Ari's legs pounded against the scorched earth as he darted through the smoke-choked air.
All around him, the battlefield crackled with fire, screams, and chaos. Ants shouted, acid hissed as it hit the dirt, and the termite colony's decaying tree stump loomed like a dying giant in the flames.
He didn't have a plan—just adrenaline and a stubborn refusal to freeze up. His heart hammered in his chest as he charged past a wounded comrade, gripping the two mandibles he'd been given for weapons.
They felt too light in his hands. He hadn't trained long enough to use them with precision, but they were all he had.
Then—
A sharp hiss cut through the air.
A termite burst through a split in the bark, tall and gaunt, its limbs twitching like brittle twigs. Its compound eyes glowed faintly, reflecting the flickering firelight, and from the palms of its hands, a stream of sizzling green acid shot toward Ari. The air crackled as the liquid hissed against the heat-warped wood.
"Crap!" Ari shouted, his voice rough in his own ears.
He dove to the side, feeling the scorched earth scrape against his palms. The jet of acid missed him by inches and struck a rock behind him, immediately eating into the surface with a violent sizzle. A sharp, acrid stench rose into his nostrils.
The termite hissed again, its limbs trembling as it raised an arm for another shot. The faint green glow of its eyes flickered over the smoke-choked air.
But I'm already moving.
He surged forward, heart hammering, muscles burning as his legs pumped on pure instinct. The acrid tang of scorched bark and acid filled his nose. He zigzagged, forcing the termite to adjust its aim, and the second stream of acid sizzled past him by mere inches.
Dirt and debris kicked up beneath his feet as he leapt, twisting his body mid-air. He slashed with both mandibles, hearing the wet, sickening crack as the blades bit into the termite's chest. Its legs twitched violently as it toppled backward into the dirt, hemolymph spraying in tiny arcs.
Ari landed in a crouch, lungs heaving, hands trembling, eyes wide as the sharp metallic taste of iron coated his tongue.
And then—
A soft digital ding echoed in his ears. Not from the chaos around him—but inside him, a clean, synthetic chime that made his stomach tighten.
"What…?" he whispered, voice shaky, the rasp of his breath catching in his throat.
A thin line of light traced itself into existence just above his field of vision, shimmering with a subtle vibration that prickled the hairs on his arms. In a blink, a glowing rectangular screen snapped into view, hovering mere inches ahead, its edges humming faintly.
He froze, eyes wide, heart hammering in his chest.
[New Quest Detected]
Objective: Slay 50 Termites
Progress: 2/50
Reward: ???
Status: Auto-Accepted
"What the hell?" he muttered, stepping back on uneven ground, dirt and ash crunching beneath his feet.
The screen followed him seamlessly, anchored to his vision.
It looked like something out of a game—sleek, blue-hued text with crisp lines and pulsing borders. Just like the RPGs he used to play when he was human.
But this isn't a screen. There's no controller, no menu to open, no pause button. His fingers… they just pass through it.
This doesn't make sense… what is a screen like this doing in this world? I didn't agree to anything.
Involuntary quest… so it's just happening. Whether I want it to or not.
His stomach churned, a metallic tang rising at the back of his throat. The faint hum of the glowing text pressed against his vision, impossible to ignore, as if it were physically anchored to his skull.
Then he noticed the counter jump—5/50—as nearby termites were consumed by the fire. The sizzle of their yellow exoskeleton hitting the flames.
His chest tightened, lungs burning with a mix of exertion and unease.
"What is this…", he murmured, voice barely audible over the crackle of fire and the distant screams.
His eyes flicked back to the floating screen as another number ticked up.
I don't understand what's happening. But… beneath the confusion, the fear, and the sharp tang of smoke… something stirs. Not courage exactly… but a pull. Like static electricity running over my skin. Something unseen is watching, waiting for me to respond.
"I don't know what this is," Ari said, tightening his grip on his mandibles. "But something compels me to complete this quest… and I will."
He sprinted toward the burning heart of the termite colony, the faint glow of the quest screen hovering in his vision like a silent, impossible witness. Ash and sparks swirled around his ankles as the heat prickled his exoskeleton.
"Ari! What are you doing? Do you have a death wish? Stop this instant!" Valeria's voice cut through the roar of fire, sharp and urgent, echoing from outside the blazing stump.
But Ari didn't turn back.
He darted deeper into the burning tunnels, smoke curling through broken corridors, stinging his eyes. The acrid scent of acid and charred bark filled the air, clinging to his lungs. Flickering firelight cast shadows across the curved walls, and he ran like a phantom—too fast for the termites to track, too erratic for their acid streams to land.
He moved on instinct, swinging both mandibles as he passed.
One termite lunged from a crack in the wall—he slashed it down, hearing the wet, sickening crack as his blades connected.
Another aimed acid from the corner—Ari sidestepped, felt the scorch of heat brush past his arm, kicked off the wall, and cut it down mid-charge.
They aren't built for close combat. Their acid is their only real weapon. Once I close the distance, they're helpless.
"That's forty… forty-one…", he murmured, eyes scanning for the next target, ears tuned to the faint hiss and pop of charging acid.
Behind him, a subtle pop announced another termite's attack. Without thinking, he twisted on the balls of his feet, lunging to the side. A thin stream of acid sizzled past his shoulder, scorching the air.
He landed in a crouch and lunged forward in one clean movement, slicing the termite down the middle. Hemolymph splattered against the walls.
"Forty-two," he exhaled, chest rising and falling, eyes already searching for the next threat.
The quest screen flickered into view above him, and just as he finished the next kill, the words glowed:
Quest Complete
Reward Processing…
Ari froze, chest heaving, sweat stinging his eyes. The flames licked closer to the core of the colony, crackling against charred wood, and the termite screams faded into the distance as the remaining swarm scattered.
He stared at the screen, wide-eyed and uncertain.
"That's it… I finished it." His voice was rough, barely audible over the crackle of fire.
He lowered his mandibles slightly, fingers loosening as tension drained from his arms. Amid the chaos, a gentle, aching thought slipped into his mind.
Keiko…
I wonder if I'll be given a reward… something that can get me back to my world. So I can be human again… so I can see her…
His eyes flicked to the glowing screen, the faint blue light painting his sweat-slicked exoskeleton.
But the fantasy shattered in an instant.
The air shifted violently, pressure snapping against him. A presence flared behind him, heavy and suffocating, like a dark wave crashing through the tunnel.
Ari's eyes widened.
Crap. I let my guard down.
He spun—but too late.
A sharp, wet crack—a mandible coated in seething green acid—pierced through his back and out his chest.
He gasped, vision swimming, hemolymph running in warm rivulets down his torso. His legs trembled, buckling under him, but he forced himself upright, coughing violently before spitting up a thick glob of it. Pain radiated through every nerve.
Behind him stood a termite unlike any he had ever seen.
She wasn't gaunt or monstrous like the others. No—this one was different. Humanlike, eerily elegant, her gaze sharp and golden, lips curling into a predatory smirk. Dark yellow exoskeletal plating covered her body, glinting in the firelight, armor-like and flawless. Every movement was precise, deliberate, terrifyingly calm.
"I finally caught you," she purred, a soft, lilting chuckle threading through the words. "You're… so fast, aren't you? I was beginning to think you might slip away from me forever."
Ari tried to shift, to pull himself free, but the mandible lodged in his chest burned like molten metal. A ragged cough escaped him, the sound hoarse and broken. "Y-You…" he gasped, voice barely more than a rasp, "how… how—" Pain tore through his ribs, cutting off the words.
She tilted her head, studying him as if he were a fragile, fascinating toy. "And to think… you lowly ants had the nerve to attack my colony." Her voice dropped to a teasing whisper, almost intimate, the venom in it contrasting with the sing-song cadence. "How dare you?"
Ari's vision wavered. The heat of the fire pressed against his skin, searing pain ripped through his chest, and the toxin coursing through his veins clawed at his consciousness. Every nerve screamed as her gaze bored into him, simultaneously terrifying and disturbingly fixated.
"Oh, I like you," she murmured, tilting her head, golden eyes gleaming with something close to affection—but twisted, dangerous. "You're strong… fast… and clearly important to those pests outside. That makes you… perfect."
Her smile widened, slow and deliberate, lips curling with a predator's satisfaction.
"I think I'll use you as my little ticket out of here," she continued, voice lilting, almost playful. "Sadly… you won't survive the trip. That acid running through your body? It's already eating you alive from the inside."
Ari grit his teeth, each ragged breath tasting of iron and smoke. His arms trembled, fingers tightening involuntarily on the mandibles, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, sticky and warm against his jaw. Panic and pain collided with the pull of instinct—forcing him upright, despite every nerve screaming in protest.
Outside the burning tree stump, the termite resistance had begun to falter. Their numbers dwindled by the minute, and the few that still emerged did so in panic, their movements erratic and directionless. Ant soldiers cut them down one after another, their mandibles slick with termite blood, the scorched earth steaming beneath their feet.
"The situation seems under control for now, Commander," Beatrice reported, mandibles slick with termite blood. Acid sizzled against the blackened earth beneath her feet with each movement, sending thin wisps of smoke curling into the air. "Fewer termites are coming out of the colony."
Valeria stood at the frontline, chest rising and falling with heavy but measured breaths. Her mandibles were gripped tight, muscles tense beneath her carapace as she scanned the battlefield, taking in the scorched earth, the scattered termite corpses, and the chaos still unfolding.
"That's good news," she said, voice firm despite the heat and smoke stinging her eyes. "But don't let up. Not until every last one of them is dead."
Just as she turned to relay more orders, a terrible silence rippled across the battlefield, swallowing the crackle of fire and the sizzle of acid.
From the heart of the burning tree stump, a figure emerged—half-draped in smoke, bathed in flickering firelight.
And in her grasp was Ari.
Blood and hemolymph dripped from his limp form, sizzling where it touched the scorched earth, leaving a dark, sticky trail behind her.
"A—Ari…", Isla gasped, hands trembling, her voice cracking as disbelief and fear collided.
"They… they got him…", Rory muttered, frozen in place. "No… he can't survive termite acid. No one can…"
The termite holding Ari stepped forward, regal and predatory, moving with a deliberate, unnervingly calm grace. Flames reflected off her gleaming dark-yellow exoskeleton, outlining a feminine, commanding frame that was impossibly humanlike in shape. Her golden eyes glimmered with fury and something more—malice wrapped in fascination.
"I am Andromeda—the Corrosion Empress," she announced, her voice sharp as a blade, carrying over the crackling fire. "You ants… you have destroyed my colony and slaughtered my people."
She paused, lifting her chin with disdain, letting the weight of her gaze press down on every ant soldier on the field.
"One day," she whispered, each word deliberate, almost intimate, "we will have our revenge. The marrow in your bones… will sizzle before your scream even leaves your lips."
A surge of rage erupted from the soldiers, mandibles clenched and antennae twitching.
"Let's kill her!" one ant shouted, charging forward with reckless fury.
"No! Stop!" Valeria's voice rang out, sharp and commanding, her arm slicing through the smoke. "She has Ari! Do not engage!"
Queen Andromeda's lips curled into a wicked, almost intimate smile as she glanced down at Ari, his barely conscious face twisted in pain. Her golden eyes glittered with cruel amusement.
"I knew you were special," she cooed, her tone soft but laced with menace. "Thanks for your help, handsome."
With a sickening, wet pop, she yanked her acid-coated mandible from Ari's chest. His body spasmed violently, sagging limply in her arms, hemolymph dripping onto the scorched ground.
Then, without another word, she bolted, moving with terrifying speed, smoke and sparks trailing in her wake.
"After her! Don't let her escape!" roared Beatrice.
The soldier ants surged forward—but it was a trap.
Her voice, dripping with twisted delight, echoed through the smoke: "Here is your parting gift… something to remember me by. Enjoy."
With a sudden, feral screech, Queen Andromeda spun mid-stride, releasing a massive torrent of sizzling green acid in every direction. The liquid hissed and steamed as it collided with scorched earth, erupting like a shockwave and coating the battlefield in a deadly mist.
Where it touched, ants screamed, their bodies bubbling and disintegrating within seconds. Those too slow to dodge were gone almost instantly, leaving only smoking stains on the blackened ground.
"Fall back! Fall back!" Beatrice yelled, voice cracking over the dying screams, antennae quivering as she guided her soldiers through the chaos.
Smoke and acid swirled in the air, and amidst the chaos, Valeria knelt by the fading trail of blood Ari had left behind.
Her hands trembled.
"Ari… talk to me!" she snapped, voice tight, sharp with panic.
Silence.
"I told you not to run into the colony alone, you fool!" Her words were harsh, but the fear behind them leaked through.
Even as anger flared, it couldn't hide the terror in her eyes. He was gone. The Queen had him. And worse—he was dying.
Valeria clenched her fists, mandibles scraping against the scorched earth.
"Damn you…!"