Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Chapter 74: The World Tree Simdrasil (1)
Translation: godtl
Si-mun hastily waved his hands.
"Wait a minute. I heard only High Elves can become Companions of the World Tree."
"That's only half true. Anyone like a High Elf—anyone with the same qualities—has the qualifications to become a Companion."
Ernen's beautiful green eyes stared straight at Si-mun.
"I saw your sincerity, Benefactor. It was an immaculate purity that transcended race. You are more than worthy of becoming the World Tree's Companion."
"......"
Si-mun fell silent at Ernen's definitive answer.
After gathering his thoughts for a moment, Si-mun spoke.
"I don't know how to nurture a World Tree, nor do I have a place to do so."
"Don't worry about that. As long as you carry the Spirit Body of the World Tree, I will take full responsibility for its growth, including the main body."
"Huh? Is that possible?"
"Of course. In return... would it be alright if my surviving kin and I were granted a place to live near the World Tree...?"
Ernen cautiously asked, gauging his reaction.
"That goes without saying. In fact, I was about to make that request myself."
Si-mun readily nodded.
To nurture and manage the World Tree—
Of course, professional caretakers would be necessary.
From the beginning, the reason he had saved Ernen was to strengthen the forces of the elves.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Benefactor. I will never forget this kindness."
Ernen let out a sigh of relief and bowed deeply.
Straightening up, her voice now clearer, she asked:
"Then, Benefactor, may I know your name?"
"Kim Si-mun."
"Kim Si-mun......"
Repeating his name a few times, she placed her hand over the World Tree Seed Fragment.
"I, Ernen, Companion of Levdrasil, vouch for Kim Si-mun's qualifications."
Ernen murmured something softly.
Before long—
Sha-ring.
A clear, resonant sound rang out as the seed fragment emitted a jade-like glow.
It naturally drifted toward Si-mun's chest, where the Philosopher's Stone was embedded.
[You have been chosen as the Companion of the World Tree.]
[Please name your Companion.]
A series of message windows appeared.
'A name, huh...'
After a brief moment of contemplation, Si-mun opened his mouth.
"Simdrasil. That is my Companion's name."
With those words—
[The World Tree Companion's name has been decided as 'Simdrasil'.]
[The World Tree has been added to the Philosopher's Stone's properties.]
[You have acquired the title 'Companion of the World Tree'.]
[You have achieved the accomplishment 'The World Tree's Sole Companion'.]
[You have been rewarded with 10,000 Achievement Points.]
As the messages scrolled upward—
A verdant light, reminiscent of nature itself, radiated outward from Si-mun's chest.
'Refreshing.'
A vast, boundless expanse of nature.
It spread throughout his entire body, washing away all hidden impurities—an exhilarating sensation.
In Si-mun's vision, which had even begun to float slightly in the air, Ernen appeared with a reluctant expression.
Si-mun naturally realized the reason.
"I'm being reverse-summoned."
"Yes. It seems our time to part has come."
Though his body shone brightly with a jade radiance, it paradoxically grew fainter—the Arena's reverse-summoning was in progress.
"I'll return in better shape next time, Benefactor."
"I'll look forward to it, Ernen."
With a final exchange of smiles—
Si-mun's figure vanished completely.
Diamond-rank.
Within the Forest of Decay, the highest tier among them—
[Grrr!]
"Hey! Another one's coming!"
Two men were engaged in battle against Drake, an upper-level Dragonkin.
Though calling them "two men" was a bit of a stretch.
Because—
"Just die already."
Only one refreshingly handsome man was carving up the massive Drake's body.
[Gyaaaaah!]
Drake let out a scream filled with agony.
True to its status as an upper-level Dragonkin, even its scream was packed with a threatening howl.
"Shut up."
The refreshingly handsome man simply swung his sword indifferently.
Swish.
Despite clearly being a sword strike delivered from a considerable distance,
Drake's foreleg was severed with ease.
Considering that Drake was among the top-tier Dragonkin in terms of physical ability and defensive power,
this was an unbelievable level of attack power—even for a top-ranked Diamond-tier player.
[Kyaaaa! Human!!]
Perhaps because his foreleg had been severed,
Drake, contrary to his previously dynamic movements,
charged straight forward with his massive maw gaping wide.
But.
Swish.
A clean slicing sound rang out.
Thud.
Drake's enormous head, befitting his massive frame, slammed heavily into the ground.
Fortunately, since the sword strike had been delivered from a distance,
the refreshingly handsome man was spared the shower of thick dust.
He let out a small sigh and turned around.
"Senior, didn't I tell you to pull them one by one?"
"Couldn't be helped. It's an upper-level Dragonkin, isn't it? Damn thing's senses are ridiculously sharp."
A towering figure with a sharply angular face reminiscent of a gangster,
the Night Hunter, Park Jin-uk, answered half-heartedly.
"This is going to delay our clear. We need to finish quickly so we can watch hyung's stream."
"Damn brat, I wanna watch our VVIP's stream too, you know? But what can I do? It just had to be broad daylight, and these upper-level Dragonkin keep swarming out."
Park Jin-uk scowled deeply and pointed at the sky.
True to his words,
unlike the dim and rotting forest around them, the sun in the sky was blazing mercilessly.
"If it were night here, this Night Hunter Park Jin-uk would've pulled them half-dead for you, got it? Huh?"
"Sigh. You're really useless."
"Hey, you little—"
As Kim Si-hyeok let out a deep sigh, Park Jin-uk's veins immediately bulged on his forehead.
"You're the weird one for being strong without any conditions! You're the abnormal one here! Where the hell else would you find another lunatic who slices through upper-level Dragonkin this easily?"
"Watch your words. Yu-jeong won't let it slide if she hears you calling her strong."
"That's because you keep teasing her like—! Sigh, never mind. Let's not even talk about it."
Suppressing his deep frustration, he rummaged through his pockets out of habit.
Then—
"Damn it! This is the Arena, right? Ugh, I really need a smoke."
"Stop the nonsense and go pull more mobs. Actually, just bring them all at once. We'll wipe them in one go."
"Hey, you punk, is this any way to treat a senior like the heavens when you're a streamer? Your image is gonna tank."
"It's fine. My stream has dialogue removal settings, so none of our conversations get broadcasted."
"Calculating little shit."
Park Jin-uk pursed his lips at Kim Si-hyeok's nonchalant reply.
Brushing off the dry leaves clinging to his body, he said,
"I'll round them up in a huge group. Don't complain later if you die."
Just as he was about to stealthily move back into the Corrupted Forest—
[Due to a special factor, the map is changing.]
[The 'Corrupted Forest' has been transformed into the 'Regenerating Forest.']
A series of system messages blocked Park Jin-uk's path.
'A map change? This was a thing?'
His eyes widened in astonishment at the unprecedented message.
It seemed the notification wasn't sent to Park Jin-uk alone, as—
"Senior, hold on."
Kim Si-hyeok, who had been about to rest, tapped the air a few times before speaking with half-surprised eyes.
"According to the chat log, this happened because of a Special Arena event that occurred in the Gold tier."
"Gold-tier players these days are scary. Changing the map... Wait. Did you say Gold?"
A map change, something even the two Diamond-ranked players were experiencing for the first time.
And a Gold-tier player.
These two pieces of information naturally brought one person to mind.
"No way!"
-Hey guys, saw the message? What's up with the map change?
-I was just in the Arena and saw sprouts blooming in the Corrupted Forest.
-For real? Sprouts in that filthy map? You sure you didn't mistake some poisonous mushrooms for them?
Seems legit. I'm Gold-rank and I saw leaves growing on the trees in the Forest of Decay. Here's a screenshot.
It's that guy Kim Si-mun.
Kim Si-mun? The Gold-rank Debut Match winner?
Last time he deleted the Abandoned Mine map, now this? Who does this Gold-rank punk think he is?
Sounds like someone's jealous lol. How pathetic.
Not just on Korean Galaxy Arena community sites—
The Forest of Decay is changing?
Rumor has it it's a Korean player.
My Korean friend told me too. Apparently he's Gold-rank.
Gold? How's a Gold-rank changing maps?
It's a Special Arena thing. Footage's being uploaded in real time on Korean forums.
Agreed. That clip fighting the Cockatrice was straight-up POG.
Gotta run this through a translator later.
From the world's second strongest nation America to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa—
Global attention rapidly focused on the map undergoing visible real-time transformations.
[Top 3 Most Hated Maps: The Dramatic Transformation of Forest of Decay. Caused by a Gold-rank?]
[Real-Time Map Changes: The Culprit is the Gold-rank Debut Match Champion!]
[Also Responsible for Abandoned Mine Map Deletion?]
[Player Kim Si-mun: Who Is He?]
[Global Spotlight: International Reactions to Korean Player's Feats...]
Media outlets fanned the flames by bringing up the previous Special Arena outcome—the deletion of the Abandoned Mine map.
And watching all this unfold was a sharp-featured man.
BAM!
"Goddamn it!"
Awakened Association President Kim Mu-yeol violently slammed his desk.
A stark contrast to his public image as someone "cold and sharp as tempered steel."
"Of all possible times!"
Kim Mu-yeol couldn't contain his fury.
The reason was simple:
'With this much attention, assassination is out of the question!'
The covert proposal from China's massive Continent Guild—
Arranging Si-mun's assassination had just become exponentially harder.
"Choi Chang-wook, we need to adjust plans. What's Continent Guild's status?"
Recognizing his superior's rage, the square-jawed middle-aged aide Choi Chang-wook cautiously bowed before reporting:
"They've just arrived in Incheon."
Sigh."Nothing's going right."
A deep, resonant sigh.
Kim Mu-yeol roughly wiped his brow while glaring at monitors flooded with news about his nephew.
"Those damn bastards. They drag their feet on every request, but suddenly work fast when it's inconvenient."
"Shall we cancel? They just arrived—we could still relay the message."
"Forget it. You know they won't listen. You've dealt with them enough."
"That's... true."
Having negotiated with Continent Guild multiple times before—
He'd experienced their methods enough to feel physically repulsed.
Tap tap.
Kim Mu-yeol's index finger drummed the desk.
After silently watching more nephew-related updates flood the screens, he finally spoke:
"We're pulling out completely."
"Sir?!"
Choi Chang-wook startled.
Understandably so.
"We've already assembled all operatives. They're currently on standby—"
"Cancel. I've got a bad feeling."
Just a hunch, but—
If things went south and that cunning nephew caught even a whiff of their involvement...
There'd be no coming back from that.
"But we've already coordinated with Continent Guild! Given their temperament, there might be retaliation—"
Choi Chang-wook responded urgently.
They'd prepared personnel and aligned plans with Continent Guild.
Backing out now risked unpredictable vengeance from the Chinese guild.
Hmph."When have they ever followed plans properly anyway? They're the ones who begged us just to arrange their entry."
Kim Mu-yeol's lips curled sardonically.
"They can't complain if we change our minds once."
"But President... What if they leak details about this illegal entry—"
"Don't worry. If it were the current Guild Master of the Continent Guild, perhaps, but Jong-ri Chu isn't foolish enough for that."
Otherwise, I would never have joined hands with those Continent bastards in the first place.
Muttering to himself, Kim Mu-yeol pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"Besides, with that old man from Seongsam involved too, they won't be the first to open their mouths."
"True. The Continent Guild does tend to be excessively wary of Chairman Lee Sun-cheol's reactions."
The chairman of Seongsam, Korea's top corporation.
While certainly a figure who couldn't be ignored,
it was strange how the Continent Guild—one of the world's two greatest guilds—would be so cautious around him.
They'd always been peculiarly sensitive in their dealings with Seongsam.
"Shall I contact the chairman as well?"
"Do that. He'll understand if we say the plan's gone awry."
"Understood."
"And—"
Puff.
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Kim Mu-yeol's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"Since we're on the subject—have you figured out why the Continent Guild is so wary of Chairman Lee?"
"My apologies, but we haven't uncovered that yet. Their cleanup was exceptionally thorough... I'm sorry."
"Hmph, forget it. That old fox wouldn't leave his tail exposed so easily."
As if he'd never expected an answer in the first place.
With a derisive snort, Kim Mu-yeol turned his gaze back to the monitor.
This investigation had been going in circles for years now.
"However, it's not entirely without progress."
Choi Chang-wook seized the opportunity presented by the Association President's movement.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Recently, we've noticed others besides us digging into Chairman Lee Sun-cheol."
"Others? You mean there's more than one?"
"Yes. We've identified two separate factions, though their identities remain unknown. Whether they're connected to Seongsam or not, both have been probing quite deeply."
"Then we might get our nose cleared without lifting a finger. Keep monitoring them."
"Yes, Association President."
With a bow, Choi Chang-wook exited the room.
Pale smoke curled toward the ceiling of the now-silent president's office.
Kim Mu-yeol stared at the continuously updating news articles about his nephew.
"How irritating."
Like a drop of sticky liquid clinging stubbornly to his skin.
A persistent, unpleasant feeling kept nagging at his nerves.
From long experience,
Kim Mu-yeol knew exactly what this sensation meant.
'There's definitely something I'm missing. What is it?'
It had been like this when his oh-so-perfect elder brother ascended to the Association presidency without a single word.
Like this when his oh-so-perfect nephew hid his strength all the way to Silver-rank, then shot straight to Ranker status in one leap.
Both cases had erupted suddenly outside his field of vision, leaving him no chance to counter.
And now...
'Kim Si-mun, just what are you hiding?'
The other child left behind by his perfect elder brother.
This half-breed nephew of his was giving him the same feeling again.
Especially because—
'You know me too well.'
Perhaps because they shared the stigma of illegitimacy?
Among all the Kim family's men, his nephew Kim Si-mun had always been the most troublesome.
Inevitably so.
A background and talent that mirrored his own past.
Eyes that seemed to see right through him.
Despite being a bastard,
the brat had always peered into his heart as if they were kindred spirits,
and acted early to protect that younger brother of his.
Even that cunning—
'It's just like mine.'
Yes.
That's why this half-blood nephew irritated him even more.
'Stupid whelp. Even if he's your brother, he's still the legitimate heir. Protecting him gains you nothing.'
What's so precious about bloodline?
Though sharing the same wretched fate of being crushed under the shadow of legitimacy,
'You deserve to have your throat slit right now.'
The bastard had the gall to shield his brother under the pretense of familial bonds,
only fueling Kim Mu-yeol's rage further.
Realizing this,
'I should've taken the risk and eliminated him back then, no matter the cost.'
Along with the anger that brought on these feelings, a past incident surfaced in his mind.
But it was already water under the bridge.
He knew better than anyone that dwelling on the past brought nothing but regret.
Puff.
Exhaling one last cloud of smoke, Kim Mu-yeol crushed the now-spent cigarette in the ashtray.
"Whatever you're planning, I won't go down easily, you cunning nephew."