'In this universe, where the colony wouldn't have a food shortage anymore… and with a human brain like mine to guide them… how far could they evolve?' Noah stood frozen, his eyes locked on the mangled corpse of the large demon rat, still twitching beneath the red ant's crushing mandibles.
Noah could already picture inside his ant head.
An enormous army of unending monstrous ants, swarming over everything, nations or domains of every being with their steady six legs. Crushing and snapping anything that got in their way. Monsters? Humans? Hunters? Even the fucking Monarchs.
Nothing would stop the mighty, unrelenting horde of monstrous ants, marching toward one thing—A single goal.
The mighty ant empire.
THAWCK!
Noah snapped awake from his grandiose thoughts with a quick thawck of his own antenna. Almost as if his own body was telling him how stupid his thoughts were. 'Wowowo. Slow there, Noah... Ant empire?! What sort of anime villain monologue was I having?' Noah cringed at himself, clacking his mandibles in shame.
'Ant empire? Seriously...' Noah let out a hollow chuckle. The idea itself was absurd. After all, no matter how strong and powerful an empire of monstrous ants could be, if they didn't have the same level of intelligence as humans, can they even be held together? It would be the same as any monstrous horde, driven by instincts. Only in a much larger scale.
Even if their numbers totaled in the thousands... could they really survive against stronger, smarter hunters outside of this small pond of an island called Jeju Island?
The National-Rank Hunters—each one strong enough to rival a country's entire military might. Just two of those damn monsters in human form could wipe out the entire colony in a matter of hours. And the Monarchs? Those beings were something else entirely.
'But...' Noah took a deep breath.
But the idea was definitely tantalizing. An ant empire.
Noah felt his small ant heart thumping inside his exoskeleton as a pulse of heat bubbled inside him. The seed of ambition, that had only taken root inside Noah like a small ember, slowly growing into a heated flame by such stupidly crazy notion.
It was a stupid thought, a crazy one at that. But damn if such beliefs and conjecture didn't feel right. Nah, it didn't only feel right. It made Noah feel something that he never had once felt in his life as a human. Causing him to feel his blood pumping and his heart thumping like a madman.
Noah shook his head, quickly waking himself up from such crazy thoughts. "Tch, I am getting too ahead." He let out a long sigh, clicking his mandibles softly.
'The only thing I should focus on is getting stronger. Once I get strong enough, it wouldn't matter if such stupid dream is achievable or not.' Noah hardened his already steady resolve, as his compound eyes glittered in the glowing expanse of the cave, shimmering with determination.
And just like that, the small ember that had taken root inside Noah as a passing thought became an undying flame, surging through his core like a beacon.
And unknown to Noah himself. In the future, the beacon formed by Noah's determination and hardened resolve wouldn't shine in the darkness just for him alone—It would be the blazing flame of hope that every single one of his ant brethren would follow, right behind him. Marching toward that same, STUPIDLY crazy dream. Together.
But that's for the future.
Shaking his head, Noah let out a deep sigh, finally turning his head to the red ant, only to see her dragging the large corpse of the monster rat toward the portal.
"Going back already?" Noah asked, his antenna twitching slightly as his gaze followed her. Of course there was no reply, just the six steady legs clacking against the barren floor, as she continued toward the glowing portal, the large rat monster clutched tightly in her powerful jaws.
"Well... I will wait for you here then." Noah mumbled, watching the red ant vanish inside the Crimson Gate. "Oh well, this Gate isn't a secret anymore." Noah sighed, as he could already see more and more ants now using this Gate to enter into this realm.
'Not really a bad thing honestly. It was going to get found out by any other ants anyway, only a matter of time. Though it's better that now the colony will have no problem with food shortage since my brethren will be able to hunt monsters here.' Noah mused, nodding his head.
Now that one of his problems was gone, he decided to focus on other stuff he had to deal with.
Noah turned his gaze toward the glowing expanse of the cave that was shimmering in the red glow from the Crimson Gate. And he narrowed his eyes.
"Still... That demon actually found this place." He muttered, keeping himself all guarded as his antenna twitched and surveyed the air, scanning for any lingering vibration in the air.
"This place isn't safe anymore, huh?" He mumbled. "Good thing that oversized rat didn't try to enter inside the gate... Well, even if he did." Noah chuckled at the thought, finding it funny. After all, if that rat demon had tried to enter inside, it would have only found hundreds of more red ants, ready to shred him apart the moment the demon tried to sneak in.
"But why did that demon come here in the first place?" Noah narrowed his eyes, and then, as if to answer him, his antenna twitched sharply, alerting him of a strange vibration.
Noah followed the strange vibration until he reached a protruding rock. Rounding the corner, Noah's eyes narrowed and he found the reason.
"Oh..."
There it was.
A dark, glossy egg. Laying there quietly on the barren ground, completely unaware of any predicament and dangers of the cruel monster world.
"So that's why she was here..." Noah nodded in understanding.
The demon rat was female all along. And she must have chosen this place as her nesting ground. Too bad, she met her end by the mandibles of the red ant.
But the bigger question was—
"Do rats lay eggs?" Noah stared at the egg in clear disbelief, his brain full of complicated emotions. There was awe, disgust, and bewilderment. "Seriously, egg about this size... How the fuck." Noah decided that it was best not to finish that cursed thought. His carapace shivering at the idea.
Noah just gave into the fact monsters had different physiology than normal animals.
Noah stood there for a moment, staring at the egg, feeling a slight mix of emotions. But he quickly pulled away from such thoughts.
"Nope. No sympathy for a monster who tried to murder me." Noah shook his head, keeping himself grounded. After all, it was in the nature of the monsters to hunt, and in some twist of fate, Noah was also one. So, he can't be allowed to feel any sort of sympathy for the monsters.
That's why.
"That demon rat was a high C-rank magical beast... And this egg would probably be the same." Noah stared at the dark egg, his head churning with thoughts.
He needed only two more levels to reach the requirement for evolution. And this monster egg, ranking even higher than him, would definitely grant him the levels he needed. But that wasn't all. The egg was completely defenseless, no longer protected by its guardian.
Noah squinted his eyes, using the identify skill on the egg.
Yup, confirmed it. It was C-rank.
Noah gulped.
"...Outside world is cruel, little one." He muttered, leaning closer to the egg, fake pity in his voice. "So, it's best for you to just go inside my belly."
Noah even let out a crocodile tear.
CRUNCH!
Then, without a single word, his mandibles crushed the egg in a single motion, breaking the shell of the dark glossy egg. A wave of dark, slimy goo burst forth through the cracks, coating Noah's strong mandibles in disgusting slime.
[You have defeated a High C-rank monster: Shadow Larva.]
[You have gained experience.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[2 skill points have been added.]
[You have reached the evolution requirement.]
[Warning: It is highly recommended to upgrade your monstrous body parts before initiating evolution. Advanced evolution paths are affected by your current mutations.]
System windows popped off like fireworks, one after another, flashing rapidly in front of Noah's compound eyes. His mind reeled as he skimmed through the alerts, his antenna twitching with excitement.
'HELL yeah, baby!' Noah clacked his mandibles in excitement, finally reaching the required level for his first evolution.
'Noice noice, I finally did it.' Noah nodded happily, wiggling his back carapace in joy, doing a little happy dance.
And just like that, Noah completely forgot he took the life of an unborn monster. Meh, who cares anyway?
But then remembering something, his joy ended quickly as he looked at the cracked egg, leaking with slimy and disgusting goo. The smell was horrible.
But Noah steadied his heart, and then leaned down to finish the remaining job. "Guhhh..." Noah groaned, as a wave of disgusting slime burst into his mouth. The taste was foul and vile like always.
[You have consumed the flesh of a magical beast. You have received Bio Points...]
After finally finishing the disgusting egg, Noah received a total of 8 bio points. Quite a lot for just an egg if he had to say.
Noah shook his head, as if trying to wipe off the disgusting taste of the slimy egg. "Bleh! The taste is disgusting, but the bio points are sure sweet." Noah mumbled, his gaze flicking to the still-floating system window screen in front of his compound eyes.
[Warning: It is highly recommended to upgrade your monstrous body parts before initiating evolution. Advanced evolution paths are affected by your current mutations.]
"...Well, as much as I hate staying stuck at the same rank, I can endure it a little more if I can get better options for my evolution advancement." Noah hummed in thought, tapping the side of his head.
"Alright then, I should try to upgrade most of my body parts." Noah made a quick nod, quickly opening up the body mutation shop. His eyes already deciding what he wanted.
[-> Bio Points: 8
Mandible Sharpness (+2)
3 bio points will be deducted.
Carapace Reinforcement (+2)
3 bio points will be deducted.
Leg Muscle Density (+2)
2 bio points will be deducted.]
"Buy them all." Noah quickly confirmed his purchase. As much as it looked like Noah was rushing his purchase without a thought, he actually did think about his choices. And from his perspective, he felt like he did choose what suited his conditions the most.
He needs to quickly get more bio points, so for that, he needs to go out and actively hunt more demons. So getting stronger attack potency—his mandibles—and more durability—his carapace—is essential for his survivability in clashes. And legs? Well, he just doesn't want his legs to stay like noodles forever.
As Noah was lost in thought, he completely forgot what was going to happen. That's why, when it hit. It hit hard.
A surge of pain so intense, it made Noah see stars as he twitched and then fell to the ground with a thud. Twitching and writhing on the ground like a dying bug.
And if that wasn't already embarrassing enough—the red ant, who had gone to the colony through the Gate, finally returned.
Their eyes met.
"Not you again! Why does it always have to be you to see me in some sort of embarrassing situation?" Noah screamed inside his head, looking super embarrassed.