Ch.99. Backdoor

by fnovelpia

Ch.99. Backdoor

Backdoor. A term commonly used in real-time strategy games, referring to a tactic where you tie up the enemy’s main forces while using a separate detachment to directly strike the enemy’s base that lacks its main defense.

It’s a tactic that can achieve maximum efficiency with minimal forces if you’re lucky enough to find the enemy base poorly defended—and simultaneously, it’s the tactic that these ants are trying to use against me right now.

Judging by the increasing intensity of vibrations detected through my tentacles, that separate detachment will take about 10 minutes to tunnel through and arrive here.

Watching their assault, which appears to be using specialized mining ants, I was inwardly mocking them.

‘…Look at these fools.’

Certainly, if one were facing ants, a backdoor strategy would be efficient. The queen ant, the leader of the ant monsters, is strong but not overwhelming.

The queen ant is the largest and strongest in the ant colony, with psychic abilities comparable to a 7th-grade psychic-specialized monster.

But conversely, that’s as far as it goes. Her psychic ability is just at the level of a 7th-grade professional psychic user, and her physical abilities don’t significantly exceed the colony’s average.

So their judgment might be correct when facing other ant monster colonies—but against a Hive Mind, it’s an entirely different story.

They don’t know the true strength of a Hive Mind’s main body.

※ ※ ※

Ten minutes later. With a loud noise, the wall was breached, and ants poured into my base like flowing water.

They seemed to have used some strategy, as the ants leading the charge had exoskeletons made of metallic material. Judging by how they repelled psychic energy, they likely possessed psychic resistance as well.

Their plan appeared to be to pour these ants in to buy time while an elite special force struck at my main body… but is this all they had to challenge the main body of a Hive Mind?

‘…Insufficient.’

Yes, insufficient. These ants are lacking in every aspect needed to defeat me.

[Telekinesis (D) activated.]

[Psychic Amplification (D) activated.]

Yes, they especially lacked power.

[Telekinesis (D->A) activated.]

The psychic amplifiers—crimson fruit-shaped objects buried in the ground throughout the infested tunnels—activated, instantly boosting my telekinesis output to A-rank.

Top-tier psychic power that would normally require a 2nd-grade monster, erupting from a 7th-grade monster limited to D-rank psychic abilities.

This is the power that Hive Mind-type monsters possess in exchange for the penalty of immobility.

Psychic Amplification—a skill that significantly increases the rank of psychic skills by using amplifiers placed throughout the base.

In the game, this pattern was added to rescue the Hive Mind, which was considered weak due to its immobility penalty. After its addition, it briefly elevated Hive Mind-type bosses to the highest difficulty rating.

And now that the game had become reality, I could deeply appreciate what it meant to actively use what was merely considered a “pattern” in the game.

CRUNCH!

No flowery words were needed. With telekinesis boosted to A-rank in just five seconds, I simply extended my power into the breached tunnel and crushed every life form I detected.

[Level up!]

And that was it. The ants that had prepared so thoroughly for their attack were converted into experience points for me, as evidenced by the numerous status windows appearing before my eyes.

Thus, I gained sufficient experience and jumped from level 19 to level 27 in an instant.

※ ※ ※

After taking a short rest to stabilize my body, which had been slightly strained during the psychic amplification process, I used telekinesis to gather the corpses of the backdoor ants and insert them into my digestive gland, obtaining a satisfactory amount of results.

[Trait “Metallic Exoskeleton (D)” acquired.]

[Trait “Excavation Expert (D)” acquired.]

[Skill “Heat Detection (D)” acquired.]

[Skill “Psychic Tracking (E)” acquired.]

[Trait “Heat-Dissipating Exoskeleton (E)” acquired.]

[Trait “Superhuman Strength (E)” acquired.]

[Skill “Inorganic Matter Digestion (D)” acquired.]

[Trait “Exoskeleton Regeneration (D)” acquired.]

[Trait “Neurotoxic Blood (D)” acquired.]

[Skill “Neurotoxin Secretion (D)” acquired.]

More status windows appeared showing acquired genes, but I could narrow down the most noteworthy acquisitions to about three.

First, there’s Superhuman Strength (E), considered one of the game’s most overpowered traits. As the name suggests, it significantly increases strength stats, and it’s a trait that both players and monsters can possess.

It’s one of the rare traits that increases stats by percentage rather than fixed values, which is why most high-level melee players had bio-implants with this trait as an option—it’s definitely beneficial to have.

Though not a trait but a skill, Inorganic Matter Digestion (D) is also excellent. While somewhat modest on its own, when used with the Digestive Acid (C) trait, it becomes extremely efficient.

If I can somehow chew or cut something and get it into my digestive acid, I can digest and absorb all kinds of metals that would be impossible with digestive acid alone, and even incorporate them into traits or bio-weapons.

In the game, this allowed for mass production of rare metals that every player carried around as part of the setting, but in this world that has become reality, it enables the creation of bodily organs that can produce various rare metals.

…Of course, I’ll need to raise its rank a bit more.

Anyway, that’s enough about that. Let’s talk about the final acquired gene, or more precisely, the bio-weapon.

When I first discovered it, I couldn’t understand why these ants possessed it—the Laser Shooter (D).

It was a weapon attached to the upper two arms of a bipedal ant that appeared to be the commander of the ant special forces. Its appearance was exactly like the streamlined guns worn on arms in sci-fi movies.

Well, to put it simply, it’s just a laser gun. While it’s typically portrayed as an ultimate weapon in FPS games, in Project Monster, the story is slightly different.

The basic appearance of laser guns in Project Monster, surprisingly unlike their name, resembles modern firearms—plastic stock, pistol grip, box-shaped magazine (battery), and sights.

Moreover, they’re basic weapons included in the three weapon sets that players must choose from at the start—laser assault rifle, laser pistol, and laser submachine gun.

What’s most unique is that despite being basic weapons, many people continue to upgrade them and use them as endgame weapons.

If you ask why… the main reason is that laser weapons increase in power simply by increasing their output.

Using the power for 50 shots at once creates a high-powered weapon; using half the power for one shot makes it good for dispatching minor enemies; using power for about 10 shots in single fire mode allows it to function as a DMR.

Depending on customization, it can be modified into a medium machine gun or anti-tank weapon, and large laser guns can be mounted on Titan Armor bipedal mechs as heavy weapons.

While laser guns used by allies demonstrate this versatility, those used by enemies are… truly overpowered weapons.

When dozens of minions swarm and concentrate fire on a single target, it becomes troublesome even for max-level players.

The power of ranged weapons, especially guns, remains the same regardless of who fires them, so high-level players, though they might not die thanks to various survival skills, still consume resources.

It’s one of those rare weapons that’s good whether I use it or enemies use it, which is why I’m so pleased with this Laser Shooter (D).

Though its rank is low, I can finally respond somewhat to human appearances—and especially clear out those persistent ants that have been troubling me.

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