Chapter 18: The Bark of the World Tree

Crack! Crack!

The Skeleton Lord’s skull shattered.

It was the result of relentless pounding.

The empty-headed creature knelt and collapsed onto the ground.

The red gleam in its eyes vanished.

It was completely dead.

Soon, the Lord’s body turned to dust and slowly scattered into the wind.

Only after seeing that could I finally collapse flat.

“Ah, that was exhausting.”

Lying down, I noticed the log I had dropped.

I rolled it over and used it as a neck pillow.

The log was so thick that my neck bent almost at a right angle, but it was still more comfortable than resting the back of my head on the ground.

I rested my feet on the Skeleton Lord’s large, heavy armor. The corpse hadn’t completely disappeared yet. It was fading like the weathering process had been fast-forwarded, turning into dust.

“Phew, that was lucky…”

I had to admit it.

I could only win because this guy was a Skeleton Lord.

If it had been an A+ grade beast-type or humanoid monster, I wouldn’t have survived.

It was a Mundeed so deadly to World Tree mana that I was able to kill it.

The log had also played a big role.

Its mere presence unsettled the enemy, which helped a lot.

If I hadn’t provoked the Lord, I wouldn’t have been psychologically drawn into its trap.

[A+ Grade World Tree Quest Clear!]

[World Tree Steward Baek Dowoon has successfully defeated the Skeleton Lord.]

[Success Rewards – Skill ‘World Tree’s Bark (A Grade)’, ‘Sap of the Former World Tree (A Grade)’]

[Click ‘Claim Rewards’ to have the rewards sent to your mailbox.]

[Would you like to claim your rewards? (YES / NO)]

When I cleared the quest, the success rewards appeared.

Bark…?

“……”

I thought about it for a moment, but nothing came to mind.

From the name alone, I couldn’t understand what the skill was.

Well, I could just claim the rewards and check.

I glanced at the other reward, the Sap of the Former World Tree.

Since it was from the quest window, clicking didn’t bring up any description.

It had to be something good since it came from the World Tree.

And it was an A-grade skill, too.

I pressed ‘Claim Rewards’ absentmindedly.

Soon, my smartphone in my chest pocket vibrated.

That meant the rewards had been sent to my mailbox.

“Jion! Are you alive?”

That voice… Uyeonhoo?

Hearing the worried tone, I turned my head.

Uyeonhoo and his party were rushing toward me.

They were lugging around a Mana generator for travel like it was a burden.

Their hair drenched with sweat showed just how hard they’d been running.

Maybe that’s why?

I felt very glad to see the six men and women running to me.

By time, it had been less than two hours since we last met.

I rolled off the log and sat up.

I couldn’t welcome the people who’d rushed over worried about me while still lying down.

“You all came to save me?”

“Of course…! No way you defeated the Skeleton Lord all by yourself, Jion?”

He had run up to me and stared at the Lord’s remains crumbling to dust at my feet.

The party behind him also widened their eyes in surprise when they saw the corpse.

They muttered among themselves.

“All our efforts running here were for nothing…”

“You took that down on your own?”

I scratched my masked cheek.

It was just luck, but there was no need to say that out loud.

“So it seems.”

“… If I’d known, I would have come more slowly.”

“Now then, shall we head back?”

“Y-Yeah! Sounds good!”

Trying to lighten the mood, I smiled brightly.

They seemed to agree to shake off the cold atmosphere and replied cheerfully.

Except for one—Uyeonhoo was scratching his chin, lost in thought.

Why is he like that?

“Jion.”

“You.”

“Have you thought about joining our guild?”

I hadn’t expected a guild invitation here.

His companions looked at him, surprised like I was.

Kim Jiyeon muttered, “Why bring that up in a place like this?”

I tapped the mask covering my face.

“I have no intention of revealing my identity. Are you okay with that?”

I subtly declined the offer to join.

I wasn’t ready to belong to a guild yet.

If I had been, I wouldn’t have quit Baekwooncheon every single second.

If I ever joined a guild, it would be Baekwooncheon.

“Identity… well, that’s understandable.”

Uyeonhoo’s attitude was a bit strange.

Ah. I see. He must already know my identity.

It wouldn’t have been too difficult to figure out.

South Korea is filled with CCTV cameras.

Following the movements of a masked weird guy would quickly lead to me.

I never thought I could hide forever anyway, so it didn’t matter that he knew.

I had expected this ever since joining the guild’s frontline group.

“…….”

As I silently watched, Uyeonhoo winked.

Not only that, Kim Jiyeon beside him put her finger to her lips and smiled mischievously.

She must know my identity too.

Uyeonhoo probably didn’t tell her.

When I was dragged to the Lord, Uyeonhoo had tried to shout my name.

He must have heard it then and figured out who I was.

Judging by their attitudes, it seemed like they planned to keep my secret.

That was a relief, but I couldn’t stop a sigh from escaping.

“Haah….”

*****

As soon as I got home, I roughly took off my mask and clothes and flopped onto the sofa.

Maybe because it was a place where I felt safe? I just wanted to lie down.

I lay down and tried to check the quest rewards, when, buzz.

My smartphone vibrated.

Because I was looking at the screen, I immediately knew why.

It was a message from Assistant Manager Lee.

[Got your message. You’re home, right?]

“What do you want if I’m home.”

I muttered under my breath, unwilling to reply.

Assistant Manager Lee sent another message.

[I’m just trying to thank you, so don’t act like you hate it.]

[Good job gathering Udamhwa. Minju asked me to pass on her regards.]

“… Are they bugging my place with listening devices or something? Why can they talk like that?”

I looked around muttering.

There was obviously no bug.

I stopped that ridiculous thought and opened [World Tree Nurturing].

The World Tree sprout immediately appeared on the screen.

“Hm?”

The sprout looked different than usual.

There was dirt stuck to the leaf tips, and the soil below was disturbed.

It looked as if the sprout had dug up the dirt beneath it.

“You dug the soil yourself to send this?”

I asked just in case.

The sprout just stood still.

It gently swayed as if carried by the wind, like usual.

I waited for a response, but none came.

“… What are you doing?”

Better not do anything weird. I should just open my mailbox and check the rewards.

I clicked the mailbox icon at the top of the screen.

[Mailbox]

[Skill World Tree’s Bark (A Grade)]

[Sap of the Former World Tree (A Grade)]

The mailbox contained the World Tree’s Bark and the Sap of the Former World Tree.

I decided to leave the sap for now since I had no idea what it did.

The mailbox storage period was a whole week, so I didn’t have to claim it immediately.

I clicked the claim button next to World Tree’s Bark.

Then, a blue light emanated from the smartphone screen and wrapped around my body.

The blue light circled me for about three seconds before slowly fading away.

The skill had been learned.

“Skill window.”

In the skill window, ‘NEW!’ appeared along with World Tree’s Bark (A Grade).

I clicked to check its details, and a new window immediately popped up.

[Skill Window]

[World Tree’s Bark (A Grade) – Your body transforms like the bark of the current World Tree (sprout state) due to World Tree mana.]

[Maintaining it consumes 100 mana per second and blocks all damage. However, if struck by an attack stronger than the World Tree bark’s defense, it breaks.]

[Can be turned ON/OFF at will.]

“Oh.”

World Tree’s Bark.

It was a defensive skill.

I wasn’t sure how strong a sprout’s bark defense was, but since it was rated A grade, it should block most attacks.

Next, the mana consumption caught my eye.

100 per second.

In the past, I wouldn’t have dared activate it.

I only had 260 mana total, so it would last only two seconds.

But not anymore.

Now, my mana was a whopping 102,600.

By simple calculation, I could maintain it for 16 minutes.

Since becoming World Tree’s steward, my mana recovery rate had vastly improved, so I could probably maintain it even longer.

Lastly, the phrase about my body transforming due to World Tree mana stood out.

I had seen with my own eyes how things infused with World Tree mana had powerful effects.

This bark should also have a strong effect against corrupt forces.

“The only thing left is the sap…”

I still had no clue what that was.

I closed my eyes and thought about underground water veins.

The only thing that came to mind, laughably, was maple sap.

Hmph.

Just as if warning me not to indulge in useless thoughts, my smartphone vibrated again.

I thought it might be another message from Assistant Manager Lee, but it wasn’t.

It was from my one and only younger sister, Dohee.

[Oppa.]

[Reading but pretending not to, Oppa.]

[I arrive in Korea at 6 p.m. on the 28th.]

[:)]

“Eek…!”

I was so startled I threw my smartphone without thinking.

It hit the floor and vibrated again with a new message.

It was definitely from Dohee.

Because of that, I was too scared to pick it up again.

I felt like the screen might have a message saying, ‘Why are you dropping your phone because you’re scared?’

I counted down the days until her return.

“The 28th, the 28th…”

That’s four days from today.

So, this Friday.

It was the 24th at noon, meaning exactly 102 hours remained until Dohee arrived in Korea.

Phew, calm down.

There was still time on my side.

I needed to think about how to solve this problem.

Five seconds, ten seconds, thirty seconds.

My worry was over in less than a minute.

I calmly stood up and took the kind of action people usually take when faced with a problem.

That’s right.

I ran away.