Chapter 2: The Unbreakable Sapling

Everyone in the room looked at me. I was no different from them.

They lowered their heads to see me.

A dagger was lodged in my chest.

But… I understood why I was still alive.

The dagger stabbed my chest but didn’t reach my heart.

“Ar-are you okay…?”

The first to react was Lee Jae-wook. He cautiously approached, examining my complexion.

Should I say I’m fine? Or say I’m unharmed…?

What’s the right response for someone who’s been stabbed in the chest but hasn’t died? I scratched my head awkwardly in reply. Then, I pulled out the dagger embedded in my chest.

“Don’t—!”

Lee Jae-wook urgently tried to stop me, but my right hand was faster.

I yanked the dagger out in one swift motion, and blood spurted out.

As expected from a chest wound, a lot of blood flowed. Then suddenly, as if a faucet had been turned off, it stopped.

“…….”

“…….”

Silence fell once again.

I couldn’t understand this phenomenon either, so I just stared. The reason the bleeding stopped was simple: the wound had been healed.

Just like a Healer casting a healing skill.

Or like drinking a high-grade healing potion. Or like a High-Rank Hunter with exceptional regenerative abilities.

“…Yeah. Looks like I’m fine.”

Saying that, I shifted the dagger to my left hand. I had no idea how this was possible.

No, actually, I could guess one thing. But this wasn’t the time to dwell on it. There were enemies before us trying to kill our guild members.

Now wasn’t the time to think—it was time to act. Lee Jae-wook and Kim Sang-chul understood that and stared at the foes before them. Of course, they kept glancing at my face and chest.

They must have been curious how this was possible.

“Hahaha. Ha ha ha ha ha…”

The sharp-faced man burst into laughter. It wasn’t a joyous laugh. It was hollow…?

That emotion was clear.

I understood.

The enemy who stabbed my chest to kill me outright was still alive. Anyone would feel hollow about that.

“What are you? How are you still alive?”

“You’re just sloppy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I stabbed right through your heart! Do you think I wouldn’t know the sensation?”

“Even if you say that, there’s evidence here, isn’t there?”

He spread his arms wide and stepped forward, showing he was unharmed. Lee Jae-wook and Kim Sang-chul followed closely beside him.

“Me standing here unharmed just proves you’re sloppy. If you’d stabbed properly, not me but Itaechun would be dead.”

“…Fine, then. This time, I’ll kill you for sure.”

The man pulled another dagger from his chest pocket. I threw my dagger with the fastest speed I could muster.

Though surprised, he easily dodged my throw.

But the man standing behind him couldn’t react. The dagger hit him and he collapsed backward, pushed by the force. What a drama queen.

An injured, retired D-rank Hunter going down from a thrown dagger? The man glared at his fallen subordinate and then at me.

“This is getting interesting, Baek Dowoon!”

“Interesting? You really think you’ll get to enjoy that?”

“What?”

“You came here to kill everyone here, including me.”

“So what?”

“You failed, idiot.”

No one died—not me, nor anyone else.

Of course, if they tried harder from here on, they might be able to kill people like me or the disbanded Hunters.

But not Lee Jae-wook or Kim Sang-chul. They were B-rank Hunters, some of the few thousand in Korea. Unless their opponent was a top-tier A-rank Hunter, and as long as they only ran away instead of fighting, they were experts capable of doing that easily.

For those who wanted no witnesses, that was a huge problem.

“Don’t worry about pointless things…”

“Yeah?”

“Of course! I can kill you all easily!”

The man charged at me. Others ran toward Lee Jae-wook and Kim Sang-chul.

The man in front of me stretched out his right arm.

Without time to dodge, my face was caught in his grip. The pain felt like being crushed in a scrapyard compactor.

“Ugh, kuh!”

I clenched every muscle to endure the pain. I grabbed his arm and struggled.

The pain didn’t lessen, and he didn’t budge. The man sneered.

“Die!”

I felt his grip tighten on my face. At this rate, it would be crushed like tofu.

It didn’t just feel that way.

“…….!”

Crack!

I heard the sound of bones breaking. My face was being smashed by the man. Maybe because of that, I couldn’t summon any strength.

When the grip on my face loosened, my legs gave out, and I collapsed. Without strength, I fell headfirst onto the ground.

“See? That was quick.”

The man chuckled mockingly. That chuckle irritated me, but there was nothing I could do. I had no strength to stand.

“Next up is their turn.”

He pointed at Lee Jae-wook and Kim Sang-chul. I rolled my eyes and looked where he pointed.

Fortunately, Lee Jae-wook and Kim Sang-chul were holding their own against the enemies. But if the man joined in, who knew what would happen.

He slowly walked toward them, as if to deliver despair to me.

I had to stop him. I was the only one who could stop his advance now.

“Ugh, hey!”

Maybe because of my smashed face?

I made some incomprehensible sound. Even I couldn’t understand what I said. The man laughed scornfully.

“Hey, just lie down nicely. You’re going to die soon anyway!”

The laughter on his face faded as he looked back at me.

Was it because I propped myself up with my hands on the ground? Or because I stood shakily and stared back?

Or because I spoke with my shattered face, “Y-you’re sloppy, ha.”

My body, which had no strength, moved as I willed it.

“Wh-what? You..! What the hell are you?”

“Baek Dowoon.”

“That’s not what I asked!”

The man charged again. I saw the movement and tried to react, but I couldn’t.

His attack was faster than me stepping back.

The man’s dagger slashed across my neck. Blood spurted out, then quickly stopped.

“…!”

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief.

On the other hand, a smile spread across my lips.

Leaving the smile to spread, I spoke to him.

“You’re naive.”

“…W-what?”

Why was I unharmed even though I’d been stabbed in the chest, my face smashed, and my neck slashed by a dagger?

There was only one possible answer: the World Tree Fruit. The very thing I had just eaten, the world’s greatest elixir, was healing my body.

It was probably even healing wounds I’d received in the past. That’s why my body was overflowing with strength.

Of course, the man before me didn’t know that. I smirked as if mocking him.

“You really thought that Itaechun’s friend was just an ordinary office worker?”

If he’d thought for even a moment, he’d know it was a lie.

He was shocked when I got stabbed in the chest and couldn’t properly react to the man’s movements.

If he’d been calm as usual, he’d have seen through the lie easily.

But he was confused and panicked.

He must have felt as if everything I said was true.

I wasn’t about to miss that chance.

“Well, hurry up and kill me, then?”

I said that, stepping toward the man.

He took a step back but quickly realized it and got furious.

He swung his dagger to vent his anger.

It pierced my shoulder and slashed diagonally across my side.

I bit back the scream about to burst out.

The attitude I needed to show now was that of an absolute strongman—calm and collected.

Not a pained cry.

Slowly, I reached out both arms and grabbed the man’s shoulders.

Then I laughed.

“That all you got?”

“W-what?”

“I’m just getting started.”

“Keep going!”

“Ugh, aaah!”

I pressed him, and he screamed strangely, swinging his dagger wildly.

He didn’t try to strike any vital points that could kill instantly; instead, he swung wildly at anything.

After some time passed, the man shook off my arms and stepped back rapidly.

Had he finally seen through my lie?

No. He was preparing to continue the attack.

Mana gathered in his dagger-wielding hand.

This was undoubtedly the strongest attack he could muster.

I took a step forward.

“Yeah! That’s what I’ve been waiting for!”

“Die, you damn monster!”

As soon as the mana finished gathering, he lunged at me.

His dagger stabbed into my abdomen multiple times.

Then, an explosion erupted, like a grenade going off.

Even with the World Tree Fruit boosting my regeneration, I couldn’t withstand such a blast standing.

My body flew through the air and crashed headfirst onto the ground.

The pain from my abdomen was unlike anything I’d felt before.

It was worse than when my mana generator shut down.

Back then, I thought I might lose consciousness.

Now, it was even worse.

“Hahaha…”

Still, I laughed.

I felt like I was going to die from the pain, yet laughter spilled from my lips.

Unable to understand my own laughter, I pushed myself up.

I caught the sharp-faced man and his group staring at me.

Their faces were all shocked.

After being hit by such a destructive skill, how could I still be alive?

I stood up. Thud.

I heard something drop near my ear.

If I hadn’t heard that, I might have taken another step forward.

“…Ah.”

Sure enough, the power of that explosion was overwhelming.

My abdomen was a mess.

My intestines were spilling out and lying on the ground.

“Ugh, what a pain.”

I roughly lifted the long, dangling intestines and walked forward.

The man’s eyes reflected a mixture of shock and fear.

Every step I took forward made him step back.

Though he realized he was retreating again, this time he couldn’t get angry.

“D-don’t come! I said don’t come, you crazy monster!”

Instead of anger, fear burst out from him.

That fear spread to his subordinates.

Some muttered fearfully, “What is that?” or “A monster!”

Others, seeing something they shouldn’t have, collapsed in fear.

“What are you waiting for? Aren’t you going to kill me?”

“…….!”

“Aren’t you going to kill me?!”

Pushed, the sharp-faced man chose the typical frightened response: he quickly turned and fled.

When their leader fled, the others gave up fighting and ran away too.

“…….”

“…….”

Only the Baek Wooncheon guild members remained.

I gestured at Lee Jae-wook and Kim Sang-chul.

“Aren’t you going after them?”

“Y-yes! W-we’re going! We’re chasing them now!”

They answered tensely and ran after the fleeing men.

Before they chased them, both glanced at my abdomen.

They shivered when they saw the intestines retreating back inside.

Honestly, when my intestines had spilled out, they didn’t know what to do.

But it was a relief they went back on their own.

“Hmm…”

After a moment’s thought, I decided to help Lee Jae-wook and Kim Sang-chul.

I would go after the fleeing enemies.

Since they feared me, I could help even without fighting.