Chapter 75
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: A Lucky Box and a Dark Alliance
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The Pet in charge of the Korean server.
With the ads running, Riggle couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling up.
"Khuhuhu! This is a massive hit! I've never seen anything like it!"
Korean Server - Administrator: Riggle (Current visiting Transcendent Beings: 24...)
The status board showed that 24 Transcendent Beings had now visited.
The fact that so many Transcendent Beings were watching meant the Korean server under Riggle's management was gaining popularity, and word would spread quickly.
And was that all?
While each Transcendent Being had their own way of enjoying the show, the majority sought indirect catharsis through their avatars.
This meant there was a high probability of avatars emerging from the Korean server's players, and their influence would undoubtedly contribute significantly to the server's future prosperity.
"I never would have imagined. I thought he was a problem child, but it turns out he was the one who'd bring home the honey."
Gupisgul, an overwhelming senior in the ecosystem of Pets.
Becoming his enemy had been truly dreadful, but was this the result of turning a difficult situation around?
"Kikikik! Let's live well together in symbiosis from now on! My little honey pot!"
The territory of the Chinese server he had successfully claimed, and the Transcendent Beings who belonged to it.
The stage and the audience.
Having succeeded in catching two birds with one stone, Riggle had now thrown away all his pride as a Pet and was focused on the Honeybee Guardian.
[When using an item or skill with a ★★★★-grade effect or higher, the player's luck will be raised to its MAX state for that single instance.]
He decided to go all-in on Yu Seong-hyeok.
* * * * *
The recent war with the Chinese server.
Among all that Seong-hyeok had gained from leading his side to victory—with the support of the Asian server through Honeybee's favor, his overwhelming bee army, and his natural biochemical weapons—the greatest reward was, without a doubt, levels.
While the five stat points per level were nice, what truly pleased Seong-hyeok, who could already inflate his stats with the 'Lover of Processed Bee Products' effect, was acquiring skills based on his level.
[You have met a specific awakening condition. -> Level 40]
[The Honeybee Guardian's Authority has grown stronger. The number of Queen Bees you can possess has increased by 1.]
[You have met the conditions for skill acquisition. -> Level 40]
[You have learned the skill, Craft Guardian's Auto-Extractor Hive.]
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[Craft Guardian's Auto-Extractor Hive (Lv.1)]
* Type: Skill
* Mana Cost: 350
* Effect (Active): Crafts a random type of auto-extractor hive. (Cooldown: 4 days)
* Description: Consumes mana generated within the body to craft an auto-extractor hive that helps a queen bee start a colony. The crafted hive will automatically collect honey when its honey status reaches 100%. When collecting, it will be affected by the owner's skills. As the level increases, you can craft higher-grade auto-extractor hives.
※ There is a certain chance to obtain a sturdier and superior auto-extractor hive engraved with the 'Guardian's' keyword.
※ Adding wood and honeycomb as additional materials besides mana can yield a higher quality auto-extractor hive.
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As if reading his mind, the skill he acquired and the awakening of his authority, which came every 10 levels, appeared.
Setting aside the fact that he could now capture one more Queen Bee, what really caught Seong-hyeok's eye was the ability to craft a hive with an automatic extraction feature.
"What a relief..."
Lately, with his breeding system of three queens and two princesses, he was beginning to reach the limits of what he could manage with his current hives.
And in the midst of this, he gained a skill to craft additional hives!
What's more, it wasn't just an ordinary hive, but an 'auto-extractor' one!
"I should have a lot more free time now."
It was only natural that as one's stats increased, their gathering speed would also increase.
But that logic hadn't applied to Seong-hyeok.
The reason, as mentioned before, was that with the immense number of bees being born each day, the speed at which honey accumulated also increased!
Because of this, Seong-hyeok had always spent his days on a tight schedule, focusing on harvesting and investing time in processing the numerous byproducts. But now, with the auto-extractor hive, he could save time, at least in the 'harvesting' department.
'I'll even have time for experiments, so this is perfect.'
Well, even so, it was obvious where Seong-hyeok, cursed with the obsession of a mad researcher, would spend that time.
Still, if he could create various and innovative processed goods, it would directly contribute to the safety of his bee farm, so it was by no means a bad outcome.
'So, is this all that's left?'
While his bees and Kang Yeon-ah were diligently collecting junk items, Seong-hyeok checked the reward he received from the event quest.
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[Riggle's Lucky Gift Box (★★★★)]
* Type: Consumable
* Description: The user obtains an item of their desired type. However, the grade is limited to 4-star.
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Along with the 1 million coins, he re-read the information on the gift box.
'An item of my desired type...'
The item's description was like someone saying, "I didn't know what you'd like, so I prepared everything!"
Considering it was even a 4-star grade, it was more than enough of a reward for placing first in the event quest.
"What do I need the most?"
He liked the effect, so all that was left was to choose what he wanted most.
Thus, Seong-hyeok was forced to ponder.
'First, let's exclude permanent stat-boosting consumables.'
For Seong-hyeok, who could craft the 4-star+ grade Three-Colored Rock Honey Liquor himself, a 4-star consumable held little meaning.
Furthermore, using this process of elimination, he didn't really need any equipment either.
Through two rounds of buying out the auction house, he had acquired all the useful equipment he could, and considering his stats allowed him to easily defeat the Emperor even without wearing any, he didn't feel a great need for more.
'...This is probably the best choice.'
For any player, the most important thing was to choose something closely related to their 'class'.
In that case, for Seong-hyeok, the 'Honeybee Guardian', there was obviously only one thing he needed most.
'Something for my Queens.'
The ones who had contributed the most to making him who he was today were his Queens.
And the thing that had the greatest influence on his Queens' 'evolution' was none other than evolution materials, wasn't it?
And above all, since he could obtain 'the type the user desires', Seong-hyeok thought of an evolution material that perfectly reflected his own nature and opened the gift box.
[Using Riggle's Lucky Gift Box (★★★★).]
[Obtaining an item of the user's desired type.]
[Due to the intervention of a special power, your luck is increased to its maximum value, MAX, for this one instance.]
"...!"
Just like before, the intervention of a special power was applied.
And the item that emerged from the gift box was, as expected...
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[Essence of Sweetness (★★★★+)]
* Type: Consumable, Material (Evolution)
* Related to sweetness
* Description: A ★★★★+ grade Essence of Sweetness created through a special method. It contains a sweetness not of this world.
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An evolution material for his Queens.
Not just any material, but an item that would have a major impact on beekeeping, the alpha and omega for his bees.
* * * * *
"Everyone, please wait a moment. I can make things fun for you all again! Didn't you all have a great time during the Night of Slaughter?"
Wherever you go, if there are winners, there must also be losers.
Gupisgul's pathetic plea.
But such words had no effect on the Transcendent Beings.
[The Transcendent Being, Radirmir, the Perfected Being of Blood, stomps his foot, stating his excitement has cooled.]
[The Transcendent Being, Demon King Glock, clicks his tongue, saying that the slaughter among the weak is now boring.]
It was only natural. Through the commercialization of countless dimensions, the Transcendent Beings were not new to this kind of entertainment.
In short, they had the insight to identify a server that was finished.
From their perspective, the Chinese server, having lost its territory and most of its avatars, was nothing but an empty shell.
"N-no, please. Don't...!"
Having already lost interest, the Transcendent Beings had no reason to continue enjoying the show here.
As he watched them scatter to channels that suited their tastes, Gupisgul fell into despair.
"R-Riggle, you damn bastard! How dare you humiliate me like this?"
As a senior, the situation was incredibly shameful and frustrating.
But no matter how much he wracked his brain, he couldn't think of a way to overcome this desperate crisis.
"Hoo, I guess this is the end of the line for this business."
His experience from peddling his wares across countless dimensions told him so.
With no breakthrough in sight, Gupisgul decided that since things had come to this, he might as well squeeze out the last bit of value by throwing all the remaining members of the Chinese server into the fray and trying to get at least one more video out of it.
"You seem to be having a hard time, Senior Gupisgul."
"What is it? Did you come here because you want a beating later?"
Pegle, the administrator of the North Korean server, had appeared in the room where Gupisgul was now alone.
"Heeheehee. No. I'm not crazy. Do you really think I'd come here for that?"
With his characteristic cheerful smile, he extended a hand toward Gupisgul.
"Since it's come to this, I came to suggest we form an alliance."
"Ha! You arrogant little punk. Do you take me for a fool? A mere 1-star Pet like you dares to suggest what to me, a 3-star? An alliance? Are you kidding me?"
"Please hear me out. It's because I found something amazing in the place I'm managing. Senior, have you ever heard of a nuke?"
"What about it? No matter how powerful it is, a nuke that hasn't been itemized is more likely to backfire."
In this strange world, the 'weapons' that existed in the original dimension were given a penalty called 'Itemization'.
Because of this, no matter how powerful a weapon's firepower was, it couldn't deal significant damage to a player who had reached a certain level, so in the end, players were bound to use graded items. That was the fate of a 'commercialized' dimension.
But in this world, there were always exceptions.
"Senior, that's only a problem if it can't be itemized, wouldn't you say?"
As if to prove his point, Pegle showed Gupisgul the information of one of his livestock.
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[Class Specialization - Ruler of the Nucleus]
* Nuclear Warhead Control: Can itemize a nuclear warhead. However, the grade upon itemization depends on the state of the nuke. (Cooldown: 45 days) -> To balance its effect, this can only be used after 45 days.
* ???
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Ruler of the Nucleus, a 5-star unique class.
For the highest 5-star grade, the number of class specializations and the cooldown efficiency were abysmal.
Honestly, it was a near miracle that the player had survived this long, but was it just good luck?
Or was the weight of his innate destiny just that heavy?
The one who had chosen this class was the supreme leader of the dictatorial nation of North Korea, and he had survived until now, successfully itemizing a single nuclear warhead.
"So, what will you do, Senior?"
"...Kh, khuhuhu! Fine. It's a lost cause anyway. It wouldn't be bad to finish things off by wiping the slate clean."
The Chinese server, which still had a large population despite its ruin, and North Korea, which possessed the powerful weapon of a nuke.
The two servers secretly formed an alliance, plotting to stir up a storm on the Asian server.