Chapter 57
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: War Declaration
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[You have hunted the dungeon boss monster, Foothill Orc Chieftain Lv. 22 (★★★-). You have acquired experience, 28,650 Coins, a ★★★- Item Draw Ticket, and the Orc Chieftain's Staff (★★★).]
[You have successfully conquered the dungeon, Village of the Foothill Orcs (★★+).]
[Due to the dungeon's destruction, the combat morale of the Foothill Orcs located outside has been greatly reduced.]
[Dungeon Conquest MVP Player - Honeybee (Lv. 31)]
“That wrapped up pretty easily.”
Was it because the dungeon was a full star-rank lower?
Unlike the battle against the Carapace Giant Hornets' nest, the orc village was cleared with relative ease.
Of course, that didn't mean they were weak.
It was just that Seong-hyeok, who had been steadily raising his permanent stats with the bees' special processed goods, like clown juice and bee stings...
...had become monstrously strong from all the different kinds of doping.
“Grrroooowl-!!!”
“Yeah, you were a big help too.”
Plus, the contributions of the giant male Asiatic black bear, a former field boss monster, couldn't be overlooked. It had been the driving force that got him here so quickly and had provided considerable help in battle.
“Still, this is disgusting. I really want to take a bath.”
It was the same after the brawl with the Carapace Giant Hornets, and now he'd annihilated the orc village right after.
Covered head to toe in monster blood and remains like some madman, he felt indescribably grimy.
No matter how long Seong-hyeok had lived in the forest, he had never been this filthy, so it was only natural.
But before that, Seong-hyeok still had something to do.
【Honeybee: Yeon-ah. This side is finished too, so come and pick up the items.】
【Alpha Woman: What? There's, there's more?】
【Honeybee: Yep. Come finish up.】
A pack mule is meant to be worked hard, after all.
* * * * *
The two dungeons and two field boss monsters that had appeared near Seong-hyeok's bee farm.
He had gained a great deal from the life-or-death struggle against them, but it was hard to feel purely joyful about it.
That was because, in the bees' battles, sacrifices were an inevitable consequence.
Although the scale of the battle was larger, the number of casualties was lower than during the fight with Lich Velmoren. Still, that didn't make their deaths any less sorrowful.
“Thank you always, my little friends.”
“May you rest in peace.”
“Sob... I'm sorry. And thank you, bees.”
The residents each offered their condolences for the fallen bees.
Among them, Yeon-ah cried her eyes out, whether because she was at an age of heightened sensitivity or because she had always paid special attention to the bees.
Bzz— Bzzz—
“...Are you comforting me? Th-thank youuuu.”
As if to prove their feelings were genuine, a few bees approached the residents, wiggling their behinds in a dance.
A cute gesture in a sad situation.
And it was the same for Seong-hyeok.
Bzzzz— Bzzzzz—
Bwoooong-!
They say grief has no weight, but Seong-hyeok had dedicated 24 years of his life solely to bees.
Moreover, he was the Honeybee Guardian.
Befitting the name of his class, he knew the bees' deaths were an altruistic sacrifice for the good of the colony, but he couldn't help feeling sad.
*...I won't forget you.*
But as mentioned before, he couldn't remain steeped in sorrow forever.
Above all, even now, the bees were busily moving, diligently gathering honey.
Watching them work so hard to ensure their comrades' deaths were not in vain filled him with positive thoughts rather than negative ones.
*Thank you. I will never let the time and strength you've earned for me go to waste.*
The cycle of life, death, and birth was a universal law for all living things.
For the sake of the bees sacrificed this time, and for what was gained through their sacrifice.
Seong-hyeok used the power he'd gained as the Honeybee Guardian without hesitation.
[Activating skill, Resonance with the Queen Bee (Lv. 1).]
[Laying an egg that will hatch into an Imperial Topaz Princess Bee. Current number of Princess Bees: 2 / 2]
[The growth rate of the Imperial Topaz Queen Bee increases slightly, and the effect of 'The Queen Tries Harder' is applied.]
※ The Queen Tries Harder: Egg-laying speed increases by 5 times for 60 minutes.
The powerful combatant Teunteun-i and the all-rounder Lily.
The special Dongchung-i and Geonchug-i, who builds wild hives, among others.
Other elite bees were great, but sheer numbers were an indispensable part of the bees' power.
The Princess Bee directly influenced egg-laying, which affected both combat and honey gathering.
Having made his choice, which came with a long one-day cooldown.
Seong-hyeok clapped his hands sharply, drawing the residents' attention.
“Alright. Let's finish cleaning up for now. The bees are working, so we should work just as hard.”
“Right, you got it, Seong-hyeok.”
One way to wash away sad feelings.
Was to work so busily that there was no time to grieve.
* * * * *
The advent of a bizarre new world.
Countries.
No, in a world now divided into servers, most people would say.
That in this apocalyptic world, humans were scarier than monsters.
Unlike the world before, if those in power harbored twisted thoughts, the weak would simply be squeezed dry.
And there was a great deal of truth to that.
Because the weak had witnessed it with their own two eyes.
“Why bother hunting monsters? The streets are filled with such bountiful loot.”
A player who, from the very first day the world changed, hunted people instead of monsters as if it were the most natural thing to do.
He called himself the Emperor.
Of course, a few prideful players couldn't stomach his words and actions and charged at him, but they all ended up as nothing more than sustenance for the Emperor.
Squirm— Sssshhhh-!
An incomprehensibly monstrous power that allowed him to freely manipulate a force made of water, and even summon creatures made of blood.
A 5-star class.
The Emperor, about whom only rumors spread of a 'unique' class granted only to those who had accumulated rare karma.
Naturally, in the face of such overwhelming power, the player known as the Emperor quickly became infamous on the Chinese server.
Besides, people always flock to where power lies.
Those with useful talents,
those with unique classes or exceptional combat sense who were better kept as subordinates than killed for loot, voluntarily stepped forward to become the Emperor's left and right hands.
They were called his head and limbs, making the Emperor's power even greater. With the #1 chapter update, he gained massive amounts of levels and coins from the 'Night of Slaughter' event quest hosted by the server administrator.
Everything in this bizarre world seemed to be unfolding perfectly for him.
What was more surprising was that this was not the only miracle that had occurred for the Emperor.
Following the #1 chapter was the #2 chapter.
With that update, the Emperor formed an Incarnation contract with a Transcendent Being, gaining a means to strengthen his power even faster.
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[Aal's Cauldron (Divinity)] - Incarnation Exclusive Object
※ This item contains a large amount of a Transcendent Being's divine fragments.
※ Will be destroyed upon the permanent death of the Incarnation's soul.
* Classification: Special Object
* Applicable to: Players marked with the Brand of Aal
* Effect: Offering a sacrifice to the cauldron grants a blessing of increased rewards commensurate with the sacrifice's value. Only players are accepted as sacrifices.
※ A more powerful buff is granted to the Incarnation and those marked with the Symbol of Aal.
* Description: A cauldron imbued with the power of the Transcendent Being, Aal the Vile Gourmet. It has been elevated to a Divinity-class object due to the large quantity of divine fragments. Only Aal's Incarnation can use it and can summon it anywhere.
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A Divinity-class item that allowed him to level up faster just by sacrificing lives.
After obtaining this, the Emperor's actions grew even more cruel.
In the massive shelter the Emperor had established in his own way.
He demanded coins and items in the form of taxes, an amount so exorbitant it could only be described as evil, and the result was obvious.
Countless people within the shelter failed to meet their designated quotas or made grave mistakes every day.
“P-please, spare me. I can still work more!”
“More! I'll work more to meet the quota!”
“It was a mistake. Can't a person make a mistake once!”
“I don't want to die-!!!”
Those who wailed sorrowfully, begging for their lives like cattle being led to a slaughterhouse.
“Damn, you're noisy. Wouldn't it have been better if you'd just met your quota from the start?”
“You're here because you made that mistake.”
“Hey, hey, it's too loud. Hurry up and throw them in. If we're late, His Majesty the Emperor might throw us in too.”
But despite their pleas, the 'executors' mercilessly shoved the dragged-out people forward with all their might.
“N-no!”
“Ah...”
And that was the end.
At the edge of what seemed to be an artificially created cliff.
Below, the massive Aal's Cauldron gaped open like the mouth of hell.
Plop-!
The murky, ink-colored water absorbed the falling people as if a slime were devouring them whole.
[The taste is terrible, but Aal is pleased with the bountiful quantity.]
[A minor Blessing of Aal is applied to those with the brand.]
※ Minor Blessing of Aal: Experience gain increases by 20% for 300 minutes.
Using lives merely as sacrifices to obtain a buff was a practice worthy of condemnation, but what could be done?
For the weak to survive even a little longer, they had to meet their quotas instead of wasting time complaining.
Moreover, due to the 'Brand of Aal' that cruelly bound them, they too tasted the effects of this blessing, inevitably planting the thought, 'As long as it's not me,' in their minds.
Well, even if they grew stronger, they couldn't even dream of betraying the Emperor and his cronies.
[The Blessing of Aal is further enhanced for the Incarnation and those with the symbol.]
※ Bountiful Blessing of Aal: Experience gain increases by 35%, and the drop rate for items of one rank higher increases by 3% for 300 minutes.
The gap between the Emperor, who advanced much further while others took a single step, and the weak.
Besides, having witnessed the Emperor's cruelty firsthand, the players didn't dare to defy him despite their numerical superiority, living only to prolong their lives.
But was there perhaps a chance for them as well?
R-r-rumble-!!!
An eerie tremor began to shake the ground as if an earthquake had struck.
The players could only stare in horror at the scene unfolding before them.
In a place that should have been the sea.
But due to the intervention of a special power, the terrain was being manipulated, and land began to rise from the depths.
Following that, a single notification was delivered to every player in China.
Seeing it, the Emperor sensed that the time he had been waiting for had come.
“The time has finally come.”
Honeybee and the Silent Harvester, who had ruined his important first auction.
At the thought of the wealth and honor he would gain by conquering the Korean server they belonged to, the corners of the Emperor's mouth curved up like a crescent moon.
[Quest bestowal conditions have been met. -> Gupiseugeul's Fury]
[The event quest, War Declaration, is granted to all players on the Chinese server.]
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[Notification]
※ Players of the great nation of China! How about you teach your neighboring country, Korea, a proper lesson?
[Event Quest: War Declaration]
* When hunting players from the Korean server, loot acquisition increases by 1.5x, and a certain amount of points will be awarded based on their level.
* Incarnation Hunt - Hunting a target who has formed an Incarnation contract will award a large number of points.
* Land Grab - Conquering designated special regions will award a large number of points and advantageous buffs.
* Time Limit: Until Conquest is Complete
※ Within the time limit, massive rewards will be given to the top 1 ~ 1,000 players who acquire the most points.
※ During this period, the Chinese and Korean servers will be in a hostile relationship, and killing will not result in being marked as a villain.
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And so, with the event quest, the war between China and Korea had begun.