📖 CHAPTER 1
Darkness.
It was absolute.
There was no light, no sound, no sensation of breathing. Only pressure and silence wrapped around my consciousness like a coffin.
Then—
I became aware.
At first, I did not understand what that meant. There was no body to move. No lungs to fill. No eyes to open.
Only… existence.
Time passed. Or perhaps it didn't. It was impossible to tell.
Then something stirred.
A ripple of sensation.
Vibrations.
They traveled through something dense. Wet. Packed. Alive.
Soil.
The realization formed slowly, like fog condensing into thought.
I was… inside the ground.
Memory struck me next.
Headlights.
A horn.
The violent screech of tires.
Pain.
Then nothing.
"I died."
The thought was clear.
And yet… I still existed.
Confusion rose, but it was strangely muted, as if my mind had been filtered through something calmer, colder.
I tried to move.
My body responded.
But it was wrong.
There were too many limbs.
Too many joints.
Segments.
Hardness.
I lifted one limb. It was thin, dark, and chitinous. Sharp at the end. Another moved without conscious command.
I froze.
"No…"
I tried to speak.
Only a faint clicking sound emerged.
Panic surged.
My awareness expanded, and the world flooded in all at once.
Scent.
Vibration.
Temperature.
Chemical signals.
I understood things without knowing how.
Food.
Danger.
Colony.
Queen.
The instincts were overwhelming.
"I'm… an insect?"
No.
More precise.
An ant.
The realization should have broken me.
Instead, something else awakened.
A presence deep within.
Not a voice.
Not a system.
A function.
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Intrinsic Ability Activated
Absolute Gene Devour
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Understanding poured into my mind.
Consume.
Assimilate.
Select.
Only beneficial traits.
Reject weakness.
Perfect adaptation.
No instability.
No limit.
I stayed still in the narrow tunnel, letting the information settle.
Slowly, the panic faded.
In its place came something colder.
Logic.
"If this is real… then I'm not powerless."
The ground trembled faintly.
Something moved above.
My instincts reacted before thought. My body flattened against the tunnel wall, legs gripping the packed earth.
A heavy vibration passed overhead.
Predator.
Large.
My heart—did I even have a heart?—raced.
When the vibrations faded, I moved again.
Other ants passed me without interest. Workers carrying fragments of plant matter. Larvae. The distant presence of something massive deeper within.
The queen.
A living factory.
Stability.
Safety.
But also limitation.
I turned my attention forward.
A small creature crawled nearby.
A mite.
Weak.
Helpless.
My body lunged before hesitation could exist.
Mandibles pierced its body.
It struggled briefly.
Then it died.
I consumed it.
The moment the nutrients entered my system, something shifted.
Microscopic changes.
Efficiency.
Strength.
Neural speed.
The improvement was tiny.
But undeniable.
"…It works."
A strange excitement filled me.
In my previous life, progress had been slow, uncertain, dependent on luck and society.
Now, every meal meant evolution.
Every victory meant permanent growth.
No ceiling.
No regression.
I began hunting.
Hours passed. Or days.
Time meant little underground.
Each prey strengthened me slightly.
Exoskeleton density increased.
Muscle fibers compressed.
Reaction time sharpened.
Chemical perception expanded.
Soon, I noticed something else.
The ants around me were no longer simply "others."
I could distinguish roles.
Rank.
Aggression.
This colony had competition.
Good.
Strength came from conflict.
One day, a larger ant approached.
Soldier class.
Hostile.
It lunged.
But I was faster.
I dodged, twisted, and crushed its head.
When I devoured it, the improvement was significant.
Mandible power surged.
Body structure reinforced.
Pheromone processing deepened.
I could now interpret complex signals.
Including hierarchy.
And weakness.
My attention turned inward.
There was more.
Something subtle.
A storage.
A library.
Traits I had consumed were not merely fused.
They were catalogued.
Refined.
Optimized.
This ability was far beyond simple mutation.
It was controlled evolution.
The thought filled me with a quiet sense of inevitability.
Then—
The ground shook violently.
Dust fell from the tunnel ceiling.
Shockwaves traveled through the earth.
Something massive had occurred on the surface.
Many ants panicked, releasing alarm pheromones.
Danger.
Collapse.
Predator.
But beneath the fear, I felt curiosity.
What kind of force could create such tremors?
Opportunity often followed chaos.
I moved toward a lesser-used tunnel.
Upward.
Toward the surface.
It was dangerous.
Exposure meant death.
But staying hidden forever meant stagnation.
Evolution required risk.
Eventually, a faint glow appeared ahead.
Light.
It burned my eyes when I emerged.
The world was enormous.
Grass towered like forests.
Wind roared like storms.
The sky stretched endlessly.
Every shadow carried danger.
Perfect.
I advanced carefully.
Then I saw it.
A drop of liquid on a leaf.
Dark.
Thick.
Warm.
The scent struck me instantly.
Iron.
Energy.
Something unfamiliar.
It was not animal.
Not insect.
Not anything I had encountered.
My instincts screamed both danger and reward.
I approached slowly.
The liquid radiated faint heat.
As if it still carried life.
I touched it.
My entire body trembled.
This was different.
Powerful.
Without hesitation, I consumed a portion.
Agony exploded through me.
My body cracked microscopically.
Cells ruptured.
My mind nearly shattered.
Something within activated automatically.
Selection.
Rejection.
Refinement.
Assimilation.
The pain stopped abruptly.
Silence followed.
Then—
Change.
My perception expanded.
The world felt… deeper.
There was a new sense.
Faint.
Subtle.
But real.
I could feel energy in the environment.
Living things had a presence.
A field.
A pressure.
I did not understand it.
But I knew it was valuable.
Extremely valuable.
I looked toward the distant horizon.
Something far away pulsed like a sun.
Violent.
Unstable.
Dangerous.
And yet—
It called to me.
I did not know this world.
I did not know its rules.
But I knew one truth.
If such power existed…
Then devouring it would make me unstoppable.
I retreated back into the grass.
For now, I was small.
Insignificant.
But every predator began as prey.
And every god began as something lesser.
I would learn.
I would adapt.
I would grow.
One day, whatever beings ruled this world…
Would become my food.
The age of survival had begun.
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