Unlike how he bullied Wooram, the Capsule appearing was a good thing from Jaeho’s perspective as well.
There was no need to waste time by wandering around the Capsule Room for no reason.
“But what if Father finds out I’m planning to open a flower shop….”
For now, he could dodge the question with some excuses, but if the truth were discovered, something truly terrible might happen.
“Well, I just won’t let him find out.”
After logging into the game, the repetitive daily routine began again.
But it wasn’t all that boring.
Filling up the encyclopedia was surprisingly fun, and Mei, who had become his assistant, was also there.
As an assistant to the Regent of Spirits, Mei’s tasks boiled down to two things: filling <Alicia’s Plant Encyclopedia> and gathering specimens.
However, filling the encyclopedia wasn’t much different from what she did before becoming an assistant.
She used to find flowers and inform Jaeho about them.
Moreover, now she could register her own findings in Jaeho’s encyclopedia through direct observation.
The new task was gathering, but since her skill level was low, she was clumsy at it.
“It’s just a matter of time.”
With the two of them working together to fill the encyclopedia, the percentage began to rise quite rapidly.
And finally…
[<Alicia’s Plant Encyclopedia> — <Flowers of the Luxi Forest> Achievement rate for has reached 95%.]
100% was within reach!
That meant they had discovered most of the flowers existing in Luxi Forest!
“5%……”
Mei fell silent as she looked at the encyclopedia.
They had hit 95% two weeks ago.
They had searched all over Luxi Forest to find the remaining 5%, but no new flowers were coming up.
“It makes sense that it’s not easy to find something right away after searching everywhere.”
Jaeho said calmly, but inside he felt frustrated.
Considering how many flowers they had confirmed so far, that 5% meant only one flower remained.
He could confidently say they had been everywhere worth visiting.
After all, Luxi Forest itself wasn’t that large.
“There’s only one place left…”
Jaeho’s gaze shifted toward the tall mountain visible through the trees.
More precisely, the peak of the mountain, sharp and numerous enough to almost pierce the sky!
“Uh…… Excuse me?”
Mei asked hesitantly.
Just by looking, it didn’t seem like a place where plants could survive.
Up to the middle of the mountain, trees were thick, but the peaks were nothing but bare rock.
“We have no choice but to go. We can’t give up on even one flower.”
“That’s true, but…”
Mei was honestly not confident.
How exactly would they climb that path?
“I’ll go alone. Besides, Mei doesn’t have much strength anyway.”
Jaeho’s strength was nearly double hers.
Although Mei’s stamina, boosted by focusing on endurance for long labor, was about the same as Jaeho’s, her lack of muscle made rock climbing impossible.
“Okay… then I’ll just keep filling in observation percentages down here.”
There was no point in tagging along since she wouldn’t be much help.
Mei decided to focus on what she could do.
***
“Knock— Knock—”
Jaeho pressed the climbing pick he got from the Elves hard against the cliff as he scaled the sheer rock face.
Even without it, he had ropes, emergency rations, protective gear, cold-weather clothing, and all kinds of necessary equipment.
Because his favor with the Luxi Forest Elves had reached its maximum, they even forced things on him he didn’t really need, thinking, ‘Do you really need this?’
After about two hours, breathing heavily, Jaeho finally reached the top.
“Phew… made it.”
But there was…
“…nothing?”
Only rocks surrounded the summit.
― Alicia… Miss! How is it? Is it there?!
How Mei knew was a mystery, but her shout came at just the right moment.
― No, it’s not here.
― Hyuk? Th-Then what do we do?
― For now…
Jaeho looked down the other side of the cliff and spoke.
― We have to look while climbing down on the opposite side.
― That’s… way too dangerous! Going down is totally different from going up.
― Well, just think of it as checking while going down.
So, after a brief rest, the daring Jaeho began climbing the cliff again.
***
For already three hours, Jaeho was climbing up and down the cliff face, checking every angle.
[Fatigue has reached 90%.]
[Absolute rest is required!]
[Status abnormality detected <Helplessness>.]
Not only was his massive body hanging on the cliff, but with his strength fading, it felt as if someone was grabbing his feet and pulling him down.
[ <Spirit of Vitality> advises ‘You must rest.’]
Even the <Spirit of Vitality> was nagging him.
“Huh, alright. Let’s rest for now.”
Because the cliff was so steep, proper rest could only be taken at the summit.
But even there, he still had to endure cold and strong winds…
Crack—
“?”
At that moment, a safety pin wedged into a crack broke and popped out.
[<Safety Ring> has been destroyed.]
[ <Safety Ring> has been destroyed.]
[<Safety Ring> …]
Instantly, multiple harnesses came loose, and Jaeho’s body flew into midair.
Thunk-
[ <Strong Rope>has snapped.]
The life line securing him to the summit was gone.
Jaeho never expected that a single foot could hold up his large body for so long.
That was more for psychological security than practicality!
“Uaaaaahhh!”
Jaeho’s scream echoed throughout Luxi Forest.
But no one could help him.
No matter how much it was a game, the sensation of falling while floating in the void was terrifying.
He squeezed his eyes shut as the basic fear of free fall and the increasing speed down the steep slope overwhelmed him.
Bang—!! Thud! Clatter clatter—
The initial impact reduced his stamina by two-thirds, and he kept bouncing down the slope, grimacing in pain with every roll.
In the midst of it, he earned a title.
[ <Falling has Wing?”Title acquired.]
[Fall damage reduced.]
“[ <Throwing God or Fighting God> title acquired.]”
[When cornered on a cliff, all stats increase.]
Even though he earned the title, there was no joy.
[You have died.]
[Death penalty: Level reduced by 1.]
“?!!”
The screen instantly turned pitch black.
“Dead?”
***
― In recent times, there have been many issues in the New World’s realm. But soon, an unprecedented major incident will occur. And in that turbulent world, you will have more enjoyable and exciting experiences. Oh, would you like a hint? Haha! Sorry. Isn’t it frustrating? We never spoil anything about our World Wide game!
“That itself is a spoiler, isn’t it?”
The day after his death, Jaeho, working out with Wansik, watched an interview of Seo Donghyuk, the World Wide representative, and commented.
“He’s really good at astral projection. He even plays around with that as a concept, so…”
Wansik dismissed it lightly.
“Probably some nonsense again. Last time, he talked a lot of crap too. You know about it, right? It spread like wildfire.”
“Hey! You mean ‘Seo Poongjeonya’?”
Jaeho nodded knowingly.
[The sound of wind and drizzling rain beats against the office window. Truly the calm before the storm. Whether you’re weak or we’re weak will be shown by the results.]
It was an actual post by Seo Donghyuk.
In truth, everything about New World was far from weak.
Seo Donghyuk often spoke recklessly, so the realm was only judged as ‘relatively weak.’
And even after writing that, he was still mocked for being weak.
“People speculate it was some unknown countryside territory war. But the cost to get there was too high, so none of the rankers or guilds participated. Total indifference.”
So the nickname they got was Seo Poongjeonya! (No one knew that the observation team and its leader shed tears over Hyeonho’s fate.)
“That’s kind of cheap.”
“Well, it’s fun to tease and makes a good joke, right? Even now, people are guessing what Seo Poongjeonya really meant.”
But he had no idea.
The real protagonist of Seo Poongjeonya was the very same Galmot Dapdapman Hwang Jaeho standing right next to him.
***
First login after death.
Jaeho thought it would be no different from his usual game logins, but the strange scenery he faced as soon as he opened his eyes threw him into confusion.
[Hidden <Tinlight’s Idea> has been discovered.]
[You have entered <Tinlight Idea> .]
“Woah?”
A space filled only with a pure white earth and a bright blue sky.
Jaeho stood awkwardly in that place, and in front of him was a massive flower bud even larger than himself, still closed.
[You have discovered < Sealed Spirit Sprout> !]
“Sealed again?”
He had gone through so much trouble trying to bloom the Epfeltz flower.
But Jaeho’s hardened expression completely softened with the new notification.
[ <Alicia’s Plant Encyclopedia>—<Flowers of the Luxi Forest> Achievement rate for has reached 100%!!]
[The favor of the Luxi Forest Elves toward you has reached the maximum.]
[The favor of all the Elves toward you has greatly increased.]
[Strong buff received to observation progress of flowers.]
[Favor of the spirits toward you has increased.]
[ <Veteran Botanist> title acquired.]
[You can analyze observed plants in greater detail.]
Finally, the Luxi Forest flower encyclopedia had hit 100%!
“Wow…”
Jaeho breathed deeply as if to savor the final flower with determined will.
Could it be that you had to die to meet this one…?
[Thanks to title effect <Veteran Botanist>, observation buff applied.]
[ <Plant Observation> skill effect greatly increases observation rate.]
[Due to < Spirit of Vitality> , observation efficiency is greatly increased.]
With multiple effects stacking, Jaeho could greatly raise the analysis rate of the Spirit Sprout.
[Sealed Spirit Sprout]
[Observation progress: 32%]
[Spirit Sprout planted by the Regent of Spirits, Tinlight, at the last moment.]
[It contains pure < Essence of the spirit> .]
[Only beings recognized by the spirits can open the Spirit Sprout’s heart.]
The last line was a bit ambiguous, but it posed no problem for Jaeho.
[ <Sealed Spirit Sprout> senses the scent of nature from you.]
[ <Sealed Spirit Sprout> senses the familiar presence of the Elves from you.]
[ <Sealed Spirit Sprout> recalls Tinlight from you.]
Notifications appeared one after another.
Hwaaaa—
The giant bud slowly opened, emitting a dazzling light.
“?”
Inside the flower bud, visible through the light, was a pond.
“Whoa?!”
Jaeho turned on the hot wind and peered into the pond.
Inside that pond was a small yet gigantic world.
[You have discovered the world of flower spirits < Bloria> for the first time!]
[Fame greatly increased.]
[ title acquired < Beloved by the spirits>.]
[All spirits will love you.]
To prove it, countless spirits no larger than sparkles were fluttering around Jaeho in a daze.
[*Class Quest*]
[The flower spirits’ world, Bloria, can only exist in the embrace of the Shinmok.]
[However, after the Destruction of Shinmok, Tinlight sealed Bloria inside the Spirit Sprout, hiding his soul deep within himself, promising to bloom it again with a new Shinmok.]
[As the new Regent of Spirits, you have the duty to fulfill that promise.]
[Success condition: Full bloom of Bloria sealed inside the Spirit Sprout.]
[Failure condition: Destruction of the Shinmok.]
It was already his second class quest.
For most people, class quests only started upon obtaining rare classes, but successor classes were different.
Compared to other classes, freedom was even more limited.
Yet Jaeho liked this quest better than the first.
“Because it’s related to flowers.”
The spirits who had warmly welcomed Jaeho slowly began returning to the Bloria inside the pond.
Then the Spirit Sprout’s bud closed again.
Without the Shinmok’s existence, they could only remain sealed inside the Spirit Sprout.
The new Regent of Spirits had appeared only briefly to unseal them.
Jaeho used the skill to carefully touch the huge bud.
[ < Spirit Sprout seeds x15>acquired.]
[ < Essence of Spirit sprout> acquired.]
Two types of gathered items, and their use was easy to understand.
[<Spirit Sprout seeds>]
[Grade: Advanced]
[Usage condition: None]
[Seeds of the Spirit Sprout.]
[<Essence of the Bloria>]
[Grade: Mythical]
[Usage condition: Unknown]
[A sealed container holding Bloria, the world of flower spirits.]
“The core is the essence.”
Spirit Sprouts themselves were a type of flower.
The record in the encyclopedia was proof.
The essence was, after all, sealed inside the Spirit Sprout.
[Shortly, you will be ejected from <Tinlight’s Ideology> .]
[Your physical body will be reconstructed.]
[You will be revived at the checkpoint (Luxi Forest Trian Village).]
Pah—
The light that had enveloped Jaeho was drawn out once again.