Black Tree

Lee Dojin scanned the black world unfolding before his eyes.

Emotion.

The black and white world was riddled with intense depression and anger. Lee Dojin walked out into the world of darkness.

There was no fear in those footsteps.

-Who are you?

A voice heavily echoed in his ears. It was clearly a voice that could be called youthful, but strangely, an intense sense of pressure was felt.

-This is death.

Death.

Lee Dojin couldn’t relate to those words. After all, Lee Dojin had walked a path far from death until now.

“But I’m alive.”

At Lee Dojin’s nonchalant words, the unidentified being was momentarily speechless.

-…Yes, it seems so.

Lee Dojin quickened his pace. Then the darkness slowly distorted.

A golden throne appeared.

And in front of it sat a queen.

A queen whose entire body was stained with blood.

White hair. And navy blue eyes.

-Who on earth are you? Who are you to be able to set foot in the tree where I imprisoned myself?

“Do you know that this is a dungeon?”

-I know. I also know that this is the damn apostles’ prank. I imprisoned myself here to avoid playing along with those apostles’ antics.

You know about the apostles?

Lee Dojin felt his suspicion about the being in front of him deepening even more.

“Then are you related to the Death Knights that were in the dungeon?”

The queen’s brow furrowed sharply.

-Yes, what you faced in the dungeon were probably degraded versions of my subordinates.

“Were you also a Death Knight, then?”

The queen twisted the corners of her mouth.

-Yes, there was a time when I was disgustingly defiled too. To somehow conquer the Tower.

Lee Dojin’s eyes widened.

“Do you know about the Tower too?”

-It seems that damn thing exists in this world too. Of course. I died after climbing to the 68th floor of that Tower.

68th floor.

It was an astonishing position compared to the current humanity that struggled even on the 20th floor of the Tower.

Lee Dojin’s thought process concluded in a strange place.

“Then you must be strong.”

Fighting spirit.

Honestly, Lee Dojin wanted to rush in with his wooden sword right now. But no matter how he looked at it, this black world was not one where combat would be tolerated.

Kugugugugung-

Even now, the world was emitting sounds of collapsing.

[Abnormal access.]

[Departure imminent.]

Well, the contact was different from the ‘Song of the Tree’ so far from the beginning.

“May I ask your name?”

-Aria Argentis.

“My name is Lee Dojin. Nice to meet you.”

-Huh, you really are a funny one.

“I’ll see you again later.”

-How could we possibly meet again, when even this meeting doesn’t make sense?

“No, we can meet again.”

Lee Dojin was certain. That he would be able to see the queen in front of him again.

Kwarurung!

The black and white world collapsed. Until the very end, he felt the gaze of the queen, Aria Argentis, staring intently at him. Until the world completely collapsed.

His vision briefly went dark.

Jjek!

Lee Dojin opened his eyes.

Then Park Seonggu’s voice was heard.

“Why are you just standing there touching the tree?”

“How long have I been standing like this?”

Park Seonggu tilted his head at Lee Dojin’s question.

“One minute?”

Then there’s no need to explain the situation. Lee Dojin nodded and stared at the black tree in front of him.

The rippling black energy flow had all disappeared. The tree itself was still black.

“It’s an ominous-looking tree.”

Rachel said, looking at Lee Dojin who was still touching the tree. Lee Dojin chuckled at that strange form of concern and removed his hand.

He can’t leave this as it is. Because it would disappear along with the dungeon.

“I’m going to make a phone call. Don’t break the dungeon core.”

“Oh, okay.”

When the boss dies and the clear state is achieved, the dungeon exit opens. If the dungeon core is left without being destroyed, it automatically disappears at the originally set break time.

Lee Dojin, who had come out of the dungeon, picked up his phone.

“Can you talk, Master Craftsman Choi Cheolhyun?”

It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time since receiving the wooden sword.

-Just call me uncle.

“I’ve found an Upper Tree. Is it possible to retrieve it?”

-Is it inside a dungeon? If you mark the coordinates, I can send a retrieval worker.

It wasn’t something that could be crudely uprooted or cut and put into a spatial pocket. So he thought of the existence of retrieval workers, experts who retrieve all items found in dungeons.

“Yes, I’ll mark the coordinates.”

-Alright, your ownership will be recognized. You just need to pay the money.

“Yes, I have a lot of money.”

-Kuku, you’re still funny.

“I’d like you to store it for me too. For the time being.”

-You shameless bastard, you’re planning to ask me to make a wooden sword with it too, aren’t you?

At those words, Lee Dojin recalled the appearance of the tree. Black tree. He thought that if he made a wooden sword with it, it might look like a sword made of black iron.

“You can lay out a mat.”

-Your jokes have improved quite a bit. You didn’t make any jokes like that back then.

“I guess I’ve become a bit more sociable from playing with the kids.”

There were too many people around who casually threw out jokes. Lee Dojin suddenly voiced what came to mind.

“Is it possible to make a wooden sword that doesn’t look like a wooden sword?”

-If you paint it and sharpen it to be as sharp as a real sword, it should be possible. Even your current wooden sword has been sharpened a bit since it’s for actual combat, but. It hasn’t lost the form of a wooden sword.

He thought of the black tree, black wood. There’s no need to paint it. Because it’s black.

“I’ll talk to you about it again later.”

-Alright. First, mark the coordinates.

Lee Dojin sent the coordinates taken with the hunter app to Master Craftsman Choi Cheolhyun.

Rachel and Park Seonggu were rummaging for useful items. Lee Dojin said, looking at the two of them.

“A retrieval worker will come.”

At Lee Dojin’s words, Park Seonggu tilted his head.

“Retrieval worker? We didn’t find any installable ancient weapons or anything.”

Lee Dojin pointed at the black tree with his index finger.

“That, I’m going to own it. Is that okay, Senior Rachel?”

At Lee Dojin’s words, Rachel frowned deeply.

“How gloomy.”

“What?”

“What are you planning to do with that tree, so ungracefully?”

“No.”

“Are you planning to do back rubbing on the tree or something?”

What kind of imagination does this senior have?

“I’m going to make a wooden sword.”

Lee Dojin ended up explaining. While swinging the wooden sword in his hand.

“Ahem, ahem!”

Rachel cleared her throat at the explanation.

Shortly after, dungeon retrieval workers arrived.

“That tree.”

“Kuku, it seems to be an Upper Tree.”

A burly retrieval manager who could be believed to be a tank approached Lee Dojin. He must have heard whose offer it started from.

“Yes, I’m certain.”

Since Mistilteinn had reacted, he could be confident. The manager touched the black tree.

“It certainly seems to be an Upper Tree. A bit ominous, but. Hey, prepare!”

At the manager’s words, his subordinates moved quickly. As many as five people crowded around and opened the zipper of a physical spatial pocket. A huge crane began to come out of it.

“It’s an item created by alchemy engineers. It will uproot it very cleanly, including the roots.”

Kwaduduk-

The roots were slowly lifted. It was as the manager said.

---

After confirming with his own eyes that the work was completed, Lee Dojin returned to Iroaz Academy with his two companions.

After an hour of meditation, Lee Dojin entered Mistilteinn’s world.

And he explained about the black tree he had encountered and ‘Aria Argentis’ inside it, and asked what she thought about it.

Mistilteinn gently swayed her snow-white hair.

And slightly furrowed her delicate brow.

“A being who knows about the apostles and the Tower… There’s a high probability that she’s a person who lived in the world just before the apostles ended it. As you said, it would be certain to summon her to my world through formal contact and ask.”

“I guess so. Surely no other person will be summoned when I touch that tree?”

Mistilteinn shook her head.

“A being so deeply connected to the tree. Even if they don’t want to, they will be summoned.”

Lee Dojin was relieved. There was a lot he needed to hear from her.

Hwangbo Seryeong, who had been listening to the conversation next to Mistilteinn, approached Lee Dojin. She still had hair like a lion’s mane.

“When does this martial arts competition end? Next week?”

“Yes, the match will be settled next week.”

“I see.”

Hwangbo Seryeong took a sip of bamboo leaf liquor.

“When that martial arts competition is over, I will pass on the martial arts I’ve created to fit your body. And I’m thinking of disappearing from this place.”

There was still about three months left for Hwangbo Seryeong to stay here. It had only been 6 months in Mistilteinn’s time since Hwangbo Seryeong was summoned to this world and started living here.

At Hwangbo Seryeong’s words, Mistilteinn slowly nodded. It seemed they had already discussed this matter beforehand.

“I really liked it here. Because it was quite enjoyable being with this child and you.”

Hwangbo Seryeong patted Mistilteinn’s head.

“But the more enjoyable it is, the more lingering attachment to life grows. Attachment that can’t be fulfilled.”

Lee Dojin saw Hwangbo Seryeong’s bitter smile for the first time.

Hwangbo Seryeong stared at the huge tree, Taesan, standing behind her.

“You said there’s a high probability that I was summoned in response to your call because I’m the most outstanding martial artist in the history that this Taesan remembers.”

“Yes, unnie.”

Mistilteinn held Hwangbo Seryeong’s hand.

“I rebuilt the exterminated Hwangbo family. I couldn’t rebuild it with my own bloodline, my own flesh and blood, but I thought I had continued the martial lineage of Hwangbo anyway. If Taesan saw my history as the highest. It seems the Hwangbo I rebuilt has collapsed again.”

“Maybe just no successor more outstanding than the Fist King has appeared.”

Hwangbo Seryeong chuckled at Lee Dojin’s words.

“Yes, maybe that’s it. I hope so too.”

Hwangbo Seryeong patted Lee Dojin’s shoulder.

“And you remain in this world too. I’ve put quite a bit of my martial lineage into the fist technique I’ll hand over to you. So after I pass that on, I don’t intend to leave any more lingering attachments.”

Lee Dojin decided to change the way he addressed her for a moment.

“I understand, Master.”

Hwangbo Seryeong burst into laughter.

“Kukuku! It does feel good to be called master. But don’t do it. It makes me feel attached.”

Hwangbo Seryeong sat down on a rock next to Mistilteinn’s bench and opened the martial arts manual she had been writing.

Lee Dojin was already considering her as one of his masters in his heart. How to deal with fist users and martial artists. The basic way of extending fists and palms. How to deal with enemies at extremely close range. How to use the opponent’s force in reverse.

Because everything Hwangbo Seryeong had taught was already of great help to Lee Dojin.

Lee Dojin stared at Taesan, the tree with branches stretching straight.

Lingering attachment.

Would he ever be able to have no lingering attachments at the moment of death?

‘I advance.’

So that there’s no need to have lingering attachments.

‘I will bring down the Tower with my own hands.’

He had great ambition.

Very great.