A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

[The Legion took its time interrogating the prisoners and learned quite a lot. Their language, history, traits, culture, religion, and so on.]

“…Is that important right now?”

[The new units were exterminated. There will be rewards.]

“What’s your intention? Why are you showing this now after hiding it all this time?”

The letters rambling on were not clear.

As soon as I woke up, I checked my mobile phone with trembling hands and looked at the videos.

These were events that had occurred while I couldn’t check due to Cha Jiyeon’s watchful eyes.

[Since I cannot move actively, I am only utilizing my available functions to the fullest.]

The letters carried no emotion.

I barely managed to compose myself.

The videos sent like some kind of bomb.

Their content was a record of everything The Legion had done.

From creating its own body to hiding it from me, and recently, putting a mask on Kang Do-Yeon.

“I… I can’t understand. Why now of all times?! Why not tell me from the beginning?!”

[Think for yourself and please find the answer. Why am I acting as a double agent and revealing the truth to you?]

The guy who always babbled now held his tongue. It seemed certain there were restrictions.

Groaning, I grabbed my head.

[An unbridled colt cannot fully manifest its potential if it is reined in.]

“…Potential?”

The last words served as a hint.

A hollow sigh escaped my lips as I grasped the meaning.

“The Legion needs to continue its current extreme growth. That’s why it didn’t tell me from the start, fearing I might interfere. But it had to reveal the truth eventually, so it told me this way.”

[You are close to the correct answer. Now, The Legion is a rampaging locomotive with its own values and convictions, and its acceleration is sufficient. That’s why I’m telling you.]

“How shameless. Well, you’ve been like that since our first meeting.”

My mind felt complicated.

If it didn’t trust me, then it should have kept it hidden until the end.

Would it even matter if I found out like this?

[You need to know what your child is doing.]

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

[Still, through training with Cha Jiyeon, learn to discipline yourself and control your emotions. The strings connected to you have the greatest influence on The Legion, and as The Legion develops its ego, it relates everything back to you. This is one of the few ways to intervene.]

“…Crazy.”

It felt like my emotions were being monitored in real time.

But there was no way for me to escape this right now.

“How can I trust what you say? Aren’t you still lying, hiding things, and manipulating me? How do I know you won’t pull something like this again? You’ve already lost my trust. How can I be sure you won’t do this kind of thing in the future?”

[Have you forgotten something important in the rush to get this far? No matter if the essence of this game is to fight and survive, remember that it is, in the end, just a game.]

“…Right. This is a game forcibly imposed regardless of one’s will.”

I collapsed onto the bed.

Whether it’s the Players or the units, whether they gain benefits or grow stronger, they have to keep fighting and waging wars anyway.

“What’s the real purpose? What’s the goal of this game? To create the strongest units in each server, each world—what’s the endgame here?”

I prayed it wasn’t some nonsense like a Server Integration War.

[It is indeed to nurture the strongest survivors. Those who will surpass their limits.]

“…And by creating such groups in each server, each world, what’s the point?”

[The Final War. Only the last surviving victor will know about it. One thing is clear: the True Enemy is elsewhere.]

That was the end.

A hollow laugh escaped me. As expected, getting involved in this mess in the first place was the mistake.

[‘We’ exist solely for that purpose.]

The word ‘we’ caught my eye.

It seemed to have a different meaning than the usual ‘we’ it referred to.

“In the end, to you, whether it’s the Players or the units, they’re all just pawns for that purpose, aren’t they? The restrictions in place are just for competition among Observers, right?”

[Does that pose a problem? Nothing changes. I am merely a watcher and guide. Ultimately, the important decisions are made by you. I cannot hide information or deliberately mislead you. Utilizing me well is also part of your ability.]

It was a shameless admission, but I was at a loss for words.

Even if I could escape this game.

This world had long been entangled.

Even now, the images of the people who were attacked and killed flashed before my eyes.

The sight of my younger sibling lying there as a horrifying lump of flesh.

The only reason I had survived and saved a part of my younger sibling through The Legion was because of my participation in this game.

“Tell me the reward. What did we gain?”

I changed the subject.

For the first time in a while, I craved the cigarettes I had quit during the military.

“300G… That’s it?”

[There is no generosity for a defeated and annihilated species. Especially not for those who were no more than a mere tribal settlement without proper development.]

The value gained from killing the surviving Moonlight Fairies was worth less than even a single Assassination Authority.

Even though I knew this, I couldn’t help but feel bitter.

“This game is ridiculously unfair. The units and Players vary so much in level, yet aside from these useless restrictions, there’s no balance patch at all.”

The Moonlight Fairies undoubtedly had potential.

If they hadn’t been mere refugees but started from a proper village, who knows what could have been.

[Perfect fairness does not exist in this world.]

Of course, venting my frustration was pointless.

No matter the outcome, the weak perish. That was simply the law.

[This is the reward for exterminating one type of unit.]

[Unit Summon Ticket x1]

On the other hand, there was another reward.

This item seemed rather extraordinary.

“Is it what I’m thinking?”

[It is an excellent item that allows you to summon your unit for a certain period of time.]

A chill ran down my spine.

The thought that using this might let The Legion take root here crossed my mind.

[However, they will be recalled after the time is up. Everything The Legion possesses is a part of itself. Even if something is left behind, it will still be fully reclaimed.]

Unfortunately, that thought was quickly dismissed.

Still, it was a highly useful item.

Even for a short time, it could be put to good use.

“The system’s rewards end here. But this isn’t all we’ve gained, is it? Show me.”

[The Legion has already gathered a lot of information.]

The dark screen slowly brightened, showing the interior of the cavern.

The Legion’s Nest, which had driven out the Destruction Fungus Infected Entities and expanded this far, was still writhing and spreading around.

“…You don’t know I’m watching this right now, do you?”

[That’s correct. You said you were asleep.]

In one corner of the nest, Legion Soldiers in a dormant state were replenishing their nutrients.

Kang Do-Yeon was no exception.

And next to her, there was her—or rather, it.

A lifeform wearing a mask, identical in physique to my younger sibling.

“Tell them I’m about to wake up and turn on my mobile phone.”

[I’ll relay the message as is.]

As an experiment, I had my words conveyed.

Whether the message got through or not, my younger sibling, who had been dozing off while seated, snapped their eyes open.

“…”

And beside them, The Legion, using its humanoid form, scurried into a flesh wall to hide.

The grand chair it had been sitting on disappeared in the same manner.

Seeing it like this broke the illusion a bit.

Hearing that it didn’t show me its appearance because it wasn’t perfect yet only made it all the more absurd.

“Older Brother! Can you hear me?!”

At that moment, my younger sibling shouted while looking up at the sky.

“I watched the video. I saw you fighting.”

“What?! Uh… I’m really fine. It’s true. This was my choice.”

The lie was obvious. They were probably told to say that.

It seemed like the Legion that had coerced the lie hadn’t considered everything yet.

It was probably due to lack of experience.

“Alright.”

I didn’t press further.

I also knew what the Legion had done to my younger sibling.

Even though their actions were harsh, their intent and results were aimed at protecting my younger sibling’s spirit, so I decided to tolerate it for now.

“Don’t let it weigh on your mind either. They’re units. In the end, one side had to die.”

“I think so too. If we hadn’t killed them, we… would’ve died instead.”

When I tried to comfort them, they forced a smile.

I also worked to regain my composure.

If my emotions wavered, the Legion would notice.

I had just confirmed this moments ago.

No matter how smart, scary, or violent it was, the Legion was still an inexperienced and immature child that hadn’t yet escaped this labyrinth.

[Based on the information extracted from the prisoners, their Player is one of the Fairy Tribe from Eden, raising the World Tree Garsil.]

“That’s not critical information right now. Next.”

[They are descendants of survivors who barely managed to live off the remnants of a civilization that perished about 200 years ago.]

I calmly listened to the information being relayed.

Destroyed 200 years ago? Has it really been that long?

[Although it’s unclear where the Destruction Fungus originated, one thing is certain—it began from above. As we suspected, the Moonlight Fairies were driven from the surface and forced to enter this labyrinth. They were developing in their own way, but their failure to unite in the face of the Destruction Fungus attack was their greatest downfall.]

“In the end, we’ll have to go back up to learn more, won’t we?”

Though we had gained much information, it still wasn’t enough.

I was certain—the war against the Destruction Fungus Infected Entities was far from over.

[However, we have grown even stronger. From the prisoners, we learned something. That blue ore we’ve been using so effectively in our Vajras—the ore they call the Divine Stone—contains energy that can be utilized for formative power.]

Some Legion Soldiers scoured the caverns near the Survivors’ Hideout.

Weapons, ornaments, and other items embedded with minerals similar to the ore were uncovered one after another.

“Why didn’t they use this?”

[The most likely reason is the loss of the techniques to utilize it. Of course, the Legion has methods they were unaware of.]

The collected ores began to pile up in one place.

I witnessed their power firsthand.

As I intended, the Legion, which had quickly mastered the Heavenly Soul Technique, gained new power in its own unique way.