The elves insisted that industrial magic would doom the world, they fought until their last breath but in the end, I won. The fae were much more willing to help me after I introduced the concept of bodybuilding to them, I do not know what to make of them now.
-Excerpt from the diary of [REDACTED], first summoned Hero.
As the blue cone of light wrapped around the cockroach, it suddenly found itself in a world of green that stretched as far as it could see. The wind was thick and heavy with a myriad of pheromones from the sheer number of living things in this strange place the cockroach found itself in. One particular scent dominated the air currently, though—one that it was very familiar with: the pheromones of the crystal ants, specifically those belonging to the same massive ant it had managed to kill prior to reaching level five.
The cockroach jumped on the trail instantly, taking to the air and zipping off with great speed, flying over or around great green things that it had no name for. It wasn't long before it found the source of the scent—a massive blue structure that rose from the ground. Blue crystals jutted out from the structure, spreading all over the area that was littered with constantly moving ants. They went back and forth through many small and large openings in the large crystal, each ant differing greatly.
The most common types of these ants looked very similar to the ant it had first encountered, differing slightly, but all had large builds with crystals and crystal plates covering most of their bodies. The area was heavily laced with pheromones, so thick that the cockroach could hardly sense further into it due to the sheer density. The cockroach contemplated what it should do; it had found a nest, full of its favorite prey.
Normally, it would have no problems killing ants, regular ants, that is. However, these were no regular ants. They couldn’t even be counted as prey anymore. No, they were hunters, and the cockroach had to accept that fact, no matter how much it hurt the insect. The very idea of ants, one of the cockroach’s favorite meals, being a threat to it was laughable. Yet now, it was a very real and inescapable possibility—one that it dreaded to accept.
First, it decided to test the waters. The cockroach flew back on the path it followed here until it was at the very edge of the nest, where a massive crystal wall marked the beginning of the crystal ant territory. The large variant of the crystal ants stood guard at large cracks in the wall that allowed passage. It zipped around the wall, finding that it encircled the nest completely and that some areas were more active, and thus more heavily protected than others. It all fascinated the cockroach as it watched from above, its many compound eyes taking in sights from multiple perspectives while its other sensory organs worked to detect any incoming attack.
None came until it flew too close to a small crack on the wall. Previously hidden ants sprung out from the wall, their bodies peeling off as they threw something at the cockroach. Special appendages on their backs whipped back and forth rapidly as the cockroach felt multiple hard things impact it simultaneously. The cockroach felt their impacts—the crushing and white-hot pain as they exploded, sending tiny splinters of razor-sharp crystals into its body and eyes. It lost sight of the world instantly, and pain racked its body as five more things impacted it, each exploding with greater power. It died a second later.
You have died [☠️]
Skill unlocked[🔓]: Explosion resistance (Uncommon) (1/150)
The cockroach appeared in the spot it always did, the sound of water running behind it, and the cold stone all came rushing back as its senses started functioning properly again. It had expected to reform back at the place of its death, but that wasn’t the case. The cockroach found this very interesting.
It took to the air, quickly finding its way back to the wall that wasn’t actually a wall and passed through, a blue message popped up.
[The dungeon greets you.]
[The dungeon is still very upset, your mak has been updated]
[Mark: Impossible]
[Transporting..]
The cockroach felt blue light wash over it, and it was once again in the world of unending green. As soon as it materialized, a large shadow burst out of a tall bush beside it, jaws open wide. The cockroach barely reacted in time before they snapped shut around the spot it had been just a second ago. The insect took to the air and identified the creature.
Awakened space Snapping serpent (Attacker) (6)
The serpent whipped around with a thunderous snap, and the cockroach heard the unmistakable sound of jaws rapidly closing in. Suddenly, the serpent was above it, jaws stretched wide. Its entire body rippled and twisted, warping around the cockroach and exerting immense pressure on its exoskeleton. The insect felt as if its insides were being forcibly expelled, white blood spilled from the cockroach’s mouth, and cracks began to fissure its exoskeleton. The last thing it witnessed was the jaws of the serpent closing around it before snapping shut, cleanly detaching the cockroach’s head from its body.
You have died [☠️]
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Level up! [✨] Skill: Crushing resistance (Common) (20/100) is now Crushing resistance (Common) (30/100)
Level up! [✨] Skill: [Hybrid exoskeleton] (Special) (5/???) is now [Hybrid exoskeleton] (Special) (10/???)
Level up! [✨] Skill: Dodge(Common) (15/100) is now Dodge(Common) (19/100)
Skill: [Hybrid exoskeleton] (Special) is now at level 10, +1 Defense.
An additional property will be added to your exoskeleton.
Property gained: Shock absorbent
Your exoskeleton will now be readjusted to reflect this property.
[Conditions met..unlocking relevant skill..]
Skill unlocked[🔓]: Absorb shock (Rare) (1/200)
Absorb skill detected. Unlocking Absorb aspect tree..[Done]
Power washed over the cockroach in soothing waves, causing its exoskeleton to shift and twist slightly as the skill settled in. Another wave of power hardened it a bit more, and the final, most potent wave of power the insect had ever experienced rapidly ran through its body, optimizing it to better resist being crushed before sinking deep into the cockroach.
The cockroach reflected on its encounter with the serpent. The serpent had simply snapped and disappeared, reappearing above the cockroach as if it had always been there and somehow managed to kill it mid-air. It all happened so fast that its insect brain simply couldn’t keep up. This was the third mind-boggling thing it had witnessed since coming to this world—the bat, the moss, and now this. The cockroach was having a hard time accepting these things when they felt so wrong. The moss didn’t possess the mind-twisting abilities it had when the cockroach first met it, so something must’ve changed. But what exactly? This question puzzled the mind of the cockroach.
The cockroach snapped around when it heard something exit the water with a loud splash, just in time to see a massive scaled creature with rows upon rows of glistening black teeth sailing through the air towards it, as if it was still in the water and not in the air.
Awakened space salmon (Killer) [🐟] [5]
The cockroach easily dodged the attack, taking to the air and zipping behind the salmon. Its red vertically slit eyes chased it, and it whipped around later, exploding forward, sailing through the air as it pursued the cockroach. The cockroach responded by zipping around it once more, this time faster, and spread its white mandibles wide before chopping down on the fin of the salmon, barely nicking it.
The salmon, irritated by the annoying cockroach, suddenly began glowing with light that wasn't actually light, and the cockroach felt an involuntary pull toward the open maw of the floating salmon. The cockroach called upon all its energy and tried to fly in the opposite direction of the pull, its wings buzzing as they worked in overdrive. Eventually, the cockroach managed to escape the range of whatever the salmon was doing, but doing so had exhausted it badly, and it barely had enough energy to stay afloat. The salmon suddenly rushed forward with greater speed than the cockroach thought possible and swallowed it whole.
The world suddenly went dark for the cockroach as the massive maw of the salmon closed over its form, razor-sharp teeth digging into its exoskeleton as they sought to rip and tear whatever made contact with them. They were unsuccessful, though, stopping a few centimeters in as the exoskeleton of the cockroach emerged victorious.
The throat of the salmon bulged as the cockroach passed through, the walls of dark skin threatening to crush it as it went deeper and deeper into the stomach of the salmon. There was a loud whoosh, and the cockroach suddenly found itself in a pool of dark and thick bubbling liquid that constantly burned and ate away at its body. Already, the cockroach could see bits of its exoskeleton melting away under the influence of this mysterious liquid, and the cockroach didn’t want to experience what it felt like on its soft and delicate skin. Mandibles spread wide, it began chopping away at the skin of the surrounding area, making both large and small lacerations that bled profusely as the cockroach worked. Its captor thrashed around and withered in pain as the cockroach tore at it from the inside out.
Suddenly the salmon stopped moving, and a blue screen popped up in the vision of the cockroach.
Awakened space salmon (Killer) [🐟] [5] killed!
[-/-] EXP awarded (Personal level)
Level up! [✨] Skill: Enhanced bleeding (Rare) (1/200) [Role: Killer] is now Enhanced bleeding(Rare) (5/200) [Role: Killer]
The cockroach ignored the blue screens and continued to cut and tear at a specific spot until flesh gave way, and the outside world returned, though not how it expected it to. Water blasted it back, and suddenly, it filled the insides of the fish it was in, and the cockroach started drowning. It thrashed around uselessly as it slowly succumbed to the lack of air. Minutes stretched on into what felt like an eternity until finally, it died.
You have died [☠️]
The cockroach felt air rush inside it as its spiracles worked in overdrive due to its most recent death. Water had killed it, somehow. The cockroach never knew water could harm, much less kill things. The way it had died was now permanently engraved in its memory—the agonizing pain as it thrashed around uselessly, slowly using up the air it had, the minutes that felt like forever as its brain slowly shut down in response to whatever the water did to it.
It was an experience the cockroach never wanted to go through again.
The splash of something hot and searing caught its attention, just ahead of it were two creatures, creatures that looked very similar to the annoying cave spider that it had encountered when it had just arrived at this strange world, there was one key difference though, size. They were massive compared to the first cave spider.
cave spider (Stalker) (10) [🕷️]
cave spider (Killer) (9) [🕷️]
They were of a much higher level too, much higher than the cockroach. The level ten one hissed angrily before gathering a blob of acid and spat it at the cockroach; this time, it landed directly on the cockroach, causing it to die instantly.
You have died [☠️]
Level up! [✨] Skill: Acid resistance (Common) (20/100) is now Acid resistance (Common) (30/100)
When the cockroach reformed they were already upon it, waiting for the cockroach to fully form, it tried to fly away but the level nine moved faster, one of its many legs blurred and the cockroach was impaled, the leg of the spider effortlessly cracking its exoskeleton and killing it on the spot.
You have died [☠️]
Level up! [✨] Skill: Piercing resistance (Common)(25/100) is now Piercing resistance (Common)(30/100)