Iris and Notos went to see them off, and after a short while, I got bored.

Mesquite said there was no sign of fighting in the direction they went. I sat cross-legged, stretching my body, and stared off into the distance, wondering when they’d return. Out of boredom, I habitually tapped my phone screen with my thumbnail, thinking maybe I should do something, so I woke up the phone.

Careful not to turn on the screen of <Infinite Diamond>, I poked at the gardener level of the 28th terrarium. Then I remembered that Kalong’s hornet was still in my hive. I opened the hornet status window to send it back to Kalong.

Inside my phone, my female bee and Kalong’s male bee were buzzing together peacefully. Since they came back to me, should I feed them some fruit? But how do I feed a bee inside a phone?

When I tapped the hornet, two buttons appeared: [Enhance], [Enter Message].

The message function wasn’t for now—maybe it’s for enhancement? I pressed the button and checked its satiation, which was a solid 90%. My female bee, on the other hand, had 100% satiation. Each message exchange costs 5-10%… huh?

Since Iris’s party still seems far from returning, should I play around with the hornet’s window a bit?

I tapped the parasite equipped like gear on my female bee. Since receiving it from Pila, I hadn’t set the parasite’s ‘target,’ so it was still inactive.

I slowly scanned the list of potential targets for the parasite and noticed a blank field at the bottom. When I tapped it, a keyboard popped up. Looks like I can type. What should I write?

“Now I only have two wasps. What can I do with them? The Loop parasite is said to have excellent sensitivity, allowing it to fully control the host according to the set purpose. Does that mean it can do anything I ask? I’m a bit curious about Iris’s situation right now. Can I use the wasps to do something?”

Hmm… I tapped the keyboard. ‘Surveillance.’ Then a window popped up asking me to input what behavior I wanted the host to perform through surveillance. Something difficult…? ‘Eavesdrop and input messages.’

“If I do this, I could send the drone wasp to Iris’s side to eavesdrop, right? As I tapped the screen with both hands, Daisy and Wolfsbane looked on with curious eyes.”

“Can you see anything?”

“No, I only see black.”

As expected, it seems the phone screen is invisible to others besides me.

“Please fill the required amount of food for the parasite to train its purpose.”

“The next window popped up along with a percentage gauge. How do I feed it? I took an unripe fruit from my pocket and held it up to the screen. The fruit disappeared, and the percentage filled up. After feeding about five fruits, it reached 100%.”

One unripe fruit costs 100 diamonds, so learning one purpose cost 500 diamonds. It was clear that the wasp was truly hard to maintain for ordinary druids like Iris, who avoided it because it was so expensive.

“The parasite has successfully completed its training. Would you like to mutate and infect it with this purpose?”

[YES] [NO]

I pressed ‘YES,’ and the parasite’s color turned blue while the description changed.

“Surveillance Loop Parasite No. 5”

“Number of offspring: 1”

Current set purpose: Surveillance and Eavesdropping

“It can eavesdrop on the surroundings of hosts infected with the parasite.”

“While the purpose is active, the host’s satiety continuously decreases.”

“Did the infected drone’s parasite also change its purpose in the same way? They said that if you use the queen wasp to change it, the purposes of all infected parasites change simultaneously. I touched the drone and then the parasite equipped like gear.”

Surveillance Loop Parasite No. 5-(1)

Infection status (Secret)

“Current set purpose: Surveillance and Eavesdropping”

It eavesdrops on the host’s surroundings and delivers messages via pheromones to the lord host.

Pheromone reach range: 205 meters

“(If the hosts are the same gender, the pheromone reach range is halved.)”

“Oh, it seems to have worked. How far is 205 meters? I’ve run 100 meters before, so I can roughly estimate. 200 meters is double that… so it’s not like I can monitor a very long distance? Does it feel like watching other people’s conversations in a chat window?”

The drone now has buttons for [Send Message], [Surrounding Surveillance], and [Target Surveillance]. I set the target to Iris and sent it off, and I saw it shoot out like a bullet with a menacing wing sound.

I stared blankly at the phone screen where the spy bee was, but there was no response.

My chat log is quiet. Hey, is no one talking? Are you farther than 205 meters? Should I get a bit closer…? If the Dandelion kids were here, I’d know the distance, but they’re still resting in the artifact.

After telling the dryads, I moved little by little until a message was picked up. Mesquite and Elder recommended staying put, but I was too curious and bored.

Turning back the way I came, I saw the exit of the cave where Mesquite had helped me escape. To get closer, I had to go back down the cave, so I asked Mesquite for help again.

Finally, there was a change in the bee, which had shown no response even after walking deep into the cave. It was right before we were about to slip out of the cave entrance. I leaned my back against the rock hiding the entrance and looked at the phone.

A hexagonal cube floated in front of the spy bee and began forming letters from top to bottom. I could also see the hornet’s fullness meter rapidly dropping.

Can’t communicate…

Get lost.

That druid… hiding… know.

Threat… deal with it.

Think you’ll lose…? Letting him go… we’ll harass him.

You’ll regret it.

That’s you guys…

Wanted to avoid… getting involved…

Can’t be helped.

Even though the messages were fragmented, I could tell the situation was getting serious. Did the Iris party run into the organization that was chasing me?

I saw Mesquite staring ahead, gripping her lance tightly. Just then, a gust of wind from afar swept through where we were standing.

In an instant, the canyon environment before my eyes was changing into a tropical rainforest. A transparent barrier resembling a glass dome approached within arm’s reach. The field inside the glass dome had changed.

“He’s declared his territory. It’s a Tropical Field.”

Elder pointed with his staff and said.

I had seen that once before. Back in the boss fight against Siedling and the Fire Wagon, he had used that skill. I thought it was an illusion. He said it was a druid ability that summons an artifact outside and changes the environment to a habitat suitable for dryads. I was looking forward to when I could use such a skill. At that time, it seemed like a high-level skill, so I couldn’t replicate it.

Then, another wind blew in with dust. When I peeked out slightly from the cave entrance and looked up at the sky, an astonishing sight unfolded. The ceilings of two massive glass domes in the sky were colliding, creating tremendous lightning. The domes’ sizes were pushing against each other, as if in a territorial battle.

“The opponent also used territory declaration. The other side seems to be a Desert Field. Their spiritual powers are evenly matched, causing the energies of the terrarium artifacts to clash. The winner will have the advantage. Since the Dryad’s natural habitat field has already been set, it will secure the upper hand from the start.”

I looked at my phone screen. Unlike before, when messages had been scrolling steadily, they now appeared sparsely.

Not bad.

Normal won’t work. That side also has buffs… Zephyr, get lost.

Iris, don’t mess with me… Just holding on is tough….

Please let Iris’s party win! I alternated glances between my phone screen and the glass domes fiercely clashing in the sky, praying. If Iris’s high-level party lost, then I, a low-level player, would be in danger too. That side lost with four people—what would I do alone?

Just then, a new pop-up window appeared on the Wasp’s spear, which had been displaying messages.

Surveillance Loop Parasite No. 5-(1) has detected an infectable creature.

Detection target: Bee returning to the hive.

Execute?

[YES] [NO]

If no response, infection attack will stop in 10 seconds.

Oh, what’s this? Iris’s party said they weren’t using bees. Could it be from the opponent’s side? I thought, ‘Great,’ and pressed ‘YES.’ A notification window confirmed successful infection, and I saw the Dark Bee’s parasite breeding count increase to 2. The frequency of the sparsely arriving messages increased a bit more.

Requesting support….

Tell me your location… Hiding near here….

The bee will return soon….

Huh! That can’t happen. I don’t know how many enemies there are, but they seem to be at a similar level to Iris’s party. If reinforcements arrive, I’d be at a disadvantage.

Wait, it said a bee returning to the hive, right? I wish the wasp had just eaten it. Now it said the predation act was transformed into an infection act… So if I infected it, doesn’t that mean I can control that bee too?

Hacking someone else’s messages felt unsettling when talking to Pila, but now it didn’t at all. Come to think of it, this was a really useful feature, wasn’t it?

I touched the Dark Bee’s parasite and changed its purpose. There was definitely [Distort Others’ Messages] on the list. When I switched the purpose from surveillance and eavesdropping to distortion, a notification appeared saying I needed a fruit. Even the parasite was a glutton for fruit, huh?

I took an unripe fruit from my pocket and changed the purpose. The parasite’s color glowed red, and I saw its name change to ‘Distortion Loop Parasite No. 5.’ The description changed to say the Dark Bee sends distorted messages to hosts, and other hosts deliver the distorted messages to the hive.

A window popped up where I could input the message to change. This also cost one fruit per character… When I bought two boxes of unripe fruit from the orchard, I wondered if I’d ever use them all, but now it was gone in no time. I was realizing anew that the more you stockpile things, the more useful they become.

Come back, spotted on this side.

Is this enough? I fed it eight more fruits and activated the purpose. Then I waited for a while, changed the purpose back to surveillance and eavesdropping, and looked at my phone screen with a nervous heart. Please let it work!

Suddenly… returning…

Why?

The request… changed… going back.

Over there… Druid… spotted…

Where do you think you’re going, you bastards.

Follow them and finish it…

No, that’s dangerous. Just…

Stay a bit longer and move… cover our tracks… might be discovered.

It worked! Looking up at the sky, I saw one of the glass domes disappear. To prepare for any aftermath, I fed the parasite a bunch of unripe fruits and changed its purpose to deleting others’ messages. Anyway, if the distance grew too far, I could no longer eavesdrop, and if they sent a bee to confirm with the other side, it would be dangerous.

I confirmed the notice that the parasite would delete as many characters as the fruits I fed it, and with a pounding heart, I turned off my phone.

A little later, I saw Iris’s party walking this way. When I waved at them as I spotted them, Iris looked surprised. Her expression asked why I had come all the way out here. I was just sightseeing.