『Progress towards next evolution >> 5%』
A strange warmth wafted over Han's skin, like micro-jolts of electricity pulsing beneath.
It was faint, but he could almost feel each breath leaving his lips, brushing against the fine hairs of his own face.
Han watched as the tiny strands on his arms rose, sparkling in the yellow glow of the room like tiny obsidian shards. "What is this?" he whispered, brushing his fingers over them, feeling each strand prick his skin with needle-fine points.
"Han, you say something?" Chul groaned from behind him, still recovering from the fight.
Han quickly covered his arms. "No- nothing," he replied, looking over his shoulder.
"We'll take a moment to catch our breath before heading out," he said, before crawling to a corner of the room.
He'd been so caught up in survival that he hadn't taken the time to question what exactly 'evolution' would mean for his body.
It was clear as day that he was in the process of morphing into something... unhuman.
And every step he would take towards completing this quest would likely push him further into this transformation.
He didn't want to lose his trait, but he sure as hell didn't want to turn into a bee either.
'Fucking architects,' he thought to himself.
"Nolan?" A voice called out.
Han turned around to find Jen slowly getting to her feet. Her hair clung to the side of her face, held there by dirt and sweat.
Nolan was caught in a daze, eyes glazed with tears as he stared at his sister.
"Jen..." he whispered. "Jen!" He jumped to his feet, embracing his sister in a tight bear hug. "You're okay."
Jen tried pushing him off. "And you smell like shit," she giggled. "Get off me, idiot."
She turned to look at Han.
"Seems like you made it, too," she smiled. "How was your first real quest?" she asked.
Her eyes slowly wandered to Chul, who was staring at her with a bored expression.
"And who's this?"
Chul rolled his eyes. "You know, you could've woken up a little earlier," he said. "We had a whole boss fight and everything... nearly lost our lives too."
While Nolan explained their situation to his sister, Han and Chul began discussing future plans.
"So there's a queen bee somewhere in here-"
"An unborn queen bee," Han corrected.
"An unborn queen bee somewhere in here that we have to find?" Chul asked.
Han nodded. "We'll only have a shot at clearing this if we get there before it's born. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance."
Chul stared at him for a moment. "Yeah, I don't know, dude," he whispered. "I mean, I don't doubt your information, don't get me wrong."
"But if what you're saying is true, how do we even find this unborn bee? And won't there be like... guardian bees around her? We can barely take down a normal bee as is," Chul said.
Han nodded in agreement. "But we have no other choice, do we?"
Chul pondered over it for a moment. "Not necessarily. We've escaped a quest without completing it before," he said. "Perhaps there's an exit somewhere."
Of course, Han had already thought of that. However, leaving the quest unfinished meant losing his trait. And if that happened, he'd be dead weight out in the apocalypse.
"No. Leaving the quest unfinished is out of the question," he blurted. "The only exit is by finding the queen bee."
Chul stared at him with a raised brow. "And you know this... how?"
"Beekeeper trait," Han lied through his teeth. "Remember?"
Chul nodded slowly. "Yeah... sure. Well, let's get to it. What's your grand plan?"
Han clapped his hands loudly. "Okay, everyone, listen up."
Nolan and Jen stopped their whispering and paid attention to Han.
"I need to know what everyone's trait does, and how many times they can use it in a short period of time," he announced.
"It would also be good if we knew what was in each other's inventory, but I know we're all probably going to lie. So just reveal what you think may help."
Nolan nodded, speaking up first. "Buccaneer. Increases my speed by 400% for one second, and then increases strength by 400% for another second," he explained.
"I can use it maybe, two times... three if I'm pushing it."
Jen just stared at her brother, a look of confusion on her face.
"Since when do you take orders from kids?" she whispered, before standing up.
"Look, I know you've watched a lot of movies," she said, looking at Han with a pitying expression. "But this is real. The last quest was simple, but from what Nolan told me... There are high-level monsters in the area," she explained.
"Nolan, what did Heron say? When is she coming to save us?"
The group just stared in silence.
"Look, Jen..." Nolan said, walking to stand beside her. "I know he's a kid. But... and I hate to admit it, he's better... suited for this," he explained.
Jen stared at her brother, then at Han. From her raised brow, it was clear she didn't believe a word coming out of her brother's mouth.
"I say we stay here and wait for Heron. It's the safest thing to do."
Nolan scowled at that. "Heron isn't coming, Jen."
"And how do you know that?"
Nolan sighed. "She said it was a unique quest. She can't enter the quest area," he explained. "...And she thinks you're dead. I don't think she'll be activating her trait any time soon."
Jen opened her mouth to say something before closing it again.
"Okay, who wants to explain their trait to everyone else next?"
While Jen sat in silence in one corner of the room, everyone shared their current inventory and the details of their traits.
Combined, the group had; one more healing potion, a dagger, 12 chocolate bars, three strength potions, one speed potion, and something called a skill scroll -though the owner, Chul, had no idea what it did.
Their plan was simple. Han would activate Scent of the Sun in an attempt to 'smell' out the queen bee. It was a gamble since he still didn't even know if that was possible, but it was the best shot they had.
If they came across an enemy, he would activate Scent of the Sun again to disorient them, while either Chul or Nolan used Buccaneer to create distance.
"So, everyone okay with the plan?"
Though they seemed unsure, Chul and Nolan nodded.
"Jen?" Han asked.
She considered him for a moment before giving a reluctant nod. She clearly still felt that this was too dangerous a task for a child.
Right as they were about to leave, the room shook once again, and a soft chime rang in Han's head.
From the looks of it, it rang in everyone else's head as well.
『The Queen Bee embryo has spawned!』
『1 hour 59 minutes before emergence!』
Han sighed. "And so it begins."
"Let's get moving."