Imposter System

Chapter 73: Ready or Not

The clock showed four in the morning. Matt couldn't go to sleep after that fright. Whenever he closes his eyes, his heart rate goes up uncontrollably. He stood in front of the mirror staring at himself with the water running for a long time. When the system automatically stopped the water, he snapped out of his stupor.

Matt left the bathroom and threw on some clothes. He went straight to his lab and entered the cold storage. He opened the time-locked safe and withdrew one of the vials. Then, he reached into his bag and took out a piece of living metal. He sat in the corner of the cold room and cut his hand. As the living metal entered his body, he swallowed the vials contents.

Not long after, he lost consciousness and started dreaming. Rather, it was remembering the stored memories in the cells. He floated above a purple and blue planet and released small pods into the atmosphere. The pods would break apart in the descent and spread across the globe. After floating for a long time, it came down to the planet and began absorbing all of the infected locals. These creatures had crystal-like skin.

However, unknown to me, they had already discovered the alien's purpose. Once it started reabsorbing the living metal, a sickness spread throughout its body. Then, an ambush of hundreds of beautiful humanoid creatures with shimmering skin. They released consecutive mental shockwaves and started to erase the main body's consciousness. It managed to escape, but its mind was going into deep hibernation.

After waking up, Matt sook a deep breath and put his hand over his heart. Whatever was affecting him earlier had passed. His instincts were firing off ceaselessly earlier and he finally mustered the courage. The only way to settle the strange feeling was to take in more of the living metal. Matt wasn't sure what was happening, but it worried him. He continued to sit in the cold room, letting the low temperature soothe his burning skin.

[Biological Reinforcement has leveled up!]

[Biological Reinforcement Lv. 2: "The crystalloid species proved too difficult to defeat. Shutting down all biological processes in order to undergo restorative hibernation l9b%b1p$m0#8s You can't run"

]Damage Resistance: +30% (Vital)

]Strength Increase: 1.3

]Endurance Increase: 1.3]

Matt's muscles felt like they had been torn and reformed. The cells from the living metal successfully coated all of his vital organs and the remaining bolstered his skeletal muscles. The heat from the inflammation was giving him a headache, so he sat in the cold room even longer. Unknowingly, it had already been two hours since he entered the lab.

He stood up and sealed the safe again. When he walked out, he saw Martha waiting nearby. She came over and rubbed her face against Matt's leg. Although he felt very uncomfortable at the moment, he couldn't be mad at Martha and smiled. He grabbed some vials and brought them to the secure room. He went to open the door and stopped in confusion.

{Martha, how did you open the door?}

{Easy. Matt dumb.} Martha replied along with images of her easily using the electronic pad to open the door from the inside.

{Ah, Martha, be careful of that in the future. It might be a bit suspicious if doors randomly open. But good job, you're so smart.} He continued to praise her. It was remarkable how quickly she started growing since getting fed the nucleic acid solution. He poured it out along with some water in the large basin and let Martha do her thing.

Not long after, three pinecones sprouted. He wasn't sure why there were three and looked down at Martha in confusion. Her invisible had come undone and her leaves started to shake all at once. After a few minutes of shaking, they stopped and Martha sat up line a proud lion. Matt wasn't sure what just happened so he went over to inspect her.

He quickly discovered, that even with his increased strength, he could no longer pick her up. However, Martha was able to walk on a scale without exerting any force. This didn't make any sense to him. He wasn't an expert in physics, but it didn't seem like Martha was getting heavier. There seemed to be something else going on.

{Do you need more food from now on?} Seeing that she 'powered up.'

{Food.} Martha raised her paw. {Sleep first.}

The leaves on her body moved again and she turned invisible once more. In the future, studying her leaves could give huge advancements to stealth technology. From Matt's understanding, the current stealth technology wasn't very efficient or practical. With Martha napping, Matt happily pocketed the three pinecones and left the lab.

The pain in his body had subsided at some point so Matt focused more on his gains. The description of his ability changed. The message seemed to come from the cells that granted the ability. However, the last section was a bit disturbing. This made Matt wonder what exactly the system was. His theory that it was something created by his subconscious in order to deal with the sudden changes in his body was stronger. However, the fact that Alexis had a similar system eliminated that possibility.

'Or did it?' Matt thought to himself. 'What if I'm also subconsciously projecting a system into her mind utilizing the link between us?'

This theory was starting to sound more plausible. Alexis had never questioned the system or anything really after she became a host. In the game, the players retain their agency after being infected, the only difference is that they now have a different game objective. Because of that, he never thought of Alexis's non-questioning attitude as being abnormal.

However, if one thought of it as an alien parasite that takes over the minds of other sentient creatures, it seems strange. Nothing in the description of the skill says that the host of the sub-body will lose their personality or consciousness. But, if the system is simply a reflection of what I believe it should say, then I can't believe anything on here.

Matt shook his head. 'This isn't the time to start questioning everything under the universe. There are things the system has done that don't perfectly match this theory, so in the end, it's just a theory. As for Alexis, I choose to believe that her mind is perfectly intact and isn't a puppet.'

Because of his rash actions, he may have opened a box that shouldn't be opened. However, it did net him quite a few evolution points. With it, he leveled his Dream Walking to three.

[Dream Walking Lv. 2->3: Your consciousness is able to form an astral body which can enter the dreams of living creatures. Once within, you are capable of influencing the dreams directly and witnessing them. Be careful of other things that lurk in the dark.

]Ability: Dream Walk

]Evolve cost: 50 EP]

[Dream Walk

Activation: Astral Body

Duration: Indefinite

Influence: Major]

'That's ominous' However, Matt was happy to get that over with. The remaining points plus the three pinecones would give him enough evolution points to evolve his skill.

When he returned to his quarters, Alexis was still asleep. He went into the bathroom and quickly ate the three pinecones then evolved his Dream Walking skill. For the first time since waking, he never experienced pain from an evolution. However, this time, a splitting headache knocked him to the ground as he held his head. It hurt but he was still able to stop from voicing it.

[Dream Walking Lv. 3 has evolved to Dream Eating Lv. 1]

[Dream Eating Lv. 1: Once on the normal path through the evolution of a Mind Slug, you discovered a new one. Due to a fateful encounter with an unknown entity, a remnant energy in your mind blossomed during evolution. Fortunately, you have already stepped on the path of an Eldritch Horror, or your body would have been consumed. Now, you are able to interact with that which is insubstantial. Your astral body is stronger and more resilient. Once inside a dream, your mental energy will be nourished by the dreamer's mind.

]Ability: Dream Walking

]Ability: Waking Dream

]Mental Energy Nourishment: 1.05]

[Waking Dream: All that is unreal or imaginary is your weapon. Hallucinations and dreams are your medium. Choose an area within your range. Anyone in that area will begin to hallucinate and slowly lose their mind.

Activation: Thought

Range: 25 meters

Duration: 30 minutes]

[Mental Resistance has leveled up!]

[Mental Resistance Lv. 4->5: The strength of your mind and consciousness have exceeded the biological standard for your host. The difference has manifested as mental energy. This mental energy provides a natural resistance to influences on the psyche.

]Mental resistance: 35->40%

]Mental Recovery: 1.5->1.7]

The pain in his head began to calm down and he felt better than ever. Something had infiltrated his astral body during his last excursion, but thanks to this timely evolution, he was able to digest and make it his own. This also brought along with it a significant increase in his mental energy, recovery, and resistance.

'Here I come Willard.'