1. Queen (1)
1. Queen (1)
'Where the hell am I?'
Like a computer booting up, I suddenly regained consciousness, opened my eyes, and found myself standing in a dark, gloomy cave.
My last memory was lying in bed, exhausted after working overtime.
It was a completely different space from the studio apartment where I used to set my phone alarm and close my eyes in a soft, cozy bed.
Cool, crisp air that I could never feel at home filled my lungs, and a damp yet invigorating breeze swept over my body.
As I slowly turned my head to look around, I realized something was strange.
It was weird enough that I had woken up here after sleeping, but what was even weirder was the weight I felt on my chest.
I lowered my head slightly.
And I looked at my chest.
'What the hell is this...?'
Anyone could see that these were a woman's breasts.
A pair of huge breasts, the kind you'd only see in manga or novels, were attached to me.
My pale skin, where not a single blemish could be found, and the breasts that swayed softly as if to prove they were natural, made me even more flustered.
To check if this was real, I lifted my breasts.
The weight and softness I felt in my hands made me realize that these breasts weren't an illusion, but real.
'What's going on? How am I supposed to react?'
The sensations felt throughout my entire body were telling me this was reality, not a dream.
'And why am I wet?'
My whole body was covered in something sticky, yet watery.
"Have I finally lost my m—"
I started to say while pinching my cheek, but stopped, hearing a seductive, beautiful voice instead of the one I was used to.
'Possession? Reincarnation?'
It doesn't matter if this situation is a dream or reality. I need to grasp this situation properly right now.
The clear sound of water nearby.
I first walked toward where the sound of water was coming from.
There was a lake there. Maybe because there was no light, it didn't look like water, but a swamp leading to hell.
'Is it safe?'
I dipped my index finger into the lake.
The sensation of cold energy traveling up my finger. I couldn't possibly think of this as a dream.
'But why can I see so well?'
It's strange.
Clearly, this cave has almost no light. But I can see.
Everything.
I leaned forward and looked at the lake.
And the reflection in the lake was a face completely different from the one I had seen in the bathroom until now.
The first thing that caught my eye was the eyes.
Red pupils that couldn't possibly be human eyes, and inverted eyes that looked like I was wearing black sclera lenses.
Huge breasts hanging down due to gravity because I was leaning over.
Long, black hair that was even floating on the lake.
Seductive black lips.
A sharp, charismatic adult woman who looked like someone I should kneel before immediately was glaring at me.
As I slowly tensed my face and changed my expression, the woman glaring at me moved exactly as I did.
Seeing that, I realized I had truly turned into a woman.
'Good lord...'
==
Lying down in the cave, I thought and thought about how to handle the current situation, but I couldn't see a way out.
Even if I slapped my cheek hard, there was only pain, and nothing changed.
'Should I move for now?'
Since nothing changes by just staying here, I decided to first figure out exactly where this place was.
Reincarnation as a woman? Possession? If something like a manga or novel has already happened, I need to know where this is.
Earth? A fantasy world? Modern fantasy? I need to know whatever it is.
When I first opened my eyes, I was too confused to notice, but the place I walked from was full of sticky liquid.
It seems the sticky liquid that was on my body had flowed down. I followed this liquid and discovered something huge.
And it was a Cocoon big enough for a person to fit inside.
The shell of the Cocoon was covered in sticky liquid, and as soon as I touched it with my finger, I had a gut feeling that this was the same liquid that had been on my body.
'I was in here?'
A person was inside a Cocoon?
This was absolutely not a normal situation. Of course, the fact that I woke up as a woman wasn't normal either, but now I'm even more clueless.
Then.
I realized someone was approaching where I was.
Sound? Vibration? Sight? It wasn't through these senses. It's more accurate to say I realized it because something was connected to my mind.
I just waited for that existence to come before me, experiencing a sensation I had never felt in my life.
Because I knew by intuition that the being approaching me would not harm me.
Not long after, the being that was connected to me by something I couldn't explain in words appeared before me.
'What the, what the fuck?'
I felt fear at the being in front of me and slowly backed away, but my foot slipped on the liquid on the floor, and I lost my balance.
'Ah!?'
The moment I was about to fall backward, the being in front of me stretched out its leg and gently caught my waist.
And a voice rang out in my head.
[ I apologize for touching Your Majesty's precious body without permission. Are you alright? ]
==
I slowly examined the being in front of me.
It looked like a giant spider you might see in Monster Hunter Wilds.
But it looked scarier, more hideous, and more cruel.
A black body. Multiple red eyes just like mine. A mouth that looked like it could easily tear off a human head. Sharp legs that made a kkirik-kkirik sound as they moved.
It had an overwhelming visual that looked like it could kill me in just one second.
The problem is.
I know that the being in front of me would never do that.
I am connected to that being right now. And thoughts are coming in.
Protect me. Serve me. Die for me. Devote everything to me. Absolutely loyal to me.
I didn't just reincarnate as a woman.
At this point, I have no choice but to know.
The word "Queen" that the being mentioned.
Absolute loyalty to me.
I am the Queen of the Creatures right in front of me.
Right now, two thoughts are clashing in my head.
That being is terrifying. And the thought that it is my loyal servant and cute child.
It's not that I've never seen such Creatures before.
It's just that I've only seen them in manga, anime, movies, and games.
I like Creatures.
I especially love the Alien movies, and for space war games, I always played the monster race and even looked at and drew various Creature designs.
But I liked them because they were creative works.
If someone asked, "Would you like to live in a world where the monsters from Alien or space war games actually exist?", I would immediately say no.
But that situation happened right in front of my eyes.
The really fortunate thing is that I became the Queen of the Creatures, not in a position to be killed by them.
"Um..."
[ Please speak freely, Your Majesty. ]
"What is your name?"
[ I have no name. I am an individual called Ners. ]
"If I were to order you to die..."
[ I would die. ]
It seems I am the highest Queen of the Hive Mind of the Creatures called Ners right in front of me.
It's a setting that appears a lot in SF novels or games.
A concept meaning a single mind that controls multiple individuals.
A Hive Mind that absolutely does not exist in the human world.
'I must never show a weak side or any sign of fear.'
The moment my mind weakens and I lose control...
I become prey, not the Queen.
I must never let them find out that I am just a simple person, someone who is ordinary and insignificant compared to the being in front of me.
The fact that I was born from a Cocoon and regained consciousness could mean, in other words, that the previous Queen died.
I don't know how the previous Queen died, but the important thing is that she could die.
'I have to act like the Queen.'
This would be impossible if it were just my own consciousness.
Because until just a moment ago, I was just an ordinary office worker who liked manga, novels, and movies, and now I've become the Queen in charge of the Creatures' Hive Mind.
But now there is another consciousness in my mind.
It is the consciousness as the Queen.
The fact that I feel the Ners individual approaching me through the Hive Mind, and that the Ners feels absolute loyalty to me, all means that I have the consciousness as the Queen.
Even now, the thought that Ners is my loyal servant and cute child is slowly taking over my mind.
It's to the extent that the Ners in front of me actually looks cool.
The Queen consciousness keeps saying that the Ners in front of me is cute. Cute. But I don't know about cute, it is cool.
The feeling of fear has disappeared, and only the feeling that the creature I saw in movies is right in front of me remains.
And what's even cooler is that the creature is showing me absolute loyalty.
I used to bow my head and crawl around at work, but now a creature that looks like it could kill a human just by touching them is bowing its head to me.
I slowly raised my right hand.
In sync with my movement, the right leg of the two largest legs of the Ners lifted up.
Every time I move my hand in the direction I think of, the Ners follows along.
Where exactly this place is.
Why I came here, and why I woke up as the Queen of the Ners.
There is too much to know.
But before that.
'First, I must aim to control all the Ners in this cave through the Hive Mind.'
I had confidence.
I just need to think of it as acting, without feeling burdened.
The Queen of monsters I've seen in various manga, movies, and games.
'I think I can do it.'
As my confused mind stabilized to some extent and the consciousness as the Queen naturally melted in, I gained confidence, and I felt that there were others beyond the cave, not just the Ners in front of me.
"Let's go to where all the Ners are."
[ Understood. I will escort you. ]
"U-um, okay."
The Ners folded all its legs, leaned its whole body forward, and bowed.
Seeing the action that clearly meant for me to ride on it, I hid my still-present reluctance and climbed onto the Ners' body.
But that confidence didn't last long.
Seeing the countless Ners in front of me.
I should have expected it.
The reason why the Hive Mind exists.
Usually, the races with a Hive Mind that I've seen all had an overwhelmingly large number of individuals.
Because the only way to control an overwhelming number is through a Hive Mind.
'Uh...'
The cave was ridiculously large, and the ceiling, walls, and floor of that huge cave were filled with countless creatures.
All those creatures were looking at me.
'I think I'm going to throw up...'