The stuffy air pierced my lungs.
An empty factory district. A place suspected to be the remaining stronghold of Flower.
Even when I expanded my magic to search for any presence, not even a small animal was visible.
Once again, it’s a miss.
I opened the file I had received in advance and marked a small X on the location among the many addresses.
-Vrrr!
Suddenly, a vibration ca from my pocket.
I took out my phone and checked the ssages.
-Unread ssages (21)
[Star in Your Heart]: Good night! Dream of ♡ - 4:32am (2)
[Jin Dallae]: Are you okay? Take your ti with work. - 2:11am (3)
[Hwangdo]: Brother~~! No issues!! By the way, about the terror incident… - 11:32pm (1)
[Lee Seyeong]: (Photo) - 7:12pm (1)
.
.
.
ssages sent for different reasons.
I read through the ssages they had sent.
Byeol played gas all night and contacted just before sleeping. Jin Dallae was worried about .
Hwangdo was faithfully fulfilling my request to update on Cheondo’s situation.
And then Lee Seyeong -
-(Photo)
She sent a mysterious and scary photo.
‘Phew….’
Taking a deep breath, I opened the ssage.
-Lee Seyeong: (Photo)
As soon as I opened the ssage, I saw a pink test kit.
With T on the left and C on the right, it was unmistakably a pregnancy test.
I covered the center of the photo with my hand and examined the surroundings.
For so reason, it felt like Seyeong, holding the device, was glaring at from the screen.
‘Having a second daughter wouldn’t change anything. Rather, it should be a good thing.’
Becoming a dad wasn’t a bad thing.
After preparing myself ntally, I removed my finger covering the center.
“Yeah, that day the water was unusually sticky- huh?”
…One line.
On closer inspection, one side of the photo seed edited, with the word ‘idiot’ written in the corner of the test.
I let out a bitter breath.
“No… it didn’t work?”
I tried my best to make it work, but it seed making a baby wasn’t that easy.
Typing on the keyboard, I vented my small frustrations.
-: (Crying tree icon)
Even though I couldn’t achieve what I wanted, I hoped she knew.
I wanted her to take better care of herself.
Seyeong’s life was tied to my ntal state. If she overworked herself despite my efforts… then I might as well prepare to raise children for the rest of my life.
“Phew.”
The ti was exactly five o’clock.
I had searched about seven locations suspected to be Flower’s hideouts.
Fortunately, Flower hadn’t been found at any of them, and no significant traces were left.
‘It’s good that Flower isn’t around… but I wish one would show up soon.’
As I placed my hand on my face and slowly removed it, a white mask gradually rose from my skin.
-Crack.
The skin and the mask layer separated.
To an observer, it would look as if my skin was tearing off, making it quite a grueso sight.
Feeling the cool breeze, I drew in more magic into my body.
‘Let’s call it a day.’
I still had work to do with Sansuyu’s secretary.
After greeting Jin Dallae briefly in the morning, I planned to et her at the academy.
“Yongsan.”
Early morning road.
A small car driving at high speed dramatically turned right.
A short girl, breathing heavily, stared intently at the device.
A man and a woman, just the two of them.
The couple, dressed in rustic clothing, shouted in a panic.
“This ti, Gwangju.”
“Are you kidding ? Why does the location keep changing? Are you sure you’re putting in enough magic?”
“I am, but it keeps moving.”
The man thought.
How could soone move this quickly? It’s not like they were a legendary Pokémon.
The red-haired woman, Aori, continued to inject magic into the tracker with a blank expression.
The tracker was chasing the power of the Tree Spirit King.
But its range could only detect up to around 100 kiloters.
“This is driving crazy. Is this an error? You said you’re the Tree Spirit King’s descendant. Are you lying?”
“I’m not lying. My grandmother always said so….”
“Shut up. Stop talking. It’s annoying.”
“…….”
A blond man with tanned skin.
Mok Taeyang turned the steering wheel, frowning irritably with his slit eyes.
“Any changes?”
“Not yet. Huff.”
“Keep searching. Rember, our mission is to find the heir to the king.”
“That’s the seventy-fifth ti you’ve said that.”
Despite the words, the chance of eting them this ti was slim.
The place where the Tree Spirit King’s power was detected most frequently and for the longest ti was Korea.
To find the heir of the Tree Spirit King, it was right to camp here.
But this had been going on for four months.
They had achieved nothing.
“Huff. Huff. Taeyang… I’m getting dizzy.”
“What did you do already?”
“I’ve been spewing magic for four hours….”
“Trees really are only good for being eaten.”
“Don’t say such harsh things….”
A person inheriting the will and blood of the Tree Spirit King.
But even as a descendant, inheriting the Tree Spirit King’s power was not guaranteed.
“…We must find them.”
A few months ago, the power of the Tree Spirit King appeared in the world.
‘There’s a real one, not a half-baked one like .’
To find them.
If they were worthy, they should understand the value and power of that strength.
If not, they must be killed and the power taken.
“Flower and the World Tree are targeting that person. We have to find them first.”
“How can we do that with this cheap machine and car?”
“Shut up.”
“Sad… huh?”
Aori, who was fiddling with the device absentmindedly, suddenly made a regretful sound.
“What?”
“The energy is gone.”
They had dressed quickly and ca out at dawn. But once again, it vanished just before they could catch it.
What they had hoped for turned into reality.
“Ha…. Damn.”
Taeyang took his foot off the pedal.
The car, which had been moving quickly, gradually slowed down.
“Taeyang, don’t take it too hard. You said the Forester Selection Competition is coming up soon. They might be there.”
“…Yeah. Aori, you’re the only one I can rely on. So please, leave alone for a while. I need to be alone.”
“You an you’re abandoning ?”
“That’s how I feel right now.”
Mok Taeyang. Twenty-three.
A man who spent his entire life chasing trees and the Tree Spirit King.
Aori. Twenty. Sa as above.
For over twenty years, he had been clinging to the sa mission, so it’s no wonder he felt a sense of emptiness.
Turning the steering wheel towards ho, Taeyang sighed with bitterness.
-Vrrr!
On the way back ho.
The car’s interior was eerily quiet.
Returning to that cursed house with no electricity or running water was not a pleasant thought for them at all.
Taeyang couldn’t do much without a proper identity.
Though his inco wasn’t small, he often ended up broke after spending money on various artifacts to find the Tree Spirit King.
“Ugh… such a waste of gas money.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Eat cup noodles.”
“I’m tired of that… How about we spend so of the money on living expenses?”
“Are you the one earning money? No, I am. If you don’t like it, why don’t you go sell yourself to earn money?”
“……Impossible.”
“Yeah, damn. Why do I always have to do the dirty work?”
He was annoyed, thinking about the money he earned, which was quickly spent.
How should he deal with this useless lazy bum?
While he was thinking that, he noticed a noteworthy tree on the hillside far away.
-Screech.
The car ca to a halt.
Taeyang’s face beca serious and stern.
With a voice mixed with firm determination, he spoke.
“Go ahead inside.”
Aori frowned.
“…Again?”
Taeyang didn’t respond to Aori’s words.
She stared at him blankly, then suddenly stood up and walked toward the nearby mountain.
“Then I’ll do it too.”
The mountain path was divided between them.
Each had their own tasks.
Anyone who inherited the Tree Spirit King’s power or blood couldn’t resist this compulsion.
Without any change in expression, Taeyang found the tree he had seen earlier.
Though it was quite far away, he found it quickly.
His ability to locate trees was almost supernatural.
“Ah, here it is.”
The most lewd tree he had seen recently.
As he stroked the knot of the tree, its branches trembled.
‘Oh, is this a sentient tree?’
Taeyang reached out and caressed the branch. Then, a voice slowly ca from behind the tree.
[…Filthy human.]
“Huh? Look at this thing.”
As he chuckled at the tree’s contempt, the tree was startled and stuttered.
[W-What…? How is this…]
“You can understand?”
[How can a re human talk to …]
“Ha, this is absurd.”
Sneering inwardly at the tree, Taeyang pulled a heavy sapling from his waist.
“Today, this lowly human is going to pound you like a dog.”
-Squish!
[Argh!]
These insolent trees. Their only value was to be ravished and drained of their power.
Soon, as the representative of Seoul Hunter Academy participating in the Forester Selection Competition, Taeyang intended to fully satisfy his desires before then.
[Ugh, ah, ugh! Stop!]
A naless tree’s voice gradually filled with eroticism.
Before long, it would kneel and beco a submissive tree.
A pure human participating in the Forester Selection Competition.
He was the natural enemy of the trees.
There were countless beings waiting for the Forester Selection Competition.
And for good reason. It was a global festival.
A broadcast watched by over 100 million viewers worldwide.
It boasted more viewers than the Olympics, with over 4 billion viewers, and it was a place where new talents who would illuminate the future gathered.
There were also many preparing for terror attacks.
“….”
The sharp scent of alcohol lingered at the tip of her nose.
-Drip.
Watching the droplets roll down the surface of the glass, she raised it to her lips.
A red-haired woman swallowed a sip of alcohol, only to vomit it out before it could be absorbed.
“Ugh… ugh.”
The transparent liquid poured from her stomach.
Even though her nose stung, she felt nothing. Her bloodshot eyes had long given up.
Yet, instead of losing her dignity, she seed to shine even more.
She looked up with dark eyes and gazed at the mirror.
With a decadent aura, she crossed her long legs and sat on the chair, looking at the drink.
“We’re ready.”
A man, unable to look at her face, reported while lying flat on the floor.
“Get out.”
“Yes.”
With one word from the woman, he disappeared instantly.
The empty bar only added to the loneliness of her aching side.
‘I made it to this point.’
Not much ti left.
Just a little more, maybe a few days.
The deep, burning emotion that reached its limit a few years ago.
She had made it to this point. She had. Finally.
Without saying a word, she repeated it dozens of tis in her mind.
“…Ha.”
Still, no laughter erged.
It seed this painful suffering would never end.
Until this question was resolved, she would suffer for the rest of her life, gradually withering away, dropping her petals in a place no one knew.
“Why did you help us?”
The resentful thought was interrupted.
“…This was bound to happen.”
Right in front of her.
A black, torn, blood-stained cloth with holes and rips… she muttered, looking at the garnt that had worn out over the years.
She raised the glass again.
“Ugh.”
The harsh, smoky alcohol couldn’t make it down her throat and spilled onto the floor again.
Her slender fingers folded one by one into a fist.
“I’ve returned.”
Another voice ca from behind her.
Guseul, with black hair and wearing a suit.
Her eyes devoid of light, she stared at the spilled drink.
“…Are you drinking again?”
“Mind your business.”
“Sorry. I ca here today to talk about the Cornus Family.”
The Cornus Family.
Not deeply involved, nor had she t them.
But it was a family that would soon face destruction.
“Cistus… said the Cornus Family would be abandoned.”
Without saying a word, the woman nodded as if she understood.
Despite her actions, her dark eyes were only staring blankly at the clothes in front of her.
Every mont in this place, always.
She never looked at anyone else.
At first, Guseul thought she was reminiscing about a past lover.
But that was a misconception.
She wasn’t weak enough to be entangled in personal feelings.
Guseul assud that perhaps she was trying to derive an answer to her current dilemma from soone in her past.
As if the clothes were showing her the path she had to take.
“I’ll be leaving then.”
Guseul bowed her head and disappeared.
No matter what past she had, she was now busy.
A commotion was scheduled to happen soon.
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