Rapid Growth
Just as my mana had transformed into holy power the moment I obtained the Star's Successor class.
It meant even variables like that were already accounted for.
Excellent.
My thumb rose of its own accord. Pangenia was a place drowning in variables — a game whose entire purpose was to overcome them. Naturally, sealing off even one of those variables was nothing short of outstanding.
High Druid's Great Nature.
The Hidden Trait Druid's Affinity with Nature had evolved into High Druid's Great Nature. It had advanced, yet I still couldn't feel the difference. Was it simply a trait specialized for spirits, or had some other function been added the way Eternal Lord's Heart had erased the dungeon's conditions?
I'll have to experience it for myself.
Still, there was something I could check right away.
…What kind of skill is this?
A single skill had appeared. The skill that manifested after I ate the World Tree's fruit was none other than—
Rapid Growth (Lv.1)
…Rapid Growth.
No proper description. After a moment's thought, I used it on myself.
Not a suitable target for the skill.
Apparently it wasn't meant for a living body. What about the flower in the pot, then?
Miragia begins Rapid Growth.
Miragia. A flower nobles in Pangenia often cultivated as an ornamental plant sat on the windowsill of this very room. The moment I cast Rapid Growth on it, the skill took hold.
What kind of change would follow? Would it grow at breakneck speed and then simply die?
"Hmm…?"
It was nothing like what I'd expected.
Crack!
Snap—!
The flower's roots exploded into frenzied growth, shattered the pot, and began slithering up the window frame and across the room.
"W-what on earth is happ— huff?!"
"…!!"
Drawn by the commotion, Isaac and Isabella burst in, took one look at the room, and froze in horror. Tentacle-like roots had completely filled the chamber.
Beep—
Beep-beep—
In a sterile hospital room, a man opened his eyes. His pupils dilated wide. He tore the respirator from his mouth and sat up in a single motion.
"Y-Young Master! You mustn't rise so suddenly—!"
An elderly man rushed out of the monitoring station and tried to restrain him.
"Young Master Oliver. You must rest. Getting this agitated is terrible for your heart."
But the man called Oliver paid him no mind.
"A great personage is coming to visit me. Do I look like someone who can stay calm?"
"Pardon? W-what do you mean by that?"
"Melson. Go to Korea and attend to him. Not a single blemish will be tolerated — he must reach this place in complete comfort. That is why you must go yourself."
Melson's eyes trembled. He had never in his life seen Oliver this excited. Born frail, Oliver had never shown the slightest interest in other people's affairs. He had been a man who looked upon the world with detached resignation, someone who found even living itself a burden.
And now he was speaking of a "great personage."
That isn't language one uses between people…
…It was the attitude one reserved for a god.
Phantom. No — Mr. Park Hyunmyung?
Everyone was staring at me with eyes wide enough to fall out of their sockets. I tilted my head for a moment, and—
"Uh…!"
Isaac's mouth opened even wider. Only then did I realize they weren't looking at me, but at something behind me.
I slowly turned around.
Oh-ho.
One of the roots was mimicking my every movement. When I shifted my hand left, the root moved left. The same for the right. It kept it up for roughly thirty seconds, then withered at high speed.
"W-what was that just now?"
"A skill I just acquired."
"A skill…?"
What kind of skill was that bizarre? Growing roots and moving them at will — even a High Druid, Guardian of the Forest, couldn't pull off a stunt like that.
I stroked my chin, looked at the withered root, and reached a conclusion.
"I'll need to run some experiments."
Rapid Growth proved far more efficient on seeds than on already-grown plants. They germinated in an instant, put down roots, moved for about two minutes, then shriveled dry.
I could use this as a trap.
I considered the skill's applications. Growing plants to fruit and selling them might help the household budget, but the growth force didn't last long enough for that. It only grew roots and let them move — which made it reasonably suited for traps or snaring ankles.
Once the skill level rises, its versatility will expand.
It was still only Level 1. Who knew — at Level 10, I might be able to grow trees the size of the World Tree itself.
I could use it like a wood-mage's Entangle, or create obstacles…
Entangle — a skill that raised small roots to catch ankles. Size could be adjusted as needed, and while it required scattering seeds in advance, there was no limit on uses so long as the seeds held out. Beyond that, it could build obstacles or stack walls. It looked useful in any number of ways for the coming Abyss Labyrinth.
Seeds were more efficient than grown plants. Then among seeds, some will work even better than others.
The relentless pursuit of extreme efficiency was practically a racial trait of Koreans, and I was no exception. I swept every plant seed from the lord's castle warehouse and began testing them one by one.
Arriving at Gimpo Airport, Melson slowly surveyed his surroundings.
Korea. It has developed a great deal.
Long ago, Melson had visited Korea — back when the country was still developing. Compared to then, almost everything had changed. Hard to believe this was the same nation that had lived under constant Cold War tension. An airport of this scale in a place that once struggled to get a single plane off the ground. The faces of the people overflowed with a quiet ease.
The person Young Master Oliver spoke of is here.
Honestly, he still half-doubted it. Oliver shunned outsiders to an extreme degree. A man who barely even maintained contact with his own family was now actively seeking someone out. From Melson's perspective it was a welcome development — but he had zero information on the person he was supposed to meet. All he knew was that the man was Korean, and his name.
— Mr. Park Hyunmyung.
He stood holding a sign with that name written on it. Anyone who knew Melson would have been stunned. But Melson didn't care. He had come in secret, and no one in Korea would recognize him anyway. More importantly, it was Young Master Oliver's earnest request. Wherever the place, he would carry it out gladly.
How much time passed like that?
"It's Gracia!"
"Gracia! Just one word, please!"
"Are you leaving Korea?"
Suddenly the exterior erupted into noise. Surrounded by a throng of reporters, someone was entering the airport terminal.
Gracia.
The strongest Dimension Warrior currently staying in Korea — and he had come to the airport to leave the country.
The moment I arrived at the airport, camera flashes exploded and the whole place turned chaotic.
Gracia.
The source of the uproar. The instant I saw the man at its center, I knew who he was. The media covered him endlessly, but more than that, I recognized him on instinct.
Of all the days…
Of course it would coincide with Gracia's departure. And among the reporters, I thought I caught a glimpse of Kim Hana as well. I pulled my hat down as far as it would go and quietly slipped past.
Just as I had recognized him, he might recognize me.
After walking a good distance inside, I found an elderly man holding a sign with my name on it. White hair, the quiet bearing of a British gentleman.
"I'm Park Hyunmyung."
"Might I ask whose invitation you received?"
The old gentleman spoke Korean fluently.
"Oliver."
At that answer, the gentleman's face lit up with a bright smile.
"I am Melson, butler to Young Master Oliver. Please follow me at your ease."
Folding the sign, Melson took the lead — as if there wasn't a second to waste. He skipped every line and every procedure and headed straight somewhere. When we entered a building marked "SGBAC," the staff bowed at a perfect ninety degrees and greeted Melson with radiant smiles. Then they looked at me and tilted their heads.
"And this gentleman is…?"
"He will be traveling with me."
"Ah! My apologies. We'll process him at once."
A single word from Melson flipped their gazes and attitudes one hundred and eighty degrees. Under the staff's guidance, immigration, quarantine, and customs all passed on a high-speed track. With no waiting, the entire process took less than ten minutes.
Only then did I realize this was a VIP aviation terminal for private jets — a place where domestic and foreign VIPs came and went in silence and secrecy.
Hudson never mentioned any of this.
He'd said "a wealthy family," not "a conglomerate that flies private jets." If we'd simply boarded first class, I wouldn't have been this surprised. But I couldn't afford to stand around gawking.
Gracia…
Because he was here.
Once we cleared the counters, Gracia came into view again. He, too, had arrived from America on a private jet, so of course he would be here. The problem was his gaze. He was looking back and forth between me and Melson.
Did he recognize me?
The thought crossed my mind, but the odds were low. Gracia and I had no points of contact. I'd recognized him at a glance because he spent so much time acting like an attention-seeker. There wasn't a person in Korea right now who didn't know Gracia's face.
Even so, I couldn't call it a hundred percent certain. Pangenia had thousands — tens of thousands — of ways to identify a target. He might recognize that I was a Player, that I was Randolph, through some utterly unexpected method. And Gracia had spent far more time as a Player than I had. I couldn't rule out the possibility that he knew things I didn't.
If a fight breaks out…
I prepared for the worst case: that he recognized me and we ended up fighting. If Gracia managed a Descent, I couldn't win. But if Hudson was right and a Player's real-world body was no different from an ordinary person's, a surprise attack in this state might work.
No. It wouldn't.
A surprise attack would fail. The Goddess's Privilege. He would have a Guardian Wall just like mine. Ranking high on Main Quest 3 granted a Guardian Wall, and Gracia had held first place there. I'd pushed him down to second, but he still possessed a Level 9 Guardian Wall.
A Guardian Wall protects the body at the logout location.
Of course, this place was the logged-in reality. So the Guardian Wall wouldn't activate. I discarded even that line of thought.
He'll have far more Privileges than I do.
There was bound to be another Privilege similar to the Guardian Wall. There had to be. If he bought time with that Privilege and then Descended…
What followed after that needed no explanation.
His gaze is sharp.
Right up until I boarded the private jet, Gracia watched me and Melson intently. Coincidentally, his private jet was parked right next to ours. His stare never left us until the cabin door sealed shut.
There was nothing more to gain in Korea.
Gracia reached that final judgment. He had failed to find the owner of the Hydragon's Soul — the material needed to forge a Unique-grade sword — and when the Dimensional Rift opened, he had obtained nothing either. At the time he had been in Korea rather than America, so American public opinion of him had soured as well.
I must prepare for the Abyss Labyrinth.
He cast off his lingering regrets. The Abyss Labyrinth mattered more. To clear it, he had to return to his home country and entrust his body to someone he could trust — all because of that insane condition that logging out reset the labyrinth.
A place where absolute secrecy is guaranteed.
He could trust no one. He needed a location and a person who could hide him. The other Eight Heroes? He couldn't trust them either. They might send assassins to interfere — or to kill him. Ordinary attacks would be blocked by his Privileges, but those weren't infinite. If external assault forced him to log out, the labyrinth would reset — a disaster he could not afford.
I might obtain the Hydragon's Soul inside the Abyss Labyrinth.
Even under those terrible conditions, he had no choice but to challenge it. There was a reason.
The Labyrinth Merchant.
Rumors said that when the merchant appeared, every entrant was notified of his location. The Labyrinth Merchant supposedly sold, in limited quantities, all manner of souls and other things nearly impossible to obtain by normal means.
And more than that—
Sword Saint Ryleigh.
One who, like himself, carried on the lineage of the Sword Saint.
I will be the one to kill Ryleigh.
Only one Sword Saint could exist in an era. Two could not stand at the same time. Even if he was the master of the labyrinth, using the name "Sword Saint" was unforgivable. He would kill Ryleigh and proclaim to the world that he was the true Sword Saint. He would sink that ancient Sword Saint completely into the depths of the Abyss.