Insect Extermination (1)
The ancient temple lay in ruins.
A small creature with golden fur appeared there.
“Chu!”
Chuchu climbed atop a pile of rubble and peeked his head out.
Beyond the ruins stretched a garden bathed in soft sunset light.
Unnamed grasses filled the garden, evoking memories of its once-glorious past.
“Chu?”
Chuchu tilted his head at the grasses, then—
Tap-tap-tap!
—he scampered down the rubble and into the garden.
“Chu…”
He pushed through the undergrowth, searching for the golden flowers that had come to mind.
Sniffing with his tiny nose, he moved this way and that.
“Chu!”
His eyes sparkled as he finally spotted something.
He dashed forward like an arrow.
An old, weathered stone wall encircled the garden.
Moss covered it, and ancient trees had taken root in its cracks.
Between the stones, unique flowers glowed golden in the sunset light.
“Chu!”
This was it.
The special golden flower Chuchu had been looking for.
“Chuuu—!”
He crouched low, nose twitching, and carefully dug up one of the golden flowers.
The flower slipped into his belly pouch.
After that, Chuchu never stopped moving.
Swish-swish!
Another root, and another.
He scurried about, harvesting every golden flower he could find in the wall’s crevices.
Yet he didn’t take them all.
He deliberately left a few behind.
So that new flowers could bloom the next time he returned.
“Chu!”
With a satisfied squeak, Chuchu patted his belly pouch.
Then he raced back toward the lair, a faint smile on his face.
“A way to exterminate insect-type monsters?”
“Yeah.”
Bellerin looked troubled at my words.
“Hmm… Golden flowers are quite effective at neutralizing insect-type monsters.”
Just then, Azkai, who had been listening, cut in.
“Golden flowers?”
“Yes. There’s a special variety with golden petals. They act as an instant remedy against insect-type monsters.”
“Oh, something like that exists? Where can we get them?”
“They contain holy power, so they usually grow near temples. But I doubt there’s a temple around here, so they won’t be easy to find.”
“Ah… I see.”
The conclusion flashed through my mind: we couldn’t obtain the golden flowers.
Better to look for another method.
“Master, may I ask why you wish to exterminate insect-type monsters?”
Oh, right.
They had no idea what was happening on Earth.
Where should I even begin?
“Well…”
I slowly explained that I was from Earth, and that giant mantises and spiders marked with Replica had begun appearing there recently.
“Good heavens!”
“Replicas?”
Bellerin and Azkai’s eyes widened in shock.
“Yeah. They seem much weaker than the spiders and mantises we encountered here. I have a feeling they started showing up on Earth because we defeated the ones here.”
“Hmm. That doesn’t make sense. How could something like that happen?”
“Right? I’ve never heard of anything like this either.”
Neither Bellerin nor Azkai could explain the situation.
“Still, from what you’ve described, those special golden flowers might actually help.”
According to them, the special golden flowers could be the key to solving this crisis.
What a shame.
‘Nothing we can do about it.’
I decided to set aside what was impossible for now and focus on what I could do.
Reach level 70 as quickly as possible.
Once the dimension amplifier was complete, move on to the next dragon’s lair.
‘In that case…’
I had the ▲ fragments Archeron brought back.
Eleven in total.
That brought my collection to twelve.
When I checked them, the message appeared:
「Seven ▲ fragments can be combined into one ★.」
I used seven fragments right away to create one ★.
‘Who should I give this to?’
When I used a ★ on Dania last time, her power had surged dramatically.
A force that could rapidly boost combat strength in the short term.
‘And once I fill all the stars, something even bigger will probably happen.’
Looking far ahead, giving the ★ to Dania would be the wisest choice.
But if I focused on the immediate future?
Using it on combat guardians like Archeron or Azkai would be safer.
The moment of decision had arrived.
‘Hmmm.’
I was deep in thought when—
Pop!
Chuchu, who had gone outside the lair, returned.
He came straight to me.
“Chu!”
He held out a golden flower from his belly pouch.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Chuchu looked at me with an expectant expression, as if urging me to check what he had brought.
“Hmm.”
I tilted my head and examined the golden flower.
◈ A mystical flower imbued with ancient power.
◈ Possesses holy energy that repels all insect-type monsters and evil spirits below Lv 61.
“……!”
Good grief.
I blinked.
Reverse-Ghost Golden Flower?
Was this the special golden flower Azkai had mentioned earlier?
“Good grief!”
Azkai, who had looked drowsy moments ago, stared with wide eyes at the flower in my hand.
“Where did you…?”
From his startled reaction, I could tell this was indeed the special golden flower he had spoken of.
“Oh! You found something this precious?”
Bellerin looked equally shocked.
“Chuchu!”
Chuchu puffed out his chest proudly at their reactions.
He planted both hands on his hips.
His expression seemed to say, “That’s right, it was me.”
“Wow. Chuchu, you really…”
I couldn’t help but admire him.
He’d been quiet lately, but he’d pulled off something huge!
I scooped Chuchu up and rubbed my face against his fluffy golden fur.
It felt like pressing against a cloud.
“Churrr—”
Chuchu couldn’t hide his delight at the affection.
“I never expected him to bring back golden flowers.”
“Was there still a temple left here? How did he find them…? Anyway, impressive.”
At Bellerin and Azkai’s praise, Chuchu’s nose lifted even higher.
“Still, since there’s only one, we should cultivate more right away—”
Bellerin was cut off mid-sentence.
“Chu—!”
Chuchu thrust one paw forward.
Then—
Whoosh!
—he pulled out dozens of Reverse-Ghost Golden Flowers from his belly pouch.
“Gasp!”
“Whoa…”
“Unbelievable.”
Everyone gasped as the flowers piled up before me.
“With this many, we can make the repellent right away!”
Okay.
Some would be turned into repellent and sold on the Superhuman Net immediately.
The rest would be used for cultivation.
We began moving in a flurry.
Deep within the eastern forest stood a massive cavern.
Inside gathered centipedes, spiders, wasps, ants, moths, and stag beetles—various insectoid beings.
They were the commanders of Vermith’s army.
Then—
An overwhelming presence entered the cavern.
The King of Insects.
The invader who had assaulted the eastern forest.
Vermith.
“Karmarks suffered injuries severe enough to impair movement, and the mantis army’s vice-commander, division commanders, and soldiers were all annihilated?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“How absurd.”
A heavy atmosphere filled the cavern.
Except for the empty seat of the First Commander, the other commanders exchanged glances and remained silent.
“So, have you identified the culprit?”
Guoooooo.
An unprecedented aura rose from Vermith’s body.
Before that overwhelming pressure, the commanders could only sweat and offer no reply.
Some looked as though they might faint.
Then—
“Your Majesty, my subordinates are tracking the culprit.”
The one who broke the suffocating silence was Arachne, the Third Commander.
“Have you found any traces?”
“Yes. I believe the culprit may be connected to a dragon’s lair.”
Vermith’s eyes gleamed.
“Find them. No matter what.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“I will not disappoint you.”
After the meeting, Arachne returned to her quarters.
She received an unpleasant report.
“All the wolf spiders sent to track the target have lost contact?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Hmm. Something’s definitely off.”
She smoothed her furrowed brow and curled her lips into a smile.
She smelled opportunity.
“Assemble the troops. I’ll move personally.”
Arachne, the Spider Queen and Third Commander of Vermith’s forces, began to stir.
Giant mantises and spiders had begun appearing out of nowhere.
At first, they seemed random, but soon patterns emerged in where they appeared.
The Korean government was in an uproar.
They declared a national disaster due to the unprecedented situation.
If things continued, Korea would rank dead last in superhuman growth rates among nations next year.
“What the hell is going on here!”
Kim Do-chul, Director of the Hunter Bureau, shouted.
“We need countermeasures immediately. The VIPs are watching this crisis closely.”
An emergency meeting was held under the director’s leadership, attended by every department head and section chief.
But no one had a solution.
How could they develop a countermeasure for the sudden appearance of giant mantises and spiders in a single day?
“We could recommend parties of two to three times the usual size…”
“That would tank efficiency. Would the superhumans even agree?”
“Or we could research the weaknesses of the giant mantises and spiders…”
“That would take forever!”
No answers were forthcoming.
Then—
“Um, a superhuman named Madoje just posted that he’s selling an insect-type monster repellent spray. Should we consider using that?”
“What? Insect repellent spray? Where’s he selling snake oil? That won’t work!”
At that moment, no one knew.
Just how effective Madoje’s insect-type monster repellent spray truly was.