Level Up The Colony-Chapter 19: What’s The Rush?
Chapter 19: What's The Rush?
Without looking, he swung the goblin parts still in his grasp.
A sickening splatter filled the air.
The part shattered on impact.
Timothy didn't care.
He swung his other hand, and a sharp crack rang out as it connected with the goblin.
Again, the strange repelling force activated, pushing the goblin back but destroying the parts he held as a weapon.
He followed up with another swipe, but this time, the goblin ducked.
Timothy's attack missed, but he didn't pause.
Instead, he launched a kick, expecting the same repelling force.
Nothing.
'Ah, so there's a limit or something?' he thought, excitement flaring in his chest.
Even with eyes closed and no thwarted senses, he solely relied on instincts right now
But his moment of discovery came at a cost, his weaponized hand was already empty.
With no other option, he threw a punch.
A sickening crunch reverberated through his bones, nearly shattering his fist.
He should have stopped.
He didn't.
The rush, the thrill, it overrode his pain.
He kept swinging.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Even as some of his punches bounced off, even as the goblin refused to flee, Timothy didn't stop.
Pain shot through his knuckles.
He could feel the bones splintering with each impact.
And still, he didn't care.
Not until something warm splattered against his skin.
[HP: 92]
A ticking clock had started.
But he still didn't care.
His fists blurred as he struck too fast to think, his hands slick with blood, his or the goblin's, he didn't know.
The level-up notification didn't come, so he kept going.
And until
DING!
"USE STATUS RECOVERY!" he shouted in a rush
The moment he did, his body repaired itself.
Relief surged through him until he opened his eyes, and agony ripped through them like fire.
[Status Recovery Applied]
[Status Recovery Failed]
Panic surged as he yanked open his status window.
---
[Status]
Name: Timothy Walters
Title: Goblin Slayer
Level: 20
HP: 7200 (Bleeding)
MP: 0/40
Fatigue: 70
Strength: 50
Stamina: 30
Agility: 23
Intelligence: 20
Perception: 20
Free Stats: 20
[Skills]
King (Unknown) Lv. Max
Dash Lv. 2
Pheromones (Passive) Lv. 3
Clarity (Passive) Lv. 1
Armament (Active) Lv. 1
[Colony]
Silverback Termite (Gray) Lv. 20
---
His wounds healed, only to tear open again.
He stumbled to the floor.
Flesh stitched itself back together, then shredded instantly, throwing him into a cycle of agony.
He screamed, body convulsing as his own regeneration betrayed him.
[Applying Status Recovery...]
[Status Recovery Failed]
[Detoxifying toxins...]
[You have come into contact with a Variant Monster Toxin]
[Fatality: Highly Fatal]
[Sacrifice Level 20 Reward for a Solution?]
Timothy's breath hitched.
His vision blurred.
His limbs trembled.
But what was the reward?
Did he have a choice?
His stomach lurched violently, and then...
Blood.
A sickening, wet cough wracked his body, and his insides spilled out.
"You succeeded, but at what cost?"
The voice was cold, detached.
Timothy turned his head, blinking through the haze of pain, and met the gaze of the red-eyed goblin.
"Even I wouldn't dare step into that," the goblin continued.
"Its origins are unknown, but it's lethal, even to its own kind. That goblin tank? Somehow, it resists. But you? You're dying."
A cruel smirk.
"I was looking forward to telling you my story," the goblin mused.
"But you're barely holding on. A shame. If a goblin knight could barely survive it, what chance did a human have?"
[You have one minute to make a decision.]
[Your HP will reach zero upon death.]
Timothy gritted his teeth.
With what little strength he had left, he slammed his fist into the ground.
A sickening crunch followed, not the earth breaking, but his own elbow shattering under the force.
The pain overbearing for him to even cry
His body had become that fragile.
Still, he fought to stand.
Air touched his bleeding eyes like a thousand needles stabbed into his skull.
His vision blurred, but one thing remained clear, the countdown ticking away before him.
[30 Seconds Until Death]
His body screamed in protest.
His mind wavered on the edge of consciousness.
But his soul, his will refused to give in.
"I... will..." he choked out, blood spilling from his lips.
"Not..."
His body collapsed, yet his voice still rose.
"DIE!" he said with no voice but rather a will projection
[Converting Level 20 Reward into a Solution.]
[You will be placed in a state of stasis.]
Darkness consumed his mind.
.
.
.
A Long While Later
Timothy gasped sharply, his lungs burning as if they were taking in air for the first time.
A deep ache settled into his body, not the usual pain of injuries or exhaustion, but something deeper, something... unnatural.
His skin felt too tight like he was suffocating within his own body.
A strange lightheadedness clouded his mind, and his muscles felt unbalanced, as though his limbs no longer belonged to him.
Like he had been torn apart and put back together with mismatched pieces.
The moment he moved, his vision flickered erratically, shifting between normal sight, heat signatures, and something else, an eerie awareness of movement all around him.
It was overwhelming, a sudden, sharp sensation that stabbed at his mind.
He clenched his eyes shut, trying to ground himself.
'Stay still. Breathe.' he thought to himself
His fists tightened involuntarily.
Something inside his forearms twitched, like new muscles or tendons that hadn't been there before, spasming unpredictably beneath his skin.
His heartbeat... it sounded off.
Timothy pressed a hand against his chest, feeling the erratic rhythm.
It wasn't just beating irregularly, it was as if a second rhythm pulsed beneath it, struggling to synchronize.
He exhaled shakily, forcing himself to focus.
His hand found something solid behind him, a wall, maybe? And he leaned against it for support.
Then, the system messages struck.
---
[Stasis Deactivated]
[You have survived the Variant Monster Toxin]
[Warning: Irreversible Changes Detected]
[Level 20 Reward Lost]
(Your original reward has been negated due to forced adaptation. No combat skills or growth bonuses granted.)
[King (Unknown) has reacted to foreign contamination]
[New Racial Trait Acquired: Hybrid]
(Your body has fused with external influences, creating a unique physiology. This grants potential but leaves you unstable.)
[Penalty: Instability]
(Your body is not fully synchronized. Under stress, you may experience involuntary mutations, loss of control, or failure of bodily functions. Extended instability could be fatal.)
---
Hybrid? Instability? Mutations? Traits?
A chill ran down Timothy's spine.
His breathing grew heavier as the words sank in.
"What am I? A monster now?"
His eyes snapped open, and his surroundings came into sharp focus.
Physically, nothing had changed, he looked the same.
But his mind told him otherwise.
His instincts screamed at him.
He knew he was different, even if the changes weren't visible.
The penalty...
Becoming powerful at the cost of his humanity was something many would gladly accept.
But this?
This wasn't power.
This wasn't control.
This made him a ticking time bomb.
"Why the hell can't things ever go straight?!" Timothy growled, slamming his fist into the ground.
The earth trembled.
A dull shock ran up his arm, but it wasn't from pain, it was from sheer force.
The impact left a dent in the ground, the tremors lingering longer than they should have.
Timothy's fingers twitched involuntarily as he watched them.
"...Status."
---
[Status]
Name: Timothy Walters
Title: Goblin Slayer
Trait: Hybrid (Unstable)
Level: 22
HP: 7800/7800
MP: 0/40
Fatigue: 20 (Stasis Recovery)
Strength: 55
Stamina: 35
Agility: 28
Intelligence: 20
Perception: 25
Free Stats: 0 (All free stats were consumed for adaptation.)
[Skills]
King (Unknown) Lv. Max
Dash Lv. 2
Pheromones (Passive) Lv. 4
Clarity (Passive) Lv. 1
Armament (Active) Lv. 1 (Enhanced)
Tenacity (Passive) Lv. 1
[Colony]
Silverback Termite (Gray) Lv. 22
---
Timothy exhaled through clenched teeth.
The numbers told him everything.
He had lost something, his level 20 reward, his potential skill.
But in return... he had changed.
His free stats were gone, consumed by whatever the hell had happened to his body.
His strength had increased, but was it truly an advantage? Or was it just a symptom of his instability?
...There was more.
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A nagging sensation in the back of his mind, something pulling at his perception.
Before, he wouldn't have noticed it. But now?
He could see it.
Timothy turned his head, and his gaze locked onto a pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness.
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary goblin.
But his instincts screamed otherwise.
That is not a goblin.
It was... something else.
Something far more dangerous.
Then, the system responded as if mocking his realization.
---
[??? Goblin King] (Solid Red Text)
---
Timothy's breath hitched.
The question marks... What do they mean?
His enhanced perception was allowing him to see the name at this distance, but there was a deeper understanding that went beyond just words.
He could feel it.
This creature wasn't just a goblin.
It was still powerful' regardless
"Why didn't you kill me?" Timothy asked, keeping his voice neutral.
The figure chuckled, stepping forward.
"What's the rush?"
