SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

Chapter 149: [Bonus Chapter] First Encounter Inside the Simulation!

This Chapter was sponsored by Count Dragon.

...

One after another, the white pods opened, revealing silver restraints and pale blue mana conduits inside. The candidates lay down one after another. Some were nervous. Some were excited. Others closed their eyes, as though already adapting themselves to the coming battle.

Zich walked over to the connection pod assigned to him.

The inside of the pod was cold. After he lay down, silver restraints automatically fastened around his wrists and ankles, while several thin mana conduits attached themselves to his temples and both sides of his neck.

The sensation wasn’t comfortable.

But neither was it unbearable.

A system screen soon appeared before his eyes.

[Simulation Link Established]

[Body Protection Confirmed]

[Pain Feedback Adjusted]

[Combat Data Syncing...]

Zich closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the rules once more.

Whihe he dkd that, The pod’s lid slowly began to close.

The sounds from the outside world gradually became muffled, as though separated by water.

At the very last moment, Zich saw every blue stream of light across the hall’s ceiling converge toward the center before forming an enormous countdown.

[Thinning Stage Loading...]

[Time Limit: 90:00]

[All Candidates Deploying In: 3...]

Zich’s vision went completely dark.

The countdown continued.

[2...]

[1...]

[Deploying]

...

After the darkness faded, Zich opened his eyes. The first thing that reached him was not sound, but a cold, damp sensation. The moisture clung to his skin and weighed down the edges of his clothes, immediately making him realize that he was no longer inside the pod, but had been deployed into some corner of the simulated battlefield.

Black muddy water covered the soles of his boots, the soft wet earth sank slightly beneath him, and withered grass and broken trees crisscrossed through the fog. The gray sky hung overhead like a lowered sheet of cloth, making the entire place look cold and oppressive.

Several system notifications quickly appeared in his vision.

[Remaining Candidates: 60]

[Time Left: 90:00]

[Local Terrain: Blackwater Marsh]

[Danger Level: Moderate]

Zich looked at the notifications before raising his hand to flex his fingers, then lightly pressed his foot into the muddy ground beneath him. The dampness of his clothes, the chill in the air, and the resistance of the mud all felt so real that it hardly seemed like an illusion.

He quickly understood why the first stage used this kind of simulation device.

It would not truly kill them, but pain, fatigue, environmental pressure, and combat responses were all simulated to an extremely realistic degree. The timid would panic, those with slow reactions would die, and those with poor judgment would be swallowed by both the terrain and the monsters.

He crouched down, pressed his fingers against the wet mud, and carefully examined the traces left nearby. There were footprints in the mud. Although they had already been washed out somewhat by the moisture, it was still obvious that they had been left not long ago. The footprints were rather small, with distinct toe marks. They did not look human, nor did they resemble those of any alien he knew.

’Someone’s nearby.’

He stood up and swept his gaze toward the black water ahead.

The surface was calm. The next moment, the water beneath suddenly exploded as a monster covered in black scales burst out of the muddy water. Its body resembled an eel, but two rows of bony spikes lined its sides, and its open jaws lunged straight toward Zich’s lower leg.

"Shadow Blink."

FWOOSH!

Zich’s figure disappeared from where he stood and reappeared atop a wet rock protruding halfway above the water several meters away. The black-scaled monster missed and crashed heavily into the muddy water, sending a ring of black water splashing outward.

Zich raised his hand as crimson power gathered in his palm.

"Blood Arc."

FWOOOSH!

The crimson slash skimmed across the water’s surface, cutting the black-scaled monster cleanly in half. The muddy water churned, and the dark red blood had only just spread before it was swallowed by the black water.

Of course this wasnt a candidate..It was merely one of the terrain monsters inside the simulated battlefield.

But before Zich could relax, several more subtle ripples spread across the surrounding water. Several eel-like swamp beasts exposed half of their bodies above the surface, while farther away, several lizard-like monsters with bony armor on their backs slowly swam through the swamp. None of them rushed forward. Instead, they continuously circled around Zich’s foothold.

Looking at the monsters, he quickly understood the purpose of this terrain.

Standing still meant being surrounded.

Moving recklessly meant sinking into the mud.

Teleportation seemed useful, but if the landing point wasn’t safe, he could easily appear directly in front of a monster’s jaws or inside deep water.

"Slimy."

A faint glow flashed as the blue slime appeared beside his feet.

The moment Slimy landed, it realized it was standing on a wet rock surrounded by black water and monsters. Its body visibly trembled for a moment before puffing itself up, trying very hard to appear dependable.

"The water."

Zich gave the command.

Slimy immediately opened its mouth.

PSHHH!

Green poison sprayed onto the nearby black water. The poison rapidly spread across the surface, and several swamp beasts that had been lurking beneath the water immediately thrashed about, exposing their positions.

They were not poisoned to death immediately, but they clearly no longer wished to remain inside the contaminated water.

A faint light flashed across Zich’s eyes.

"This place actually suits you."

Hearing those words, Slimy perked up.

The underwater monsters finally launched their attack.

One black-scaled swamp beast lunged from the left. Zich sidestepped and casually severed its head with a spirri flame . Another bone-backed lizard burst out from beneath the water, its claws reaching for his waist. Slimy quickly spat out another stream of poison, forcing it to twist its body in midair and change direction.

Zich moved by stepping across the rocks protruding above the water.

He did not frequently use Shadow Blink, because the landing points throughout this swamp were too poor, and the fog blocked his vision. Teleporting carelessly would only increase the danger. By comparison, using Slimy’s poison to mark the monsters’ locations before clearing them with short-range movement and Blood Arc was much more reliable.

A few minutes later, several patches of the nearby water had already been stained pale green.

Monster corpses floated atop the muddy water.

At that moment, another ripple slowly approached from behind.

Zich acted as though he hadn’t noticed, continuing to look toward the bone-backed lizard in front of him.

Slimy, however, quietly shifted its eyes.

The next moment, the black water suddenly exploded as a short figure shot out of the swamp, gripping a short spear resembling a harpoon and thrusting it directly toward Zich’s back.

...

And that’s all from bonus Chapters! The next Two Chapters are the normal daily Chapters.