SSS-Rank Awakening: My Talent Multiplies Everything

"Argh..."

Kael groaned as consciousness slowly returned to him.

His eyelids felt heavy as he forced them open, his vision blurry for several seconds before gradually clearing. The first thing he saw was the familiar ceiling above him.

He stared at it.

Then his brows slowly furrowed.

His room.

Kael turned his head and looked around.

The bed beneath him was familiar. The gaming setup at the corner was familiar. Even the faint morning light entering through the window was familiar.

But something was wrong.

"What am I doing here?"

His voice came out hoarse.

Kael slowly pushed himself upright, one hand pressing against the mattress as he tried to remember what had happened.

"Just now, I was..."

He stopped.

His expression became blank.

Where was he?

Kael tried to think.

Nothing came.

He searched through his memories, desperately trying to find the events that had happened before he woke up, but his mind felt like a pile of scattered pieces that refused to fit together.

Kael’s brows tightened.

"What happened?"

The door suddenly opened.

Kael immediately turned toward it.

A familiar figure walked inside.

Lyra.

She smiled when she saw him awake.

"Hey, bro. You’re awake already? Breakfast is ready. Come and eat."

Kael stared at her.

"Breakfast?"

Lyra nodded.

"Yeah."

"It’s morning already?"

"Of course."

Kael’s expression changed.

Wait.

What happened last night?

How had he arrived here?

Why couldn’t he remember anything?

One thought after another crashed into his mind, each question colliding with the next as he desperately tried to reconstruct his memories.

His head began to hurt.

Kael raised both hands and grabbed his head, his fingers digging into his hair.

"What..."

His breathing became heavier.

"What is happening?"

Why was his mind like this?

Why couldn’t he remember?

Why did everything feel wrong?

He clenched his hair tightly and pulled.

"Why am I like this?"

The question echoed inside his mind.

Then another thought surfaced.

Wait.

What was he supposed to be like?

Kael froze.

The headache suddenly intensified.

Thoughts collided inside his skull, memories appearing and disappearing before he could grasp them. His entire consciousness felt as though it had been thrown into chaos.

"Ah..."

Kael’s breathing became ragged.

Lyra’s smile disappeared.

She immediately walked toward him and bent down, concern visible across her face.

"What’s going on?"

Her voice became softer.

"Are you feeling alright?"

Kael slowly raised his head.

His eyes locked onto hers.

There was no warmth in them.

Only suspicion.

"Who are you?"

Lyra froze.

Kael’s gaze sharpened.

"You’re not Lyra."

His hand shot forward.

Before the girl could react, his fingers wrapped around her neck.

Snap!

Her neck broke.

The moment it happened, the entire room shattered.

Cracks spread through the walls, floor, ceiling, and everything else around him as though the world itself had been made from a gigantic mirror.

The illusion collapsed.

Kael’s consciousness was violently dragged back.

His eyes opened.

The cave returned.

The glowing crystals.

The trapped Hunters.

The countless cocoons.

The enormous brain-like creature attached to the ceiling.

Kael’s head throbbed violently.

His vision spun so badly that he nearly doubled over and vomited.

Then that voice echoed through the cavern once again.

"Impossible!"

The creature’s voice was filled with disbelief.

"How did you manage to break out of my mental attack again?"

Kael gritted his teeth.

He didn’t answer aloud, but he already knew the answer in his mind.

The illusion had been obvious.

Lyra entering his room without knocking wasn’t impossible. That alone wouldn’t have been enough to expose it.

But she hadn’t even turned away.

She hadn’t closed the door.

She had walked straight into his room and immediately started talking to him while he was shirtless.

The real Lyra would never have done that.

It was such a small detail, but in his current state, it had been enough.

Kael didn’t bother explaining any of that to the creature.

There was no reason to reveal what had exposed the illusion.

He had more important things to worry about.

A strange movement caught the corner of his eye.

One of the creature’s tentacles was moving toward his unconscious body.

It was slowly approaching his head.

Kael’s expression hardened.

His hand shot forward.

He grabbed the tentacle before it could reach him.

The creature seemed to realize what was happening.

"You..."

Kael didn’t give it time to react.

Every bit of strength he could muster erupted from his body.

"Get off me!"

He pulled.

The tentacle tore away.

A torrent of jet-black blood suddenly erupted from the severed appendage, splashing across Kael’s body and the ground beneath him.

The enormous brain-like creature released a deafening screech.

"AAAAARGH!"

The entire cavern seemed to tremble from its pain.

"You puny mortal!"

Its countless tentacles thrashed violently.

"You dare injure this great one?"

Kael ignored its rage.

He stared at the severed tentacle in his hand.

His expression changed.

It had been surprisingly easy to tear off.

Too easy.

Kael looked toward the enormous creature above him.

If its physical body was truly this fragile, then there was still a chance.

The creature’s mental attacks were terrifying. Kael had already experienced what happened when one of those attacks landed directly on his consciousness.

But if he could endure them long enough to reach its main body, then perhaps he could kill it.

That was his only chance.

Then Kael felt something strange.

He froze.

A peculiar sensation was spreading through his entire body, something strangely familiar despite the fact that he’d never experienced it before.

Kael lowered his gaze toward the severed flesh in his hand.

His eyes narrowed.

He knew this sensation.

His physique was reacting.

The Chimera Physique.

Ever since he had awakened it, Kael had never felt it respond to anything before. Yet now, the moment he held a piece of this creature’s flesh, his entire body seemed to react to it.

Kael’s expression became thoughtful.

Did that mean this creature possessed something worth taking?

Something his physique could integrate?

Normally, Kael would have been much more cautious.

This was his first time using the Chimera Physique to integrate the qualities of another creature directly into his body. Under ordinary circumstances, he would have studied the flesh first, examined its properties, and tried to determine exactly what he was dealing with.

But this wasn’t an ordinary situation.

He was trapped inside a cave.

An unknown creature was trying to devour his mind.

His teammates were unconscious all around him.

And every second he spent thinking gave that monster another opportunity to attack.

Kael made his decision.

He would take the risk.

Without hesitation, he willed the Chimera Physique to activate.

The severed tentacle in his hand suddenly began to dissolve.

Its flesh transformed into a strange liquid, the jet-black substance flowing across Kael’s palm before sinking directly into his body.

Kael’s eyes widened.

The sensation spread immediately.

The liquid rushed through his veins like living ink, flowing from his hand into his arm before spreading throughout his entire body.

His hand swelled.

Then his arm.

His muscles shifted beneath his skin.

Kael’s entire body began moving in a grotesque manner as the strange liquid spread through him, his flesh subtly changing as though something was rewriting the very structure of his body.

Pain struck him.

Kael gritted his teeth and endured it. Luckily, the sensation didn’t last long, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

Just then, a system appeared.

[Congratulations.]

[You have successfully integrated part of a Horror.]

[You have unlocked....]

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