Seohyeonji’s face turned pale.
Based on how things were unfolding, she had an ominous feeling that these wouldn’t be the last of them.
“I told the other guy earlier, but go back to where you lived quietly. Otherwise, you’ll meet a gruesome end at the hands of Seohyeonji over there.”
“Hey! You. Why are you using my name like that?”
“No more talk.”
The engagement with the Honeybees began immediately.
The Honeybees flew in from both sides as if trying to disorient them.
“Urgh…”
As expected, Lee Hyunbin was strong.
He suppressed two Honeybees without much difficulty.
However, the Honeybees stood back up. Seeing that, Lee Hyunbin sent a signal to Seohyeonji.
Seohyeonji bit her lip in frustration and summoned Egnir.
Whoosh!
The fire Spirit once again brought experience points to Seohyeonji.
“Sister. The one before was too burnt, can’t you cook this one medium rare?”
“Seoyeon, that’s not something you eat…”
Lee Seoyeon looked on with an expectant face, having asked if insects were edible since a while ago.
Seohyeonji wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible.
But.
“I didn’t think we’d even need to step in.”
“Don’t judge by appearances. That’s a bad habit of yours.”
This time was a bit different.
It was a tattooed Honeybee with piercings in its nose and ears.
“I suppose words are unnecessary this time as well.”
“Now, come. Invaders.”
The battle between the Honeybees and Lee Hyunbin began.
Violent tremors pounded the earth as they dealt their best blows to one another.
“Seohyeonji.”
“……”
Without a word, Seohyeonji summoned Egnir with dead eyes and landed the finishing blow.
She was slowly starting to give up on certain things.
Just as the smell of burnt insects was becoming familiar.
“Wow, crazy. It’s huge.”
Lee Seoyeon muttered as she looked at something the size of a building.
Bzzzzzzzt!
Something massive. No, Honeybees were flying up as if guarding a hive.
Then, a Queen Bee wearing a crown and a red cape appeared.
“So you finally reached this place. That power which defeated the Four Heavenly Kings. I hope you can entertain me.”
At a glance, there were hundreds of Honeybees. Despite such numbers, it was a wonder there was no damage to the surroundings.
“Whoa, Coach. This is a bit much, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, looks like it. But well, won’t we catch them quickly?”
Lee Hyunbin was certainly the world’s first S-class Supporter.
He drew his Two-Handed Sword and clad it in Magic Power.
He looked ahead confidently, but the Honeybees put cigars in their mouths and began loading something.
Click, clack.
“Oh, those are guns.”
Lee Hyunbin’s eyes wavered slightly.
The Queen Bee pressed the three of them with a sneer.
“You have already slaughtered too many of our comrades. Do not hope for forgiveness.”
“Look. I just had a duel. The one who burned them was this person.”
Seohyeonji looked at Lee Hyunbin in shock at his words.
“Sigh… Sister, I’m disappointed. Honeybees are beneficial insects, yet you burned them all…”
“Wait a minute. You guys were the ones who forced someone who didn’t even want to do it in the first place! And Seoyeon, you were trying to eat them medium rare!”
“Seohyeonji. You cannot justify everything with violence…”
“You’re the one who made me do it! And do you even have a conscience?”
While the three of them bickered, the Honeybees finished their formation for battle.
Relentlessly, the Honeybees spat fire from their muzzles toward the trio.
“Aaaaakh!”
Seohyeonji screamed.
In that instant, all sorts of idle thoughts flashed through her mind.
Thoughts like how a woman needs to meet a good man and avoid bad ones.
Memories of her vow to earn a lot of money, buy a nice house, and support her clan.
While her life flashed before her eyes, she felt no pain.
When she peeked her eyes open, Lee Seoyeon had her hand outstretched, blocking all the enemy attacks with a Hexa-tile Force Field.
‘This is impossible.’
She had already thought Lee Hyunbin was extraordinary. But the density of Magic Power shown by Lee Seoyeon was a strength she had never seen or heard of before.
Watching this from the ground, the Honeybees began to strip off their shirts one by one.
“….”
Seohyeonji’s expression darkened.
Every one of the Honeybees, who possessed inverted-triangle muscular physiques, had thick hair growing on their chests.
One had a heart shape. One had a sun. One had a star. They were all different.
“Advance!”
The natural enemy of the Honeybee is the Wasp.
They invade the Honeybees’ home, ruthlessly trampling and’ slaughtering everything.
The only way for a Honeybee to resist such a Wasp—the only way to kill it—is one thing.
“Aaaaaah! Noooo!”
Seohyeonji screamed as she saw the Honeybees sticking all over the force field Lee Seoyeon had created.
It was a horrific sight, as if she were being defiled just by looking at it.
“Indeed, nature is great.”
Lee Hyunbin muttered lowly.
Honeybees use human wave tactics to fight their natural enemies. They cling to the Wasp’s entire body and generate heat, literally steaming it to death.
The Honeybees were displaying their natural habits exactly.
“Sister, Sister! Shake them all off!”
“I don’t know, ugh. Fine. Sob, I hate this. What even is all this?”
Seohyeonji laughed through her tears.
Soon, she summoned Egnir and, pouring in plenty of Magic Power, burned away everything in the vicinity.
Perhaps there would be no more combat beyond this.
Thinking it was the end, she poured out all her strength; Egnir’s body expanded greatly, swallowing everything around it.
Whoosh!
Spheres of fire pouring from Egnir’s body dyed the sky crimson.
Boom! Bang!
If the other side was firing bullets, this was like firing missiles.
Like leaves in autumn.
Countless Honeybees flying in the sky were shot down one by one by the flames.
A rain of Honeybees.
Seohyeonji had a complicated look on her face as she watched the scene.
As the tide turned in an instant, Lee Hyunbin stepped forward.
He dashed straight out of the range of the force field Lee Seoyeon had created.
His only target was the Queen Bee.
“You’ve done quite a lot. I shall specially exert up to 50% of my power.”
The Queen Bee leisurely pulled out a spear made from the stingers of previous queens.
The clash between Lee Hyunbin, who swung his sword while scattering the energy of Ethere, and the Queen Bee, who charged in like a Lance Charge.
And the winner stood there holding his sword, while the loser collapsed on the ground, looking up at the victor.
- The Rania Beekeeping Zone Gate is closing.
*** Once the Boss fell, the battle ended quickly.
Losing their morale, the Honeybees returned to their hive, and soon the Gate’s entrance closed.
The unnaturally massive plants that had taken over the park now all vanished.
Looking at that, Lee Hyunbin muttered softly.
“Could it have been a warning from nature created by human selfishness…”
“Everyone returned safely to their original world, right?”
“……”
Watching Lee Hyunbin and Lee Seoyeon set the mood, Seohyeonji, whose hair had become like a madwoman’s, pulled a strand out of her mouth.
‘Like I’m ever coming back here again.’
She felt like she wanted to storm out of the Hanul Guild right this instant if she could.
A furious Seohyeonji didn’t say a single word on the way back.
“You worked hard, let’s go eat something delicious.”
“Wow, meat! Meat!”
“I’m good.”
Those were the first words Seohyeonji spoke inside the car.
“Sister, you have to eat meat on days when you consume a lot of Magic Power…”
“It’s fine. Tomorrow is Sunday, so I’ll recover quickly if I just rest well.”
She was the type to gain weight even from drinking water, so what meat?
Seohyeonji only muttered that to herself as she shot a glare at Lee Hyunbin.
Then she got out of the car and walked into her house without looking back.
Once inside, Seohyeonji took a shower and came out.
As she sat on the sofa after washing up, her stomach growled.
Just as Lee Seoyeon had said, it might be because she had used a lot of Magic Power.
‘What do I have to eat?’
She opened the fridge, but there was only bottled water and salad.
When she pulled out the salad pack, she saw the expiration date had passed by a few days.
‘It’ll probably be okay since it was in the fridge.’
Just then, a message notification rang.
Unlocking her phone, she saw it was a message from that man.
Seeing that message, Seohyeonji peeked outside and opened her door.
In front of the door was warm Chicken and draft beer.
Bringing in the Chicken set while looking around, Seohyeonji curled her lips into a smile in disbelief.
“What. Doesn’t he know the national rule is Chicken and soju?”
She said that, but Seohyeonji sat on the sofa, set the table, and started tearing into the Chicken.
Normally, it was food she wouldn’t eat out of worry for calories, but she couldn’t refuse the grace of the Chicken Lord once it arrived.
She turned on the TV, and a documentary Lee Hyunbin had appeared in recently was being rebroadcast.
It was content she had already seen once, but the corners of her mouth rose automatically.
The next morning.
Seohyeonji woke up to the sound of her phone ringing.
“Ugh…”
- Seohyeonji?
Hearing Lee Hyunbin’s voice, Seohyeonji’s sleepiness vanished instantly.
“What is it?”
- I’m sorry, but can you come out for a bit?
“Right now?”
Seohyeonji checked the clock.
10:00 AM.
- I’m sorry for bothering you while you’re resting.
Lee Hyunbin’s apologetic voice.
Seohyeonji was a bit flustered, but she just chuckled.
“Where should I go?”
- Ah, I’ll send the location via message now. There’s something I absolutely have to talk about today.
“Really. No matter how much I’m on a break from the entertainment industry, you shouldn’t just call me out like this.”
- I know, I know. I’ll see you in a bit.
While on the phone, Seohyeonji held clothes up against the mirror, then quickly washed up, prepared herself, and headed out.
She wondered what on earth it could be as she headed toward the meeting place sent in the message.
‘What’s the story he absolutely has to tell?’
For some reason, Seohyeonji headed to the meeting place with a fluttering heart.
“You’re here? Oh, you’re wearing a dress today too. You must really like dresses.”
“….”
Seohyeonji felt bewildered upon seeing Lee Hyunbin at the meeting place.
He handed her a change of clothes.
“It’ll be uncomfortable, so change into this. Phew… I really wanted to see you. Since you’re here, we can clean things up perfectly so they can’t perform Regeneration.”
“….”
Seohyeonji looked at the Manseok Lake Park, which was behind a Barrage.
There, a giant Grasshopper leaning against a tree was elegantly chewing on a branch.
Seeing Seohyeonji, the fellow raised a front leg and gave a gentlemanly greeting.
“Hopp.”
“Man, that guy has some incredible tenacity. We have to clear out all the Grasshoppers today. Seohyeonji?”
Lee Hyunbin tilted his head, sensing Seohyeonji’s atmosphere was strange.
“Wow, the flames are even bigger than yesterday. But it’s not this way, it’s that way. Wait, Seohyeonji? Hey, not here! I said no!”
With hair in her mouth, Seohyeonji began to chase Lee Hyunbin.
An untimely alliance between the Grasshopper and Seohyeonji was formed.
*** There was a boy.
He walked without strength.
“So, how was it?”
“A bit… meh? I thought he was a nuisance.”
Friends of the same age passed by with bright laughs.
“Hey, buy us drinks. I got it! Didn’t you know?”
“I know, you brat. Your big brother will treat you.”
The boy clutched his chest.
It hurts.
It hurts terribly.
What was a peaceful daily life for someone.
What was a natural day for someone.
Was an incredibly desperate time for him.
‘Please…’
The boy struggled to walk on and on.
“Oh dear, is he sick?”
“Shouldn’t we call the Police?”
A passing woman muttered in concern when she saw the boy’s poor condition.
Then, seemingly unable to ignore it, she approached the boy.
“Hey, do you feel sick? Where are your parents?”
“….”
The boy looked at the woman.
- Kim Min-hui, 24 years old
- No combat ability
- Feeling sorry, is it school violence, is she being too nosy?
She cannot help him.
“Kid. Oh my, look at this sweat.”
Was it because of the woman’s concern?
The boy caught the attention of the passing pedestrians. Everyone had expressions asking if they should help the sick boy.
The boy looked around weakly.
Information windows of numerous people entered his sight. Among them, there was no one who could help him.
The boy weakly curled his lips up.
“Stay… back…”
“Wait a second, I’ll call an ambulance for you…”
“Move… get away from me…”
The boy pushed the woman. Of course, she wouldn’t be pushed back by such weak strength.
“Move… everyone…”
Tears began to form in the boy’s eyes.
‘Yes, this is right.’
The boy shouted for them to get away from him. However, the people approached with even more worried gazes.
The woman was already on the phone with the emergency services, explaining the location.
Gush.
The boy began coughing up blood.
Seeing the dark red blood, short screams were heard from the people. Now there was no more time.
The boy avoided people’s eyes as much as possible, entered an alleyway, leaned against a wall, and kicked over a trash can to knock it down.
Seeing the boy’s desperate struggle to prevent anyone from approaching him, the woman felt even more pity and tried to approach again.
“Save us…”
Someone will find it.
Drip. Tears fell from the boy’s chin, which was stained with dark red blood.
“Help us…”
Someone will find it.
Cracks formed on the boy’s body.
A brilliant light began to burst out through those cracks.
Boom!
An explosion that shook the earth.
Black flames licked the floor and walls of the alleyway once.
“Aaaaakh!”
“Euaaaakh!”
Screams of men and women crossed paths.
The boy, who had been drawing people’s sympathy just moments ago, could no longer be found, his limbs torn apart.
The woman, who was on the phone confirming the location with the emergency services, slumped down weakly as she looked at the boy’s severed hand that had fallen at her feet.