System sat quietly in the chamber eighty meters underground and shook his head.

  There were still many things to worry about, but he decided not to think too much and continued making the final preparations that had to be completed before he finished strengthening his [Pupation] talent.

  After so many days of strengthening, his [Pupation] talent was only one percent away from level 17. It would only take a tiny bit more experience for [Pupation] to break through to the next level, after which he could finally undergo the third metamorphosis.

  System rapidly ate the rge amount of food that surrounded him, causing his abdomen to expand to an extreme level.

  After more than ten minutes of gorging, his swollen abdomen started cracking from the pressure, and blood was even flowing out. He quickly stopped eating and used his [Super-Speed Regeneration] to repair the cracks in his abdomen.

  ...

  Health: 99%EXP: 99%Special Energy: 98%Mental Power: 98%Satiety: 120%

  ...

  System checked [My Information] in the [Tools Menu] and saw that all of his body's values had basically reached their peak states. This could be said to be the perfect time for his pupation.

  Moments ter, when System sensed a trembling from his bloodline, he knew that his third pupation was about to begin.

  The process started off very simirly to the times when he'd metamorphosed using [Molting and Growth]. System's body became horribly itchy, and his exoskeleton gradually began softening.

  Unlike the way his tentacles had twitched uncontrolbly during his first pupation, System still had excellent control over his body this time. Whether it was his antennae, his tentacles, or the rest of body, he was able to control them normally.

  Soon, according to the guidance from his bloodline, System retracted his tentacles into his body. At the same time, the gnds in his throat that produced [Pgue Mucus] began secreting a special kind of living mucus.

  Under his control, this living mucus gradually expanded and encased his entire body. His eyes and antennae were soon melted by the mucus, causing him to lose his ability to see, hear, and smell.

  The living mucus slowly hardened and formed the outer shell of System's pupa. His body also softened completely and transformed into a liquid state.

  System waited patiently for the unique fluctuations from his bloodline that would allow him to use the power of [Molting and Growth] or [Pupation] to strengthen an ability. This time, he still pnned to continue strengthening his [Digital Code].

  However, even after he waited for a long time, that unique fluctuation didn't come.

  'The third pupation's going to take a long time. Maybe I'll need to wait longer,' System thought to himself.

  He opened up his [Tools Menu] and started watching videos of his past experiences to pass the time.

  But he didn't have to wait very long. He started to feel dizzy, and it seemed like the whole world was spinning. He felt like he was drunk, and he thought that he was going to bck out.

  He felt like he'd turned into a swirling vortex of mucus again. At the same time, the nearly half-meter-high pupa that he'd become started spinning like a gyroscope.

  The rotational force was much stronger than it had been during System's first pupation. The pupa kept spinning around and around in the chamber. Because of the irregurity of the soil, System's pupa bounced up and down all over the chamber, and sounds of collisions echoed endlessly...

  If his pupa's shell hadn't been strong enough, this process might have killed him.

  The pupa spun in circles for more than ten hours before it finally stopped, at which time System immediately psed into unconsciousness.

  System, who was unconscious, naturally didn't know that his spinning pupa had been caused by him overeating before he pupated.

  It wasn't that eating so much was bad, but during his pupation, his body would be transformed into liquid, so any undigested food needed to be completely digested and converted into energy before the pupation process could continue.

  But no matter what, even if he hadn't eaten so much before this pupation, he still would have fallen unconscious.

  ...

  System seemed to be dreaming, only this dream felt extremely real.

  In the dream, he seemed to have turned into a strangely familiar green-tailed grasshopper who usually ate grass and leaves, but occasionally also ate rotting fruits that had fallen from trees. This grasshopper had almost died to birds and other predators countless times.

  In the end, the dream ended with him mating with a beautiful female green-tailed grasshopper. At the end of the dream, his mandibles were trembling slightly, and it seemed as if he was saying something.

  'Even if a grasshopper opens its mouth, it still can't speak. How strange.'

  'What you think about during the day, you dream about at night. Did I have this dream because I lost my ability to mate?'

  System realized that he was dreaming, but soon he found himself in another dream, which was still a dream of a green-tailed grasshopper.

  In this dream, he seemed to have turned into a female green-tailed grasshopper. Before she'd been born, all of the eggs containing her brothers and sisters had been eaten by a little mouse, and only she had managed to survive through luck.

  And her luck didn't stop there.

  She suffered attacks from a mantis, a spider, even a scorpion, more than a dozen fatal crises in all, but she escaped them all. Finally, she turned into an adult grasshopper and chose the strongest among three male green-tailed grasshoppers to mate with.

  This time, the dream ended after she id her eggs, and at the st moment of the dream, her mandibles trembled slightly. Like the previous grasshopper, she also seemed to be saying something.

  Before System had a chance to give any further thought to the dream, the next dream arrived.

  This time, he was still a green-tailed grasshopper, and he was female again. This grasshopper had a smooth journey after hatching from her egg, and no hostile creatures appeared. Because the shape of her body was very beautiful, she attracted dozens of male green-tailed grasshoppers. She finally chose the most beautiful one to mate with.

  But her luck seemed to have run out before she'd a chance to y her eggs. She suddenly felt a sharp pain, and her body was cmped onto by a spotted mantis. The mantis very quickly ate her head.

  However, before she died, two grasshopper eggs had flowed out of her abdomen. Her mandibles also trembled slightly, as if she was saying something before she died.

  The dreams kept coming one after another.

  In the next, System became a male green-tailed grasshopper with congenital defects. No grasshopper siblings were born with him. Perhaps the eggs had been id too early.

  System was very fragile after birth. He couldn't even bite into the most tender leaf buds. He only managed to survive by swallowing microorganisms in the filth of a mud pit.

  Eventually, he stumbled upon some eggs belonging to his fellow grasshoppers. He was able to survive by eating his own retives until he grew strong enough that he could eat pnts to sustain his life.

  Even so, it was difficult for him to improve his congenitally deficient body. After several near-death experiences, he became an adult grasshopper that was only half the size of an ordinary adult green-tailed grasshopper.

  However, he still found a mate before he died. She was a female grasshopper with the same congenital defects. Before the dream ended, like the others, this grasshopper also seemed to say something.

  ...

  In this way, in what seemed like an endless series of dreams, System experienced many strange grasshopper lives.

  He even turned into a grasshopper egg that was buried deep beneath the snow once, and experienced more than 100,000 days and nights before hatching from his egg when the snow melted.

  He also experienced many times when grasshoppers took off in groups, becoming part of a swarm of millions.

  System gradually realized that these dreams were the various experiences of his grasshopper ancestors. Each of his ancestors seemed to have been extremely lucky to survive, and he was the culmination of these countless bundles of luck superimposed on each other.

  He knew that a simple grasshopper bloodline couldn't pass on so many dreams containing such detail.

  These dreams had likely been simuted by his human wisdom according to his grasshopper bloodline. They couldn't be said to be fake, but ordinary grasshoppers wouldn't have the same level of dreams.

  The grasshopper ancestors in his dreams seemed to want to convey something to him.

  System sensed it carefully...

  At this time, countless voices suddenly emerged in his mind.

  "Live."

  "Live...Live."

  "Live!"

  "...Live."

  "Live."

  The words spoken by the grasshoppers at the end of each dream suddenly became clear, and each word contained the expectations and blessings of his ancestors. The dense chorus of voices made System's mind seem to buzz, and they sent a powerful shock to his mind.

  He suddenly woke up from his dreams.

  '...Thank you.'

  System didn't know how long he'd been unconscious during the pupation process. Even his [Tools Menu] didn't show the time.

  But if he hadn't woken up now, he might never have woken up again, and he would have ended up as a dead pupa.

  In the final analysis, although he possessed the [Pupation] talent and had undergone a brief pupation before, his bloodline still wasn't completely compatible with [Pupation]. This third pupation had been extremely dangerous.

  If it weren't for the chain of dreams sent to him by his grasshopper bloodline, he might not have had the chance to wake up at all.

  System controlled the liquid inside the pupa, causing it to rotate gently according to the guidance from his bloodline.

  As if he'd taken a deep breath, his body suddenly felt refreshed, and he seemed to have fully recovered from that suffocating state. His body was extremely rexed.

  That unique sensation from his bloodline finally appeared.

  [Choose!]