HC:Pacifist | Ch. 135 - Micromanagement

Roth pulled the silkworm cocoon from his pocket and looked at the ant. Silkworms were intelligent creatures in the game. Could this be a new faction he hadn’t yet befriended? Now that he thought about it, when had he seen ants in the game? He didn’t recall ever seeing one.

Pulling the silkworm cocoon out, he paused before putting it back into his pocket. It had been several days since he had found the cocoon, and it shouldn’t take long for it to hatch. He looked at the encirclement of players trying to break through the shield and found a crack in the tree's bark where he could tuck the cocoon. If Pegasus broke through and got to him, at least this little one should survive.

His eyes went back to the little ant walking up the tree. Having nothing else to do, Roth decided to follow it. He stood up and observed as the ant joined one of its companions, and then they met a trail of other ants. The small trail led to a bigger trail. It was like a creek flowing into a river. The trail went beyond what Roth could see from here. Fortunately, Roth had already gotten used to climbing in the game. Careful not to squash any ants, he dug his fingers into the cracks in the tree’s bark and climbed it, following the ant trail, trying to see where it led.

This tree was incredibly tall. Had it not been for the illusion that kept it hidden from others, Roth was sure that everyone in and out of the woods would be able to see it from miles away. The trail of ants kept going up. After climbing for 50 meters, Roth looked down and saw that the world had become tiny. Everything seemed so small from up here. Even the barrage of explosions that had seemed so dangerous and mighty looked like cute fireworks being thrown by children.

The closer he got to the tree’s foliage, the louder the rustling of the leaves became. Up here, the breeze grew stronger, bringing with it the earthy perfume of the woodland. It was an upgrade compared to the smell of scorched earth that Pegasus was making down there. The ants kept going up, and Roth kept following them. As he reached the leafed branches of the trees, he noticed some ants were leaving the trail, like cars on a highway, taking exits to enter smaller roads.

He followed them onto a sturdy branch and discovered what the ants were up to. Under the leaves and greener stems, there was another species of insect. They were much tinier than ants and were pear-shaped. The ants were heading toward these insects. Roth leaned in as close as he could to get a good view of what was happening.

The ants were approaching the aphids and were delicately stroking their tiny bodies with their antennae. This gentle touch stimulated the other bugs to release a drop of some sort of liquid. It looked like a tiny glass pearl. The ants drank this liquid and moved on to the next insect. Were they milking them? What kind of substance was this? Once the ants had collected enough of the liquid, they turned around and headed back down the tree. Fascinating. It was as if the ants were herding cattle.

Comparing the ants coming and going, the difference in their torsos was visible. The ants coming down the tree were bloated and plump. Roth followed them back down. They converged, forming a trail running down the tree. He hadn’t seen it earlier as it was located on the other side of the trunk. Massive as this tree was, the trunk was very thick. It would need several people holding hands to hug the tree.

As he kept descending the tree, another trail of red ants joined. They had gone farther up into the canopy and came back carrying little pieces of greenery. The trail of ants formed a black, red, and green river made of bloated black ants and red ants carrying leaves. It was an otherworldly parade, as modern and well-organized as any highway in a modern city.

Eventually, he discovered that this and other trails led to a small opening located under one of the tree’s roots. What was in there?

“Slayer!”

Roth had been so fascinated by his new discovery that, for a few moments, he had forgotten about his precarious situation. He looked panickedly toward the person calling him. He knew this voice. The barrage of attacks had stopped, and in front of Xerxes, three players were kneeling down as if they were about to be executed. The arrangement seemed too dramatic since this was a game, but Roth gulped as he understood the hidden meaning. It was Gary, Wilson, and Xana.

“Roth, please! Come out, or they will hurt me in real life,” begged Xana.

“I’m sorry for what we did to you, Slayer. They made us do it. Please come out! Please. I beg you.”

Only Gary looked down, refusing to speak. At the sight of his former friends who had tortured him now begging for his help, he only felt a profound sadness even though he wanted to feel disgusted. His heart had been torn to pieces, like the leaves these red ants cut. Worse, he wanted to help them.

“Please, Roth. For old time’s sake,” cried Xana.

“Slayer, remember all those good times as kids. Come on. You can’t leave us like this,” added Wilson.

“I know we were mean to you, but we’re only in this situation because of the contract you made us sign! Please, Roth, come out.”

Roth was now crying. His heart was torn between his desire to help them and the fear that made him want to run away. After hanging both in the balance, he found that fear was heavier. His friends had caused him too much pain. It wasn’t easy to risk himself for them now. He understood that Loki could hurt them or their lives in the real world as well, but he was powerless. Besides, even if he did find a way to help them, what good would it do for his mother and siblings?

He had to run. He had to get away. He looked at the trail of ants. How he wished he could just follow them and retreat into the safety of the tree. He paused… Maybe…

Miniaturize!

Roth’s form shrank to a tenth of its usual size. He was still too massive to be small enough to follow the ants. He took out the [Miniaturizing Potion] he had been gifted earlier. There was no harm in trying, right? He drank it. Instead of the buff’s duration being extended, his form shrank down even further.

Congratulations! [Micromanagement] has upgraded to [Microman].

Microman (Epic)

Title description: After shrinking to a 100th of your normal size, you've learned to squeeze your atoms even more effectively.

Title effects:

Remain shrunk as long as you want. You can toggle on and off your [Miniaturized] buff.

The cooldown of [Miniaturize] skill is cut in half.

Conditions to unlock [Microman]:

[Micromanagement];

and to stack [Miniaturized] buffs.

It had worked! He had never thought of stacking the effects of [Miniaturize] and [Miniaturizing Potion]. Maybe he would have if he’d been able to get a hold of one he could use. All the [Miniaturizing Potions] that he had gotten his hands on had been sold off at the auction house. It was only because of a spontaneous gift the Mouse King had given him earlier that he had thought of trying it, and, boy, was he glad he did.

Seeing the world from a tenth of his usual size was one thing, but the experience became significantly different once he was even ten times smaller than that. The treeant at the center of the clearing had always looked majestic. But now, it seemed like an impossibly tall pillar that connected the earth to the heavens.

Not far off, Prince Piglet looked like a moving mountain spitting wind to the horizon with the swings of his giant axe. The barrage of explosions absorbed by the barrier looked like cosmic explosions. More importantly, he didn’t feel enclosed anymore. The limited space within the shield that the treeant kept had become so massive that it almost felt as if he’d been transported somewhere safe.

Once the shock of this new perspective wore off, his attention returned to the notifications he’d received. The upgrade to his [Micromanagement] title was very respectable. It was amazing that he could stay in a miniaturized form for as long as he wanted! How often had he looked at the time left on the buff, worrying that he would die a gruesome death inside the game when his body expanded within the confines of a small space? This would give him more tranquility whenever he was in miniature form.

His mind raced as he thought of the implications of being able to become as small as an ant. Did anyone else know about this? There couldn’t be many players out there with the [Miniaturize] skill. What would happen if someone just drank two [Miniaturizing Potions] in a row? Even though it was a consumable experiment, in such a big world, and in two whole years of gaming, it wasn’t farfetched to assume someone else might have tried it. He scratched his head and shrugged. Whatever the case was, even if Pegasus players broke through the barrier now, they would need a magnifying glass to find him.

All around him, the busy moving ants became a more impressive size. They looked now as big as rabbits to him. He could see their joints, hairs, mandibles, antennae, and eyes with incredible detail. Their cargo became a much more impressive sight. It was incredible that they could move about such heavy loads, much bigger than themselves, with seeming ease.

Excited by the prospect of meeting a new race, he tried approaching one of them at random and engaging them in conversation.

“Hello, there.” The red ant, carrying a leaf, moved past him, completely ignoring him. That was rude. Strange. He thought they would like his smell or respond to his efforts to engage them in conversation. And why hadn’t his charisma bonus activated?

He was startled when another ant bumped into him. Finding the unfamiliar obstacle, it searched him using his antennae and smelled him. He tried not to laugh as he felt the antennae tickle him. Once the ant had inspected him, it resumed its march. He wasn’t sure why they were ignoring him, but he pushed the annoyance aside. His eyes were drawn toward the exciting hole they were disappearing into.

There had to be something exciting down that hole, right? He joined the busy trail of ants heading toward the entrance to their colony. Before he went in, he spared a last look at his former squad, who was kneeling on the ground. From here, they now looked like crumbled monuments of a distant past that he was powerless to influence. A small part of his heart wanted to help them.

He replayed memories of them playing together as toddlers. He relived the excitement of their achievements as they created a successive mercenary guild and heard the echoes of laughter and joy.

But then, there was the feeling of never-ending pain. The fear of seeing a group of people who had once been so close to him relentlessly looking for him so that they could hurt him again. The memory of Brian daring to go live with his mother. All the warmth in his heart cooled down, and he felt it harden in his chest. He shook his head and turned away, following after the ants.

What had once been a small hole, barely imperceptible, now looked like a massive gateway into another dimension. He had the feeling that he was on a highway about to enter a tunnel. As he crossed over the threshold, the light of the outside was replaced with shadow and he received a string of notifications.

Congratulations! You’re the first player to discover Antioch, the city under the forest.

Congratulations on discovering a new world region!

+10,000,000 XP.

+100 reputation with all factions in the Green Woods.

[Level up!]

[Explorer] has been upgraded to [Grand Explorer].

Congratulations! You have achieved a feat worthy of the Hall of Fame. Would you like to have your achievement inscribed for posterity? [Y/N]

Ch. 134 - Nice Mask

INDEX

Ch. 136 - The Dark Prince