Chapter 107: I’d Been Wasting My Time All Along
I left the blacksmith and came to a place called YD Taylor.
It specialized in custom-tailored suits.
Even though it was well past noon, the lights were still on because it was one of the Ildae Group’s affiliates.
Kim Ji-yeon had contacted Woo Yeon-hoo, and he’d told her to come here.
I’d assumed he was doing me a favor, but that wasn’t all there was to it.
There was someone else besides me getting a formal suit fitted this late at night.
Woo Yeon-hoo’s right hand, Oh Juhan.
He was standing there in a mask, leaving himself in the hands of a young tailor.
The first question that came to mind was the one I asked.
“Do you always wear a mask?”
“Oh, Do-woon. You got here faster than I expected.”
Oh Juhan, who’d been standing there blankly, looked over at me.
He shrugged.
“The roads weren’t congested this time of night.”
“And yes, I usually wear the mask. I take it off when I wash, though.”
“What about when you sleep?”
“Uh, I think I wear it then too?”
“...Why?”
“Well...”
“He says it’s more comfortable when his face is covered.”
As Oh Juhan trailed off, another voice answered for him.
The owner of that voice, coming from behind us, was Woo Yeon-hoo.
When I turned, he was sitting in the waiting area with a slight smile.
He got to his feet and came over.
He held out his hand as though to shake mine.
I took it and dipped my head slightly.
“Thanks for making the arrangements.”
“Not at all. It’s nothing. Besides, I was already having that man’s formal wear fitted.”
After answering briefly, he turned to the tailor.
“Can you have this gentleman’s suit made within two days as well?”
“Yes, Vice Chairman.”
The tailor, who had been measuring Oh Juhan, answered smoothly.
His voice and manner were polite, but his face was full of confidence.
That was his way of saying he could handle it.
Well, even if he wasn’t confident, he’d have to say he could do it.
After all, the man asking was Woo Yeon-hoo, who might as well have been the owner of the place.
“So that’s settled.”
He turned his gaze back to me.
Then he pointed to the waiting area.
He wanted us to sit there.
We walked over.
“You’ll have to wait a bit. It’s late, so I only called one tailor in.”
“Of course I’ll wait.”
“Would you like some tea?”
“No, I’m fine. If I drink tea or coffee at night, I won’t be able to sleep.”
Woo Yeon-hoo sat in the seat he’d been using before, and I sat down beside him.
The moment he sat, he took a sip of Americano.
Then he looked back at Oh Juhan, who was still standing there blankly and letting the tailor work on him.
Most of his face was hidden by the black mask, but I could still guess what he was thinking.
Did I really have to get a formal suit made?
I knew the expression he was making, because I’d seen the same look at Jae-i’s Blacksmith.
“Why are you suddenly getting formal clothes made?”
“Ah, I’m going to a banquet. As for me, that’s one thing, but Ju-han doesn’t exactly have clothes suited for that kind of event.”
No, I think the clothes are the least of the problem right now.
If he was going to fit in at a banquet at all, shouldn’t he take off the mask first...?
Saessak says it agrees with the Manager’s thoughts.
See? Even Saessak thinks so.
“...If you mean the banquet, you’re talking about the one in two days, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Huh. The two of them were going to the banquet hall?
Minister Hwang had said Ildae Guild had refused security duty, though....
Had the situation changed, so they’d taken it on after all?
Even so, something about it felt off.
Woo Yeon-hoo wasn’t the sort of person who guarded others. He was the sort of person others guarded.
His movements were tied directly to the value of the company.
“I’m going in my father’s place, and Ju-han will be going as my bodyguard.”
Maybe he’d read my thoughts, because Woo Yeon-hoo said it before I could ask.
So he was going in Chairman Woo Chan-sung’s place....
Right. He wasn’t going as a bodyguard after all, but as the head of a corporation.
For a group like Ildae Group, being invited to an event like that would be nothing strange at all.
“Oh, right. Ji-yeon told me about it. Crowd was blocking potion distribution?”
“Yes.”
“She said you interrogated them and found out about it. Is that true?”
“Interrogated? I never did anything like that.”
“Ah.... I see.”
He nodded with a faint smile.
It was the kind of expression that said, “Sure, let’s go with that.”
“......”
Choi Hee-seok was one thing, but Woo Yeon-hoo too?
Why did everyone assume I’d obviously tortured them?
Not even a hint of doubt that I might not have done it.
What kind of image did they have of me, anyway...?
While I was calmly brooding over that, the tailor’s voice rang out.
“Next, please.”
Oh Juhan slowly rolled his shoulders and stepped forward.
He was smiling, which made him look like he was glad to be able to move again.
He must have been stiff from standing there too long.
“My turn. Excuse me.”
“Yes.”
He got up and walked over to the tailor.
The tailor immediately began measuring my body as well.
That was a little past 2 a.m.
When the square electronic clock on the wall showed 2:08, it was my turn.
Following an association employee’s guidance, I stood at the warp gate.
“Don’t move.”
The employee said that while looking at my left hand.
He meant I should stop tapping at my smartphone screen.
When I did as he said, my vision changed three seconds later.
I was standing outside, not indoors.
In an instant, I’d been moved to the warp gate at the Muju Ant Cave Dungeon management office.
Two managers were standing in front of the gate, visible in my line of sight.
Just as I was wondering why they were standing there like that, the two of them bent low in unison. They even greeted me in booming voices.
“Good evening!”
“Welcome, Baek Do-woon!”
Apparently, they’d been waiting for me.
They were probably trying to get on my good side because of the Kim Jeong-cheol incident last time.
Having the exclusive rights to the Ant Cave Dungeon was probably part of it too.
If I didn’t like them, they’d end up getting kicked out of the management office.
Well, whatever.
I ignored them and started walking toward the dungeon.
I could hear hurried footsteps behind me.
The two managers moved in front of me and began their escort.
“We’re truly grateful you came again like this.”
“We’ll guide you!”
“......”
The management office wasn’t all that far from the dungeon.
It was less than a five-minute walk, so it wasn’t really the kind of distance that needed a guide at all.
During that short span, they did everything they could to leave a good impression on me.
They thanked me for what had happened last time and swore they’d work harder from now on.
Of course, I kept ignoring them all the way to the dungeon, because if I actually responded it would probably turn into a pain in the ass.
Even so, they put in every last bit of effort.
As I entered the dungeon, they shouted after me with all their might.
“Have a safe trip! We’ll be waiting here until you come back!”
“Hope you get some good loot!”
Good loot from the Ant Cave Dungeon?
Were they mocking me? What good loot?
Giant ants don’t drop anything worth bragging about.
If I hadn’t needed the A+ grade fertilizer for Saessak, I never would’ve bought the exclusive rights to a place like this in the first place.
I took a glowing stone from my inventory and lit up the area.
I could see the giant ants hiding in the darkness. They were already rushing toward me.
I thrust out my right hand to deal with them.
“World Tree Root!”
My right hand, turned into tree roots, shot forward.
Five strands wrapped around the giant ants in an instant.
The smaller ones could be captured with a single finger.
I caught five at once and drew out their energy.
Honestly, there was no need to use World Tree Root against giant ants.
It was like using an ox-slaying blade to kill a chicken.
But I used it anyway to clear the quest.
I’d come here for fertilizer, yes, but also to finish off the quest that required me to use World Tree Root a thousand times.
Former World Tree Manager's Path [B-rank]
Feed A-rank or higher fertilizer once (0/1)
Use Altera-Shonem 1,000 times (384/1,000)
Use World Tree Root 1,000 times (5/1,000)
Since I was dealing with weaker monsters, it was much easier to rack up the count quickly than if I were fighting stronger ones.
It was a little disappointing that, since they weren’t Followers of the Demon Race, I couldn’t gather the energy needed for the fruit.
Still, if one use could count for several at once, the quest would be over sooner than I expected.
“World Tree Root!”
I advanced down the straight tunnel while using the skill.
Had I used it about twenty times?
At the end of the straight tunnel, a fork in the road appeared, splitting into several branches.
This was where I’d fought Kim Jeong-cheol’s group before.
I slowly rotated my right arm, which I’d kept thrusting forward, and checked the quest window.
Former World Tree Manager's Path [B-rank]
Use World Tree Root 1,000 times (97/1,000)
Ninety-seven?
I’d only just reached the fork in the road....
Yeah, that was definitely the Ant Cave Dungeon for you.
The giant ants themselves were weak, but there were far more of them than in other dungeons.
I thought it would be better to visit the corpse storage last, after I’d cleared all the other tunnels.
That way I could gather as many corpses as possible.
Rustle, rustle.
A giant ant crawled out of the second tunnel from the far left.
I immediately thrust out my right arm.
My right index finger transformed into tree roots and wrapped around the giant ant.
The giant ant, now completely bound, opened and closed its mouth as if trying to chew through the roots.
Of course, every time it did, the thing getting chewed away was its own mouth.
Soon its struggles stopped.
It had died after having all the energy drained from its body.
The energy transmitted through the roots was tiny.
That was only natural, since it was an E-rank monster.
And yet....
This time, the mana gained through World Tree Root was 16 in total.
50% remains until the first fruit.
A message window popped up out of nowhere.
And it was a message related to the first fruit.
Even though I’d only gained 16.
“Why did this suddenly go up...?”
I looked down at my right hand, which had already returned from tree-root form.
I couldn’t make sense of it.
When I’d killed the B-rank monster Red Manticore at Hallasan Gate, the percentage hadn’t gone up at all.
Because of that, I’d thought it only increased when I drained energy from Followers of the Demon Race.
“Character window!”
I opened my character window to check the fruit storage slot.
The character window appeared in front of me at once.
I ignored everything else and checked the fruit storage slot at the very bottom.
“It really did go up...?”
The fruit storage had originally said it was at 40% or more.
Now the tens digit had changed, and it had become 50%.
In other words, the stored energy was going up even if I didn’t drain it from Followers of the Demon Race.
“No, then what was with the message windows all this time when I only took energy from those Crowd bastards?”
I muttered the question to myself, but there was no answer.
Only the sound of giant ants rustling closer.
I immediately used World Tree Root to drain their energy.
Their eyes lost their light and they died in an instant.
I waited a moment, but as expected, no message window appeared.
“......”
First, I needed to think back on the moments when the fruit-related messages had appeared.
Ji Sang-wook, Lee Jeong-geun, Gong Woo-jae, and just now.
The system window had appeared four times in total.
I couldn’t be certain, but that was how I remembered it.
When it happened with Ji Sang-wook:
50% remains until the first fruit.
When it happened with Lee Jeong-geun:
40% remains until the first fruit.
When it happened with Gong Woo-jae:
20% remains until the first fruit.
And finally, just now:
This time, the mana gained through World Tree Root was 80 in total.
50% remains until the first fruit.
“...Huh?”
Wait, could it be....
Did the system window only appear in ten-percent increments?
If that was really the case....
If I’d been able to gather fruit energy normally through hunting....
“......”
I looked at the dead giant ants.
Their lifeless eyes seemed strangely hollow.
Maybe that was just because I was feeling hollow myself.
I had....
“I’ve been wasting my time this whole damn time...!”
Baek Do-woon, you idiot, you’ve been carrying your brain around like it’s a keychain!