Chapter 36: Evolution

When Wang Shuo came back to his senses, he was in an enormous palace.

Above the palace was a dome that looked like the starry sky. Surrounding the dome were twelve bright red walls full of countless lifeform relief sculptures. Upon closer inspection, he felt as if the statues were alive.

Beneath his feet was a large open square, and in the middle of the square was a door made of light.

[Detected that the player is in the rookie period. The difficulty of the instance dungeon can be lowered.

Current Difficulty: Intermediate (3-5 stars)

Available Difficulty: Low (0-2 stars)

Do you wish to lower it?]

Without hesitation, Wang Shuo selected no.

Although he was unclear about the rules of the entry ticket, the incident with the Tiger Regiment was a wake-up call for him.

In this unpredictable world, you had to become stronger if you didn’t want to be at the mercy of others.

Although the next trial was still two months away, the time would pass in a flash. But in this world where danger lurked everywhere, there were too many variables.

It would be best if he could raise his Physique to 6 points during this trial. But if he couldn’t, he didn’t plan on waiting any longer.

He had to complete his class advancement in this trial.

[You have selected intermediate difficulty. Instance dungeon being generated. Instance dungeon generated: Evolution 1.]

[Quest Requirements: Complete at least three evolutions.

Quest Reward: Dependent on completion level.

Quest Failure: When the instance dungeon ends or when the player dies, points will be deducted based on the completion rate. 300 points will be deducted for each failure. You will be killed if you do not have enough points.

Dungeon Duration: 30 days]

[The dungeon has been successfully constructed… Loading…

The data structure has been successfully constructed… Loading…

Data connection… connecting…]

…

Sha Sha Sha

In a daze, Wang Shuo heard movements around him.

He subconsciously looked over but suddenly realized that something was wrong with his body.

“Where are my eyes…”

Wang Shuo felt as if his consciousness was bound to a tiny body, and he had lost his sight.

“Attributes!”

Fortunately, the translucent Attribute Window appeared with the command.

Number: k2648263

Name: Wang Shuo

Race: Horned Beetle

Evolution Number: 0

Evolution Points: 0.0%

Strength: 0.0005; Agility: 0.0003; Physique: 0.0006

Talent: Devour Evolution

Skills: Horn Thrust, Bite, Hard Shell

Attributes: None

Devour Evolution: You can obtain Evolution Points through devouring creatures. When your Evolution Points reach 100%, you can complete an evolution. (Note: Whenever you devour a creature, there is a chance to extract the other party’s talent and skills.)

Horn Thrust: A basic combat skill of the horned beetle. It has a certain amount of attack power (Strength x1).

Bite: A basic combat skill of the horned beetle. It has a certain amount of attack power (Strength x1).

Hard Shell: A shell with weak defense (Physique x1).

“I’ve turned into a bug?”

Wang Shuo was caught between laughter and tears.

He thought that the instance dungeon was all about fighting and killing. In that case, he would have had an advantage with his two pieces of mystic-tier equipment.

But now, his consciousness directly possessed a beetle’s body, and he had to start from the beginning.

He gradually adapted to his body. The good news was that he hadn’t become blind.

The beetle could sense its surroundings using its horn. The general feeling was somewhat similar to that of Heart Mirror, except the image produced was similar to the world of someone with 200-degree myopia, so its perception ability was relatively poor.

The range of his perception was also very small, and he was unsure of its actual scope because there were no objects for reference.

Sha Sha Sha

After familiarizing himself with the beetle’s perception, Wang Shuo finally found the source of the movement.

It was a super-sized ant. No, it was not that the ant was too big but that his body was too small.

Wang Shuo came back to his senses.

After comparing, he realized that he was no different from an ant.

“Come on. I really have to start all over again…”

After calming down, Wang Shuo focused his attention on the ant.

The ant was struggling and looked in bad condition. Its six legs were weak and dragging feebly against the ground, creating a rustling sound. But it couldn’t move at all.

Finally, the ant’s movement became slower and slower and then came to a complete stop in less than ten seconds.

“Is it dead?”

Wang Shuo suddenly realized something.

He controlled his body and began to move slowly.

The beetle had four legs. He felt fine when he was lying down. But when he moved, he felt a bit awkward.

Fortunately, with his mental abilities, he was skilled at controlling his new limbs. Every movement felt instinctive.

While slowly crawling to the ant’s side, Wang Shuo muttered in his heart. “Am I supposed to eat this thing?”

After hesitating for two seconds, Wang Shuo yielded under the pressure of the quest.

He opened his mouth and bit off one of the ant’s legs.

“Eh?”

The ant tasted surprisingly good. It was crunchy with a hint of a smoky fragrance.

This reduced a lot of Wang Shuo’s psychological barriers.

Kacha!

Kacha!

Following a series of soft chewing sounds, most of the ant’s body entered Wang Shuo’s stomach.

A system prompt suddenly came.

[You devoured an ant and obtained 10.0% Evolution Points.]

[Randomly drawing the opponent’s talents and skills…]

[The player is undergoing a random draw. [Selection Option] automatically activated.]

[Here are the options…]

[Talent: Elementary Strength]

Description: Strength x2

[Skill: Acid Corrosion]

Description: Bite will cause (Strength x1) corrosive damage to the target.

[Strength +0.0001]

[Agility +0.0001]

[Physique +0.0001]

[None]

…

“This sucks!”

Other than the few useful options at the top, there were hundreds [None] ones below. Seeing these options, Wang Shuo couldn’t hold back his curses.

Without much hesitation, he chose Talent: Elementary Strength.

Although he wanted the magic attack skill Acid Corrosion, it was undoubtedly more cost-effective to choose something with long-term potential.

[You receive Talent: Elementary Strength.]

[Your Strength has increased.]

A warm current emerged out of nowhere and flowed into his body before disappearing without a trace.

He opened his Attributes Window and found that his Strength attribute had increased from 0.0005 to 0.001.

“The feeling of becoming stronger is as intoxicating as ever!”

Wang Shuo pushed his distracting thoughts to the back of his mind and began planning his next steps.

It was unknown if he was lucky to have met the ant or if the system was taking care of its players.

But it would be unrealistic to wait for another ant to die before him, so Wang Shuo had to forage for his next meal.

If he wanted to look for food, he first had to familiarize himself with his current environment.

After eating his fill, Wang Shuo was full of energy. After about ten minutes, he finally figured out that he was currently in a cave, or rather, a small hole in a rock.

While the cave was relatively clean, it was slightly damp inside. But it was a good place for him to stay for now.

He carefully crawled out of the cave and saw a dense patch of thick weeds outside. Of course, the weeds were no different from towering trees to him now.

Suddenly, Wang Shuo discovered a white larva on a blade of grass.

He didn’t know what it was exactly. It was small, white, and didn’t have any attack power. It looked tender and delicious.