Running to where they heard the screams, they each hid behind trees and bushes. No one acted rashly. Rather, they watched the situation while holding their breaths as if it were natural. However, the situation had already ended.
‘One man sprawled like a corpse. And that thing… Is it a bee?’ 𝒆𝙣𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝙚𝙩
Bzzzzzz.
A three-meter bee was constantly fluttering its wings. Its appearance was similar to that of a giant Asian hornet, and its stinger looked thicker and sharper than any spear. Blood was dripping from its stinger, but the fallen man beneath it wasn’t moving anymore.
‘Dead. Probably died instantly when that stinger pierced him.’
Unless they had a special skill, a head-sized hole in their stomach would kill even a Player.
Seo Jun-Ho asked in a whisper, “Do you know who that is?”
“…Joel of the Labyrinth Guild. His skill lets him become transparent, so he is one of the best at infiltration and information gathering.”
“I know him personally. He’s a very talented guy… How the hell did he get killed?”
Bzzzzzz.
The bee continued to hover around the body.
“But… something’s odd.” Seo Jun-Ho noticed something and frowned. “The blood has dried up, so it had definitely been quite a while since he died. That means…”
“Then, does that mean the scream we heard just now wasn’t Joel’s?”
Milphage’s eyes shone, and he raised a thumb as if they had found a good clue. He spread his magic power like tree roots and began to sense the creatures around him.
“Mmm.”
A heavy groan emanated from his mouth. He couldn’t feel the aura of other Players except for them in the surrounding area.
“That’s strange. Then where the hell did that scream…?”
The moment Milphage asked—
– Aaaahhh!
“…!”
“…!”
The bee’s well-developed jaws opened wide, and a bizarre scream emerged from it. Without a doubt, it was the scream of a ‘male human.’
– Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!
It seemed like it was calling for someone. It imitated a man and screamed. The shocking sight instantly made Seo Jun-Ho speechless.
– Aaaahhh!
It roamed around the body, screaming for about thirty minutes. When nothing happened, it took Joel’s body and went inside the tower. Milphage’s dry cough broke the ongoing silence.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“It gave me the creeps”
“It’s not just at a level of being smart or stupid.”
“I’ve never seen such a clever guy since Tricker.”
Tricker.
It was the monster that had given Seo Jun-Ho the Confession of the Dead at the Curse of Dawn Gate. It was rare for a monster to attract others by imitating a person like Tricker.
‘Trickers only becomes problematic if you fall for their tricks, but if you don’t, it’s surprisingly easy to catch them.’
However, that guy was different. It had enough power to kill a High Ranker one-on-one, and it also had that much intelligence.
“I’ve had an inkling of this since we heard of the S-grade commission, but… this really isn’t going to be easy.”
Milphage stroked his chin and coolly declared, “Good! Let’s go back for the day. I think it’s dangerous to go any further.”
“…I agree.”
“Let’s go back and come up with a proper strategy and discuss it with the Goblin Guild.”
Like a leader, Milphage made good judgments without being greedy. Rather, it was Seo Jun-Ho who felt uncomfortable.
‘Milphage’s judgment is excellent, and the bee left. But…’
Bzzz! Bzzzz!
Why were his instincts still giving him this intense warning? As Seo Jun-Ho was feeling an unknown sense of disharmony, the Frost Queen, who had been silent all this time, asked, “But, Contracter, how did the bee find a Player who was transparent?”
“That’s…”
Seo Jun-Ho’s words suddenly cut off… Really, how did it find Joel? At the same time, his instincts flashed a memory through his mind.
“Eusocial…”
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“Bees are one of the few eusocial species.”
“What does that have to do—”
As soon as Milphage spoke, something dripped down on his shoulders. It was a sticky green liquid. He brushed it off with an annoyed expression and looked up.
– Kiii.
In the upper part of the tree in which they were hiding, there was a palm-sized bee stuck to it like a cicada.
“…If there are hunting bees, then there may be specialized bees for reconnaissance,” Seo Jun-Ho explained with an audible gulp.
At that moment…
Paaaaaang!
A huge spear fell from the sky, piercing through the dense leaves.
“Leader!”
“Keuk…?!”
Milphage avoided the attack with superhuman reflexes and rolled a few times on the ground. He looked at the bee that had just left the body in the tower and returned.
“Damn it, so that little one acts as the eye, and this one finishes off the target?”
“There may be more roles for the bees. Plus…”
Bzzz! Bzzzz!
There were several more giant Asian hornets in the sky.
“Oh, thank goodness. They aren’t coming for us!” Kiora exclaimed with a smile.
Seo Jun-Ho’s face, however, was rather stiff.
“…It attracted other people like us with its screaming.”
Now, it was certain that the giant Asian hornets were going to the Players they had located.
“What? Hearing it like that makes it seem like these guys are smarter than me?”
Ootcha.
Milphage jumped up, shook off the dirt on his clothes, and turned lightly.
“Are they? Coming here alone when I’m here, isn’t that dumb?”
“I’ll support you from behind.”
“Huhu, look here, Employee.”
Crack.
Milphage cracked the bones of his fingers by clenching his fists and revealed his teeth as he smiled.
“I understand that you want to fight, but hold it in for now. That one dared to make the Mercenary King roll on the ground. I’ll take care of it.”
“But—”
“Don’t worry.”
Kiora came to the side and dissuaded Seo Jun-Ho.
“Leader is a little stupid, but…”
“You’re fast for a bee!”
The bee moved so fast that it left four afterimages in the sky. Once again, the lance-like stinger shot toward the charging Milphage.
“Not just anyone can have the title of king.”
Milphage turned his head in an instant and captured the trajectory of the stinger with his eyes.
Creeeak!
The muscles of his entire body greatly swelled as his hands grasped the stinger.
“Heeeup!”
Milphage’s waist trembled for a bit before he slowly fell backward. It was quite a rare scene. The three-meter giant Asian hornet, which reigned like the king of the sky, was now stuck on the ground like a bug.
“Huhu!”
Milphage’s eyes glistened with madness as he jumped on top of the bee. He mounted the bee and hit its head indiscriminately.
Crack! Craack! Crack!
Green brain fluid and blood burst in all directions, and the bee began to disappear from the world.
“Huhuhu, how refreshing!”
Had a minute passed? Milphage stood up with a satisfied expression, and at his feet was a convulsing mysterious creature.
“You’ve heard of our leader’s skill, haven’t you? It’s pretty famous.”
“Everyone knows of it…” Seo Jun-Ho nodded.
Before Milphage won the title of Mercenary King, he was called ‘Angry Man.’
‘For an average Player, anger is a disadvantageous emotion that blurred one’s judgment, but… not for him.’
He was a Player whose physical abilities exponentially increased the angrier he became. Anger to the point of going nuts would only make him even stronger.
“If it’s only that much anger… It’s about a normal level of anger. Since we still can’t see the whites of his eyes, it’s not a medium level of anger.”
“You divided anger into levels?”
“Just for convenience. Only we mercenaries call it that. Anger, frenzy, berserk… We divided it like that.”
“You mean it gets worse than that.”
Milphage’s battle just now was perfect.
‘Although it’s not as fancy as an elemental skill, it showed all the advantages of a strengthening skill.’
He had the agility and flexibility to avoid an opponent’s quick attack, as well as the ability to see and destroy them. A strengthening skill was straightforward and simple, but reaching the peak with it relied on the Player’s ability.
“I shouldn’t forget this guy, either.”
Milphage pressed the bee onto the tree with his palm and made it burst. He looked up at the sky and thought for a moment.
“We’re going back…”
It meant that they wouldn’t go and save other Players that the bees had gone for. However, Seo Jun-Ho didn’t find any fault with his decision.
‘Everyone who came in here has enough ability to protect themselves.’
They had no obligation to save others. In particular, they were mercenaries who had been paid for this work, so his calculations were accurate in this regard.
“It seems we’ll have a lot to talk about tonight.”
Unlike when they had left, it took them only twenty minutes to get back to base camp.
***
“You’re here…”
The camp was already shrouded in heavy air. Seeing Gasman gasping there, the reconnaissance team over there must have had a hard time as well. Shin Sung-Hyun pointed toward the barracks with his chin.
“We’ll wait. Take a good rest and come back.”
“We don’t need to rest. We’ll go right away.”
Milphage told Seo Jun-Ho to take a rest if he had to, but the latter replied that he was fine. In the end, only a dozen Players entered the barracks.
Shin Sung-Hyun asked, “Did you yield any results?”
“I did. I’ll tell you in advance, but we’ve discovered a lot.”
“Isn’t it bothersome?”
“…”
Milphage shrugged, as he understood what Shin Sung-Hyun meant.
“Well, fine. Since I don’t feel like playing mental games, I’ll just come clean. The bees seemed to have fixed roles.”
“That’s what we found out, too.”
When Shin Sung-Hyun beckoned someone, a Player whom Seo Jun-Ho hadn’t seen hesitantly came over. He looked like a naive country boy. Milphage observed the boy, crossed his arms, and expressed his doubt.
“Who is this? I’ve never seen him before.”
“This is the mercenary I hired.”
“A mercenary? Are my eyes wrong? He doesn’t look very strong.”
“We didn’t hire him for strength. He was a beekeeper before he became a Player.”
“…A beekeeper?”
Milphage blinked before bursting into boisterous laughter. He understood why Shin Sung-Hyun had hired the boy.
“Hahaha! I see! I’m sure there are no other Players who can understand their characteristics better than a beekeeper.”
“Hmm, I’m Seo Jae-Gil, and I used to be a beekeeper in Jiri Mountain.”
“Ahh, all right, all right.” Milphage laughed for a while, then asked, “All right, then I’ll ask you, Beekeeper. How many bees do you think are living in that tower? Hundred? Two hundred?”
“Considering the situation, I’ll be honest with you…
“Honesty is good.”
“…The one that had been hunting should be a giant Asian hornet. And if its nest is in that tower…” He extended one of his fingers. “There should be at least two thousand bees per nest.”
“…What if there isn’t just one nest?”
“It would be good to assume that each additional nest will add two thousand more bees.”
“…”
Milphage forgot what he wanted to say as he frowned, revealing his complicated feelings.
“If what you said is true…” He clenched and unclenched his fist while recalling the bee he had caught. “Then, the bee I hunted today is just like a handful of sand on a beach.”
There were at least two thousand of them. Milphage closed his eyes tightly.
‘There are three of the Nine Heavens here… But even then, I don’t know if it’s possible.’
At the very least, Milphage didn’t have the confidence to handle them with his own mercenaries alone.