Chapter 050
< Disaster Flower >
50
From atop the Gorani’s back, I looked at the devastation covering the summit of Mount Yonaha.
Forests burning black, sky tinted red.
And the 섬뜩하리만치 (eerily) beautiful red flower blooming in the center as if it would swallow everything.
“Wow······ it's a spectacle.”
In the grayish world where only death and destruction remained, only that flower was burning life alone.
The appearance of it blooming more vividly and loftily by using everything around it as nutrient.
The incarnation of disaster that everyone feared.
But in my eyes, it was just a very flashy and pretty flower.
Flutter-flutter-
Rather, as I appeared, the flower seemed to welcome me by fluttering its red petals as if it were happy.
At least I could tell it didn't guard against me at all.
‘First, I should tidy the surroundings.’
My gaze headed toward the two Black Gargoyles sprawling around the flower.
They were fellows who luckily survived even after being hit by Japan's decision weapon Amenonuhoko and were recovering their wounds.
I could leave the processing to the Gorani, but.
‘I have the mask skill too.’
I recalled the magic I had tried to use the other day.
Although it was only at the level of a magic circle being created, the power I felt was immense.
I had stopped the magic in the middle, but the power felt was surely strong enough to not be compared with any magic I knew.
Looking around this place now, it seemed suitable to experiment with that magic.
[Meteor of Incomplete Annihilation]
Power amplified in proportion to the mask wearer's strength.
I flowed only a very small fraction of my Internal Energy into the mask.
In that instant.
Rumble-!
In the stratosphere, a giant magic circle large enough to swallow a whole city was drawn while burning red.
[The great magic, 'Meteor of Incomplete Annihilation', descends to destroy all evil things in the surroundings, except for the ‘protected targets’ designated by the magic caster.]
From the magic circle above the sky.
Gu-gu-gung! (Rumble!)
A giant roar loud enough to make the skin tremble echoed, and then a giant meteor revealed its form.
And soon that meteor began to plunge toward the ground with a fearsome momentum while enveloped in black flames, burning fiercely.
Cr-crack! Cr-cr-cr-crack!
Space was distorting around the meteor plunging toward the ground.
Black flames and a wave of mana emitting a mysterious power were extending from the meteor and encroaching all the surrounding space.
And.
BOOM!
The black flame meteor plunged into the ground while imbued with giant power.
K-RRRRR-ACK!
From the meteor that collided with the ground, a power like a storm burst out and covered the surroundings.
Whoosh! Fwaaaaa-!
Flames that spread like a wildfire were swallowing everything on the ground.
The sky was filled with light and heat.
The sky became bright as if a second sun had risen, and the earth seemed to melt.
A giant pillar of fire shot up toward the sky, and a mushroom cloud was created.
The powerful heat and shockwave swept several kilometers around, and the entire mountain shook as if an earthquake occurred.
The surrounding air distorted like a haze while flickering in the flames.
Inside that black flame landscape.
-KA-A-A-AK!
-KA-AK! KA-A-AK
The Black Gargoyles that were recovering were evaporating on the spot without even being able to resist once, without even leaving a trace.
In the place where they existed, only molten lava was bubbling.
Disaster-class monsters had vanished without even leaving ash in a single attack.
“KKIYOOOOOOOOOOT!”
Next to me, the Gorani hopped around excitedly as if it had seen a mysterious firework show.
I leisurely approached the red flower blooming in the center of the disaster.
Seeing it up close, it was even more beautiful.
Petals burning like living flames, golden leaves pulsing at the center.
“The real thing is even prettier.”
I gently grabbed the stem to harvest the flower.
-Thump.
As I lightly pulled the stem, an intense trembling spreading from the center of the flower was transmitted through my fingertips.
A living life.
No, something beyond that.
As I carefully focused my consciousness, the essential information of this flower began to surface.
[Item: Disaster Flower (재앙화)]
[Rank: Mythical]
[Description: A primordial flower that blooms by using the chaos of dimensions as nutrient. It destroys everything around it to grow its own power, but when it meets a master qualified to dominate it, it converts all that power of destruction into the power of creation and offers it.]
‘Qualified to dominate, huh.’
Would there have been anyone who plucked this flower in a way other than by force?
Everyone must have submitted to that overwhelming destructive power, or barely pressed it down with force.
But now, this flower does not reject me.
Dig, dig-
I took out the old hand hoe from my inventory and began to carefully dig the soil around the flower.
I cleared away the soil so the roots wouldn't be damaged.
-Slid-
Finally, I was able to take out the flower by grabbing the thick root that revealed its form in the soil and giving it a light pull.
The flower very obediently entrusted its fate to my hand.
“Kkiyot! Kkiyot!”
The Gorani next to me hopped around and rejoiced as if it were its own business upon seeing the flower harvested.
It seemed this sparkling flower was very much to its liking.
“But why do you like it so much?”
I approached to show the flower to the Gorani up close.
“Hmm?”
But it was strange.
I wondered if the Gorani would consider the flower as a snack, but instead, it was licking with its tongue "hal-jjak hal-jjak" while rubbing its face against the flower.
The feeling was not like it saw the flower as an object to be eaten as a snack or food, but like it wanted to spend time together in the same space.
“Heh, heh!”
Showing a satisfied smile at the sight of it liking the flower, I put the flower in my inventory.
‘It’ll surely be good if I plant it in the garden.’
My herb garden now was entirely full of food things like lettuce, potatoes, and carrots.
While practical, I occasionally thought it was a bit desolate.
Just as people who retire and return to farming cultivate a small flower bed on one side of the garden, I had thought it would be nice to have at least one pretty flower to plant for viewing.
“Muryong and Hasuo will also like it very much, won't they?”
I recalled the sight of them pouring saliva like a waterfall just by seeing the TV screen.
Perhaps if I bring this flower, they’ll surely be happy for a few days while circling around this flower without even looking at other snacks.
And even for Hasuo, who recently took an interest in drawing on the soil.
Since this flashy and mysterious flower will be a good subject.
‘Everyone will like it.’
Thinking that, I felt good on my own.
After putting the harvested flower in the inventory, I looked around.
‘Hmm?’
Far away.
Hunter Yu Jin-hyuk was staring at me with a dazed expression.
‘Hmm, he looks better than I thought.’
When I heard from Shin Seung-ah that Yu Jin-hyuk was participating in this Okinawa great Rift, honestly I was a bit worried.
I knew the injury had mostly healed with my crops, but it had been a long time since Yu Jin-hyuk participated in such a national disaster class Rift.
But seeing him now, as expected, Yu Jin-hyuk was Yu Jin-hyuk.
‘That’s a relief. Later when I go to Seoul, I should get an autograph. So-ye would like it.’
Since I obtained the Disaster Flower.
I climbed onto the Gorani’s back and leisurely left the place.
Because the herb garden family will be waiting.
* * *
Returning to the country house, I first planted the [Disaster Flower] in the garden.
It was the sunniest spot, right next to the [Ash Seedling].
Fwaaaa-
The Disaster Flower, as if its new home were to its liking, spread its red petals wide and emitted a pleasant wave.
The garden that had been full of only things to eat instantly turned like a bright flower bed.
-HMYOOOOOOOOO-T!
“KKIYOOOOOOOOOOT!”
Muryong and the Gorani literally went wild.
They didn't leave the vicinity of the planted flower and circled around all day while appreciating its flashy appearance.
-Hmyoot!
Muryong hopped around nearby, as if it liked the sweet energy flowing from the flower.
The Gorani’s reaction was even more intense.
With its giant frame, it began to turn "baeng-geul baeng-geul" (round and round) around the flower in excitement.
Then it would rest around the time it became dizzy and staggered.
“Pwa-aeng······.”
Hasuo was welcoming the flower more quietly than the two, very carefully.
Like a person appreciating a great work of art.
It tried hard to take in everything about the flower while tilting its head here and there.
“Ssssss······.”
When night fell, the White Snake also came to visit after hearing the news.
The giant White Snake flinched for a moment in the overwhelming energy emitted by the Disaster Flower and was on guard.
But soon, realizing there was no malice in that power, it quietly huddled its body by its side.
Staying by the side of a powerful and beautiful existence made many thoughts come to the White Snake.
Perhaps, a thought even came for a very brief moment that it might be able to be reborn as a better existence than now.
Deep night.
The garden where everyone was asleep and only silence had descended.
The Disaster Flower, which had been standing loftily while emitting light on its own, suddenly barced all its petals and shrunk.
Because in the darkness, a small shadow was waddling toward it.
-Hmyu.
It was Muryong.
The Disaster Flower felt it instinctively.
That that small and white existence was a primordial existence with a far-off and fundamental power incomparable to its own.
-······.
Muryong, as if the frozen appearance of the Disaster Flower were not even in its concerns, began to struggle and climb up the thick stem.
And then, it took a spot in the center of the largest and widest petal and huddled its body comfortably.
As if lying on a fluffy bed.
-Hmyoooooo······.
The Disaster Flower, feeling that far-off existence sleeping on top of its head, couldn't budge at all.
At the tips of its petals, dew formed from tension and then flowed down.
* * *
Japanese Prime Minister's Official Residence, emergency countermeasures meeting.
“······In conclusion, the report is that if it weren't for the unidentified helper, Okinawa would have been annihilated.”
The voice of the Cabinet Minister reporting was trembling.
On the conference room screen, the blurred back of a man was floating.
“That person······ really plucked the Disaster Flower?”
“Yes, Prime Minister. Even what our Amenonuhoko weapon couldn't block, he reportedly suppressed it in a single stroke.”
The Prime Minister asked.
“Identity?”
“Identification was impossible with the blurred video. However, he was riding a giant Gorani and holding what was estimated to be a hand hoe.”
Gorani and hand hoe.
With just those two terms, everyone in the conference room recalled one person.
“······Truly an amazing person.”
If it weren't for Gorani Man 12, Japan would have been swept into a terrible disaster.
He was a national benefactor.
They had to repay him, surely.
“By the way, is there no possibility that his identity is Muryong?”
Such a possibility was occasionally coming out.
On Hun-Tube (Hunter-Net), speculations that the two mysterious existences might be the same person were widespread.
At those words, the information analyst shook his head.
“The activity characteristics of the two existences are completely different. Muryong is a player close to focusing only on breaking shortest records inside the Tower. They have shown a tendency to not be greatly interested in external activities and to find it bothersome for others to know them. On the other hand, Gorani Man doesn't hesitate to sell his crops to other people, and above all, he has no hesitation in using overwhelming power in the real world. It's right to see the two individuals as having practically opposite personalities.”
Looking only until now, it was surely like that.
Muryong really seemed to have no great interest in world affairs.
They only had interest in new record breaking in the Tower.
Besides that, the most they did was occasionally uploading videos on Hun-Tube, and besides that, they thoroughly hid their identity.
An existence for whom it wasn't even certain if they were male or female, or even human.
On the other hand, Gorani Man 12 was active in activities in the modern world.
It was visible just by looking at Dang-geun-tap (Tower Market).
Essentially she wondered who the monster was who would sell such crops, but if it were the benefactor who possessed that monster-like strength revealed this time, the performance of those crops was also understandable to some extent.
“Judging by circumstances, Gorani Man 12 must be the one. The crop merchant of Korea, that Gorani Man······.”
The Cabinet Minister nodded as if agreeing.
“Hahaha. My daughter really likes that person's crops, I really didn't know we’d receive help like this. Well, we must express our gratitude somehow."
This great Rift almost left a painful history for Japan.
The nightmare of the ‘Kanto Great Sinking’ 20 years ago when the Tower first appeared, where they couldn't respond properly and lost a part of their national territory forever.
They almost repeated that terrible history.
No, an even worse disaster might have occurred.
If the Disaster Flower had fully bloomed, the aftermath would have put the entire Japanese archipelago in danger.
‘Gorani Man.’
He was exactly the national benefactor who saved Japan from unerasable historical trauma and the crisis of national extinction simultaneously.
“First, let's start with what we can do. Right now, re-examine every trade regulation against South Korea from the starting point. This is our first sincerity.”
Naturally, they had not even a tiny bit of intention to take credit from the benefactor with such a thing as lifting a few South Korean regulations.
The debt to Gorani Man-nim was naturally planned to be repaid separately.
This was just a tiny expression of sincerity.
With a feeling that we possess deep gratitude toward you.
“By the way, I wonder what our benefactor is doing right now? If it's someone with that much strength, he might be fighting a desperate battle in some dark place of the world we don't know.”
Of course, the Prime Minister couldn't know.
The fact that the benefactor right now is just quietly looking at flowers in his garden.
< Disaster Flower > END