Small World Tree (4)
It had always been like this.
The spear shaft, not yet fully refined.
HP drops below 97%.
HP drops below 93%.
Amid the endless onslaught of flames surging in with a colossal roar and crumbling walls, Hyun-soo shielded the spear shaft with his entire body, bearing the fire on his back.
Right now, Hyun-soo was protecting the spear that would soon be complete—even more than his own body.
As the flames tried to devour the spear shaft too.
Aegis slammed into the ground behind him, enduring the flames.
The Small World Tree's rage cannot be easily quelled!
If you fail to subdue it, everyone dies!
The Small World Tree's flames were scorching and wild.
Anyone in this situation would think of fleeing, dodging, finding a way to survive—not crafting.
But Hyun-soo knew this was the only way.
'It won't stop.'
His hands moved as if possessed, polishing the trimmed spear shaft.
Finally, he connected the spear shaft and spearhead.
Click.
Yes, this was why the spear could be completed.
Thanks to his unbreakable will to see it through.
Your fourth legend is written.
A ferocious power emanated from the spear.
Gripping the subtle blue-tinged spear, he passed beyond the shattered wall.
In that instant, the spear's effect flared.
In 30 seconds, the Small World Tree will unleash an explosion 10 times the power of the first.
The melody of gentle waves crashing against the earth.
Pan, the nobles, and all the knights fixed their eyes on Hyun-soo stepping forward.
Their faces were filled with fear.
And Pan noticed something peculiar about the spear in his hand.
Most spears had a single spearhead.
But this one had three.
He first read the character Hyun etched in the center of the three spearheads.
Then his gaze was drawn to the spear shaft.
Inscribed on it were the words:
'Trident...?'
He couldn't know.
He could only feel it.
The Small World Tree senses danger.
It unleashes raging flames on the one manifesting the threat.
Whirling flames erupt toward Hyun-soo.
It would burn him to ashes.
To dust.
In that moment, Hyun-soo slammed the spear down with all his might.
The gentle wave melody turned turbulent.
Raging Waves
A massive wave surged from behind him, blocking the flames rising from the Small World Tree.
Fire vs. Water—a battle of elements. Water prevails.
The tidal wave swallowed the spewing flames.
Hyun-soo advanced atop that colossal wave.
Your fourth legend began with inspiration from a single god.
Enraged by the failed attack, the Small World Tree spewed flames in all directions.
Fwoosh!
In that instant.
Hyun-soo swung the spear.
That god rules the seas and dwells in his world.
The name of the god known as one of the three absolute deities who commands the ocean.
Crash!
This time, massive waves poured from all directions.
The raging waves began filling the garden like a sewer in a downpour.
And Hyun-soo's eyes narrowed like a hawk's as he rode the waves.
The god of the sea, Neptune.
In truth, Hyun-soo had sensed it.
'You don't want this either, do you?'
The Small World Tree didn't desire their deaths.
It was the one who issued the sudden quest.
Yet it rampaged bizarrely.
Like the laws of nature.
Stimulated, it had to blaze; attacked, it had to rage.
Whether it willed it or not.
Massive explosion in 5 seconds.
Hyun-soo sensed it instinctively.
The moment that explosion hit, everyone here would die.
Fiery projectiles relentlessly hammered him as he surged forward on the waves.
Bang!
Boom!
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Even amid the countless blows and damage, Hyun-soo didn't stop.
And around his spear, five waves formed.
They collided and shattered in the sky above, infusing into Hyun-soo's spear.
Massive explosion in 4 seconds.
The Small World Tree glows red like a boiling kettle.
3 seconds...
Arriving first, Hyun-soo plunged the spear into the Small World Tree with all his strength.
In that instant.
The five waves infused in his spear.
2 seconds...
Those waves simultaneously engulfed the Small World Tree from five points.
Rumble!
1 second...
And finally.
The Small World Tree's rage calms.
Hyun-soo sighed in relief.
And in that relief, he knew what he had to do next.
The melody of waves returns.
The flames spewing from the Small World Tree were sucked back into it.
Conversely, the raging waves soon stilled.
The moment Hyun-soo pulled out the spear he held and slammed it down once more.
Water began filling the space, like pouring into a fish tank.
As the water rose, he felt the World Tree's pull drawing him in.
Finally, a permanent sea formed centered on the Small World Tree.
Splash!
Hyun-soo felt it.
The Small World Tree's branches seemed to sway invisibly.
As if saying thanks—but Hyun-soo sensed something entirely different.
Not gratitude for saving it from withering, but for something else.
And at last, the garden began to transform.
The Small World Tree revives.
Now, the sea covered up to the center of the Small World Tree.
Naturally, the nobles, knights, and Pan bobbed on the water. But it receded rapidly.
As the water drained, earth formed around the Small World Tree.
Then, thousands of stems shot out exponentially.
In just 10 seconds, those stems sprouted from seeds, took shape, grew, and formed a complete forest.
The Small World Tree regains its complete form.
The fully restored Small World Tree. With the water gone, everyone now stood in the garden.
Pan looked around.
Half the garden was sea.
The other half formed an island centered on the Small World Tree.
What surprised Hyun-soo most was this.
The Small World Tree bears the world's most special fruit.
You can check representative fruits.
Pan was entranced by the luster.
Among the countless fruits hanging from the vast Small World Tree.
One shaped like rice stalks.
The moment he saw it—with only ten grains—he collapsed to his knees.
◈ Sow the grains in any barren land, and bountiful crops will grow.
Pan had denied it.
The legendary fruit Ben had spoken of.
Then, Hyun-soo, watching him, spoke.
"The Ben I saw is this kind of man."
Pan met his eyes.
Hyun-soo smiled faintly as he continued.
Words at odds with their image of Ben.
"One who cares only for his people."
A cranky, harsh temperament.
"For his."
Suspicions of dementia.
"People."
An old man lost in memories and delusions.
"That's what His Highness Ben is."
"......"
The nobles and knights there were speechless.
They'd thought him a king trapped in memories and delusions.
Yet this grain would now ease his people's hunger.
"Kuh huh huh huh huh."
Many nobles and knights there wept bitterly.
For the sin of defying the king's will and trying to destroy the Small World Tree.
For deeming him demented.
They resolved to accept all those sins willingly.
And then Ben stepped forward.
No explanation was needed.
Having heard everything from outside, Ben took in his unworthy vassals.
"You damned fools."
But that was the end.
No threats of execution, beheading, or exterminating their clans. Of course, they would accept their punishments sweetly, but they were ultimately objects of his love and hate.
And Hyun-soo felt his heart pounding.
A brilliant light gathered from the Small World Tree.
Sudden Quest: Small World Tree's Rage
🎉 Achievement: Subdued the rage and revived the Small World Tree.
🏆 Miraculous Completion: Astonishing results.
From the radiant light, a material resembling firewood descended before Hyun-soo.
◈ The most precious 1% material from the Small World Tree.
Originally set to yield mid-grade Small World Tree.
But it upgraded to supreme.
Ben muttered beside him.
"I can't understand it. The Small World Tree is just a tree. Chop it for materials, wait for recovery, repeat."
Even Ben had never seen this.
"Yet now, it offers its own material."
Hyun-soo knew the truth.
Earlier, the Small World Tree seemed thankful.
Not for its own salvation from withering.
"The Small World Tree seems to cherish Your Highness too."
"......"
Ben was speechless.
Of course, it might just be abstract.
Vast leaves rustle in the wind, as if answering.
Suddenly, memories from age 17 to now flashed by.
Never once parted from the Small World Tree after bringing it.
Sometimes sleeping beside it, watering it.
Sometimes confiding worries he couldn't share with vassals.
Yes.
The old man and the tree cherished each other.
And Hyun-soo...
'Am I some tragic male lead now?'
You know the type?
The protagonist who faints at every turn from some illness.
Come to think of it, Hyun-soo hadn't slept a wink in three days forging the spear.
And the endless tension fighting the Small World Tree added mental exhaustion.
Hyun-soo's vision spun.
"...I'll get some rest."
Ben watched Hyun-soo collapse.
Pan, approaching, watched.
Nobles walking over, knights supporting him, gazed at his sleeping face.
All with expressions utterly different from before.
And as Hyun-soo sank into the abyss, he recalled a notification forgotten in his focus.
'What was that...?'
It came after forging the fourth legend artifact.
You approach a special name.
With that, he fell fully asleep.
Special User Management Team.
Kim Tae-seok and employee Lee Ji-hee.
The two stared in shock at the fainted Hyun-soo.
This notification floated before them.
User Hyun-soo approaches a special name.
Upon forging six legends total, he qualifies to claim it.
A special name.
It was far too sublime and beautiful.
Not chosen by others—earned solely by one's own power.
Tae-seok gave a wry smile.
Worldwide, 11 received this alert.
Of those 11 users, only 3 actually claimed the name.
On the Asgan server—Korean server—there were the Ten Legends.
These Ten Legends had long represented the continent.
Sword King Barad.
Spear Heaven Ben.
Grand Mage Ruwon.
Absolute Shield Peya.
Divine Archer Vaneka...
And so on.
Countless names. Some seats vacant.
"First."
Kim Tae-seok muttered in disbelief.
"The world's first non-combat class approaching the Ten Legends."
The Ten Legends differed from legend classes.
They signified those with the ultimate power currently.
Many legend class users couldn't even touch their toes.
Suddenly, Ji-hee wondered.
"What name will Hyun get?"
Tae-seok's thought was brief.
"Ten Legends. Master Craftsman Hyun."
The name to be etched upon him in the future.