Chapter 142
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: The Aftermath
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As if to live up to the name ‘dragon.’
A 15% increase to all stats, applied to every single worker bee, superior species, and elite bee without exception.
It would take all night just to list the advantages this brought.
“Right, from now on, fly faster and safer.”
*Bzzzz~*
*Buzzzzz~*
Not only did it enhance combat abilities like attack and defense, but it also significantly impacted non-combat activities like gathering, especially speed.
With a larger territory and more bees, the amount of honey they could collect on their increasingly long flights was bound to increase.
But the power enhanced by the Dragon Heart didn’t stop there.
[The Peridot Cheonramdoks Legion Commander Bee (★★★★+) is imbued with the Blessing of the Dragon Heart.]
[The Ruby Gem Speedchitos Legion Commander Bee (★★★★) is imbued with the Blessing of the Dragon Heart.]
[The Diamond Geumgang-scale-lisk Legion Commander Bee (★★★★★) is imbued with the Blessing of the Dragon Heart.]
…
A series of notifications popped up one after another.
Teunteun-i and Ssing-ssing-i.
And Dongchung-i, along with the other bees specialized in ‘combat,’ received an even more enhanced version of the Dragon Heart’s power.
What they gained made the previous benefits seem like a joke.
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[Blessing of the Dragon Heart (Lv.1)]
* Type: Skill
* Mana Cost: None
* Effect (Passive): All stats are increased by 30%.
* Effect - Rage (Passive): When health drops below 10%, temporarily gain 3x stats for 5 minutes. (Cooldown: 30 days)
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Putting aside the increase to all stats, there was the ‘Rage’ effect.
The moment Seong-hyeok saw it, he felt a shiver run down his spine.
“...This is ridiculously OP.”
The elite bees had always boasted formidable power in battle.
But now, their strength could temporarily explode to three times its normal level?
It was plain to see what that symbolized.
“Most enemies would be swept away.”
He already had a host of elite bees that wielded unique powers depending on their evolutionary path and materials.
Besides, wasn't a last-stand ability always welcome? Seong-hyeok himself had something similar.
* Effect - Bee Rampage: The attack power of all bees within a 10km radius increases tenfold.
The skill ‘Guardian's Focused Assault,’ acquired upon reaching level 60.
If a tenfold increase in attack power was combined with the threefold boost from Rage, the bees could no longer be dismissed as small.
After all, beyond simple ramming attacks, all bees possessed a universally powerful weapon: their ‘stinger.’
Of course, that didn't mean the effect was an all-powerful trump card.
“It won’t be easy to activate.”
Health below 10% and a long 30-day cooldown.
The latter could be overlooked since the power was applied individually, but the former was a problem.
Why?
The reason was obvious.
“They’ll definitely show up again. Dragons.”
The first ‘???’-grade monster to appear on Earth and the one that had inflicted the most damage on his bees to date.
Creatures that could kill his bees in a single blow, let alone bring them down to 10% health, would continue to appear before Seong-hyeok.
* Effect - He Who Killed a Dragon (Passive): You become hostile to all dragons.
A penalty attached to the Dragon Slayer title, a classic example of high risk, high return that granted powerful benefits in exchange.
He had become a target for all dragons just for killing one of their young.
A normal person would be consumed by the fear of an unpredictable attack, but Seong-hyeok had long since shed the skin of the ‘prey.’
“I wonder what flavor the next one will be.”
The greater the penalty, the more substantial the spoils from the dragons.
Like a true ‘predator,’ not prey.
The whole-roasted Red Dragon barbecue had been a perfect match for the mead.
Whether the next one was green or black, Seong-hyeok was more than ready to devour them all.
* * * * *
After the festival and sorting through the Red Dragon’s loot.
Seong-hyeok’s next move was obvious.
“This is what I do best.”
Communing with the hives, overflowing with the sweet scent of honey.
For others, it might be grueling physical labor, but not for Seong-hyeok.
The bees didn’t resist at all, even when he stuck his hands into the hive.
Thanks to his class specialization, he never got stung, not even once.
*Bzzzzzz~*
*Buzzz- Bzzzzzz-*
The bees danced around Seong-hyeok, expressing their joy.
“Yeah, I’m happy too, guys.”
For bees, dancing was conversation, so just by looking at their wiggling rears, Seong-hyeok could feel their joy as his own.
“My apologies, partner. I did my best, but all of us together could not even match the amount you do alone.”
“Huh? It’s fine. It couldn’t be helped since you weren’t here.”
Of course, having been away for quite some time, the pile of work had grown beyond just one or two tasks.
As a result, Seong-hyeok, who rarely broke a sweat no matter how hard he worked, was drenched for the first time in a while, but a smile never left his face.
“I’m just glad the honey didn’t overflow. And more work to do is a good thing for me.”
“Hehe, spoken like a true partner.”
Like the bees who visited more flowers than their small bodies could carry, Seong-hyeok moved without rest.
As the master of the apiary, a land of labor, his work rate was hundreds, no, thousands of times greater than that of others, a truly marvelous sight.
“...I’m speechless.”
“Everyone’s become superhuman in this world, but Honeybee is on another level.”
“You could almost compare him to a god.”
As the honey byproducts were harvested one by one, the warehouse steadily filled up.
Watching numerous people struggle to move the amount Seong-hyeok had processed alone was quite a spectacle.
“Phew, that’s refreshing.”
“A-Amazing.”
The honey harvesting, a collaboration of hard work and enjoyment, was finished in an instant.
You only know the difficulty of a job once you’ve done it.
The Poison Elves, who hadn’t even known where to start with the overflowing work, gave Seong-hyeok a thumbs-up for clearing the backlog in the blink of an eye. Just then, Seong-hyeok spotted Im Seok-cheol approaching and greeted him warmly.
“I’ve prepared the plywood you asked for.”
“Thank you.”
He was the pillar responsible for the apiary’s construction and plywood.
Naturally, the use for the World Tree plywood Im Seok-cheol had brought was already decided.
“Alright, let’s get to building.”
It was time to craft a hive for the newly joined 5-star+ grade Golden Rock Queen Bee.
Did the little queen recognize her new home?
*Bzzzzing~!*
The Golden Rock Queen circled the gradually materializing hive, eagerly anticipating her finished love house.
Spurred on by her adorable cheers, Seong-hyeok worked even faster, adding one more ingredient to the standard World Tree hive: dragon scales.
[Great Success in Beehive Crafting! The Guardian's Blessing is engraved upon the beehive.]
[Guardian's Extra-Large Draconian World Tree Auto-Extractor Beehive (★★★★★-) has been crafted.]
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[Guardian's Extra-Large Draconian World Tree Auto-Extractor Beehive (★★★★★-)]
* Type: Other
* ※ Auto-Extraction: When honey status reaches 100%, it harvests the honey and generates byproducts nearby. (Cooldown: 8 hours)
* ※ Red Dragon's Heat: Bees entering or exiting this hive gain a 10% increase in movement speed and attack power for 1 hour. (Cooldown: 60 minutes per bee)
* ※ World Tree's Abundance: Greatly increases the amount of honey obtained during gathering.
* As a bonus effect from the disappearance of the Steadfast keyword, the beehive's durability and defense have been further increased.
* Currently empty.
* Capacity: 0 / 1,125,000 (+350,000)
* Current Honey Status: 0%
* Health: 65,000 (+23,000)
* Defense: 635 (+263) Magic Resistance: 600 (+230)
* Durability: 2,700 / 2,700 (+500)
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“Not bad at all.”
The birth of a hive with a rather impressive appearance and effects.
The 5-star- grade was a little disappointing, but considering the effects, durability, and capacity, he was quite satisfied.
*Buzzz-buzzz-buzzz-!*
“Well, if the owner likes it, that’s all that matters.”
The queen repeatedly entered and exited the hive, rubbing against it as if to say the home Seong-hyeok built was just perfect.
[The Golden Rock Queen Bee (★★★★★+) has secured a home.]
[Spawning will now begin!]
Excited, she began her spawning activities in earnest.
As a Honeybee Guardian and a father figure, seeing his child's vigorous activity was a joyous sight.
Beekeeping and hive-making.
Time flew by as he lost himself in the work he loved.
The sheer volume of his work left not only the new residents but also the original ones speechless.
But could they have ever imagined it?
“Alright, now shall we brew some mead?”
“...”
A beekeeper’s work was an endless cycle.
Day and night.
For the diligent beekeeper and his bees who worked without any restrictions, time was always on Seong-hyeok’s side.
* * * * *
Countless unique posts heated up community forums worldwide.
But if you were to ask people to pick the best of them all, they would utter three syllables without hesitation.
(Honeybee.)
The English word for a honeybee and a powerhouse that even the world’s top rankers couldn’t touch.
The recently uploaded raid of the Red Dragon Porleireun, in particular, had sent shivers down the spines of people across the globe.
【Korea/Incarnation of Frost: I knew he was amazing since the Troll King subjugation, but this is on another level. I have to admit it.】
【Germany/Great: I’m just so grateful he avenged our Russian friends.】
【India/Live by Curry, Die by Curry: How can he fight that giant dragon head-on without backing down? I would have fainted on the spot.】
【Thailand/Kkallu: For real lol】
The annihilation of the Red Dragon.
Honeybee’s power could be summed up in one word.
In a post-apocalyptic world where one could be killed by a monster at any moment, did such indescribable strength possess a charisma all its own?
【Pakistan/Carrot with Hidden Power: Ah, I seriously want to become a resident of Honeybee’s shelter.】
【Switzerland/Nato: I feel like I could live safely there until I die of old age. It’s a shame it’s so far away.】
【Korea/Attention Seeker NO.8: I don’t think distance is the problem. You have to pass the bees’ trial to get into Honeybee’s shelter.】
Regardless of nationality, age, or gender, everyone wanted to get into Honeybee’s shelter.
Though no one said it outright, the reason was obvious.
Guaranteed safety.
As time passed, people had adapted to this new world, but what good was that?
The appearance of a dragon, a ‘???’-grade monster that human strength couldn’t stop.
The change it brought was enough to make anyone terrified.
【Turkey/Swamp: Hey, is the Russian server really gone? It was completely deleted from the list.】
【...】
Was the Russian server some small, local corner store?
It was a country that always ranked among the great powers of Europe.
And it had been destroyed.
Not by a horde of monsters, but by a single creature: a dragon.
In such a situation, someone had appeared who had triumphed over that dragon.
Honeybee’s feat, showcased with the clear evidence of a video.
[Player White Will has left a message.]
[Player Arthur of Steel has left a message.]
[Player Death from Overwork has left a message.]
…
“It’s all going according to plan.”
In this topsy-turvy world, it was already a foregone conclusion how the seed of hope known as the honeybee would sprout.