After killing Bug God yesterday, Jack had stared at his account balance—now swollen to over 30,000 Origin Points—and promptly engaged in some interest-driven stat allocation.
Upgrading a UR ability was costly. Ten thousand points per level. He could upgrade one, but there was no immediate need. With that much Origin Points burning a hole in his pocket, he'd opted for a balanced approach instead.
One level into each SSR ability. Balance the growth of core competencies with overall performance improvement. Focus on cost-effectiveness.
[Consumed Origin Points x 16000 | "Overgrowth" level increased! Lv5 → Lv6]
[Consumed Origin Points x 4000 | "Fierce Beast Body" level increased! Lv3 → Lv4]
Two allocations, and more than half of his thirty-thousand-plus stash was already gone.
The remainder went toward essentials. First, raising Monsterification—the linchpin ability for his next stage of mischief. Then the leftover scraps got dumped into his inherent body abilities.
[Consumed Origin Points x 1000 | Ability Evolution Complete!]
["Beginner Regeneration (N)" LvMax → "Rapid Regeneration (R)" Lv1!]
The Regeneration ability had evolved to R-level. Wound recovery and limb regeneration speed were now significantly enhanced.
[Consumed Origin Points x 2550 | "Spike Armor" level increased! Lv1 → Lv9!]
Finally, he'd pushed his innate Spike Armor to the very brink of evolution. With that final all-in, his Origin Points plummeted to single digits.
Burned out.
Origin Points… truly burned out.
[—No Human System—]
[Host: Jack]
[Current Race: Monster (Unknown Insectoid Mutation)
]**
[Disaster Level: Demon (Upper)
]**
[—Ability List—]
[Inherent Body Abilities: 2]
1. "Spike Armor (R)" Lv9
2. "Rapid Regeneration (R)" Lv1
[Ability Slots: 10 / 15]
1. "Megaton Split (UR)" Lv1
2. "Fusion Combination (UR)" Lv1
3. "Overgrowth (SSR)" Lv6
4. "Fierce Beast Body (SSR)" Lv4
5. "Scorching Heat Bullet (SSR)" Lv2
6. "Beast Instinct (SSR)" Lv2
7. "Swift Wind (SSR)" Lv2
8. "Cell Mimicry (SSR)" Lv2
9. "Monsterification (SR)" Lv6
10. "Cell Self-Destruction (SR)" Lv1
[Origin Points: 7]
[— — — E N D — — —]
At this moment, staring at the system panel and recalling yesterday's allocation spree, Jack still felt a lingering sense of unfulfillment.
Trash system. How did you hit your limit after just a few upgrades?
(System: "...")
Fortunately, none of the Origin Points had been wasted. His baseline strength had firmly reached Demon-level Upper, taking another substantial step forward after the Bug God battle. He was closing in on Demon-level Great Perfection…
No. He was now just one step away from Demon-level Peak.
Awoo awoo~~!! * (Push harder~~!!*)
"Sorry, sorry. I was spacing out, Lord Pochi."
His drifting thoughts were yanked back by Pochi's dissatisfied howling. Jack smiled an apology—then crimson patterns blazed across his entire body as his upper Demon-level power detonated.
With Pochi's defense—surpassing Dragon-level by a comfortable margin—a vigorous scrub was exactly what the situation called for.
"Is this intensity to your liking?"
Woof woof~ * (Just right~*)
The cold underground river, occupied by one person and one beast, once again filled with harmonious laughter.
After completing his daily feeding + dog-petting mission, Jack bid farewell to the still-reluctant Pochi and began the familiar walk back alone.
His thoughts churned.
The small skirmishes among lower-level Monsters were one thing. But killing Bug God? That would definitely elicit a response from Great Eyes.
As for the few low-level Monsters who'd accompanied him as… food porters…
Don't ask. They'd all been crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Familiar faces, every one.
Not long after he'd set out, a familiar psychic fluctuation silently enveloped him.
Here it is.
Jack's heart stirred. His steps paused fractionally. He looked up.
Perched on a rock not far ahead, a pinkish-purple cyclops floated strangely. Several deformed tentacles swayed gently around it. Little Eyeball—Great Eyes's puppet clone, used for surveillance, reconnaissance, and information transmission.
It floated in absolute silence. Its single eye held no emotion. It simply stared at Jack, cold and unblinking.
Jack understood. He stepped forward calmly and executed a graceful bow.
"Lord Great Eyes."
Little Eyeball was silent for a long moment. Then a voice—slightly cold, distorted, strange—echoed directly in Jack's ears.
"Bug God is dead."
"I killed him."
Jack admitted it frankly. No deflection. No defense.
Little Eyeball fell silent again. Jack could feel the will behind that single eye scrutinizing him. Weighing him. Evaluating his worth. His threat level.
"Why?"
Psykos's distorted voice filtered through the psychic fluctuations emitted by the puppet.
"Bug God was one of the Monster Association's important combat forces. You killed him. I need a reason."
Jack straightened to his full height. His dark face mask betrayed no expression, but his tone carried an arrogance that felt entirely natural—as if he were simply stating an obvious truth.
"Reason?" He tilted his head slightly. "The reason is that I'm stronger. So he died."
He let that hang in the air for a beat before continuing.
"Lord Great Eyes, in my estimation… losers are not qualified to serve you."
Little Eyeball's reaction was unreadable. But Jack knew the calculus of the Monster Association well enough. Among its ranks, losers truly had only one fate: to become snacks for Monster King Orochi. His words weren't defiance—they were alignment with the existing order.
"You asked me before to choose a resounding Monster name for myself." Jack took a step forward, releasing his formidable aura without reservation. It carried the sharp, biting edge of a newly ascended powerhouse—confident, hungry, unapologetic.
"I think the name 'Bug God' suits me quite well."
Another step.
"Since that worthless being has already proven its inferiority with its death…" He raised a clawed hand, the spike-armored appendage pointing at himself from across the distance. "From today onward—I am Bug God."
The declaration wasn't loud. But it echoed clearly through the empty underground passage, carrying weight far beyond its volume.
Behind Little Eyeball, hidden deep within the Association's core, Psykos heard every word.
Even with her strategic mastery and centuries of accumulated composure, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
…This guy.
Is he just bad at naming things? Did he seriously steal a dead man's title because he couldn't think of his own?
But complaints aside.
What Psykos actually cared about was the astonishing growth rate Jack had displayed. The potential written in every line of his dark, evolving form.
In barely a week, he'd rocketed from Wolf-level cannon fodder to someone capable of casually erasing a peak Demon-level combatant. The strength. The courage. The sheer velocity of his ascent.
It far exceeded her initial expectations.
She even caught herself—just for a moment—seeing a shadow of her most successful creation in Jack's dark, evolving silhouette.
Monster King Orochi.
To me, Demon-level Monsters are merely tools. Expendable. Replaceable.
When an old tool breaks… replacing it with a stronger, sharper one doesn't seem like a bad thing at all.
The distorted, deliberately sharp voice returned, cutting through the silence.
"Very well."
There was something almost like interest in Psykos's tone now.
"Since you've proven your worth… from today onward, you are the Monster Association's new Bug God."