Mythos Of Narcissus: Reborn As An NPC In A Horror VRMMO

The battlefield was finally beginning to still. The air, which had been thick with the screams of dying Calamity Objects and the unrelenting roar of our defenses, grew quieter. It wasn't peace—not yet—but the ceaseless tide of the Ordeal had abated, leaving behind only smoldering remnants of conflict.

Standing on the observation deck, I surveyed the now calmer expanse. Drones hovered back to their hangars for self-maintenance, the cat-ear Support unit somehow managing to look almost smug despite the wear of battle. The turrets retracted, folding back into their concealed positions, Neural Alloy barrels gleaming faintly in the aftermath of their relentless assault.

Before I want to do anything, I asked Charis to mold her entropic energy into a physical and intractable form.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

She had a question and theory of what I was about to do with it, but she did what I asked of her with a smile on her face.

What was given to me was a darkish purple crystalline shard with a perpetual swirling vortex appearing on the surface.

Apparently, it was quite explosive in nature, so any sharp and sudden movement might turn my arm into smithereens.

It took Charis a while to convince me that I would be okay as I took this crystal alone with me to the interior of the Landship.

With that, I left the observation deck and made my way to the hydroponic farm.

The farm was one of my favorite places on the Landship aside from the kitchen. Rows upon rows of carefully cultivated plants thrived under the artificial light of bioluminescent panels, their leaves glinting with dew as the air buzzed faintly with the hum of automated irrigation systems.

It was a haven of controlled life amidst the chaos of Carcosa, a reassurance that when it comes to food and the likes, we had our own means to grow our own resources and materials instead of relying on the nature surrounding us.

Though I did realize that because of this vision, we have begun to stray away from experimenting with the Calamity Objects.

Maybe because we already had a lot of identified Theotechs that could supply many of our projects.

Then again, I still had my bastioneers to carve and loot any corpses of the Calamity Object that they defeated inside their MSUs, which then got transferred to the universal MSU attached to the Landship that was accessible to everyone.

I'm proud of this logistic design, and I might expand it more when I began establishing my own Citadel.

I moved toward a secluded corner of the farm where my ongoing bioengineering projects were housed. The Chaotophyta entropis seed sat in a specially designed growth pod, isolated from the rest of the plants.

Its dark, crystalline surface shimmered faintly, like a starless night sky caught in glass. The pod's environment was carefully regulated—temperature, moisture, and light all fine-tuned to encourage growth, though it had remained inert despite my best efforts.

I set the entropy shard down on the workbench beside the pod, studying the seed carefully. This was no ordinary project. The Chaotophyta had been a serendipitous accident, a byproduct of an earlier experiment in combining neural-reactive plant genetics with Carcosan flora.

It hadn't been part of the original plan, but the seed's unique properties—its apparent affinity for chaotic energy—had piqued my interest.

"I suppose it's time to see if you're as special as you seem," I murmured to the seed, as though it could hear me.

Reaching into the pod, I removed the seed and held it in one hand. Its surface was cool and smooth, faintly luminescent under the bioluminescent panels. In my other hand, I held the entropy shard, its chaotic energy pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.

Carefully, I brought the shard closer to the seed, allowing the two to touch.

The moment the shard made contact with the seed, a reaction began.

The Chaotophyta absorbed the entropy with an almost voracious intensity, its dark surface shifting and swirling like a pool of ink. Veins of chaotic light spread across the seed, and before my eyes, it began to change.

The seed split open with a soft crack, and thin, dark tendrils emerged, twisting and writhing as though tasting the air. Within moments, roots began to burrow into the nutrient-rich soil of the pod, anchoring the plant as it continued to grow at an accelerated rate.

The tendrils thickened, forming a central stem that rose upward, its surface covered in intricate, fractal-like patterns that shimmered with chaotic energy.

Then came the bloom.

Petals unfurled from the top of the stem, their color shifting between deep violet and black. At their center, a faintly glowing core pulsed with life. But the transformation didn't stop there.

From the base of the bloom, a humanoid form began to take shape. Vines and tendrils intertwined, forming the outline of a torso, arms, and a head. The texture of the "skin" was smooth and organic, yet its patterns mirrored the fractal designs of the stem.

Hair-like strands of fine, plant-like filaments cascaded down its back, glowing faintly with the same chaotic energy that had animated the seed.

Finally, the figure opened its eyes—two luminous orbs that shimmered like twin galaxies.

It—or rather, she—blinked, tilting her head as though trying to make sense of her surroundings. Then, she turned her gaze to me.

"Mother," she said, her voice soft and melodic, yet carrying an odd, otherworldly resonance. "You are… my mother."

I froze for a moment, caught off guard by the sheer rapidity of her development—not just her physical growth, but her apparent intelligence and ability to speak.

This wasn't just a plant—it was an intelligent entity.

"Mother?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow as I studied her. "That's… unexpected. How can you speak already?"

She tilted her head the other way, as though contemplating the question. "I can speak because… I can," she replied, her tone both curious and certain. "But… I do not know how."

I stepped closer, observing her with a mixture of fascination and skepticism. Her movements were fluid, almost graceful, but there was a certain childlike quality to the way she looked around, her gaze flitting between the plants, the lights, and me.

"What do you know?" I asked, my voice calm but probing. "Do you remember anything? Your creation, perhaps?"

She frowned slightly, the expression surprisingly human-like. "I… do not know much. I remember darkness. Stillness. Then… you. Your touch. Your voice. You are the first thing I know."

I crossed my arms, my analytical mind racing as I tried to piece together what had just happened. The Chaotophyta seed had absorbed the entropy shard, triggering not just growth but the creation of a sentient being. But how?

The seed itself had been an accident, an unintended byproduct of earlier experiments. Its unique properties were still largely a mystery.

"What about your name?" I asked, testing the limits of her awareness. "Do you have one?"

She shook her head, the motion smooth yet hesitant. "No… I do not have a name."

I studied her for a moment longer, then allowed a small smile to cross my lips. "Very well. I'll give you one. From this day forward, you'll be called Carlotta."

Her eyes lit up, the galaxies within them seeming to swirl faster. "Carlotta," she repeated, as though tasting the word. "That is… my name. I like it." She smiled—a bright, innocent expression that was both endearing and unsettling in its purity. "Thank you, Mother."

Carlotta means 'Free', yet here she was, latched to the ground of the hydroponic soil like a young tree.

Am I cruel for giving her that name?

I couldn't help but chuckle softly, shaking my head. "You're… full of surprises, Carlotta."

The alraune-like entity tilted her head again, her gaze filled with curiosity as she looked at me. "What shall I do, Mother?" she asked, her voice tinged with eagerness.

"For now, you'll stay here," I said, my tone firm but not unkind. "There's much to learn about you, and I need to figure out what exactly I've created."

Carlotta nodded, her expression serious yet still childlike in its sincerity. "I will wait. And I will grow."

Her words hung in the air, both a promise and a declaration.

As I stepped back to examine the remains of the pod and the surrounding chamber, my mind raced with possibilities. Carlotta was unlike anything I had ever encountered—something that was born out of luck and my curiosity to see the end of this accidental seed.

And, most intriguingly, she resembled me in subtle yet undeniable ways.

This was a mystery I was determined to unravel.

"Ah, does this mean that I technically have two daughters now?"

I haven't even properly done the deed, yet I had already been taking care of two children of my own creation to a great extent.

Wait. The seed might be the result of my tampering of bioengineering, but the entropy that it fed upon was that of Charis.

Doesn't that make Carlotta the result of my…

I don't want to think of the implication. Let's just finish it at that and then make an early breakfast for everyone, since the Ordeal is beginning to recede its wuthering presence.