Chapter 76

Level Up Alone: Ragnarok Chapter 75

Im Myeong successfully escaped from the queen bee, Arsha, but he had to keep running from the pursuit of the contaminated paladins. The paladins were clearly weaker than Im Myeong, but it was impossible to kill them. Every time he tried to kill them, a powerful message would ring loudly in his head, causing him immense headaches.

-Submit to the queen!

-Submit to the queen!

[Argh! Shut up! Shut up, I said!]

Im Myeong felt like he was going to lose his mind.

If he let his guard down even a little, he felt an overwhelming desire to return to the queen bee, kneel, and swear allegiance.

-Submit to the queen!

[Stop! Stop! Get out of my head, damn it!]

Im Myeong tried everything to escape the voice, but it was useless. Even when he covered his ears and slammed his head against the ground, the voice did not stop.

Of course, it was not a voice at all.

It was the instinct of a worker bee reborn for the queen bee.

And for Im Myeong, who had always ruled over others, it was an incredibly humiliating feeling.

-Submit to the queen...

[I refuse! I am not just a worker bee!]

He clenched his teeth and forcibly suppressed his instinct.

The place where he barely managed to escape from the paladins' pursuit and hide was ironically the vice president's office of the Four Deity Guild.

[Phew. Yeah, this is where I belong. Not in a beehive.]

He panted heavily and, as usual, tried to take a bottle of wine from the storage, but his expression crumpled.

[...This is why!]

The wine in his hand was the root of the problem.

The high-quality wine, Royal Jelly, that 'Madam' always gave him as a gift when he visited Queen Bee.

This was the queen bee's poison!

[Drinking this stuff every day, no wonder I ended up like this...!]

Snap!

Im Myeong raised the wine bottle high to throw it but suddenly paused.

[...Wait.]

A good idea came to him as he looked at the queen bee's poison.

He thought of a way to suppress the worker bee's instinct.

If he used this...

[I might be able to create my own army.]

Im Myeong poured his magic power into the queen bee's Royal Jelly, changing its properties to his own color.

[Good. Now, if anyone is poisoned by this, they will become soldiers loyal to me, not the queen bee.]

Im Myeong absorbed the newly manufactured Royal Jelly into his venom sac and immediately went outside to attack low-level hunters and inject them with it.

However, they all died on the spot.

[Tsk. Weaklings. They can't even withstand this level of poison.]

Im Myeong clicked his tongue and went to find stronger mid-level hunters.

But the result was the same.

They all died from the poison, spitting blood.

[Why do they keep dying?]

Im Myeong was confused.

Was there something wrong with his Royal Jelly?

He continued to attack hunters to find out the reason.

Finally, a success case appeared.

But it just so happened that the subject was...

a hunter from the Four Deity Guild he belonged to.

[...Coincidence?]

At first, he thought it was just a coincidence.

But it wasn't.

No matter how many times he experimented, only the hunters from the Four Deity Guild survived the Royal Jelly.

[What's going on?]

Eventually, Im Myeong realized the reason.

[Could it be because they were already loyal to me?]

Originally, Royal Jelly was a poison to create worker bees.

The object of their loyalty was naturally the queen bee.

[But I am not the queen.]

No worker bee would be loyal to Im Myeong, who was just another worker bee.

However, the members of the Four Deity Guild were an exception.

Their minds were already imprinted with loyalty to 'Vice President Im Myeong.'

Even though the reason for their loyalty was a shallow master-servant relationship based on salary and rank, it was the most solid master-servant relationship among humans.

Realizing this principle, Im Myeong burst into a hollow laugh.

[So my Royal Jelly infused with my magic power only works on the members of the Four Deity Guild? Hahahaha. This is amusing. Really amusing.]

He noticed that the slaves he created with his Royal Jelly looked very different from the 'paladins' that resembled soldier bees.

His slaves were reborn as 'contaminated ghouls' that looked more human.

[Hehe. Perhaps this is fate.]

It might be for the best.

Using this ability, he might be able to take everything from that unlucky Lim Tae-gyu.

Actually, the position of guild master never suited that guy.

[After all, Lim Tae-gyu looked better as my driver, didn't he? While I'm at it, I should make him my slave by poisoning him.]

He wasn't sure if his Royal Jelly would work on an S-rank, but if it did, it would be a huge success.

Since Lim Tae-gyu was once his obedient driver, the chances were high.

The thought of making Lim Tae-gyu his slave made Im Myeong feel good.

In fact, being reborn as a worker bee wasn't all bad.

Except for the instinct to be loyal to the queen bee, there were many more advantages.

The queen bee had melted and compressed Im Myeong's human form, recreating him as a highly evolved combat species.

Although it was a bit disappointing that his human skills were gone, skills were for combat, after all.

By compressing all his power into a transcendent body specialized for combat, he gained a significant advantage.

Perhaps, in his current state, he could even defeat Lim Tae-gyu.

[Hehe. Sure, he's an S-rank, but Lim Tae-gyu is just a bowman who shoots arrows from behind. If I poison him first and make him unable to use his weapon, I have a good chance of winning...]

...That's how Im Myeong got to this point.

All his plans so far had been successful, and as a result, Lim Tae-gyu now stood in front of him, looking exhausted.

'Now I can win!'

Im Myeong was confident.

He would knock down that annoying Lim Tae-gyu with his own hands, stomp on his face, and spit on him.

He planned to make him his slave and use him for the rest of his life, just like before the Great Cataclysm.

'Who is that guy next to him?'

Im Myeong felt an ominous feeling as he looked at Suho standing next to Lim Tae-gyu.

It was as if he was facing the queen bee...

No, if it were the queen bee, he would have felt a compulsion to be loyal, but from Suho, he felt the opposite.

Fear.

A pure, instinctive fear, as if he were facing a natural enemy.

'Why? He doesn't even look that strong...'

Since becoming a worker bee, Im Myeong's ability to gauge the strength of others had developed to an extreme.

Based on the magic power he sensed from Suho, he was definitely a C-rank hunter.

At best, he might be a B-rank.

Actually, the more threatening presence was the A-rank hunter, Baek Mi-ho, standing next to him.

But why?

Why did he feel like he wanted to run away right now?

Why was his body stiff like a frog in front of a snake?

'The natural enemy of insects'

This unsettling feeling irritated Im Myeong's pride.

[...What a creepy guy.]

Im Myeong tried to shake off his unease and revealed his full power.

Kwaoo!

An immense aura surged from Im Myeong.

In contrast, Suho felt the opposite.

'He's definitely stronger than me, but I don't feel like I'll lose.'

Suho immediately opened the shop window.

Clack.

['Item: Quiver (100)' purchased.]

['Item: Quiver (100)' purchased.]

Two heavy quivers appeared in Suho's hands.

"Here, if you can't use magic arrows, use these instead."

"......!"

Lim Tae-gyu, who suddenly received the quivers, stared at Suho with wide eyes.

"But, where did you get these all of a sudden?!"

"I'm a summoner, you know."

Suho shrugged, brushing off the question.

"Of course, they're not free. I'll bill you later, so use them freely. I'll give you more when you run out."

"R-right! Thanks!"

Lim Tae-gyu nodded with a bright expression.

Whether Suho was a healer or a summoner didn't matter anymore.

He could worry about that later.

Lim Tae-gyu's expression suddenly changed as he turned to face the enemies.

'The Bow of the Four Deities' could kill monsters with ordinary arrows and was an S-rank weapon.

The moment it was in the hands of Korea's strongest S-rank archer, along with the arrows.

He truly became a hunter.

Swoosh!

Lim Tae-gyu's arrows pierced the heads and hearts of the ghouls attacking from all sides.

"Leave the suppression to me, and you focus on capturing Im Myeong!"

He wanted to knock down Im Myeong himself, but he had already confirmed that it was impossible without magic.

He couldn't waste any more time on his own desires.

With Lim Tae-gyu's shout, the battle began.

"Let's go!"

"Yes, sir!"

Suho and Baek Mi-ho leaped towards Im Myeong.

[Kirik!]

At that moment, the wings of the shadow paladins sprouted from behind Suho and Baek Mi-ho.

Squeak!

They flew towards Im Myeong at an incredible speed and launched a fierce attack.

Swish! Bang! Thud!

[You're slow.]

But Im Myeong mocked them and easily dodged their attacks.

'How can he move so fast?'

Baek Mi-ho, alarmed by Im Myeong's movements, warned Suho.

"Mr. Suho, be careful! His speed far surpasses an A-rank!"

Perhaps he liked the sound of that.

Im Myeong wore an ecstatic smile and curled his lips.

[Hehe! That's right! I have already transcended humanity. Your slow attacks can't even touch me!]

"Ah, is that so?"

Im Myeong's mood instantly soured at Suho's nonchalant response.

No matter how much he tried to ignore it, Suho's presence kept bothering him.

[...I can't let this go. I'll kill you first!]

Im Myeong burst with a fierce momentum and flew straight towards Suho.

And just as the sharp spear in his hand was about to pierce Suho's heart.

Hehe.

Suho smiled.

'I've been waiting for this moment.'

Suho's eyes gleamed as he shouted.

"Come out!"

...!

Swoosh!

Suddenly, countless black beams of light shot out from Suho's body, rushing towards Im Myeong simultaneously.

[This, this is...?!]

At that moment, Im Myeong's eyes widened in shock.

In the superhuman vision of a worker bee, he saw the true nature of the light beams.

Paladins.

The queen bee's paladins, who had relentlessly pursued him, appeared!

[This is impossible...]

Im Myeong, terrified, quickly changed direction just before attacking Suho.

His speed was much faster than theirs.

Even though they were too close, he could still escape...

Snap.

"......!"

Suddenly, Suho firmly grabbed the tip of the spear Im Myeong was about to stab into his heart.

"I've got you, you bastard."

[Let go!]

Im Myeong, startled, tried his best to shake off Suho.

But it was too late.

"Kill him."

[Kirik!]

[Keeheeit-!]

The spears of the shadow paladins that flew from all directions began to brutally tear apart Im Myeong's body.