Chapter 29
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Mindset (2)
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The other survivors also seemed to sense something off, falling into silence as if they’d never raised their voices in the first place.
“...”
Once all the larvae had entered the room and the cavern fell quiet again, a few more seconds passed.
Clack. Clack.
In the midst of scanning their surroundings with heightened tension, a faint scratching sound tickled their ears from the silence.
‘Bugs’ footsteps!’
By the time Lee Min-jun realized what it was, swarms of ground bees began pouring out from the countless holes in the walls.
‘There were definitely no bees in the room…. Oh, the vents!’
They must have entered through the ventilation holes in the room.
He’d confirmed earlier that there was no other way in.
‘This is….’
A trap.
These were the bees that hadn’t shown up despite all the commotion until now.
And they appeared precisely at this moment, right as they were about to escape?
It was too perfectly timed to call it coincidence.
‘And on top of that.’
As if that wasn’t bad enough, swarms of bees started crawling out from the previously empty passageway.
The ones pouring in from all directions quickly surrounded the cavern, positioning themselves one by one while trapping Min-jun and the survivors in the center.
They weren’t making any aggressive moves yet, almost as if they were waiting for someone.
Worried that even the slightest noise might set them off, no one dared to twitch a finger, gulping dryly instead.
This tense standoff dragged on uncomfortably for about two more minutes.
Buzzzzz—
A faint wing-flapping sound began to echo from the distance, breaking the silence. Before long, it grew louder, reverberating through the entire cavern.
Buzzzzz—
‘Ugh.’
A burning pain flared from the brand on his palm.
It was a familiar sensation whenever he encountered an Apostle, but this time it was far more intense.
‘…Something’s coming.’
A ripple stirred in the darkness of the large passageway.
Min-jun braced himself fully, staring into the shadows.
And from within, a massive bee the size of a van slowly revealed itself.
‘…’
The creature hovered in the air, its long, thin abdomen dangling below, clutching the middle-aged woman who had fled right after being rescued in its six legs.
Her eyes were pitch black, devoid of any whites, and an orange line connected her nape to the giant bee’s pincer jaws.
Crunch—
The middle-aged woman twisted her neck grotesquely, her jaw moving like a wooden puppet’s as she spoke.
—Human.
[You confront the queen bee ‘Sting’ of the Ferocious Wasp Ground Bee Nest.]
[She is the master of the dungeon and the ‘Core’ itself.]
Even as the System’s voice embedded itself in their minds, the black-eyed woman continued.
—My. Nest. Welcome.
—Stage I made. Satisfied?
She spoke in clumsy but clear language, as if seeking someone to converse with.
Her compound eyes and black pupils made it impossible to tell where her gaze lingered, but instinct told him so.
The other survivors, however, had no intention of drawing the monster’s attention and remained silent.
In the end, Min-jun, standing at the front of the group, had no choice but to step forward.
“Why go to the trouble of setting up this stage? Don’t tell me you actually want to negotiate?”
—In nest. Everything. Mine. My possessions. As I will.
—Negotiation wrong. Mercy right.
“Mercy…. Fine, mercy it is. What are you trying to say?”
—Male human. Brand. Sacrifice. Know.
The compound eyes on the creature’s main body glowed blue briefly before fading.
He felt it. Its desire.
He’d sensed it before, so he knew for certain.
Arktine.
The gaze it had fixed on him carried that exact aura.
‘One after another….’
Before the apocalypse, he’d lived so unobtrusively that others’ attention had always felt like a distant concept.
But in the post-apocalyptic world, he’d become a celebrity.
To monsters, not humans, of course.
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m the sacrifice you’ve all been looking for. So?”
—You. Have. I become Star Lord. In return. Release other humans.
The quiet group of survivors erupted in murmurs at her words.
Their piercing stares bored into his back.
He wanted to turn around, but a sudden dread stopped him.
If their eyes matched his expectations, he’d lose any faith left in humanity.
As he hesitated to respond, a voice broke the silence from behind.
It was the middle-aged man in hiking gear from earlier.
“Look… since you came to rescue us anyway, for the greater good…. Ahem…. Isn’t sacrificing yourself a noble choice—?”
“What did you say?! Is that what you tell someone who risked their life to save you?!”
“No, but since you risked your life…. Shouldn’t you follow through with that resolve? Honestly, saving dozens of lives with one person’s sacrifice isn’t a bad deal.”
Jung So-hee snapped back, but the man stubbornly finished his point.
I glanced at Sting, watching the scene. No expression on an insect’s face, yet it felt like she was smirking.
Provoking discord on purpose, treating it like a comedy show—my heart and mind went ice-cold.
I slowly turned to face the survivors.
Dozens of them, excluding So-hee and Dong-gil’s team, were shooting me openly hostile looks.
Meeting their gazes, I spoke to Sting.
“Can you keep your promise?”
—Take my place.
“Fine. I’ll accept the deal—”
As I answered her, Lee Cheol-ho cut in, approaching while carrying Gu Dong-beom on his back.
“Min-jun, no matter how I think about it, this doesn’t feel right.”
“Leaving a young guy alone like that—how could I face Dong-gil? If we all try together, we might escape.”
“…”
Looking at Gu Dong-beom, who chimed in weakly, I thought at least some people like them made it worthwhile and gave them a nod.
“…You don’t look like you’ll change your mind at all.”
I turned at the gaze from the side. It was So-hee.
I lowered my hand and made the signal we’d agreed on.
Her eyes trembled faintly upon seeing it.
“…”
I nodded to her. She’d protect the team no matter what. That’s how she’d grown—specialized for it.
I turned back and slowly walked toward Sting.
Step. Step.
With each step, my chaotic thoughts cleared up neatly.
Their blatant attitudes even helped solidify my outlook on the world going forward.
I had no intention of sacrificing myself like they assumed.
I wanted to live.
I’d thought that way ever since the terminal diagnosis.
Taking care of my people if possible—that seemed to be the limit of my narrow-mindedness.
Step.
“Whew….”
Reaching right up to Sting, I looked up at the hovering beast.
Up close, its massive body felt even larger than from afar.
—Subdue you. Then release humans.
With that, she thrust her long abdomen’s massive stinger toward me.
A green droplet, likely venom, beaded at its tip.
I leaned in close to the stinger and muttered just loud enough to be heard.
“As expected… even with intelligence, an insect brain’s still an insect brain.”
Fwoosh—
Suddenly, a great sword was in Min-jun’s hand.
A bizarre scene where the drawing process was skipped, only the result existing.
As Min-jun willed it, a System message rang in his mind.
[The power of the weapon’s former owner, ‘Force that Pulls Mountains and Covers the World in Qi,’ is borrowed.]
[Time Limit: 00:00:05]
In an instant, Min-jun’s great sword and arm blurred.
Thud.
A black metal lump hit the ground.
‘Die.’
Following the yellow band on Sting’s chest, a dark line slashed across its body, including the middle-aged woman it held.
Orange ichor and red blood seeped out belatedly.
Krrrrrrash—!
A massive straight scar was carved into the rock wall behind Sting.
* * *
As the reddish great sword danced, the bees’ wings shattered and scattered in the air.
“Hup, Woo-jin!”
“Yes, sir!”
The bees that crashed to the ground became Choi Woo-jin’s prey.
Crunch! Crunch!
The bees crawling on the ground instead of flying had less combat power than the Jamsil larvae, and Woo-jin dispatched them easily.
‘Damn, we could handle them up to a point. But this—’
However, as over a hundred swarmed them, Dong-gil scooped up Woo-jin in one arm and fled again, legs pumping.
‘If only So-hee were here, we could take them….’
Both Dong-gil himself and the rookie Woo-jin had grown agility-focused, lacking the defense to handle crowds.
The two alone couldn’t hold their ground against the onslaught.
Thanks to Dong-gil’s acceleration boots, which boosted speed proportional to agility, their hit-and-run tactic had worked decently at first.
“Hah… hah…. I’m dying.’
But eventually, the bees multiplied faster than they could kill them…. Now, even just escaping was a struggle.
The longer it went, the more exhausted they grew. Or rather, precisely.
“Team Leader! How long do we keep this up?!”
“Hup…. If I knew, would I be doing this?! Whack! You’re coasting easy and complaining!”
“What can I do about my low level?”
“Hah… hah…. Then shut up!!”
The problem was that only he felt the strain.
This guy…. I remembered him running well, so I brought him as bait, but running together, he was way slower than expected.
Partly because he’d grown, but the rookie’s skill ‘Free Running’ was only fast in urban areas—useless in open spaces.
In places like this, raw stats mattered, and his were too low.
A fatal misjudgment.
‘No, until recently, I was about his level…. Hoo, makes the team leader who carried me and So-hee around seem amazing now.’
Lost in thoughtless running, the team leader crossed his mind, but he shook it off and kicked the ground harder.
Tadak.
As time passed, his legs felt heavier, like running through mud, bile rising in his throat. But what could he do? To avoid dying, he had to keep going.
Pushing on, another fork appeared ahead. Dong-gil yelled at the rookie.
“At the fork, swing left, then ambush when they close in!”
“Again?!”
Smack!
“Hup…. Ah, you punk. When did you get so mouthy behind my back?!”
After flicking the rookie’s forehead, Dong-gil dragged the now-quiet kid to the fork.
They turned left, backs to the corner wall, catching their breath.
“Hah… haa….”
Buzzzzz—
As the wingbeats approached, cold sweat trickled down Dong-gil’s back during their brief rest.
‘Damn…. Not many more of these left.’
He was already at his limit. He’d run on fumes just now—if even that stamina ran out….
‘I’ll have to go all-out then.’
Calculating the timing as the worst-case loomed.
He’d done this enough to develop a sense for it.
At their speed, exactly 4 seconds.
‘4…. 3…. 2…. 1.’
“Now!”
With Dong-gil’s shout, the two burst from the corner together.