Chapter 68: The Queen Bee’s Flight
Seonwoo-yeon nodded as if she understood.
“Well, that’s true.”
Of course, the variable of exceptional transitions always remained, but if you worried about such small probabilities every time, you wouldn’t survive in this industry.
“Have a good trip. Fighting!”
“Ah, yes!”
Before long, Seonwoo-yeon disappeared beyond the gate.
I glanced at the spot where she vanished and stretched a little.
“I’ll just do some web surfing in the meantime.”
Long live auto-hunting!
*
Meanwhile…
Inside the gate.
Seonwoo-yeon proceeded cautiously, feeling the tickling fragrance of flowers and the soft touch of grass beneath her feet.
Soon enough, a monster came into her sight.
– Buuuuuu……
A honeybee the size of a forearm.
The sound from its wings was like that of a giant fan.
Beep.
[Scout Bee]
[Grade: C]
[Description: A common monster that appears from the Nest of the Murder Hornets. Emits pheromones to summon a swarm if threatened.]
Seonwoo-yeon nodded while checking the analyzer’s information.
“Good. No mutations.”
Among the things to be most wary of in this gate was that scout bee.
Because once it got attacked, it would immediately call for its buddies.
So, Seonwoo-yeon quietly turned around without the monster noticing and struck.
“Kiiick!”
Swish!
The outcome was a success.
Seonwoo-yeon’s awakening ability was wind.
It had advantages in speed and sound compared to other awakening types.
“Got it!”
She successfully assassinated the scout bee.
However, just as she approached its corpse to collect the magic stone…
– Buuuuuuuuuu.
The sound of the bee’s wings echoed from above.
Startled, she looked up to see another scout bee flying menacingly…?
“There are two scout bees?”
Seonwoo-yeon hastily used her skills against the suddenly appearing monster.
Swish.
With a sharp whoosh, the bee’s head was severed and it crashed to the ground.
Yet, despite taking down her opponent, confusion overtook her.
She had heard that scout bees typically didn’t travel in packs. So why were there consecutive appearances of the same monster?
“Why is this different from my preparation?”
A small sense of unease brewed in her chest.
And soon enough, that unease became reality.
– Buuuuuuuuuuuu……
From the vast beehive stuck in the middle of the dungeon, an ominous hum began to rise.
“I took too long to deal with the second scout bee!”
Thus, Seonwoo-yeon came to a realization. The scout bee had already summoned its companions.
But this was still manageable.
It was common for hunters to fail assassinating a scout bee.
“I heard that experienced hunters sometimes intentionally provoke scout bees for group hunting.”
Do you know why the Nest of the Murder Hornets is considered easy even among C-Class?
It’s because the number of monsters is absolutely low.
Therefore, usually, touching a scout bee doesn’t escalate into a significant problem.
– Buuuuuuu…
– Buuuuuuuuuuuu….
– Wing!
Seonwoo-yeon froze at the ensuing spectacle.
“Uh.”
Why were there so many monsters…?
The sky was filled with swarms of bees.
A massive colony appeared, casting a shadow over the sunlit dungeon.
– Buuuuuuuuuuu……
An extraordinarily abnormal number.
Seonwoo-yeon quickly realized the source of the incident.
“The staff must have incorrectly registered the gate’s saturation level!”
It was a mistake from the Hunter Association!
If a gate is left unattended, the number of monsters gradually increases, so normally, around the sixth day, it should be marked as ‘saturation state.’
This ‘saturation state’ mark served as a kind of danger warning.
It meant they needed to be cautious because the number of monsters was significantly higher than usual.
But the absence of that label meant…
“They input the gate creation time incorrectly. The saturation state is marked automatically by the program.”
Cold sweat burst forth.
– Buuuuuuuuuu!
What to do? Even now, the swarm was closing in.
“Run, run away!”
Seonwoo-yeon instinctively dashed toward the entrance.
But just as she was about to turn back through the gate, a phrase flashed through her mind.
“Ah!”
A hunter absolutely must not engage in this behavior.
That is, crossing the threshold while the monster’s hostility remains.
Gate creatures generally don’t go outside, but if they are aggroed by a hunter, they can easily follow.
“I can’t go out now!”
To escape, she first needed to divert the swarms’ attention.
But flying monsters boasted tremendous speed; there was no way to shake them off with just human legs!
“Ahhh!”
Seonwoo-yeon found herself surrounded by the bees while hesitating.
Thud.
Seonwoo-yeon shut her eyes as the waves of bee attacks rained down and retaliated.
Swish!
As she activated her basic wind attribute skill, Air Cutter, the bodies of severed monsters fell like rain.
“Ugh!”
But this was just the beginning.
There were still many, many bees left.
“Disgusting!”
Seonwoo-yeon faced the hunt with a pale face.
Since it was a battle between B-Class and C-Class, her firepower was overwhelmingly advantageous.
The number of murder hornets steadily declined.
However, her magic power was declining as well.
“Breathing is getting harder.”
Mana was quickly depleting. At this rate, her body couldn’t keep up with the hunting speed.
“Please, someone help me…!”
Seonwoo-yeon was half-panicked in fear.
At that moment…
“…I thought you would have defeated at least half of them.”
Faintly.
Beyond the noise of the swarming bees, a voice echoed.
“Let me just take a quick look at how much progress has been made…”
The man who emerged from the gate had a remarkably cold expression.
He stopped in his tracks upon spotting Seonwoo-yeon, who was fighting bravely near the entrance, and asked in a puzzled tone.
“What is all this?”
“Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo!”
Kim Gi-ryeo Hunter had entered the nest.
*
“What is all this?”
I couldn’t imagine it.
That a B-Class hunter, who should be navigating through dungeons like it was a stroll in the park, was getting thoroughly beaten.
Something was clearly wrong here.
“It seems the association made a mistake while registering the saturation level! The monsters are much more than expected. Wow, thank goodness you came…”
Seonwoo-yeon momentarily forgot that I had entered illegally and was relieved, but unfortunately, I only had one answer to give.
“Mr. Kim Gi-ryeo, could you help me a bit?”
I firmly replied to her inquiry.
“No, I can’t help.”
What was I supposed to do?
What could an F-Class Awakened do in a C-Class monster’s nest?
But if I showed weakness here, it would nullify all the bravado I had shown yesterday.
I pondered for a moment and added a disclaimer.
“I told you, I don’t want to rely on my awakening abilities unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“This is exactly that moment!”
“Really now?”
By the way, this gate, despite having a large number of monsters, was considered weak among C-Class due to their particularly low magic power.
The conclusion had already been drawn.
“Listen, Seonwoo-yeon Hunter. This is a problem that will resolve itself if you don’t panic.”
“……!”
“Why are you waiting for someone else to interfere with something you can handle by yourself?”
I confidently defended my point.
Your skills are more than enough to conquer this gate, so I won’t help.
It was a plausible excuse.
“Wha-what did you just say…?”
Of course, from Seonwoo-yeon’s perspective, this would be utterly ridiculous.
“Stay calm and try hunting slowly.”
There was no other way.
I raised my hands to signal that I wouldn’t step in. Seonwoo-yeon trembled in disbelief.
“Kim Gi-ryeo, you…!”
Then it happened.
The hunter, shaking with betrayal, suddenly started running towards me.
This nice Earthling probably wouldn’t lay a finger on me, but the problem was the multitude of murder hornets chasing behind her.
I lowered my hands as I watched the swarm of monsters gathering like clouds.
“Mr. Gi-ryeo! Please do something about these guys…!”
Buuuuuuuuuu.
Hearing the sounds up close was quite terrifying.
However, I wasn’t fazed, even as a C-Class monster was approaching.
Because it was impossible for me to intervene in the first place.
“Uh?”
Buuuuuuuu….
A moment later, as the group of bees targeted Seonwoo-yeon, a strange phenomenon occurred.
“Ouch, that hurts!”
Clang!
Strange. The swarm of murder hornets was obsessively attacking only Seonwoo-yeon.
As if any hunter in their midst was invisible…
“W-why? Ouch!”
Countless bees bypassed the spot where I stood.
Seonwoo-yeon stared in wide-eyed confusion, unable to comprehend why she was the only target of the attack.
But, what could be done? This was just their nature.
“Just like last time.”
At this point, the reason for my calm demeanor was revealed.
The bees appearing in the Nest of the Murder Hornets were fundamentally non-aggressive.
If they recklessly wasted their stingers, they would end up dead themselves.
To sum it up, murder hornets only initiated attacks against beings that posed a threat to their hive.
An F-Class, with mana levels akin to a newborn ant, would simply be ignored.
“Is this… a situation to be happy about?”
For some reason, my corneas felt damp.
Anyway, I was safe here because of that reasoning.
“Ahhhh!”
It seemed Seonwoo-yeon was truly struggling against their offensive.
She had been desperately resisting the swarm, but the wounds she sustained were increasing.
“Poor thing.”
It felt uncomfortable just to watch someone suffer.
So I decided to pass on a tip to help her overcome this crisis.
“Hey, Seonwoo-yeon!”
By the way, the murder hornets appearing here were creatures you could also find in Alphauri.
Thanks to that, I knew their weaknesses well.
“I’ll tell you where the dungeon boss is!”
“What did you say?”
“If you really can’t manage, just take out the queen bee! Once you kill it, the rest will drop off!”
Buuuuuuuuuu.
My shout echoed through the noisy buzzing of the bees.
“See that big beehive over there? The brown one!”
“I-I see it…!”
“Look closely at the pattern on the outer part. Do you see the biggest whirlpool? What do you think it is?”
I pointed out the exact location where the queen bee was hiding.
“The queen is in the center of that whirlpool.”
“Ah, okay! Then what should I do now…?”
“Pierce through it with your skill. Burst through the boss along with the nest.”
This was the shortcut to conquering the Nest of the Murder Hornets.
Locate the hidden queen bee and finish it off with long-range magic. It was a truly straightforward plan.
“If you use this method, there may be small side effects, but it should be manageable.”
However, even after receiving the strategy, Seonwoo-yeon wore a sullen expression.
“Pierce through the entire nest? How can I execute such a large technique! My mana is all used up from before…!”
Magic depletion, huh?
It was hard to agree with that statement.
From my perspective—having directly interacted with her mana—I could tell Seonwoo-yeon still had plenty of energy left.
“She’s too worked up.”
Pitying the stiff B-Class hunter, I concluded.
She must be so anxious that her magic isn’t working well.
In that case, saying something calming to ease her tension would be beneficial.
“Exactly.”
Having organized my thoughts, I stepped a bit closer to Seonwoo-yeon and gently suggested.
“Seonwoo-yeon, you still have a lot of mana left, right?”
“Yes?”
“Your speech and breath are proof of that, so exhaust it until you can no longer breathe.”
Now, first, I needed to inform her that there was still leeway in her mana.
“Those of us Awakened won’t die from just overdoing it…”
Adding this advice would surely allow Seonwoo-yeon to finally relax.
There’s no reassurance better than knowing there’s no risk of dying. She’d no longer hesitate.
Cheerful!
I confidently lifted my head, convinced that Seonwoo-yeon would be relieved.
Yet what I saw before me was…
“Huh?”
Seonwoo-yeon was looking at me with a pale blue face.
What’s going on? Did she suddenly experience hypoxia?
