Chapter 30 – First Kiss (2)

Along with my tightly clenched fist, the sour liquid that stung my tongue went down smoothly.

The liquid passed down from the Bee Queen went straight to my stomach through my throat.

Like a shot of strong whiskey, it left a trace, letting me feel exactly where my esophagus and stomach were.

Amidst the chaotic situation, only one thought filled my mind.

More than anything else, the fact that my first kiss had been stolen by the queen bee.

Yes, that was the thought that completely occupied my head.

‘For my first time, I wanted a kiss that shared feelings more than anything… but now, my romance is…’

With the bees clinging to me, I couldn’t resist, and the more I struggled, the tighter the bees’ legs gripped me.

In the end, I gave up resisting and let my energy drain away. The liquid continued to flow into my throat as the queen bee passed it to me.

-Gulp. Gulp.

And shortly after.

Whether the kiss, which felt both short and unbearably long, had finally ended, the queen bee’s antennae softly patted my head.

-Slurp

As the queen bee’s mouth parted from mine, a long strand of liquid stretched between my mouths and hers before it snapped.

Feeling utterly drained, I collapsed onto the ground. The bees dragged me out of the hollow tree, and then, as if their job was done, they zipped back inside the hole.

‘So, She got what she wanted… Is this because she’s a queen…?’

Though I was flustered by the sudden bizarre incident, I started walking from the dead tree entrance toward the training ground entrance.

-Trudge. Trudge.

It was when I was aimlessly heading toward the training ground entrance.

While I hadn’t fully processed the fact that my first kiss was stolen by the Bee Queen, I recalled what that sour taste in my mouth was.

‘What is this… Wait a second!? Don’t tell me what I drank was…’

However, just before I could fully realize what I had consumed, something strange began to happen to my body.

I hadn’t noticed it due to my confusion, but as the haze in my mind cleared, I began to feel a discomfort spreading through my body with every step I took.

A peculiar, ticklish sensation that seemed to gnaw at me.

At first, I thought it was just the shock from the kiss with the Golden-Furred King Bee messing with my mental state. But it wasn’t nausea or discomfort from my stomach, it was a strange sensation arising from below my navel, in my lower abdomen.

-Thump. Thump.

When I focused my attention, I felt something as small as a grain pulsating faintly in my lower abdomen.

By the time I was nearly at the entrance of the training grounds, that faint sensation had amplified, accompanied by various other symptoms manifesting in my body.

My vision turned red, and it felt as though heat was rising throughout my body.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling, my vision was turning red, and heat was rising in my body.

Meanwhile, the tiny pulsation in my lower abdomen had now clearly transformed into a distinct throbbing sensation.

-Thump thump.

The heat surging through my body and the pulsation in my lower abdomen.

My vision began to blur, and I could feel something rushing along some unknown pathway inside me.

‘Wait a minute… This feels just like when I was cultivating the Five Poisons Returning to Origin Technique! The Golden-Furred King Bee’s honey was said to enhance inner energy equal to two months of cultivation, so then, what the queen bee fed me was ro-‘

It was around when I realized the cause of the lower abdomen pulsing was my dantian, and was about to figure out why my tiny dantian was acting this way.

Through my blurry vision, I could vaguely make out the figures of Grandfather, Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, and Nunim, Tang Hwa-eun, running toward me.

“Soryong!”

“Soryong!”

And then an immense heat started to engulf me.

***

After hearing that Soryong had been taken off by the Golden-Furred King Bees, Grandfather, Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, and Tang Hwa-eun came rushing over in a panic.

When the two who had rushed over spotted Soryong walking out to the training ground entrance with a dazed expression, it happened.

-Thud.

Soryong stumbled slightly, and then suddenly collapsed like a log onto the ground.

“Soryong!”

“Soryong!”

Somehow, Tang Hwa-eun flew like a swallow faster than her grandfather and caught Soryong in her arms.

She then checked Soryong’s condition.

His face was flushed red, and there was a sweet scent emanating from his breath.

She could also feel a strange heat radiating from Soryong’s body.

The warmth in her arms as she held him was nearly scorching.

“This!? Grandfather, something’s wrong with Soryong. His body is burning up!”

“Step aside and let me see!”

Grandfather, who had rushed over, felt Soryong’s pulse and then spoke in a surprised tone, his eyes wide.

“This…! He’s barely begun cultivating inner energy, and it seems he’s suddenly consumed a very potent elixir! Too potent!”

“Elixir?”

“Yes. I don’t know exactly what he consumed, but it seems to be something very powerful. There’s no time. I’ll guide the energy of the medicine. You stand guard!”

“Yes, Grandfather!”

It was a bizarre situation. According to Soryong, the honey of the Golden-Furred King Bee was something that couldn’t be produced again for a long time. What he might have consumed was unclear.

Grandfather quickly removed Soryong’s upper clothes and began to guide the energy of the elixir.

The potency of the medicine must have been extraordinary, as even with Grandfather straining and sweating to control it, Soryong’s entire network of meridians bulged as if they might burst at any moment.

It felt as though his body might explode if something went wrong.

Meanwhile, the three centipedes, Cho, Hyang, and Bin, who had been clinging to Hwa-eun, began climbing up and down her body in agitation as if worried.

“Don’t worry. Dad will be fine.”

Hwa-eun reassured them.

Still restless, the three centipedes seemed ready to climb over to Soryong’s body, but when Hwa-eun warned them that doing so might make the situation even more dangerous, they finally calmed down.

They were truly mysterious creatures.

***

-Ngh.

The first thing I felt as I regained consciousness was the cool sensation on my forehead.

When I slowly opened my eyes, the worried face of Nunim, with cheeks flushed slightly pink, came into view. She was gently wiping my forehead with a wet cloth.

Then came her concerned voice.

“Soryong? Are you awake?”

“Wh-where is this?”

Noticing that I wasn’t in my room, I asked her where we were. Nunim continued to wipe the sweat from my forehead as she explained.

“We’re in the Tang Sect’s medical hall. When we heard that you’d been dragged off by the Golden-Furred King Bees, Grandfather and I rushed to the training grounds. We found you walking out of the training grounds’ entrance, but you suddenly collapsed.

So Grandfather and I brought you here. Do you remember what happened?”

‘That’s right. I was dragged off by the bees and had my first kiss stolen… I’m so sorry, Nunim! Sniff…’

I wanted to save my first kiss for Nunim…

I hung my head in sorrow at the thought of having my first kiss taken, not by another person, but by a venomous creature, which made Nunim ask in alarm.

“Soryong, are you okay!? What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with your body? Should I call Grandfather?”

But there was no point in letting her find out. Nothing good would come of it. I tried to collect myself and replied.

“N-no, it’s nothing. I just… felt a little strange for a moment.”

Even so, Nunim continued to press me with a worried expression.

“What exactly did you eat? Grandfather said it seems like you consumed a mid-to-high-grade elixir. Was it the Golden-Furred King Bee’s honey? Or… was it something else? Maybe an inner core?”

‘Elixir? Oh, right. It did feel like being fed royal jelly?’

Nunim’s words reminded me of something I had forgotten.

The queen bee had fed me royal jelly, that much was certain.

And thinking about it, what had happened between the queen bee and me wasn’t really a kiss. It felt more like the kind of nutrient exchange that bees might do among themselves.

It was as if I had built a house for them and, as a housewarming gesture, they had offered food to their guest.

The queen bee had undoubtedly fed me royal jelly, so it wasn’t really a kiss, it was more like a meal.

Moreover, there were no feelings involved in the act.

‘Thank goodness. It doesn’t count!’

I was certain this was doesn’t count and replied to Nunim’s question.

“Ah, what I ate was… The queen bee fed me the food it eats, but I don’t know its exact name. If I had to name it, I’d call it Royal Jelly.”

“Royal Jelly?”

To explain royal jelly, I needed to explain bees first, so I began to provide a detailed explanation to my curious sister.

“How should I explain? There are three types of bees in a beehive.”

“Three types? You mentioned last time that there were queen bees and worker bees. Is there another kind?”

I had already explained about queen bees when I brought the Golden-Furred King Bees here.

Nodding, I answered.

“Yes. Worker bees, drone bees, and queen bees. As I told you last time, queen bees spend their entire lives laying eggs, while worker bees spend their entire lives working.”

“Oh, then what about the drone bees?”

Nunim seemed curious about the drone bees, so I smiled inwardly as I answered.

I could already picture how she’d react.

“Well, of course…”

“Of course?”

“They exist to share the pleasure of clouds and rain with the queen bee… Other than that, they can’t do anything.” ( TL: clouds and rain => euphemism for sex)

“…”

Nunim fell silent, seemingly digesting this new piece of information.

With her cheeks slightly reddened, she spoke in a small voice.

“Ahem. I-I see. Anyway, please tell me more about the royal jelly.”

Recovering quickly as if she had built up a bit of tolerance, Nunim urged me to continue.

Finding her cute, I responded.

“Yes, bees gather honey and pollen in their hive because that’s what they eat to live, but only worker bees eat honey and pollen.”

“Then what about the queen bee?”

“From birth until death, the queen bee survives solely on the Royal Jelly made by the worker bees.”

To be precise, worker bees consume royal jelly only during the larval stage for a short period; for the rest of their lives, they eat honey and pollen.

Honey serves as their energy source, while pollen provides protein supplementation.

However, the queen bee eats only one type of food throughout its life, royal jelly made by the worker bees.

As worker bees age, their roles change. During the stage when they care for larvae, their salivary glands transform into structures similar to mammary glands, enabling them to produce royal jelly.

It’s akin to bee milk, you could say.

“Oh, I see. So that’s the food the queen bee eats for its entire life.”

When Nunim nodded in understanding, I emphasized my point so she’d listen carefully.

“But Royal Jelly has a unique effect.”

“A unique effect?”

“Yes. While an ordinary worker bee lives a short life of about one and a half months, a queen bee that eats Royal Jelly can live up to sixty times longer. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Ah… So that’s why…”

I thought Nunim would react with some surprise at this point, like ‘Oh my! Worker bees’ lives are that short? And queen bees live sixty times longer than worker bees!?’

But instead, she just nodded calmly.

Her composed reaction left me feeling a bit disappointed after my thorough explanation…

Then, Nunim broke into a bright smile and said cheerfully.

“That clears up my questions. Congratulations, Soryong. Didn’t Golden-Furred King Bees honey increases inner energy cultivation by two months?”

“Congratulations? Wait, what? That’s true, but why…?”

Tilting my head in confusion at her sudden congratulations, Nunim elaborated.

“Since the inner energy method Soryong has been cultivating is the Tang Sect’s foundational technique, Five Poisons Returning to Origin Technique, it couldn’t fully absorb the energy of the elixir. But if the Golden-Furred King Bee’s honey increases inner energy by two months, and if what Soryong ate was indeed Royal Jelly, then you’ve gained exactly sixty times that, ten years’ worth of inner energy.”

“Ten years’ worth of inner energy?”

“Yes. Congratulations on your fortuitous encounter.”

Upon hearing her words, I quickly circulated my inner energy. My dantian, which had felt no larger than a grain, now contained an immense energy comparable to the size of a chestnut.

I could clearly feel the massive energy pulsating and surging within me, something I couldn’t have imagined when my dantian was tiny.

“This…?”

“Soryong, you’ve now gained the level of inner energy equivalent to the Ten Poisons Realm. If you pass the Tang Sect’s trials, you’ll be recognized as having reached the Ten Poisons Realm, just like a proper martial artist of the Tang Sect.”

The joy of realizing I had acquired enough inner energy to perform qinggong like Nunim or unleash hidden weapons with great power lasted only a moment.

No, I had been preparing for the regular course, but suddenly, it felt like Nunim was telling me to skip straight to the university entrance exams because I had unexpectedly passed the GED.

I suddenly felt very anxious about having to memorize the scents of over four thousand poisons and remember the positions of a thousand thrown hidden weapons.

In my past life, I was often praised as a genius when it came to memorizing information about venomous insects I was interested in, but when it came to actual studying… well, let’s just say the evaluations were a bit different.

‘Studying isn’t as easy as it sounds….’

As I was engulfed by the looming terror of what felt like an impending college entrance exam, Nunim spoke in a slightly embarrassed voice.

“Um… later, you should also check the mirror. Royal Jelly… It seems to have some other effects as well.”

“mirror?”

Nunim’s suggestion that I look in a mirror left me tilting my head in confusion.

When I glanced at her, her cheeks were once again flushed red, just like when I had woken up earlier.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – 에르훗]

[Translator – bjgoofy]