Souls Online: Mythic Ascension
Chapter 125: Classified Monkey Business

Chapter 125: Classified Monkey Business

When Rachel opened her eyes to reality, the first thing she saw was absolute darkness. Her heart skipped a beat before she remembered that she had been wearing a headset and that was what was blocking her vision.

Slowly taking off the now slightly stuffy headset, Rachel found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. For a moment she forgot that she was at Luna and Leo’s house. The smell of dust still hung heavily in the air and the room itself was dark.

The nearby clock told her only a few hours had passed in reality yet in-game, she’d lived almost an entire day. She scratched her head in contemplation at what that could possibly mean going forward for everyone but she froze when she felt her head.

"Fuuuuuck"

She whined as she felt the soft supple texture of something that wasn’t there before. Getting up, she felt a slight pressure on her lower back but she ignored it as she looked for a mirror. After a moment, she stood before a vanity mirror stunned.

On top of her head was the familiar Simian-esque monkey ears that she had in game. Without tearing her eyes away from the mirror, she used one hand to lift her shirt while the other to reach into the back of her pants. There she found a long cylindrical furry object that connected to the base of her spine.

"Damnnnn it!"

She howled as her monkey tail appeared in the mirror. She had gone and fully become a monkey girl. While she had thought it was a little cute in game, having such additional ’appendages’ was less than ideal.

Yet despite her desire to complain, she knew that there was nothing she could do at the moment other than call her grandfather to give him an update and have him pass on the warning to the government.

Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialed the number and used her tail to hold her phone while she continued to try and figure out what else had changed about her.

After barely a single ring, her grandfather’s voice came out from the other end.

"Rachel? It’s barely been a day. Why are you calling me on my private line."

"I have to report a few things to you Gramps and I need you to pass on a message to the Government."

"....Go on."

Her grandfather was silent for a brief moment after hearing Rachel talk in a serious tone. He would have chastised her if she was being frivolous again but something told him that what she was about to tell him had serious implications.

"So far, I have determined that there are 4 individuals around the Designated Protection Target 1: Leone Haronyu that have been confirmed to have undergone mutations in the real world. Each mutation so far has been different and the severity of them also varies."

"Who are they"

"With Leone being Target 1 for observation, the rest are as follows..."

The Director was silent as he quietly listened to his granddaughter.

"Target 2 is Soluna Haronyu also known as Luna. The Main Targets adoptive older sister. Her mutations include the change of pigmentation of her hair and eyes in addition to superhuman strength. In the game she plays as a berserker so there is also a possibility that she has superhuman endurance as well but that has yet to be tested."

"So his sister is actually involved. Then am I right to assume that as she works as a bodyguard for the Gattioni family that the Clan Head’s daughter is another target for Observation?"

"That is correct Sir. Liliana Fransceca de Gattioni also known as Lily has also been confirmed to have mutated however my observations so far have only determined that her hair has turned green. No other capabilities have been tested yet. However there is a strong possibility that in the future she may be able to control plant life."

"So you are saying that she may be capable of conducting Biological Warfare on her own if given enough time?"

The tone was sharp, as if he was asking if she was a threat. If she was deemed a threat, there would be grounds to ’terminate’ her.

"Yes and No Sir. While she may be able to control Plant Life, her abilities that she has displayed in game have been Supportive in nature. Also given her physical fitness levels, I would deem her a non-threat."

"That assessment of yours...Have you come to care for them?"

"They have deemed me to be one of their friends and they are aware of my origin. In a sense, yes I have."

There was silence on the other line as the Director was quietly in disbelief that his capricious granddaughter had allowed people to get close to her.

"...Continue your report."

He said after a moment. Rachel had a wry smile as she responded.

"Yes Sir. Target 4 is the Player known as Ouroboros. His real name is Adam Samael–"

"You mean to tell me that part of Leone’s group is the bastard child of the Samael family? Is Leone not a target for them to experiment on?! How is he allowed to stay there? Why did you not take him out already!"

Her grandfather snapped with agitation in his voice. Was he mistaken? Was her having friends a cause for concern in completing her mission?

"Adam is not like that Gramps. He is actively against the Samael family and is currently acting as a double agent. I have a faint idea of what his goal is and I believe we should wholeheartedly support him in it."

"What is his goal?"

"The destruction of the Samael family."

"Hah.....You’re not joking are you."

"I am being serious. When I first met them, he admitted to being the whistleblower behind all of Samael’s dirty laundry being aired. He also used one of his own siblings as a scapegoat, using her tongue as a way to enter the family’s inner circle."

"Well would you say he can be trusted?"

"No. He cannot be. Yet I do believe he will not pose a threat to the Primary Target."

"Very well. What abilities has he displayed so far"

"Heightened Regeneration, Corrosive Blood–"

"What do you mean by Corrosive Blood?"

"I watched his blood melt a metal spoon like it was made of sugar"

"....That is madness..."

Rachel leaned down as she reached for her shadow while she spoke. She had a feeling that something would happen and her intuition proved to be correct. Instead of touching the floor, her hand sunk into the shadow. She had a feeling that given enough time she could most likely swim in the depths of the shadows, for now she held back.

"Who is the final target for observation Rachel? If they are your friends, I can assign a couple members to guard them"

"We are going to need more than that Grandfather. If Lily is right and trust me when I say I believe she is, there is going to be a surge of people with abilities like ours. We will need the government to step in and set up some emergency laws ASAP."

"Are you serious?"

"Afraid so. The game has become much more widespread than when the Original Target entered the game. If 10 million people are playing it, even if it was just 0.1% chance of this mutation happening, that is still 10,000 individuals affected."

"Very well. I will pass this on to my contact in the Government....Wait. Why did you say abilities like ours?

"Hehe..."

She chuckled nervously

"Target #5 is Rachel Wu...The target is me."

The Director was silent as he tried to process the information he heard.

"W-what happened to you Rachel..."

He asked with a shaky tone.

"I have monkey ears, a prehensile tail and..."

"Are you messing with me?"

Her grandfather asked with a tremble in his voice. He was positive that she was messing with him.

"I appear to be developing the ability to manipulate Shadows. No Gramps. I am not messing with you. Check your messages. I will send you a photo.

The Director soon heard the ding of a text message. He quickly opened it up and found there was a short video attachment of Rachel awkwardly posing for the camera. The camera moved despite both her hands being seen.

"See Gramps? They are real!"

She said as she tugged on one of her ears, causing her to wince a bit from the pain.

The director was speechless. Was his granddaughter’s foolish behaviour in the past coming back to haunt her now as a form of some sick twisted karma?

Watching her grow up, he could not recall the amount of times he had caught her goofing off during training. How many times had he told her to stop with the ’monkey business’?

Now she had actually become a real monkey girl?!

The director sat in his chair for a long time even after the call ended. Rachel had said something along the lines of logging back in.

He glanced at the photo on his desk, muttering softly

"The older I get, the less the world makes sense to me."

However there was no response, only a heavy silence remained.

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