Thanks for the Invite, I'm in Terra, and I'm a Parasite Chapter 5

"Hey, what's with you?"

A cultist patted his companion on the shoulder.

"The test subject... I think she's looking at me."

The latter swallowed nervously.

Just now, he'd suddenly felt an utterly terrifying sensation, like he was being watched by a predator.

In an instant, cold sweat had soaked his back.

"Huh? She's lying on the ground with her back to you. How could she be looking at you?"

"Don't tell me she can grow eyes on her hands? Stop acting crazy and hurry up with the equipment for the bishop."

"Oh... okay."

Chapter 4: Here? How About Some High-Concentration Originium?

[Let's sort out the situation first.]

Late at night, Laurentina sat inside the cage, looking at the azure-blue eye that had opened on her hand.

Actually, it was quite pretty.

Blue, clear, like a gemstone.

"Can I poke it..."

[No.]

"Oh."

"Stingy."

[It's part of you too! You'll hurt yourself if you poke it!!]

"But I'm not afraid of pain."

[Sigh... anyway, listen to me first.]

"Let me poke it first."

Laurentina reached out to poke the eye on her left hand.

Zuo Jian hurriedly controlled her left hand to dodge.

[Laurentina, I already said...]

Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly realized he could no longer control her arm.

"It really can't move anymore."

Laurentina leaned close to her arm, looking at the somewhat helpless blue eye on it.

At the same time, she casually flexed the fingers of her left hand.

It moved as easily as ever.

[...Are you some kind of brat?]

"You said it yourself. This is my body, so I can do whatever I want with it."

[When you were a kid and constantly getting yourself killed, did your parents never stop you!!?]

"But I was very well-behaved as a child."

She blinked her beautiful eyes and said with a smile.

[That isn't convincing at all!]

"It's fine, it'll be over soon—just once~"

With a vicious grin, Laurentina drew closer to the flustered eye on her left hand.

[Aaaah!!!!!]

"Huh... that didn't hurt much. You're way too pathetic." She looked at the eye on her left hand, which had shut itself and vanished from the stress response.

As well as the scream echoing in her mind.

After saying that, she released her suppression over Zuo Jian.

So it was true. When necessary, she really did hold control.

It had only been a test... but Zuo Jian's reaction had been so amusing!

The corners of Laurentina's lips curled up.

"All right, Mr. Left Hand, what were you trying to say?"

[Mr. Left Hand... What a casual name!]

"Because you always reveal your perspective through my left hand."

[That's because I was worried I'd interfere with your dominant hand if I appeared on the right!!]

Zuo Jian shouted inside Laurentina's mind.

"Don't be angry~"

After Laurentina toyed with him over and over, until he was practically numb to it, Zuo Jian grew tired.

Damn it, he'd crossed into another world only to be played around with by a woman!

After Laurentina had more or less had her fun, she stopped teasing him and began seriously listening to his explanation.

[First, abilities.]

Zuo Jian controlled her left hand and raised it.

[Generally speaking, creatures like me in my memories could extend and lengthen their parasitic parts, cover them in a hardened layer, and fight independently.]

[But I'm not very good at combat, and doing that could easily interfere with your movements, Laurentina.]

Then, Laurentina watched as her left hand suddenly changed shape.

In just a few seconds, her entire left arm transformed into a steel blade.

"Not bad."

She touched the steel blade her left hand had become with her right hand, feeling the coldness radiating from it.

[But holding a blade in your hand and turning your arm into a blade are completely different sensations.]

[The most obvious issue is the awkwardness caused by the distance.]

[So we'll use this third method.]

The steel blade changed back into an arm. Then, movement began from her palm, followed by a transformation that swiftly covered it in a silver hardened layer.

[Forming the weapon from the palm gives you a sensation closer to holding one. It should be more familiar to you, too.]

[That way, the only drawback is that you can't throw the weapon.]

[If you forcibly sever it, that part would essentially be detached from the body and would weaken and shrivel within two seconds.]

[Um, Laurentina, are you listening to me?]

Zuo Jian sighed, watching as she excitedly waved the weapon she'd created from side to side.

Then, as if she had pressed something, the folded weapon—part saw, part cleaver—clicked and unfolded.

"Wow... this weapon is full of artistic flair!"

Laurentina lovingly stroked its serrated edge.

Rough, bloody, violent, mad.

That was the impression the weapon gave her at first glance.

Perhaps it wasn't as practical as her circular saw, but obviously! In terms of appearance, she liked this weapon Zuo Jian had made much more!

[Sigh... It's a weapon from a game I remember. Its name should be... the Meat Saw?]

"A name full of artistic flair!"

[...If you're going to praise it, try a different angle.]

[All right, next issue.]

As he spoke, he retracted the Meat Saw back into her arm.

"Mm... let me look at it a little longer."

[You can, but... someone's coming.]

Halfway through his sentence, Zuo Jian suddenly warned Laurentina.

"Someone?"

[About fifty meters away. Steady footsteps.]

[Pretend to be unconscious or asleep first.]

Creak...

The wooden basement door was pushed open with a piercing sound.

Amaya stepped into the dark, damp room. She looked at Laurentina lying on the floor, scanned the area, and found nothing unusual.

And at that very moment—

Inside Laurentina's consciousness.

[There's one more thing. Though it's only a feeling, after parasitizing you, every assimilated area should have increased in strength or other aspects by at least threefold, perhaps even fivefold.]

[What do you feel?]

Zuo Jian looked at Laurentina.

"I don't feel anything like that at all."

"I'm even weaker than before. If it were really as you said, I probably would've torn apart these chains and this cage on the first day I woke up and escaped."

Laurentina expressed her disbelief.

[That's exactly the problem! In theory, this shouldn't be happening.]

[Tell me, how long were you drifting in the ocean?]

"I don't remember, but it should've been quite a while, right?"

[Yes. When I first encountered you, all your vital signs were extremely weak. That's why I entered a sleeping state so quickly after parasitizing you.]

[And after you were captured, there was no way those people would let you recover your strength.]

"Those bastards inject Originium into me every day for exactly that reason."

Laurentina answered through gritted teeth.

[Here, drink something and calm down.]

Zuo Jian handed her a cup of black liquid.

She took the cup, ignored the strange appearance of the liquid, and took a sip.

"Mm, it's so sweet, and so cool... Is this a drink from your memories? It tastes good."

Not only was the liquid tasty, it also made Laurentina feel refreshed.

It was as though her whole mind had become much clearer.

[No, this isn't a drink from my hometown. It's the liquid I found in your spine—]

"Pfft—"

Laurentina turned and sprayed the liquid in her mouth toward Zuo Jian.

Fortunately, Zuo Jian's appearance in the consciousness space was a headless skeleton.

So the liquid could only fly past above his ribcage.

[It's not spinal fluid or anything like that. I'm not as twisted as you think, okay.]

[This is what those people outside inject into your spine every day.]