I Became a Hive Mind in the Game

Right after unintentionally acquiring the second of the three @%%:×/ fragments, I could finally completely guess and understand the meaning of this incomprehensible mass of special characters.
‘…Does this mean the direction of what kind of grade 0 monster… or rather, what kind of being I will become?’
@%%:×/, I guess, was about what direction I would move in from now on.
Monsters sufficient to evolve to grade 0 determine their direction according to their desires and needs, and become beings close to the form they wanted according to that direction.
If they want a big body, they grow bigger, if they want transcendent psychic abilities, they gain such power. And if they want some changes to occur in their body, they change quite similarly to those changes – this was the hypothesis I established.
And in my case… judging from my memories as a human, perhaps a mentally completed transcendent being, that is, a kind of divine being, was the direction I wanted.
‘…Ah.’
And the moment I confirmed that fact, I finally became aware of the gaze of some higher-dimensional being looking at me – presumably the one who sent me to this world.
It might be natural to be angry at the being who dropped me, who was living ordinarily, into this world as a monster where humans can’t live humanely, if you think about it commonsensically, but…
‘…!’
The moment I touched the gaze, I somehow understood the reason why I had to be in this world in a way I didn’t know why.
This was a very severe coincidence.
By chance, because one soul of this world flew to another world due to the hobby of a super-dimensional being, the eternal total that had to be continuously reincarnated within this world became short by one person.
But coincidentally, I, who had a soul with the same density as that human, died exactly at the same time due to an electrical short circuit, so my soul could be brought in, and therefore, the higher-dimensional being of this world brought in my soul.
…No, in fact, rather than a higher-dimensional being, it’s closer to a spiritual system that maintains the total amount of souls in this world.
It’s more correct to see that gaze as observing this world itself as if looking through a monitor, rather than looking at me.
So, there’s only one thing I can do.
That is to decide in what direction I will move forward from now on.

※ ※ ※

To be honest, my desire can be summarized in one sentence.
I want to live as I please without interference from anyone.
When I was human before, I lived being pushed around by various realistic problems like everyone else.
Academic background, employment, specs, and various other issues or incidents.
These problems that anyone could sympathize with continued to pressure me even after becoming a monster, just changing form, but now it’s different.
I’ve gained enough power to live as I wish, and if I try, I can grow as much as I want.
So I set my future goal to live without ever bending my will, and-
‘…Ah.’
[Currently possessed fragments of @%%:×/ (3/3)].
[You awaken @%%:×/.]
The moment I made up my mind like that, I could directly feel the changes occurring to myself as my senses expanded.
No dramatic phenomenon occurs like the previous evolution.
It just calmly explains what kind of being I have become, as if imprinting on my ego.
Knowledge about what the non-scientific substance called soul is is imprinted, and my soul becomes a being that transcends the flesh and begins to color the surroundings.
My lair, which was full of flesh, had clean bio-tiles laid on the surface, creating a modern atmosphere, and the orange psychic amplifiers that were messily spread around changed to clean LEDs.
Also, changes occur in the minds of monsters connected in the form of my mind and Hive Mind.
Unlike before, when they were close to ‘body parts that move according to orders’ with intelligence but no soul and faint self-awareness, they now have small but definite souls, perhaps due to my influence.
Of course, since these souls originate from my power, if those monsters die, instead of disappearing, the souls will return to me, the source of power.
And the last change is the change in the bio-facility ‘throne’ where I placed my main body to supply and receive energy from bio-facilities, and my main body.
The main body integrates with the throne and becomes just one of many bio-facilities – albeit an important facility located at the center – for management, rather than my real body.
And my consciousness-soul, freed from what was the main body, has grown greatly by absorbing the numerous knowledge and information gathered so far, and the souls of creatures I’ve eaten.
I have become not just a slightly strong soul, but a clear minor deity (god).

Name :: ???
Species :: Hive God
Grade :: 0
Level :: 100
Stats
Strength :: –
Agility :: –
Stamina :: –
Intelligence :: 10000
Resistance :: –
Energy :: 50000
Leadership :: 50000
Characteristics (120/???)
Monster Factor(EX), Imperturbability(A), Hive God(S), Psychic Lifeform(A)
*Expand
Skills (1347/???)
*Expand
Bio-weapons
None

My soul, which can be said to be my main body as grade 0, gained various powers through the new characteristic of Hive God(S).
The power to dominate my monsters, who can be seen as a kind of believer, replacing the existing Subjugation(A), and changing into a kind of spiritual being (Hive God) beyond the collective intelligence Hive Mind(A).
As a result of becoming a spiritual being, Predator(A) that devours not only flesh but also souls, and although I am a psychic lifeform like other grade 0 Hive Minds, I don’t exist in the psychic dimension.
My main body exists in a spiritual space, called Small Dimension, formed by using absorbed souls centered on my mind.
No, to be precise, the Small Dimension itself is my main body.
Perhaps the goal and desire to not be influenced by others itself was formed in that process, but… it doesn’t matter now.
‘…It’s heavy!’
Now, I just have to endure the information and spiritual mass that’s flowing in like crazy as the souls of beings I killed in the past are tied to me and in the process of being absorbed.
Starting from the souls of various small monster individuals, to the souls of Dolphinmen that I just ate but couldn’t digest, and even the souls of humans with firm self-awareness and a lot of information, which are burdensome.
Souls that weren’t digested even though they were absorbed by the collective intelligence in the process of being dissolved in the digestive gland have just been used as a mechanism for monsters to use by overlaying commands on the outside until now.
But because I’ve realized that such behavior is really inefficient, I started to digest these souls little by little, even if it takes some time.
The souls of the large number of monsters I’ve eaten so far… weren’t worth treating well in the first place since they weren’t even human.
I completely digested and absorbed the low-grade souls into my ego, making my power even stronger, and for a very small number of somewhat useful ones among them, I put them on hold for now.
On the other hand, for medium grade or higher, most of them had value for use as they were veterans with considerable combat experience.
These guys are gently persuaded, then educated and stuffed into the bodies of medium-grade monsters to be used as weapons, and for some smart ones or outstanding ones, I’m thinking of promoting them to my direct staff or elite guards with exclusive high-grade bodies.
Ah, I just reincarnated the souls of the Dolphinmen as Dragonians – the species that were formerly Lizardmen – after leaving some memories.
Unlike these monster souls, I had to be a bit more careful in dealing with human souls.
There were almost no people who committed serious crimes or were steeped in strange ideologies or from ‘that country’ that I despise, and most were ordinary people you could commonly see around.
Therefore, after deep contemplation regarding these ordinary people’s souls, I was finally able to decide their treatment.
Most of the souls killed by me were soldiers or hunters, so let’s expand the scope of the ghost plan I started last time a bit.
I’ll restore their lifetime specs appropriately, modify their equipment to give a ‘back from death’ feel, then inject the person’s real soul and distort the memories appropriately.
In addition, using information obtained through replaced military personnel, I’ll put the acquaintances of the deceased in appropriate danger, then directly deploy the person.
I’ll prove these heroes who’ve come back from death like this – and even let them speak a few words occasionally, so it will be perfect beyond measure.