Bam-!
A clean blow straight to the face!
Hyeseong, off to the side, was in a mix of awe… and nausea from the toxins.
"Ugh… I feel like shit. But we gotta use this chance…!"
Hyeseong turned to another fight, this one more one sided than Do-Hyeoks, in a bad way though, Suchan was being overpowered.
"Suchan!!!"
And Suchan turned slightly, seeing Hyeseong was up.
"Let's go!"
Hyeseong grabbed Do-Hyeok and ran while Suchan followed.
Do-Hyeok was still dazed, his focus was broken. He had no clue what was happening.
—
When they got far enough away, the two finally slowed and Do-Hyeok was put down.
"Alright, this should be far enough. Are you two good?" Hyeseong asked.
Do-Hyeok snapped out of his slightly dazed expression and remarked, "Natural predators are fucking scary man."
'...you sure you aren't the scary one?'
Then Suchan spoke up,
"Let's go back, that praying mantis is too dangerous to be let go."
"Say what?! You wanna go back there and catch that praying mantis?! You musta knocked your head too many times!!!"
"Havent you learned anything from todays lesson?! When you beat an opponent you can't beat, you have to run away! And look at all our injuries!"
Hyeseong thought this guy was out of his mind! What was he thinking?
"I know. I'm aware of just how strong he is, he might even kill me, but that's exactly why we should catch him."
"?!"
"if he gets away… sooner or later he'll get to someone else, someone as scared as i was before i came here, and he might kill them."
"Well yeah, but how are we even supposed to beat him."
"I have an idea."
Do-Hyeok cut in.
"?"
"I didn't get a full glimpse at the guy you were fighting Suchan, but he's probably pretty durable right?"
"Well yeah his exoskeleton was the main problem."
"Then we simply stop fighting like bugs."
"???"
—
Meanwhile a certain mantis and woman in purple with a black eye, were surprisingly calm.
While the woman was a little pissed about her face being ruined…
"Aaaargghh!!!"
Ok maybe a bit more than that.
Even if this was the case, she still had a mission to do. Ant hunting wasn't one of them.
So reluctantly she sucked it up and said,
"They're probably long gone by now, let's go."
But then the mantis stopped.
"Whats wrong now?" She asked
He smelled something, not as tasty as the dragonfly, but still equally as distinguishable.
'This smell… behind? No! In front.'
BAM-!
But before he could even turn, a fist perfectly landed at his jaw,
"Kh…! What the hell!"
The mantis looked forward, this smell, it was distinct but…
"An Ant?"
Not even worth his time, however… he was hungry.
The mantis lunged after Do-Hyeok,
'Focus…'
In this state of extreme focus, Do-Hyeok activated his trap-jaw ability,
[Zone]
That's what he decided to name it, because that's practically what it was. A state of extreme focus, what some athletes call flow state, [the zone].
The mantis swung at him with alarming precision but his body instinctively dodged everything so narrowly, the mantis felt as though he was being played with.
'What the hell is this?! I'm meant to be an absolute predator! So why does it feel like my prey is toying with me?'
But Do-Hyeok's thoughts were different,
'Why is his exoskeleton so damn hard! What's it made of, adamantium, those two better hurry up…'
Then he heard a voice,
"Do-Hyeok!!!"
He didn't need to look he knew who it was,
Suchan.
Swoosh-!
He threw something into the air, unseen by the mantis, but Do-Hyeok caught on immediately.
He dodged the mantis' attack and kicked off his face to launch into the air.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!!! I'M THE STRONGEST PREDATOR IN THE WORLD!!! I CAN'T BE TOYED WITH BY A LOWLIFE ANT!!!!"
the mantis screamed, realizing too late that his fate was sealed as soon as Do-Hyeok got into the air.
VRRR-!
"Predator?"
Do-Hyeok caught a chainsaw midair and swung it straight down to the mantis' arm.
"Maybe in the insect kingdom."
SLASH-!
It was a clean sound, right through!
"AAAAARRRRRGHHH!!!!"
His arm was torn clean off.
"Have you ever watched chainsaw man? You were doomed from the start."
"YOU FUCKING–"
[Asian weaver ant]
BAM-!
But before he could say any more Do-Hyeok moved in and hit a clean blow to the face.
He was knocked out, in a single blow.
"One down."
Do-Hyeok stood and looked at the woman,
"One to go."
But before he could move toward her,
BOOM-!
A small crater was made in the area in front of him, when the dust settled one figure emerged,
The professor!
"Not quite the victorious result you were looking for is it? Pitif—" professor Ji stopped himself and clearly analysed the situation.
Hyeseong had called him in to help after he treated his wounds but he did not think the situation was this favourable.
No visible deep cuts or injuries on Suchan, Do-Hyeok had a gash on his arm but that was his only real injury.
On the other side, an amputated unconscious mantis and a woman with a black eye and visible anger.
"Did you two do this?" He asked them.
"Yeah, so?" Do-Hyeok said.
He was stunned. Seriously, two transfer students with barely any combat experience took down a seasoned predator.
But that didn't last long, the mantis gained consciousness again standing back up.
"You two have earned the right to see a demonstration. Watch closely."
And they did, the mantis lunged forward.
Professor Ji's arm began to smoke.
"You'll pay for ruining my first class of the semester as well as that hole you tore through me."
Bombardier Beetle.
"Youll pay with your life."
This aptly-named insect possesses a phenomenal ability.
When in battle with its natural enemy, the bombardier beetle forges a chemical reaction in its body.
The intense heat from this chemical reaction is expelled from its body, at its opponent…
…in a violent explosion.
[The ultimate defense mechanism of the bombardier beetle…]
BOOM-!
[...Detonate.]
The mantis was burnt to a crisp, but not dead yet, fortunately unconscious for good this time.
"Now you've seen it with your own eyes. This is one example of the jungle juice effect. Insecta complex."
'Insecta complex… how powerful'
"Otherwise known as just the complex. And it is the true power we each harness."
Then the two remembered something.
'When I use my insect abilities, I experience side effects.'
Then they looked at his smoking arm.
It was shaking.
Not just a little.
A lot.
"You think this won't happen to you?"
That startled the two.
"My side effects are a result of my careless handling of my complex. I ruined my abilities before I could understand their power. And the same could happen to you two. The only way to prevent it is to completely master this power as soon as you can."
'But… I don't even know what I am!'
—
Soon enough, it was all over.
And they returned to campus safe and sound…
Mostly.
Turns out both Hyeseong and Suchan had multiple injuries that couldn't be seen at first glance so they were once again in the infirmary.
As for Do-Hyeok, his only real injury was that cut, luckily, but he chose to stay in that infirmary anyway.
Why?
Because this let him take a medical test to find out what his complex was!
Finally, he'd understand what kind of ant he was.
All he knew was that he was an ant. There were hundreds if not thousands in him and that had something to do with the project: colony. Nothing more.
The mantis was locked up thankfully but that lady got away which left slight concern with all the parties involved.
Also, no one was expelled!
However, there were a couple students reconsidering the course after the incident.
But hey, all's well that ends well, right?
—
That night, while the three were asleep in their respective hospital beds, Hyeseong got up.
No not normally, more robotically. And left the infirmary as if he was some kind of zombie.
Suchan was still somewhat awake so he caught onto this.
He got up out of the bed and woke up Do-Hyeok.
Do-Hyeok was confused but agreed to follow Hyeseong to see where he was going.
And it didn't take long to figure out something was wrong with him.
Why?
Because he was walking into the mountains.
Nevertheless, the two followed.
Then they saw something they'd least expected.
"Careless… as expected."
It was the woman!
Cockroach wasp.
"They never saw this coming, did they? Darling."
Injects its prey with neurotoxins to paralyse and control their brains in a zombie-like state.
She brought his face closer to hers cupping his face.
"You have no idea how evil these people really are. They're all hypocrites and liars, pumpkin."
She smiled,
"All they're trying to do is lock us monsters up in a cage, just like what they're doing to that praying mantis."
And began to clasp his neck tightly,
"Did they tell you they're trying to protect all insect humans? I'm afraid they've got it all wrong."
"The Nest can't protect anyone."
BOOM-!
Professor Ji came in like a comet.
"I knew you'd be back soon enough. Since you would want to destroy everything im trying to protect"
"Thats why I pretended not to notice the stinger on his neck."
"Whatever this wretched scheme of yours is, I will do everything necessary to protect them from it."
The professor clenched his fist.
"So… let's see if I can beat some sense into you…"
"Gayeon Sin."
—
END OF CHAPTER
A/N: I'm gonna go back and add pictures for every character description just in case some people can't picture it. I'm benevolent like that.
Why was the baby ant confused?
Because all of his uncles were ants!
Heh…