Han was alone.
Now more than ever, with the weight of a trillion stars watching him from above, he felt... insignificant.
'So I was right,' he thought, staring at the man beside the queen's egg: Nolan.
Whatever the imposter's plan had been, it seemed to have succeeded. Chul and Jen were nowhere to be seen. Were they dead? Or had they been taken somewhere else? He had no clue.
But right now, at this very moment, it was just him, the imposter, and the egg that would soon birth an almost promised death. And that was all that mattered.
"Approach, false whisperer," the imposter shouted. "The queen wishes to gaze upon you, with the rest of the Hive."
Han took a deep breath, opening his system screen.
His movements were slow... deliberate. An overwhelming sensation had taken root in the core of his being, the rotting sense of impending doom.
The best he could do was prepare himself. He had no allies, no queen's gaze. And he was about to fight not just one, but two enemies he knew nothing about.
And so, he took his time... allowing his mind to grow accustomed to the fear that now gnawed at it.
┏━━━━━━━━━━━┓
─System Overview─
〖Trait: Beekeeper〗
〖Grade: U〗
〖*Rank: Transition in process...〗
─Player Details─
〖Level 5*: (Rank 1 Max)〗
〖Health: 100/100〗
**5 New items currently in Inventory**
┗━━━━━━━━━━━┛
He was now the same level as the first herald of death he had met in this hellhole. How stupid it was that he was no closer to the Goblin warrior in strength or speed. If anything, he was weaker now than back in that room.
If the architect was watching, it probably felt proud of itself.
'I suppose I should just use the items right now,' he thought. 'Not as if it'll be much use later.'
[Grade-C Strength potion consumed!]
[+100% Health and Strength bonus for 5 minutes]
[Grade-C Speed potion consumed!]
[+100% Speed bonus for 2 minutes]
Han balled his fist. He didn't feel any stronger, nor any faster. But already, his mind was incorporating his enhanced physicality into its plans. Already placing in pieces of a puzzle he couldn't yet see.
He looked back up at his inventory. 'Chul's skill scroll, huh. Don't suppose he'd be too mad about me using it now,' he thought.
[Use Grade-F Skill Scroll?]
[Warning. One skill slot will permanently be filled.]
'Yes.'
[Processing...]
[Skill: Humble Bladesman has been granted.]
[Cognitive assimilation has been enhanced when holding a blade weapon.]
Again, Han felt no different than before. And again, his mind was already running in the background, making assumptions, placing this skill as a puzzle piece.
That was it. All he had, right now.
His trait screen did not show any new skills, despite him having reached level 5, the new skill had not unlocked. It seemed that it needed something else... but there was no time to try and figure that out.
The imposter was still standing patiently, beside the egg, watching him.
A cold wind billowed past the field of flowers. They glittered like diamond dust. How beautiful this scene was.
Silence.
The warm yellow glow of the moon bled a spotlight on this night's grand act. And from the audience of stars there was:
Silence.
In his heart, a million a one emotions fought to make their way to the surface. Self-pity, sadness, anger, fear. But his mind shut them down. It would not let any distractions get in the way of self-preservation. From him, there was only:
Silence.
He gripped his dagger tightly. Closing his eyes, hoping that the wind would blow him to some place far away from death.
But that was a pathetic wish.
And Han had never been one for those.
"Fuck it."
Han tore off.
His eyes locked on the imposter; each step he took shot him forward like a spring uncoiled.
He was light. Lighter than even the wind.
From above, the stars would see a single dagger slicing through their field of flowers.
Blade met blade, and sparks flew.
The imposter eyed Han with a bored expression. There was already blood on its, no, Jen's, dagger.
"Insolent," it said.
Han swung again, his dagger's tip ripping straight up through the air.
The imposter parried.
And crackling bone echoed through the field.
The imposter's arm hung awkwardly at its elbow. But despite this, its expression remained neutral.
"Where is Chul?" Han asked.
He didn't bother to wait for an answer; already he was swinging towards the imposter's throat for the kill.
"Buccanneer!"
The imposter vanished from view. And a drop of blood on the edge of Han's dagger revealed how close the fight had been to ending.
Han ducked, half instinct, half knowing that Nolan would appear right behind him.
Nolan's dagger sliced through empty air.
"Buccaneer!"
He disappeared again.
Han snapped around, expecting another attack.
But pain came thundering from above, and Nolan thrust his dagger deep into Han's shoulder.
Using his enhanced strength, Han kicked off Nolan, creating some distance.
The dagger was still twisted in his shoulder, leaking blood like a broken faucet.
'It has no weapons now,' Han thought, wincing as he ripped the dagger out.
He summoned his last remaining healing potion, consuming it without second thought.
With two daggers in hand, he was sure of his victory over this doppelganger in front of him. However, that had never been his plan.
For the first time, the imposter's facial expression changed. Han let out a little smile as he savoured the dread on its face.
He was now standing next to the pedestal; the queen's egg was but an arm's reach away. "It's over," he said, driving his dagger into the egg.
However, his blade bounced off, and the egg released a pulse of golden energy.
He was flung away, tumoring through a bed of flowers, before smashing his head against something hard.
"Fuck..." he groaned, rubbing his head.
A yellow glow pulsed beside him; a massive gemstone the size of his head. Han's breath caught in his throat once he realised what it was: Chul's head, encased in amber, like some sort of fossil up for display.
The amber gemstone began to pulse more erratically. Han stepped back, the world still spinning from his crash.
The gemstone rose from the ground, levitating up towards the sky. A second beacon of light rose from somewhere across the field. Han could guess whose head was in that one.
He felt like throwing up.
The two gemstones zipped into the night sky and disappeared among the stars.
The imposter was laughing from across the field. "Witness now, false whisperer," he shouted. "A true servant of the Hive." It kneeled down with its hand clasped in prayer and a golden light appeared around its head.
"Glory to the que-"
Han looked away as a wet ripping sound echoed across the field: another beacon of light sent off to the heavens.
『You have assisted in the defeat of a creature!』
『Level requirements met!』
『You are now level 5.』
He didn't even have time to react to the notifications when a thundering snap shook the heavens.
"Can't I get a fucking break?"
A shimmering light now split the sky in two, and yellow particles rained down like golden snow.
Something was descending from the tear in space.
Something wrong... something foul.
『The Queen Bee has arrived.』