Chapter 142
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Another Queen (1)
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'This is, this is...!'
When the shell ant enveloped her body,
Ji Ye-eun, who had forgotten to even breathe, felt no shame at her clothes melting away completely, nor any pain from the thin, sharp needles emerging from the shell ant's body piercing her all over.
In the process of fusing with the shell ant, her hive mind had strengthened even further, and the implanted magic heart combined with her original power as a hunter to spark explosive growth.
"Ah..."
Finally, when her face was exposed to the air once more,
The first sound from her flushed lips was a stifled gasp.
[Asmodah is bewildered by the severed connection]
'Could Ji Ye-eun be forming her own independent network?'
At the same time, Kim Jin-hyuk received word that Asmodah was flustered.
The fragile connection between the shell ant—which had rapidly weakened to the point where he could barely sense its presence once outside the ranch—and the ant horde had effectively snapped the moment the shell ant integrated with Ji Ye-eun.
From Asmodah's perspective, this was the first case of a subordinate unit surviving yet severing ties with the hive and going independent.
Instead, the shell ant now revered Ji Ye-eun as its new queen, fusing with her and submitting to her hive mind.
"This child was dying. With its meager sense of self and a body designed for just one purpose, it couldn't survive without a queen to serve."
"That thing is basically an alien organism. You sure about this?"
"Of course."
As Jin-hyuk watched in astonishment, Ji Ye-eun gazed at the shell ant now cloaking her body like a sleek black full-body suit.
Unlike the grotesque living armor that draped over Aria and Seira—something anyone would find bizarre—the shell ant on Ji Ye-eun resembled a hunter's specialized combat suit.
But that wasn't all.
Under Ji Ye-eun's complete control, the shell ant unleashed its mimicry ability, instantly reshaping itself. Some cells seeped into her body, while others mutated, transforming into the exact outfit she'd worn when she first arrived here.
'So this is how the human hive's queen wields the shell ant.'
Jin-hyuk whistled at the sight of her now dressed in ordinary athletic wear and shorts.
Perfect mimicry—no one would suspect a thing.
But he couldn't let his guard down.
From the clothes draping her to the skin-like surfaces, it was all the shell ant in disguise.
Removable by design, it exceeded Jin-hyuk's hopes for using it only in dire emergencies to keep its existence hidden.
"Thanks to the great one's grace, I've gained immense power. I'll definitely succeed in the mission you've given me."
"You really okay with this?"
"Maybe the proxy doesn't realize it yet."
Bowing her head, Ji Ye-eun smiled at Jin-hyuk's words.
Jin-hyuk belonged to neither the ant horde nor the human hive.
He couldn't, from the start.
Though he still clung to a fairly ordinary human sense of self, his stature was transcendent.
The moment his consciousness linked to the hive mind, the entire vast network would be crushed and go dark.
"When all our minds connect and expand, it feels like opening new eyes."
"Is that so?"
"And that one revealed the world's secrets to me—me, who was just being used without knowing what lurked behind the scenes."
Unaware of the truth, she explained to Jin-hyuk why she felt so good right now.
'With her skills, she could've become a trusted subordinate in no time anyway.'
Watching her, he recalled the squabble in the Divine Community with Goddess Henes over her ownership.
There was some misunderstanding, but it didn't clash with Jin-hyuk's true goals or Ji Ye-eun's wishes anyway.
Ji Ye-eun had wanted to be a hunter saving people since childhood.
Whether outer god minions or vile humans preying on their own, they were all enemies she had to fight.
Jin-hyuk's aim was to drive the outer god minions from this land and expel all the alien deities scheming to conquer Earth.
Knowing this, Jin-hyuk saw no need to correct her misconception.
"With Ji Ye-eun away, it'll disrupt company operations."
"No worries. We're just barred from high-rank missions—our staff is quick and precise."
Around the time Ji Ye-eun, who had fused with the shell ant and secretly leveled up beyond measure, departed for America on an International Hunter Association mission,
Jin-hyuk got a call from Baek Jin-seong assuring him Han-geol's operations would run smoothly.
"Then I'm not concerned."
Jin-hyuk didn't argue with Baek Jin-seong's confident tone.
Truth be told, he was a bit busy right now.
[Asmodah's dissatisfaction is immense]
He had to soothe his sulking "daughter."
Asmodah mistakenly believed Jin-hyuk was raising a new horde outside the ranch—one she couldn't influence—and had even taken one of her shell ants for it.
Not an entirely wrong assumption.
Han-geol's operations were indeed centered on nurturing the human hive with Ji Ye-eun at its core.
With her intense possessiveness and jealousy, Asmodah was in unprecedented shock, properly sulking.
'Asking Seira is too awkward.'
Seira had to watch the queen's mood, and even relaying messages via Aria was tough.
Bellona, who usually bickered with Asmodah at every chance, was staying quiet too.
Jin-hyuk sighed and waited for Ji Ye-eun's contact.
If things went according to plan, she'd bring the "gift."
Just as Asmodah had given Ji Ye-eun a shell ant, Ji Ye-eun would present that gift to Asmodah.
Even the dim-witted Asmodah would realize it then.
That all this was for her sake—the will of a great being beyond her comprehension.
'The International Hunter Association isn't some deity-manipulated outfit, right?'
Jin-hyuk smirked, watching Ji Ye-eun cross the Pacific in one leap through a connected gate to reach America.
Though most forces shaping the world stemmed from deities' wills, some didn't.
The International Hunter Association, formed by participating nations, was one such example.
Deities too busy competing paid it little mind—it was humanity's voluntary push for a safer world.
The Ordo Project inherited that spirit as one of the Association's key initiatives, letting multinational hunters zip around the globe for support missions more easily and swiftly.
They were especially dispatched to poor third-world nations—hard to build proper hunter forces for and dismissed by deities as hopeless backwaters.
Isn't this too arrogant? It just complicates performance calculations.
That's the charm. Having to respond to anything that happens—that's fair competition, the order this system creates.
Some deities grumbled, but it was just one fair element in their rivalry.
Those who enjoyed the contest itself didn't deny the Association's existence.
They planned to exploit it. That made for entertaining competition.
"Welcome. We've heard the rumors."
"Thank you."
Ji Ye-eun greeted the Association staff welcoming her and boarded the vehicle smoothly.
As deities shifted from neglect to mild attention, the Association's stature rose.
The result? This event.
World-famous hunters gathering to participate.
As Korea's A-rank rising star, Ji Ye-eun met the minimum bar, but among this crowd, her presence was still minuscule.
'Most are under other deities' sway. Some know the truth, some don't. If I could pull even one or two into our hive...'
Settling in, she scanned the room.
It differed from her pure past. Knowledge brought complexity.
"Ah, over there...!"
Then, a special guest arrived in the distance.
Ji Ye-eun whipped her head around at the crowd's buzz, eyes wide.
The true reason she'd come: Luianna, the heterorace elf from Silvergrove, had arrived.
"Pleased to meet you, Earth's heroes."
The beautiful elf Luianna took the stage as scheduled and delivered her speech.
A standard, formulaic address calling for unity and exchange against evil—full of sentiments and greetings.
Many here knew her secrets and the world's, but she wasn't speaking to them.
She addressed the reporters and cameras from around the globe—and the billions of unwitting "prospective minions" who'd later devote body and soul to deities.
'What should I do?'
Ji Ye-eun pondered quietly in her seat.
Jin-hyuk's order: obtain part of Luianna's body.
Nothing grand. A single drop of blood would suffice.
"What is it?"
"Assault! A gate!"
But then, blaring sirens turned the area into a warzone.
With all eyes on them, even the outer god Nejazel devouring Earth watched.
Unable to tolerate the deities plotting his expulsion while enjoying their hunter system games, Nejazel poured massive power into the Association event site, ripping open a colossal gate and shoving in his minions.
"This mad bastard..."
"Oh god."
Jin-hyuk watching via Divine Net, and Ji Ye-eun on-site, both recoiled in shock.
A massive eye blinked from the tear in the sky, followed by countless monsters and a gigantic tentacle writhing out.
"No! The city's collapsing!"
The assembled hunters had no choice but to fight—not just for lives or records, but for the countless eyes watching. Fleeing to save yourself would cost more than your life.
Luianna and Ji Ye-eun were no exceptions.
Dashing into the instant battlefield, Ji Ye-eun snatched her deposited sword and hurled it at a massive flying beast resembling a wyvern—a skaler.
Her full-power strike shattered its chest and pierced through; the horrific creature plummeted.
But it wasn't the only A-rank monster.
This guy's dead serious!
Nejazel's assault—investing power enough to stun Divine Community deities—was off the charts.
The tentacles pouring from the massive rift shrugged off S-rank hunter attacks, smashing a central skyscraper to rubble.