Chapter 1: The Ant Keeper
"And these are your rations for today…"
Seth Reid spoke softly to his colony as he carefully placed a drop of sugar water into their home. The room was dim, lit only by the warm glow of his desk lamp.
What looked like a simple glass tank was, in truth, a sophisticated ant nest—a formicarium. There was no water inside, only a sprawling maze of tunnels carved through a block of sandy soil. Near the entrance, a fine pile of fresh debris showed how busy its tiny inhabitants had been.
This was Seth's passion.
He wasn't just someone who kept ants; he was a true ant keeper. His fascination had begun when he was just a kid—the day his parents gave him a simple gel ant farm.
He still remembered pressing his nose against the plastic, completely mesmerized as the ants built a secret universe before his eyes.
That childhood wonder never faded.
It grew.
Now, years later, he cared for several colonies—each one a window into one of nature's most complex and organized societies.
For Seth, it was more than a hobby. It was his way to unwind, to connect with a world most people never even noticed beneath their feet.
After his daily routine, Seth walked into his bedroom, changed clothes, and prepared a small meal for dinner.
He had just returned from school, but his mind was still stuck on today's lesson—and his teacher's words.
"Tomorrow is College Night. You must bring your parents. This is for your future!"
That was what his class advisor had said.
As he thought about it, his eyes drifted to the corner of his living room, where a framed picture of a child version of him and a happy couple sat—his parents.
"Mom, Dad…" he whispered.
It had been ten years since the accident.
According to the police report, the car his parents were in had lost its brakes before plunging off a cliff. The impact caused an explosion so intense that their bodies were reduced to ashes.
Since his parents had never introduced him to any relatives, Seth had assumed they had no family left.
Fortunately, before the government could send him to an orphanage, a mysterious old man appeared—claiming to be a friend of his parents.
From that day onward, the old man became his legal guardian.
But most of the time, he was away—traveling from city to city, sometimes even abroad. He rarely showed his face, yet he always seemed to appear on Seth's most important days.
Even so, Seth couldn't help but doubt if he would show up for College Night.
With a quiet sigh, he pushed the thought aside and finished his meal.
After washing the dishes, he returned to his bedroom and opened his laptop.
For the next few hours, he was lost in his studies.
Ding!
"Hmm?"
Curious about the notification sound, he checked his screen.
It was an email—from an unknown sender. With faint curiosity, he opened it.
From: A
Subject: Fight For Survival
The current iteration of this world is scheduled for termination. The process begins at dawn.
Some of you have been observed. A variable has been introduced into the system. A single chance for persistence beyond the collapse.
The link is an access point. It is not a promise of safety. It is an opportunity to be assessed. Those who are worthy may continue. Those who are not will be unmade with the rest.
Request Assessment
This communication will not be repeated.
"...What the hell?" Seth muttered, blinking at the screen.
"Are scammers really this lame nowadays?" he thought with a shake of his head.
It was obviously a phishing scam.
He moved the cursor to delete the email, a wry smile tugging at his lips.
"Fight for survival? Termination? Someone's been watching too many bad movies."
His finger hovered over the delete key—then paused.
A part of him, the same part that had spent his childhood glued to ant farms, stirred with faint curiosity.
What if…?
"Ah, what's the worst that could happen?" he murmured.
He clicked | Request Assessment |.
In the next second the world dissolved into static. His desk, his laptop, the dim light—everything shattered into streams of glowing data.
When his vision cleared, Seth found himself standing in an infinite grey expanse that swallowed both light and sound.
Before him, three arching doorways shimmered into existence.
The one on the left pulsed violently with a deep crimson hue. Before he could even react, a wave of invisible force slammed into him, hurling him through the red doorway.
He crashed onto scorched earth. The air was thick with ozone and decay.
Above him, a blood-red sun bled across the sky like an infected wound, casting long, twisted shadows across the barren ground.
In the center of the clearing stood a colossal white tree, its bark glowing faintly as if struggling to stay alive.
Golden fruits hung from its branches, dimming one by one.
A monstrous larva, the size of a bear, was devouring the tree's roots. Its circular mouth, lined with crystalline teeth, chewed through the glowing wood with a sickening CRUNCH.
The sound tore through him like shattering bone.
The tree screamed—not with sound, but through a psychic wave of agony that made Seth clutch his head.
"It hurts?!" he exclaimed. A quick indication that wherever he was, everything must be real!
A crimson timer burned into his vision:
[00:00:59]
[00:00:58]
Then came a voice, cold and mechanical:
YOU MUST PROTECT THE HEART OF THE GROVE!
FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULTS TO DEATH!
"Fuck!" Seth shouted, scrambling to his feet, searching frantically for anything he could use as a weapon.
It had all seemed like a stupid prank moments ago—but this? This was real.
If whatever brought him here had the power to do this, it definitely had the power to kill him.
Spotting a jagged, obsidian-like rock nearby, he grabbed it and sprinted toward the larva.
The larva was massive, making him hesitant for a moment before he made up his mind and greeted his teeth.
"I'm not sure if this is going to work but fuck it!"
He drove the rock into its side with all his strength.
Bang!
The rock shattered.
The larva didn't even flinch. It simply took another devastating bite.
CRUNCH!
[00:00:47]
[00:00:46]
"It's so tough! This is impossible!" He cried in frustration.
Furious, he let out a roar and punched the larva. However, as anyone expected, the larva did not feel anything. Instead, it was Seth who felt extreme pain.
Naturally, he realized that he was being stupid. A rock was unable to do anything. It was stupid of him to even use his scrawny arms.
The time continued to tick down.
The ground trembled. A third of the tree's fruits went dark.
Panic clawed at him. "There must be something here for me to use to complete the mission!"
Then he saw them—ants.
Massive, rust-red ants swarmed the ground, but they were in chaos—attacking random beetles and small creatures while the real threat was right in front of them.
'They don't see it as the enemy,' Seth immediately realized.
As an ant-nerd, he quickly understood that these ants could not see the larva as a threat. However, Seth was different, his life was on the line.
"I've been caring for your kind for more than half of my life. I hope you don't betray me!" he mumbled to himself as his eyes flicked from the ants toward the golden fruits.
'I will be needing your help!'
He thought as he lunged forward, leaping over a thrashing root, and grabbed a low-hanging fruit. It pulsed warmly in his hand.
Without hesitation he squeezed it and glowing sap dripped between his fingers. Concentrated energy began to seep out.
The larva froze.
Its head turned, crystalline mouth clacking hungrily—the concentrated energy was irresistible.
This time it charged straight for him.
"Shit!"
Seth did not think twice and ran, his heart hammering against his ribs.
While running he did not forget to smear the glowing sap on the ground in a wide arc, leading the larva away from the tree.
"Here! Over here!" he screamed—not with his voice, but with every ounce of willpower he had, pushing his intent toward the chaotic swarm.
[00:00:22]
[00:00:21]
The larva thundered toward him, its weight carving furrows into the scorched earth.
Ten feet.
Five.
Then the ground erupted.
The rust-red ants surged upward, united by instinct.
They didn't aim for its body—they swarmed its legs, its joints, its weak points.
The larva shrieked as thousands of ants anchored themselves to its limbs, slowing its charge to a crawl. It crushed hundreds under its bulk, but more and more replaced them, unyielding.
Seth didn't stop. He sprinted back to the wounded root and shoved the remains of the fruit into the gash.
Instantly, the swarm shifted focus. The source of energy was now the tree's wound.
In perfect coordination, the ants redirected the larva, forcing it away from the heart of the grove.
[00:00:05]
[00:00:04]
The larva's screech echoed as it vanished into the dark, dragged by an ocean of chitin and mandibles.
[00:00:01]
The timer vanished.
A profound silence followed. The white tree's light steadied, glowing warm and calm once more.
"I... did it," Seth whispered, breathless.
The world dissolved again, and he found himself back in the grey expanse. Sweat drenched his clothes, and his body trembled with exhaustion.
A notification appeared before his eyes:
Trial I: The Heart of the Grove – Passed.
Aspect Recognized: Strategic Mobilization Under Duress.
Additional Points Calculated…
Initializing Talent Conduit…
A surge of energy raced through his body. It felt like thousands of insects were crawling beneath his skin—alive, whispering, connected.
Talent Acquired: [Hive Link – Minor]
He understood instinctively.
He could now link with a colony. Not full control—but enough to give a simple command.
He lifted his gaze. The red doorway had vanished. Two others remained, glowing faintly in the endless grey.
"Shit… two more doors…"
Despair settled in. If the first trial was already this brutal, what kind of horrors waited behind the next ones?
Before he could even decide, an invisible force tugged at him—pulling him backward.
When he blinked again, he was back in his room.
The doorways were gone.
His laptop sat in front of him, dark, cracked across the screen.
Seth stared at it in silence.
"I… am back?" he muttered.