I Became a God in the Refrigerator

60. Father of Bees (2)

Conquering dungeons yields tremendous rewards.

Just like when the Han and Elves cleared the 1st and 2nd floors of the tower a while ago.

Naturally, as the grade of the dungeon increases, the rewards also increase proportionally.

However, there are times when these rewards are put on hold, and the dungeon is left intact.

That is when the dungeon’s overcrowding phenomenon, the Dungeon Break, where monsters start leaking out, is still far from happening.

“If it’s a dungeon that will be cleared eventually, I’ll squeeze out as much profit as possible until the Dungeon Break occurs and then close the dungeon.”

The monsters inside the dungeon constantly regenerate.

Furthermore, their bodies become valuable resources, natural materials.

Given that this cycle continues when given time, governments around the world intentionally leave dungeons untouched to nurture their hunters and reap the benefits of byproducts.

Therefore, clearing a dungeon is solely possible with the permission of each country’s government.

Otherwise, no matter how skilled a hunter is, they cannot simply hunt down the dungeon boss and clear it.

However, the clearance qualification for the dungeon has now passed to Lee Sang-yoon.

Thanks to the Korean government.

There was a growing interest.

“The only plant mage in Korea has been granted clearance for a dungeon teeming with various plant creatures.”

It was clearly an intentional arrangement.

Was it to elevate 1st-grade Hunter Lee Sang-yoon to the next-generation top Hunter?

Plant mages are extremely rare worldwide, with just over twenty in the whole world, and he was the only one in Korea.

The reason was the concentrated support from the government.

[In dungeons where plant creatures above 1st grade roam, Extremis Dungeon is unique worldwide. Although other plant mages from overseas are eyeing this place, since I am the only plant mage in South Korea, the priority for conquest has been given to me. Therefore, I will tame the boss known as ‘Nepenthes Gluttony’ within a year and clear the dungeon.]

The broadcaster looked surprised.

“So you intend to have the dungeon boss as your summon, Hunter Lee Sang-yoon?”

“Yes. Through this, I can grow into a new top Hunter in South Korea.”

“For this reason, many people both domestically and internationally are paying attention. There is considerable interest in whether Hunter Lee Sang-yoon can tame the monster Nepenthes Gluttony.”

This has reportedly led to frequent tensions with China.

Instead of Lee Sang-yoon, two Chinese plant mages have been offered priority for the conquest of Ganghwado.

They cited diplomatic issues and clashed with the Korean government.

“It may be trivial, but it certainly seems like a distracting move. It’s not just about dungeon rewards; diplomacy is not of utmost importance.”

For plant mages, the Extremis Dungeon was a land of new opportunities to form contracts with spirits.

But what if they could contract with the dungeon boss Nepenthes Gluttony?

This would essentially mean an enhancement of national power.

It implied the emergence of a top Hunter, a national power-level Hunter in the country.

“There must have been a reason why Lee Sang-yoon, who was just a low-grade Hunter, hadn’t cleared the Extremis Dungeon for years.”

It seemed like they had been keeping an eye on Lee Sang-yoon all this time and planning the big picture for the past few years.

Until he was sufficiently grown to conquer the dungeon.

In reality, most of the world’s plant mages were visiting the Extremis Dungeon annually to reach above 1st grade.

Paying a hefty price to the Korean government.

Among the conditions was a clause stating that they would not disturb the dungeon boss under any circumstances, and that seemed to be the reason.

“Well, it would be a good thing if Sangyun becomes a top hunter. It would be helpful for the country, you know.”

However, it seemed the system had a different opinion.

[If you think Sangyun will clear the Extremis Dungeon, I must tell you that it is an impossible challenge from the beginning.]

“…What? What are you talking about?”

I was puzzled by the unexpected statement.

[The Korean government is in error regarding information about the dungeon boss, Nephendes Glurtney. In fact, what they know as the boss is just a part of the ‘appendage’ protruding on the surface, while the actual body lies dormant on the surface. This entity is a super-heavyweight monster reaching over 200 meters.]

“Phew! What, what?! Two hundred?!”

I almost choked on the water I was drinking.

A moment of eerie dread shot through me.

A monster reaching 200 meters.

I was astonished and asked, “Th-that can’t be a Grade 1 monster, right? It’s not a top-tier, is it?”

[That’s correct.]

Good heavens! A top-tier monster?!

No one in the world had ever tamed a top-tier monster up to now.

Even the plant wizards hadn’t done it.

The most powerful grade of plants they tamed barely reached a high Grade 1 level, so how could they aim for a top-tier one.

For reference, Sangyun tamed a Grade 2 plant-type monster.

This was a challenge that required the efforts of numerous top hunters at the national level to conquer.

It was a challenge where the outcome was already clear.

“…It’s going to fail.”

[That’s correct.]

“Then, isn’t it impossible to even conquer the dungeon from the start? And there might be a dungeon break too, right?”

[Even if all of Korea’s top hunters gather, it’s impossible.]

“……”

…Ha. Is it that serious?

This is a bigger deal than the dragon that turned Australia into a sea of flames?

If it’s 200 meters, it’s not just 200, it’s almost the size of a considerable island.

If such a creature were to emerge, the whole country would turn into chaos in no time.

Perhaps there could be damage in mainland Korea as well.

But it’s a task that I can’t even pass on the information about.

It’s information handed over by an unknown entity, who would believe it.

Probably not even Han.

Among the hunters Han knew, only Jinhwalin was unique.

If it wasn’t her, the government wouldn’t listen.

“I-I should call Jinhwalin, for now….”

But I hesitated for a moment.

Wait. What would they say if I make the call?

The source of the information? How did you know about the monster? They would surely ask.

Moreover, this was a matter that determined whether a new top-tier hunter would emerge in South Korea or not.

Just because Jin Hwa-rin said it, didn’t mean it would happen.

No matter how much of a top-tier hunter she was, giving up on a challenge due to a doubtful rumor was a huge mistake.

“Oh, no. This is bad.”

Knowing that the house could catch fire at any moment, unable to extinguish it because there was no fire extinguisher.

There was no separate situation like that.

At that moment, while looking at the screen, Yi Sang-yoon, the hunter, confidently spoke up.

[Our party’s first exploration will officially take place in two months.]

“Two months later, huh…”

It seemed like it wouldn’t be long before a fire broke out in the thatched cottage.

I messed up big time.

Around that time, for some reason, unlike usual, the system spoke first.

[Nephendes Glutny will obey you.]

***

Although his heart was in turmoil, he needed to focus on the task at hand for now.

There was something he had to face immediately.

The next day, his one-man childcare continued.

Was it truly the effect of his sincere nurturing?

The baby bee continued to grow unrecognizably with each passing day.

Already, the little one had grown to a size of 3 to 40 cm.

Recalling that it was initially no bigger than a palm, it was a dramatic growth trajectory.

Of course, compared to a giant queen bee the size of a human, it was still small, but where else could this be.

The pride of seeing changes every day.

The appearance of today, grown from yesterday, was new.

It felt like raising a child.

Finally, the baby bee, which had been quietly drinking milk in the hexagonal chamber for a long time, showed its first change.

[Phee….]

Extending its front legs covered in yellow fur, the little one cautiously left the bee chamber.

Carefully spreading its folded wings, it hung at the entrance.

“Oh.”

Could this finally be it?

The little one, who had been quietly hanging and strengthening its wings for a long time, gradually began to move.

Buzz! Buzz!

As it shook its wings, an unusual sound filled the air.

A powerful noise, almost like a helicopter.

Eventually, the little one, who had been hanging precariously at the edge of the hive, gently lifted its foot.

Thunk.

Attempting to fly, it fell frighteningly to the ground.

It was a failure.

“….”

Fortunately, the ground below was made of soft mushrooms, so there were no injuries.

But it seemed like the attempts wouldn’t end with just one.

He tried flying twice, then three, four times.

He was persistent.

The limits, the elves, even the queen bee.

Before they knew it, everyone had stopped what they were doing to quietly watch his attempts.

Everyone watched him attentively.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

Finally, his body began to rise slowly into the air.

His legs left the ground!

“I’m flying!”

At first, there were moments when his flight seemed clumsy, struggling to find the right direction, but getting used to it happened in an instant.

That moment.

[Congratulations!]

[The offspring imbued with your divine power has finally transformed into a new species! The Nightblossom Rabbitbee (Divine Species) is born!]

“…What?”

With the sudden message that appeared, changes occurred in the body of the young bee.

***

“Oh… I’m doing well.”

[Buzz!]

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The young bee.

He started flying in the sky.

Although still small in size and occasionally wobbling due to lack of strength in his wings, he quickly regained balance and continued to fly.

“Wow…”

The elves, who were always focused on their tasks from morning, were all busy watching him today.

It was a moment of record-breaking first flight.

[…?]

As the young bee occasionally flew overhead.

A group of mice and snails, who were busy nibbling on grass, raised their heads inquisitively.

But the young bee, it seemed, paid no attention to the mice and snails at all.

Even as he shook his yellow body side to side while passing by, he didn’t spare them a glance.

To the point where it seemed like he might not even be aware of their existence, his main focus was solely on the small flower garden.

[Buzz! Buzz!]

Excitedly approaching the nearby flowers, sniffing them joyfully, and shaking his body as if in delight.

Covering his chubby yellow fur legs with pollen.

And occasionally sniffing the pollen.

[Buzz!!]

With a vigorous shout, his whole body trembled.

“Looks truly happy.”

Watching that sight, Han couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Even to someone unfamiliar, it must have appeared that way, leaving no room for further comments.

He was a truly easy-to-understand fellow.

But this fellow.

Somehow, whenever he flapped his wings, iridescent powder consistently fell from his wings.

“What is that?”

Could it be the same kind of scales seen on butterfly wings?

Even the queen bee had never seen such powder before.

The system’s response was as follows:

[That is the unique iridescent powder of the nightbloom rabbit bee, imbued with divine power.]

“As it flies around, tiny particles of iridescent powder, nearly invisible to the eye, settle on the ground, spreading a faint blessing on this land. One could call it a divine blessing.”