Laws of the Insect Hive

作者: Our Dagger

章 1: Rebirth

編集者: Atlas Studios

The last moment of his memory was hazy. It seemed he was in a ward, and people were discussing around him. However, he was looking at the clouds outside the window in a daze as if it was none of his business.

"…"

He wanted to open his mouth to say something, but he kept silent.

After that, his vision turned dark.

It was unknown how much time had passed, but he seemed to have been enshrouded in darkness for a long time before appearing within this unfamiliar forest.

…

He gently lifted his hind legs and jumped onto the tender leaf of an unknown plant beside him, staggeringly. Then, he used his limb to touch the soft antennae on the top of his head.

It had already been two to three hours after he had awakened.

He was still not very used to the insects' compound eyes, which were like a digital mosaic, as he could only see a distance of over 10 centimeters clearly, and his line of sight was scattered. Therefore, he could not control his jump's direction.

'Have I been reborn?'

He seemed to have forgotten his original name, but if this was his current body, he should be called System.

…

Race: Green-Tailed Grasshopper (Nymph)

Title: None

Name: System

Rank: None

Level: 1/15

Special Talents/Skills: [Digital Code] (1/1), [Molting Growth] (10/13), [Insect Adaptability] (5/21)

Derived Skills: [Self-Information Generation] (1/1), [Insect Instinct] (2/5), [Limb Regeneration], [Green Camouflage] (1/4)

…

He did not know why he was named System, but after using the [Self-Information Generation], that was the name that appeared on the screen. Thus, he called himself System for the moment.

[Self-Information Generation] was like his instinct as using it felt as natural as lifting his limbs.

System had naturally used this Derived Skill when he had just awoken in this forest.

If he clicked the [Self-Information Generation], then even more detailed information would be displayed.

For example, by clicking the skills and talents, their detailed information would appear.

Meanwhile, if he clicked on his race, it would reveal his body's current length and weight and some other things.

…

Length: 0.2cm

Weight: 0.01g

…

If the information described was accurate, then he should be a grasshopper nymph that was the size of a small rice grain.

The antennae on the top of the small grasshopper carefully felt the breeze blowing.

A grasshopper nymph's digestive ability was powerful, so if System just stopped eating for a moment, his body would feel unbearably hungry.

System moved to the edge of the tender leaf and continued scanning the surroundings. After seeing that there was no danger, he took a bite of the leaf underneath him.

That tender leaf had a hard texture and tasted like wood. There was no taste, so it was difficult for him to have the desire to continue eating it.

System turned his head to look around and jumped to the leaf of another unknown plant. He then moved to the edge of the leaf and observed the surrounding situation before starting to eat. This time, his insect head revealed a satisfied expression.

The taste of that leaf was like a sweet apple to him. It looked like his body liked it.

Therefore, System started taking big bites as he ate.

After awakening, his body was always hungry, as if he could never fill his stomach.

One to two hours after eating a tender leaf, which was a few times bigger than his body, and with occasional rests throughout the eating process, System's level increased to Level 2.

After his level increased, System's body illogically grew bigger, and every aspect of his physical capabilities increased.

It was like raising one's level in games, but he was an existence with flesh and blood. There seemed to be a miraculous power in his body.

…

[Digital Code] (1/1): Can digitize and calculate analysis, allows one's growth efficiency to increase.

[Molting Growth]: (10/13): Able to grow through shedding skin, molting would occur at Level 5 and Level 8. An exclusive talent of some insects.

[Insect Adaptability] (5/21): A unique ability that allows one to adapt to the surroundings and increase one's level through feeding. There are low chances of mutation occurring when one's level is increased, and other talents or derived abilities might be obtained. This is an exclusive talent of insects.

…

If System's guess was correct, his body had changed like it was in a game because of the [Digital Code] talent.

[Digital Code] allowed him to have the Derived Skill [Self-Information Generation]. Thus, he was at least not entirely clueless after being reborn as a grasshopper nymph.

However, he could not control his [Digital Code]. As long as he tried feeling it, his mind would be exposed to a sea of numbers made up of 1s and 0s, making his mind feel as if it was about to explode.

As for [Molting Growth] and [Insect Adaptability], though he could not control them, System could feel them like they were his body's flesh and blood.

It was like [Molting Growth] was in his blood. He naturally understood how a Green-Tailed Grasshopper Nymph like him could grow to an Adult Green-Tailed Grasshopper.

Meanwhile, [Insect Adaptability] was like a mysterious form of energy attached to his blood. He could not directly feel it, but the Derived Skills [Insect Instinct] and [Limb Regeneration] existed because of [Insect Adaptability].

[Limb Regeneration] gave System a feeling that even if his limbs were severed, they would grow back in a few days.

[Insect Instinct] was an ability like a sixth sense. This sixth sense had allowed him to avoid his first perilous situation in this world successfully.

System was happily biting away at the tender leaf underneath him. The unknown tender leaf was the most delicious leaf System had eaten since he had awoken. It tasted like the cherries in his previous life, and it satisfied him.

However, just as he was immersed in feeding, his antennae felt a strange presence. Just as System felt puzzled, his body could not help but tremble and jump up suddenly.

An insect, the color of a dead leaf with two sickles, had crawled out from behind the leaf. It was around one centimeter and should be a praying mantis nymph. If he had jumped up slightly later, System would have become the small praying mantis' meal.

After that crisis, System became vigilant of his surroundings.

Each time he fed on leaves, System would move to the edge of the leaf and carefully check if there were any predators like praying mantises or ants.

Because of that crisis, System also recalled some contents of Animal World in his previous life. He remembered all the different kinds of strange insect predators from the documentary.

In the insect world, most of the time, calmness equaled danger. Even if he had [Insect Instinct], System could not avoid such crises forever.

Maybe he might jump onto a leaf mantis disguised as a leaf and become its prey of the day.

…

System surveyed the surroundings while eating the tender leaves of all kinds of plants non-stop to ease his hunger.

As a grasshopper nymph, his mandibles were soft, so he could only eat tender leaves or leaf buds. However, his body size was also tiny, so it would take him a long time to eat a small piece of tender leaf.

System kept eating leaves three to four times his weight and leveled up. A numbing feeling coursed through his body as it grew larger yet again.

Although he was still eating, his body was growing continuously, and after a few hours, it grew to 0.3cm from 0.2cm. After reaching Level 3, the change in his body size was even more obvious.

Surprisingly, System had grown from 0.3cm to 0.5cm.

Also, because his level increased, some of his Special and Derived Skills changed.

[Insect Adaptability] (5/21) → [Insect Adaptability] (6/21)

[Green Camouflage] (1/4) → [Green Camouflage] (2/4).

System could not feel the increase in [Insect Adaptability], but with the leveling up of [Green Camouflage], his body transformed to some extent. The color of his body turned even greener, and the leaf vein patterns on him became even clearer and realistic.