Carpe, while admiring his enhanced Wind Cutter, was suddenly struck by a question.

“Hey, bro. When you open skill packs, some cards are untradeable, and some are tradeable, right?”

“Yeah. If we’re talking percentages, about 80% are untradeable and 20% are tradeable.”

“What do you do with the untradeable ones? You don’t just leave them in your inventory, do you?”

It was a given that not all skills from skill packs were useful. What if you got a 1-star or 2-star skill from the pack? And worse, what if it was a skill that didn’t even match your class? No player would waste their precious skill points learning a lousy skill.

“At least you can sell the tradeable ones. But what about the untradeable ones? I’m sure there’s a way to deal with them.”

“...You’re just now thinking about this problem?”

Other players would have thought of this immediately after drawing a bad card, but this was never a concern for Carpe.

He had the most broken, overpowered skill that other players couldn't even dream of possessing. Unless all five skill cards were 1-star or 2-star, the concept of a "dud" didn’t exist in Carpe's dictionary.

“It's all thanks to having a great spirit guardian. Heavenly Demon Descent! Ten Thousand Demons’ Adoration!”

"If only you could hold your tongue..."

Still, he didn't seem to dislike Carpe’s flattery, as the Heavenly Demon cleared his throat before speaking.

“As you well know, the Rase gives out one skill pack every 5 levels after your job change. Since there are 500 million Rase players, that’s 500 million skill cards released every 5 levels.”

And the number of users was rapidly increasing. If things continued this way, tens of billions, even hundreds of billions of skill cards could be released.

"Even if Rase is a game built with out-of-this-world technology, if skill card resources accumulate like this, it will inevitably become a burden in the long run."

Therefore, Rase had prepared a mechanism to collect the skill cards released to players. It was the ‘Skill Card Combination’ system.

"There's an NPC who allows you to combine multiple skill cards to acquire a new skill card. Randomly, of course."

“Wow, they have that in Rase too. They really include all the systems that infuriate players.”

According to the Heavenly Demon’s explanation, a card combination NPC was located in every major city. If players gave the NPC anywhere from two to six cards, they would receive one new card.

“Of course, the higher the grade of the cards you put in, and the more cards you invest, the better the card you get, right? It's a perfect system to drive people crazy.”

“What’s there to say? There’s even a separate message board for ‘theory crafting card combinations’ due to this insane system.”

On the Inven forums, the ‘Skill Combination Board (SCB)’ was the board with the most outlandish claims alongside the spirit guardian board.

‘Aaaah! A 9-star skill! I did it with the 666666 combination! From now on, the official combination of SCB is the 666666 Satan combination!’

‘To get good skill cards, it is important to be on good terms with the combination NPC. Start with a respectful 108 bows to the combination NPC.’

‘I just took out a quick loan. I’ve swept up all the skill cards at the auction house. If I don't get a good one, I'm going to go work on a tuna fishing boat.’

Even within the spicy Inven site, the skill combination board was where a crazier breed of users resided.

“Anyway, thanks to the combination system, the overflowing untradeable cards are reborn through combinations. Of course, so are the SCB ghosts.”

“...I hope I never have to visit that place in my life.”

After hearing such a horrifying tale, he felt the urge to play the game more solidly and diligently.

“Anyway, I’ve opened all the skill packs, so I guess I should finish up with the bugs.”

“You’re going to do it all alone again today?”

“Oh, that’s right. What are Hyang and Tina doing?”

“When I left, they were training the squirrel workers.”

“Hmm…”

After a moment of thought, Carpe decided to go solo.

“Since the experience will go to both of them even if I kill them during the sap bug quest.”

And decisively, there was a quest notification about a bonus reward for completing the quest ‘alone.’ It would have been one thing if they had started together, but it was too bad to give up the bonus reward at this point.

“Well, everything's a one-shot kill anyway, so I'll probably be done by today.”

Carpe went back to bug hunting.

About an hour passed.

[Sap Bug Extermination (401/800)]

"Phew, it’s halfway done."

"That's a decent pace. As you said, you'll be done by today."

“Ugh… I feel a little frustrated.”

Carpe looked around. The number of sap bugs clinging to the trees had visibly decreased.

“It’s taking longer to find the bugs than it is to kill them. The respawn rate is ridiculously slow."

"Indeed, these bugs have a rather unique way of respawning."

While other common monsters respawned with a flash of light within the area, these beetle bugs flew in from somewhere and stuck themselves to the trees! As soon as they attached, they immediately stuck their proboscis into the bark and began sucking sap.

“They look so peaceful, just like bees going out to collect nectar.”

"Right. These guys also gather nectar and store it in the hive... Huh?"

"...Hive?"

Carpe and the Heavenly Demon looked at each other at the same time.

“Hey, you too?”

“You too, bro?”

They had both thought of the same thing.

“Since they’re flying in from somewhere, wouldn’t they have a nest?”

"That seems likely. It's worth a try.”

Carpe quickly scanned the surroundings. Soon, he found a bug sucking sap from a tree. It had been sucking for a while, as the sack on its rear was quite swollen.

"That one will do."

Unlike before, Carpe didn't crush the sap bug but just watched it quietly.

Suck- suck-

As time went on, the bug's rear kept getting larger and larger.

“...It kinda pisses me off, watching it suck like a mosquito. Should I just kill it?”

“Now you're even getting emotionally invested while looking at a tree? Hold on a bit, man.”

And just as he was starting to think, "Is that going to burst?"

Flap!

The beetle-like sap bug spread its wings and started flying away.

“Alright. Let the tailing begin.”

"You're literally just following it, where is the tailing part coming from…"

Following it wasn't that hard. Because it had stored so much sap, it was struggling with its heavy body. He just had to follow the wobbling bug, taking a stroll.

The beetle flew deeper into the forest.

Flap-! Flap-!

As they followed it, the frequency of sap bugs started to increase. They began seeing more bugs on their way to collect sap and more returning from collecting.

“Looks like we hit the jackpot.”

And after about 20 minutes of following, he finally found what he was looking for.

Breaking through the forest, they found a large cave. The bug Carpe had been following flew into the cave, while other bugs occasionally came out from the cave and flew elsewhere.

“So they were all hiding here.”

“My guess was right. Now, it's time for Carpe, the exterminator, to make his appearance.”

"Originally, the foundation of pest control is to eliminate the source itself."

Catching the flying mosquitoes was just a temporary solution. To completely eradicate them, he needed to destroy their habitat itself.

"Alright. Here I go."

Carpe took a deep breath and powerfully entered the cave.

The inside of the cave wasn't as dark as he had thought. The walls of the cave were covered with glowing minerals.

“Wow. Amazing.”

And as he turned the first corner of the cave, Carpe gasped.

Turning the corner, he found the wall entirely covered in sap bugs!

“It’s a gold mine. It's a gold mine!”

“You’ve found the right place. At this rate, it won't take long to clear the quest with this many bugs.”

Not only were there a lot of bugs, but more importantly, he didn’t need to worry about damaging the trees here. He could freely spam his magic.

“I was getting tired of just doing basic attacks.”

Carpe reached out his hand toward the wall and cast a spell.

"Wind Cutter!"

KABOOM!

The wind blade he generated tore through the cave wall with a booming sound.

[You have defeated a sap bug.]

[You have defeated a sap bug.]

[You have defeated a sap bug...]

Those who were blown away by a basic attack had no chance against magic. The sap bugs were brutally swept away by Wind Cutter, but it didn't end there.

[Due to skill enhancement, ‘Wind Cutter’ is activated again.]

The +1 enhancement of Wind Cutter was activated, and Wind Cutter blasted out again.

KABOOM!

Once again, a group of sap bugs were swept away.

“Yes! That’s what I’m talking about!”

Just as a pine caterpillar has to eat pine needles to live, a magician has to use magic. He had been one-shotting the bugs one by one, but wiping them out at once with magic was so refreshing.

[Sap Bug Extermination (437/800)]

He had been worried that the bugs in the cave would not be counted as quest monsters, but thankfully, the number increased. Now, there was nothing to stop him.

Carpe fired magic every time his cooldown reset and punched when it was on cooldown.

“Wind Cutter! Fire Arrow!”

KABOOM!

[Sap Bug Extermination (461/800)]

…

[Sap Bug Extermination (504/800)]

[Level up! Bonus points awarded.]

“This is what gaming is all about! God game! Overwhelming god game!”

“Wouldn’t a normal person question whether they deserve to get this much gain and spend time reflecting?”

“Oh, it’s a shame there are no drops. Un-god game. Not quite a god game.”

“Maybe it’s your conscience that’s lacking…”

There were a ridiculous number of bugs on the cave wall. The level difference between him and the bugs meant he was barely getting experience, but even small things add up over time.

KABOOM-!

[Sap Bug Extermination (611/800)]

He had killed around 600 bugs when the Heavenly Demon spoke, looking puzzled.

“Hmm. Something’s odd.”

“What is it? Is it too easy?”

“Well, yes, but more than that, the bugs’ reaction is confusing. It's weird how they aren't reacting even though their fellow bugs are dying right next to them.”

They should be running away or attacking the enemy. They were just sticking to the wall without doing anything. It was as if they had been ordered to “stay on the wall” by someone.

“You have a point, now that I think about it.”

“There might be something else going on. We should stay alert just in case.”

"Understood."

But despite the Heavenly Demon's warning, the bug hunt went smoothly.

[Level up! Bonus points awarded.]

[Sap Bug Extermination (800/800)]

[Quest complete. Rewards can be claimed from the appropriate NPC.]

About an hour after entering the cave, he had completed the quest.

Not only that, he had leveled up twice and was now level 32! A level-up speed that other players of the same level couldn't even imagine.

“Guess I was worried for nothing. Are you going to head back now, or keep going?”

Although Carpe had killed them non-stop, there were still many sap bugs left on the wall.

Carpe grinned at the Heavenly Demon’s question.

“I'll kill just one more.”

“One more? What are you talking about?”

"You said it yourself, didn't you? These guys look like bees going out to collect nectar."

If that’s the case, then it would have to exist.

"We're going to catch the owner of the hive."

It was time to hunt the queen bee.