The King of Roots
The waves lapping at my ankles shattered the light pouring down from the sky, swallowing the glittering fragments into the depths of the sea.
“...Where the hell am I?”
The scenery was nothing like the motel room I’d been in moments ago. Instead of a concrete forest of towering buildings, I stood on a beach where a lush green forest stretched into the distance, watching the sunset on the horizon. The seawater kept brushing against my ankles—cold, biting. The distant twilight glare stung my eyes, forcing me to squint as I stared at the line where sea met sky.
It felt far too real to be a dream. No matter which way I turned my head, there wasn’t a single person in sight. Not even a lone seagull. Just endless white sand and the vast ocean. That was all there was.
I looked right, then left. Same thing. The strange sensation made me blink. I was shaking the cold seawater from my feet when a voice suddenly came from the right—where nothing had been a second earlier.
“This place has always been my favorite.”
I whipped my head around.
“...Who are you?”
“Hahaha, straight to the interrogation, huh?”
When I turned toward the voice, I saw a man sitting on the once-empty beach, dipping his feet in the water. He was laughing heartily, kicking his legs like a child playing in the shallows.
“...Are you the Root’s King?”
“Hmm. King? I’ve never liked that kind of grandiose title. But what makes you think that?”
“Because in a situation like this, there’s no way you’re just some ordinary guy. That’s why.”
Anyone would have found the man unnatural and suspicious. He chuckled playfully and said, “Is that so?” before standing up and brushing the sand from his clothes.
“Unfortunately, I’m not that grand figure you’re looking for. The person you’re searching for is someone else.”
He stretched his arms high, cracking his back, then walked over to me. When he finally stopped in front of me, I had to tilt my head up slightly—his height was impressive. The man looked down at me with eyes that seemed somehow sad, then placed a large hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle pat.
“...Then who are you?”
“Me? I’m…”
He trailed off for a moment, then smiled brightly again as if to shake off the hesitation.
“I’m probably the worst bastard in the world. Just remember me that way.”
“...”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? Part of me wanted to press him for more, but the bitter smile on his face made it impossible to ask anything else.
“Fine, whatever. But where are we?”
“The sea I loved most. I brought you here for a little while.”
Of course he wasn’t an ordinary human. I’d expected as much.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“To tell you about what you’re carrying. You know—those strange fruits and those strange flowers.”
I flinched.
“You know about the fruits?”
“Of course I do. I’m the one who planted the tree that bears them. How could I not know?”
Just who the hell was this guy?
He sat back down on the sand, gazing at the waves, then gestured for me to sit beside him. I dropped down onto the soft sand with a thud. Once he confirmed I was seated, he continued.
“Honestly, I was pretty shocked. I thought, ‘Modern humans have come this far?’ When I first saw them, they were still struggling to figure out how to make fire.”
“...Just how old are you?”
“Ahaha, even I don’t know that, so let’s skip it. Before I tell you the story, I’ll do you a little service—answer two questions. You must have things you’re dying to know.”
Things I wanted to know… Yeah. To be honest, ever since I met Chae-yun—no, ever since I learned the true nature of the petals—I’d had one question burning in my mind the entire time.
The man smiled as if he could see right through me, waiting patiently for my question.
“As far as I know, the man who first planted that flower was called the Root’s King. Is that true?”
“...It is.”
“Then why on earth did you plant a flower like that?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for even asking such a question. But it was pure curiosity. Not ‘Why the hell would you plant such a crazy plant?’ but rather ‘Why did you plant that plant?’ That was the intent behind my words.
“The reason I planted that flower? It was for humanity.”
“...What do you mean?”
He planted a flower that harmed humans… for humanity? The contradiction made me tilt my head in confusion.
“Humanity was weak. Far too weak. Beasts with fangs and horns, all kinds of rampant diseases. The humans of that time were simply too fragile to overcome them. So I made a decision—to give them wisdom.”
“...And that’s why you scattered the flower?”
“Exactly. Those who gained human bodies acquired tremendous intellect and instinctively used their abilities to survive. That’s why I only planted a single bloom. Even if there were only a few, if they blended naturally among humans, the ecosystem would remain balanced.”
“...”
I see. Honestly, I couldn’t understand it. If he truly loved and cared for humans, shouldn’t he have trusted in their potential a little more? But I realized from our short conversation that such thoughts would never reach them. He and the Root’s King were beings far beyond the reach of human common sense. I couldn’t understand him, and he couldn’t make me understand. The reverse would be the same.
“Still, don’t think too badly of that guy. He’s the one who gathered the flowers back in.”
“...What? Why?”
“That’s as far as this story goes. Next question?”
He gathered the flowers? Why? I asked again, hoping to clear up the doubt, but he refused to answer anything more about it.
…So the one who created the flower was the Root’s King. And according to Chae-yun, the reason the flower had nearly gone extinct was also the Root’s King.
…It would be better not to tell the girls about this.
For a moment, a dizzy spell hit me. I pressed a hand to my forehead, sinking deep into thought, but my concentration was soon broken.
“Next question? Or are you done?”
“...I have one.”
This was something that had occurred to me while talking to him earlier.
“...Are you not human? Or where did you come from?”
“Hmm. I’m not sure if this answer will satisfy you since I don’t know much myself, but I suppose I should answer. There were ten of us. All ten were together.”
“...Where did you come from?”
“I don’t know. When we opened our eyes, we were already here. So the moment we woke up, we started walking. We crossed forests, climbed cliffs, and met many humans. After meeting other humans, we realized something—we weren’t human. We didn’t die even when we fell from cliffs. We didn’t die even when beasts tore out our throats.”
“That’s… incredible.”
“Right? Anyway, the one who always led us was the guy you call the Root’s King. Before long, we discovered we each had our own talents. Among them, I was good with crops.”
As he spoke, the man turned to look at me. From between his long hair, a familiar blue light leaked from his eyes.
“...That’s—!”
“Correct. It’s the same color as the fruit you ate. Anyway, just like I told you earlier, after meeting so many humans, we began to cherish them. So we gathered everyone’s thoughts and created that flower.”
Once again, deep sorrow filled the man’s eyes.
“…It was fun. Being together with everyone. But as always, happy times don’t last long. Our opinions started to clash. Fights became frequent. That’s when that guy came to me. He said he had a favor to ask of me, since I was good with living things.”
Even beings who had transcended humanity were, at their root, the same inescapable creatures. They competed, felt emotions, split apart, and came back together. Even god-like, omnipotent beings couldn’t escape it. Seeing the sad smile on his face, I could already guess what he would say next.
“…The tree you said you planted.”
“That’s right. You’re quick.”
I had eaten one of the fruits from that tree and gained this power. This was probably…
“That power is mine. The power to control living things. Of course, what you’ve used so far is only a tiny fraction…”
“…You’re not going to tell me why you planted that tree, are you?”
Even without hearing it, I could tell it was a story too painful for him to even speak of. What had happened to them in the past, and what had happened to the man standing before me now.
“Yeah. That’s something I can’t tell you right now. And something I don’t want to talk about either.”
He stood up, brushing the sand from his backside with a few light pats, and his expression looked strangely relieved.
“Still, the other guys might tell you.”
“…The other guys?”
“The nine besides me. Just like you met me, maybe someday you’ll meet them too?”
Then, without looking back, he began walking into the distance.
“Wait! Where are you going?”
“To rest. I’m a little tired. We’re done with questions, right? That power is yours now. Use it however you want. It was fun meeting you, friend.”
“...”
The man walking into the distance gradually became a faint dot, then disappeared completely.
“Password is F42TE1-NJ…”
Inside a dark laboratory where even the lights refused to turn on. So this was that psychopath’s research lab? It looked more normal than I expected. I was surprised.
I passed by the humming machines and entered the password I’d hacked into the case the size of my torso. It was supposed to contain the ‘power source’ fruit.
“They call themselves smart but make the damn password this long…”
After typing in the nearly forty-character password, the case opened with a mechanical whir. Inside was a round fruit.
“...Ohhh, so this is… Whoa—!”
The light radiating from the fruit narrowed my already limited vision inside the mask even further. I ripped the mask off. I also pulled off the hood that had been sticking to me with sweat, tied my drenched hair back, and put on my glasses.
“There we go!”
I double-checked once more to make sure there were no traps I hadn’t disarmed, then reached in and took out the glowing fruit from the case. It shone with a beautiful greenish hue.
“…Hehehe, I can smell the money…♪”
I placed the fruit into the case I’d prepared inside my bag, then quickly left the area. I wanted to get out of this creepy research lab as fast as possible.