Chapter 3: The Caretaker’s Status

“What happened?”

I was lying alone on the sofa when Taechun’s voice reached me. He had just come into the master’s room, closed the door behind him, and walked toward me. Judging by his suit, he had come straight from an emergency press conference about last night’s incident. I set down my smartphone, which was still syncing, and sat up on the sofa.

“What, what do you mean?”

I stammered, feeling burdened under his gaze. Taechun walked up to me and sat down at the rectangular table in front of me.

Then, he looked me straight in the eyes. He was so handsome that nine out of ten people on the street would turn around to look, which only made me more uncomfortable. When my discomfort peaked and I tried to look away, he finally spoke.

“I heard everything. You got stabbed in the heart, right?”

“Mei, no. It was just a slight prick in the chest.”

I answered casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal. Of course, inside I was extremely grateful. If I hadn’t eaten the World Tree’s fruit before those bastards barged in, I would have been dead by now.

I really was lucky. If I hadn’t nurtured the World Tree and gotten the reward…

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

“The neck too, huh?”

“Just a little, a little.”

“Your face got smashed up.”

“J-just a little?”

Taechun asked once more. Each time, I gave vague answers. But the more I dodged, the grimmer his expression became.

“Your intestines spilled out of your stomach.”

“…….”

“You still call that ‘a little’? Huh?”

“Ugh…”

You can’t say “a little” when your intestines have spilled out. Trying to deceive someone who’s been briefed on everything was foolish.

I should’ve asked Jaewook and Sangchul not to say anything about me. I forgot in the chaos. That was my fault.

“Keep it a secret from Dohee.”

Taechun had been given the direct report, so there was no way around it. But Dohee was on a dispatch in Paris, France, so maybe I could hide it from her.

If my sister found out, I’d be nagged for at least an hour. Even though I did nothing wrong! You have to avoid that kind of absurdity, don’t you?

“Hmph…”

Taechun sighed and held out his smartphone for me to read. I read the headlines that popped up on the screen.

‘Baekwooncheon Guild Attacked!’

‘Executive Handling Damage—Friend of Lee Taechun?’

‘Shock! White Saintess Baek Dohee’s Brother Also a Hunter!’

“…Journalists really do their job well.”

“Why don’t you look at the news sometimes instead of just playing games on your phone?”

“Hey, I wasn’t playing a game.”

“What are you talking about? I just saw you on your phone.”

“I’m serious. It was updating, so I couldn’t play.”

To prove my point, I proudly picked up the smartphone with my left hand and showed him. The screen displayed a syncing message with a percentage. Seeing that, Taechun let out a deep sigh.

“Sigh…”

“……”

Well, what’s the difference between playing a game and updating it? Feeling silly for my own behavior, I quietly put the phone down.

“The two of them made such a fuss.”

He must mean Jaewook and Sangchul.

“Sure enough, a friend of the master. They said you’re brilliant and talented. It was more than praise, more like worship.”

“They’re exaggerating.”

“Exaggerating? Hmm. From what I heard, it didn’t sound like it.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“Didn’t do much? You anticipated the mana generator going offline and prepared for it. Then you took on ‘Jeon Myunghwan’ alone and incapacitated him. Sangchul thought you were undercover as the Undercutter Manager, hiding your skills.”

Jeon Myunghwan.

That must be the name of the sharp-featured long-haired guy. Judging by Taechun calling him ‘that guy,’ he seems pretty well-known in the back-end world.

Taechun lowered his head.

“If it weren’t for you, we’d all be dead. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I was just doing my duty.”

I’m the Undercutter Manager of Baekwooncheon Guild. The people I saved were all Undercutters in the same guild. Of course, I had to fight hard to save them.

It was my responsibility and duty as the manager. Of course, I expect to be compensated. Taechun seemed to think the same, as he held out his phone again.

“This much should do it, right?”

The screen displayed an amount of 100 million won. Even though Baekwooncheon is an A-rank guild, it doesn’t have a lot of freely available capital, so that amount was huge.

Knowing that well, I smiled with satisfaction. Taechun smiled too. Of course, our smiles didn’t last long.

Taechun looked at me with a serious expression.

“So.”

“Hmm?”

“What exactly happened?”

“……”

Instead of answering, I controlled the mana inside my body. Seeing is believing. The mana that started flowing from my heart wrapped around my whole body, glowing blue.

I hadn’t been able to do this simple act for two years. I felt like crying, but…

I held it back. If I cried now, Taechun would tease me for life.

“…Thank goodness. Really, really thank goodness.”

Taechun bowed his head, watching the blue mana that wrapped my body. His shoulders trembled slightly, as if he was crying.

Well, just like me, he would force himself not to cry. The moment he cried in front of me, he would be teased forever. Taechun lifted his head and grinned.

His two hands clasped together were pale white—he was holding back tears too.

“Good. Now we can be together again.”

Yeah. That’s what I truly wanted. But I decided to hide that feeling for now. If I said it, who knows what Dohee and Taechun would do.

They’d definitely drop everything—guild work or Hunter work—for me. Just as they were everything to me, I was the same for them. That couldn’t be.

I don’t want to owe them any more than I already do.

“Ah, I’m not going to form a party with you and Dohee.”

“I’m quitting the guild too.” If I said it outright, they’d question why, but I wouldn’t answer. They’d probably tear up my resignation letter, saying absolutely no.

So I planned to quietly find the HR staff.

“_..What?”

Taechun’s face went blank for a moment, then quickly turned grim. Like he wanted to ask, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

And that wasn’t the end—Taechun’s charm was that he acted on such expressions.

“What the hell are you talking about? Why wouldn’t you form a party?”

“Because you don’t need me.”

“Don’t need you?”

“I retired as a Hunter, and Baekwooncheon grew from D-rank to A-rank in two years without me. That was possible because you formed your own party, and Dohee formed hers.”

Both parties boasted excellent teamwork. Their members had few flaws. There’s no place for me. Even if I can use mana again, I’m still a former D-rank Hunter.

I’d just be a burden. So joining a party with you two now is out of the question. But with the World Tree’s fruit restoring me…

I could definitely catch up to where you two are.

“You can rebuild the party. Dohee would definitely—”

“Idiot. Don’t you think about party wins? Would Han Jaeim be happy? Does it make sense for you two to be at the center of the party but be without you?”

If the party suddenly got the disbandment notice, they’d blame me as the cause. Some might even leave the guild, unable to understand the situation. Baekwooncheon is small in number, so such talent can’t be wasted.

Taechun didn’t deny what I said. He just closed his mouth, biting his lower lip in frustration. He looked like he wanted to argue more, but I cut him off first.

Clapping my hands, I stood up from the sofa.

“So, that’s the end of the party discussion.”

“Wait, Dowoon. Then the party thing will be decided after the ‘family meeting’—”

“Ah, come on! Let’s just go home. I stayed up all night. It’s almost noon.”

“…Still, I’m going to tell Dohee about the party.”

“Do whatever you want. You’ll just get scolded for childish talk.”

“……”

Taechun shut up as if he really believed that. Even I felt it was plausible as I said it myself. I even shivered recalling Dohee’s cold expression when she scolds me and Taechun.

He shivered too at just that thought.

“…Don’t you think our dignity as older brothers is pretty lacking?”

“You have to do more childish things.”

Taechun chuckled at my question. That laugh was enough to make me sigh deeply. Who else but us could be blamed for not growing up?

In fact, I just felt sorry for my sister who has two immature older brothers.

After several refusals, the HR staff finally processed my resignation. She said it wasn’t something she could do on her own authority, so she kept rejecting it. Understandable.

They knew I was the guild master’s friend and the deputy guild master’s brother, so they couldn’t easily accept it. But I kept submitting the resignation letter, insisting I wanted to quit. After several almost coercive requests, she finally accepted.

Having quit the guild that way, I went straight home. Not to rest. For some reason, despite staying up all night, I wasn’t tired. I came back to slowly check the fully synced [World Tree Nurturing].

Also to plan ahead. How could I stand shoulder to shoulder with those two?

[All synchronization completed.]

[Please continue to nurture the World Tree with your warm hands.]

After reading that phrase, I tapped the system window, and another message appeared.

[Would you like to log in?]

“I came home to do exactly that.”

After a brief loading, the game launched. A large sprout filled the smartphone screen, greeting me. It was the same sight as right before syncing started.

The screen seemed to have a breeze setting; the sprout’s leaves fluttered gently. There was one more difference. At the top right of the screen appeared a mailbox and a help button. Originally, only the quest box was there.

Even the quest box only displayed “Please nurture the World Tree with warm hands.” So I thought, “Why only now?”

That was my first impression of the changes. Naturally, curious, I pressed the help button immediately.

A brief help message popped up over the sprout.

[Baek Dowoon can directly transfer mana to the ‘World Tree Sprout’ with warm hands.]

[The World Tree Sprout accepts Baek Dowoon’s mana and gradually grows.]

[As the sprout grows, Baek Dowoon also grows together.]

The sprout grows and I grow with it? How? It was unbelievable and incomprehensible.

“Hmm…”

Still puzzled, I finished reading the remaining help messages.

[You can open the character window and skill window to check your current status.]

[Use the character and skill windows to protect yourself from enemies and fully grow the World Tree!]

What is all this supposed to mean?

“What’s the character window, and what’s the skill window…?”

Just as I said that, I suddenly understood the help message. A bluish window, commonly seen in games, appeared before my eyes—the character and skill windows.

[Character Window]

[Baek Dowoon – World Tree Caretaker]

[Titles – ]

[HP – 100%]

[MP – 102,600]

[SP – ∞]

[Status – ]

The character window displayed my name, HP, MP, and SP each in different colors. There was also a titles slot and a status slot, both empty. After a quick look, I shifted my gaze to the skill window.

[Skill Window]

“Huh…?”

Because my mana was low, I hadn’t used any skills. Being a Hunter who fought barehanded, it made sense I had very few skills.

All I had were E-rank skills like ‘Power Strike’ or ‘Shield Block,’ whose effects were obvious from their names. But…

None of my original skills were there. Instead, the skill window showed only unfamiliar skills I’d never seen before.

“What the hell is all this?”