A Legion Grows From My Smartphone

Chapter 1

“What is this?”

That day, as uneventful as any other, was supposed to be mundane.

As usual, I was mindlessly browsing through my mobile phone when I stumbled upon something.

An app I had never seen before had installed itself among the others without my knowledge.

It had no name, and the icon was nothing but a completely black square.

At first, I thought it might be some sort of error, but a chill ran down my spine.

These days, scams and hacking crimes using smartphones were becoming increasingly rampant.

Could it be that I had become their target?

Would they hack into my camera and use it to blackmail me?!

Panicked, I instinctively dropped my mobile phone onto the bed.

I immediately tried to recall my recent activity.

But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t think of anything that might have made me vulnerable.

I had never clicked on suspicious links from strange messages, nor had I visited any questionable websites or downloaded anything unusual.

“That’s impossible.”

However, what happened next made me collapse onto the bed in disbelief.

The mysterious app opened on its own from the mobile phone I had just dropped.

It was as if the phone was possessed, moving entirely on its own.

I stared at it in shock, but soon snapped out of it and pressed the power button firmly.

[It’s useless.]

At that moment, I gasped.

The four simple words displayed on the black screen froze me in place, making it hard to even breathe.

“…”

[Even if you take it to the repair center, it’s useless. This is an opportunity for you, so listen carefully.]

I tried to wrap the phone in a handkerchief and stuff it into my bag, but more text appeared on the screen, as if it had read my thoughts.

“Crazy…”

[If you refuse to play the game, I will expose your internet history, locked files, and screenshots to your acquaintances.]

“Who are you?”

At this point, panicking or causing a commotion was pointless. I adjusted my posture politely, covered the camera lens, and placed the mobile phone back down.

This time, a new screen appeared on the phone, where white text had been gliding across the black background.

“Account linking?”

[Did I not say this was a game? You were the one who installed this app in the first place, so why are you reacting like this?]

It was the kind of account linking screen commonly seen in games.

I swallowed dryly.

If I linked my account here, would I get hacked or… No, it was meaningless to worry about that now since everything had probably already been compromised.

But what did they mean by saying I had installed it myself?

I had always been cautious about my mobile phone usage.

[Link it. I will explain further afterward.]

“Dammit…”

There was no other choice.

This mysterious hacker used the word “game,” but how could this possibly be a game?

The lunatic was speaking to me in real-time, possibly eavesdropping or even spying through the camera.

The sense of impending social ruin, combined with the fear that this deranged hacker might harm me, left me no option but to input one of my throwaway email accounts.

“It’s not working?”

[Participants of this game do not link through something as trivial as an email.]

As I stared in confusion, a sudden click sound followed by a flash from the front camera took me by surprise.

[Your soul is the price.]

The moment the picture was taken, I felt it.

Others might dismiss it as nonsense, but the chilling sensation that crept through my body at that moment was no lie.

My heart pounded, and cold sweat dripped down my back.

This was real.

[Let the game begin.]

Whether I was in shock or not, the screen transitioned on its own.

The new screen displayed a scene with graphics so realistic it felt like watching a live-action movie.

“A cave.”

[Behold. With your soul as the price, you have obtained everything of one species.]

The place before me was a cave.

It wasn’t too dark, thanks to the faintly glowing stones embedded in the walls here and there.

I followed the message on the screen with my gaze.

And there it was—’it.’

“What the hell is this…”

The program referred to it as life.

But no matter how I looked at it, all I could see was a puddle of black liquid pooled on the cave floor.

[Ah… What an ambiguous situation.]

“What nonsense is this?”

[A species that matches your insignificant soul, yet holds immense potential. Depending on how it grows, it can swing between extremes.]

I let out a bitter laugh at the absurdity.

Wasn’t this just a failure in the gacha draw? Would it have hurt to give me a heads-up?

[If you want to see more detailed information, try touching it.]

In hindsight, it was a surprisingly polite tutorial guide.

I did as instructed and touched the screen.

“Cells?”

[Correct. But they are not ordinary cells.]

The zoomed-in view displayed cells wriggling and extending their branches toward each other, dividing at an astonishing speed.

It was so fast that I could see the puddle expanding even with the naked eye.

[To make it easier to understand, I will show you the traits of this species. Racial traits are the inherent attributes of each species.]

[Collective Consciousness] [Genetic Manipulation] [Accelerated Growth]

The three features were displayed in front of me.

Looking at the keywords, I quickly grasped the traits of these cells.

“A colony?”

[Close, but not quite. They proliferate explosively and can become virtually anything, but the process is as arduous as carving a stone to create a beach.]

Would it kill them to explain it in simpler terms?

I returned the screen to its original state.

So what was I supposed to do? The app didn’t even have a fancy UI like a typical game. It just showed me a screen and left me to figure things out.

[The tutorial will now proceed.]

To make matters worse, the process seemed to proceed on its own, without any input from me.

[You lack power. Limitless explosive growth is a strength, but it comes with the drawback of energy depletion.]

“So, what do you want me to do?”

[Provide the cells with a specimen and energy.]

The app issued its command without hesitation.

A specimen and energy.

I could guess what energy was, but what did it mean by a specimen?

[A specimen from which genetic samples can be obtained. With their current state of growth, they cannot replicate large lifeforms.]

“Understood.”

I stood up from my seat.

By now, I had a clear understanding of what kind of species I was supposed to be dealing with.

Devouring, replicating, combining, and growing stronger.

For that, they required diverse samples.

“What about these? They’re small enough.”

I stepped outside my house and found what I was looking for.

A single ant was crawling along the wall.

[In this state, it’s definitely possible. Use that to capture it.]

Soon, the app began to move on its own, and the camera turned on.

I, still bewildered, picked up the camera, aimed it at the ant, and took a picture.

“…It disappeared.”

[Look. Your children have seen a ray of light. This moment will be recorded in the history of the species.]

The screen switched back to display that puddle again.

The ant I had photographed had moved to that location and dropped into the puddle.

Devouring, and then disintegration.

I frowned as I watched the ant being surrounded by countless cells and decomposed at the cellular level.

[A macroscopic roadmap is needed. What kind of species will you raise these beings into?]

“You’re suddenly asking something grand.”

Back in my room, I scratched my head.

Here I was, worried about midterms and reports, yet now I had to concern myself with something like this.

But the app had said that in order to survive, I must continue to grow stronger.

If everything happening wasn’t just a dream, I couldn’t simply ignore it.

“I heard that racial traits are the most powerful weapon. Then, I should go in a direction that best leverages that.”

The three traits obtained in exchange for starting at the cellular level.

It seemed only right to act in a way that made the most out of them.

[Then, to achieve that goal, you must consistently acquire energy and specimens. For now, prepare for war. There’s an intruder.]

“Huh?”

An unexpected event occurred.

I hurriedly zoomed in on the screen, and sure enough, there was an intruder.

They were… spores of some unknown fungi.

[They are a type of fungi that lives in this cave. Spores carried by the wind have come into contact with your children.]

Although they were fungi, they seemed quite different from the mold I was familiar with.

On the surface, nothing was visible.

However, upon touching the screen to zoom in, the intense scene of battle unfolded before my eyes.

[Fungi have weapons such as strength and hair. They are also much larger than your children. But your children have already acquired their own weapons.]

Among the cells, there were some peculiar ones.

They had protrusions resembling ant’s jaws.

Those cells swarmed and began to bite into the fungi.

[The complacent fungi began to be viciously torn apart. They were broken down piece by piece. Thus, we claimed our first victory. This, too, will be recorded in the history of the species.]

An icon appeared on one side of the screen.

It was obvious that it represented what the app referred to as the history of the species.

[And we have obtained the genetic information of the fungi. Check it.]

Another icon appeared below.

I clicked on the icon as instructed.

[Glowing Cave Mushroom: 1A1237]

Information about the lifeform we had just fought was displayed.

As it turned out, it was indeed a mushroom, faintly glowing as the name suggested.

“What is this…?”

[It’s a mimicry of the fungi you absorbed.]

Some of the cells began to divide again at an astonishing speed.

Their appearance began to resemble the fungi we had just consumed.

No accelerators seemed to be involved, yet the mushroom was growing rapidly.

One peculiar point was that the absorbed glowing cave mushroom was white, but the mushroom I was now observing was black.

[By mimicking the reproduction method of the mushroom, they aim to expand their faction beyond this place. Riding on spores, they will spread farther.]

Hearing this explanation, I was slightly surprised.

This mysterious species was smarter than I had anticipated.