The Fruit of the World Tree

If the Empire learned of this and joined the fight for the labyrinth, a catastrophe would unfold.

Anyway.

I need to prepare.

Giving us a full ten days before entry was their way of saying we should finish every last preparation before stepping inside. It also meant we were to fill our stores with the Broken Fragments of the Golden Rule required for exploring the labyrinth.

I have more than enough fragments.

I alone possessed enough for nearly a thousand hours of use, so that part was no concern.

The one thing that still weighed on me was the matter of a party.

Isaac and Isabella.

Both of them owned Broken Fragments of the Golden Rule—ones they had earned while clearing trials at my side. Mere dozens of hours, true, but they would clearly help in the early stages.

I would need to properly train their stats over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the remaining time, and raise my own skill proficiency as well.

No time to put off the rewards.

The Abyss Labyrinth demanded that I pour everything I had into it.

I immediately drew a golden fruit from my coat.

A gift the radiant Hero's Constellation had given me as a reward. A kind of elixir.

But my body no longer responded to ordinary elixirs. With so many talents and traits already packed into me, swallowing another elixir simply could not make me any stronger.

This fruit is different.

This one, however, was different. So different it was almost dangerous.

I had hesitated because it looked risky, but I no longer had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the luxury of hesitation.

Without a second thought, I tossed the fruit into my mouth.

In that instant—

Gurgle. Gurgle-gurgle!

My stomach churned like mad, and an unimaginable agony swept through my entire body.

"……!"

I bit down on my lip and clamped a hand over my mouth. If I opened it even a fraction, I was certain I would vomit the fruit straight back out.

A rejection response beyond anything I had imagined. Even after becoming a Player, I had never felt pain like this.

I seized my own throat with both hands. The fruit kept thrashing against my gullet as if determined to force its way back up. Before I knew it I was thrashing on the floor.

My whole body burned red-hot, and my consciousness drifted farther and farther away.

Insane……!

Regret surged in like a flood, but once I had started, I could not stop.

Just as my mind was about to slip under—

The Demon Realm.

Seated upon the throne at its farthest end, the Demon King looked down at his own body.

This body…… is perfect.

The Demon King was in the process of claiming Wilhelm's body and making it wholly his own. The stronger his dominion grew, the more he could not help but marvel.

A body tempered to the absolute limit. Though the star that had been bound to this flesh along with its life had been stripped away, the experience of transcending every limit still remained etched into the body itself.

In all the long ages the Demon King had lived, he had never seen a vessel so complete.

The Goddess's meddling had killed the body, so it could grow no further—but it was enough. If he could make it fully his own, he would become several times stronger than before.

"The Abyss Labyrinth has opened, my King."

The seven resurrected rulers of the strata knelt before the Demon King. At their words, he stroked his chin with interest.

"So the wraiths of the Abyss have finally begun to crawl out."

"Will you simply watch, my King?"

"As if I would."

The Demon King smiled faintly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and clapped his hands once. From the darkness, a woman stepped into view.

The rulers of the strata could not hide their shock at the sight of her.

"Is that……?"

"Isn't she the Goddess Sect's vile pawn?"

The Demon King nodded, then turned his gaze upon the woman and spoke.

"You know what you must do, Saintess Seia."

"Yes."

Saintess Seia, who had sacrificed herself during the Great Expedition to protect her comrades. She had not died.

More precisely, she had not been allowed to die. Instead, every last shred of her will had been erased, leaving only a doll.

The Demon King's smile deepened.

Despair of everything you once called hope, you humans.

How fiercely had I thrashed against the pain?

Only after beating back the temptation to log out nearly a hundred times did the agony finally begin to subside. I had known, instinctively, that fleeing through logout would deal a catastrophic blow to the absorption rate.

"Are you conscious?"

"……Hudson."

When I opened my eyes, I was in a bedroom. Hudson sat at my side. He let out a long breath of relief, then fixed me with a look of utter seriousness.

"Why didn't you log out?"

Hudson had already figured out that I was a Player—from the moment I had brought him the Supreme Elixir. He was a Player himself, so of course he could tell. And once he knew the name Randolph as well, it would have been stranger if he hadn't put it together.

I shook my head clear and pushed myself up.

"How long has it been?"

"Two days. You never logged out once in all that time. Did you, by any chance, take some kind of special elixir?"

"I did."

The Fruit of the World Tree. To push its absorption rate to the absolute maximum, I had gone two full days without logging out—gritting my teeth through pain that never stopped.

Hudson shook his head slowly.

"Most Players log out in a situation like that. There isn't a Player alive who can stubbornly endure two days of that kind of agony."

That was news to me.

Elixirs. Medicines of miraculous efficacy. Most of them brought pain when consumed, and the average Player, unable to bear it, simply logged out.

But after enduring it myself, I was no longer sure logging out was the wise choice.

"I stayed at your side in case something went wrong. Priest Andrew has been standing by outside the whole time as well, of course…… but please, never do anything that foolish again."

"I can't promise that."

"You're saying you'd do it again?"

"If you log out after taking an elixir, the absorption rate drops."

I was certain of it. Logging out lowered the absorption rate. Only by enduring the pain completely and absorbing everything would you receive the full effect.

"It's only about a one-percent difference."

"One percent is large."

"……."

Hudson lost his words and stared at me as if wondering what kind of human being I even was. Was there anyone else who would put themselves through two days of living hell just to squeeze out another single percent?

Probably not.

But those single percents, stacked one atop another, were what had made Wilhelm. I knew that better than anyone, so I would not give up.

After a moment's thought, Hudson seemed to reach a decision and spoke with sudden force.

"Lord Randolph. Are you taking proper care of your body in the real world?"

"Enough that I won't die, more or less……."

"……You call two days without logging out 'more or less'?"

"Ever since I became a Player, my real body has grown strangely tough as well."

"That's the placebo effect. A Player's real body is no different from an ordinary person's."

The placebo effect—believing a fake is real until it produces real results. Players who gained the bodies of mighty warriors tended to believe their real-world bodies had grown stronger too.

But reality was different. Hudson understood the gulf between Pangenia and the real world better than anyone.

Except in my case, it's true.

Placebo or not, my real body had unmistakably grown stronger. Muscle appeared without exercise; my strength was enough to lift a person clean off the ground. I could even go two or three days without water and still manage.

It was nowhere near Randolph's level, but it far surpassed any ordinary human standard.

Were other Players really different?

"You're aware the Abyss Labyrinth opens in seven days?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"I am."

"The Players are in an uproar. Across the transdimensional communities and…… according to my personal sources, it doesn't seem as though only Players will be participating."

"If not only Players, then who else is joining?"

"The Goddess Sect and the Earth God Sect have been talking nonstop about the Abyss Labyrinth ever since the announcement appeared."

"Hm."

My mind snapped fully awake. The Goddess Sect and the Earth God Sect—the two largest powers on the continent—were saying the same thing. It would take no time at all for everyone on the continent to know.

Perhaps they already did.

And if it wasn't only Players, but the powerhouses of Pangenia pouring in as well?

It'll be a living hell.

This was not going to be easy.

I didn't bother asking about the entry requirement—the Broken Fragments of the Golden Rule. Even the monsters of Kramdel had possessed them. And unlike the people of Pangenia, Players had restrictions. Hudson put his finger on that exact point.

"It looks as though this will turn into a long campaign. Logging out resets your position, so you'll need someone to look after your real body separately."

"That makes sense."

There was no telling how long it would take to clear the labyrinth. If a free-for-all broke out, the time sink would only grow worse. Walking in lightly would cost us dearly.

Above all, even with nearly a thousand hours' worth of Broken Fragments of the Golden Rule, logging out to tend to my real body would reset my position inside the labyrinth. However tough my real body had become, it was not superhuman enough to be left unattended for dozens of days.

And the same would be true for every other Player.

"If you don't have anyone to look after you, come to England."

"England?"

"Of course, I know Phantom accepts help from no one…… but if you come to England, I can assist you securely and discreetly."

Even as he spoke, Hudson shook his head inwardly. He knew Randolph was Phantom—but that was all. Not a single person knew who Phantom was in the real world. Absolute secrecy. There was no way a man like that would break that mystique for the likes of him.

"All right."

"I knew it would be difficul— wait, what?! Ghk—! Cough!"

The answer he had never imagined sent Hudson into a fit of coughing. He looked as though he could not tell dream from waking.

Hudson is trustworthy enough.

He was the man Serengeti had chosen. When it came to reading people, she was better than I was. On top of that, Hudson's status window was visible to me—the first time another person's status window had ever appeared since I became a Player. That alone was reason enough to trust him.

"Where in England should I go?"

"I'll go myself and— no, that won't work. Your nationality and name? I'll have everything arranged as quickly as possible."

How much did a plane ticket to England cost, anyway? Hudson had said he was born into a well-off family, but even economy seats ran into the millions of won. I felt as though I was only imposing.

"I'll get there on my own."

"No, absolutely not! This is something I ought to do. Please let me handle it!"

"If you insist that much, fine."

When someone was that determined to take responsibility, keeping up the refusal would only be rude. The moment I gave him my nationality and name, Hudson bolted from the room.

"Just—just wait a moment, please!"

……It felt as though a typhoon had just blown through.

Only after Hudson left the room could I calmly examine the changes.

First, every pure attribute had risen by one. A change the Fruit of the World Tree had never listed.

The high absorption rate must have raised the stats as well.

Attributes climbing even after they had already been maxed out. No ordinary elixir could manage that.

Agility almost at ninety.

Dominating Maxim earlier had already raised my Agility by one, and with Shatyros's Terror on top of that, Agility sat highest of all.

Agility 89. Senses and reflexes pushed to a ridiculous degree. Once Agility crossed one hundred, a sixth sense awakened—allowing counterattacks against surprise assaults.

But more important than the attribute changes was the evolution of talents and Hidden Traits.

The four elements have changed.

The simple Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind now carried the word Origin.

Origin. The beginning from which all things arise.

What had actually changed?

I looked at the candle burning beside me. When I held my hand above the still-burning flame—

Oh.

The fire climbed my hand and coiled around it as if it were magic. A wondrous sight. But it was not hot.

Only then did I understand what the name Origin meant.

Elemental resistance has risen dramatically.

The Giant's Magic Resistance only blocked damage dealt by mana. It had never let me walk through searing flames. Now, apparently, it could.

At this level, I could shrug off most elemental attacks. After all, certain element-specialized classes had their mana renamed entirely to "Elemental Power."