The Queen Ant Hunt

This will not do.

Jin-soo admitted it. There was no ordinary way to reach the Queen Antmaw.

At this speed, arriving at the hatchery on the third day is the best we can manage. The hatchery, and the queen's chamber within it, was entrenched with an even greater host of Giant Soldier Antmaws. If a frontal breakthrough was too costly, then the only path left was to slip in unseen. The trouble was the Antmaws' sense of smell. It was extraordinarily keen.

Their sight and hearing, by contrast, are abysmal. Their eyes reacted to light, and that was the whole of it. Hearing they might as well not have possessed at all.

The scent has to be hidden. He also needed a way to see through the lightless underground cavern. Preparations, then.

Jin-soo began hunting Antmaws and gathering what he needed, piece by piece. The first thing he secured was the Antmaw bodily fluid he had been throwing away all along. Antmaw carapace had settled into something of a market price, since it was sometimes used in the making of armor. Their fluid, however, was worth nothing at all. That was why he had never bothered to keep it.

A method I truly did not want to use. Now there was no helping it. Jin-soo stored the fluid diligently in his inventory, and even as he did, he never stopped. Attack skills flared. His staff came around. Antmaw skulls burst, and he drove forward through the wreckage.

Time kept sliding past. At last the fatigue in his body grew heavy enough to feel.

A long, tearing screech cut the dark, and shorter clicks answered it. Among the Antmaws hurling themselves at the pair, the share of Giant Soldier Antmaws had climbed past half and was pushing toward eighty percent.

Our speed has dropped hard. It felt as if the advance had nearly stopped altogether. The hatchery is close, so they are thrashing for their lives. The mana it took to seal one face of the underground cavern with an Ice Barrier swelled until it was more than he could sustain.

"Use Sanctuary."

"Got it."

At Jin-soo's word, Shin Sua cast Sanctuary at once.

Light burst outward in a brilliant flare, and within that radiance the two of them stepped inside.

"I really thought I was going to die."

The moment the skill unfolded, Shin Sua dropped to the floor. She had kept her Orb of Light active the entire time while casting Blessing, Recovery, and Protection, and between those she had been swinging her staff hard enough to crack Antmaw skulls. She was utterly spent.

"Rest, for now."

Jin-soo said it, then connected to the auction house. He restocked what had sold, collected the purchases that had cleared, and used the search to find the skill book he wanted. This is the one. He bought two of them at the buy-now price. The skill was Thermal Detection Sight.

If there had been even a little light, none of this would have mattered. A Player's body was superhuman, and eyesight was no exception. Given so much as a sliver of light, a Player could see a brighter world than any nocturnal animal. But no vision, however keen, was of any use in a place without so much as a scrap of light.

Jin-soo learned Thermal Detection Sight. I can see. There was a strangeness to it, as if he were watching a feed from an infrared camera, but that much he could readily bear.

"Learn this."

He passed Shin Sua the skill book.

"Okay. Thanks."

She learned Thermal Detection Sight.

"Whoa! This is incredible."

She activated it and lit up like a child. That settles the problem of sight. Next was a way to hide their scent.

Jin-soo stared at the Antmaw fluid gathered in his inventory and let out a long, heavy sigh. He truly did not want to drench himself in it. There was no other way. Nothing for it. First we eat our fill and sleep properly.

He bought a generous amount of meat from the auction house, purchased rice as well, and drew out the side dishes he had stored in his inventory ahead of time. He and Shin Sua cooked the rice and set the meat to grill. It hissed and spat, and a rich, savory smell spread through the air.

"Let's eat."

"Yeah!"

At his word, Shin Sua beamed and inhaled the meat and rice as if she meant to breathe them in.

"Eat plenty."

"I am. You eat up too, Jin-soo."

They filled their stomachs, then slept deeply. When they woke, they ate a simple breakfast.

"Today we take the queen ant."

"Think we can? Pushing forward doesn't look easy."

"There's a way."

With that, Jin-soo drew a clump of stored Antmaw fluid from his inventory.

"No. Wait. Please tell me this isn't what I think it is, Jin-soo."

Shin Sua looked at him with open pleading on her face.

"It's exactly what you think. Rub it on."

Her expression crumpled. The fluid in his hand was viscous and foul, trailing from his fingers in sticky ropes and throwing off a stench that turned the stomach.

"W-we're really rubbing this on?"

"If you can't manage it alone, want me to put it on for you?"

"No. I'll do it myself."

Shin Sua squeezed her eyes shut, took the Antmaw fluid from his hand, and smeared it over her body.

I have to put it on as well. Jin-soo drew a fresh portion from his inventory and hesitated. The look of it was bad enough. The horrific smell, and the sticky feel of the stuff, kept his hand from moving.

"Why aren't you putting it on? Too much for you? Want me to do it?"

Drenched in the fluid, Shin Sua opened her eyes in a sharp glare and fixed them on Jin-soo, who had gone still where he stood.

"I'll do it myself."

He shut his eyes tight and smeared the Antmaw fluid over his body. His torso he could tolerate well enough. Once it reached his head and face, though, the reek deadened his nose, and the clammy drag of the fluid across his skin raised goosebumps over every inch of him. I am taking her down. All at once, a fierce hostility toward the Queen Antmaw surged through him.

"Thermal Detection Sight. On."

"It's on."

"Then drop Sanctuary, and we move at once."

"Got it."

Shin Sua released Sanctuary. A screech tore through the cavern, and shell crunched and cracked as the Antmaws came on.

Jin-soo dismissed the Dragon Tooth Soldiers. They reverted at once to their original form. Their enemies suddenly gone, the Antmaws scurried in confusion, but soldiers that had become teeth again were nowhere to be found. Jin-soo moved with care and recovered the teeth into his inventory.

A single Worker Antmaw approached them, antennae twitching. Soon enough it lost interest and wandered off elsewhere.

"Let's go."

"Yeah."

Jin-soo and Shin Sua crossed the dark cavern. They met Antmaws again and again along the way, and most of the creatures ignored them. Now and then one showed interest, but after twitching its antennae to check, it simply went back to wherever it had been going.

To think I would be doing this again. Before his Regression, Jin-soo had already once drenched himself in the bodily fluids of ant monsters. I swore then I would never do it a second time. He had not imagined that resolve would come to nothing so easily.

Following the intelligence the Shadow Assassin had secured, he kept on toward the Queen Antmaw. If we had come by frontal assault, we never would have made it. The distance itself was not so great. The problem was the Antmaws' numbers, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their quality. The Worker Antmaws have dropped off sharply. Soldier Antmaws had vanished without a trace. Aside from a handful of workers moving about their labor, every creature here was a boss-class Giant Soldier Antmaw.

Jin-soo and Shin Sua moved into the hatchery. A Giant Soldier Antmaw examined them with its antennae. Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, it promptly lost interest.

We are nearly there. Past the hatchery, deeper still, a vast hollow with only a single opening came into view. And there, larger even than a White Drake, was the enormous Queen Antmaw.

Found her. Fierce elation broke across Jin-soo's face. The Queen Antmaw was laying eggs without pause. I end her in a single stroke. Among ant monsters, the queen was usually without combat power. The Queen Antmaw should be no different. If he approached with care and killed her, an Achievement that should have been impossible would fall into his hands with ease.

Step by careful step, Jin-soo and Shin Sua closed in on the Queen Antmaw.

Then, all at once, the Giant Soldier Antmaws raised their antennae. A shriek went up. Saw-like upper jaws gaping, they charged, the thunder of their rush rolling through the hollow.

What? Jin-soo was caught off guard. Hold still? Or kill them? The judgment did not come easily. We have to kill them. The force coming off the Giant Soldier Antmaws was anything but ordinary. This was not a probe. It was the movement of creatures certain they had found an enemy. Proof enough: they were sprinting like mad things toward the chamber's single entrance.

"Ice Barrier!"

First, he sealed the only entrance.

"Summon Dragon Tooth Soldiers."

Then he called them forth.

"Glacial Proclamation! Ice Storm!"

A tremendous boom shook the hollow, and battle erupted between Jin-soo and the Giant Soldier Antmaws.

"Summon Stone Golem!"

Shin Sua summoned her Stone Golem at once and cast Blessing and Protection over Jin-soo and the Dragon Tooth Soldiers.

Shell crunched. Blades bit. Dragon Tooth Soldiers and Giant Soldier Antmaws tangled into a savage melee. Jin-soo hammered the soldiers with magic attack skills, watching for an opening to strike the Queen Antmaw, but it would not come. They are defending with their own bodies. The Giant Soldier Antmaws had woven themselves together into a massive living barricade before the queen.

How were we exposed? Before the Regression, this same method had let him subjugate a queen ant monster without incident. This time he had failed by a hair. In truth, the failure was not his. The Antmaws were simply more exacting in their habits than other ant monsters, and that was all it had taken. Only certain individuals were permitted into the Queen Antmaw's presence. Any creature lacking the special pheromone, even one of their own kind, was judged an intruder the moment ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it entered her dwelling, and killed.

A shriek. A guttural roar. Booms, crunches, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and the crack of splitting shell. Jin-soo and the Giant Soldier Antmaws locked into a savage tug-of-war. The Dragon Tooth Soldiers tried to reach the queen. The Antmaws made shields of their own bodies and held them back.

I need to clear the ones in here, at least, and I need to do it fast. Even as he kept reinforcing the Ice Barrier, it was coming apart faster than he could rebuild it. The stalemate dragged on. Jin-soo crushed Giant Soldier Antmaw skulls with the Staff of the Ice Dragon, working furiously to recover mana. Even so, the mana he spent vastly outran the mana he regained.

Around the time his mana fell below half—

The blessings had grown.

Good. Magic skill attack power and defense had risen from 32.2 percent to 42.2. I will show them what ten percent can do.

Jin-soo went on the offensive with his magic. He threw the Ice Barrier up again, then Ice Storm, Piercing Ice Arrow, Ice Storm once more, and on without pause. Heedless of the mana cost, he fired magic attack skills the instant their cooldowns returned.

Even an identical ten percent struck harder the higher the base stats already were. On top of that, the Staff of the Ice Dragon's options — ice-attribute magic skill enhancement and mana amplification — stacked together, and the force climbed higher still.

A massive boom rolled through the hollow, and a small crack split the barricade the Giant Soldier Antmaws had made of their bodies. Jin-soo launched himself and threw his body straight into that fissure.

The enormous Queen Antmaw filled his sight.

Did I pour out too much? The problem was that he had dumped so many skills that every skill stack was spent. There is no time to wait out the cooldowns. The Giant Soldier Antmaws were already repairing the barricade of their bodies and pursuing him from behind. Then I just beat her to death.

Jin-soo clenched the Staff of the Ice Dragon. The weapon whistled through the dark, and he lashed it at the Queen Antmaw's head with everything he had.