What the hell am I supposed to do as a beetle? I thought as I walked across the ground. There was a wet smell in the air, and my surroundings filled me with an alien feeling, like I was walking in a forest made for giants. I still had a human perspective on things, making me think the blades of grass were many meters tall even though I knew it was a skewed image.
What do they eat? Occasionally I’d see them strutting along, although that was about if for my information on beetles. They looked pretty cool, so that was something. If you had to be an insect, a beetle was a pretty good choice. Didn’t need a huge colony to do any work. Just the image freaked me out of being surrounded by hundred of insects my own size.
All the forest sounds took on a new dimension as I waddled my way forward. The lovely melody of birds turned into a taunting warcry, one sending dread into the fiber of me being, which must have been instinctual, because I still very much thought of birds as cute.
Moving had been tricky at first. Probably due to my moral contemplations of what being reincarnated as an insect meant, but also due to having six legs. I was too wide, and too thick to move to move like a human, shifting weight from one side to the other. With my six legs I found that it was much easier to move if I imagined myself climbing forward and using a fitting movement pattern. Other scarabs would probably laugh if they saw that.
Other scarabs can’t laugh.
Ha!
That brought into question how I could think. Perhaps my human soul had been attached to an insect but that broke all conceptions of how the universe and brain worked. People surely would have spotted something odd, like a hyper intelligent insect if it was a natural occurring phenomenon.
Something was up, and I had a very strong feeling it had something to do with the blue window, rimmed by white lines, floating ahead of me at my exact speed. I’d tried to touch it, but the damn bastard taunted me by floating further away.
Welcome to Etheria!
Yes, yes, I’ve already read that. Do you have anything else to tell me strange window?
You are a beetle, a scarab.
Obviously. Wait! You can hear my thoughts. Great, I thought I was going to have to go through his alone.
You have gained the race perk [Scarab]
For each point of hp lost, endurance is increased by 0.1
That’s absolutely broken. The inner gamer inside of me took over. Many insects came with completely broken abilities, if they were the size of a human. Take ants for an example, they could lift ten times their size. Image that ability on a human. Scary.
If this world followed game logic, which I hoped, and it did have a UI window, then I could grind my toughness up to ludicrous amounts. I’d be so tough nothing could hurt me. That wouldn’t mean much as a beetle, they’d just throw me into a jar and I’d be done for, but still.
I’d be a tough beetle stuck in jar. I could taunt the other beetles for their lack of toughness.
Wait, it says [Scarab] does that mean that all scarabs gain this perk. Well that certainly ruins my fantasy.
Alright window god, what’s next?
You have been gifted the perk [Chainless]
You carry no limit on skills, perks or evolutions.
…What!? That sounds overly broken, there must be some sort of catch. Spit it out.
You have been chosen for the Etheria Games.
The first trial will commence in one day. Good luck.
Time remaining: 23:54:55
I knew it. Wait I’ve already lost a couple of minutes. Damn system god you should have told me this already!
The window disappeared.
Wait, don’t leave me alone! What the hell am I supposed to do now window god? Hello? Exit, no? Okay, how about escape, enter, system, status. Aha!
Name: None
Title: None
Race: Scarab Beetle.
Tier: I+
Level: 1/3
Experience: 0/10
Hp: 2.00 /2
Mp: 0/0
Stats:
Strength: 0.1
Agility: 0.1
Stamina: 0.1
Vitality: 0.2
Endurance: 1
Intelligence: 0
Perks: [Scarab] [Unchained]
Skills: [Flight lvl 1]
Flight! Right, beetles can fly. They really are monstrous creatures. I’d be absolutely terrified if a beetle flew towards. But I couldn’t sense my wings. Where are they? Fly damn you come on. No matter what I tried, my wings just wouldn’t activate.
Alright so I don’t have a name. I also can’t remember my past name. A blank comes up when I think about it, and that’s really the only way I’d be able to recall it. Although, I don’t think I’ll be speaking with anybody any time soon so that’s alright.
My stats were ridiculously low, but I assumed that was expected of a I+ tiered creature, or rather an insect. That said, my endurance was remarkably higher than my other stats, but I guessed that had to do with me being a scarab beetle.
But my intellect was also low, at 0, which should be impossible considering the fact that I could think. It must have meant that the stat measured something other than the ability for thought. Probably had something to do with my mp bar.
I wondered more about the games I’d been selected into. I hoped they were nothing like the hunger games, but I should be prepared if that was the case. Even though I was still a small beetle, I could become somebody really powerful in this world. There was lots of potential. I just needed to be strong enough to capitalize on it, which meant that I couldn’t afford to die.
The experience system and my perk [Unchained] suggested that I could level up, and even evolve. I decided that would be exactly what I’d be doing.
So the question was how do I get experience?
I took a bite into a blade of grass. Not good. It didn’t fill me, but fortunately I didn’t have developed taste in this body, so I didn’t have to cringe to the taste.
Hee-hee-hee.
A bug was behind me. Was it laughing at me? The insulting egoistical bastard stared right at me, unfazed by me approaching it. Damn bug, I mean, damn not-beetle. Don’t know what’s good for it, if you ask me. Maybe I oughta teach it something. I could also learn if this was a solid way to gain experience
Two birds with one stone.
Hee-hee-hee.
I inspected the smart bug. It looked like a leaf with six tiny green legs attached and an alien head. Damn it was ugly. It stared right at me, standing completely still. We were almost touching now.
I stomped my feet, trying to indicate for the insect to shut up.
Hee-hee-hee.
I stomped my feet, and raised my forelegs.
Hee-hee-hee.
The ass. I was about to charge when I noticed another bastard leaf to my side. It walked forward until it stood right beside the joker. Two bugs, the same size as me, clearly wanting to pick a fight with me. Did they think they could scare me off?
Hee-hee-hee
Hee-hee-hee
They are even laughing at me together! Unacceptable. That was the dominant word going through my mind as I charged towards them, slamming my head into the joker. I heard one of his legs snap. That was good.
The other bastard teeth bit away at my legs, but it seemed to have a more difficult time ripping them off. Feel the amazing power of my endurance! Choosing to ignore the offense to my side, I bit into the leaf in front of me, revealing its thin organs.
Not laughing now are you?
A tinge of pain shot through me. The leaf to my side managed to rip my middle-leg cleanly off. A liquid oozed out of me, too thin to be called blood, but it certainly didn’t feel comfortable. That just confirmed their death. There was no backing out anymore, either I died, or they did.
You have learned the skill [Bite] lvl 1
Aha, a new skill. I hope you’ll like this stinking leaves.
I took another bite out of the bug ahead of me. My mouth clenched on one of its organs and swallowed it hole. It felt filling, but no experience came from it. The leaf’s own teeth were trying to pierce through my head but my skin was too tough. You know, I’ve got to say, it was a very satisfying feeling for an enemy to try their hardest to kill you and to still not be able to damage you.
The other leaf though, managed to pull out another leg, and this time it hurt a lot more. I reckoned that’s because my hind legs were thicker and more powerful than my middle leg. I wouldn’t be able to move if it got another one, well, maybe a little but not effectively.
I bit deeper into the leaf, pushing myself deeper into its body, and pulling out its organs. The rapidity with which it bit me slowly fizzled out as it lost its strength. Another bite was the end of it.
You have killed a Predatory Katydid.
5 experience gained.
My third leg was ripped out, and quickly swallowed. I tried to turn my head to bite at the bastard, but I couldn’t. I’d forgotten my lack of a neck. I tried to turn around with my legs, by kicking with my forelegs, but the plant was able to keep track of my spinning, and it continued biting into my underbelly from the side.
My hp dropped to one, and I saw my toughness tick up, but that wouldn’t matter. I had been outsmarted by a little bug, and I was going to die if something didn’t happen. Death by a goddamn leaf, that’s embarrassing.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Hee-hee-hee
Don’t you dare laugh!
I spotted a tiny little red beetle creep down from a leaf blade and march up towards the leaf. Was this another one who was going to gouge on my body? To my surprise, the beetle ran into the leaf’s legs twisting two of them in one go.
Nice one little guy.
The leaf quickly turned around and tried to bite the little fellow, but he’d predicted that! The red beetle sprinted away, and only turned around when it was in safe range.
There seemed to be an angry look stuck to its face. It looked fierce, and I feared for the stupid bug when it came sprinting back. This time instead of charging into its legs, the beetle charged right into the leafs body, somehow managing to send it flying.
The little beetle packed a real punch, but it wasn’t finished yet. It seemed to have noticed the weakness in its enemy, and gone fully on the offense, charging back into the leaf, and starting to nibble away at its body.
Their teeth clattered into each other, but the beetle was in a clear advantage carrying a much stronger body. I wasn’t done though, pulling with my leg, and ambushing the leaf from the side.
[Bite]
My teeth tore through its body, ending the battle.
You have killed a Predatory Katydid.
5 experience gained.
Level up!
Great.
The little red beetle didn’t spare a look at me, instead devouring beginning to devour the insect immediately. I wondered why it was so hungry, but I noticed that scratch marks on its exo-skeleton were quickly fading away.
Pulling myself to the leaf, I wanted to see if my theory was true or not. My hunger took over and I quickly consumed the whole bug. Surprisingly, pretty tasty leaf. By the time I was done by legs had healed back, allowing me to walk again, and furthermore, I felt new limbs on my back.
Were my wings damaged? How the hell did that happen? I sure as hell would remember any fights.
It was possible this scarab had a life before I took over. Sending a soul to control a scarab’s body was probably easier than creating a new scarab and then adding the soul to it. Although I really didn’t know, and whoever did this to me would probably have an easy time creating a scarab. Reincarnating somebody into a bug was probably much harder than making a scarab. Probably. I was entering the territory of gods, and I really had no clue how to work this out.
If I had taken over a bug’s body than I really didn’t care much. It hadn’t really been my choice, and it wasn’t like the scarab had a lot of a personality to begin with. It was all instinct, presumably, and I’d gained that instinct, so one could even say that it still lived within me.
I looked back at the little red beetle. It was staring right at me? Are we going to start laughing?
It tapped its right middleleg.
Ohh, that’s so nice. Thank you little guy.
It tapped both of its hind legs.
Ahh, you want to join me?
It tapped both of its middle legs.
No, no, you’re too kind, I’m not that tough.
I tapped the ground with my right fore and middle leg, and the little red beetle walked up to stand beside me. It was waiting for me to move.
Hmm, if you’re going to stick around then I’m going to need a name for you. You’re red and tiny. What’s red and tiny… a pimple! Your name will be Pimple, brilliant.
Checking my status I saw that I needed twenty experience to reach the next level. That would be my next goal. I’ve got to kill four of those leaf bastards.
***
Flying was more difficult then expected. My wings wouldn’t go as fast as I wanted them to without growing exhausted, and due to the strange muscle attached to them, I had a tough time controlling them.
I took a guess that my flight skill had to be higher levelled before I could take to the sky, and even then, I wasn’t sure how smart that was of a move. I felt like I was taunting the birds by practicing my flight. I’d jump and fly about three inches into the air, before falling down again, which admittedly probably wasn’t the smartest way to go about it.
After almost ten minutes of walking, and being surrounded by a completely new patch of grass, Pimple fell into a hole!
The damn thing ambushed him. It carried no bravery at all, only ruthlessness. One second we were walking and the next he was inside of a hole filled with a goey slime, sticking his legs to the ground.
Staring down at Pimple, which I assumed was a him, I wasn’t sure how I’d go about helping. I could see his limbs shaking as he struggled, his wings flapping as quickly as they could. If I simply entered I’d also get stuck in whatever strange substance this was.
Whatever had caused this would probably be coming back, and if it was able to create such a nice trap, then I’d probably be no match for it. I didn’t know if giving my life up for Pimple was a smart move, but I wasn’t just going to let my new buddy die. I’m sure he’d do the same thing to me.
I formulated a plan. His legs were stuck, but not his mouth. If I could find some sort of hard substance, and reach down with it to Pimple, I’d be able to pull him out. I just needed to figure out what that was.
I saw a flower stem in the distance. That might just do the trick. The problem was that a little honeybee sat on top of the flower, frollicking around in the petals. Look at the risks I’m taking for you Pimple.
So here was my plan. I needed to act quickly, because if I didn’t, and the creature that created the trap came back, then pimple would surely be fucked. That meant, I couldn’t hesitate one bit during the proceedings.
I’d cut the flower stem down with my mighty [Bite] skill. It was a sunflower, and their stems were rather thick. Hopefully, the honeybee, would fly away after I did it, leaving me with a stem. If it didn’t fly away, and decided to stay, then there’d be a fight. I needed to be quick in the fight, so I’d be as aggressive as possible and hope that my armor would protect me.
After winning the fight, I’d muster up all the strength I could, and drag the flower back to Pimple and save him. Easy. Right?
So, I stealthily climbed, and [Bite]. The stem had been lightly grazed. To be frank, that was quite a large hit to my ego. It’s not as if I pride myself particularly much on the strength of my bite, but this flower sure as hell had to go and make it personal.
I’d take it down if it was the last thing I did.
But that had to wait, because even though my strike had been light, it had been enough to piss the honeybee off. It flew down to me with a whizz, and stung me right in my beady left eye, pumping me full of its poison.
Have you ever been stung in the eye? It hurt, enough for me to scream, but I couldn’t scream, so I shook with pain. Even that was difficult because the poison had paralytical features, and because the honey bee was still stuck to my eye!
I learnt a lot about the hp system then. The direct strike to my eye had counted as a critical strike even though it didn’t really damage any of my vital organs. That brought me down to 0.2 hp. The added endurance was nice. In total, I’d gotten 0.2 new endurance. It was probably the one reason I wasn’t dead.
You have been infected with debuff. Endurance counteracts the effects of the debuff.
It lasts for 3 hours.
Paralytic properties slow the body down by 30%.
Health decreases at a pace of 1 hp for each 30 minutes.
6 minutes until health reaches 0.
WHAT! Who knew the sting of a honeybee was this OP.
The buzzing of the honeybee was loud in my ear. I could barely see it with my other eye. It was swinging left and right, almost making taking my body with it into flight, but I don’t think it could properly align itself with its stinger stuck in my head.
I heard something tear, and then, a wet feeling spread across my head, soothing the pain. The bee toppled down to the ground, its wings still flapping but without any strength.
It had ripped itself apart. Damn suicidal moron. It decided that cursing both of us to death was the best course of action. You know, because I touched the stem of the flower it was on. It must have really loved this flower in particular.
Well fuck it. I wasn’t planning on dying, and instead hobbled my way toward the bee who somehow still managed to move. If it wanted to die so much, I’d gladly help it.
Eating something alive was a tiring process. I didn’t know that. Cooked meat didn’t flinch or jerk or buzz when you ate it, making it a calming, fulfilling process. This was anything but. Half the bug’s body was attached to my eye and it still made eating it as difficult as possible.
Hey. let. me. eat you!
It stopped struggling as much when I ripped its heart out of its body, managing to kill it in the process. The window detailing my recent conquest popped up, and eating it became a lot easier.
My body healed back up to full, except for my eye which couldn’t due to having a stinger in it, but poison withered me from the inside. Some quick math told me that it would deal 6 hp of damage over three hours. That was three times my entire health pool, which meant that if I wanted to survive I’d need to kill and eat at least one bug each hour.
It would be difficult. The longer I’d wait the weaker I’d get, and the paralyzing effect would make fighting even harder. That was after my endurance which was already pretty high for an insect. It really was a damning debuff for any other bug.
You have killed a Honey Bee
10 experience gained.
Once again I returned to biting into the stem. It felt a lot like gnawing on thin rope. After a couple minutes of jerking, and an aching mouth, I managed to get it loose.
It fell on me, and squeezed all the air out of my body. The realization of how many times I would of died without my thick armor came to me with a heck of a lot of gratitude for it. Even if I managed to evolve out of being a beetle, I sure as hell wasn’t going to take it off.
I nipped the end of the stem, the part that I’d cut off, and dragged it across the ground towards the hole. Finally, I’d done it. Slowly, I turned my body around to get a view of Pimple.
But he wasn’t there!
In his place stood a tiny red lizard. It had slime oozing out of its body and landing on the ground around it. With utter hatred, I stared at it. The coward used a cheap method to catch my friend off guard, and then he had eaten him alive.
I could of prevented this if I’d been stronger. I could of just pulled Pimple out of the hole then, but my weakness held me back. It was utterly unacceptable. I needed to grow stronger.
I swear Lizard. You do not know the forces you have put into motion. I will come back soon enough, and I will kill you.
Pimple might of just been a little red beetle, but he’d saved me from certain death. I hadn’t been able to repay him the same favor, and for that I felt utterly useless and incapable. It wasn’t right. This whole world wasn’t right.
***
Thirty minutes had passed and I’d lost a full hp. It hurt, like a scratching sensation all over my body. It didn’t waste a moment in reminding me the sorrow state I was in, and that a stinger was still attached to my left eye.
The great part was that my perk [Bug] counted the poison as a
I hadn’t succeeded in finding another bug I could kill. I’d spotted a praying mantis but decided that it would be too difficult to kill it. The thing eyed me for a moment, before returning to its still stand, deciding I wasn’t worth the effort.
I’d been careful not to forget where the hole was. I’d spotted a tall, blue flower in the distance, and used it as a sign to remember where the hole was. It would simplify finding the hole in the future.
Occasionally I’d stumble into rat-like creatures. Quickly, I’d run away before they got any ideas of eating me. Fortunately they’d all already been on the trail of something else. I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at running away from rats.
Finally, after 47 minutes, I found a bunch of suitable opponents. These creature’s looked much like fleas except they sat low on grass and seemed to suck out nutrients from them. They looked asleep, and they were unmissable, their exo-skeleton a bright yellow.
I didn’t know why no other bug was eating them. It wasn’t as if it would be difficult. They were in the middle of wilderness, I assumed, and didn’t have a care in the world. It was almost disrespectful to the rest of the animals in here.
I had a feeling it was a mistake, but I was running out of time, and it was valuable information to have. If there was a bunch of bags of healing and experience waiting for me, then I’d like to know.
[Bite]
You have killed a grass flee
2 experience gained.
I waited. I knew there would be a catch to this, the question was just, what would it be?
You have been infected with debuff. Endurance counteracts the effects of the debuff.
It lasts for 1 hours.
Health decreases at a pace of 1 hp for each 10 minutes.
10 minutes until health reaches 0.
It’s just pure poison. It also deals six damage, except it does so much faster. There’s no way I’ll be able to sustain this.
I was going to die unless I kept eating, but the only food available to me were these highly poisonous flees. Evolution was my only remaining option. I needed to kill these at a fast speed and evolve!
I wandered over to another one and swallowed it hole. I wasn’t sure if the poison would stack and kill me faster. It might of, certain acids acted that way. I didn’t take the chance, eating up four other grass fleas needed for evolution as quickly as I could.’
Max level reached.
Evolution available.
Would you like to evolve?
Yes!
Possible Evolutions
Race
Rank
Primary Attributes.
Requirements
Description
Emerald beetle
H-
Endurance, Vitality
Beetle race
The beetle’s exoskeleton gains the same shade and color of an emerald. It grows much tougher.
Horned Beetle
H-
Endurance, Strength
Beetle race
The beetle grows a large horn on its head which it can use as a weapon. It is also stronger than other beetles.
Thick Beetle (Uncommon)
H+
Endurance, Vitality, Strength
Beetle race. Endurance of 1.4
The possessor of this beetle is thought of us lucky, and will always find the right road. Losing its ability for flight, its exo-skeleton grows even thicker, and its muscles stronger.
Gain the perk [Lukewarm] ~ The holder of this perk is a narcissist.
Poisonous Beetle (Rare)
G-
Endurance, Vitality
Beetle race.
Lotss of contact with poison.
As the name suggests, these beetles hold highly poisonous insides. A human can not survive eating one without immediate medical care. They are yellow, and commonly prey on venomous lizards.
Gain the perk [Poisonous]
Gain the perk [Lesser Resistance to poison]
All of these options seem pretty cool, but I don’t have much time to deliberate. I’ll pick the highest ranking one since it gives me resistance to poison, and I’ll hope for the best.