Chapter 73 – Balance of the Ecosystem (2)

Seo Hyun-ji’s face turned pale.

Looking at how things were unfolding, she had a terrible feeling this wasn’t the end.

“I told the last one, and I’ll tell you: go back to where you came from quietly. Otherwise, you’ll suffer a horrible death at the hands of Seo Hyun-ji over there.”

“Hey! You. Why are you dragging my name into this?”

“No questions asked.”

The battle with the honeybees began immediately.

Honeybees flew in from both sides, their movements a chaotic distraction.

“Ugh…”

As expected, Lee Hyunbin was strong.

He subdued two honeybees without much difficulty.

But the honeybees stood up again. Seeing this, Lee Hyunbin signaled to Seo Hyun-ji.

Seo Hyun-ji bit her lip in frustration and summoned Igni.

*Fwoosh!*

The fire spirit once again brought experience points to Seo Hyun-ji.

“Unni. The last one was too burnt. Can you cook this one medium rare?”

“Seo-yeon, you’re not supposed to eat that…”

Lee Seo-yeon’s face was full of anticipation, having asked earlier if they could eat the insects.

Seo Hyun-ji wanted to get out of this place as quickly as possible.

However.

“I thought we wouldn’t even have to step in.”

“Don’t judge by appearances. It’s a bad habit of yours.”

This time, it was different.

It was a tattooed honeybee with piercings in its nose and ears.

“I suppose words are unnecessary this time as well.”

“Come, intruder.”

The battle between the honeybee and Lee Hyunbin began.

A violent tremor shook the earth as they exchanged their most powerful blows.

“Seo Hyun-ji.”

“…”

With dead eyes, Seo Hyun-ji silently summoned Igni to deliver the final blow.

She was slowly starting to give up on something.

Just as she was getting used to the smell of burnt insects.

“Whoa, awesome. It’s huge.”

Lee Seo-yeon muttered, looking at something the size of a building.

*Bzzzzzzzz!*

Something enormous. No, it was honeybees flying as if escorting a hive.

And then, a queen bee appeared, wearing a crown and a red cape.

“So, you’ve finally reached this far. The power that defeated my Four Heavenly Kings. I do hope you can entertain me.”

At a glance, there were hundreds of honeybees. It was a wonder there was no collateral damage with so many of them.

“Wow, Mister. That’s a lot of them.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Still, we should be able to take them down quickly, don’t you think?”

Indeed, Lee Hyunbin was the world’s first S-rank supporter.

He drew a two-handed sword and cloaked it in mana.

He looked ahead confidently, only to see the honeybees, cigars in their mouths, begin to load something.

*Click, clack.*

“Oh, they’re guns.”

Lee Hyunbin’s eyes wavered slightly.

The queen bee let out a sneer, putting pressure on the three of them.

“You’ve already killed too many of our comrades. Don’t expect us to forgive you.”

“Hey. I just fought them. The one who burned them was her.”

At Lee Hyunbin’s words, Seo Hyun-ji looked at him, startled.

“Hmph… Unni, I’m disappointed. Honeybees are beneficial insects, and you burned them all…”

“Wait a minute. You two were the ones who forced me to do it when I said I wouldn’t! And Seo-yeon, you were planning to eat them medium rare!”

“Seo Hyun-ji. You can’t justify everything with violence…”

“You’re the one who told me to do it! Do you have any conscience?”

While the three of them bickered, the honeybees finished getting into battle formation.

The honeybees mercilessly unleashed fire from their gun barrels toward the trio.

“Kyaaah!”

Seo Hyun-ji screamed.

In that instant, all sorts of random thoughts flooded her mind.

Things like how a woman needs to meet the right man, and how she shouldn’t get involved with bad men.

The memory of vowing to earn a lot of money, buy a nice house, and provide for her family.

As her life flashed before her eyes, she felt no pain.

When she slightly opened her eyes, she saw Lee Seo-yeon with her hand outstretched, blocking all the enemy attacks with a force field made of hexagonal tiles.

‘No way.’

She’d always thought Lee Hyunbin was extraordinary. But the density of mana Lee Seo-yeon displayed was a power she had never seen or heard of before.

Seeing this, the honeybees on the ground began to take off their shirts, one by one.

“…”

Seo Hyun-ji’s expression darkened.

The chests of the honeybees, with their V-shaped muscles, were all covered in thick hair.

One had a heart shape. Another, a sun. Another, a star. They were all different.

“Charge!”

The honeybee’s natural enemy is the hornet.

They invade the honeybees’ home and mercilessly trample and slaughter everything.

The way honeybees fight back against such hornets. The only way to kill a hornet is one.

“Kyaaaaaah! Noooo!”

Seo Hyun-ji screamed at the sight of the honeybees sticking to the force field Lee Seo-yeon had created.

It was a horrifying scene, as if just looking at it would defile her.

“Indeed, nature is magnificent.”

Lee Hyunbin muttered quietly.

To fight their natural enemy, honeybees employ swarm tactics. They cling to the hornet’s entire body and generate heat, literally steaming it to death.

The honeybees were demonstrating their natural behavior.

“Unni, Unni! Shake them all off!”

“I don’t know, ugh. Okay. *Sob*, I hate this. What is all this?”

Seo Hyun-ji laughed through her tears.

She quickly summoned Igni and, pouring a massive amount of mana into it, burned away everything around them.

Perhaps, there would be no more fighting after this.

Thinking this was the end, she poured all her strength into it, and Igni’s body expanded greatly, swallowing everything in the vicinity.

*FWOOSH!*

Orbs of fire erupted from Igni’s body, dyeing the sky crimson.

*BOOM! KABOOM!*

If they were firing bullets, this was like launching missiles.

Like autumn leaves in the wind.

The countless honeybees flying in the sky were shot down by the flames, one by one.

A rain of honeybees poured down.

Watching it, Seo Hyun-ji had a complicated expression.

As the tide of battle turned in an instant, Lee Hyunbin made his move.

He moved out of the range of Lee Seo-yeon’s force field and dashed forward in a straight line.

His target was one and only one: the queen bee.

“You’ve caused quite a mess. As a special treat, I’ll use up to 50% of my power.”

The queen bee leisurely drew a spear made from the stingers of her predecessors.

A clash between Lee Hyunbin, who swung his sword scattering the energy of ether, and the queen bee, who charged like a lancer.

And the victor stood, sword in hand, while the vanquished lay on the ground, looking up at the winner.

-The Rania Apiary Zone Gate is closing.

* * *

Once the boss fell, the battle ended quickly.

The honeybees lost their morale and returned home, and soon the gate closed.

The unnaturally large plants that had taken root in the park were now all gone.

Watching this, Lee Hyunbin muttered quietly.

“Perhaps this was nature’s warning, born from human selfishness…”

“I hope they all returned safely to their own world.”

“…”

Watching Lee Hyunbin and Lee Seo-yeon get all sentimental, Seo Hyun-ji, her hair a mess like a madwoman’s, pulled a strand out of her mouth.

‘As if I’m ever coming back.’

If she could, she felt like storming out of the Hanul Guild right this instant.

Furious, Seo Hyun-ji didn’t say a single word on the way back.

“You worked hard. Let’s go get something delicious to eat.”

“Wow, meat! Meat!”

“I’m fine.”

It was the first thing Seo Hyun-ji had said in the car.

“Unni, on days you use a lot of mana, you need to eat meat…”

“I’m fine. Tomorrow’s Sunday, so I’ll recover quickly if I get plenty of rest.”

*I’m the type who gains weight just by drinking water, and he’s talking about meat.*

Seo Hyun-ji muttered to herself and shot a glare at Lee Hyunbin.

Then she got out of the car and went into her house without a backward glance.

After getting home, Seo Hyun-ji took a shower.

After washing up and sitting on the sofa, her stomach growled with hunger.

As Lee Seo-yeon had said earlier, it was probably because she had used a lot of mana.

‘What is there to eat?’

She opened the fridge, but there was only mineral water and salad.

She took out the salad pack and saw the expiration date was a few days past.

‘It was in the fridge, so it should be fine, right?’

Just then, the *ding-dong* of a chat message sounded.

She unlocked her phone and saw it was a message from him.

<Lee Hyunbin: You worked hard today, I should have treated you to something nice.>

<Lee Hyunbin: I bought some chicken and left it at your door, so please eat.>

After reading the message, Seo Hyun-ji peeked outside and opened her door.

In front of her door was still-warm chicken and draft beer.

Glancing around, Seo Hyun-ji brought the chicken set inside, a corner of her mouth lifting in disbelief.

“What’s this? Doesn’t he know soju is the classic pairing for chicken?”

Despite her words, Seo Hyun-ji sat on the sofa, set everything out, and started digging into the chicken.

Normally, she would have avoided it, worried about the calories, but she couldn’t refuse the divine gift of fried chicken.

She turned on the TV, and a rerun of a documentary Lee Hyunbin had recently appeared in was playing.

She’d already seen it once, but the corners of her mouth lifted on their own.

The next morning.

The ringing of her phone woke Seo Hyun-ji from her sleep.

“Ugh…”

-Seo Hyun-ji?

Hearing Lee Hyunbin’s voice, Seo Hyun-ji was wide awake.

“What is it?”

-Sorry, but can you come out for a bit?

“Right now?”

Seo Hyun-ji looked at the clock.

10 AM.

-I’m sorry, I know you’re resting.

Lee Hyunbin’s apologetic voice.

Seo Hyun-ji was a bit flustered, but she just let out a small laugh.

“Where should I go?”

-Ah, I’ll send you the location now. There’s something I absolutely have to talk to you about today.

“Really. Even if I’m on a break from my celebrity career, you can’t just call me out like this.”

-I know, I know. See you in a bit.

While on the phone, Seo Hyun-ji, who had been holding clothes up to the mirror, quickly washed her face, got ready, and went out.

As she headed to the meeting spot sent via chat, she wondered what on earth it could be about.

‘What could be so important that he has to tell me today?’

With a strange sense of excitement, Seo Hyun-ji headed to the meeting place.

“You’re here? Oh, you’re wearing a dress again today. You must really like dresses.”

“…”

Seeing Lee Hyunbin at the meeting spot, Seo Hyun-ji felt bewildered.

He handed her a change of clothes.

“That must be uncomfortable, so change into this. Phew… I missed you so much. With you here, Hyun-ji, we can finish this off cleanly so it can’t regenerate.”

“…”

Seo Hyun-ji looked at the barricaded Manseok Lake Park.

There, a giant grasshopper was leaning against a tree, elegantly chewing on a branch.

The creature saw Seo Hyun-ji and raised a foreleg in a gentlemanly greeting.

“G-hop.”

“Wow, that thing’s got some serious defense. We need to take care of all the grasshoppers by today. Seo Hyun-ji?”

Noticing Seo Hyun-ji’s strange aura, Lee Hyunbin tilted his head.

“Whoa, the flames are even bigger than yesterday. But you’re aiming this way, not that way. Wait, Hyun-ji? Hey, not here! That’s not it!”

With a strand of hair in her mouth, Seo Hyun-ji began to chase Lee Hyunbin.

An unlikely alliance was formed between the grasshopper and Seo Hyun-ji.

* * *

There was a boy.

He walked listlessly.

“So, how was it?”

“Kinda bad? I thought he was a real pain.”

A group of male friends passed by, laughing brightly.

“Hey, buy the drinks. Got it? Don’t you get it?”

“I got it, you punk. Your big bro will take care of it.”

The boy clutched his chest.

It hurts.

It hurts so much.

What was a peaceful daily life for some.

What was an ordinary day for others.

Was a time he desperately longed for.

‘Please…’

The boy struggled on, step by step.

“Oh my, is he sick?”

“Shouldn’t we call the police?”

A passing woman muttered worriedly, seeing the boy’s poor condition.

Deciding she had to do something, she approached the boy.

“Hey, are you hurt? Where are your parents?”

“…”

The boy looked at the woman.

-Kim Min-hee, 24 years old

-Combat ability: None

-Poor thing, maybe it’s school bullying, am I being nosy.

She couldn’t help him.

“Kid. Oh my, look at all this sweat.”

Was it because of the woman’s attention?

The boy drew the gazes of passersby. They all wore expressions that seemed to ask if they should help the sick boy.

The boy weakly looked around.

The information windows of countless people came into his view. Among them, there was no one who could help him.

The boy’s lips curled into a weak smile.

“Stay… back…”

“Wait, I’ll call an ambulance for you…”

“Get away… Stay away from me…”

The boy pushed the woman. Of course, with so little strength, she didn’t budge.

“Get away… All of you…”

Tears began to well up in the boy’s eyes.

‘Yes, this is the right thing to do.’

The boy shouted for them to stay away. But the people only approached with more worried looks.

The woman was already on the phone with 119, explaining their location.

*Gag.*

The boy began to cough up blood.

Short screams were heard from the crowd as they saw the dark red blood. There was no time left.

The boy, avoiding eye contact as much as possible, entered an alley, leaned against a wall, and kicked over a trash can.

Seeing the boy’s desperate struggle to keep them away, the woman felt even more pity and tried to approach again.

“Save us…”

Someone will find us.

The boy’s tears dripped. They formed on his chin, stained with dark red blood, and fell.

“Help us…”

Someone will find us.

Cracks appeared on the boy’s body.

A bright light began to pour out from the fissures.

*KABOOM!*

An explosion that shook the very ground.

Black flames licked across the alley’s floor and walls.

“Kyaaaaah!”

“Uwaaaah!”

The screams of men and women intertwined.

The boy, who just moments ago had evoked people’s sympathy, was now torn limb from limb, his form unrecognizable.

The woman, taking a call from 119 to reconfirm the location, saw the boy’s severed hand lying at her feet and collapsed helplessly.