Chapter 48
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Gathering in One Place
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People sat around a solid wood table.
Their expressions were universally grim.
“I hear the Hanbit Research Institute has fallen.”
“What in the world is going on? Our investments in Machine Lifeforms have turned to waste paper overnight.”
The people gathered were the investors who had been backing the Hanbit Research Institute.
“This is troublesome. That institute was also laundering money for us, and now it’s just gone.”
“Don’t you all worry. I’ve bought some good information from the Hunter Association.”
One man took out a map and spread it across the wooden table.
It was a map of the world beyond the Gate, showing everything that had been discovered so far.
“Here lies a new source of funds.”
He traced the contour lines of a forest region with his finger.
“A high-altitude mountain range. A snow-covered one, at that. I’ve obtained information that there’s a Mandragora habitat here.”
“A Mandragora habitat?”
“Yes. Mandragoras live in colonies of tens to hundreds. If we can just harvest them, it will be more than enough to cover our losses.”
The man who had spread the map grinned.
“I’ve already selected 150 A-rank Hunters to handle the job.”
“You’re out of touch with reality. If Mandragoras could be harvested that easily, do you think they’d be so rare?”
“Hear me out. Someone with an unprecedented ability has recently awakened. We’re going to use his power.”
The man spoke with a confident look on his face.
“A Teleportation user. An Awakened who can move objects has appeared.”
“Isn’t that a useless ability? It doesn’t work unless you’ve personally been to the location. The range is short. I heard it has too many other restrictions to be of any use.”
“That’s true. But the one who just awakened is different. He can move living creatures, and to a place he’s never been before.”
At the man’s words, the others looked intrigued.
“Of course, this one has a distance limit too. But his range is enormous. If he goes just a little way up the mountainside, his ability will reach the Mandragora habitat.”
“Wait. You said this user just awakened, right? Everyone’s F-rank in the beginning. There’s no way he can wield that kind of power. An F-rank would die just from crossing the Gate, let alone climbing a mountain.”
When first awakened, most couldn’t even properly sense mana.
It could take years of honing their power to raise their rank.
“Haha, we have an Awakened on our side who can amplify abilities, don’t we? We’ll use his power to draw out the kid’s potential.”
“And the target agreed to that? I heard that ability has severe side effects. If you amplify an F-rank’s power to that extent… won’t he die or become a vegetable?”
“That part’s not a problem either. The one who just awakened is from the slums.”
The man said with a smile.
“An orphan, even. A 17-year-old rookie. No one will care if he disappears without a trace. We’ve already taken care of it and secretly captured him.”
They would use a puppeteer-type Awakened to control his mind.
Then, they would amplify his ability to temporarily bring him to an A-rank awakened state.
Of course, his mana hole would shatter from the side effects once the job was done, but that was none of their concern.
If he was unlucky, his burned-up life force might extinguish the moment the amplification wore off, and he could die.
That, too, was none of their concern.
“If he’s a rare ability user, wouldn’t it be better to properly train him? Seems like a waste to use him as a disposable card.”
“Not a waste at all.”
The man shrugged.
“The majority of Awakened hit a wall at C-rank and stop growing, don’t they? At best, they reach C+. The ones with a bit of talent might get to B-rank. And for most, it takes over ten years to get there.”
If his growth stopped at the C-rank level, his unprecedented ability would be too inefficient to be useful, no matter how special.
“Rather than investing over ten years in an uncertain future, it’s better to snatch him up before anyone else knows, squeeze him dry for a sure thing, and then toss him aside.”
At those words, the others looked intrigued.
“I’ve already sent the Teleportation user and the Hunters beyond the Gate. All we have to do is sit back and wait for the results.”
“If you put it like that, I’m looking forward to it.”
The dark hands of Gold City.
They leaned back in their chairs, smiling with satisfaction.
***
Near the summit of the snowy mountain, it was time for the small Mandragoras to take their naps.
A large leaf rustled in the snowfield.
Soon after, the leader root pushed through the deep snow and poked its head out.
*Huuung…*
Plop. The root sat on the snow and looked down the mountain.
It couldn’t sleep, thinking of the benefactor’s aura it had sensed during the day.
It wanted to go meet him right away, but the distance was too great.
Even if it started down the mountain now, the journey would take more than ten years.
For a slow-moving Mandragora, just descending the mountain required that much time.
He was definitely somewhere in this area. But it couldn’t go to him. Frustrated by this, the root stomped its feet.
*Huuung…*
The root looked up at the clear sky. The day it parted with its benefactor flashed through its small mind.
***
Three days had passed since the young Cheon Doun disappeared through the Gate.
The root had returned to its old routine.
Hiding in the cliff crevice, creating fruit, eating it, and reabsorbing the mana.
Today, it had made and eaten three fruits. It was full. As it patted its belly with its rootlets, a sense of satiety washed over it.
But contrary to that, a part of its chest felt empty.
The root looked outside the crevice.
It saw a sky full of stars. A large moon was visible too. The sound of leaves rustling in the wind and insects chirping.
Nothing in the scenery had changed. But the most important thing had.
*Huuung…*
The benefactor’s form was no longer in sight. The benefactor’s voice could no longer be heard.
The root stomped its feet in loneliness. At that moment, a loud cracking sound came from somewhere in the distance.
*Huung?*
Outside the crevice, birds flew up all at once.
Monsters that sensed the landslide ran in a panic.
A thunderous roar echoed from the summit. The ground vibrated as a torrent of earth poured down.
*Hu, huuung!*
It was dangerous here. Sensing this, the root dashed out of the crevice.
Countless monsters were already running down the mountain. The root joined them.
Thanks to its good position, the root ran at the front of the pack.
*Hu, huung?*
It was definitely at the front. But monsters that had started behind it instantly zipped past the root.
The root, which had been running at the head, was now the last one. It felt a sense of urgency as it watched the backs of the distant monsters.
*Hu, huuung…!*
Soon, the root was running down the mountain all alone.
I have to run faster. This won’t do. I’ll be buried in the dirt and die.
*Huung… huung…!*
It was out of breath. It was exhausted. It wanted to lie down.
But it couldn’t rest with the wall of earth rushing toward it like a tidal wave.
*Huung, huung…!*
It’s okay. I’m fast. I’m very fast. It tried to hypnotize itself, but its speed didn’t improve.
The root looked back.
A giant wave of earth was right behind it.
The root’s eyes trembled. Fear, terror, anxiety. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before it died.
Just as it had that thought, it saw a small, horned monster leap down from a tree.
That’s it. I have to get on that.
The plan was good. The problem was whether it could get on the back of such a fast-moving monster.
*Hu, huuung!*
But it couldn’t afford not to try. The root slowly crawled onto a nearby rock.
Timing is crucial. On the count of three, I’ll jump on.
*Huuu… huuu… huuung!*
Now! The root jumped with all its might. Its target was the back of the squirrel-type monster.
The plan failed. The timing was off. The small monster zipped past the root in the blink of an eye.
The boarding attempt was a failure. But something else worked out.
The string, fluttering in the wind as it jumped, caught on the monster’s horn.
It was the same string Cheon Doun had tied to its leaf.
*Hu, huuung!*
The root’s body dangled in the air, swaying with the monster’s movements.
It could see the tidal wave of earth, which had been rushing toward it, grow more distant.
The root moved its leaf to grasp the string caught on the monster’s horn.
My giant benefactor. You protect me even after you’ve gone.
It now owed him its life twice. It had resolved to live on its own, but it wasn’t so easy.
*Huuung…*
I miss you. A bit of plant sap welled up in the root’s eyes.
***
The squirrel monster, having escaped the landslide and reached the forest, finally noticed.
It realized some plant was dangling from its horn.
So that’s why my head felt heavy.
It had been running in such a hurry that it hadn’t even noticed something like this had come along for the ride.
Secret technique: the head spin.
The squirrel shook its head violently, dislodging the string from its horn.
The root, still clutching the string, flew in an arc over the bushes.
*Huuung…!*
After its final flight, the root landed with a soft thud in a pile of fallen leaves.
Left all alone, the root looked around.
This was the place where, decades later, Cheon Doun would build his house. For now, it was just the middle of an empty forest.
Lost, the root was bewildered. It had no idea which direction its home mountain was in.
*Huuung!*
It called for its kin, but there was no answer.
This was a flat area. There was no way its kin, who lived in the high mountains, would be in a place like this.
I have to go up the mountain. To a high place. A place where demonic energy is dense. The root instinctively began walking toward the strongest source of demonic energy it could sense.
After many hardships, it arrived at a snowy mountain where a blizzard raged.
*Huuung!*
It called for its kin. It had been calling out nonstop since arriving in the high mountains.
*Huuu…?*
For the first time, it got a response. The root ran toward the sound.
Behind a snow-covered rock, two thumb-sized roots were huddled closely together.
*Huuu… Huu..!*
*Huuu!*
An adult. It’s an adult Mandragora. The small Mandragoras waddled over to the root.
Are there no others? The root looked around. There were only the two young ones.
Mandragora reproduction begins from the rootlets.
The fruit was a means for its own growth and had no seeds.
A rootlet is detached and buried in the ground, and if that root absorbs high-density demonic energy for several decades, a small life might awaken, though the chances were low.
Sometimes they reproduced intentionally, but at other times, it happened by chance from a fallen rootlet.
That was the case for the small roots before it.
Decades ago, these were rootlets dropped by Mandragoras that had lived here before moving on.
Two of them had sprouted.
The young ones, who had been relying on each other, were overjoyed at the appearance of an adult Mandragora.
They circled the large root, performing a dance of joy.
This instilled a sense of responsibility in the large root. It had to lead these little ones.
*Huung, huung!*
Follow me. We’re moving to a place to settle.
The root took the lead. The small ones followed behind it in a single file line.
*Huuung.*
*Huung!*
*Huuung.*
*Huung!*
They even walked in time with a chant. It was a signal, so that any other kin might hear and come.
The root stopped at a relatively flat area.
It was a place that overlooked the mountain’s spectacular scenery from below a cliff. The rippling demonic energy was also abundant.
*Huuung!*
This is our new home. The large root declared.
*Huung, huung!*
*Huuung!*
The young ones cheered. Amidst their cheers, the root looked down the mountain.
The journey from the forest to this place had taken fifteen years.
It was long. Long, but it had endured. The root caressed the white string tied to its stem with its leaf.
It knew it couldn’t have climbed this far without it. Thanks to this, it hadn’t been attacked by monsters.
The aura it once felt from the string was gone now, but it had been helped time and time again.
The root clutched the white string with its leaf.
It was a string it had kept for fifteen years. It would keep it for another fifteen. And when that time passed, it intended to keep it for another fifteen.
On and on. Even on the day its breath ran out and it returned to the earth, this string would be with it.
*Huuung.*
My benefactor. You protected me, so I will protect what you gave me.
The root thought as it gazed at the forest spread out below the mountain.
***
“How about it? Find anything?”
In front of the log cabin, Yu Beom asked as soon as Cheon Doun finished his mana scan.
Instead of answering, Cheon Doun looked at the snowy mountain in the distance. It was the same mountain from which he had first harvested a Mandragora.
“That’s strange. Why do I keep feeling my aura from that mountain?”
“Your aura?”
“It’s so faint I thought I was mistaken at first. But I’m sure. It’s my aura. To be precise…”
What should he call this feeling? Cheon Doun thought for a moment before speaking.
“It feels like my cocoon thread. I’ve never marked my territory on that mountain. But I keep sensing that feeling from over there.”
The Silk Thread Caterpillar’s thread that he had fashioned into a bracelet. The aura it held, strong enough to intimidate monsters, was no longer there.
What Cheon Doun was sensing wasn’t the aura, but the thread itself.
A resonance with the thread created from his own body.
‘Could it be the string I made for it… no. There’s no way it would still have it.’
It had been over sixty years. He didn’t think it could possibly have survived.
“It bothers me why my territory marker-like feeling is coming from there. I think I’ll check out the snowy mountain first as my initial search location.”
He was certain a Mandragora habitat was there, so he decided to make the snowy mountain his first search location.
“We’ll go too. It’ll be faster if we search from above.”
The siblings said, unfurling the wings on their backs.