Chapter 151. Medical Angel
Inside the pink egg.
The evolution of the Medical Mushroom had begun.
「The target has been selected. Species name, Medical Mushroom.」
The target had been selected.
Medical Mushroom was both the name Kang Geon had arbitrarily given it and its actual species name.
In other words,
the arbitrary name had coincidentally matched.
Kang Geon had known this.
The mother of Artpega Unibicorn—
in the Explorer’s Journal she left behind, the name Medical Mushroom had been recorded.
「Astral Code (Fox-777) intervention has occurred.」
「Astral Code (Sheep-9585) intervention has occurred.」
「Evolution into Astral Code (Guardian-707) has been canceled.」
The evolution temporarily halted.
It was due to the two creatures constantly wandering near the egg.
Astral Code, Fox 777.
Melody Fox’s intervention, possessing the ability to influence other lifeforms’ evolution.
And,
Astral Code, Sheep 9585.
Merino Ula’s intervention had also occurred.
Merino didn’t have the ability to interfere with evolution.
However, by continuously taking care of the egg with great dedication, and being right beside Melody Fox’s buff, she could mildly intervene.
Of course, Merino wasn’t aware of this fact.
As a result, the evolutionary path of the Medical Mushroom had changed.
Among the Medical Mushroom species,
a special form that only a few could reach—an evolution into a human-like figure.
Among those evolved forms, an even rarer species.
「The evolution of Astral Code (Mushroom-7077) is resuming.」
「Beginning evolution into Astral Code (Guardian-333).」
Inside the egg,
the form of the Medical Mushroom changed rapidly.
The mushroom-shaped body gradually took on a human figure.
On both sides of the head, ram horns sprouted, and a pair of small angel wings grew on its back.
Following that,
skin, hair, and eyes—
every part of the body without exception turned pink.
Finally,
sticky pink liquid oozed from all over its body, completing the evolution.
***
Crack—
With a splitting sound, the pink egg shattered.
And from within, a humanoid monster slowly emerged.
［Beep. Beep-bo-beep.］
It was the evolved form of the Medical Mushroom.
The evolved form looked very much like a human, and the original mushroom characteristics were completely gone.
However, the core of the creature, its unique healing ability,
that distinctive pink jelly still remained, covering its entire body.
【Rizenova】─Oh, so that’s the evolved form of Medical Gong.
【Pururu】─D-D it turned humanoid too.
【Mysticism】─😮 So pretty!
【Yumi】─It looks cute. Like a baby angel.
【Bubble Bubble】─It’s not just like an angel, it really is an angel, isn’t it? But the wings are really small.
【Mir-Stin】─The whole body is pink! It looks like a magical girl!
【Luna-chan】─It’s an SS-rank magical girl! (,,>ヮ<,,)!
【Pururu】─But why does it have ram horns on its head?
The possibility of it evolving into a human form had been somewhat expected.
The Explorer’s Journal left by the mother of Artpega Unibicorn—it had recorded a monster, presumed to be the evolved form of the Medical Mushroom, in a human shape.
Anyway,
the Medical Mushroom had completed its evolution.
I named it “Medical Angel.”
The mushroom features were now gone, and it displayed angelic traits, as the assistants had mentioned.
“Hoeng.”
［Kyueng.］
Merino Ula and Melody Fox—
the two creatures approached the Medical Angel cautiously, their eyes sparkling.
【Mir-Stin】─Melody Fox has opened her eyes for the first time in a while!
【Pururu】─She opened them yesterday too.
“Medical Yang has become cuter!”
［Kyuyang, Kyuyang!］
It seemed the two were completely captivated by the new appearance of Medical Angel.
Not just them,
but other monsters also quickly gathered to admire Medical Angel’s evolved form.
［Doodoomba! You’ve gotten bigger!］
［Medical also looks a lot like Father now.］
［Pi! Let’s measure our heights!］
［Scan complete. Looks fairly decent.］
Hedgehog Summoner.
Kinogine Arachne.
Blood Jellyfish Princess.
Iris.
［Seung, Seung! Fellow!］
“I like the texture. Can I touch it?”
［Please do not move. I am currently analyzing your appearance and characteristics for the guidebook.］
［The jelly looks tasty, meow.］
Black Magma Slime.
Azeras.
Artpega Unibicorn.
Bastet Daong.
［Jafan! I want to try that jelly! Just a little!］
［Another cute child has appeared.］
Jafan.
Even Nyara Nepenthis.
［Beep…?］
Perhaps feeling burdened by the sudden attention,
Medical Angel widened its eyes, looking startled and curling up in fear.
【Bubble Bubble】─Why is it trembling?
【Mir-Stin】─It seems shy about all the attention. Haha.
【Yumi】─It’s probably the first time it’s received this much attention.
【Pururu】─It’s become a star in an instant.
【Mysticism】─🤭
To relieve Medical Angel’s discomfort, I had the monsters back off for a while.
Afterward,
I brought a mirror so it could admire its new appearance.
［Beep? Beep…!］
Medical Angel’s expression changed as soon as it saw itself in the mirror.
A mixture of surprise and joy crossed its face.
“Do you like it?”
［Beep!］
【Pururu】─Even though it evolved, it still can’t speak properly.
【Bubble Bubble】─Maybe it didn’t feel the need to develop a structured language. It can still communicate, though.
【Yumi】─To communicate more easily, it should’ve at least learned some language before coming out.
【Mysticism】─Maybe, like Black Magma Slime, it can talk but is too lazy to use proper language! 😀
【Luna-chan】─Aha. So Black Magma Slime doesn’t talk because it’s too lazy. o_O
【Pururu】─That’s just Mysti’s guess.
【Rizenova】─Beep!
【Bubble Bubble】─?
【Mir-Stin】─What’s with Rizenova? Looks like it’s about to throw up.
【Mysticism】─😡
After admiring its appearance for a while,
Medical Angel and I headed to the apple farm to test its new abilities, as it had now become SS-rank.
***
Medical Angel.
Its body had a structure similar to a slime.
Its entire body was composed of pink, viscous liquid.
It could also freely change its shape whenever it wanted.
However,
that didn’t mean the human form it had taken was a fake one it had made up.
The form we saw at the beginning was its default shape.
Therefore, Medical Angel should be considered a creature with slime characteristics.
It didn’t have a core, of course.
For reference,
Black Magma Slime can also freely change its shape.
It can even take on a human form.
But we don’t call it a creature with slime characteristics.
That’s because its human form is a fake appearance it creates.
In other words,
Black Magma Slime is a perfect slime.
Medical Angel is a creature with slime characteristics.
That’s how we should distinguish them.
【Mir-Stin】─What’s the difference between a slime and a creature with slime characteristics?
【Mysticism】─🧐 The core?
【Pururu】─Neither has a core. Only low-grade slimes have cores.
【Mysticism】─😮 Oh, right, I forgot.
“Elise, can you explain?”
I left the explanation to Bubble Bubble.
She knew more about monsters than I did.
And she’d explain it in a way that was easier to understand.
【Bubble Bubble】─I just need to explain it without mentioning slimes with cores, right?
“Yeah. Please.”
【Bubble Bubble】─Got it.
【Bubble Bubble】─I’ll just tell you the biggest difference.
【Bubble Bubble】─An S-rank slime can cover an entire nation, but even an SS-rank creature like Medical Angel wouldn’t be able to cover a whole village. Unlike slimes, creatures with slime characteristics have a very low limit on how much they can multiply.
【Bubble Bubble】─Additionally, an S-rank creature with slime characteristics would only be able to cover a single house at best.
【Mysticism】─😮
【Mir-Stin】─Aha.
【Pururu】─Got it.
【Luna-chan】─O_o
【Yumi】─Memo!
【Rizenova】─Tell us more differences.
【Bubble Bubble】─Later.
While Elise kindly explained to the assistants,
I arrived at the apple farm and finished confirming Medical Angel’s abilities.
First,
Medical’s healing abilities were still intact.
By concentrating the pink liquid, even more effective healing could be achieved.
And, as we had hoped,
Medical Angel also possessed the ability to resurrect dead creatures.
This was proven when it successfully revived a Poison Apple I had just killed at the apple farm.
【Pururu】─D-D-D it really revived something that was dead.
【Mir-Stin】─Amazing…
【Mysticism】─ 😮
【Bubble Bubble】─The soul was properly restored too, right?
【Luna-chan】─Let’s check! o_O
Nyara Nepenthis
checked, and indeed, the original soul had returned to the body.
【Yumi】─Now that we’ve confirmed its abilities, we just need to send Medical to Earth!
I nodded.
I had been planning to dispatch Medical Angel to Earth right after confirming its abilities anyway.
There wasn’t time to waste.
Even though the Guardian’s soul might still be hovering near its body, if too much time passed after death, there could be limitations on resurrection.
“The Guardian’s body is with Sage right now, right?”
【Luna-chan】─That’s right!
“Then I’ll dispatch Medical to you, Sage.”
【Luna-chan】─Okay! >.<
I immediately used the Designated Dispatch Ticket.
And while waiting for confirmation that it had safely arrived, I finally checked the drawing of Medical Angel that Artpega Unibicorn had made.
■Medical Angel
─Actual threat level: SS-rank.
─Current (nerfed) threat level: A-rank.
─Abilities: Healing, resurrection.