[You are a BUG.]
[You are a BUG.]
"…?????"
These were the first words I saw right after being transported to this world.
My name is Jang Ryuo, an ordinary 22-year-old university student who had just been discharged from the military. It was just an ordinary day. The kind of day anyone could have. A day where I should have just washed up, laid down, and giggled while swiping through Nutube Shorts.
But isn't there the Nutube algorithm? A single game review rode the algorithm of the game reviews I usually enjoyed watching.
The title of the game was "Maze Hunter." Contrary to the simple title, a famous reviewer had slapped a generous score of 4.5 points right from the start. It was a simple game where the player becomes a raid member conquering a labyrinth, exploring and pioneering a labyrinth full of the unknown.
However, watching the reviewer praise it until their mouth went dry, saying the depth was extraordinary despite its simplicity, I became more and more immersed in the video. Since a reviewer with similar tastes recommended it, I put the game in my shopping cart as if possessed, and pressed download right away.
If it were a competitive game, I would have read the early guides diligently, but since it was a game to be enjoyed alone, I decided to look at the reviews instead of a guide. As if responding to that expectation, the review section was full of long English sentences and blue thumbs-ups. There were occasional red thumbs-downs and talk of bugs, but... where in the world is there a game without bugs?
As the percentage filled up, my excitement grew, and I pressed the game start button...
[You are a BUG.]
With these words, I was left all alone in a barren wasteland.
"What is this..."
Looking around, all I could see was a plain thick with fresh green weeds and the wind brushing past my neck, which had become sensitive from cold sweat. There was absolutely nothing else. The only clue given to me was the text floating in this status window.
Surely this text wasn't teasing me by saying 'You are an insect.' (Note: In Korean, 'Bug' acts as a double entendre for a software error and an insect.)
Then what is it? Did I gain some tremendous cheat? An immortality bug? Infinite money bug? There are so many diverse bugs in the world that I couldn't even make a guess.
First, I pressed the X mark above the annoying text in front of my eyes. The status window that finally revealed itself read as follows:
[Status Window]
Name: Jang Ryuo
Class: None
Title: None
Level: 1
HP: 100/100 MP: 50/50 Strength: 5 Agility: 5 Vitality: 5 Intelligence: 5 Luck: 5
Remaining Points: 5
Trait: BUG
Skills:
"…"
I thought I would be happy to see a stat window in reality for the first time, but it was so much more uneventful than I expected that I was speechless. For now, I lacked both information and mental fortitude, so I decided to just click on some stats.
First up, Strength. I raised Strength by one, but there was no noticeable change.
'Did my strength increase... a bit?'
I might be expecting too much from investing just 1 point, but going from Strength 5 to 6 is a 20 percent increase. But I can't really tell if it's 20 percent.
'I guess the calculation method is different...'
I got up from my spot and started running. This time, it was Agility's turn. I invested in Agility while running, but I didn't feel my feet getting lighter or myself getting any faster.
"Haa... Haa... Then what is Agility..."
Just then, a flying insect buzzed around me. For some reason, its movements looked slow, so I swung my hand in the air, and the insect was crushed inside my hand. Normally, I would have just swung at empty air and the fly would have leisurely escaped as if mocking me.
"Oh? What? Ah!"
A realization flashed through my head.
'Thought Acceleration!'
That's right. If I raised Strength, speed would naturally increase, and Agility seems to accelerate one's thoughts.
'Then what about Intelligence?'
Skipping Vitality for now, I invested a stat point into Intelligence.
MP: 70/70
Intelligence increased my MP pool. I couldn't immediately feel if my head had gotten smarter or anything like that. Seeing as my head was still confused, maybe it was unrelated...
Inferring from this, Vitality would be...
HP: 150/150
As expected, my health pool increased. The last one remaining was Luck, but I wondered where I would use increased Luck in this barren wasteland. Isn't Luck a relative and truly ambiguous word?
My hesitation didn't last long. I gently placed my finger on the arrow for the Luck stat. The reason I decided to invest in Luck was that there was truly nothing around me right now. I planned to walk in one direction or do something soon, and I thought Luck might be at least a little helpful in a time like this.
There was no basis for it, but shouldn't one have at least a faint hope? With the desire for even a faint hope to arise, I put my finger on the arrow.
At that moment...
[¿‽¿¿¿‽¿Ryo! ¿‽¿¿‽‽‽]
"?"
As the status window was corrupted by question marks, my mind was also dyed with question marks.
Agility: 6 Vitality: 6 Intelligence: 6 Luck: ¿?9
"What is this...?"
I didn't know if I should see this as Luck increasing, or if it had glitched out somewhere. The number visible right now is '9', so it seems like it increased, but what if there's a negative sign attached?
I definitely couldn't see a bright future. It was still a situation where I was clueless, but if I stayed like this, I felt I would either starve to death or become food for beasts, so I forcibly raised my body which had no motivation. Because I had to live for now.
"Sigh... Which direction did the sun pass..."
—Squelch!
"…?"
I looked toward the place where the unpleasant sound rang out, and there was a slime. Putting aside where on earth it came from... First off, it isn't big. However, the problem is that its color is murky and unpleasant, and it is approaching me? And that the slime is assuming the pre-hunt posture of a cat I've only seen in Nutube Shorts?
I instinctively felt that it was trying to hunt me right now...
—Wiggle wiggle...
I instinctively threw my body to the side and rolled.
—Swoosh!
"This crazy!"
—Bang!
The black slime half-destroyed the spot where I had been standing just a moment ago. The power was unusual enough to cause a thick cloud of dust.
My judgment was fast. Knowing the cliché that the slime would attack me again once that dust settled, I just ran.
—Swish! Thud! Swiiish! Thud!
"Aaaahhhhh!"
Perhaps glad to see prey for the first time in a while, the slime gave its all to crush me. It was obvious that if I got crushed by that, I would become scattered chunks of meat or end up in a terrible state.
As if proving the fact that humans can exert more strength than usual in the face of death, my legs moved more nimbly than usual.
—Thump thump! Thump thump! Thump thump! Thuuump!
"I should have went all-in on Agility! Aaaahhhh!"
Even after running for a while, welcome text like 'Agility +1' did not appear. But the situation was too urgent to feel regret.
I racked my brain... Since it's a guy that only charges like a wild boar, wouldn't it work if I dodged this way and that way to the sides? To think the method I came up with after racking my brain was just dodging to the sides... But having no particular method, I glanced behind me and dodged left and right every time the slime jumped.
—Thud!
"Whoa!"
—Thud!
"Hup!"
—Thuuud!
The vibration transmitted through my two legs for quite some time.
"This crazy thing! Won't you cut it out?"
Perhaps angry seeing me just out of reach, the slime started to raise the tempo.
—Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Uwaaaaaaaack!"
I had no choice but to run around the plain making pathetic sounds. My heart beat violently and a ringing sound spread in my head, making me think only of thoughts necessary for survival.
'I have to dodge faster, more! More! More!'
As I ran madly diagonally like that, my footsteps started to become lighter. It wasn't the feeling of stepping on the ground, but the feeling of kicking off the wind near the ground and flying up. Along with the feeling of pleasant wind wrapping around my feet, my speed gradually increased.
The distancing slime, the running that was becoming a little familiar. Running almost out of stamina, I felt good at the refreshing sense of liberation.
Going forward just like this...
—Puk!
"Uh...?"
—Thud-thud-thud!
Looking down at the foreign sensation felt in my stomach, the slime, stretched out long like a spear, was protruding through my stomach. I don't really know about the pain. Strength drained from my body, and the tinnitus I thought had passed rang the alarm in my head again, forcing me to look straight at the current situation.
'I heard you shouldn't pull it out for a penetrating wound...'
Judgment and situation did not always match up properly. The slime that dealt me a fatal wound melted as if it had finished its business and spilled sloppily onto the ground. Ironically, as the culprit that pierced the wound disappeared, the blood flow sprayed diligently toward the new passage.
In the end, unable to move even a finger, I crawled on the dirt floor.
"Ah..."
Is this what it feels like for blood to drain from the whole body? Burning cold sweat seeped out from my whole body, but instead, I felt cold and drowsiness gradually washed over me. I resisted the weight pressing down on my eyelids, but it was not enough, and I closed my eyes without seeing the light bursting from my stomach.
—Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
[Level Up!]
—Ding! You have obtained the Essence of the 'Executioner'!
[You have obtained the Skill 'LV.MAX Slime's Body'!]
—Ding! Additional points are awarded according to the unbelievable achievement.