Chapter 365
Chapter 365
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 365
Chapter Title: Pleasure Quarter Initiation
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-Crash! Thud!
My vision flipped upside down.
A clump of hardened blood rolled off the skin I'd barely managed to regenerate.
Coughing hit me like indigestion. Blood sprayed from my mouth, soaking the floorboards.
"Uh... bro?"
Sun and Aori, sitting in the room, stared at me with wide eyes.
A brief silence. Sun, looking dazed as he sat there, jumped up and rushed over to me.
"What the hell, you said you were just grabbing clothes and food. You look like you're about to die!"
I'd only meant to pack some bags and head out.
Who could've known I'd run into my master and get my soul stripped bare in the process.
Twitching on the floor like a broken millipede, I barely managed to groan.
"I... hurt."
"Yeah, you look like shit. Hold on, I'll grab a potion."
"What potion? Forget it. Just a waste of money."
"It's top-grade stuff I saved as a spare life."
As if I didn't know the ingredients for potions in this world were love juices and semen.
I shook my head.
No way in hell I'd use top-grade potions.
-Hummm!
I suppressed the wounds with Healing Authority and caught my breath.
The pounding in my head from my heartbeat finally subsided.
"Want me to wrap some bandages at least?"
"...Please."
"Jeez, really... breaks my heart. What about the luggage? Wait, no— what the hell happened?"
While Sun and Aori sprinkled medicine on my wounds, I slowly recounted the events from dawn.
How I'd clashed with my master. Our opinions didn't align, so it came down to force, and I ended up ambushed like this.
"Bro, you're insane fighting that White Path woman?"
Sun grimaced and patted my shoulder.
"Hey, I thought I could handle it."
"Handle my ass. No one in the world beats her one-on-one."
"I still landed one hit."
"Bullshit. She let you."
That eye-searing title of world's strongest wasn't empty flattery after all.
I thought I'd seen plenty up close, but she only grew more unfathomable.
Sun sighed heavily as he applied the medicine.
Aori started sprinkling something fertilizer-like from her hands clasped around a vial.
"Is this even medicine?"
"Yeah. Ground-up potion stuff... kinda like potion Vaseline, right?"
"Not that. Aori."
"Yes?"
"What... are you sprinkling?"
Aori's eyes went wide as she looked at the vial in her hand.
Relldan. The familiar name sent a chill down my spine.
A type of pesticide for catching bugs.
"Ah."
A delayed shriek escaped her. Sun snatched the vial in shock.
"Aori, you crazy bitch...!"
"Kyaaah!!!"
All strength drained from my body.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Sun."
"What."
"The king looks like a dried-up squid that's been milked thirty times over."
"Your fault again, you lunatic..."
Wrapped in blankets, wheezing like a dying man, my future looked bleak.
Could I really get along with these guys?
I'd sorted out the pesticide fiasco somehow with Healing Authority.
Almost died from deadly poison on top of my severe injuries.
Feeling a bit wronged about it, Aori pouted her lips.
"Your Majesty, I'm innocent. Who puts pesticides in the medicine kit in the first place?"
"Sun, how do you explain this?"
Sun shrugged as he tidied the kit, glancing at me.
"I bring in a few tree ladies sometimes. Lots of trees around, so I use bug spray occasionally. Didn't think she'd grab that and spray a person."
Tree ladies...
My head throbbed.
I buried my face in the pillow and muttered despondently.
"You guys handle it yourselves..."
My body ached, internal injuries piled up, and my energy core, filled with mana, was on the verge of overload.
All the Healing Authority I'd stockpiled was wiped out from using Black Path techniques.
At least Sistus's injuries were mostly healed; she'd be fine in a week.
"Bro, we still gotta go, right?"
"Yeah, we do. We'll buy clothes on the way."
"Your Majesty..."
"Aori, it wasn't your fault, so cheer up. Shit happens—you spray pesticide instead of medicine sometimes."
Aori clamped her mouth shut and looked away.
Hateful little thing.
But too capable to ditch.
"No money for compensation, so sell all those cosplay outfits."
"Ah, anything but that..."
"Forget it. Just explain what we're doing next."
Jokes over.
Sun glared at Aori once, then sighed.
He sat on the floor and pulled out a notepad to explain.
"First off... how many have you collected so far, bro?"
"A little over ten."
"Not even close. If you're serious about powering up, I'll pull out all the stops. No complaints later."
His low warning made me lift my head from the pillow.
"What are you planning?"
"Even if I use every trick, I can't control their looks. You've been with beauties so far, so take what you get."
Trees have looks?
At best, pretty flowers, lush green, majestic vibe.
Sun's pimp-like demeanor threw me off.
"Do whatever."
"You really don't care about looks?"
"...What looks do trees have?"
"For real? No take-backs?"
Every time he said "for real," his face inched 10cm closer.
Overwhelmed, I just gaped.
Were these guys seriously judging tree appearances?
What's ugly wood, what's pretty?
"They differ. Hugely. Like the difference between a sturdy knot and a weak one."
"You speaking Korean right now?"
"Yep."
"What? Whatever, just do it."
I looked away. Suppressed by his vibe, I'd clammed up, and the convo derailed anyway.
My mouth wasn't made for this crap.
Deep self-loathing welled up.
"Got it then."
"What're you doing?"
"Don't you need to increase your tree seed count first?"
"Yeah. But weren't we dungeon-hopping?"
"We'll do that too. But I've lived in slums, struck it rich, rolled in all kinds of mud. I know the best spot to meet trees."
"...Fine. Spit it out."
A word dropped from Sun's mouth.
My face hardened. Aori blushed.
Is this guy nuts?
First thought upon hearing it.
"You serious?"
"Yep."
"I'm the king, you know. This how you treat royalty?"
"Princesses and queens are dying right now. Nothing's off-limits for a king. You've got that face mask to hide your identity, right?"
"......"
"You said no holds barred."
True.
Had to consider it seriously.
Convinced by Sun, I nodded. Aori beamed at me.
"Alright... let's go."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Deep in society's underbelly, tucked in an unseen corner like a stubborn gum wad—a tiny world that wouldn't peel off.
The pleasure district's summer melted into sticky sweat and entwined in others' arms.
An artificial city where the sun never set. Nagoya, Japan.
People vented their lust according to their divided statuses, and naturally, trees—ranking above Wood People—were among them.
It was an open secret that some World Trees frequented the place.
A faint drug scent wafted through the streets.
Booze, smokes, women, men.
The high-status revelers drowned in pleasure as if the world were ending.
-Tot, tot, tot.
A girl walked, baring her snowy thighs. The street parted like a whore's legs at her movement.
Neatly dressed Aori scanned around, arms crossed under her chest, walking with the two men beside her.
Murmurs rose around them.
Even here, there were big shots and newbies.
The fresh faces stirred up a buzz.
"This the place?"
Lee Siheon spoke, and Aori nodded.
"Your Majesty, you look cool."
"Cool or not."
Aori, with her designer's cert, handled clothes and makeup.
With her taste, it couldn't be bad.
The face mask hid his identity, so he could do anything—but falling to this pit?
Lee Siheon grimaced oddly. Sweat beaded under the mask.
"Bro, move it. We gotta grind now to hit the next country."
"......"
"Why the death glare?"
"...Nothing. But I don't speak Japanese."
"Plain guys who can't don't sell. Hot foreigners who can't? Overflowing demand."
'Is this king treatment?'
Anyone'd think he was a tricked slave being sold.
Lee Siheon wondered. If someone yelled these weren't his allies, he'd nod unwittingly.
"What, host? That's it?"
They pushed through the crowd. Pretty women occasionally brushed his shoulder slyly or winked.
Not getting it, he ignored them.
"Bro just got hit on."
"Huh? What?"
"Come on, hypnotize yourself. Whatever happens, I can take it."
They'd reached the deepest alley.
The crowd vanished; only three left.
A shabby door in the depths.
Obviously artifact-tough under the rundown facade.
Sun fiddled with the door's crack, tinkering, then opened it.
Aori gently pushed Lee Siheon's back.
"Explained already. Just go do your thing."
"Do what?"
"Sheesh, Your Majesty. Go in, close your eyes tight, and enjoy."
-Clunk. Thud.
A long staircase greeted him.
Neither Aori nor Sun said more after.
Figure it'd out yourself.
Brushing dust off his shoulders, he descended. A faint glow appeared soon.
A unique chemical scent hit his nose.
"Ah, you're here?"
A Korean woman welcomed him. She approached, spread her arms in awe at Lee Siheon.
"Whoa... Special S-grade. Nice. You got weird tastes. Agreeing to this."
"Pardon?"
"In you go."
She slipped him a black envelope slyly and shoved him into a room.
Lee Siheon frowned and entered.
-Creaaaak.
The metal door opened. The sight inside froze him solid.
"Uh."
Trees were inside.
Gnarled, wildly varied kinds.
He'd seen this scene somewhere before.
When was it?
"Ah."
The dungeon trap that kidnapped him, nearly turning him into a lifelong sex slave.
[Oh my~! Such a handsome friend?]
"Fuck."
Countless tendrils shot out, unable to hold back at the sight of him.
"That Sun bastard...!"
His voice faded, wrapped in tree roots.
That was when his encyclopedia began filling up nicely.