Chapter 393

Chapter 393

Eat The World Tree.

Episode 393: Sansuyu Tree (End)

Along the mountain slope, a red stream flowed with a babbling sound.

Not a single ray of sunlight could be found, but the surroundings were bright as if street lamps had been turned on.

The end of the mountain range, located at the highest place in this world.

I was lying in the red river water and got up as if in a spasm.

“…Cough, hack!”

Grabbing and covering my hair, I flowed along the current.

Blink, blink.

I closed and opened my eyelids. I stroked up my shoulders, where goosebumps rose, with both hands.

“…….”

-Tremble, tremble, tremble.

My body trembled uncontrollably.

“Whoa… Fuck.”

A bucketful of curses that popped out verbally.

My pale lower lip hadn’t closed since a moment ago.

There was a smell of blood in my mouth.

“I almost got screwed.”

Since getting a little closer to my daughter, I have tried not to use rough words as much as possible.

But given the situation, my mouth getting rough was an automatic reflex.

Just now, my chest tightened fully, and my heart stopped.

It was a very short time, at most about 3 to 4 seconds, and it felt like my breath was choked and my intestines throughout my body were twisting.

If you stopped, you died.

I stopped resting and raised my body again.

Mental world.

It might just be a dream, but it was definitely an unusual event.

Just seeing such a vast world unfold in a space that was extremely dark was something.

From where I woke up in the damp mud, until climbing the mountain rising high in the center, I couldn’t help but spend quite a lot of time.

In terms of time, a little over a month has passed.

Please, I hoped this time wasn’t equivalent to the real world.

“So… I did manage to come to the top somehow, but.”

Until coming here, I met all sorts of crazy guys.

Most of them were me, and the feeling of killing myself wasn’t good at all.

I raised myself from the river water and headed towards the very top of the mountain.

The tree stuck on the very top of this world.

-Sway~ Sway~!

Upon meeting me, it shook its branches like a puppy.

It’s simply astonishing that such a parasite existed, sucking up my spirit.

When I grabbed the tree trunk and pulled hard, the startled fellow frantically shook its branches.

“Who are you?”

What I realized while wandering around this world was.

The scenery here was a world made by taking images I had seen sometime before and combining them.

From the mountain behind my house I often went to as a child, to arboretums, schools, etc.

It felt like taking out all the memory fragments remaining in my head and gathering them in one place without order.

If so, this tree now too was something I had seen sometime before.

“But it’s not like I’ve only seen trees once or twice….”

I tried to recall in my head whatever connections might exist.

One little tree from the mountain behind my house that made me like this.

And that daughter of theirs.

In this world, there’s the World Tree of Healing and Mary, World Tree of Time, etc.

I agreed that quite a few not-bad connections were also mixed in.

‘But the fact that it’s just this one alone on this peak is unusual.’

-Swish, swish, swish!

The young tree started boxing, gathering its branches in a circle.

It was punching against my palm, but it didn’t hurt at all.

I gathered my fingers and flicked the tree on its forehead.

-Crack!

A Ppak! sound echoed as my fingernail touched the woody bark.

“Screech!”

The tree, grabbing its forehead, started screaming “I’m dying~ I’m dying~”.

“Waaailing….”

It cried so sorrowfully that even people watching felt flustered.

But it was a voice I’d heard sometime before.

“…Is it Shiba?”

This world was something made manifest from the images I had seen once.

The sounds heard, the smells and touch too, were all realized as things felt sometime before, so adaptation was relatively easy.

Meaning, there was also the fun of reminiscing about memories, recalling old thoughts and thinking ‘I was in a place like this back then’.

‘Then this one….’

Shiba of her childhood.

The image of Shiba from the sprout stage, who used to box by rolling up its cotyledons, flashed through my mind.

The current Shiba has grown quite well and has become a rather large sapling in its own way.

Looking again, it’s definitely similar, huh?

With a feeling of ‘surely not…’, I held out the back of my hand. The tree that was crying brightened up.

-Rub, rub!

As if it hadn’t just been flicked on the forehead and cried, the fellow trotted up and rubbed its branch on the back of my hand.

It was exactly like seeing our Shiba.

“…….”

-Beep?

The only tree planted in the highest place in the mental world.

Perhaps it would be alright to interpret it as something I cherished most now?

Seeing the tree spinning my index finger, wrapped in its leaves, my nose felt strangely tingly for no reason.

Looking now, the soil where it was planted lacked nutrients. It was dry and crumbly.

Perhaps because it couldn’t drink water well, the leaves were very withered.

“…Shovel.”

Turning my head immediately, there was a shovel as if someone had left it.

There was a pickaxe too, and a watering can full of water.

‘Now that I think about it, did I used to grow trees a bit in the past?’

It was something from a very, very long time ago.

Going to an arboretum holding my mother’s hand, asking for a tree that was planned to be disposed of, and planting it in the garden in front of the house.

Feeling somewhat attached, I used to take care of it every day.

I watered it myself. Before things went wrong with my father, I grew quite a lot of plants.

My father too, in his own way, had a deep interest in the matter of growing trees. Rare trees or plants often used to come into the house.

That it was one of the bribes, well. It was something I only realized now.

Anyway, such a kid grew up, hit a tree, and came to this world. It’s something unbelievable.

I gently lifted the sapling so its roots wouldn’t be damaged.

When transplanting, the probability of failure was high unless it’s a professional’s touch.

As expected, there were many things to pay attention to.

‘As it was originally.’

It was good not to plant it deeply.

I found the part of the soil that was alive and transplanted the tree.

Although it was difficult, because all the equipment was prepared, it was quickly possible.

-Pik, Ppit~!

Seeing that it liked it, it’s worth the sweat.

I sat down in place and watched the fellow sucking up the energy of the land, smiling bitterly.

Breaking away from where it originally was… it grew anew.

“Is it right for our Shiba, too, to go to different soil?”

The disgrace of having inherited the Tree Spirit King’s power.

Although I had taken some measures, it wouldn’t be strange to be targeted at any time, and I was always mindful of it.

Another father.

Even if not up to that point….

“…….”

Perhaps realizing my face had darkened, the sapling stretched out a branch towards this side.

“What’s wrong?”

I stretched out my hand and made my fingernail touch the branch.

And then, surprisingly, the magic power that surged from my body began to be sucked into this ugly sapling.

-Beep.

It twitches its branch as if pleading not to take my hand away.

Waiting a little longer, finally the fellow who started growing into a proper tree from a sapling.

I recalled one memory in my head, and I, who recalled the tree’s appearance, opened my eyes wide.

“…….”

My trembling hand stopped for a moment.

One more time, when the fellow who was making Pik Ppit sounds took a human form. I couldn’t help but lose my mind and stare intently at the fellow.

“……You.”

A woman’s white hand snatched my wrist.

The dizzying sensation of the embrace that held me.

That thrilling sensation was so ecstatic that memory and consciousness vanished in an instant as if ripped away.

“My daughter.”

From outside the woman’s cracked lips, a weak voice flowed out.

The woman with the fresh beauty of a young age had her hair dyed white in the blink of an eye. Sansuyu tightly held her hand.

Behind such a Sansuyu, Seong Jiho watched while offering silent prayer.

“Mom, I can’t see for a moment now. Can you perhaps hug me?”

“…Yes.”

Not a single tear flowed in Sansuyu’s eyes.

The experiment that had begun to proceed to some extent. A feeling of pity flashed on the lips of the woman embracing Sansuyu with a flat expression.

In the woman’s blurry eyes, her young daughter could not be seen well.

If you couldn’t use your eyes, use your sense of touch.

Nestled in a large bosom, Sansuyu was too light and delicate.

A woman’s fingernails scratched Sansuyu’s back.

Her mother’s hand trembled.

It was the first time she realized that her mother, who hid her emotions so well, was different.

But Sansuyu only showed a reaction of bewilderment.

“Mom?”

Sad emotions flicked away at her fingertips.

As much as possible, the part Sansuyu could see directly was always her mother’s composed appearance.

Even during summer typhoons and the sound of thunder, Sansuyu didn’t budge.

The unusual sight of her vision suddenly turning white might have felt scary.

“Sansuyu.”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what Mom said?”

“I remember.”

“Don’t skip your studies. Mom became like this because she wasn’t smart. Hehe.”

Tap, tap, she patted her back.

What parent wouldn’t love their child?

It was an unwanted marriage, but she cherished her own child dearly.

Seong Jiho, who had been listening quietly, subtly turned his head.

A small sob was heard.

“Is Mom not smart?”

“Well, yes. That’s why I’m here… um. No. Mom misspoke. Because I could come here, I gave birth to our daughter, didn’t I?”

“Then…?”

“Mom must be smart. She even gave birth to our daughter like this. Hehe.”

-Zzzzt.-

Even in the darkened room where the electricity briefly went out due to lightning, the mother and daughter’s story did not end.

“And don’t skip meals while taking care of our staff.”

“Yes, I will.”

“You should also meet a good person and live happily. Actually, this is the most important thing.”

“Why?”

“It’s because our Sansuyu doesn’t know about love yet. The happiest time in life is when you love someone else.”

“Love?”

“Sansuyu, do you love Mom?”

Sansuyu did not answer. She was overly honest.

She and Seong Jiho knew it was because of the experiment.

Sansuyu, who had been fidgeting with her hands, squeezed her eyes shut and said,

“I… I don’t really know what that is…”

The woman’s lips twitched slightly for a moment. Her expression was almost contorted.

Nevertheless, she eventually returned to a smiling face.

“Mom loves Sansuyu.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

She, who kept repeating that it was okay, hugged Sansuyu and her shoulders trembled.

“Still, I’ve read it in books. If you have even one person who loves you right before you die, it’s a happy life…”

Still, Sansuyu tried hard to speak so as not to disappoint her.

Conversely, for her mother who couldn’t even hear the words “I love you” from her own daughter, it was like a sharp spear.

Bewilderment flashed across Seong Jiho’s face, but she instead smiled through her tears.

“Then our daughter will have a happy life because Mom loves her, right?”

She smiled and hugged her daughter.

Sansuyu didn’t know, but after that day, she never saw her mother again.

She should have said she loved her.

In Sansuyu’s life, where even such a trace of regret was not allowed, the mother and daughter parted ways at the boundary of this world.

The face reflected in the mirror looks exactly like her mother’s face in her memory.

The man in her arms stopped breathing, only to barely return after a short time.

When a faint breath flowed out again, Sansuyu clutched her pounding heart and gasped for air.

“Haa… haa…”

I thought he was leaving…

Tears continued to flow from Sansuyu’s tearful chin.

Her praying hands trembled, and dry tear stains remained on the man’s cheek.

Mental issue.

An impulse to tear apart her own chest with a sword arises.

She was that anxious and stuck in thought.

A sensation as if everything was moving away from behind her ears.

She now realized that she was left alone in the world.

“Kah… haak.”

Her breath choked her, and her expanded lungs showed no signs of shrinking.

It’s unpleasant. Mold had grown in the humid, unmanaged room.

She wanted to move her legs, but it felt like they were paralyzed again.

Come to think of it… she hadn’t eaten properly for a while.

It was all because she kept making rice porridge for Lee Shiheon.

Blood vessels burst in her eyes. Her praying hands had separated, and now both fists pressed firmly against the side of the bed.

-Thump.-

Now, even the sound of her heart echoed in her head.

Her throat was tight, and she couldn’t speak properly.

-Thump, thump.-

Blood rushed to the top of her head, and her breath was constricted, her throat tightening.

Once again, Lee Shiheon’s breathing was fading.

“I…”

A word escaped through her clenched teeth.

“Don’t… don’t leave me…”

She couldn’t understand why she said those words, but her desperate voice echoed several times within the room.

Sansuyu slowly raised her head.

Leaning against the wall, she covered her face with her hands.

Sensations she had never felt before surged one after another, and something tore through her mind and burst out.

Yet, she didn’t open her eyes.

…….

Silence descended as time passed.

Sansuyu stopped crying and blankly glanced at Lee Shiheon.

Red marks remained around her eyes. Come to think of it, Sansuyu had cried when her secretary died too.

-Flinch.-

The movement she saw at that moment.

Sansuyu, whose body trembled as if in a spasm, grabbed both of Lee Shiheon’s shoulders.

“Shieon…!”

Flash.

His dazed black eyes, now open, scanned his surroundings.

A considerable amount of time had passed, so his throat must be dry and he must be hungry.

His muscles might have even atrophied significantly.

Lee Shiheon, whose eyes met Sansuyu’s frowning face, reached out and reflexively hugged Sansuyu’s neck.

“…What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?”

It seemed a lot of time had passed, and Sansuyu must be exhausted.

But Sansuyu’s condition had deteriorated too much to simply conclude that.

As he reached out to comfort her as usual, Sansuyu pushed his hand away and instead hugged Lee Shiheon tightly.

This person, until the very end.

Without even knowing that he had died and come back to life, he continued. He only worried about her.

The first thing he said upon opening his eyes was if she was okay.

Seeing his appearance, even though he was the one who wasn’t okay, Sansuyu’s wall crumbled down.

“……Hic, uh… sob…”

Only choked sounds swirled in her mouth as if she were vomiting something out.

Finally, a burst of loud wails echoed through the room.

Now she could see.

In the cold blue world, flesh color. Orange. Light green.

The spreading natural colors filled the room and soon extended to the world.

Submerged as if drowning in that warm color, Sansuyu poured out tears and snot.

Lee Shiheon’s reaction of “What’s wrong with you?” was brief. Soon, a burst of hearty laughter erupted, and he patted her back.

-It’s because our Sansuyu doesn’t know about love yet. The happiest time in life is when you love someone else.

Sansuyu understood the emotion.

-You should also meet a good person and live happily.

That one phrase, which she could confidently say even to her departed mother, was deeply etched in her heart and lingered there.

It was the first time she understood tears that weren’t cold.

Joyful or with a burning heart.

Beyond novelty, uniquely.

With each changing emotion, the voice bursting from Sansuyu’s throat grew louder.

Continuing steadily until morning.