Shu stared at the prompt for a second, then let out a tired breath.
’Mix them with my DNA,’ he thought, rubbing his eyes. ’That sounds so weird when you say it out loud.’
He looked at the eggs again, ’if I imprint them, they beco mine,’ he thought, turning the idea over in his head. ’Loyal pets that grow with . In a world like this, that is basically free muscle.’
But sothing about it still felt off.
’Their mother died fighting ,’ he thought, his jaw tightening a little. ’And now I am going to raise her kids as my own personal attack dogs?’
He sat there for a mont, staring at the eggs while the system prompt waited patiently.
’But if I don’t imprint them, what then?’ he thought, leaning back against the bed. ’Release them into the wild? They are serpent queen offspring, they would grow up and kill people. Or worse, soone else finds them and uses them against .’
That last part was what decided it.
’Yeah, I am not leaving sothing this valuable for soone else to grab,’ he thought, tapping [Yes] on the screen.
[Imprinting Initiated]
[Step 1: Blood sample required]
[Step 2: Core energy transfer]
[Step 3: Bond establishnt]
[Estimated Ti: 10-15 minutes]
[Warning: User is currently fatigued. Imprinting quality may be affected.]
[Proceed?]
’Fatigued is an understatent,’ he thought, looking at the blood still drying on his shirt. ’But I am not waiting until tomorrow for this.’
He pressed [Proceed] and bit down on his thumb until blood welled up, then pressed it against the first egg.
The surface was warm and smooth, almost like touching skin. The blood sared across the shell, and the egg began to pulse.
A soft green light spread from where his blood touched, crawling across the shell in thin veins that matched the pattern of the core he had just absorbed. The glow intensified, and he felt sothing reach back at him through his chest, like a thread connecting directly to his Core stat.
’What the hell,’ he thought, his eyes widening. ’I can feel it.’
The connection was faint, but it was solidifying with each passing mont as sothing inside that egg was aware of him now, reaching out like a newborn trying to find its parent.
He pulled his hand back and watched the glow settle, then moved to the second egg and repeated the process.
[Imprinting Complete]
[Bond Established: Venom Serpent Queen Offspring x2]
[Current Bond Strength: Weak]
[Bond will strengthen as the offspring grow and the user levels up.]
[Offspring Status: Unhatched]
[Estimated Hatch Ti: 3-5 days]
’So they are mine now,’ he thought, looking at the two eggs with a complicated expression. ’My own little monster children.’
He reached out and touched the first egg again, and this ti the thread in his chest pulsed in response, like a heartbeat syncing with his own.
’That is... actually kind of cool,’ he thought, a tired smile pulling at his mouth. ’Creepy, but cool.’
The system had one more notification.
[New Skill Acquired]
[Monster Tar Lv.1 (Passive)]
[Effect: Improved communication and control over imprinted monsters. Bonded monsters grow faster and respond better to commands.]
[Note: Skill level increases with bond strength and number of imprinted creatures.]
’Monster Tar,’ he muttered, reading the skill description. ’So I am basically a pokemon trainer now.’
He dismissed the screen and looked at the eggs one more ti, ’alright,’ he thought, his eyes getting heavy. ’That takes care of that, now to wash up and go to bed, everything else can wait until tomorrow.
......
Morning ca with pain.
Every muscle in his body scread the mont he tried to move, like he was beaten with hamrs while he slept.
’Even sleeping didn’t help,’ he thought, groaning as he rolled onto his side. ’My body is basically a cri scene at this point.’
"Mister Shu?"
He cracked one eye open and saw Nari standing over him, her hair ssy from sleep. She was holding a plate with sothing on it, but his eyes were too blurry to make out what.
"Good morning," she said softly, crouching down to his level. "I made breakfast."
He blinked at her, then at the plate. It looked like eggs and toast, slightly burnt on the edges but edible.
’Wait,’ he thought, his brain still foggy. ’She made breakfast? How old is this kid?’
"You made this?" he asked, his voice coming out rough.
She nodded, a small proud smile on her face. "I found everything in the kitchen. You had eggs and bread, so I tried to help out this ti."
He sat up slowly, and his whole body protested every inch of the movent. His back cracked in at least three places, and sothing in his shoulder popped loud enough to make Nari flinch.
"Are you okay?" she asked, her smile fading.
"Yeah," he lied, taking the plate from her. "Just old bones, simply need so motor oil and I will be fine."
"Hehe, you such weird joke mister Shu."
He took a bite of the toast and chewed through the pain, ’not bad,’ he thought, ’a little burnt but at least she tried.’
"Thank you, Nari," he said, giving her a small nod. "This is really good."
Her face lit up again, as she sat down cross-legged in front of him, watching him eat with that expectant look kids got when they wanted praise.
He was halfway through the eggs when the system screen exploded in front of his face.
[New Mission Available]
[Title: Dungeon Outbreak]
[Objective: Clear the Crimson forest dungeon within 48 hours]
[Threat Level: Mid]
[Estimated Monster Count: 100-150]
[Bonus Objective: Eliminate the source of corruption]
[Reward: Skill Upgrade Token x1, 15,000 Credits, Domain Expansion Material Pack]
He stared at the screen, then at the eggs on his plate.
’One hundred to one hundred and fifty monsters,’ he thought, his eye twitching. ’In forty-eight hours, with my body feeling like this?’
He set the plate down, leaned back against the bed, and let out the longest sigh of his life.
"Just kill , bro," he muttered, throwing one arm over his eyes. "I am so done."
Nari stared at him for a second, then quickly scooted closer with a worried look on her face.
"No, please don’t die," she said, grabbing his sleeve with both hands.
He slowly pulled his arm off his face and looked at her, ’haa, and my big mouth... I am so tired.’
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