The soul strings created by the app were very important to both the players and the units. Of course, it made those beyond the dimensional wall into sympathetic beings, but it also allowed them to strongly influence each other. Although for the units, sharing a single string with other units made it weak, it was different for the players. In fact, there were players who actively utilized it with their own abilities.

"This is...”

[It is a medium that will aid the player’s sorcery. Use it in the moment of battle. It is an object that can explode the potential engraved in your soul, making you forget fear.]

Cha Ji Yeon received the item. At first glance, it was an ordinary, transparent potion.

"Now they’re trying to make us into junkies, huh.”

The sturdy white man beside her snorted. He too was a unit, having received a potion as well.

[The goal is to annihilate their base in a short time.]

The date had already been set. Along with the allied forces of several countries that had decided to cooperate after sensing the gravity of the recent situation, they were planning to go through the gate, beyond Earth, and attack the base of the monsters who kept raiding them.

"Literally a war. Phew...who would’ve thought I’d be fighting a war against monsters.”

"You’ll have to get used to it, Chris. We don’t know how many times this will be repeated in the future.”

"Is it easy to get used to war? This isn’t some simple defensive battle.”

He snorted. It wasn’t an inaccurate statement. Cha Ji Yeon was barely managing to keep herself mentally prepared.

[The fact that souls are connected is tremendous. That fear, that hesitation. You will be able to overcome it all once you realize through the potion what existence you are connected to.]

The voice echoed in her head, seemingly aware of her anxiety. ‘Connection.’ She found herself disliking that term. Despite sharing a bond with over a hundred comrades, it felt as if her most private parts were exposed. *

[Can you feel it?]

Given that, the feeling received by the singular existences connected by a string that did not simply branch off but remained as one was even more powerful.

[What he truly wishes for. You will surely be able to discern it now.]

The legion strained to comprehend the deluge of information, striving to understand the essence of a soul. The most significant piece of information, flowing through the connection of the string - the soul - was the emotions of the other party. This was especially true since it was a single, unbranched string.

[He is anxious and afraid. Terrified of losing something precious, he blames his still weak self. He is far too weak...both in body and mind.]

The entire legion trembled. They grasped his emotions and deduced the situation he was in.

[In any case, he is of utmost importance to us. Without him, we cannot grow stronger. He is our progenitor.]

[So we must aid him.]

[The first step is to strengthen ourselves.]

As they evolved, they began to understand the significance of his actions. They finally realized that he provided them with sustenance and samples for their benefit, which led the legion to redefine their perception of him.

[He has given us many things. What can ‘we’ give to him in return?]

After much contemplation, the legion’s thoughts converged on this question. As if waiting for this moment, a function was activated.

[I have confirmed your will. I will activate the offering function.]A radiant pattern materialized within the dark nest. What should they offer? The legion glanced around hesitantly, then cautiously extended a tentacle. A small tentacle carefully climbed onto the pattern.

[Investigate further. Living things cannot be transmitted through the offering function.]

Disappointed that nothing had changed, the tentacle quietly withdrew. Since the tentacle’s attempt had failed, the legion tried other things. They tried all sorts of legionnaires, pieces of the nest, eggs, and so on. Finally, they succeeded in transmitting something.

The light flashed, and the pattern, upon which an object had been placed, vanished completely. *

"Ugh...”

Morning arrived. I twisted and stretched languidly before finally leaving the comfort of my bed. I sat in a daze for a moment before rising and heading to the bathroom to freshen up. My body felt heavy, likely due to recent fatigue, but I managed to stand by grasping the handrail next to the bed.

"...Handrail?”

I paused, startled, as I realized what I held in my hand. It was a shiny stone object that hadn’t been there before.

"Waaah!”

Recognition hit me like a bolt of lightning. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Something I’d only seen on screen was now embedded in the floor of my apartment.

"What on earth is this?!”

[The legion has repaid your favor.]

I opened the app, my shout echoing in the room. The response left me dumbstruck.

"So, this is... paying back.”

I pulled the object from the floor. It was a sword, forged and sharpened from the hardest shells of the legion.

[It is an offering dedicated to you.]

I swallowed unconsciously, captivated by its sparkling, obsidian-like appearance.

"Just how did this happen?”

[...It is because the legion has grown that much.]

"Is that really all there is to it? What was that moth?”

[The moth was a kind of clue. By analyzing and absorbing it, the legion gained that clue and has grown even more. For example, the attack it sprayed in a flash of light had the power to disrupt our command system. We concluded it was a power related to interfering with our souls.]

"How exactly have they grown to send me this?”

I examined the sword closely, a wry smile on my face. This thing, carved from a single shell, was heavy and incredibly sharp.

"Still, receiving this makes me want to give them something more, but I don’t have anything lying around right now.”

[That is sufficient. Already...the legion is receiving many things.]

"Receiving things?”

This guy’s words seemed particularly meaningful today. For now, I hid the sword in a corner. It would be bad if Kang Do Yeon or my mother saw it."I don’t know how long this everyday life will last.”

I exited the room, my day beginning as usual, yet a lingering anxiety remained after the recent attack.

[The legion has discovered an anomaly from analyzing the guardians’ specimens.]

"Anomaly?”

[It appears we can now understand why they’ve been behaving so peculiarly. They possess artificially engraved genes.]

This revelation was a shock. If the guardians were artificially created beings, what did that imply about the labyrinth?

"Is that...all?”

[At present, all we know is that their genes have been tampered with. However, we can infer the nature of this tampering from their unscientific behavior.]

"Just who...”

[The answer still lies above.]

Right, it’s probably up there.

The screen shifted upwards, revealing the passage leading to the stem. My heart pounded in my chest. Was it because I was nearing the labyrinth’s secret, causing my heart to race?

[The legion has begun to regroup. One of our strengths is that we require no rest.]

Unlike before, when they would consume everything in sight, the legion now left many of the biome’s organisms in the newly occupied floor untouched. They could be emergency rations, or perhaps they deemed it a waste of time to digest them.

[There are no guardians. It seems they were all killed in the last battle.]

The conclusion was anticlimactic given the previous tension. Only ordinary biome organisms remained. The legion’s scouts dispersed quickly, scouring the various caverns and passages.

[Ah, what is this?]

Then, it seemed the leading scout discovered something.

"It’s definitely not natural. So, what else in this labyrinth isn’t natural, apart from us?”

[It must be the work of the guardians. It appears quite some time has passed.]

What they found gathered on one side of a mega-stratum, classified as a ‘'branch’, were remains or carcasses. Most had long since been broken down and rotted by scavengers. They were the size of... mammalian hand-sized vertebrates at first glance.

[The extent of the damage makes it impossible to identify genetic samples. Based on this information, the legion has deduced a rational suspicion.]

"...You mean units?”

Even I could deduce this much. We had found traces of others after the rat bastards we encountered before. But it seemed they had no luck, unable to evolve and were massacred.

"I wonder if those rats that escaped before are still alive.”

[Since they are absent from the areas we have occupied so far, it means they made a new start from higher up. There is a high probability they failed in their re-evolution as well. ]

"Yeah.”

The guardians aside, the variety and scale of the wildlife on this level were unmatched by anything on the lower floor. We had come a long way since then, evolving and advancing beyond measure. Yet, if those rats had strayed into a particularly challenging area, their chances of survival would have been slim.

[We must go higher.]

As more questions arose, the legion promptly sent scouts to the next floor as soon as their cursory investigation was complete. From there, faint changes began to emerge.