Upon seeing the system announcement, players flocked to the forum to comment, while those nearby met up to discuss it.

“What did Ting Yu do? How did the queen bee’s favor drop into the negatives? I thought the initial favor was 10 points.”

“If favor falls below zero, you get expelled from the hive? Does that mean no more daily quests?”

Papa Orange, swinging from a leaf, said dismissively, “How many players do you see actually doing quests?”

The towering ancient trees and the pristine, fairy-tale-like primeval forest—a tourist destination that would cost time, money, and effort to reach in the real world—were now accessible, and they could just fly there. Who could bother with games or quests anymore?

Even if this wasn’t a game, it was a free, fully immersive virtual tourism experience.

An absolute crowd-pleaser for everyone, young and old.

Players were so engrossed in petting bumblebees in the hive, swinging on leaves, circling tree trunks to admire vibrant flowers, and watching tiny insects forage that they completely forgot their earlier fears. Humans, long confined to skyscrapers, were utterly captivated by the mystical, enchanting forest.

Shen Yi observed the players’ “unproductive” behavior but wasn’t worried. Instead, he relaxed, waiting to see what would unfold.

Even players like Qingshan and Jiang Nan, who had initially taken the game more seriously, were drawn outside by the commotion and stunned by the forest’s immersive beauty.

These four were the most rational among the players. Once they regained their composure, they returned to the hive to accept gathering quests.

They explored the forest while gathering—a perfect blend of work and leisure.

“Please observe the signals left by other bees on the flowers to avoid inefficient gathering.”

After accepting the quest, the system provided relevant guidance, making them feel as if they had truly become tiny bees, surviving by following bee-like instincts.

Successfully filling their pollen baskets or collecting a certain amount of nectar increased their gathering proficiency. The same likely applied to other daily quests.

Jiang Nan, who had more experience with online games, was the first to analyze the gameplay: “Since there’s a proficiency system, gathering must be a profession. The other four daily quests probably correspond to four other professions.”

Piao Xue: “Then I’ll take a nest-building quest later. If I max out my building proficiency, can I construct my own little nest?”

God Bless, who rarely played games, analyzed based on available information: “That doesn’t seem right. This game feels highly realistic and operates on a certain logic. For example, we’ve already learned how to gather—we can do it even without max proficiency. The same should apply to building. If we can learn it after one quest, what’s the point of the proficiency system?”

Jiang Nan: “Since the developers designed it this way, there must be a reason. I suggest we still grind it.”

Piao Xue and God Bless agreed with him.

Qingshan, who had been silent, emerged from a small white flower, his fluffy back covered in pollen. He methodically scraped the pollen into the basket on his hind legs and said, “The main quest is to level up. Completing at least one daily quest per day is enough. Our main focus should be on leveling.”

Jiang Nan: “Speaking of leveling, have you noticed that quests don’t give experience rewards? Qingshan’s hidden quest reward was random, so it probably didn’t give experience either.”

Piao Xue: “So the only way to level up is by fighting monsters?”

As soon as she finished speaking, God Bless let out a sudden scream: “Ahhh! Help!”

A bright orange praying mantis was hidden among the flowers, its scythe-like forelegs a gradient of vivid red. When raised, they resembled stamens within the orange blossoms—a flawless, ingenious disguise.

God Bless wasn’t paying attention and fell for it carelessly. The mantis struck instantly, and he was about to lose his head.

Jiang Nan, who was closest, rushed over and instinctively bit the mantis’s neck. Piao Xue joined soon after, and the two engaged in a neck-biting battle.

Qingshan: “Use your stingers.”

Jiang Nan and Piao Xue, caught up in the frenzy, kept biting wildly. Only after severing the mantis’s slender neck did they remember: right, bees have stingers.

The triangular head fell to the ground, but the body kept moving. God Bless, trapped in the mantis’s scythe-like grip, cried out: “Hurry, hurry! It’s about to crush my abdomen!”

“Bumblebee stingers don’t have barbs; they can sting repeatedly,” Qingshan said, flying over from a distance. By then, the fight was over. He asked Jiang Nan and Piao Xue, “Well? Any experience?”

Jiang Nan, still chewing on the mantis’s tibia, checked his panel: “I got 15 experience.”

Piao Xue: “I only got 5.”

“Seems like experience is distributed based on damage dealt. Party members don’t share experience, and there’s no bonus.” This was different from typical leveling games.

Jiang Nan: “The mantis is a Level 1 monster, and it’s pretty easy to kill. Let’s finish our dailies quickly and go monster hunting.”

God Bless, finally free from the mantis’s grip, looked at the beautifully colored, petal-like corpse and shuddered: “It’s so hard to guard against. If I were alone, I’d be dead for sure.”

Piao Xue laughed: “We’re just little bees now. Almost anything in this forest can kill us.”

Clearly, partying up was the best strategy in the early game.

Qingshan made the final call: “The hidden quest has no time limit. Let’s focus on leveling first. It’s best to reach Level 10 or higher and exchange for a Substitute Puppet before tackling it.”

While things were looking up for them, Ting Yu, who had been mercilessly expelled from the hive, was having a rough time.

As soon as the system announcement finished, the adorable little bees in the hive suddenly turned hostile, aggressively driving her out.

They didn’t even let her stay near the hive, pushing her out until she was five or six trees away.

The trees in the rainforest were massive. Ting Yu landed on a vine with purple flowers, completely losing sight of the hive and other players. The anxiety of being alone left her with no desire to explore the mysterious forest.

A strange bird call echoed eerily from the depths of the jungle. Ting Yu hid under a leaf, trembling, and instinctively opened the forum to seek help.

The top post was asking what she had done to make the queen bee’s favor drop so low.

After comparing notes with other players, Ting Yu realized the adorable little bee she had petted was the queen bee—the big boss of the hive.

“Queen bee?” Ting Yu muttered. “Doesn’t that make me her offspring?”

As everyone knows, all bees in a hive are born from the queen’s eggs.

Ting Yu replied to the post: “She looks so cute, but she’s heartless. Cutting ties just like that, without any motherly affection. Sob.”

Shen Yi, who happened to be browsing the forum, saw her reply. He shuddered, his fur standing on end, and immediately used an alt account to clear his name.

Little Elf replied to Ting Yu: The Queen Bee is a Drone! A bumblebee! He doesn’t lay eggs!

Unfortunately, Ting Yu had already left the post and started a new one seeking help.

OP Ting Yu: #I’ve learned my lesson, please spare me#

“Ahhh! What should I do? Every time I get close to the hive, bees come out to chase me away. How do I increase the queen bee’s favor? I want to go back to the hive and pet the little cuties.”

Brother Pidan: Doesn’t the Queen Bee have some kind of barrier? How did you even get close enough to hug him?

OP replies to Brother Pidan: There was no barrier. I saw him as soon as I opened my eyes and just hugged him.

Brother Pidan: Maybe try resetting your character? You can respawn. Come keep me company.

Ting Yu posted a crying emoji. After closing the post, she seriously considered Brother Pidan’s suggestion. She looked down at the ground three stories below, then lifted a front leg to measure her neck.

…

I can’t bring myself to kill it; the sensation is too realistic.

Besides, what if dying and restarting doesn’t reset the intimacy level?

Better to live poorly than die well. Ting Yu felt she could hang on a bit longer.

>

Half an hour later, a visually noisy, wailing title appeared on the forum, and as soon as it did, people commented in droves, pushing it to the first page.

#Ahhhhhhh bros, help me Ahhhhhhh, I’m starving to death!!!#

Thread starter Papa Orange: “As the title says, the game warned me my stamina was about to run out, but I didn’t take it seriously. Then when it hit zero, I collapsed to the ground. Now I can’t move or make a sound. Can someone please come save me?”

Papa Orange: Darn, this game won’t let me share my location. I’m right under the tree with the beehive. Someone please come save me, I’m begging you.

Barbara: I need rescuing too, Ahhhhhhh, help, so hungry, so hungry.

Shang Chunshan: I’m also starving, wuwuwu, save me.

Wild Mushroom: Haven’t logged in, don’t know the details, but bumblebee wings are too small, bodies too heavy, energy consumption too high. They really need to eat every 40 minutes, or they’ll faint from hunger.

Holy moly: No location, where are we supposed to look? I think you should just accept your fate, starve to death, and respawn.

Papa Orange replied to Holy moly: No no no, bro, I’ll pay for a rescue!!

Papa Orange was too into the game and really didn’t want to wait five days. He quickly posted another thread offering a hefty reward for rescue, which actually caught the interest of a few players.

Ting Yu also saw this post and opened her stats panel.

“Ting Yu Level 1”

“Stamina: 11/20”

“Poison Gland: 9”

“Mandibles: 9”

Her stamina was also down to half, and she was starting to feel a subtle hunger in her belly.

A few players in the thread shared tips, saying they could take daily quests from the elders, and completing them would reward honey and increase favor with the elders.

But she’d been expelled from the hive and couldn’t get daily quests. Where could she find food? Go gather nectar herself?

It shouldn’t… be too hard, right?

Just as she was thinking, Ting Yu came across another post.

#Bloody lesson, seriously, do NOT choose livestock duty for dailies, don’t ask why#

Chen Meng: Don’t be scared, you’re not alone.

Moo Moo: Wuwuwu, just finished it.

…

Long Night: No one wants to say? Fine, I will. Livestock duty means licking aphid butts.

“……”

Players in the game who picked livestock duty: wuwuwu. Those not in the game just watching: hahaha.

Boss Qingtang: Hahahaha, what’s the big deal? Human yellow and child’s urine are traditional medicinal ingredients, hahahaha.

Long Night: Actually, it tastes pretty good. At least I didn’t starve. Thinking about those who fainted from hunger and are waiting to die, I could lick another hundred.

Chen Meng: Right, right, the taste is really not bad. Should we go share with our starving friends?

Ting Yu’s eyes lit up. Aphid butts or whatnot—maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.