Chapter 402

Chapter 402

Eat The World Tree.

Episode 402: Preliminaries (3)

The comfortable atmosphere around us suddenly turned ominous.

“Brother, why would you say that?”

Taeyang, who had put down his spoon, questioned me back.

“Your Majesty…”

Perhaps sensing uneasiness, Aori carefully grabbed my wrist, looking up at me. The silicon, treated with magic, was too cold to be called a human’s body temperature.

“Surely… you’re not going to die?”

Tighten.

I held a hand that wasn’t Aori’s.

“I’m just double-checking. Don’t take it too seriously. If, by any chance, something goes wrong with me, wouldn’t it be much better for you to take it?”

“Well, yeah… I guess so.”

To think he’d react so sensitively. Had I really become that haggard? I touched my mouth with a stiff hand.

“So… what is your intention as you mentioned? If I kill you, the power does come to me.”

Taeyang frowned in displeasure, mentioning something he had never even imagined. I took a sip of water. In the quiet kitchen, the sound of a glass cup being placed down echoed.

“Anyway, it means the Tree Spirit King’s power can be transferred.”

In case I was unfit for the king’s position, the King’s faction had prepared Taeyang as a safety measure. They intended to transfer the power to those who could wield the King’s power relatively well.

“If they’ve prepared one, why wouldn’t there be a second?”

It wouldn’t be strange if there were several such safety measures. A second Taeyang, or a third Taeyang.

“And those guys might not be favorable to me.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but the King’s faction was ruined in my generation.”

Taeyang’s words were half right and half wrong. The research foundation in the slums where Taeyang lived. It was presumed to be the one and only group attempting to inherit the King’s power, and only Taeyang and Aori survived from there.

But surely, the Tree Spirit King’s remnants weren’t just those.

“As far as I know, most of the factions fled to the dungeon.”

“…Yes.”

Taeyang agreed.

“So, you’re saying they might try to take your power there?”

“It’s not impossible…. Sargenti?”

The shadow that approached at my gesture revealed itself.

Over the past few days, while preparing for the decisive battle with the Hunter Association, I conducted a significant amount of research on the Tree Spirit King. Primarily, forgotten texts and information about the King’s factor. Among them, there was also information about the future successors to the King.

“Yes. Did you call?”

The appearing Sargenti picked up my chopsticks and put a piece of spam into her mouth.

“Om nom nom.”

“Who called you to eat?”

“You didn’t even give me dinner; you’re being too harsh.”

Sniffle. The urge to strongly punch Sargenti in her lower belly, as she pretended to wipe away tears, lasted only a moment. Taeyang, watching us, sighed.

“The White Ants seem to have adapted well. I can’t believe you recruited that woman.”

“She’s just like you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, brother.”

Perhaps people who were alike feel a physiological repulsion towards each other. Just as Taeyang and Aori bicker, Sargenti and Taeyang didn’t seem to get along well either.

“Hi Aori.”

“Hi~”

When Sargenti greeted brightly, Aori grinned. It seemed she got along well with Aori, though. It must be just Taeyang she didn’t get along with.

“……Didn’t you know? They are cousins.”

“Oh, really?”

The Apple Tree and Viburnum were cousins? No, it was because the Tree Spirit King had many women, so it ended up like this. Their blood was too thin, so they couldn’t use the Tree Spirit King’s power.

“So, there was a reason this girl was crazy, huh?”

“Aren’t you being too harsh?”

Nod, nod. Aori nodded her head at Sargenti’s protest. The hypothesis that all descendants of the Tree Spirit King were missing a screw was established.

“Anyway, that’s that.”

As the conversation began to stray, I cleared my throat to gather their attention.

-Clap.

A single clap drew all eyes.

“I’m going to tell you what I know about the King’s factor. Point it out if anything is wrong.”

With at least the three people considered closest to the Tree Spirit King present, I began to speak.

The King’s factor. Simply interpreted, it was the unique power the Tree Spirit King possessed. The ability to copy the characteristics and essence of a tree whose body he joined with.

The power I currently possessed was broadly divided into three categories.

First, I could obtain the power and authority of trees through the Encyclopedia of Tree Planting.

Second, the development of sexual function and sexual urges.

Third, I could use the power originally employed by the Tree Spirit King, such as subjugation and pheromones.

“Isn’t there one more?”

“There is. But let’s exclude that for now.”

While I acknowledged Taeyang’s words, I deliberately avoided mentioning that power due to its significant danger. Sargenti and Aori looked puzzled, but this was a secret only Taeyang and I shared.

“This Tree Spirit King’s factor can be transferred to others at any time.”

Taeyang was the one who artificially created a vessel capable of receiving the Tree Spirit King’s factor.

“And… among the King’s prophecies. It says this, right, Sargenti?”

Sargenti, reacting to my words, lowered her voice.

“…The moment the second King’s factor strengthens. The dungeon will run wild, and the world will once again be engulfed in chaos.”

Rather than a prophecy left by the King, it was a conclusion reached by many scholars and World Trees living in that era.

I tapped my heart. After fainting for over a week, the King’s power has been continuously strengthening.

“……You were unconscious for a long time?”

“Don’t be so sensitive about that.”

Taeyang told me something. If I didn’t fit the King’s vessel, the Tree Spirit King’s forces in the dungeon might not recognize me as King.

What did that mean? Upon careful thought, I found the answer in Taeyang.

“They, too, must be after my power.”

In other words… it could also be interpreted as being able to shake off the Tree Spirit King’s factor, which was the reason I had to die until now. But no matter what, the fact that I have to die remains unchanged.

“Actually, not much is known about the King’s factor. How it will manifest in the future is still unknown…”

“Taeyang is right. I only know the surface level of it too.”

An ineffable concept.

“I know… I know.”

I remembered the voice I heard when I fainted last time. No, I had heard that voice once before.

It had also urged me to suddenly violate someone.

“…King, destiny.”

I touched my lips, uttering those two words. I pondered deeply, looking at the three bewildered faces.

“Accept it.”

A single word from Sargenti, who had been smiling. My shoulders flinched.

“…Do you know what that means?”

“No, if this were a game, I just thought the next line would probably be something like that.”

It was a poorly reasoned argument, yet it flowed quite smoothly. The more I thought, the more lost I became in the maze.

One thing was clear, though: the stronger my factor became, the more the dungeon would run wild. If the dungeon were to cause trouble in this wartime situation, it would truly be a sight to behold. Wouldn’t the world be irreversibly broken?

“You mean that the rampaging dungeon is targeting you, right?”

“Yes.”

Adding insult to injury. Taeyang nodded, agreeing that the expression was correct.

“…And we need to prepare for that.”

“Well. Do we really need to prepare?”

“Huh?”

Though I didn’t say it, I was a dead man walking anyway. The probability of survival was almost negligible. If I tried to block the arrows shot at me, what more could happen than death? It might be better to use them to my advantage.

So, I was going to take a gamble.

“Taeyang.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry to bother you on your vacation, but I think I’ll have one more favor to ask.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I was planning to return soon anyway.”

Taeyang smiled awkwardly.

“As a reward, just buy Aori and me a drink later. I’ll grant any wish.”

“Alright.”

Much remains unknown. What abilities the remnants given to me by the World Tree of Time possess. How much more the Tree Spirit King would run wild from here.

What’s certain was that I felt like something would only happen if I was pushed further into a corner now. My gut told me so. Either I went to the brink of death once… or I used the King’s power to the point of losing consciousness.

As I was deep in thought, Taeyang gave a cunning smile.

“By the way, aren’t you going home?”

“…Home?”

“I mean, sister. I think she’s waiting for you.”

“Well… I did give her an artifact and told her to contact me if anything came up.”

Artifacts have developed quite diversely these days. There were phones that worked without a carrier, though they were against the law. Of course, they could only contact designated phone numbers, but it’s suitable for Sansuyu.

She’d contact me if something happened. Probably, very soon.

It was at that moment.

-Whooooong!!!!

A violent vibration echoed. The atmosphere around us, which had just regained its cheerfulness, turned cold again in an instant.

He wasn’t there. Lee Shiheon was nowhere to be seen.

Snap.

A hair tie broke. Underneath her disheveled, dark-green hair, a fierce gaze swept the surroundings.

-I won’t die, so just mind your own business.

With every step, she seemed to hear a hallucination. Her eyes, blurry from over a week of sleepless nights, couldn’t see far, and stung when exposed to sunlight.

-He’s increasing the number of women so that if he dies, there’s no problem… What kind of nonsense is that, that doesn’t make any sense? Don’t you know even B-movies rarely do this?

That damn bastard. When things didn’t go his way, he tried to do everything as he pleases.

‘Even though he told me not to do it.’

He didn’t care one bit about other people’s feelings. Her face burned. Her stumbling steps looked as if she would fall at any moment, but she never did, stubbornly pushing forward.

“…I told you.”

-You can’t just disappear from in front of me, okay? Just stay by my side.

He said that so many times.

-Even when you die… die an hour after I do.

He urged, he spoke, he pleaded countless times, but in the end, he left her embrace. Contact was cut off, his talk account was completely gone. The messages they exchanged were also gone now.

She understood that feeling. She was going to do the same for him.

“……”

Thinking about it, this was the first place she met him. In front of the shopping mall. It was the first time she approached him, sensing the aura of the Tree Circle Pill, in a place teeming with people like an ant colony.

After a terrible encounter, the second was at the academy.

-Thud.

Lee Seyeong stopped in her tracks and stared blankly at the sky.

“And, come to think of it…”

Flash.

Like thunder in her mind, Lee Shiheon’s studio apartment came to her. She knew it was located close to this shopping mall.

Seyeong immediately ran. The chances were slim, she thought, but just in case. With aching legs, she pulled herself and ran, thinking he might be there.

“Huff, huff.”

She pushed her tired body, even wrapping it in magic, running while panting. What a thing to do, just to find one man. A hollow laugh almost escaped her, but he was that precious to her.

-Bang bang bang bang!

She roughly climbed the metal stairs. Thump! Her disheveled hair whipped around as she hit the wall.

She was too worried to manage her hair, which had grown long. Seyeong, her eyes slightly red, reached the door of Lee Shiheon’s studio apartment.

“……”

The room she reached was empty. Through the broken door, she saw a room with considerably more belongings. The number of dishes and the rice cooker, as if two people lived there. The size of the bed. A discarded chair lay broken in half.

Beneath it, copious amounts of blood were visible. Seyeong’s lips trembled.

Surely not….

-Click.

Her thoughts were interrupted for a moment. Seyeong’s eyes narrowed.

With the sound of a gun being loaded, a blade touched Lee Seyeong’s back. The cold tip of the sword lightly cut Lee Seyeong’s waist. It felt as if it would cut her in half at any moment.

“Lee Seyeong.”

A connection so precious it was almost unique, yet now tiresome to even hear.

“….”

The armed Byeol held a sword towards her. Without any explanation or context. Byeol, her face coldly hardened, soon ordered the hunters scattered around.

“Arrest her.”