[The tomb of the dead has been purified.]
[Hidden plains land has been added.]
[Reward] Hidden Highland
[Reward] Undead Summoning Necklace
After defeating the boss monster guarding the tomb of the dead, a new reward was granted.
First, the land.
Anyway, the moment I entered, it felt chilly.
It wasn’t because I was scared, not at all.
A highland area higher than the plains.
The air was thin, and the weather was cool.
I wonder if I can grow other things here.
Highland cabbage, highland potatoes.
The varieties were diverse.
Next time, I should bring Dad Rabbit along.
It’d be nice if I could plant something.
Who knows?
This might become WM Company’s new key product.
But what’s this?
An Undead Summoning Necklace?
A small pendant made of silver.
A medieval-style necklace that can hold a small photo.
It looked very old, covered in patches of rust.
[Undead Summoning Necklace] A necklace that can summon undead of the desired profession. It retains habits from their living days. Summoned undead prioritize the owner’s orders above all else.
It’s an item similar in lineage to the Slime Summoning Staff.
But it has an additional effect.
Unlike slimes, which only follow simple commands, these undead seem capable of slightly more advanced tasks.
As I gripped the necklace, a list of summonable professions appeared.
[Summonable List]
Warrior (6)
Archer (4)
Assassin (2)
Farmer (15)
Cleaner (2)
Merchant (2)
Knight (1)
Six professions in total.
Just moments ago, there were six types of skeletal troops.
Looks like those were the professions of the skeletons I just met.
Especially the Knight.
It even matched up against an A-rank Guardian.
By rank, probably around B+.
Not bad.
The other professions were similar.
There were professions helpful in battle, but also farmers.
Well then, shall I try summoning?
Holding the necklace with both hands, I used the item.
Clatter.
Bones rattled on the ground as familiar skeletons appeared.
Fifteen skeletons, each holding hoes and sickles in one hand.
Seeing them up close was rather odd.
If I’d known, I might have been gentler when I hit them.
But that’s not important.
“Alright, everyone, get to work.”
Clatter.
True to the item description, they obeyed me very well.
If I said ‘hoe,’ they’d hoe; if I said ‘rest,’ they’d rest.
Like magic.
“Everyone, do what you’re best at.”
Let’s see how capable our skeletal farmers really are.
How competent were they in their living days?
Still, they can’t be worse than our land rabbits, right?
At my command, the skeletons moved with practiced ease.
Their bones rattled as they headed somewhere.
Soon, they started tilling the ground.
Clatter—
Clack.
Clatter—
Clack.
Following habits from their living days, each moved differently.
One slammed the hoe down with all its might on the shoulder, while another just raised it above the head and then brought it down.
Their movements were slow but precise.
And they were undead.
Unlimited labor with no need for rest.
It was a godsend.
No need to worry about welfare either.
Since I got them, I might as well use them to the fullest.
“Alright, everyone, work hard. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
They can handle the rest on their own.
Today, I’ll head back for now.
***
“So, does this mean all this was made by the Queen Bees?”
Returning from the World Association meeting, Dohyun was never short of surprises.
Only a few days had passed, yet so much had changed.
First, the piles of honey.
Is all of that really vaccine?
“Is this for real?”
“Yes, this time our Queen Bees have newly awakened.”
“No matter what, that’s…”
Ten grams of jelly per unit.
The honey itself doesn’t matter.
The same goes for the ones sold in the market.
The core is the essence extracted from the jelly made by the Queen Bees.
With a single snap, an entire bottle of honey was transformed into vaccine — an endless replication without any loss.
The total amount of vaccine made was 200 bottles.
Over 400 kilograms in weight.
About 400,000 units in jelly form.
More than four times the initial quantity mentioned at the meeting.
And all within just a few days.
The schedule was accelerated by dozens of times compared to the expected three months.
“Woomin always surprises me.”
Dohyun gave an ambiguous smile.
Good.
It’s good, but…
How should I put it… it’s a bit unsettling.
Releasing the vaccine immediately means no one can handle the resulting chaos.
Especially China.
They’ll accuse us of spreading the virus just to make and sell the vaccine, right?
My head already aches.
That aside, let’s at least show them the promised investment amount.
“Thanks to you, this investment was a huge success.”
Numbers written on white paper.
Unlike initial expectations, many countries joined in, sparking competition.
A staggering 60 trillion.
Far exceeding the originally expected 10 trillion.
More than the annual budget of an entire region.
“Really?”
“Yes. We wanted to take payment in Mars stones again, but since this is an official event, we decided to accept dollars first.”
Truly a business genius.
Why doesn’t he just work for the association with that brain?
When he retires later, he’ll definitely go into sales.
I’ll put him in an honorary director position and give a fat monthly salary.
But this is really a problem.
“What is it?”
“The timing isn’t good. If the vaccine results come out right after we receive investment, people will think it was pre-made.”
That’s true.
In today’s harsh world, truth doesn’t matter.
It’s all about pretense and fabrication.
The one who strikes first gains the upper hand in this cowardly world.
Still, I don’t want to hoard the vaccine that was so hard to make.
We must save those infected by the virus as soon as possible.
I don’t want people who don’t have to die, dying.
Isn’t there a truly good way?
A revolutionary method to distribute this vaccine reasonably.
At that moment, an idea flashed through my mind.
If the problem is that the vaccine was already made, then why not have others understand how it was made?
“I have a good idea.”
“Yes?”
First, call the Royal Queen Queen Bee.
Then—
“Could we possibly make this too?”
Somi pulled out the hair loss spray she casually made.
“What are you going to make?”
You can tell just by looking.
Bbiee!
Nodding as if it was easy, she took out the precious needle.
Then—
Puff.
She extracted the core component from the hair loss spray.
It was rough and lumpy like raw sugar.
What if we inject this into the new honey?
Complete.
[Replicated Hair Loss Treatment Honey Jelly] A honey jelly replicating the core component of the nutrient-rich hair loss spray. When consumed, dead hair follicles regenerate. If not consumed continuously, the regenerated follicles will slowly disappear.
The effectiveness was certainly reduced.
Unlike the spray that creates lush hair for life, this requires continuous consumption.
But still, it’s something.
Whether symptoms are severe or mild, tens of millions suspected of hair loss now have hope.
But that’s not all.
There’s more to replicate.
The 3,000-year-old ginseng and the golden apple.
One of the Royal Queen Queen Bee’s awakening abilities.
It does not affect the original items in any way.
The same goes for the ginseng and golden apple.
“Please make these too.”
Rubbing my head and making the request, the Queen Bee happily twirled around.
Let’s give her a nickname.
Since she’s a bee, call her Honey Bee.
It suits her cute appearance perfectly.
Buzz!
Extracting the core component from the ginseng and golden apple, we created other replicated honey jellies.
[Replicated 3,000-Year-Old Ginseng Honey Jelly] A honey jelly replicating the core components of 3,000-year-old ginseng. When consumed, it greatly increases the lifeform’s mana.
[Replicated Golden Apple Honey Jelly] A honey jelly replicating the core components of the golden apple. When consumed, it greatly increases cardiopulmonary endurance.
The original abilities like curing all diseases or restarting a stopped heart were not replicated.
Still, that alone was enough.
First, mana increase.
A power all players covet.
It’s no wonder Rarun’s fruits, grown in limited quantities, sell at high prices.
But this honey jelly?
Its effects were several times greater than the fruits.
The description alone was different.
Not just “a lot.”
It said “very greatly increased.”
Even in the worst case, it would be at least 100 times better.
And the golden apple?
It increases cardiopulmonary endurance.
Improving cardiopulmonary endurance, the foundation of everything, is immensely effective not only for players but also for ordinary people.
Now, all that’s left is to replicate these appropriately.
And then.
“Are you free tomorrow?”
“Well, if it’s for you, Woomin, I can make time even if I don’t have any.”
Once we announce this fact to the entire world, it’s over.
“I’ll replicate ten bottles of each. Please announce at tomorrow’s event that we found an artifact that can replicate other items as well.”
That should satisfy everyone.
Say we happened to discover the item in the Tower, who’d say otherwise?
The justification is perfect.
We were researching the vaccine for everyone when we discovered a new item.
Not monopolizing it but replicating the vaccine for the entire world.
It covers both justification and intention perfectly.
“Of course. At this point, everyone will agree. China and Japan might still cause trouble, but everyone else will be favorable.”
Politics is all about justification.
Moving without reason just makes you prey.
Even if it’s for the greater good.
But if you have proper justification?
Then the side with more supporters wins.
China?
Bring it on.
The whole world is on our side—what can they possibly do?
It’s time to show clearly who we are and who our enemies are!
***
ㄴ Hooray, WM Company.
The Hair Loss Association supports \/ Company.
ㄴ The Health Association supports it too.
The player community is in an uproar as well, It was already noisy because of the mana-enhancing fruit recently, but now there’s something even bigger.
Not even a full day after Dohyun’s press conference, chaos erupted not only domestically but worldwide.
The Korean community had already been translated into various languages.
First, there was the fierce cheers from hair loss sufferers worldwide.
A previously incurable disease had finally been cured!
Some were even preordering, eager to buy first.
Next?
There were health fanatics who’d rather choose death than muscle loss.
Their main interest: improving cardiopulmonary endurance.
It’s essential for all exercise.
Especially for strength training?
Lack of it is a huge problem.
Some bodybuilders even resorted to harmful drugs for bigger, stronger muscles.
But this?
It actually promotes health.
No need for drugs.
Purely natural muscle-building like a natural-born bodybuilder?
How can they stand this?
While all kinds of groups around the world were giving this enormous attention, Dohyun held another press conference.
Just twelve hours later.
Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.
Might as well make this big.
This announcement was on a whole different level.
It concerned the replicated items and the vaccine.
ㄴ Guys, did you see the news? The association head just announced there’s something that can replicate other items?
ㄴ Really?
ㄴ Yup, all the items announced yesterday have “Replicated” added to their names.
ㄴ Wow, so that’s it
ㄴ Wait, vaccine? It’s already made?
ㄴ Wow, shout out God WM Company.
ㄴ Hooray!
ㄴ Cheers, bring another bowl of strong broth!
It was pure frenzy.
We are now living in the WM Company era!