1st Chapter – A Special Queen (1)
In various civilizations, there is a crazy game called [Beginning] where you can create and develop your own territory.
I was also a keen player of this crazy game.
I would actively participate in communities, gather information, and achieve countless feats that served as proof of dedication.
And while I didn’t have any extraordinary talents, I would lovingly draw and upload illustrations.
-Oh, here comes that bug fanatic again.
Only, my interest wasn’t in the popular races or players that others focused on.
One of the monsters from the Demon Realm civilization known as the Black Rot Insects.
The Black Rot Insects were monsters that were unplayable.
But I took an interest in them.
It wasn’t because I had strange tastes, but because they were the most common low-tier monsters in the Demon Realm civilization that I mostly played.
The more I played the game, the more I grew attached to them despite seeing them endlessly.
Besides, many others drew far better and more impressive fan art, so I didn’t consider the Black Rot Insects amazing in their giant beetle-like forms.
Therefore, when I drew them, I always chose the queen who led their swarm as the subject, and I tried to portray her as beautifully and humanized as possible.
An insignificant extra in the game, simply a swarm of numbers designed with Earth’s ants and insects as inspiration and with little to no detailed lore.
That was undoubtedly their identity.
[You are the queen of the Black Rot Insects]
[Lead your faction to victory in the game]
However, my interest in them and my drawing them did not mean I wanted to become one of them.
I absolutely, under no circumstances, wanted to become a queen laying their eggs.
*
“Ahh, no…! No!!!”
The moment I realized what had happened to me.
Only a minute after waking up in a damp and humid cave, I fainted again.
This was impossible. This shouldn’t happen.
In that moment of fainting, I firmly believed it was a dream.
I thought I was trying to play the game even in my dreams because I played it so much. This confirmed that games should indeed be regulated as proper drugs.
While believing I would wake up in my studio apartment, in my bed, I tried to go back to sleep.
“Unh, ugh…”
But not long after, I was woken up by a strong presence while still unconscious.
What I saw with my half-opened eyes was still the cold, damp scenery of the cave.
And there was a giant… beetle digging through my unconscious body.
“Hh, hhhaaaakkk!!!!”
I screamed and thrashed around as I saw the giant beetle trying to climb on top of me.
It resembled a hideous and frightening beetle akin to a cockroach.
The size of a small car, its body encased in black armor, and its spider-like legs made it clearly different from a regular beetle.
—
Fortunately, as I panicked and flailed, the creature didn’t move and just stood there watching me.
‘This crazy beetle.’
Why was it? I had quickly retreated and could read its thoughts.
Though impossible for an ordinary human to fully understand, the thoughts were extremely instinctive and animalistic, yet they were still thoughts.
And the moment I read them, a strong wave of disgust came over me.
Right now, the creature had only one thought, one instinct, which it sought to act on.
To mate with me and breed.
“Go away, get lost!”
As I shouted in anger while sitting on my knees, the creature retreated slightly as if it could not disobey my command.
Even if it was a chosen male, it had no choice but to listen to me.
I was the ruler and the center of the swarm, the queen.
‘What exactly…’
Though I had narrowly avoided danger, my mind was in total chaos.
Info and knowledge were jumbled up to the point where I felt like I was losing myself.
In the midst of it all, a system message with a familiar UI appeared before my eyes.
Seeing it, my mind quickly settled.
It was the element that explained all at once why I had been thrown into this situation and what kind of world this was.
“I am…”
I looked down blankly at my trembling hands.
Pale white hands with fine long fingers—beautiful and flawless.
Gradually, my attention shifted from my hands to my entire naked body.
A sculpted, flawless, and beautiful body.
Covering my nakedness were only my flowing silver strands of hair.
I finally accepted it. I had been incarnated into the game.
Not just as any character but as the queen of the Black Rot Insects I drew fan art of.
I wasn’t even in my original male body but instead, incarnated into a female body I’d never seen before. But that wasn’t even important since I wasn’t human anymore.
While my outer appearance was the beautiful human female form I designed, my essence was the same as that terrifying insect before me.
There was no way I could ever return home.
All I could do now was hope to survive.
[Prosper your forces]
“Mu, what?”
In the midst of this, the system message seemed to want me to continue the game.
But I couldn’t understand what it meant.
“What’s it asking me to do?”
It was a genuine question.
Although I had played tutorials more than once and confidently did so across various civilizations and races, this situation was new.
I incarnated as the queen of the Black Rot Insects, which were unplayable mobs.
Naturally, I had no idea what the tutorial should involve.
「1. Directly mate with a male to reproduce.」
「2. Develop additional evolution factors.」
“??!”
A familiar selection menu appeared. This was a menu that helps the player progress through the game.
Though it’s new seeing it directly in front of my eyes rather than on a monitor.
“What’s this evolution factor…?”
Repulsed by the first option, I mumbled unknowingly.
Truthfully, the second option, which I had no choice but to choose, was incomprehensible to me.
[The evolution factor is the attribute development page for Black Rot Insects.]
“Ah!”
Miraculously, my question was answered.
Developing attributes was essential when cultivating a race.
The goal of the game was to cultivate my followers into the strongest in various aspects by developing diverse attributes.
And the core of achieving that goal were these attributes.
There was no reason to hesitate now I knew this.
I never imagined I’d open the attribute page as the Black Rot Insects, but I naturally chose the second option.
「Attribute Points Owned: 5」
「Available Upgrade Paths: 1. Enhance awareness, 2. Enhance physique, 3. Enhance reproduction.」
A window similar to the game interface appeared in front of me.
It was practically the tech tree of the minor mob, the Black Rot Insects, which no one had ever seen.
Here, I could gradually find ways to strengthen my race.
“Why am I getting 5 points?”
[A reward for the first play of this race.]
Normally, one point is given at the start.
But when I questioned the 5 points I surprisingly received, the system promptly provided an answer.
Reward for the first play of this race—something I’d never heard of.
‘If I choose wrong, it’s game over.’
Unconsciously, I swallowed hard.
This first-time reward of 5 points, obtained unexpectedly, was definitely as precious as my life.
“Enhance reproduction.”
First and foremost, I needed to avoid being violated by those terrifying insects.
Their instinct to ignore appearances and forcefully attempt intercourse with an entirely different female needed to be altered.
Thus, it was natural to invest my first point in reproductive enhancement.
I needed to escape from the one-dimensional, savage reproductive process where the male fertilizes the female’s eggs with their seed.
「Reproduction Enhancement 1-1」
“Damn it…”
The issue was that my desired upgrade wasn’t fully achieved yet.
The first stage of enhanced reproduction was revealed the moment I selected it—it required me to lay a large amount of eggs first, then for the males to fertilize them.
「Reproduction Enhancement 1-2」
I gritted my teeth and continued to invest in the next stage.
It felt like real evolution to me, but it was slightly more advanced on an insect scale. Now, I wouldn’t lay eggs. Instead, I would receive sperm from males, produce fertilized seeds, and implant them in living hosts.
「Reproduction Enhancement 2」
‘Finally.’
It wasn’t until I spent 3 points to reach the second stage that I got the result I wanted.
A case where I would neither be violated nor impregnated.
[External womb creation initiated.]
“Ughh, yeeek!”
Simultaneously, I couldn’t help vomiting a large amount of black, sticky liquid onto the nest floor as I was struck by sudden and uncontrollable nausea.
[!– Slider main container –]
