The Epic Honey Snack and the Lingering Spear Whispers
The item I got felt weird.
Honestly, I wasn't even sure if it was really an item. At least it came out of a box, so it had to be something.
[Our Insect Nutritious Snack]
- Grade: Epic - Hey bugs, if you’re missing something, just eat this!
“…What even is this.”
I stared at the description that looked similar to my awakening ability and had no idea how to use it.
Bug nutritious snack? Just eat it? But then what happens if I eat it?
The liquid inside the bottle was a translucent yellow color.
It looked like honey, but it was thinner and more viscous, like it would slosh when you shook it.
“…Cluster, you want some?”
I shook the bottle at the cluster bug resting on the bed. It spread its legs wide and seemed to say yes, then immediately shook its head in refusal.
At first it seemed like it liked it, but I had no idea why it rejected me now.
The bug had been staring at the bottle for a long time, and I was getting irritated. The bug started moving.
It formed shapes with its hands by biting each other, then pointed alternately at the bottle and at me.
“Eh? Why? What’s up?”
It pointed at the bottle, then at my mouth. Did it mean I should eat it?
An item I didn’t even know the name of?
Honestly it didn’t feel like eating it would cause any problems, but the unease was impossible to ignore.
I couldn’t say for sure that this item would have a good effect on me.
While I was hesitating to eat it, the bug stretched its body toward the bottle. I jumped back in fright.
“Got it. I’ll eat it myself. But do I have to eat all of it? Or do you know what this is?”
The bug immediately made an X shape with its body. I was speechless.
It didn’t know what it was, but it told me to eat it? Or was this really it?
I looked at the bug as if it were crazy, and it started taking different shapes to explain, like making a bottle shape, pointing at me with a hand shape, forming a cross, then twisting its arm in a tangled mess.
If I interpreted it correctly, eating this would make my body better, right?
But how could I be so sure about it…?
“Fine, then just a little?”
I opened the lid, and an extremely sweet scent filled the entire room.
I had never smelled anything that sweet before. Without thinking, I brought my mouth to the bottle and licked the liquid on the rim.
My tongue and brain felt like they were melting from the intense sweetness and savory taste. My waist tingled and shivered.
It was so strong that I doubted whether it was even allowed.
Would I not be able to eat other snacks or food after this?
But since I had already tasted it, my mouth was already full of saliva.
I wanted to shove the whole bottle into my mouth and lick it off, but I somehow held back and brought out a spoon.
I didn’t want to eat it all at once because it would make me look stupid. I had to eat it slowly.
“G…ot it?”
I had no idea why I was so scared.
I never thought food could be this dangerous.
When I looked at the spoon, the yellow liquid glowed golden like a jewel.
I put the spoon in my mouth and—
…
“Huh…?”
I was holding an empty bottle in my hand.
Where did the spoon go? It was gone. I was licking the empty bottle like a crazy person.
Staring at the empty bottle, I felt a sudden emptiness and kept wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
Ah… I wanted more. Why was there so little of this?
Would opening the box again bring more? Should I open it?
“…Ah, no. Hoo… Hoo. Calm down. Calm down.”
I closed my eyes tightly and calmed my mind.
Why would I get addicted to just honey? It’s just honey… just honey…
Crap, it was insanely delicious. I couldn’t even remember the name, but I remembered the taste… I was going crazy.
I shook my head hard and, out of necessity, drank water straight from the sink.
It was a shame, but I figured rinsing my mouth as much as possible would make the honey thought disappear.
“…So why did they tell me to eat this?”
Maybe they just noticed how good it tasted and told me to eat it?
But an epic item could be made just by tasting it?
Was there a change in me? The moment I checked my body, a warm feeling spread from my lower belly.
A strange tingling sensation made me grab my stomach and squat down.
It was the first time I felt this, and I didn’t know what it was. My body trembled from the unfamiliar sensation.
“W…what is this?”
**[You have consumed Our Bug's Nutritious Snack.]**
**[Temporarily, your Metamorphosis skill has evolved from F to EX.]**
**[A forced metamorphosis has occurred.]**
I understood what was happening from the system message floating in front of me.
Forced metamorphosis… The item’s effect, or the rise in the Metamorphosis skill level, and the strings started wrapping around my body like when I first used the skill.
No, I knew what metamorphosis was, but what the hell was this feeling?!
My eyelids fluttered from the overwhelming sensation.
In the middle of trying to understand and accept the feeling, the strings completely enveloped my body, and I lost consciousness.
This is really… weird.
*
“Hyak!”
Shuaaa— I thrust the spear forward and split the monster.
Equipment really mattered. If it were normal, I would have had to poke it several more times or use a skill, but this monster died in one hit…
I hugged the spear I was holding and kissed the shaft.
“Ummu. It’s really good! Uhihe!”
“Su-jeong, is it all over there?”
“It’s already over~ I need support.”
“Wow, that’s helpful.”
A guild member called my name, and I quickly ran over to check the situation.
There wasn’t any particularly dangerous situation. The guild member and monster were facing off…
Still, it looked like the perfect time to use a skill, so I didn’t hesitate and immediately activated it.
**Silver Wing!**
Clang— Chrrrrr.
The wings on the spear spread out and began to vibrate at an extremely fast speed. Together with that, the spear and my body shot forward like a bullet and pierced straight through the monsters.
Kwaduck—!
I felt like I had wiped out the monsters in one strike. With my own skill, I wouldn’t have been able to handle that many in one hit.
The item was really too good. It didn’t look that special from the description, but simple things were indeed strong. It was too good.
“Wow, that’s the new item I bought this time?”
“Yeah. How is it? Insane, right?”
“Seriously? Even on the 30th floor? Killing monsters in one hit?”
“This is really good. But the leather or whatever has a slightly damaged state, right?”
Durability and destructive power were good, but it wasn’t without drawbacks.
I could sell the monster’s leather or meat when I broke it down, but because the spear blade was split into many parts, it tended to tear the monster apart a lot.
If I wanted to keep it intact, I had to pierce the vital points exactly, or the monster’s corpse would be a mess.
“That’s true. But anyway, you’re only coming to pick up the mana stones, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Kh, I wish I could get epic equipment too.”
“Puhihi! Wake up! You think you can get it?”
“Hey, you got one too. Why can’t I get one?”
“Yeah~ You’re just unlucky~”
After playing around for a while, I put the spear down beside me and started dismantling the monster corpses.
Normally I would break everything down, save the bones, meat, and leather, but today I only picked up the mana stones because it was for weapon testing.
The 30th floor was done today. The tower floors that could be re-entered were only up to 10, so with the new spear, the 40th floor was basically a clear.
Really… the spear was too good.
I turned my head to look at the spear lying beside me.
“Eh?”
“Why?”
“I thought the spear moved a little.”
“The spear moved? Puh, you must be too excited and misseeing. Why would the spear move.”
“Really?”
I had dropped it a bit earlier so it wouldn’t get dirty with monster blood, but now it was right next to the monster corpse.
It felt strange… but I must have misplaced it.
My hand was already dirty, so I had no choice but to pick up the spear again and move it aside.
When I left the tower, I really had to clean it properly.
I shook my head at the clear bloodstains left behind and put the mana stones I had taken into my bag.
“Good, I’m done. What about you?”
“I’m done too. Shall we clear and go out?”
“Okay~”
The 10th floor had a lot of good points. It was a floor where you could escape immediately after killing the boss, so it was easy to subdue the boss, gather other things, and leave.
Once I had nearly died to a boss, I no longer felt sorry for them.
I slowly approached the boss who was still trembling beside the monster corpses.
The boss couldn’t resist while tied up, so I stabbed it straight in the neck with the spear and sent it off easily. I also picked up the mana stones from the boss’s corpse.
“Here, let’s go out. Tower exit.”
“Yeah~ Tower exit.”
After exiting the tower, I returned to the guild.
I threw the mana stones I brought to the guild members right away and went to the weapon maintenance room.
Hurry! I have to maintain it before the epic equipment gets damaged!
“I’ll handle the mana stone processing!”
“Hey? Su-jeong! Lee Su-jeong!”
“You’ll buy me food next time, okay!”
If blood was on it, it smelled bad, and I didn’t want to deal with it when I caught it next time.
I entered the maintenance room prepared in the guild and looked at the spear with a dry cloth.
I had to clean it before the blood hardened. Okay, starting with the shaft…
“Eh?”
I had seen it covered in blood when I left the tower, but it looked clean and I was startled.
What? There was no explanation that it cleaned itself separately.
But I hadn’t cleaned it and forgotten about it either.
Maybe the old man had dementia? I looked at the dry cloth, but there was still no blood on it.
Staring at the incomprehensible situation, I heard—
Scritch, scritch…
A strange sound came from the spear.
I felt my body stiffen at the unknown red eyes that appeared between the spear blades.
“W… wha…”
What? Did I missee? Did I really missee?!
I gulped down my saliva and looked at the spear blade again, but there were no eyes like before, just the blade.
I must have really misseen it. Too excited, maybe I really saw it wrong?
I was too happy to get a good spear. That’s why I kept seeing weird things.
The spear blades were twitching, and I realized it wasn’t me who was weird.
I had seen with my own eyes something twitching like legs.
W… what the hell was this?
Who could I ask? The guild master? Or… the seller?
In the situation I didn’t understand, I wiped my hands on the cloth and pulled out my phone to send a message to anyone.
W… I’m so scared! What is this?!
The scritch-scratching sound made me even more frightened.
My spear is weird! What the hell is it?!