The First Evolution
The night passed without rest.
Seo Hae-jin watched from a high ridge as the village began to fall apart.
Fires burned in three places—barns, rubbish heaps, a corner of the stockyard.
Black smoke curled into the air.
He felt the heat on his face, but he didn't step back.
All around him, the Hive Link pulsed.
Larvae moved through walls and crawlspaces, slipping into cracks.
He could feel them tasting the air, sensing fear.
He closed his eyes.
One by one, he counted the signals.
Forty-three larvae active.
Seventeen had already fed.
Nine were close to evolving.
---
Below, the villagers gathered near the well.
They carried torches and pitchforks. A few held old hunting rifles.
Someone had scrawled chalk sigils on the stones.
Protective runes.
Seo Hae-jin watched them without expression.
Runes wouldn't save them.
---
A woman with gray hair was shouting.
"Burn every empty house!" she cried. "Drive them out—drive them into the open!"
Two men nodded. They lit torches from the bonfire.
Seo Hae-jin tilted his head.
They were learning.
But it was too late.
---
He felt a sudden ripple in the Hive Link.
A larva in the eastern barn had stopped moving.
He focused on it, searching for damage.
Nothing.
The creature wasn't dead.
It was changing.
---
He sank deeper into the link, feeling the transformation in real time.
The larva's body swelled, splitting along hidden seams.
Black plates pushed through soft flesh.
Legs thickened, joints locking into place.
Two hooked claws formed at the front.
A faint, wet hiss slipped into his mind as the creature's new lungs expanded.
---
> > [Unit Evolution Complete.]
[Predator Bug Created.]
[Level: 20.]
Seo Hae-jin felt a flicker of cold satisfaction.
The first of many.
He shifted his focus back to his own senses.
In the village square, the old leader froze. He lifted a trembling hand and pointed at the barn.
"Something's in there," he whispered.
The predator bug moved into the doorway, silhouetted against the firelight.
For the first time, the villagers saw what hunted them.
A tall, black shape. Insect plates gleaming.
Curved claws scraping the threshold.
Someone screamed.
The predator bug hissed, mandibles splitting apart.
Then it charged.
---
Seo Hae-jin watched without blinking.
The villagers scattered, dropping weapons.
One man tried to fire his rifle. The bug knocked him down, claws tearing into his chest.
Blood sprayed across the stones.
Another woman swung a torch.
The flame licked the predator's armor but left no mark.
The creature lunged, jaws snapping shut over her shoulder.
Bones cracked.
Seo Hae-jin shifted his hand over the Symbol, feeling its cold pulse.
---
He reached into the Hive Link again.
Command.
The predator bug froze, head lifting.
He sent a clear thought:
Hunt them all. No survivors.
The creature turned and moved into the crowd, each step slow and certain.
---
Further down the hill, a cluster of larvae crawled into a henhouse.
Chickens fluttered and screeched as the bugs began to feed.
> > [Units Consumed Prey.]
[Growth: +1 Level.]
[Growth: +1 Level.]
Small gains, but constant.
Seo Hae-jin knew every step brought him closer to the next threshold.
---
He looked east.
Beyond the village, the land dipped toward a dark line of trees.
More settlements waited out there—hamlets, farms, roads connecting them all.
If he allowed it, the swarm would spread past this valley by dawn.
He could feel the hunger in every unit.
Millions more would follow.
---
He touched the Symbol on his hand.
His voice was quiet.
"Soon."
---
Down below, the predator bug slammed another villager into a wall.
Blood soaked the stones.
Screams echoed across the square.
Seo Hae-jin watched it all in perfect stillness.
Nothing inside him stirred.
Only the certainty that this was how it was always meant to be.