Chapter 15
**CHAPTER TITLE: The Tower's First Real Threat**
I dropped the blood-soaked centipede bugs and checked the mission.
It was a success, of course. The time had been tight, but I just barely made it.
I’d been thinking about bringing in real scouting bugs. If I couldn’t find the reward just because I couldn’t locate the target…
“Oh, that would be really frustrating.”
I stepped onto the next floor. But unease prickled at the back of my neck.
On this floor I’d had trouble finding it. How could I be sure the next one wouldn’t be the same?
It wouldn’t. It would drag even longer. And if they gave me a shorter time limit, I definitely wouldn’t finish in time.
So…
“Should I make a Mother here too?”
I wasn’t restricted to one place, and this was safe ground. What harm could creating bugs cause?
I didn’t need to make equipment, so there was no need to overthink it.
Just create a bug that finds monsters well.
What kind of bug would track well? What should I make to actually locate it?
“…Mosquitoes first. They fly, they find people somehow, they suck blood and attack. And if I think about those assassin goblins…”
It had to help in combat too.
Was there a bug like that?
The one that came to mind was…
“…mosquitoes?”
They fly, they hunt people, they suck blood and strike. But the more I thought about it, the more it didn’t feel right. Mosquitoes are already hard to handle, and for scouting and fighting they needed to be bigger.
Carrying giant mosquitoes around? That would make me a human pest.
“…ugh.”
But the more I thought, the more it felt okay.
Without their sound, mosquitoes would be several times more assassin-like than those goblins.
Honestly, even now if mosquitoes were flying around, I wouldn’t spot the goblins. They were that threatening.
If someone noticed, I might get scolded, but efficiency came first.
I reached out, thinking of a bug. I had points, so it wasn’t a problem.
“First, mosquitoes… but I should change their looks. If they stayed normal, I might accidentally kill them.”
Bigger, rounder bodies with blood pouches. Strong wings for long flights. No chitin armor—lightness mattered, but they still needed durability. I didn’t want them bursting from sucking blood and dying alone.
The more I thought, the less they felt like mosquitoes… but they still were.
**[B Points consumed: 15.]**
“Ugh, so many points?”
I hadn’t set it that strong. I stared, tongue-clicking. But the points were already gone, so I couldn’t stop.
Could I even stop?
Even if I could, there was no reason to. I kept going.
I felt life thrashing inside a fist-sized egg forming on my palm.
The more bugs I made, the different the feeling became. It felt more detailed, more alive.
A tiny heart. The throb spreading through my palm was strong, matching my own pounding chest.
**Crack—**
The egg split. Sticky liquid dripped down my hand.
From the crack emerged a cute, round bug.
Round eyes wider than a sword’s, short but sharp proboscis, thick wings that didn’t match the body, and it shook off the excess fluid.
Anyone looking would think it was a mosquito.
**[New insect created.]**
**[New insect recorded in the Tower.]**
**[Reward: Skill Enhancement Stone acquired.]**
“…Eh?”
I stared at the bug on my hand. New insect… one not recorded in the Tower? This had never existed before?
And my mosquito—well, bug—had been recorded?
Was this okay?
Uneasy, I Appraisal’d it.
**[ ??? ]**
- **Grade**: Rare - First bug born into the world by **Bug Queen** (Lee Seong-eun). - Shell is extremely tough. - Mouth is sharp and pierces leather gaps. - Wings are extremely sturdy. Survives 24 hours of flight. Silent flight possible. - Stores enough blood to fill its belly and uses it to attack. - Sensitive to scent. Detects prey within 50m.
“……Eh.”
**[Please name this new insect.]**
I felt like I’d created something I shouldn’t have. A mosquito that made no sound and sucked blood, right on my fist?
And it could come out of the Tower?… Would someone call me humanity’s enemy the moment they saw it?
I shook off the slime, rubbed my head against my hand, and swallowed hard.
If I didn’t talk about it, no one would know. So… wasn’t it okay?
Yeah, it would be fine.
“Name… how about **Tracking Mos**?”
It was for tracking, so the name should include tracking.
**[Tracking Mos recorded in the Tower.]**
People I caused pain to would increase.
But good thing… I wouldn’t get bitten. I ruled the bugs.
Normal mosquitoes probably wouldn’t bite me either.
“Great. Let’s head to check.”
I kept rubbing the Tracking Mos’s face and moved to the next floor.
Moving floors felt different from coming home.
No dizziness at all. The Tower was supposed to be climbed continuously, right?
The surroundings had changed a bit. The forest trees looked wilted.
Leaves lacked strength. Once they looked delicious.
“Huh? What was I thinking?”
I wouldn’t actually eat leaves even if I became a bug.
The worry that I might unconsciously pick leaves haunted me.
When I first entered the Tower, I’d blindly chosen difficulty because of the light. I needed to learn to control my instincts.
But… was there a way?
“Alright. Mos, can you do it?”
**Bouncy—**
I laughed at the way it jumped and bounced on my palm.
It was adorable. Like a rubber ball with wings.
Compared to previous bugs, it was far easier to watch.
“Then find monsters around here.”
I sent it flying high and sent it on scouting.
I was eager to see how fast it would report.
While the Mos searched, I checked the mission.
**[4th Floor (Extreme) Tower Mission]**
- Defeat all forest threats. (0 / 50) - Defeat within time limit. (00:25 / 10:00)
“…Huh?”
The kill count had ballooned. I rechecked the mission.
50? Suddenly? I’d only caught three before!
I couldn’t understand the Tower’s rules at all.
With ten minutes… if monsters moved around separately, it would be hard.
“Eh?”
My head snapped toward the direction of a tingling sensation.
Something had sent a signal from that way.
No way…
I rechecked. The number had changed.
- Defeat all forest threats. (3 / 50)
It had been sent to scout and report back, yet in that short time the Mos had caught three?
“Must be this direction.”
No explanation was given, but I knew the signal came from the Mos.
Following the signal slowly, a cart appeared in the forest that didn’t belong.
And between the goblins guarding it, the Mos flew around, sucking blood and shooting blood needles to torment the goblins.
The Mos fought far better than I’d imagined.
If it were an enemy, it would fight like that, right?
Silent flight, blood-sucking, then sharp blood-needle attacks—exactly an assassin… or ninja.
I couldn’t just watch, but I couldn’t move as stealthily as the Mos—
“Cluster, time to work.”
I moved the centipede bugs again, put on my suit, and leaped straight into the goblin circle.
The goblins looked ordinary this time.
They wore armor, but it wasn’t better than the first-floor ones. They didn’t have the strong weapons of the second-floor goblins. No special skills like the third-floor ones. If they had skills, the Mos wouldn’t have been so easily beaten.
“Cluster, sweep!”
The centipede bugs extended tentacles from my back, linking together and splitting into several branches to attack the goblins.
**Screeeech—!**
Sharp sounds rang as the centipede bugs whipped them, sending goblins flying. I couldn’t just watch, so I gripped my gauntlets and slaughtered them.
I reached out first to stop the goblins who tried to speak, then swung my arms roughly.
They fought so sloppily… I should have looked up a fighting video.
Even while feeling a little regret, I sped up. The faster the goblins disappeared, the more I pushed my pace.
Then…
“**Silver Wing**.”
The moment I borrowed Silver Wing’s ability, I felt something growing behind me.
The wings poking out between my clothes and the centipede bugs tickled a little, but I quickly got used to it and learned how to control them.
“Perfect—let’s finish this fast.”
**Chrrrrr—**
The wings vibrated fiercely. I charged forward.
**Screeeech—!** The goblins flew away, crashing to the ground in misery.
Seeing this, I understood why Silver Wing was epic. I’d simply used the wings to charge, yet it delivered this power.
Simple really is strong.
“That leaves ten. Time is plenty, but there’s no need to drag it.”
Smiling at the frightened goblins, I charged again.
The cart… maybe it held something valuable inside?
Ideally, it would have a cart like the Sword, so other bugs could transform too.
I’d handle the cart later. For now, I focused on the goblins.