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# Prologue
“Success and happiness are not proportional.”
That’s right. Success and happiness are not proportional.
I’m no exception.
The three major guilds that support South Korea’s Hunter community each possess an S-rank Hunter.
The “Sword Saint” of the Taesan Guild.
The “Witch of the North Sea” of the Heukhae Guild.
The “Archdruid” of the Gangrim Guild.
Beings who exist as walking natural disasters, transcending the laws of nature.
I am the S-rank Hunter known as the “Archdruid.”
A life where I could hold mountains of money in my hands, a life where everyone praised me as a “successful person” and
a “hero.”
But I wasn’t happy.
“Hyung, Taejun!”
Whoosh-!
When I opened my eyes through the exhaustion, a red dragon lured in by my guild members was diving toward me, its claws
glinting.
An A-rank magical beast, a Red Wyvern.
Its claws could easily tear through steel, and its scales were tough enough to deflect most attacks with ease.
But I mechanically extended my hand toward the Red Wyvern.
Whoosh-!
The blue-green mana pouring from my body traced complex circuits, forming a single miracle.
[Forest Waves (A) has been activated.]
The surroundings happened to be a forest, and the trees that absorbed my mana transformed into countless waves,
restraining the dragon.
Kieeeek!
The dragon struggled against the net of trees that bound it.
But it was useless. The trees infused with my mana immediately regenerated whenever they were destroyed.
In the end, there was only one option left for the dragon in such a situation.
Fwoosh-!
“Hyung!”
“I know.”
The moment flames began to rise from the dragon’s mouth, I answered Chanseong’s shout and rose to my feet.
[Great Transformation (S) has been activated.]
My field of vision rose unnaturally high as a tail, wings, and scales, organs unfamiliar to humans, emerged.
I shed my human form and became a dragon.
!!
The wyvern let out a cry of shock at my sudden transformation, but my mouth had already begun gathering breath.
Fwoosh-!!
The cone-shaped freezing breath struck the Red Wyvern directly in the head.
“Okay! Breath canceled!”
“Beat the shit out of it!”
The guild members charged toward the Red Wyvern, which was unable to regain its senses with its snout frozen.
Meanwhile, I returned to my human form and shook my hands.
The scales of the Blue Wyvern, which had been reduced to powder as the price of using Great Transformation, fell around
me. But it was fine. I had plenty of scales anyway.
And since I had canceled its most troublesome breath, all that remained was to leave the rest to the guild members.
I closed my eyes as the exhaustion began to rise again.
When I closed my eyes, memories surfaced.
—Hush-a-bye, my daddy. Little chick, don’t cry. You might wake my daddy up…
I had lost my wife in an attack by a monster that emerged from a Gate, and I had thrown myself into work to fill the
emptiness she left behind.
I knew very well that my daughter secretly felt intimidated by a father who was always buried in work, a father whose
face she barely got to see.
I might have been a good Hunter, but I wasn’t a good father.
Yet even for such a pathetic father, my daughter’s hand gently patting my head because I was still her dad was warm.
It was filled with love.
That was when I realized.
I had become consumed by revenge for my wife while neglecting the daughter who was right beside me.
“What a worthless bastard.”
On a night when the full moon shone brightly.
I patted the head of my daughter, who had fallen asleep while patting mine, and made the same promise over and over.
—I know it’s already very late, but from now on, Daddy will work really hard for our Ye-eun. I really will… I’ll work
very, very hard.
That day, I swallowed my tears and made that promise to you.
As one of the only three S-rank Hunters in South Korea, I had enough wealth and fame. I intended to give you anything
you wanted.
But why was the world so cruel…
—She has a blocked mana pathway.
—What?
—Usually, even if someone has a blocked mana pathway, only one area is affected… But all nine of your daughter’s major
mana pathways are completely blocked.
—Th-then, what can we do…
—I’m sorry.
Because of my indifference, my daughter’s condition was impossible to recover from unless a miracle occurred.
But I couldn’t give up. I had no right to give up.
A father who had been so consumed by revenge that he didn’t even know his only daughter was dying had no place for
surrender.
I mobilized everything I had: my position as an S-rank Hunter, my connections, my wealth, and the Archdruid’s abilities,
searching for a way.
If a miracle was necessary…
Then I wished for an existence capable of creating one.
“The World Tree.”
The existence of the World Tree had already been proven through roots, branches, and seeds discovered in dungeons.
I intended to awaken that seed after completing this dungeon, which would be my last.
“Hyung!”
“Yeah.”
I accepted the wyvern’s heart from Chanseong’s hand. With this, I had hunted wyverns of every attribute.
I was filled with hope that I could save my daughter with this.
But what awaited me was nothing but despair.
Whooshhh—
…Rain poured down.
Just as when I had lost my wife, a mournful wail echoed through the air as the sky wept.
Chanseong’s eyes reddened as he cried out in anguish.
“Fuck! What the hell did Ye-eun ever do wrong…”
“…”
“Hyung! Say something, too! Curse that bastard for being an A-rank Healer! Ask how he couldn’t even treat one child…”
How could I say that to you when you were clinging to my chest and crying?
I knew how you had devoted yourself to her treatment, an A-rank Healer with abilities possessed by only a handful of
people worldwide, even sacrificing every bit of free time you had.
“You… You did your best…”
“No! I should have… I should have done better… Hyung, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry!”
“You did nothing wrong.”
“Waaaaah!”
I mechanically patted Chanseong as he cried like a child, staring blankly at my daughter’s memorial photograph.
So that was how she smiled.
Her smile looked exactly like her mother’s…
My daughter was so beautiful, and it was so heartbreaking…
The ground collapsed beneath me.
Crash-!
Ah…
Perhaps it was the world collapsing.
“Hyung! Hyung!”
“Are you okay!?”
“Someone call 119!”
Amid the shouts coming from all around me, I closed my eyes.
Why did regret always arrive so late…
“If only I had paid a little more attention. If only I had listened to my daughter a little more.”
Were you still smiling?
I closed my eyes to hear your singing voice.
—Hush-a-bye, my daddy. Little chick, don’t cry. You might wake my daddy up…
Because I had my daughter, I had managed to breathe, however painfully, even in a world that had already collapsed once.
But now that you were gone, what was I supposed to do?
My world had broken apart twice, and now not even a single blade of grass remained…
Whooshhh—
As my consciousness began to fade,
I clutched the World Tree’s seed, which I had taken from my inventory, and prayed again and again.
“Please… Let me see my daughter again.”
What use were wealth and fame if you weren’t there? If I could meet you again, I didn’t need any of it.
You had been my entire world and my final pillar.
So, God, please…
“Give my daughter back to me.”
With the cold sensation of the floor beneath me, the sound of rain, and your lullaby filling the air, I curled up and
prayed desperately.
Before I knew it, the voices around me grew distant, and my vision turned white.
And when I came to my senses, I was…
“Where is this…”
I blinked blankly.
Instead of the cold floor of the funeral hall, a soft play mat supported me, while sunlight streaming through the window
warmly illuminated the house.
The newlywed photograph on the table.
The marks on the wall where my wife had recorded Ye-eun’s growth with a marker.
Everything told me where I was.
The old house I had eventually fled from, unable to bear the emptiness left by my wife.
“Ahhh…”
As I engraved every detail into my eyes, afraid I might forget even one of them, my body trembled with a chilling sense
of loss.
Even if I returned to this house, there was no one left who would welcome me here.
Overwhelmed by that unbearable emptiness, I quietly curled up.
The warmth of this illusion only made the pain worse.
Was this a punishment?
A punishment inflicted upon a foolish human who had lost someone through his own mistakes and was now begging to have
her returned.
But it didn’t take long for me to realize that wasn’t the case.
“Daddy…?”
!!
You were there.
You, wearing chick-patterned pajamas, rubbing your eyes as you came out, then widening them when you saw me curled up on
the floor.
The child asked,
“What are you doing there?”
“Ahhh…”
Although I had no strength in my arms or legs, my heart ran toward you faster than ever before.
Half crawling, I embraced you.
Because I was afraid you would disappear.
Because I desperately begged you not to disappear.
And as I listened to the sound of your heartbeat and felt your warmth, I burst into tears.
The child widened her eyes in surprise at my appearance, but soon began patting my head, just as she had that night.
“Why are you cwying…”
“Daddy… Daddy is so sorry to Ye-eun. I love you so much, and I haven’t done anything for you…”
I sobbed and apologized.
For not having done anything for you.
For wanting to spend more time with you and give you more, but failing to do so.
“I’m so sow…”
Hug.
“Ye-eun loves Daddy, too. So, shh, don’t cry. Ye-eun is right here. Daddy, don’t cwy.”
The child hugged me tightly, her own voice trembling with tears by the end.
I held her even more tightly.
The warmth in my arms and your vivid voice were telling me that all of this was real.
“…Yeah. Daddy… won’t cry.”
And I made a promise.
“Daddy will live for Ye-eun.”
The message that appeared before my eyes told me that it was possible.
[You have received the blessing of the World Tree, becoming the first person in the world to do so!]
[You have inherited the soul records of the Hunter, Na Taejun!]
A dazzling array of skills soon unfolded before my eyes.
[Archdruid (Ex)]
[Great Transformation (S)]
[Forest Waves (A)]
:
[Natural Fragrance (C)]
“Daddy smells nice. It feels like we came to the forest…”
I stroked the child’s head as she purred like a cat in my arms, then closed my eyes.
My happiness.
My world.
I will never let go of this hand.