Eat The World Tree

Chapter 235: That’s A Goal (1)

Unknown, but an imprinted ability in my mind.

Even if I merged bodies with someone else now, the guilt wouldn’t be that severe.

It’s strange to feel guilty now anyway.

If it ended with a one-night stand, that was it.

If there was any progress in the relationship where affection bloomed, I would reach out as much as I could take responsibility for.

“Ugh.”

“Did you wake up?”

Taeyang, who woke up with a pale complexion, looked around.

He rubbed the front of his clothes. Realizing that the pain in his chest was not severe, he looked at me with an undeserved sense of gratitude.

“Get up first. A lot of time has passed. We can talk slowly, let’s go back.”

Taeyang stared at my mask for a moment at my words.

“…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

His tone was corrected once and turned back to honorifics.

After catching his breath, Taeyang asked me.

“Can I call you hyungnim from today?”

Hyungnim? Suddenly?

I had a hunch that we were not just acquaintances.

Related to the Tree Spirit King. A descendant, one who inherited the power.

Now that he knew I was the successor of the Tree Spirit King and knew my abilities, the only thing left was to submit.

“Let’s go first.”

I shook my hands and got up from my seat.

Taeyang followed behind me, and we reached the campfire where the women were sitting.

The time was early evening with the sun slightly set.

For me, who spent a day in the dungeon, it was the first night and a dim sky.

As soon as Lee Hyang saw Taeyang and me, her face lit up.

“Oh, you’re back? Taeyang, where have you been?”

“There was something around, so I went to check it out.”

Saying that, Taeyang casually sat by the campfire. Aori looked at his face intently.

Those two knew each other from before.

Judging by their casual conversation, they seem more than just acquaintances. But they don’t look like lovers either.

Aori alternated between looking at Taeyang and me before bluntly stating.

“Seems like you’ve been sorted as an inferior male.”

Such language.

“What, you bitch?”

“Finally… Taeyang has the face of an inferior male.”

“Oh, crazy lunatic.”

She was so blunt that she cut down a man’s pride completely.

A vein popped on Taeyang’s forehead.

“…Why do I have to put on a chastity belt too?”

“You better come out when it’s your turn to guard. You might actually die.”

It was so explicit that it made the listener embarrassed.

“They are always like that, hehe. I don’t know what they mean, but it’s fun to watch.”

As I sat by the campfire, Lee Hyang looked at them and laughed brightly.

If she understood, she wouldn’t be laughing. Seeing her smile like a puppy, I couldn’t say anything.

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“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

A clash of equals. Such a grand expression feels unfitting for the crude subject of conversation, and yet their aura was no joke.

While I was organizing my thoughts and looking away for a moment, Taeyang and Aori’s argument escalated to the point where they were pulling each other’s cheeks.

“Ouch… let go!”

“Take back what you said.”

“No. If it’s you, I can use my hand, but… I can’t use it below.”

“Oh shit. Disgusting. Don’t say such lines. Do you know how many such customers there are?”

Mentioning customers was crazy.

Though I didn’t think badly of it, it was unfamiliar to hear her proudly say she worked in the adult entertainment business.

The level of their conversation was sky-high.

I looked at Taeyang pitifully.

The serious look I saw before had no trace now.

Would I be able to get a proper story?

Still, knowing there was someone who knew about the Tree Spirit King made my heart flutter.

‘This damn ability. Let’s see why it’s like this.’

Late evening.

At the time of standing guard, when Lee Hyang fell asleep, we sat nearby, facing each other.

Aori was kneeling politely with her lips curved like a crescent moon.

I also took off my mask and revealed my true face.

“So you’re the great-granddaughter of the Tree Spirit King, and Taeyang, you are the one who inherited the Tree Spirit King’s power?”

“…Yes, yes.”

Aori nodded several times, while Taeyang looked down at her in disgust.

“But why Your Majesty?”

“Because he’s a king. Your Majesty.”

“Isn’t it usually Your Highness?”

“…The second Tree Spirit King can become the Tree Spirit Emperor. Then I am the fallen princess as the great-granddaughter of the Tree Spirit King.”

“Oh. Then if hyungnim and you do it, it’s incest?”

“Exactly.”

As I frowned at Taeyang and Aori’s conversation, they immediately fell silent.

Tree Spirit King, Tree Spirit Emperor.

Whose crazy house did the incest idea come from?

I understood Taeyang, but Aori was genuine.

Their thought processes were on a different level from mine.

I had seen countless insane people, but these two topped the list for being the most absurd.

I realized it while talking to them.

“So, what does it mean to receive the power?”

“Ah, that… it’s a bit long, but if hyungnim is okay, I will explain.”

“Go ahead.”

Taeyang started explaining from the beginning, step by step.

“As I said earlier, the descendants of the Tree Spirit King are scattered all over the world. Many people try to misuse that power, including Flower and World Tree. I’m not one of them. Anyway, Aori’s people have been developing the power of the Tree Spirit King.”

“Develop?”

“The power of the Tree Spirit King is slightly inherited by descendants, so they extract their blood or power for research.”

They absorbed the power by violating other tree beings or trees.

It’s the essence of the Tree Spirit King, a unique ability that symbolized it.

Taeyang gathered his magic power into his hand.

A faint purple magic orb flickered.

“This is the power of the mulberry tree. I obtained it while working in an establishment.”

“…Establishment?”

“Because I am a descendant of the Tree Spirit King. The ways to live are either to sell your body or commit crimes. If you recklessly create an identity, you’ll be quickly discovered and handled by the World Tree.”

Taeyang hid the magic power in his hand and then transformed his right arm.

-Crack! Crack!

A wooden shell covered his skin. A disgusting ent’s arm became Taeyang’s right arm.

It was a huge and heavy ent’s arm.

“Descendants can use the power of tree beings like this.”

In their own way.

Taeyang spread his magic power through his right arm.

Flowers grew faintly from the branches of his right hand.

-Pick, Pish!

Chili, shrub, light, bellflower, goji. Etc.

Various flowers sprouted from his arm.

A myriad of flowers.

He must have absorbed a lot of thick blood from tree beings to bloom these flowers.

If he released all of this, he would gain considerable power.

He might even be able to challenge a National Tree if he did well.

“Ent.”

“No, it’s a tree demon.”

Taeyang corrected my mumbling.

“The power of trees is strong. However, they can only be a single tree. The Tree Spirit King can contain that power in one vessel.”

When a tree being was released, his voice became unique cracked.

A rough voice, like scratching iron, slowly flowed from his mouth.

It was a voice change that you could never get used to, no matter how many times you heard it, like using some kind of auto-tune that sounded like tearing your throat apart.

Taeyang’s breath became increasingly rough. He returned his arm to human form.

“But tree beings cannot fully embrace the power of the Tree Spirit King. Only humans can accept the power of the Tree Spirit King.”

“So.”

“…The descendants tried to create an artificial Tree Spirit King. I was that test subject.”

Taeyang sat down as if he had lost some strength.

“But it’s only half. I’m different from you. Do you know what the most annoying thing is now?”

“What is it?”

“When I stand in front of you, I lose my sexual desire, damn it.”

“…”

That’s…

That was a bit pitiful.

“Those who poorly imitate the Tree Spirit King naturally kneel in front of the real one… Yes. I admit it.”

“…”

“To complete my experiment, I have to kill the Tree Spirit King directly. Then the power will be mine.”

“So you tried to kill me?”

Taeyang’s lips trembled.

He didn’t seem to have intended to kill me. He didn’t seem to value the power of the Tree Spirit King that much.

“And you became an inferior male because you got beaten? Pathetic, Taeyang?”

“You damn… Yes, that’s right.”

Despite Aori’s mockery, Taeyang sighed helplessly.

“Yes, well, I’m sorry for trying to test you. I was told to do it… and if it wasn’t satisfactory, to just kill you.”

“By those scholars or whoever?”

“Yes. They were like fathers to me, but they all died when I was fifteen because of the World Tree.”

Those who tried to extract the power of the Tree Spirit King seemed to have already disappeared by now.

“So, what’s your ultimate goal?”

Taeyang spoke quietly.

“To be exact, I was only told to help you. If you’re unreliable, kill you. If you’re trustworthy, help you.”

“Is that all?”

“…That’s how the old men talk. They indulge in past glory, telling us to help the king.”

Taeyang didn’t seem to think favorably of the mission he was given.

But the fact that he followed it shows he truly cherished those who took care of him.

Even though he called them old men or geezers, his tone held subtle affection.

“There are a few dungeons set up by the king’s followers. I can introduce you. But, if they find out you possess the king’s power, they might try to kill you.”

“They think I’m not fit to be a king?”

“Exactly! Hyungnim is right.”

“Do you recognize me as a king?”

As the conversation flowed this way, I couldn’t help but ask.

Taeyang laughed readily.

“Hey, as long as one thing is right, I’ll recognize even a stray dog as king. Just a formality before.”

“What is it?”

Taeyang became serious.

I also closed my mouth and listened to him.

His heavy voice fell like a judgment in my ear.

“Do you get aroused by trees?”

“You damn!”

-Bang!

My fist shot out in an instant.

Taeyang, hit on the forehead, fell backward, hitting the dirt ground.

“Ouch! Why suddenly, hyungnim!”

“I got into this mess because I got involved with trees. What kind of maniac gets aroused by trees?”

“…Not aroused? How? Are you not the Tree Spirit King’s successor?”

He looked genuinely shocked.

Next to him, Aori also covered her mouth with both hands, looking shocked.

Shocked Aori. If someone saw, they might think she got shot.

“Unbelievable…”

“What’s unbelievable is you guys.”

“Have you ever done it with a tree?”

“That…”

I couldn’t say no.

Seeing my silence, Aori seemed relieved and patted her chest.

“I thought so.”

It pissed me off.

To think I had to deal with people with such sexual preferences from now on.

It seemed that we wouldn’t meet just once or twice.

I sighed, holding my dizzy head.

“Since hyungnim can’t use his power well now, I admit it.”

Taeyang, lying on the ground, said quietly.

“You’ll start to like knots more and more.”

“Please shut up…”

I guessed it, knowing the power of the Tree Spirit King, but hearing it directly was different.

I rubbed my face with both hands as Taeyang’s voice asked me to trust him.

-Tug, tug.

Then Aori pulled my clothes.

“My knots are usable too. Your Majesty.”

I felt like I was going crazy.