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Chapter 20: Reality Warp
🕑 Added 2025-07-15 10:09:06 +0000 UTCOwen's Reality Warp power, although it might seem like a wondrous, limitless ability in the eyes of many, in truth, had strict scopes and limitations. One of the main limitations clearly set by the system was that this power could only interfere with reality on a "small scale." If it was something beyond that scope, such as instantly killing a being on the level of the Parasite Queen, distorting the laws of physics, or erasing something from the universe, the system would immediately reject it.
Examples of what it could do were creating a basketball-sized fireball, making an enemy blind or deaf, creating ice spikes from the surrounding moisture, or even slightly strengthening his own body. But when Owen had to face the Parasite Queen, a powerful being who controlled the entire nest through her psychic network, he knew instantly that this game would end in defeat if he used his power inefficiently.
At first, Owen thought about using this power to create a poison or alter the genetic structure of the Parasite Queen, so that her body would gradually deteriorate until she eventually died. However, the problem was the time it would take to take effect.
He couldn't predict how long it would take for her to weaken and die. It could be an hour, a day, or at worst... a week. And that was far too long for him and his companions to have a chance of survival in this situation.
That plan was therefore automatically discarded. This was not the time for a gamble. Owen reviewed all the options in his mind like a machine analyzing every variable. The single sliver of a chance for survival might have to be exchanged for something.
In the world of combat, brute force, strength, and destruction might be the simplest solution… but not for Owen, who was not an Awakened. He didn't have enough strength to defeat the Parasite Queen directly, even with this Reality Warp power in his hands… It had to be something else. Something with maximum efficiency.
And finally, Owen found a way. A path that was simple and required no destructive power whatsoever, but was powerful in its own way…
That was… to warp the "feelings" the Parasite Queen had for him.
Owen stared at the Parasite Queen before him, his eyes resolute. Though his heart was pounding with pressure, he was still confident in his choice. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then issued a command to the Choice System in his head.
…..
[Command: Activate “Reality Warp.” Change the Parasite Queen's feelings toward you to “Love.”]
A synthetic, emotionless voice sounded in Owen's head, along with a notification box that glowed a faint red.
[Warning: Your current level of Reality Warp cannot make the target "fall deeply in love" (100 Affection points).]
[Result: The Parasite Queen's Affection increases by 80 points. She will feel "love" for you but will still retain her own consciousness and will.
Note: If you do something that displeases her, her Affection may decrease, although she will not wish you harm.]
…..
Owen slowly looked at the result before him, then murmured to himself with a strained smile, “80 points of affection is more than enough... As long as she doesn't want to kill us right now, that's all that matters…”
Suddenly, a wave of power, invisible to the naked eye, silently spread out from Owen's body. It made no sound, created no storm, did not shake the ground, but it shot straight into the consciousness of the Parasite Queen like an arrow that would never miss its mark.
The Parasite Queen, who was lying quietly, suddenly flinched slightly. Her rhythmically moving tentacles froze in mid-air. The biological heart that was beating steadily in the background suddenly went silent for a moment, before resuming its beat with a slightly different rhythm, as if it had received new information it had never processed before.
She slowly turned her head towards Owen. The movement was filled with a graceful caution. Then she looked at him, looking deep into the core of his soul, with a gaze that needed no eyes but was more powerful than any human eye.
For the first time in the life of a queen-level being, she felt "a certain feeling" that was not in her database. It wasn't a command from the nervous system, not data from the psychic network, not the result of biological analysis, but something gentle, passionate, alluring, captivating, and… unbelievably mysterious.
Her biological heart began to beat faster. The circulation of fluid in her body changed for a moment. All her instincts began to be shaken. She stared at Owen for a long time, the appendages on the side of her head moving slowly as if she were confused with herself.
'This human… there is something unique about him. He is more special than anything I have ever known…' she thought unintentionally, before information began to flow into her head nonstop.
She began to feel the urge to possess him, to protect him, to bring him to her side, to give him the best of what she had, to mate with him, to have children with him, and even more… she wanted to live with him, wanted him to be "hers" and wanted to be “his” forever…
She began to search the database of the human brain she had once disdained to explain this feeling. And finally, she found the answer. It was…
“Love at first sight...”
That was the phrase she had once mocked as the most nonsensical of human behaviors, but it was now happening to her for no apparent reason.
“Impossible... but why do I feel this way?”
She thought to herself slowly, as her biological heart beat abnormally fast.
A few seconds later, she began to calm down. She turned her face towards Owen. The voice she emitted was no longer that of a cold queen. It had become a voice that was warm, seductive, and tinged with an emotion that anyone could immediately recognize as affection.
"You... your name is Owen, isn't it~ I can sense it instinctively, that you are my ‘love at first sight’..."
That voice echoed throughout the entire parasite nest, making everyone in the group widen their eyes in shock. Rosy was stunned. Anna covered her mouth. Mark was speechless. Even Jane, the mutated parasite who had been by the Queen's side all along, flinched with incomprehension.
However, the Queen continued to speak firmly, her smile showing both warmth and madness, like a powerful being falling in love with a human.
"Therefore... let's ‘mate.’ Become my ‘King.’ Let's produce thousands and tens of thousands of offspring together to rule this world~" she said so directly that everyone froze, their eyes wide in disbelief at what they had just heard.
The entire nest fell silent. Every parasite stopped moving instantly, as if the entire psychic network had been stunned by the Queen's declaration. Their eyes all turned to focus on Owen.
And he... Owen could only manage a dry smile. Though filled with pressure and caution, in his heart, he was only thinking…
'At least we won't be killed... as long as I still have influence over her…'
Hearing the Parasite Queen's unexpected proposal, the atmosphere in the room fell silent as if everything had stopped moving. The eyes of everyone in the group were fixed on Owen, who stood motionless before the powerful queen. He held his breath, swallowed a large gulp down his dry throat, trying to suppress all his unease while forcing a smile that was tinged with pain and firm resolve.
Owen nodded slowly, as if accepting his fate, and said in a flat but firm voice, "Of course... my Queen... I can't defy you anyway... If this is what you want, I will stay with you, to be your King..."
He paused for a moment, as if carefully choosing words that he knew held more meaning than any sentence before. His eyes lifted to meet the gaze of the great Queen, a gaze filled with a depth that seemed to pierce through to the core of her soul.
"But... can you let my friends go, my love? Especially Rosy... She is very important to me... Can you take the parasite out of her body? I don't want to lose her identity..."
The words "my love," which Owen deliberately uttered, sent shivers throughout the Parasite Queen's entire body with a pleasure she had never known before. Her appendages froze for a moment, as if pierced to the center of her being by that single word. She had never felt like this before, and it made the giant biological heart behind her miss a beat once again.
Owen's words sent a shockwave through the minds of everyone in the group. Mark and Anna's eyes widened, as if they couldn't believe what he had just said. Their hearts were filled with gratitude and an awareness of the sacrifice Owen was making for them. But Rosy was stunned. She stared at him intently, as if searching for the meaning behind those words with a woman's intuition.
And when their eyes met for a split second, everything became clear. Rosy saw in Owen's eyes a clear signal that said, 'This is not surrender, but the beginning of the plan.'
'I'm leaving the rest to you…' Owen's eyes seemed to say without using any words. Rosy nodded slightly. She understood very well that this performance was one scene in the game Owen was playing with the Parasite Queen, a game with everyone's lives at stake.
As for the Parasite Queen, she remained silent for a moment before revealing a wide smile. The smile was filled with a happiness and a certain emotion that even the other parasites in the nest had never seen. Her tentacles moved slowly, like a woman moved by the loving words of the man of her dreams.
"Alright... my love~... For you, I will let them go... and find another group of humans to take their place..."
She turned to look at Rosy and continued in a voice tinged with a little affection, "As for the parasite in your friend's body... she might have to endure a little pain..."
Suddenly, Rosy's body collapsed to the floor, as if struck by lightning in the middle of her spine. She cried out in a voice full of pain, one hand clutching her neck while the other propped herself up on the floor. Owen immediately rushed to support her, his hands holding her tightly as he called her name repeatedly to keep her conscious.
And at that moment, he saw something moving under the skin of her neck. It was a slender, needle-like shape. It slowly emerged, piercing through the skin, followed by a horrifying flow of dark fluid.
That small creature leaped from Rosy's body and fell to the floor. It writhed violently as if in agony, before gradually becoming still and finally dying…
Meanwhile, the Parasite Queen didn't even pay attention to it, even though it was of the same race, or perhaps even one of her own children. But in her mind, they were just things she could produce endlessly. Even if she lost a hundred of them, she wouldn't care. After the event was over, she began to speak again.
"Alright... all of you... can leave now..."
Her voice returned to being cold and powerful again, but this time, it was clearly mixed with a tone of satisfaction. "I will spend time with my King, so that we may cultivate our bond of love~"
Her tentacles moved gently in the air, before she turned to speak to Mark's group in a sharp and decisive tone. "And let me warn you in advance... don't try anything funny, you three humans. If you cross the line, even if my love begs me... I won't spare your lives a second time."
Her voice was as cold as a sharp knife. Mark and Anna both felt a chill run down their spines, while Rosy, though not fully recovered, tried to stand up with a serious expression.
When the Queen's command was finished, all the mutated parasites, including Jane who had been watching loyally, began to move in unison. They walked out of the Queen's chamber in silent, orderly ranks, like an army that never questions its commander.
Mark looked at Owen one last time, his eyes full of respect. Anna also sent a concerned glance. As for Rosy... she stood up to her full height, though still in pain. She looked Owen in the eye with understanding before nodding slightly as if to say, ‘I get it... I won't let you down. We'll finish this together!’
The three of them walked out of the room in silence, leaving Owen alone with the Parasite Queen. The enemy who had suddenly become a lover. And the game of wits entered its final stage. Beneath Owen's smile, his eyes remained resolute, because this place would not be his end…
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