Chapter 38
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: A 4-Star Debut
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With every passing moment, the number of bees grew.
But to be clear, the most fundamentally superior beings in Seong-hyeok's apiary were not the ordinary worker bees.
They were the higher-tier bee species derived from evolution.
There was the utility of the Ruby Gem scout and honey pot bees, and the combat efficiency of the Peridot venom acid and self-destructing bees.
But the power of the elite bees, the best among the higher-tier species, was beyond words.
The Peridot Cheonramdok Legion Commander Bee, whose un-bee-like valor and powerful physique earned it the name Teunteun-i, and the Ruby Gem Dark Lilither Legion Commander Bee, capable of wielding various special effects and black magic.
The amount of honey these two brought in, their combat participation rate.
And to top it all off, the special venom unique to these two was truly the ultimate weapon and, at the same time, an elixir.
“I have to get the ratio right. In terms of sheer toxic power, Teunteun-i's is much stronger, so I need to mix in more of Lily's.”
As an explorer, the urge to experiment in various directions surged madly within him, but unlike the plentiful honey or regular venoms where failure didn't matter, the elite bees' venoms were extremely rare.
He could not afford to fail, so he focused all his senses.
[Mixed Honey Processing Great Success! The Honeybee Guardian's blessing is engraved upon the Dark Cheonram Venom.]
[Guardian's Rubydot Bee Dark Cheonram Venom (★★★+) has been created.]
“...Nice. A success!”
Was mixing the Cheonram Venom and Dark Lilither Venom in a 1:3 ratio, considering the difference in their toxicity, the right call?
Fortunately, the potent 3-star+ grade venom was created with a great success, avoiding failure.
Seeing the dazzling, irresistibly alluring powder, even engraved with the 'Guardian's' keyword, Seong-hyeok quickly checked its effects.
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[Guardian's Rubydot Bee Dark Cheonram Venom (★★★+)]
* Category: Consumable, Material
* Upon consumption or exposure to a wound, Health decreases by 650(+50) over 10 minutes. When the 10-minute duration ends, you will take additional damage equal to the total damage dealt over time, twice. For 180 minutes, you will experience extreme pain, high fever, paralysis, and hallucinations. (Max 7 stacks)
* Description: A ★★★+ grade Rubydot bee venom engraved with the Guardian's keyword. The Cheonram Venom and Dark Lilither Venom have been blended together in a perfect ratio with masterful skill. The addition of black magic remnants has imbued it with truly formidable toxicity. Consumption causes extreme pain, along with high fever, paralysis, and hallucinations.
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“Good, very good.”
As expected of someone who had walked the path of the honeybee his whole life, once he started an inquiry, he had to see it through to the end.
Only after obtaining a rather useful result did Seong-hyeok's mood become satisfied.
But wasn't it said that all inquiry has no beginning and no end?
Having succeeded in creating such an outstanding venom through mixed processing, it would be a sin not to maximize its effects through secondary processing.
“First, considering the characteristics of the two elite bees, mixing the venom into honey tea or cosmetics would be best, right?”
Teunteun-i's Cheonram Venom, when made into honey tea.
And Lily's Dark Lilither Venom, when made into cosmetics, had been born as an item that boasted the highest effect for permanent stat increases.
Of course, since the two were mixed, there was a possibility that the venom's properties had changed to some extent, but the standard procedure for research was to first explore the most certain path.
After creating one more vial of Dark Cheonram Venom, Seong-hyeok immediately tried making two items: a venom honey tea by mixing one with honey tea, and a cosmetic by mixing the other with propolis and royal jelly.
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[Guardian's Rubydot Dark Cheonram Venom Honey Tea (★★★★-)]
※ Remaining aging period 25 days (Toxic effects will be neutralized upon completion of aging.)
* Category: Consumable
* Upon consumption, provides a surprising boost in vitality and satiety, and instantly restores 1,570(+270) Health and Mana. It also grants the individual 'Immunity of Guardian's Rubydot Dark Cheonram Venom Honey Tea' and the one-time skill 'Black Magic - Undead'. Control and Mentality will permanently increase by 3. This can only be done once. Current consumption 0 / 1
※ Immunity of Guardian's Rubydot Dark Cheonram Venom Honey Tea: For 120 minutes, immunity to all types of penalty effects increases by 85(+15)%, Max Health and Max Mana increase by 1,100(+200), and Control and Mentality increase by 55(+10). (Cooldown 120 minutes)
※ Black Magic - Undead: You can command a number of undead equal to the consumer's Control + Mentality x 1. The levels of the summoned undead will be lower than their stats in life. (Summoned undead will return to corpses after 30 minutes.)
* As an additional effect from the fusion of the Guardian's keyword, the effects of the venom honey tea are further enhanced.
* Description: A ★★★★- grade Rubydot Dark Cheonram Venom Honey Tea engraved with the Guardian's keyword. The harmony of Rubydot honey and Rubydot Bee Dark Cheonram Venom creates a superb sweet and sour taste. Consumption provides significant satiety, health recovery, and temporarily grants immunity and the power to wield black magic. It also permanently increases stats once per player. However, as the toxicity has not yet been fully neutralized, there is a high probability of pain and side effects upon consumption.
※ Caution! Buffs from the same series of venom honey tea do not stack.
[Guardian's Rubydot Dark Cheonram Venom Propolis Cosmetic (★★★★-)]
※ Remaining period 13 days (Toxic effects will be neutralized upon completion.)
* Category: Consumable
* Upon use, grants effects such as skin beautification and enhanced immunity, and applies 'Beauty of Guardian's Rubydot Dark Cheonram Venom Propolis' to the individual. All stats will permanently increase by 1. This can only be done once. Current uses 0 / 1
※ Beauty of Guardian's Rubydot Dark Cheonram Venom Propolis: For 90 minutes, immunity to all types of penalty effects increases by 65(+10)%, and Control increases by 35(+7). (Durability -1, Cooldown 90 minutes)
* Durability: 9 / 9(+3) - Cannot be repaired.
…….
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“Just as I expected.”
The mad exploratory instinct from his 24 years of walking the path of the honeybee.
For Seong-hyeok, it had yielded a useful vitality potion and skin cosmetic…….
No, it had become the foundation for the most outstanding permanent stat increase.
* * * * *
33 days, 23 hours, and 55 minutes had passed since Earth's 'commodification' project began.
Following the #1 Chapter update on Day 6, as Day 34 approached and the time for the #2 Chapter update drew near, the Pets began to busily decorate the atmosphere of their channels.
[Livestock commodification training complete! Just give us the mission, Transcendent Beings, and we will immediately declare war on the designated location!]
[The ultimate tech tree! The 5-star+ natural vegetation, the Philosopher's Stone, born from grinding countless resources and lives. Which player will be the one to claim this elixir boasting incredible options? If you wish, the avatars of the Transcendent Beings are also welcome to participate!]
[Good vs. Evil. Who will be the victor? Place your bets!]
[We can grant you control over your desired field boss. Care to have a taste?]
[Now, which livestock will survive until the very end?]
…….
Provocative titles meant to catch the eyes of the Transcendent Beings at all costs.
As one could tell just from the titles, the 'Pets' of the Transcendent Beings felt no hesitation about the annihilation of countless lives that would occur in this process.
Well, it was only natural.
As mentioned before, while commodifying numerous dimensions as 'Pets,' their only thought was to raise their own status.
What did it matter how many lives were taken in the process?
From the very beginning, their thought process did not treat the commodified lives, including those on Earth, as 'life' on par with their own.
Only their own path to success and the fleeting amusement of the Transcendent Beings mattered.
They believed that for these lives to be sacrificed for such a purpose was, in itself, a sufficiently glorious death.
[#2 Chapter update conditions have been met. -> 34 days elapsed]
[#2 Chapter update is now proceeding. 3, 6, 11%…….]
Amidst all this, the #2 Chapter update began to proceed.
At the same time, the Transcendent Beings, steeped in boredom, began to enter the channels prepared by the Pets, one by one.
- You want to see a monster wave sweep through? You even sponsored us, so of course we can make it happen!
- Oh, Lord Nachashgari. Thank you for the sponsorship! We will proceed with the mission as you desire!
- Yes, yes. Lord Charsur. You can do whatever you want. Stab them, crush them to a pulp, just relieve your stress!
- Surprising. I didn't expect you to take such livestock as your avatar.
- Oh? Are you serious? To think you'd put such a valuable item up for auction. We will make sure to utilize it to its fullest potential so you have no regrets.
The fate of the channels diverged depending on the Pets who managed each country's server.
With the different contents of the #2 Chapter update, the meticulous intervention of the Transcendent Beings in this chaotic world began in earnest.
In response, the Pets, as if they couldn't afford to lose, began to burn with a competitive fire, ready to clash at any moment.
- Ah, Biggle, you damn thug. Why the hell are you trying to start a war with me?
- What do you want me to do? A Transcendent Being sponsored it. If you've got a problem, start a war yourself.
- LMAO, the big shots are already going at it. At this rate, isn't Earth going to end up like those other dimensions that went straight to the dumpster?
- Like we care? LOL
- That's true. All we have to do is enjoy it.
In fact, due to the provocative and overheated actions of these Pets, some dimensions undergoing commodification had collapsed and been completely annihilated, but as they said, they couldn't care less.
Even if an entire dimension were to vanish, under the power of the Transcendent Beings who possessed divine authority, life would inevitably sprout again. To them, the inhabitants were just livestock that could be killed at any time.
In other words, they were no different from game pieces.
And so, Earth, having more or less completed the packaging for its commodification.
From now on, Chapter #1.
The chapter that the Pets commonly called the 'tutorial' was over, and the curtain had risen on the beginning, where the sponsorship accounts for channels that could truly raise one's status were now open.
However…….
- Th-this crazy honey-sucker. I knew he wasn't ordinary, but this guy is the real deal, isn't he? Kekekek! How in the world is he already self-producing items equivalent to a 4-star grade?
While all the other Pets were busy, Riggle was bursting into laughter secretly in a secluded corner.
The Pet in charge of managing the Korean server was stunned, not by some natural vegetation like a Philosopher's Stone created by grinding up lives, but by the 4-star minus grade item that Seong-hyeok had crafted himself.
- Does this even make sense, given the meager productivity of the Korean server's natural vegetation?
It was only Day 34.
Processed goods of a 3-star grade were achievable even within the Korean server, for those who had accumulated a certain amount of life's karma or had luckily obtained high-grade materials.
But from 4-star onwards, it was a different story.
Even if it was just a one-star difference, the effects and power contained within were so vast that comparing them would be an insult.
Of course, if you expanded the scope beyond the 'Korean server' to all servers worldwide, a few players might have managed to create a 4-star minus grade item.
But they could only do so because they had abundant resources. To accomplish such a feat within the small landmass of the Korean server was nothing short of a miracle.
- This honey-sucking bastard. He was a guy with plenty of value to be properly nurtured, wasn't he?
Moreover, since he had created not one, but two such items, it was safe to say this was not mere 'coincidence' but 'skill'.
[A player who has crafted two 4-star minus grade items by Chapter #2 has appeared! What's more, he has no connection to any Transcendent Beings yet! It's first come, first served! Come quickly, invest in the creator of these amazing items, and make him your avatar!]
Furthermore, for Riggle, whose status as a Pet was still relatively low, this was a tremendous opportunity.
- Kekekekek! Don't you die on me. I'll be counting on you for a long time, my honey-flowing livestock!
For Riggle, who had nothing much to show besides the common 'Soldier vs. Civilian' video that other Pets also had, this player was a massive attention-grabber that had fallen into his lap.
Without a moment's hesitation, Riggle used Seong-hyeok of his server as bait to lure the Transcendent Beings to his channel.