Chapter 45: The legendary playful bear

In the end, the Tower Virus spread throughout the entire world.

Many players were infected and collapsed.

Blame poured down on China.

Once again, it was China.

The Chinese players dispatched to the Global Association were the problem.

They actively interacted with other players, and as a result, the situation escalated beyond repair.

Yet, the Chinese authorities consistently denied responsibility.

“Our China has no knowledge of this at all. We are the real victims here.”

It was hypocrisy at its finest.

They even demanded compensation, claiming they were the biggest victims.

“Is that even reasonable?”

“Hmph, I have my own words to say. I never imagined there would be so many forces trying to restrain China.”

It was maddening.

There was no reasoning with them.

The Chinese representative never intended to listen from the start.

They closed their ears and eyes,

and repeated only what they wanted to say.

Enraged, a British delegate suddenly stood up.

“Our UK will hold China fully accountable.”

“Exactly. Anyone can say that without evidence.”

“Do you think I’m joking right now?”

The British delegate’s patience finally snapped.

Even the polite formalities disappeared.

He waved his finger aggressively and unleashed a tirade of curses.

“Calm down,”

the American delegate tried to calm him, but the situation was far from settled.

The opinions were irreconcilable.

Of course, it was all because of one country.

But it was the Global Association that dispatched players from various countries.

China’s position might be understandable to some extent.

But look at their attitude.

Does that look like someone wronged?

Anyone could see they were the cause of this whole mess.

After investigation, it was found that Long Wei’s death was closely linked to this virus.

He was probably the first infected.

The infection spread to the general public through Long Wei, and on the day of his funeral, it likely spread throughout China.

Yet, they still sent players.

Why?

Because they were counting on a situation like this.

During the regularly held global summit to prevent the tower’s collapse, they denied their fault.

Claimed they were victims.

They didn’t prevent the virus outbreak like last time.

Instead, they turned a blind eye and intentionally dispatched mainly those suspected of infection.

To destroy evidence.

Recall the previous pandemic incident.

They tried to stop it clumsily and were instead identified as the culprits.

If you want to hide a person, hide among the crowd.

The malicious ones didn’t care about the safety of other countries.

Did they really think other countries would believe that?

No.

Everyone knew the truth.

Who caused this pandemic.

It was just that the evidence was insufficient.

The gap between the first infected person found in China and the victim in India was only a week.

That period was too short to link cause and effect.

Moreover, given their shameless attitude, they likely disposed of most of the evidence.

It was simply frustrating.

Everyone knew who the culprit was, but they couldn’t call them out.

Then,

the Korean representative who had been silently listening stood up.

He was Dohyun.

He attended this meeting as the Korean delegate.

“The important thing now is not that.”

He handed out thick documents and began to explain.

“Korea has started developing a vaccine. We discovered a component in the beast items found in the Tower that eradicates the virus.”

He carefully hid the talk for the ignorant masses.

Only complex charts analyzing the components filled the room.

“Are you asking us to believe this now?”

The first to speak was naturally the Chinese delegate.

He scoffed and threw the paper Dohyun had handed him.

“Well, I’m not going to force belief. But isn’t it true that there’s no other countermeasure at this point?”

“Please continue.”

Having already received information about the vaccine from Dohyun, the other representatives ignored the Chinese delegate.

This meeting wasn’t made to blame China.

They had anticipated this shameless attitude from them long ago.

The real agenda was this:

The vaccine being developed in Korea.

“However, the sample quantity is too limited. We expect it will take quite some time before mass production and replication begin.”

“Hmph, that figures. There’s no need to hear more.”

The Chinese delegate interrupted Dohyun midway and left the conference room.

Everyone glanced at him briefly, then sighed and refocused on Dohyun.

“Initial supply will be 100,000 units.”

No further explanation was needed.

Just stating the quantity said it all.

It meant they would supply as much as was invested.

The representatives from each country only exchanged cautious glances.

Would the vaccine really be completed?

In reality, how many companies take investments and then disappear?

Especially in biotech and pharmaceutical industries, this happens frequently.

Yet investment in biotech never decreased.

If anything, competition intensified.

Why?

Because the returns are enormous.

There is nothing riskier than gambling on uncertainty.

All present were elites from prestigious universities.

They couldn’t be ignorant of this fact.

Hence, their cautious attitude.

Is it really worth investing in an unlisted Korean startup?

This wasn’t just high risk, high return.

It was outright gambling.

At that moment,

breaking the silence, a hand shot up.

It was the American representative.

He spoke without hesitation.

“The United States will invest $1.2 billion as originally promised.”

Everyone’s jaws dropped.

The US stepped forward so decisively?

And with $1.2 billion?

There had to be something behind this.

“Then the UK will invest the originally promised amount as well.”

“Then we will too.”

“Russia as well…”

Starting with the US, representatives from various countries raised their hands.

Even countries that hadn’t received prior information joined in belatedly.

An ironic situation unfolded.

***

Buzz!

The Royal Queen who next revealed her skill.

Her ability was the Micro Bee Sting.

What is that?

Seeing is believing.

Buzz—

The Royal Queen flapped her tiny wings busily and stabbed the Honey Jelly.

Then she pulled out a very small core.

Much smaller than a grain of millet.

Squinting barely made it visible.

When this tiny core was added to other honey, it condensed into small, round forms!

[Replicated Queen Bee’s Honey Jelly] This is replicated Honey Jelly containing the core component of the original Honey Jelly. It currently provides immunity against the infected virus.

Its performance was noticeably inferior compared to the original Honey Jelly, which offered complete virus immunity.

However, its productivity was different.

The original Honey Jelly was limited to 10 units per day.

Even with all the queen bees on the plain assisting, it barely reached 50 units.

But the replicated Honey Jelly?

Just one replication produced over 100 items.

That was not all.

Her sting added unprecedented effects.

For example, this:

New Honey Jelly made by extracting the core from the yellow forsythia flower.

[Forsythia Honey Jelly] Honey Jelly made by extracting the core component of the forsythia flower. It excels in reducing fever and is outstanding for liver health and skin beauty.

They extracted only the core of the forsythia flower and added it to honey.

A new item was born with effects not only against virus immunity but also for skin beauty and liver health.

Honey Jelly could now evolve in infinite directions.

Just extract various functional cores and mix with honey.

Therefore, the Dandelion of Explosion received as a reward was planted in a safe place.

You never know.

It could produce a nuclear bomb-grade item.

Buzz!

The queen bee climbed onto my shoulder and rubbed her cheek against mine.

She acted coquettishly, as if asking for praise.

“Well done.”

I gently petted her head.

Thanks to that, vaccine development was making significant progress.

You shouldn’t hold back on praise in times like this.

But Dohyun was worried.

There was an important meeting today.

If only I had tested it first.

But maybe it didn’t matter.

Dohyun could handle it perfectly well on his own.

That was my business—and this good news should stay that way.

For now, I decided to devote myself to the hardworking queen bee.

Maybe I should plant a lot of flowers around here.

I’d ask my dad, Earth Rabbit, an expert in this field.

Just as I was about to turn and head back to Ddadang Rabbit Village,

suddenly the ground shook.

Kruaahh!

A beast’s roar, unfamiliar and fierce!

What was that? Could it be another existence crossing through the gate?

I checked the entry fee just in case—it was still 9,99919.

The settings were fine.

So had it lived here from the start?

“Get ready, Bbyak. Toto.”

I quickly took a defensive stance.

What could the identity be?

A monster dormant here for a long time?

A lost, ferocious beast?

Whatever it was, I couldn’t afford to relax.

The unknown being drew closer.

The small trembling of the earth intensified like an earthquake.

Kruaah!

Right in front of me.

With a vivid roar, the creature revealed itself.

Large and bulky.

Brown fur and round ears.

It was a bear.

It looked perpetually hungry and angry.

“Could it have smelled the honey?”

Come to think of it, this plain was an excellent place for bears.

There was a nearby lake full of fish, and bees gathered honey.

Everything a bear liked was here.

One bear wasn’t strange at all.

Kruaah!

But the bear showed no sign of calming down.

It howled as if it might devour us at any moment.

Clearly a starving bear.

At times like this, I had something useful.

“Sol, get that out.”

Bbyak—

Somi took something from the Subspace Pouch she got from the worker dog Mi.

It was a beautifully grilled fish, golden and yellow.

Good thing we carried food just in case.

Somi carefully threw the grilled fish toward the angry bear.

Kruah.

The bear caught it mid-air with its wide-open mouth.

It was far more amusing than expected.

This was exactly the saying.

A playful bear.

So?

“Eat this too.”

With a quick move,

I threw another fish.

The bear rolled on the ground, throwing its body around.

Before the fish fell, it caught and ate it again.

Although it was the kind of situation where such thoughts were inadvisable, this was strangely fun.

Next, I threw a carrot.

Splat—

Spinning mid-air, the bear jumped.

It caught it with ease and landed with a soft kick.

Then, how about this?

Honey Jelly made by the queen bee, tossed high.

Much smaller than what it had eaten so far.

Would it work as well?

Just as I expected, the bear posed.

Then,

Success.

It jumped high and swallowed the Honey Jelly with a showy landing.

This time, it spread its arms wide and fell like a gymnast.

Kruaah?

Only then did the bear’s stomach seem to settle, and it regained its senses, shaking its head in confusion.

It had no idea what had just happened.

But,

Clap, clap clap—

That was really amazing.

Was this the legendary playful bear?