I Became the Bug Master of the Hunter Gallery
So this is it. I became a real mom.
“What kind of skill is this? How is it different from the Colony Mother?”
[Colony Mother (EX)]
“It sounds similar.”
But if there’s any difference, it’s that it’s not a point skill like the others?
Still, the description on the skill book didn’t make any of it clear.
Multiply, breed, grow… what exactly is it supposed to do?
When I first awakened it, it felt exactly the same—completely incomprehensible, like I was looking at a mystery box with the lid nailed shut.
I figured maybe if I read the skill book I’d figure out how to use it, but I never bothered to learn any technique for it either. The knowledge just never came along with the skill, and the book wouldn’t tell me anyway.
I wasn’t about to sell it, though.
“It fits me perfectly. Other people probably couldn’t use it even if they tried.”
Like a Fireball skill that only I can cast, right?
Honestly, I didn’t even think about selling the EX-rank skill, so there was no choice but to learn it the hard way.
…Nothing changed when I tried. I still couldn’t feel any difference.
Multiply… breed… grow… was this just some weird metamorphosis talk?
If multiply just meant getting bigger, then breed meant…
“No way. That can’t be what it actually means.”
Even if I was a woman now, I had zero interest in whatever this was.
I wasn’t about to do anything like that for any skill, no matter how weird.
Ugh… now that I’m thinking about it, my stomach feels even worse.
Pregnant? Really?
“And the remaining skills…”
I stared at the two untouched skill books. I was stumped.
One looked perfectly usable. The other felt like it might be another EX-rank skill—I had no idea what it was.
Maybe I should just sell them both.
But B-rank skills were tempting. Selling one felt wrong. And accelerating my thought process had been useful. I could probably make some money with it.
“Fine. I’ll sell the A-rank one. Maybe someone will buy it.”
I learned the Accelerating Thought skill, then slid the A-rank skill book aside.
Everything in the rewards felt sorted out now.
There was a magic stone too, but I’d have to sell that later. The reward box—
“Ugh… is it honey again?”
Honestly, I just wanted one more taste of the honey, but I wasn’t sure the box would even drop any this time.
If I really wished hard enough, maybe it would. But if honey did come out, I’d have to feel the same weird sensation again…
That was a real dilemma. Should I keep the box? There was no guarantee, and nothing felt urgent right now.
Maybe it was worth the risk. Even if it wasn’t honey, something useful might drop.
“…Still, I’ll keep it. You never know when you’ll need it.”
I set aside my greed and flopped back onto the bed.
Ah, I was exhausted. My stomach was growling too…
I should probably just eat something.
“Fine. Colony… and Moss… what can I feed you?”
I scratched my cheek while looking at Moss’s sharp little mouth.
Could she even eat real food with that mouth?
I was worried the box might not have anything she could eat, so I’d have to hunt for blood or something.
She was the one thing I definitely wasn’t selling… but she still couldn’t have the food box either.
Still, I had filled my blood pouch from the goblin hunt. She should be fine.
“…Moss, I’ll catch something for you next time. What do you want to eat, Colony?”
The Colony’s eyes sparkled as she looked at me, but I knew she wouldn’t say no if I asked. I didn’t know anything about her food preferences anyway.
At the very least, I couldn’t let her starve. I’d just go with something simple.
Tripe and boiled pork belly. The Colony would probably like that.
“Great. Let’s eat and rest!”
…Ugh…
Where am I…?
The world felt dark. I remembered clearly…
I had eaten dinner with the Colony and Moss… then fallen asleep in bed.
Something was wrong. My body felt like it was being crawled over by something, but I couldn’t move.
Scratch, scratch.
The sensation of something crawling across my skin felt oddly familiar.
Of course… the Colony. That was exactly what it felt like when she was wearing my body.
The only difference was that this time she was moving over me skin-to-skin, not through clothes.
“Haa… ah…”
The constant tickling made my mood sour fast.
Someone was touching me… like I was going to drown in some forbidden feeling.
As soon as that strange thought crossed my mind, my consciousness snapped awake and I sat up.
“Ugh… what? Was it a dream?”
I blinked and looked around. The room looked exactly the same. I had been lying in bed, just as I remembered.
No crawling bugs, no extra legs… so how had I dreamed something this weird?
Was the tower too much for me?
No, I definitely hadn’t felt this drained even if I did get nightmares like this.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead and leaned back against the headboard.
I never wanted to dream that again.
It was the same as when I used to dream I became a giant bug before awakening, and I kept having strange dreams lately.
…Was this some kind of omen too? I used to dream I turned into a bug when I awakened, and now I had the bug ability.
So what was this one supposed to mean?
“…Eh?”
Thinking about the dream, I noticed something odd on my hand.
A brand-new black dot on the back of my hand.
Because I had never seen this kind of spot even after becoming a woman, I felt uneasy and touched it with the other hand.
Crack…
It wasn’t hard, but it felt like scales when I pressed it. Something squished under my fingers.
A bad feeling washed over me and I swallowed hard, then pulled my hand away.
What the hell…? Why did it feel so weird when I touched it?
When I pulled my hand off, the dot moved. No, it wasn’t a dot anymore.
It switched colors—black, white, skin-tone—until it settled on my exact skin color.
I pressed it again.
Scrunch—
The sensation wasn’t the same. I had only applied a little pressure, but it felt like rubbing scales together.
Shiver—
My skin broke out in goosebumps, and my whole body locked up in shock.
My skin… what had just happened to my skin?
I hadn’t gone through metamorphosis. Had some strange evolution just occurred?
I didn’t understand what was happening, but as I watched it slowly move, I finally realized what it was.
The Colony. It was one perfect Colony, different from the single bug. It had fused together with something else until it formed one unified shape.
Could I even call this a bug? It had no legs, no antennae, no eyes… but it had fused into one being.
“You… came from the Colony Mother?”
There was no answer, but I knew instinctively.
No way. I had only learned two skills from the Colony Mother: breeding and accelerating thought. This couldn’t be anything else.
It had clumped into a round shape, then flowed back into my skin like nothing had happened. Goosebumps covered my entire body.
Was the Colony wrapping around my body? That was fine if it went over clothes, but now it was directly on my skin.
I ripped my clothes off and rushed into the bathroom.
“Ah…”
When I looked in the mirror, the Colony was covering my entire body.
It looked exactly like skin, wrapping around me like living tissue.
What the hell was this? Was a new skill just turning my body into a bug farm?
But I didn’t know if the bugs were even alive. If only our communication had worked, but it hadn’t.
Actually, it wasn’t that we couldn’t communicate. I just didn’t feel any intelligence coming from the Colony itself.
The way it had gathered earlier had probably been pure survival instinct—to defend or attack.
“Ugh… this is seriously not okay.”
It wasn’t moving on its own, but just knowing it was covering my body made me feel itchy.
I was sorry I hadn’t learned it properly yet… but this felt awful.
I should have just let it go if it wouldn’t listen. Instead it was making me cold on purpose?
Right away I grabbed the shower and turned on cold water, aiming it at my chest.
I was cold too, but hopefully this would make the bugs fall off.
Shower—
A shiver ran through the Colony as the water hit my chest.
It would probably fall off soon…
“Ugh, what?!”
I was stunned when the Colony suddenly fled from the exact spot where the water had been spraying.
If it was going to come off, why only my chest?
I felt bad, but it was ridiculous.
If it hadn’t run away I would have had to accept it. Instead it was running off and making me even colder.
Right away I sprayed the Colony that hadn’t fled.
Every time I sprayed, it contracted and tried to crawl away across my skin. I kept hitting it, chasing it around, and spraying again.
I was freezing… but!
With this speed, I should be able to knock it off soon.
The Colony has understood cold and water. It has entered an adaptation period for growth.
I felt something wrong the moment the Colony started gathering together again after the message popped up.
What…? I didn’t understand the message, but why were they gathering?
I didn’t know what they were trying to do by clumping up, but I started spraying anyway. I was uneasy.
The way they twisted and dodged felt… was this really the growth period? Was running away actually growth?
Slither—
The Colony tried to burrow between my legs. I grabbed for it, but the water made the surface too slippery and I couldn’t hold it.
It slid right between my legs and vanished.
It disappeared… between my legs… where the hell did it go?
There was nowhere to go… wait, no way.
Some swelling feeling down below made me think that. No, absolutely not.
The Colony has begun growing inside the Colony Mother. 3 hours remain until growth is complete.
“Ah…”
The message denying my thoughts made my head spin.
That’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
It couldn’t have been my imagination. I was just waking up from a nap… it definitely wasn’t happening.
…Damn it.
I shouldn’t have learned that skill. If I had known it was something like this, I would never have learned it.
It was irreversible now. I couldn’t even bring myself to wipe my face clean. I just lay back down on the bed.
This was something I could never tell anyone. My life was really… a mess.
It made me angry…
My lower belly felt strangely swollen. It wasn’t different from usual, but there was nothing else to see…
I tried to look away but it kept nagging at me. I closed my eyes instead.
I should just go back to sleep. Sleeping made sense. It had to be a dream.
It was definitely a dream. A stupid nightmare because I was tired.
That’s what I had to believe.