Chapter 3: Mosquito Chronicles: Bloodsucking heroic antiques
"My head is spinning." Ben pinched his eyes hard. Just a second ago, he was in that null void, talking to the mysterious entity. This sudden change in environment was surprising for him.
The numb sensation in Ben's body was slowly fading away, replaced by a soft pain. He was surprised; he could feel his body; he could feel his eyes. The ringing sound in his ears was slowly fading away.
In excitement, Ben opened his eyes and saw light. His pupils took time to adjust as the blurred world around him became clearer and clearer.
He could finally see something other than black. He saw the abnormally large pine trees, bathed in red evening sunlight. As the ringing sound in his ears stopped, he could hear different sounds. The sound of a flowing breeze of winds, the sound of ruffling leaves
Ben stood up, looked around, and saw a forest around him. He never thought that looking at some trees and listening to some random sounds would make him so happy. He felt a warm liquid pouring from his eyes; he was crying. He could finally cry.
"I will never forget this mystic voice," Ben said he was happy; he was relieved. He didn't know what would happen to him if he had to stay there for one more second.
[Adapting system...adapted]
[Activating Bloodsucker System]
A series of notifications sounded in Ben's mind. A floating blue screen appeared before him, similar to the computer screen from sci-fi novels. Ben recognized this voice, but he didn't know where he heard it from.
In curiosity, Ben looked at the [Status] section, and suddenly, a large status section emerged from the red screen, displaying various aspects of his physique. Similar to the info section in RPG games.
╔═════════════════════╗
╬═«STATUS»═╬
Name: Ben Franklin
Race: Mutant Mosquito
Evolution: 0 Level: 1
Aether:000 Exp: 0/5
Strength: 0.1
Agility: 0.2
Stamina: 0.1
Luck: 0.000
Soul Essence: None
╚══════════════════════╝
"Name...Ben Franklin. Race...mutant MOSQUITO!!" Ben muttered, reading the status screen. But the second line came as a complete surprise to him. A mosquito!! Did he reincarnate as a bug?
Ben checked his hands; they were slim and elongated, jade black, similar to mosquito legs. He turned around to see that his waist was now looking like a mosquito too, not to mention the two wings on his back.
Realization struck Ben; he had just been reincarnated as the most hated species in the world. But still, Ben wasn't feeling very shocked or depressed, but rather confused. "I wonder, what's with the mutant term in species? I have a herd of radioactive spiders, but mutant mosquitoes!
The host, or mutant, term in this world is used to indicate the beasts that have evolved with magic. And they are capable of evolution.
"Wahhhhh!!" Ben almost shouted; surprised by the sudden voice, he stepped back. But soon he realized it was just the system voice answering his questions.
"I didn't know you could talk to me." Surprised, Ben asked the female voice to see if he could get the same response again. And his hunch held.
[I was sent with you to help you complete the survival quest in this world.]
"Survival Quest...is it like some other RPG thing in this world?" Ben asked, calculating the dots. His wings buzzed a little in nervousness.
[Updating Quest]
╬═«Quest Update»═╬
─» To gain a human life, prove your worth to ▓▓▓▓
Consume 2.5 ml of blood within 45 minutes.
Consume blood from 50 different sources.
Kill 100 enemies and obtain their soul essence.
Fly above 100 meters in the air.
Prove your resolve to live.
"I see, so these are the five quests you are talking about. It seems kind of similar to RPG games, not to mention I can even evolve into a humanoid form." Ben read the quest and their description serially, but there was one thing that did not add up to him.
"Hey, system? Just when did male mosquitoes start drinking blood? And can I even consume 2.5 ml of blood into my body?" Ben asked, dealing with the first quest first. The timmer was already tickling, and he had 30 minutes left for the first quest.
[Being a mutant mosquito host, please don't judge yourself by other world standards. Not only can you drink blood, but you have two fangs present on you instead of possicibus to do so.]
[Also, your size is currently almost twenty times larger than that of a normal mosquito. If we take a normal mosquito about the size of rice, your size will be that of a ping pong ball in comparison.]
"Fantastic! So I've transformed into a mutant mosquito, destined to chug blood like a vampire in a bug-sized tuxedo. Just when I thought things couldn't get any weirder," Ben grumbled to himself, shaking his minuscule mosquito head in utter disbelief.
Ben looked around, closely observing his body, and he realized that what the system said was true. He had two fangs present in his mouth to chug blood, while his body also felt bigger than a normal mosquito.
After solving these two problems, the biggest problem for him was the quest itself. He needed to consume 2.5 ml of blood, and there were even less than thirty minutes left.
"Is there a difficulty ranking for this quest?" Ben asked, assuming that the system was working very similarly to RPG games.
[Difficulty Rank: D-]
"I see, so it's an easy quest. Assuming that D- is one of the low rankings in RPG games." Ben thought and looked around. According to the system, the quest seemed very easy; in that case, Ben just needed to figure out how to fly and find a blood source.
Without wasting any time, Ben buzzed his wings slowly and kept increasing the intensity to get the hang of it. And not so surprisingly, flying wasn't that hard for Ben. With increasing intensity, his body slowly got lighter and lighter until his legs left the ground.
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m fre𝒆webnov(e)l.com