Chapter 47: Trouble Waiting Beyond the Door

[You have been moved to the event space.]

“Why is it so dark?”

I looked around, scanning my surroundings.

The space I had been transferred to was pitch black and completely empty.

Only a large message window floated in the air, explaining the situation.

And then,

“…Saessak?”

Saessak was standing there alone.

The Saessak that should’ve been inside my smartphone was emitting a faint blue glow.

As soon as I looked at it, it gently swayed its stem.

The rhythmic swaying was almost like it was raising its palm to greet me.

Finding the sight cute, I squatted down in front and softly petted it.

Saessak seemed pleased, trembling its leaves with delight.

“But Saessak, you’re kind of big, aren’t you?”

It was larger than I expected, and that caught me off guard.

When I squatted down, my eyes were level with its leaves.

Standing up, the leaves would probably reach my waist.

All this time, seeing it through the smartphone screen, I assumed it was about knee-high, but I was completely wrong.

By proportion, if I think about when it absorbed some fertilizer and grew a bit more, it probably would’ve reached my knees.

Even the size of its leaves was about as big as my palm.

“Well….”

Saessak is the same kind of being as the previous World Tree, which sent me that “log” as a so-called branch.

It’s probably only natural that its size exceeded my expectations.

Wait, then was Saessak also this big when it was summoned above my head?

What am I supposed to do if Saessak grows into a massive tree someday?

If I summon it then, it might be so heavy I’d end up crushed beneath it.

“Hm, what do you think will happen to you?”

As I asked, I tapped its leaf with my index finger.

Saessak just quietly accepted my touch.

No small message window appeared to convey its intentions.

At that moment, I heard a small metallic marble rolling somewhere—dageurururu.

It sounded like the effect you’d hear when a game is about to start.

[The special event will begin soon.]

So my guess was right.

The message in the square window floating in the darkness changed.

[The special event, “Protect Saessak!”, is being held by the previous World Tree out of gratitude.]

[Among the prepared games, this will proceed as a “Defense Game.”]

“Protect Saessak…?”

A defense game is usually about preventing enemies from reaching something you have to protect.

Just as the name suggests, in this event, I’d have to protect Saessak.

So that’s why Saessak appeared in the flesh.

But… protect it from what?

I tapped its leaf again and looked up at the square window.

[In this special event, the manager cannot use any items or skills they possess.]

Can’t use any skills?

That meant no World Tree Swing or Bark, either.

[You must block the monster wave using only your warm touch.]

Suddenly, a glass bottle filled with red liquid floated in the air.

Since it was a defense game, that red liquid clearly represented “life.”

If the monsters touched or got too close to Saessak, the life would decrease.

[The red liquid in the glass bottle indicates Saessak’s current state.]

[Whenever a monster touches the World Tree sprout, the liquid will turn black.]

[If you fail to block the monster wave and the red liquid becomes completely black, the special event will end.]

[Do your best to stop the monster wave and protect Saessak!]

The explanation continued, just as I expected.

As soon as it finished, the window immediately displayed the words: “The event will now begin.”

[The first wave is starting.]

[The monsters appearing in this wave are E-Rank monsters: Red Gnolls.]

[5, 4, 3, 2, 1.]

When the countdown disappeared, about 100 gnolls burst out all at once.

As if they had always been there, they sprang forth and rushed straight toward me.

No, more precisely, they were charging at Saessak behind me.

Their red fur made it clear they were the ones from the Namsan Gate.

“Not being able to use weapons is kind of a big deal.”

Dealing with 100 gnolls wasn’t that difficult.

I could avoid them and take them on just fine.

It was just a bit disappointing not to be able to use Arca.

If I had that, I could have taken out several dozen with each swing.

If I could have used World Tree Swing?

The gnolls would’ve been wiped out the moment they appeared.

[The manager has defeated all Red Gnolls, ending the first wave.]

[The next wave will start in 10 seconds.]

[10, 9, 8….]

Only 10 seconds before the next round?

“What kind of nonsense is this? This is supposed to be a special event!”

What kind of event doesn’t even give you time to breathe?

Do they even know what “special” means?

It’s frustrating not having anyone to complain to.

Meanwhile, Saessak awkwardly rubbed one leaf against another.

It looked exactly like a person scratching their head in embarrassment.

Phew, I’ll let it slide since Saessak is cute.

[The second wave is starting.]

[The monsters appearing in this wave are E-Rank monsters: Giant Ants.]

[5, 4, 3, 2, 1.]

Just like before, 100 Giant Ants burst out at once.

They were definitely the Giant Ants I’d seen in the Muju Ant Nest.

As soon as they appeared, they rushed at Saessak just like the gnolls.

Each time I tapped their heads with my index finger, the Giant Ants went limp.

Even without a mana shield, this was much easier than my previous time at the Muju Ant Nest.

It was thanks to my greatly improved physical abilities from pruning.

Because of that, I could dodge their acid and even let my mind wander a bit.

“The monsters that appear all seem pretty familiar.”

Gnolls, then Giant Ants.

Maybe the monsters I’ve encountered recently are the ones showing up.

If that’s really the case, Skeletons will pop out in the next round.

Well, I’ll know for sure once the third round starts.

[The manager has defeated all Giant Ants, ending the second wave.]

[The next wave will start in 10 seconds.]

It didn’t take long to take out all the Giant Ants, either.

No matter what, they died with just one warm touch.

Gnolls or Giant Ants, both acted on pure instinct, charging forward.

[The third wave is starting.]

[The monsters appearing in this wave are B-Rank monsters: Skeletons.]

[5, 4, 3, 2, 1.]

“Knew it….”

Gnolls, Giant Ants, Skeletons.

The monsters appearing in this special event were definitely the ones I’d hunted recently.

It seemed likely they were all monsters Saessak had witnessed alongside me.

If that’s the case, wouldn’t the next be the Watcher?

“Sigh, not being able to use items is really a shame.”

At Hongyureung Gate, the Skeletons had been purified and vanished thanks to the earth sent by Saessak.

As unclean beings, they couldn’t withstand the pure mana of the World Tree.

And Arca was a weapon imbued with that same mana.

If I’d had Arca, the Skeletons would’ve been instantly purified.

If only…

“Then I wouldn’t have to smash every single one—like—this!”

Bam, bap!

“Their skulls—one by one—like this!”

Whack, wham, whack!

I diligently bashed the Skeletons’ white skulls.

Maybe because they were tougher than the Gnolls or Giant Ants, it was oddly satisfying.

They still died in one hit, so it got boring, but at least the impact felt nice.

The third wave ended in a flash.

None of the monsters so far had even gotten close to Saessak.

The red liquid in the bottle remained unchanged.

[The fourth wave is starting.]

I figured the Watcher would show up this time.

That’s the next monster I’d seen after the Skeletons.

However…

[The monsters appearing in this wave are B-Rank monsters: Red Manticores.]

[5, 4, 3, 2, 1.]

My guess was way off.

100 Red Manticores appeared.

I hadn’t expected these guys at all.

By rank, I guess it was their turn, but… I’d never actually seen a Red Manticore in the real world.

I saw them in the Tower of Trials.

They were virtual beings.

…Wait a second?

“If those from there show up too…”

Does that mean Red Wyverns and Cyclopes are going to appear too?

That’s… 100 Red Wyverns and 100 Cyclopes.

Are you kidding me?

“What kind of special event is this?!”

My protests were drowned out by the roar of the Red Manticores that appeared next.

With Arca unavailable, and only my warm touch at my disposal, I had no way to attack them when they flew into the air.

And unlike the monsters before, the Manticores didn’t die from a single warm touch.

Even when I struck their heads dead-on with my finger, they didn’t go down and kept attacking.

Because of that, one Red Manticore managed to touch Saessak for the first time.

“No! My perfect run!”

I checked the red liquid in the glass bottle.

It had become just a little tainted.

It had only been touched once, so unless you looked very closely, you wouldn’t even notice.

There wasn’t even a perfect system, so technically it didn’t matter.

Still, as a gamer who’d played games all his life, failing to block everything perfectly put me in a bad mood.

For the pride of a gamer, I vowed to protect Saessak even more fiercely.

Focusing more on Saessak, I took care of the Manticores.

Since I had to be careful, it took a bit more time to hunt them.

Still, after that, none of them touched Saessak again.

Satisfied, I waited for the next monster to appear.

[The World Tree manager has successfully protected the sprout.]

[The previous World Tree acknowledges the completion of the event!]

“Huh?”

But the next monsters didn’t appear.

The special event was over.

And the A-Rank monsters hadn’t even shown up?

Puzzled, I stared at the message window.

[The previous World Tree acknowledges the completion of the event!]

That message remained on display.

Then a bluish window appeared.

[Special Event Cleared!]

[World Tree Manager Baek Dowoon has successfully completed the Previous World Tree’s special event.]

[Completion Rewards – Skill: “Inventory (A-Rank)”, “Previous World Tree’s Pine Cone (A-Rank)”.]

[Rewards will be sent to your mailbox.]

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

Inventory?

Is that the thing from games that lets you store items?

Thinking of the in-game inventory, I pressed the claim rewards button.

My smartphone vibrated as the rewards were sent.

Opening the mailbox, I chose the Inventory skill out of the two rewards.

A blue light streamed from the smartphone screen, wrapping around my body for about three seconds before fading away.

“Skill window.”

With a NEW! indicator, Inventory popped up.

According to the description in the skill window, it was a 5×10 size.

And only the skill owner could view it.

“50 slots, huh….”

The description was lacking, though.

It would’ve been nice to have more details about how it worked.

Did each item take up one slot regardless of size, or did larger items take up more slots? I couldn’t tell.

Well, I’ll find out once I try it.

With that in mind, I turned my attention to the pine cone still in my mailbox.

Now that I had an inventory, I planned to put it there.

I pressed the claim button, and the pine cone popped out.

Bang!

“…Eh?”

But what came out of the screen wasn’t a pine cone.

It definitely looked like one, but I couldn’t really call it a pine cone.

Could I really call that thing, shooting up into the sky, a pine cone…?

No matter who saw it, that roaring thing was clearly a missile.