"Here lies in ancient slumber, the whisperer of the void, voice of the Hive."
The inscriptions on the stone door began to glow, slithering from their positions like awakened snakes.
Han took a step back.
With a click and a low rumble, the stone door descended into the ground. The doorway opened into a pitch-black room, breathing out a cool, sweet-smelling draft.
Chul cleared his throat. "Not suspicious at all," he whispered.
"Why do I get the feeling you're the reason we're in this mess?" Jen said from behind.
Han didn't need to turn around to know she was talking about him.
Chul sighed in slight annoyance. "Well, we're here now, aren't we?"
"So what, we heading in?" he asked, turning to Han.
"Heading in?" Jen shouted from behind. "That's as clear a trap as I've ever seen."
While they bickered, Han fought against an odd sensation. The fine hairs on his skin bristled, and his core felt warm; something inside this room was reacting with him. 'We're wasting time out here.'
"Chul, fireball," Han said, nodding towards the room.
Chul obliged. He whispered the fiery ball into existence, and it burst into the darkness, casting a fleeting light over a pillared hallway, where an altar glimmered for an instant at the far end.
"Doesn't look like they're any immediate threats," Han whispered. "I say we head in... just stay on guard."
Chul nodded, following in right behind Han.
Jen hesitated behind them for a moment, whispering something to Nolan. However, when Nolan shook his head, she reluctantly followed.
『The Hive watches this battle.』
『New Sub-Quest!』
『Escape the 'Ante-chamber'.』
The stone door shut closed behind them, trapping them in.
Han gripped the hilt of his dagger more tightly, suddenly more aware that Nolan was standing right behind him. However, only an instant later, a soft yellow glow washed the room in a golden dye.
"Is that, honey?" Chul asked.
Glowing honey bled from the pillars that lined the hallway, creating a lava-lamp effect all around them. The light was enough for Han to see, but not nearly enough for him to feel safe in this place.
He took a step forward, wary of the pillars.
"What is this place?" Jen whispered, poking at some of the honey dripping from a pillar.
Han approached one as well. "I don't know."
There were inscriptions on the pillar's surface, depictions of hexagons and strange humanoid creatures that stood on four legs, with four sets of wings on their backs.
As he focused on one of the hexagons, his system screen began glitching. "Echo not what the Hive has not whispered."
'Strange,' he thought.
"The altar is probably our way out of here," he said out loud, taking one last glance at the pillar before heading for the altar.
The altar stood on a raised section of the room, as if placed on a hexagonal pedestal. Above it was an open section of the ceiling, leading out into a black abyss.
Han felt on edge standing under it. As if something up there were looking down on him, something old... something dangerous.
A single tattered book lay on the altar, its yellow cover crumpled and warted by the passage of time.
"You think this book is the quest reward?" Chul asked.
Han shook his head. If anything, it felt like this book would only bring them punishment.
Still, it was the only obvious path forward.
So Han opened it.
"It's blank," he whispered.
Just then, the room rumbled. A low buzzing sound echoed from the black space above them.
"Fuck," Chul sighed.
Both he and Han rushed off the altar, eyes glued to the ceiling.
"Remember how we defeated one of them last time," Han said.
Four 'mutated' bees descended into the room, the smallest of them about the size of them about the size of a house cat. However, where they lacked in size, they made up for it in the length of their stingers. They were like thin greatswords at the end of their agile bodies, lacking the curve that the first bee had.
"We're going to have to move faster here," Han said, realising that they were likely built for speed.
Just like before, the bees paused for a moment, staring at Han as if caught in a gaze.
An instant later, they tore forward, abdomens bent forward so that their stingers sliced through the air.
"Scent of the Sun!"
Golden light flooded the room, and the bees were frozen in a daze mere inches away from the group.
"Bucanneer!" Chul and Nolan shouted, shifting the group right behind them.
Han released the skill, and the bees drove into the ground, stingers impaled all the way up to their abdomens.
『You have assisted in the defeat of a higher-level creature!』
『You have assisted in the defeat of a higher-level creature!』
『You have assisted in the defeat of a higher-level creature!』
『You have assisted in the defeat of a higher-level creature!』
『+220 XP』
"Well, that was easy," Chul whispered, a smug expression on his face.
『Progress towards next evolution >> 45%』
"Is it over? Were those the queen bees?" Jen asked.
Chul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, those were definitely the queen bees. See how we're still trapped in this room? Definitely the queen bee."
Han bent over to study the bees' bodies. He wanted to make sure that he had their scent in case they got lost in another maze. So he used his dagger to poke out a small section of flesh on their abdomen, before rubbing it on his arm.
"That's disgusting, dude," Chul whispered.
Han ignored him, bringing the scent up close to his nose, before activating 'Scent of the Sun' again.
As the different smells hit his nose, he tried to sift through them for any that matched the scent on the back of his hand.
Two scent trails matched it, one coming from the open space in the ceiling, and another from the tattered book.
'I guess we're supposed to do something with the book.'
Jen bumped into Han, snapping him out of his daze. "Uhm, guys," she stammered, pointing at the pillars. "Look!"
The pillars had cracked, and a slight golden pulse bled out from within. Before anyone had time to react, they burst into golden particles, giving way to gushing torrents of honey.
The entire floor was quickly covered in honey, and in mere seconds, the honey level reached their ankles.
"Fucking hell, they're trying to drown us with honey."