Chapter 2 – A Special Queen (2)
“What… is this?”
What I had expelled onto the floor wasn’t just vomit.
The black, sticky mass was disturbingly squirming faintly.
[Player’s passive skill: Omnis Cells]
The system message informed me that this was a passive skill, answering my bewilderment.
A passive skill is an inherent ability unique to each player.
It’s what differentiates players from their fellow racemates, enabling them to build their own factions.
And the passive skill of the Black Rot Insect Player, unknown to anyone in this world, was essentially a kind of omnipotent cell capable of growing into anything.
‘The cells are dividing.’
I watched in a dazed state as the lump of cells I had vomited began rapidly dividing, expanding in size.
Like something out of an accelerated time-lapse, it grew quickly, forming a biological tissue roughly the size of a bicycle.
It took the shape of a massive egg sac.
“In the future, we should reproduce… here.”
Intuitively knowing what this was, I bit my lips with a distorted face.
This was an artificial womb, used to create and nurture eggs outside the body. And this was exactly what it was.
Upon my command, the waiting Black Rot Insect male slowly moved towards the giant egg sac and began to mate.
Unable to bear watching, I clenched my eyes shut and turned away.
[You have fully understood the passive skill.]
Simultaneously, as my initially bare skin began altering, forming a black leathery shell that covered my body, the system message hit the mark.
It was true; I was gradually comprehending the abilities as a queen of Black Rot Insects.
My newfound ability allowed me to manipulate my body’s cells at will.
“…I will use the remaining 2 Attribute Points.”
Clutching my teeth, I reopened the Attribute Page.
There was no more time for denial or anger.
Unless I was going to bash my head against the wall and die, or if I sought to resolve this grievance of why this situation had befallen me, it was time to start focusing on the tasks at hand.
“Consciousness Enhancement and Physical Enhancement.”
With thoughts of improving breeding already addressed — countless Black Rot Insect eggs were growing inside the artificial womb fertilized by the male — I turned my attention to two other attributes.
The Black Rot Insect was at the bottom of the Demon Realm’s ecosystem.
Undeniably, their strength as a collective swarm was notable, but they were still bugs.
And this is the Demon Realm. A place filled with myth-worthy enormous mana beasts on land and in the sky, where savage demons build and wage wars every day to maintain their factions — one of the highest difficulty civilizations.
To survive as a queen leading Black Rot Insects in such a place, more power was essential.
“For now… I’ll upgrade both.”
After deliberation, I chose to allocate the 2 points evenly between my consciousness and physical enhancements.
In this game, there were no useless attributes. There were only the most optimal paths towards one’s goal.
But without knowing what the optimal path exactly was, there was no need to focus my growth on just one attribute right now.
「Consciousness Enhancement Lv.1」
“Ugh…”
At first, I didn’t understand what this consciousness enhancement meant.
However, gripping my head, I found myself overwhelmed by a strange and ineffable feeling that defied linguistic expression.
I could hear things more clearly. Things became sharper, more vivid.
The term ‘consciousness’ referred to the consciousness of Black Rot Insects under my control as their queen.
Their desires, what they had seen — all became clearer, like increasing resolution on a display.
‘Surely if I keep going with this…!’
For a moment, I was struck with fear. Would full consciousness enhancement lead to me completely assimilating with them?
「Physical Enhancement Lv.1」
But I couldn’t stop now.
Having arrived in this world in such a form, there was nothing else for me but this path ahead.
“Kkut…”
Braving the fear, as I once again opted to use an Attribute Point for physical enhancement, my entire body began feeling an intense alien sensation.
My eyes shot open involuntarily, my limbs trembled, and slowly, flakes of skin began to fall off my body.
Instinctively, I realized this was molting.
“Could the entire colony be molting?”
[Elements enhanced through attributes apply to your entire faction.]
The fallen flakes were not just from me—they were from other Black Rot Insects too, whose exoskeletons had strengthened through this molting.
Their signature black exoskeletons had become slightly harder compared to before.
Though I wasn’t exactly sure how durable they’d become — as a newly hatched queen, I lacked proper reference points for comparison.
To begin with, were there even Black Rot Insect colonies evolving like ours?
‘One male, fifty workers.’
As the queen, I naturally knew how many insects were within my colony, my faction.
If I closed my eyes and concentrated, I could connect with their minds under my command.
Regardless of the distance, I could manipulate any body carrying ‘my genes.’
This was one of the abilities of being the queen of the Black Rot Insects.
Though clumsy compared to a true Hive Mind, it was certainly not an ability any ordinary bug queen would possess.
Even this could change as I continued to use attribute points to develop my consciousness further.
“But what am I supposed to do with this ragtag group?”
Moving from the deepest nest, I watched the workers bustling about in the corridors and sighed.
The bioluminescent mushrooms lining the paths emitted a faint glow, providing minimal lighting. The workers’ tasks were obvious:
Repairing the nest, caring for the eggs and larvae, collecting and storing food.
Their bulk was somewhat impressive, but their actions weren’t far from the ants that inspired them.
“But really… ahhh! Keep away!”
Suddenly, a worker came toward me, chewing some unknown chunk of rotten meat.
Realizing it was trying to feed me, I recoiled in shock, much like when the male had approached me earlier.
Sadly, creating the artificial womb replaced neither my physical appearance nor my human psyche, leaving me unprepared for life as the queen of these insects.
‘So this won’t work. I’ll need to create an artificial digestive organ.’
Although shocked, I, too, required nourishment as a living organism.
After checking the food storage, I fled after witnessing the assortment of grotesque meats and plants, gagging at the sight.
Regardless of whether my body could digest it, there was no way I wanted to put those things into my mouth and chew them.
Thus, I considered the idea of creating a digestive system akin to the artificial womb, capable of breaking down food and delivering the nutrients directly to my body. Ingesting nutrients prepared by such a system seemed tolerable.
This wasn’t impossible; I’d already demonstrated the ability to create artificial organs with the attribute points to construct an artificial womb.
[Nutrients are insufficient.]
“Nutrients… are insufficient?”
My body had already expended much in creating the artificial womb.
To create the artificial digestive organ, I would need more resources.
Presently, there was only one way to obtain these nutrients.
“Hah, hah…heh.”
Realizing there was no escape, I collapsed to the floor and laughed nervously as the workers drew near.
They had brought food from the storage upon receiving my command and now pushed their hideous faces close, urging me to eat.
‘This is the last time.’
Just doing this once would allow me to avoid repeating this unpleasant experience. This would be my initial and final investment in creating the artificial digestive system.
Slowly, I opened my mouth toward the food the massive bugs surrounding me had presented.
Something within me shattered.
*
[Achievement: Voluntary Evolution (1) completed. Reward: 1 Attribute Point granted.]
“…So?”
Staring blankly at the squirming mass of meat in front of me while reading the system message, I had finally succeeded in creating the artificial digestive organ after restoring sufficient nutrients through feeding.
Now, instead of feeding me directly, the workers would throw food into the fleshy cavity shaped like a digestive organ.
The system recognized this accomplishment as an ‘achievement.’
Gaining attribute points was the only way for the player to develop further, and achieving milestones was the key.
[However, a significant portion of stored resources has been consumed.]
Not all was gain.
The amount of nutrients required was unexpectedly high, depleting much of the stored food in the supply room.
I had eaten an amount equivalent to several days’ worth of food, all by myself.
“Well, then, it’s time to replenish.”
Muttering quietly, I turned my body.
The workers are diligently collecting food even now.
But it’s not enough. Now that the artificial digestive organ is made, there’s no longer a need for me to chew and digest the food myself.
I could digest a much higher quantity more efficiently.
To fully utilize this ability, we could no longer live as we had. Life at the bottom of the ecosystem was over.
I — or rather, we — would no longer hesitate for a single moment.
