I suppose the first part is true at least."
From the sound of the voice, the person speaking was a woman. Not that knowing this would help his case.
"Why am I here?" he asked.
The shadow-woman was silent for a moment.
"Jack said that you were flying towards us," she replied. "I was under the impression that here is where you wanted to be."
Han got the feeling that the woman was playing with him.
"Cut the bullshit. You know what I mean."
The shadows shifted once more, and a woman's shrouded figure materialised, hands gripping the cell bars. "You, insect boy, are in a cell because we don't trust you."
A valid response. Han would've done the same had an odd-looking creature flown straight for his base. However, that didn't mean that he wanted to stay in here.
"But now you know I'm human," he replied, finally having mustered the strength to stand up straight. "If you let me out of here, I'll be on my way."
The woman laughed at that. "Funny insect boy," she said. Her accent was odd. She spoke English fluently, but he could tell that it wasn't her native tongue. Asian perhaps... like him.
"Are you Korean?" he asked.
"Japanese," she replied, her tone betraying confusion. "So you're from Earth?"
Han cocked his head at that, moving closer to the bar. "Where else would I be from?"
The woman remained quiet.
"Answer me. Where else would a human possibly be from?"
However, he would get no answer that night. The woman had already disappeared.
"Fuck!" Han shouted, grabbing the cell bars. He rattled them, trying to rip them out; however, even with his increased strength, such superhuman feats were still beyond him.
He punched the cell bars in defeat before turning around to his new home. "Fuck," he whispered.
None of his trait skills were particularly helpful in this situation. All of them were utility-based; powerful, yes, but not with his hands tied like this.
The only other skill he could've used was Hive, but he had nothing to summon.
Still, from his interaction with the woman, it was clear she would return. Something about him being from Earth confused her; she'd be back to ask more. Meanwhile, he was trapped here just as confused.
'Why would she be confused about me being from Earth?' he thought. The answer, of course, was obvious.
Not everyone in Apocalypse was an Earthling.
So did that mean that aliens existed here?
Perhaps, but that was a wild thought. Aliens and magic. It sounded like the pitch for a shitty anime.
'Chul would've had answers,' he thought to himself, wishing that he had consumed more fantasy media.
After thinking over the alien idea for a bit, he realised that it didn't matter much. At least not as far as the information he had on hand revealed.
The goal remained the same: Complete the tower. Kill the architect.
But in order to achieve those things, he had to grow stronger first.
"Yeah right, that just leads me back to square one. I need a way out of here."
As if having heard his prayers, a system notification chimed.
『New Evolutionary quest!』
Han's heart nearly skipped a beat. An evolutionary quest; the same kind that had stolen his humanity from him, and gotten three of his comrades killed.
Still, in a dead-end situation like this, he was willing to do anything.
『Consume sugar.』
Han sighed. "Not exactly a way out, now is it?"
Reluctantly, he navigated through his system screen and pulled out one of Chul's chocolate bars from his inventory, before taking a big bite.
『Quest complete!』
『Processing quest rewards...』
'Please something good,' he thought. However, he didn't have much hope for that. The quest itself seemed trivial.
『New Innate Technique available!』
『Eldergold Transmutation』
'Innate technique... not skill?' Han thought, going over his system screen to see if anything had changed.
However, after searching rigorously for a few minutes, he found nothing. Not even on his traits screen.
'That's odd.'
Just then, he felt a soothing warmth growing from his stomach. The tiny hairs on his body stood on end, and his mouth began dripping saliva onto the floor.
"What the fuc-" Before he could finish his sentence, vomit rushed up his throat.
He closed his mouth, trying to hold it in, but that proved to be a futile exercise.
『Transmutation complete.』
『Eldergold has been successfully produced.』
And with that, golden vomit sprayed out of his mouth, slathering his cell in that thick shimmering liquid. Tiny worms wriggled in the soup, several of them already making their way towards him.
Han took a step back, breath held in disgust.
『New Evolutionary quest!』
『Feed the Larvae.』