Chapter 14

*Buzzzzzzz!*

*Weeeeeiiiiinnnggggg!!!!*

Besides, he shouldn't let his guard down just yet.

Even after killing most of the enemy's forces and taking out the elite Flesh Golem, the Field Boss remains the most threatening enemy.

In order for the bees who risked their lives to fight to the death, Sung-hyuk must eliminate the lich, which can be said to be the source of the undead.

And why?

He's clearly lost his entire army and is in real danger.

But he looks around with a relaxed expression on his face.

"Kekeukeke, thanks for this. I've got a lot of test subjects thanks to you."

"....."

The word test subject.

Sung-hyuk grits his teeth in anticipation of the scene that follows.

"All death shall be my strength and army, Arise!"

*Buzzzz!*

*Weeiiiinngggg!*

[Rubigem Worker Bee Zombie (★-)]

[Rubigem Worker Bee Zombie (★-)]

[Rubigem Scout Bee Zombie (★)]

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Necromancers possess great power.

It is a constant army that comes from the dead.

This means that the corpses of countless bees killed by the use of their stingers can be recycled as power for Belmorn.

"I will give you the frustration of dying at the hands of your own brethren!"

The bees who sacrificed their lives for their home were not allowed to die in peace, but were exploited.

It was a threatening enough situation, but it didn't worry Sung-hyuk at all, let alone the bees.

Why?

It was mentioned earlier.

Sung-hyuk had "expected" Belmorn to do this.

Raising the bees' corpses as an undead was, arguably, Belmorn's worst self-destruction judgment.

"Y-You bastards! Where are you looking?"

*Weeeeeiiiiiinnnnggggggg!!!!*

[Class specialization of Bee Guardian, Beloved of Bees is triggered].

[Rubigem Worker Bee Zombie (★-) sends you an undying favor].

[Rubigem Scout Bee Zombie (★) sends you endless favors].

[Rubigem Honeycomb Bee Zombie (★) sends you an unspeakable favor].

...

* Beloved of Bees: Your affinity with bee species in all dimensions is maximized.

Beloved of Bees, one of the class specializations of Sung-hyuk's Bee Guardian.

The power to maximize affinity with bee species from all dimensions.

Of course, that includes bees that have become undead.

In other words, it is not the undead that Belmorn raises to defend him.

[Expresses intense hostility towards a creature that is antagonizing you].

On the contrary, they are undead that threaten Belmorn, the caster, in order to protect him.

The bee zombies' hostility is centered in one place, as their lifeless, dull eyes flicker.

"You stupid bugs, your enemy is them, not me!"

In the midst of losing their heads, spilling their guts, and losing their stingers.

Reborn as the undead, the bees had only one thing on their minds: protecting Sung-hyuk and their home.

That's why, even as their bodies are crushed and torn into pieces and scattered in all directions, they furiously slam their bodies against Belmorn.

In fact, the strength of one or two of the bees is rather poor.

Not only is his level and star rating woefully low, but unlike a Skeleton, Lich Belmorn's defenses are surely more than multiplicatively hard.

However, when Belmorn unleashes his full power, he unleashes countless zombie bees.

As a result, ironically, Belmorn ended up meeting his end at the hands of the undead he had summoned.

"M-My research is not finished yet! This... this cannot be..."

[You have killed the Lich Belmorn Level 19 (★★★-)] - You have hunted a Field Boss Monster. You receive experience, 27,600 coins, a ★★★-item pick, and Lich Belmorn's Dark Essence (★★★-)].

[You have leveled up. Awarded 5 stat points].

[You have leveled up. Obtained 5 stat points].

[You have leveled up. Awarded 5 stat points].

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[You have met the requirements for skill achievement -> Level 18, experience creating or utilizing propolis products].

[You have learned the skill, Guardian's Propolis Processing method].

[You have met the conditions for achieving the skill. -> Level 20]

[You have learned the skill, Guardian's Poison Processing.]

[You have fulfilled certain awakening conditions -> Level 20].

[You have learned the skill, Bee Acupuncture].

[You have fulfilled certain awakening conditions -> Level 20].

[Bee Guardian's power is increased - the number of queen bees you can hold is increased by an additional 1].

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[Guardian’s Propolis Processing Method (Lv.1)]

* Category: Skill

* Mana Cost: 20

* Required Ingredient: Propolis

* Required Ingredient: Propolis

* Effect (Active): Uses Propolis to create a propolis-related processed item (no cooldown).

* Description: Consumes propolis and the caster's mana to craft propolis-related items. As you level up, you will be able to obtain more diverse and higher-grade finished products.

※ There is a small probability that you will gain a processed item inscribed with the keyword 'Guardian'.

[Guardian's Poison Processing (Lv.1)]

* Classification: Skill

* Mana Cost: 10

* Required Ingredient: Bee Venom

* Effect (Active): Utilizes the bee's stinger or venom to craft venom-related items (no cooldown).

* Effect (Passive) : The bee's stinger and ovipositor allow you to harvest venom.

* Description: Utilizes a bee's stinger or harvested venom and the caster's mana to craft poison-related items. Also allows you to harvest venom through the bee's stinger and ovipositor tubes. As you level up, you will be able to obtain more varied and higher-grade finished products.

※ There is a small probability that you will gain a processed item inscribed with the keyword 'Guardian'.

[Bee Acupuncture (Lv.1)]

* Requires a weapon with a needle or blade to be equipped.

* Classification: Skill

* Mana Cost: 0

* Effect (Passive) : You become able to see a creature's acupuncture points.

* Description : You will be able to identify the acupuncture points of your opponents, allowing you to deal lethal damage or grant beneficial effects. As you level up, you gain access to more and deeper acupuncture points and a variety of additional effects.

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No matter how many bees there were, Sung-hyuk was the only one who managed them.

A level 19 field boss.

Sung-hyuk's level reached level 20 in an instant by single-handedly consuming Belmorn's experience points, which were worth a whopping 3 stars.

While he was happy enough to have gained a lot of loot and the skills to go with it, Sung-hyuk wasn't about to go away smiling.

With the death of the Necromancer, Belmorn, the bees have once again turned from the undead into corpses.

The sight of them lying on the ground, his children filled him with bitterness.

"Dad will remember you all..."

The extreme filial piety of the bees who thought of their father even in death.

Whether or not it was a result of his specialty, Sung-hyuk doesn't care.

"Come on, kids, it's broken, and the only thing we don't have is time to put it back together."

*Weing--!* *Bzzzzzz*

The death of the bees, sacrificed for the collective.

To never make it in vain.

Sung-hyuk pushed through his grief and prepared to resume beekeeping as usual.

* * * * *

- Ha-ha-ha. Did I send someone too powerful to kill a honeysucker?

A being who had reached out to take control of Belmorn.

To be honest, Riggle thought that Sung-hyuk would not be able to hold out against such a powerful opponent and would be defeated.

Lich Belmorn was one of the most powerful field bosses currently appearing on the Korean server, ranking in the top three.

It's not just any monster, it's capable of producing elite monsters of its own, and its destructive power is enough to crush even the most powerful Shelter.

And a Necromancer from the beginning.

Lich, who has a job of using death as his own power, is undoubtedly a suitable profession in a world like the Land of Desolation.

But the battle between Lich Belmorn and Sung-hyuk took a turn that even Riggle couldn't have predicted.

- Ho, what the hell. This guy is a pretty good commodity, isn't he?

Riggle didn't think he was going to be able to use the Necromancer's death power against him, did he?

Moreover, judging by his unfazed demeanor, this was no mere spontaneous act.

It was a fully anticipated and deliberate act of improvisation.

- A guy like this is worth nurturing.

If one puts down an ordeal, but overcomes it, one must also reward it, which is a virtue necessary for a pet to be elevated.

After a moment's deliberation, Riggle draws on his powers to influence the player, Yoo Sung-hyuk.

[★★★ - Items and skills with effects of ★★★-rank or higher can raise the player's Luck to MAX for one time only].

It is the epitome of the cycle of sickness and medicine, and treats life like a joke.

But no one can argue with a transcendent's pet.

Have you ever seen a cow or a pig argue with a man because he stops what he is about to slaughter and feeds it?

No. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the difference in "rank" between a transcendental pet and a human being based on existence is even higher than that.

- Regardless, this is a great way to get a nice item with an itemization ticket, and I look forward to seeing how it grows in the future.

★★★ - Item Ticket for killing Lich Belmorn.

From there, Riggle hopes for the best possible item for him.

But could Riggle have imagined it?

Yoo Sung-hyuk, Bee Guardian.

A normal player would have used the item ticket first, but as a beekeeper, Sung-hyuk values the restoration of nature more than anything else, and that would lead to a huge snowball.

* * * * *

As always, nature is a mysterious thing.

The undead who could be called unholy.

Their corpses become the manure of the earth, restoring the damaged soil as they once did.

*Buzz!* *Buzzzzzzz!*

*Weing~~* *Weing!*

And there are some creatures that play a big part in that restoration.

They are small but diligent bees.

The scout bees are the fastest of the bunch, scouting out clusters of flowers and other natural vegetation, and then sending out worker and honeycomb bees to gather it.

As they travel from flower to flower, collecting pollen and transferring pollen, they fulfill their duties as pollinators, gradually releasing countless buds back into nature.

How could anyone not marvel at this beautiful birth of nature?

"Huuuu...."

Moreover, as the bees are diligently tending to nature and collecting honey, Sung-hyuk has never been lazy.

Harvesting honey, which can be considered the alpha and omega of beekeeping, is fundamental.

The byproducts of harvesting are processed with human knowledge, and whenever there is a cool down period, he constantly builds beehives to house the bees.

It's really too much for one body.

"Today feels refreshing."

But even though he was sweating profusely, Sung-hyuk couldn't help but smile.

With each passing day, the natural environment recovered quickly, and the rewarding results came from diligent action.

And by day 20, Sung Hyuk knew it was finally time.

Time for what?

That should be obvious.

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[Dimension Queen Bee Capture (Lv.3)]

* Classification: Skill

* Mana Cost: 0

* Effect (Active): Captures a random type of queen bee with a rank of '★-' to '★★★+' (cooldown 20 days).

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Capturing a dimensional queen bee with a 20-day cooldown.

It goes without saying, but the value of a queen to bees is not comparable to the value of tens or hundreds of thousands of worker bees.

The Rubigem queen bee colony actually started as just one.

Wasn't it the greatness of the queen bee that turned it into hundreds of thousands?

"Today is the day to capture the great queen."