The Gate's Quiet Embrace
The inside of the gate was silent.
It was far more enormous than the jungle I had seen from outside.
The quiet stillness welcomed me.
It felt as if I had truly stepped into another world.
Trees shot straight up to the sky.
Even when I looked up, the top remained hidden, leaving my neck aching.
A single leaf was as tall as a person.
The plants were so sharp that just brushing against them would cut me like a veil.
The rainbow-colored frogs hiding everywhere, soaked and slippery, gave off a pungent scent that seeped through the humid air.
Because of the dangers lurking in every corner, I even felt nature itself rejecting me.
On a branch sat a bird with a long, colorful beak.
When our eyes met, it tilted its head curiously.
I walked forward cautiously.
Beyond the trees lay an endless river.
Floating on the surface were lily pads, and on them otters were lounging lazily.
...
Wait a minute.
Those are just otters, right?
The adult ones looked almost apartment-floor high.
Four of them were sprawled casually on the pads when one half-opened its eye and glanced my way.
The otter that noticed us straightened up.
The others rose at the same time, their round eyes wide with caution.
Those round eyes were actually kind of cute.
They turned toward one another, ready to dive into the water at any second, and gathered at the riverbank.
Rustle
A sound came from the bushes on the opposite side of the river.
The movement of the bushes reached even here.
The grass parted, revealing scales and vertically slit pupils.
It was a lizardman.
The creatures I had seen outside were apparently the ones that had come from here.
Six lizardmen poured out of the bushes.
Only then did the otters notice. They froze in panic at the sudden appearance of the lizardmen.
The lizardmen charged straight at the otters.
Several had already entered the water to spread out and surround them.
There were only four otters, but the lizards looked like ten or more.
A few of the surrounding ones locked eyes with me.
They flicked their tongues toward each other with a strange rubbing sound.
The piercing gazes turned to me.
... I didn't think I was supposed to be part of this.
No, had it already become too late?
Before I knew it, the lizardmen had climbed up the river and were coming.
They had moved underwater without me noticing at all.
As soon as they surfaced, they raised their spears and charged.
They attacked from both sides at the same time.
Electricity surged through my heart.
My muscles relaxed and my body felt lighter.
I gripped the spear tightly.
I spun my body sideways to dodge the incoming spears.
From the left.
Thud! Slash!
“Kiiieeeek!”
Through the spear that had pierced me, electricity fried me from the inside.
Before I could even pull out the lodged spear, another stabbed sharply.
Splash!
A spear whipped past right beside my face with a whooshing sound.
I reached for the creature, but noticed its gaze was fixed behind me.
A spear came from the back.
Splash
I stepped sideways to check the wound.
The clothes on my shoulder tore and slowly turned red.
More new lizardmen appeared from behind.
This place must be their territory.
There were more than I thought.
The situation was bad.
At that moment, the otters jumped in.
Unlike their large bodies, they slid across the ground and slammed into the heavy lizards.
Thud!
“Kieek?!”
I sprayed electricity at the startled lizards.
Zzzzt!
“Kraaaaaak!!”
Thud!
Thanks to the wet climate and damp leather, the lizardmen were paralyzed.
I jabbed at the convulsing ones with the spear and checked around.
“Hey, you guys were supposed to handle the lizards!”
The lizardmen surrounding the otters quickly gathered around me.
I picked up the dropped spear and handed it to the nearby otter.
“Use this!”
Nod
The otter gripped the spear with its front paw.
Surprisingly, the otters nodded as if they understood and charged.
Lizardmen came at me, avoiding the otters.
Three came at once.
The angle of the arms.
The direction of the feet.
Their movements were laid out right before me.
First, I blocked the spear coming straight at me.
At the same time, I slammed the blue lightning charged in my left hand into the ground.
Zzzzt!
The blue current spread like a spiderweb across the wet soil.
“Kieek?!”
The lizardmen's movements froze instantly.
The gaps created by their stiffened bodies.
Now.
I twisted my body and stabbed the neck of the first one.
“Shiiiiik.”
The lizardmen communicated with each other, moving their tongues.
The surviving ones exchanged glances and began retreating.
The otters looked at me.
Our eyes met.
Nod
The otters chased after them.
“They're actually fighting well?”
Power: 71%/100%
I had to conserve batteries, so I fought while holding back as much as possible.
I wanted to save everything because I didn't know what would happen next.
... Should I just eat one battery?
While I was thinking, I heard a splash behind me.
When I turned, a baby otter had climbed up the riverbank.
The baby otter looked at me and sniffed.
I approached slowly and touched the back of its hand.
Its wet, soft nose pressed firmly against my hand.
The other otters came one by one.
The cautious gazes from the surrounding otters disappeared.
It was as if they were looking at something strange?
I touched the hand again with a light tap.
I looked down.
In the baby otter's hand was a fresh fish that looked like it had just been caught.
“You're giving it to me?”
Nod.
“Thank you.”
I reached out to pet the otter's head, but it darted away.
It looked so soft.
After the otters scattered, I found something I had to do.
Even though I had entered the gate, it didn't give me specific clear conditions.
It seemed like I had to figure it out on my own.
For now, I gathered the marble stones that had fallen on the ground and looked around.
The lush jungle stretched endlessly beyond the river.
And between the grass by the river, I spotted something pitch black.
I'll go check there first.
I walked toward the pitch-black tree that looked bigger than the others even from a distance.
In the center of the clearing after clearing the grass was a lone tree.
It stood alone like the master of this area.
As I got closer, it didn't look healthy.
Among the charred branches, a glowing blue crack appeared.
It probably looked like a dead tree.
A gap opened like an entrance in the massive ancient tree.
A strange presence came from inside.
To be honest, it smelled like treasure.
This kind of thing.
In games, it had a high probability of being a trap.
Of course, it could also be a trap.
...
I'll go inside first and decide later.
The inside was warmer than I thought.
There were traces of being scorched black.
It felt like it had been hit by lightning.
There were parts that still looked okay.
Vines and moss intertwined like a ceiling, and when I touched it, a faint tingling ran across my fingertips.
Fzzt.
Static electricity?
I put my palm against it.
A faint blue light flowed between the tree rings.
Like veins.
“What is this? What happened?”
My heart beat slowly.
The current inside my body resonated with the tree and the air.
Crack.
I was startled and looked up.
The vines on the ceiling slowly moved to block the gap.
The light from outside was blocked.
And a faint vibration echoed through the empty space.
Uwoong.
A faint will flowed into my head.
It was sending me a will, as if talking to me.
It radiated a pitiful will as if asking for help.
Uwooong.
From the rough will and the feeling of sadness, I realized the one speaking to me was this tree.
From the reaction of struggling in pain, I felt a strangely sad feeling.
“How are you supposed to help me?”
Uwoong!
The tree's roots grabbed my hand and guided me.
Well, I'll find out if I try it.
I placed my hand on the tree.
The feeling of lightning tearing my body long ago.
The pain of burning.
The dying life force.
I felt the pain and fear the tree had experienced.
The wounds I saw with my eyes were caused by lightning.
A lonely battle for survival.
The unstable current felt inside the tree.
It oddly resembled my situation.
A surging power that looked like it would burst from deep inside.
It resonated with the power inside my body.
A tingle ran across my fingertips.
Fzzt!
“Aaaak!”
I instinctively stepped back from the enormous current.
After I got the power, I had no fear of electricity, but for the first time I felt pain.
“So you're telling me to deal with this?”
Sigh, it hurts. My fingertips burn, but... strangely, the aftertaste is oddly sweet?
Why does it hurt so much but my mouth keeps filling with saliva?
It suddenly came to mind.
The sensation of spicy tteokbokki that I used to squeeze out tears and snot while eating during my long days in my room.
It was similar to the sensation of spicy food stabbing the tongue.
That must be it!
Just as I enjoyed the capsaicin pain that numbs the tongue as “flavor,” I could accept this pain the same way.
“Okay, let's think of a bowl of spicy jjampong.”
I placed my hand on the tree again.
The tingling sensation rose once more.
I concentrated and began absorbing the power.
Kwaaaaa—
“Guguuu.”
It was much spicier than I thought.
Even buldakbokkeummyun wasn't that bad.
This was almost a nuclear-level spice that sucked the soul out.
I gritted my teeth because if I opened my mouth, blue lightning would explode out like a breath.
If it was this bad, it was torture.
My mouth kept filling with saliva because I kept closing it to prevent the current from reversing.
The current swirling around my heart shook anxiously.
Sparks flew from the back of my hand.
My body couldn't hold on.
The current rushed wildly through my body along with my heart.
Sparks burst out in various places of my body.
It was too hard.
At that moment, the tree's roots snatched my hand.
Boom!
The wall exploded.
I couldn't see the exact situation because of the roots wrapping me, but I felt an enormous explosion.
The roots that had been wrapping me loosened.
Is it okay?
When I pulled the roots away, the sight was more serious than I thought.
The wall had sunk in, and even the parts that had looked okay were pitch black.
A blue crack had spread there too.
Uwoong...
A faint will that seemed to be fading.
“Are you okay?!”
I felt remorse from the tree's will.
It seemed like it regretted that I almost died from its own request.
Even though I had let go of its hand hastily, my body was surprisingly okay.
Probably thanks to the tree's protection.
Rather than that, the tree's life felt precariously close to going out like a candle.
Uwoong...
The energy from all around gradually faded.
What do I do now?
Is there no way to save it?
Then I saw a marble stone popping out from my backpack.
The energy inside was spinning like a whirlpool.
And upon closer look, the energy I was feeling now and the energy inside the marble stone were ultimately the same energy, right?
If I could inject the energy inside the marble stone into the tree, maybe the tree would come back to life?
I looked down at the marble stone on my palm.
Just like how I ate batteries at the convenience store.
There was definitely energy inside this too.
If I could eat it, maybe this tree could receive it as well?
I slowly placed the marble stone on the roots.
“Take it.”
No reaction at all.
“... No, this kind of thing works well in movies.”
I smiled bitterly.
But I didn't let go of my hand.
The first time seeing this world.
The first time seeing this tree.
And strangely, I didn't want to leave it to die.
“Please come back to life!”
I injected electricity to move the energy inside the marble stone.
The marble stone didn't move at all.
A sense of powerlessness dominated my whole body.
Ding!
[??? has responded.]
[Skill: Transistor has been obtained.]
A message appeared before my eyes.
Transistor?
[Transistor]
A skill that converts electricity into mana. Also, mana manipulation becomes easy.
The electricity that flowed into the marble stone naturally mixed with mana as if it had always been one.
I manipulated the mana.
It flowed smoothly and seeped into the roots, covering the tree's crack.
The blue crack that was emitting blue light slowly began to settle.
All the marble stones in my backpack lost their mana and were left with only gray shells.
Like scars, the crack marks remained inside the ancient tree.
It wasn't finished yet.
Tap tap.
Suddenly, a root touched my shoulder.
“You woke up?”
Uwoong.
The root slowly wrapped around the back of my hand.
It was warm.
Even though no words were heard, I somehow understood.
Gratitude.
Relief.
And...
A feeling of not being alone.
“... You're alive.”
I couldn't help but smile.
“Are you okay with your body?”
Uuuwoong.
The energy from the tree became much clearer than before.
For now, it was like a light heart. Probably, more preparation was needed for the tree's treatment.
Uwoong.
The tree's roots tapped my shoulder lightly.
Then it slowly moved and dropped something onto my palm.
A transparent crystal glowing brightly.
Inside it, blue lightning was throbbing roughly like the heart of a living creature.
Kukung!
At the same time, the current ring inside my body began to go wild.
An instinctive thirst.
Brain cells screamed.
Swallow.
The dry saliva went down my throat.
[The lightning crystal is resonating.]
[Overload risk during absorption.]
“... It looks delicious.”
Without hesitation, I pushed the crystal into my mouth.
---
Transistor