No one moved.
Team 07 stood frozen, staring at the giant figure before them with a mix of fear, awe, and horror.
Morok, The Spore Tyrant, stood like a living mountain. Every breath released thick green spore mist that flowed like water. The three red light points on its chest pulsed slowly, like a beating heart.
And it looked at Rin.
Only Rin.
As if the others did not exist.
"Rin…" Akira whispered with a trembling voice. "What… what did he say? 'Child of Asakura'?"
Rin did not answer. She couldn't.
Her chest was tight. The green pattern on her arm vibrated so violently it felt like burning from within.
And the network's voice screamed.
No longer a whisper.
But a joyous shout.
"KING! KING! KING!"
"Home! Home! Home!"
"Finally, you're home!"
Rin fell to her knees, holding her head with both hands. She gasped for breath. The world spun.
"RIN!" Akira immediately ran to her, holding Rin's shoulders. "Rin! What's happening?!"
But Rin could not answer.
Because now she heard another voice.
A deeper voice. Older. More authoritative.
Morok's voice.
Not from his mouth.
From inside Rin's head.
"Do not fight. Let me speak with you."
Rin shook her head hard. No. Get out of my head.
But Morok did not stop.
"Your father… he was like this too… when we first met."
Rin opened her eyes, looking at Morok while gasping for breath.
"He fought… but in the end… he accepted."
"What… what did you do to my father?!" Rin shouted. Her voice broke.
Morok did not move. He just looked at Rin with the large hole in his head, like a bottomless abyss.
"I did nothing. He was the one who chose."
"He chose to become part of us. To protect you."
Rin felt something cold creep into her chest.
My father chose to change?
To protect me?
Jian shouted from behind. "RIN! WHAT IS HE SAYING TO YOU?!"
But Rin did not hear.
Morok was still speaking. Only to her.
"He injected spores from the Mycel Heart into your body. Because he knew, if you had those spores, we would not kill you."
"But he did not know. Those spores would change you. Slowly. To become like us."
Rin looked at her hands, hands almost completely covered in the green pattern.
"And now… you are almost ready. To join us."
"NO!" Rin screamed. Her voice echoed in the open clearing.
Morok was silent for a moment.
Then laughed.
Not a laugh that could be heard. But a laugh that could be felt. A low vibration that made the ground shake.
"You still fight. Like your father. But you will know. Sooner or later. You cannot fight us forever."
Morok raised his hand.
The ground around them suddenly cracked.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
From the cracks emerged dozens of giant black roots. Moving like living snakes, reaching towards Team 07.
"RUN!" Mei shouted.
Everyone immediately ran. But the roots were too fast.
One root caught Shun's leg and pulled him towards the ground.
"AAHHH!" Shun screamed.
Jian immediately turned back, his machete slashing that root. SLASH! The root severed, but five more followed.
Akira and Mei tried to help. They were almost caught too.
Kai stood motionless amidst the chaos. Looking at the roots with an empty gaze.
Then she spoke in a flat tone.
"Stop."
The roots stopped.
They didn't retreat.
Just stopped moving.
Morok looked at Kai, then spoke again. This time his voice was audible to everyone.
"Ah… the other one… the one they made… you accept faster than the Asakura child."
Kai looked at Morok without fear. "Who are you?"
"I am the beginning. I am the first. I am Morok."
Kai was silent, then spoke in a strange tone. As if not her own voice.
"Why… why do I feel… you are familiar?"
Morok laughed again.
"Because you are made from a part of us. They took our spores and put them inside your body. You are now part of us."
Kai looked at her hands.
For the first time since returning from observation, she looked afraid.
"I… I am not part of you."
"You still remember who you were. But sooner or later, you will forget. Like the others."
Jian shouted from behind. "KAI! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"
But Kai did not move.
Her empty gaze slowly changed.
As if something inside her was awakening.
Rin stood up.
Her breath was still ragged. Her body trembled. But she stood.
She looked directly at Morok and spoke with a voice louder than she thought she could.
"I will not become like you."
Morok looked at Rin.
"You have no choice. The spores in your body have grown too far. In two weeks, you will enter stage three. And you will start to lose yourself."
"Then I will fight it," Rin answered. "I will find a way to stop it."
Morok was silent for a long time.
His tone changed. Softer. As if sad.
"Your father said the same thing. But he failed."
Rin felt her chest tighten.
"What happened to my father?"
Morok raised his right hand.
The mist beside him moved.
From that mist, emerged someone.
A man.
Tall. Stalwart. With a face very similar to Rin's.
His skin was pale like fungi. His eyes glowed faintly green. Small roots grew from his body, moving slowly.
Asakura Ryo.
Rin's father.
But no longer fully human.
Rin froze.
My father is still alive?
But he has changed.
The man looked at Rin. For a moment, there was something in his eyes. Something that recognized.
"Rin… you've grown so much…"
Rin couldn't breathe.
That was her father's voice.
But there was something else there.
Akira pulled Rin's arm. "Rin… we have to go. Now."
Her father stepped closer. Slowly.
"I tried to fight. But I failed. I didn't want you to become like me."
"Then why did you inject those spores into me?!" Rin screamed. Tears fell without her realizing.
"Because it was the only way to keep you alive."
"The Kings would kill you if you didn't have those spores."
"I thought I could control it. I thought I could keep you human."
"I was wrong."
Rin knelt down.
Not because of the network's voice.
But because of the pain.
Her father was still alive.
But he was no longer her father.
And Rin would become like him.
"Rin… listen to me. You still have time."
"You must find the Mycel Heart. You must destroy it before it's too late."
"Black Zone. In the center. Where it all began."
"I cannot help you anymore. I am already part of them."
Her father looked at Morok.
"Please… do not hurt my child."
"I will not hurt her. But I will also not let her destroy the Mycel Heart."
Rin's father looked at Rin one more time.
"Forgive me."
Then he disappeared into the mist.
"FATHER!"
No answer.
Morok looked at Rin.
"You can choose. Accept your fate. Or fight."
"But fighting fate always has a price."
The black roots retreated into the ground.
"I give you time to choose."
Morok disappeared.
Total silence.
Rin cried.
Akira hugged her.
The others remained silent.
That night, they set up a tent. No one spoke.
And Rin knew one thing.
She had to go to the Black Zone.
She had to find the Mycel Heart.
Before she disappeared.
They did not continue their mission that day.
They set up an emergency tent in a relatively safe area. Not far from the clearing where they met Morok.
No one spoke.
Everyone was too shaken to speak.
Jian sat outside the tent, staring at the mist with an empty gaze.
Shun slept, but nightmares kept coming. He woke up several times with small screams.
Akira sat next to Rin. Did not speak. Just watched over her.
Mei sat in another corner, looking at her knife with a serious gaze. As if thinking about something.
Kai sat farthest away, looking at her own hands with an unreadable expression.
And Rin.
Sat with her back against the tent wall, looking at her arms.
The green pattern now covered almost her entire arms and part of her neck.
She could feel the pattern moving. As if something alive was under her skin.
And the network's voice did not stop.
"You see. Your father failed."
"You will also fail."
"You will become like him. Sooner or later."
Rin closed her eyes, trying to suppress the voice.
But the voice did not stop.
Two weeks.
Only two weeks before she entered stage three.
Before she started to lose herself.
Before she became like her father.
Rin felt something cold creep into her chest.
I have to find the Mycel Heart.
I have to destroy it.
Before it's too late.
Mei got up and walked closer. She sat next to Rin.
"Rin," she whispered softly. "What did your father say about the Mycel Heart."
"He said it's in the Black Zone. In the center. Where it all began."
Mei nodded slowly. "Then we have to go there."
"But we haven't even finished training," Rin said. "How can we enter the Black Zone?"
Mei looked at Rin with a serious gaze.
"We will find a way. We have to. Because if not…" She looked at Rin's arm. "You will be lost."
Rin was silent for a long time.
Then she nodded slowly.
"Okay. We will find a way."
The next morning, they continued their mission.
Collecting samples at the two remaining locations. Quickly. Without much talking.
Everyone moved like robots. Doing tasks because they had to, not because they wanted to.
No one asked about what happened yesterday.
No one dared.
Three days later, they returned to Tianhai Dome.
The gate opened.
They emerged from the Yellow Zone, back into the bright, clean, safe world.
But they all knew.
Nothing was safe anymore.
Because the real threat was not outside.
But inside.
Inside Rin's body.
And perhaps, inside all of them.
Instructor Yashida greeted them at the gate.
"Team 07," he said in a flat tone. "You're back. Congratulations. You officially pass the first expedition."
No one responded.
Yashida looked at them one by one, then his gaze stopped on Rin.
"Asakura Rin. Come with me. Commissioner Lian wants to speak with you."
Rin tensed.
They know.
Mei glanced at Rin. A gaze full of warning.
Be careful.
Rin nodded, then followed Yashida.
Leaving her team, who watched her back with a mix of worry, fear, and helplessness.
In Commissioner Lian's room, floor 20, Sector-1.
Rin stood before a large desk. Looking at Commissioner Lian Shu who sat with a cold gaze.
Beside her stood Dr. Hayato Gin. Tablet in hand. Serious expression.
"Asakura Rin," Lian said in a formal tone. "Your first expedition was full of unusual incidents."
Rin did not answer.
Lian continued. "We have a report from a reliable source that you encountered something out there. Something that shouldn't be in the Yellow Zone."
Rin tensed.
A report from who? Kai?
"What happened out there, Rin?" Lian asked directly.
Rin was silent, then answered carefully.
"We encountered a large Mycelite. But we escaped. That's all."
Lian looked at Rin for a long time, then smiled thinly. A smile that was not friendly.
"You're lying."
Rin did not answer.
Dr. Gin spoke up. "Rin, we know something is changing in your body. We know you are different. And we know you are hiding something."
Rin felt her chest tighten.
They know.
Lian stood up and walked closer.
"Rin, we can help you. But you must be honest with us. What happened out there?"
Rin looked at Lian, then answered firmly.
"Nothing happened. We just completed the mission. That's all."
Lian looked at Rin for a long time, then sighed.
"Very well. If you will not talk, we have another way."
She signaled to Dr. Gin.
Dr. Gin approached with a scanner in hand.
"Rin," Dr. Gin said. "We need to scan your body. Standard protocol after an expedition. Please raise your arm."
Rin froze.
If they scan, they will know.
They will see the green pattern.
And it will all be over.
Rin took a step back. Her hands hidden behind her.
"I… I don't want to."
Lian looked at Rin sharply.
"This is not a request, Rin. It's an order."
Rin felt the green pattern on her arm vibrate violently.
The network's voice whispered. This time with a different tone.
"Fight. Don't let them know. Fight."
Rin shook her head, trying to suppress the voice.
But Dr. Gin was already very close. The scanner raised.
And then, the door opened loudly.
Mei entered. Breathing heavily. As if she had just been running.
"Commissioner!" she said quickly. "There's an incident in the Training Arena. Mycelites have escaped their cage. Need assistance now!"
Lian looked at Mei suspiciously. But she could not ignore this report.
"Dr. Gin, come with me," she said quickly. "Rin, you wait here. We are not finished."
Then they left, leaving Rin and Mei alone in the room.
Once the door closed.
Mei looked at Rin with a serious gaze.
"That was a lie. There's no incident. I just bought you some time."
Rin looked at Mei in disbelief. "Why did you…"
"Because we don't have any more time," Mei interrupted. "They know. And if they scan you, it's all over."
Rin fell silent.
Mei continued. "We have to leave. Now. Before they return."
"Leave to where?"
Mei looked directly at Rin.
"The Black Zone. We find the Mycel Heart. There."