You Left Me Behind to Feed the Bugs. If They Catch You, You’ll Be Assimilated

(The main story begins in Chapter 40. Feel free to skip ahead.)

"So hot." "This feels awful." "Please, let me go." "I don't want to become a monster."

"This feels so good." "Master." "Love me." "You will all die."

The rifts have arrived. I'm in the middle of a life-or-death game. Do not disturb!

In this insect-infested dungeon, ruins stretch in every direction. Failure doesn't mean death. It means being injected with white assimilation fluid, losing all consciousness, and becoming a puppet for the swarms to control.

I'm just a clueless beginner, doing everything I can to stay with the group and survive. But when the insect tide broke through our defenses, and death was just a heartbeat away, all my companions thought only of fleeing. Without hesitation, they abandoned me to the monsters' claws and fangs.

The insects' sharp mouths pierced my skin, and viscous white liquid flooded into my limbs. Everyone thought I'd become a soulless walking corpse.

But the assimilation never came.

A transformation quietly began deep within my body.

Translucent horns emerged, my pointed ears trembled, and a long insect tail unfurled from my lower back. My body, soaked through with layer upon layer of mucus, shed its old form and became bewitchingly beautiful. I retained my entire sense of self, and even earned the favor of the ancient master of the insect nest.

The teammates who had abandoned me once managed to escape. They thought that surviving the ordeal meant they could return to reality alive.

But I now command the insect tide. Leading countless insects and puppets, I blocked the way of these guilty people in a dimly lit corridor.

Looking at their panicked, regretful faces, I asked softly:

When you left me to die, did you regret it?

You'll repay everything you owe me, one by one, by becoming my minions.