Chapter 36: The Caretaker’s Manual

The white light emitted from the smartphone vanished in an instant.

After the light faded, the state of the sprout that entered my sight was different from just a moment ago.

The sprout’s stem had grown to about twice its original length, and the two leaves had increased by one, now numbering three.

That’s right. The sprout—

[The World Tree sprout has grown by obtaining A+ grade fertilizer!]

[The ‘Sprout’ state evolves into the ‘Slightly Grown Sprout’ state!]

—had become a slightly grown sprout.

Just a while ago, the sprout had been dancing, but now it stood with its stem upright and straight.

It looked so much like a child trying hard to act like an adult, and it was adorable.

Because it was so lovable, I gave it a little tap, and as usual, it trembled gently, accepting my mana.

This is why raising a World Tree is so addictive, I swear!

[Achievement unlocked! Caretaker Baek Do-woon has grown the World Tree.]

[Baek Do-woon has helped the World Tree grow into a slightly grown sprout and taken the first step as a caretaker.]

[As a reward for this achievement, you are granted the S-rank skill ‘Caretaker’s Manual Volume 1’.]

[The Caretaker’s Manual Volume 1 skill will be sent immediately to your mailbox.]

[Furthermore, with growth, the effects of all skills such as Warm Touch will be enhanced from the Sprout state to the Slightly Grown Sprout state.]

[Additionally, as a new leaf has grown, the caretaker’s maximum mana has increased, totaling 152,600.]

“…Whoa.”

The effect of the A+ grade fertilizer was tremendous.

I hadn’t expected it would grow so quickly just from giving it fertilizer.

Of course, the effort I put into constantly tapping the screen must have played a part.

Still, after seeing this kind of effect, I realized I needed to keep working hard to gather more fertilizer in the future.

Perhaps, whenever the sprout sends over some soil, I should stop by the Muju Ant Tunnel to make fertilizer. With the warp gate, it wouldn’t take long at all.

By the way, what exactly is this Caretaker’s Manual Volume 1 skill?

As its name suggests, could it be instructions on how to nurture the World Tree?

Maybe how to spread fertilizer, or how to prune branches.

If it were just that simple, it couldn’t possibly be an S-rank skill, though.

Since it’s called Volume 1, maybe there’s a Volume 2 as well—

“Hmmm.”

“…Ah.”

I’d completely forgotten that Yoo Jae-yi was right beside me.

Startled, I looked over at her.

She was sitting with her chin propped up, watching me.

With a smile that gave away nothing. The smile could have meant she was pleased, or just as easily displeased.

Ugh, how am I supposed to explain my way out of this?

“Ah, well, you see, what happened is—”

“It’s fine.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to explain.”

“Really?”

“You weren’t going to tell me the truth anyway, were you?”

“……”

She hit the nail on the head.

It was true; just now I’d been worrying about how to cover things up.

She shook her head as if she expected this, and waved her hand dismissively.

“It’s fine, so you can go now.”

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

“You want me to leave?”

“Or are you not going to?”

Yoo Jae-yi looked at me like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

No, how am I supposed to react when you make that face at me?

Shouldn’t I be the one who’s dumbfounded right now, not you?

“A girl being alone—”

“You do remember you were trapped by those Crowd bastards just two hours ago, right?”

“Huh? Ah….”

“Huuh? Aaaah?”

What’s with that look like you hadn’t thought about it at all?

Did she really not realize how much danger she was in just because the Crowd guys acted so submissively?

They’re an A-rank terrorist organization, and they even sold their souls to the demons.

If they thought it would get them what they wanted, they wouldn’t have hesitated to beat or torture her.

If I’d been even a little bit later in finding her, I’m sure that’s what would have happened.

I’d thought she left the request for me to find her because she understood that much, but apparently not.

“You really had no idea how close you were to disaster, did you?”

“No, I knew.”

“Did you, really? Would someone who really knew say she wanted to be alone at night?”

“T-that’s, that’s not it….”

Yoo Jae-yi’s face turned bright red, unable to say anything as she fumbled for words.

Looks like she realized how careless she’d been and was embarrassed about it.

As long as she realized it, that’s good enough.

No need to press her any further.

“Let’s go to Baekwooncheon together in the morning.”

“Baekwooncheon…?”

“Yeah. If I explain the situation, they’ll protect you. You’ll have to pay a fee, but since I’m with you, we can make a request at a discount.”

“Mmm, okay. That—”

She was about to say she’d do it, but just then, the door slid open with a creak.

I immediately used Warm Touch and stepped in front of Yoo Jae-yi.

It wasn’t likely that the Crowd would just come in through the door, but just in case.

Yoo Jae-yi also picked up a World Tree leaf and readied it like a club.

The person who came through the door was completely unexpected.

“…You weren’t really about to attack with that, were you?”

It was Kim Ji-yeon from Il-dae Group.

The mage who’d fought with us at the Hongyurung Gate was with her as well.

They both looked at the leaves in my right hand and Yoo Jae-yi’s hands with bewildered expressions.

“Ah, sorry.”

“We thought you were an enemy.”

I quickly withdrew my mana and bowed my head in apology.

Yoo Jae-yi also placed the leaf back on the counter.

Kim Ji-yeon and the mage slowly entered the room.

As they came in, they explained why they’d come to Jae-yi’s Smithy.

“Chae-yeon asked us to come. We heard a terrorist organization called the Crowd is targeting Yoo Jae-yi. Is that true?”

It wasn’t Woo Yeon-hu, but Woo Chae-yeon who’d asked?

Did Woo Yeon-hu tell her little sister about it?

No matter how close they are, can you just go around sharing information about a terrorist organization like that?

“Yes, that’s right.”

While I was wondering about that, Yoo Jae-yi answered the question.

They walked right past me and up to her.

“I’m Kim Ji-yeon from Il-dae Guild.”

“I’m Sim Yoon-jin from the same guild.”

“We’ve come to guard you, Yoo Jae-yi. Will you accept our protection?”

Kim Ji-yeon and Sim Yoon-jin asked in serious tones.

Yoo Jae-yi looked a bit flustered and glanced over at me.

“Uh, protection? Well…”

She looked unsure what to do.

Probably because I’d just said we’d go to Baekwooncheon together.

Honestly, I’d prefer she get Baekwooncheon’s protection, but I couldn’t just ignore the goodwill of people who came all the way here to help.

I smiled at her and nodded, signaling it was fine to accept.

“…Yes. I’ll accept.”

Yoo Jae-yi sighed and looked at Kim Ji-yeon and Sim Yoon-jin.

She reached out her hand for a handshake.

“I’m Yoo Jae-yi, of Jae-yi’s Smithy… I look forward to working with you.”

“Likewise.”

“We’ll do our best!”

Hmm. Since it’s come to this, I can probably leave things to them and head out.

“Ah, is that so?”

Just then, Kim Ji-yeon, who’d been looking at me, clapped her hands as if she’d realized something.

“…?”

The three of us stared at Kim Ji-yeon, but she said nothing.

She just stood there, lips curling in a faint smile.

Her eyes went back and forth between me and Yoo Jae-yi.

…As expected from Woo Yeon-hu’s comrade, Kim Ji-yeon has clearly misunderstood something strange.

Before going home, I checked the new skill I’d obtained while sitting in the car.

When I activated the skill, a bluish book floated up in midair.

[Caretaker’s Manual Volume 1]

When I reached out with my left hand toward the title, I could feel the texture of the book.

It looked like I’d have to open it and turn the pages myself.

To think I’d be forced to read a book because of a skill when I never even read them in school.

I tapped the smartphone screen and opened the first page.

[Greetings, new caretaker of the World Tree.]

[I am Dishing na Thor, the previous caretaker of the World Tree, you could say your senior.]

[I wish I could meet you face to face and have an open-hearted conversation, but due to circumstances, I ask for your understanding that this is not possible.]

A previous caretaker?

Is he the one who wrote this manual?

[First of all, as your predecessor, there’s something I want to advise you.]

[You might feel resistant to getting advice from someone whose face you’ve never even seen, but this is a mindset every World Tree caretaker must have, so I hope you read it carefully.]

[That mindset is this: never treat the World Tree as a ‘tool’.]

[The World Tree is a being with emotions…….]

I skimmed through and turned to the next page.

I’d thought about just skipping it, but since he kept insisting, I read the whole thing.

To sum up, the warning was that if I treated the World Tree as a tool, it would treat me as a tool in return.

I looked down at the sprout, now growing tall and sturdy in the screen.

A tool? How could anyone see such a cute little thing as a tool?

What a fool.

[Thank you for reading my brief advice all the way through.]

[From here on, I’ll introduce ways to protect yourself as a World Tree caretaker.]

“…?”

As a World Tree caretaker, protect myself?

I cocked my head, not understanding that line.

If he’d said he’d show me how to get stronger, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.

But the previous caretaker didn’t say ‘how to get stronger,’ he said ‘how to protect yourself.’

Almost as if being a World Tree caretaker was dangerous and he wanted to help me keep myself safe.

As if there was an enemy out there targeting World Tree caretakers.

“…I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

But there was no explanation to resolve my unease.

From the next part on, just as Dishing had said, he explained how to protect my body.

[Now that you’re a World Tree caretaker, you must have noticed your mana has increased significantly.]

[Your recovery is so high, you’ve probably never even experienced running out of mana.]

[With almost limitless mana like this, what should you do with it?]

[If you’ve ever wondered about that, I’ll teach you how from now on.]

Oh, maybe it’s because we’re both caretakers, but our way of thinking is pretty similar?

When I first got mana, I wondered how I should use it, too.

[One way to use the World Tree’s mana is—]

[To directly absorb it into your body.]

To absorb mana directly into my body!

“…W-what’s that supposed to mean?”

[You currently possess the World Tree’s mana.]

[You have pure mana capable of handling all the elements in this world, but you’re only possessing it.]

[That’s the same as wasting it. Isn’t that such a shame?]

[So, I hope you use this method to strengthen your body.]

[If you successfully absorb it, your physical abilities will be vastly improved compared to before.]

“Hm, is this maybe similar to that?”

After I got injured, there was a rehabilitation training where you stimulate muscles with mana.

You’d let a tiny bit of mana flow into your body to get injured muscles working again.

Before mana was used, they used electricity for that.

Wasn’t it called microcurrent therapy?

[At the same time, there are extra effects, and if you’re a woman, congratulations.]

[Among the side effects, you’ll get flawless skin that everyone in the world will envy.]

[If you’re quick-witted, you’ll have realized that absorbing World Tree mana improves your skin—a very important piece of information.]

[You’re right.]

[Sap or leaves containing the World Tree’s energy are excellent ingredients for skincare.]

[If you get the chance, I highly recommend making cosmetics out of those ingredients and selling them.]

[You’ll easily make a fortune.]

[Anyway, in the next chapter, I’ll explain how to infuse World Tree mana into your body.]

“…Cosmetics? Fortune?”

This guy—wasn’t that whole ‘don’t treat the World Tree as a tool’ lecture really just about himself?