Chapter 56: The Choice of a Broken Man

During the day, Milkway is covered in pure white flowers, and at night, it becomes famous for the starlight twinkling along its vines.

It’s incredibly well-known, but since only members of the imperial royal family have ever seen it, Milkway Garden has always been a legendary place for players.

But now, a player had covered the entire city with it?

Everyone waited with bated breath, but, regrettably, due to the effects of rapid growth, it was hard to witness such a grand spectacle right away.

To make up for that, Jaeho and Mei had managed things intensively for several days.

They grafted the Kkaridongle Vine brought from Luxi Forest and helped it take root, and, little by little, the Milkway began to stabilize.

On the third day, at last, the flowers bloomed.

Elysia Garden was awash in pure white, as if snow had fallen everywhere.

Unlike the neatly trimmed Milkway Garden of the Empire, here the vines tangled and twisted, competing for space.

But when it came to the size or number of the flowers, the comparison wasn’t even close.

If you compared Elysia’s garden to the Empire’s, then the imperial garden looked almost barren by comparison.

Thanks to Huka’s Broadcast featuring Elysia’s new scenery, the Empire’s Milkway Garden was suddenly dubbed “the Bald Garden.”

“When night falls, it’s truly a magnificent sight! Soon the sun will set, and the new face of Elysia Garden will be revealed!”

Huka shouted in an excited voice.

The Elves had said it.

When the Milkway blooms ten thousand flowers, that’s the sign it’s taken root.

In other words, tonight, the true nature of the Milkway would be revealed.

At last, the sun disappeared completely beyond the desert, and dusk blanketed Elysia.

Many people held their breath, staring at the city draped in darkness.

Srrr—

The flower buds curled up again, and from their centers, a gentle light began to flow along the vines.

Soon, the light spread through the entire city, weaving a milky, starlit river.

“Oooooh!”

The Elves burst out in amazement.

“V-viewers, can you see this?! It’s incredible! I’m not sure, but compared to the bald garden I saw on the internet, this is way more amazing!”

But that wasn’t all.

[The Spirits of Milkway are gathering in the city.]

[Blessing of the Divine Tree has been added to the entire Elysia Garden.]

[All residents of Elysia Garden gain increased resistance to all status effects.]

“There’s a buff, a revolutionary buff!”

-ham6787: Whoa? Buff for the whole city?

—wansik: That was always there.

—zjvl: What’s a Milkway Spirit? Are there really such Spirits?

—clzls: If it’s showing in the system, it must exist.

—vlwk: Uh, but what’s that over there?

Those watching the Broadcast soon noticed something else.

The flower buds, which had closed at sunset, twitched and then slowly opened.

From within, thumb-sized creatures peeked out.

“C-could those be Spirits?!”

Huka and the viewers were entranced.

Meanwhile, Jaeho was just as shocked.

As the city’s master, he was seeing all sorts of notifications that no one else could.

[You have perfectly cultivated the Milkway patch in record time!]

[Fame has greatly increased.]

[You have achieved an unprecedented feat—surrounding the city with the rare and challenging-to-grow Milkway.]

[Fame has greatly increased.]

[The fragrance of Milkway fills the whole city.]

[All residents of Elysia Garden gain increased resistance to all status effects.]

[Once Milkway observation progress reaches its maximum, an additional buff will be applied.]

[ <Flower Craftsman> title acquired.]

[All flowers will have absolute affection for you.]

[You have perfectly cultivated a total of 50 varieties of flowers in Elysia Garden.]

[The city is filled with the fragrance of flowers.]

[The environment is being readjusted to closely resemble Bloria, the world of Spirits.]

[The Spirits are materializing.]

It was a completely unexpected development.

Especially the last part—he hadn’t even imagined it.

That Spirits of every flower would appear in this sea of blossoms?

“Is… is this really okay?”

Jaeho, imagining a city teeming with Spirits, became uneasy.

—There probably won’t be any major problems.

A reassuring message from the band.

—The existence of Spirits is completely harmless to nature. When things get to this level, the Spirits themselves balance things through Resonance.

“If that’s so, that’s a relief…”

Jaeho watched as the tiny Spirits began gathering around him.

Those gathering especially close to Jaeho seemed to sense his Flower Artisan aura by instinct.

“Honestly, if they keep crowding like this… won’t it get kind of chaotic?”

—This much is easily taken care of.

Saying so, the band waved its hand at the Spirits.

—Go on, scatter. You’re noisy.

At the band’s words, the Spirits dispersed in all directions.

As expected of the King of Spirits—his authority was absolute.

—All the little ones fluttering about here can’t help but obey me. Unlike ‘someone’ else.

Glance—

Opposite Jaeho, Jingjing was drooping, looking utterly dejected.

“…If it’s too hard, let me know. I’ll send you back to the Spirit World.”

—N-no, I’m okay.

Jingjing replied quickly, voice quivering with effort at Jaeho’s concern.

***

While everyone living in Elysia was bewitched by the Milkway and the suddenly-appearing Spirits, Taylor made his move.

“I’ve already looked into it enough.”

Although his body wasn’t free, he could confirm several things.

Most shocking of all was, of course, Jaeho’s true purpose.

“Didn’t expect he’d really just stick to gardening…”

Jaeho, seen from afar, was devoting himself completely to tending the flowers.

Even witnessing it with his own eyes, Taylor could hardly believe it… but he had to accept it.

Having seen that, Taylor realized exactly how to deal a blow to Jaeho.

With the Milkway now in full bloom, this was the perfect opportunity.

“Burn it all to the ground!”

After enduring every possible indignity for days, locked up here, it was finally time to vent his rage.

“First things first… the guy doing the Broadcast dies, no matter what.”

There was no way he’d ever forgive Huka, who had broadcasted his humiliation for all to see.

He activated the skill, trying to escape this not-quite-a-Prison place.

[Due to a powerful Barrier, skill usage is impossible.]

“Hmph, just as I thought.”

Swoosh—

Taylor drew his sword and swung hard at the wooden bars confining him.

This kind of wood shouldn’t be hard to break with his base stats alone…

Thunk—

“…?”

Even the sword that could cut through tanks’ shields failed to so much as slice the wood.

At best, he only left a faint scratch.

Whish—Bang!

He tried attacking again, but the wood didn’t so much as splinter.

“W-what the…?”

So it wasn’t just regular wood?

Even so, it made no sense that he could barely scratch it…

“Huh?!”

Just as he was about to swing again, Taylor noticed the scratch on the wood had disappeared.

The wound from before was slowly healing, too!

“W-what the hell?! What is this…?!”

Thunk—Thunk—Thunk—!!

He kept swinging, but the wood continued to heal itself.

The incredible strength and recovery of Moonlight Elm Lumber!

What’s more, with nightfall, the Moonlight Elm’s regenerative powers were at their peak.

It made him realize just how formidable the loggers who had harvested this wood from Luxi Forest really were.

“D-dammit…!”

He stowed his sword before the spot he’d attacked could heal completely, and started sawing.

But there was a reason why the Moonlight Elm loggers had insisted on using axes rather than saws.

Swish—Swish—Swish

Sawing with his blade got him nowhere, and the outer edge he’d cut healed up, trapping his sword in the middle.

“Grrrrrrraaaagh!!!”

He hung from his blade, wriggling and writhing, but the sword just wouldn’t budge.

“…I’m screwed.”

“Thump! Thump!”

He kicked, punched, and threw a fit, but the sword wouldn’t even tremble.

“Damn it! What kind of wood is this?!”

This was getting troublesome.

According to the system, Taylor’s place of confinement wasn’t a Prison.

In other words, there was no chance of an automatic release.

That left only one way out…

—Hey, somebody save me!

Taylor hastily sent a message on guild chat.

He’d have to negotiate a hostage deal, no matter what.

***

The next day, at the gym, Jaeho heard from Wansik about Taylor’s situation.

“The guards have been cursing Taylor.”

“Huh? Why? Because he got caught?”

“Yeah. Not only did he get caught, he spent all yesterday sending ‘save me’ messages and making a scene. What kind of torture are you putting him through in there?”

“I haven’t done anything.”

The Elves had hassled him when they first brought him in, but after locking him up, Jaeho hadn’t touched him.

“Then why did Taylor make such a fuss out of nowhere? I heard he even got cut off from Bulgeom Guild.”

So, as soon as he logged in, Jaeho went to see Taylor.

“What is this?”

Inside the tree, Taylor was in a disheveled state, sword still stuck, looking like he’d hit rock bottom.

He’d become a complete wreck in just one day?

“Looks like he tried to escape and failed.”

“Haha, that’s what you get for underestimating Moonlight Elm.”

“Y-yeah…”

Jaeho crouched down in front of Taylor, staring into his vacant eyes.

“Hey. Taylor.”

Sllluuurp—

His eyes slowly moved, fishlike and dull.

“A…Al-sia…?”

Suddenly, Taylor jumped up and clung to the bars.

“P-please, I’m begging you! I-I swear I’ll never come after you again, just let me go!!”

“…?!”

Jaeho was bewildered by Taylor’s sudden change in attitude.

What on earth had this guy gone through…?

“Calm down. What happened, anyway? You seemed fine just yesterday.”

“…Kh-hk!”

Thud—

Collapsing to the ground, Taylor shook with rage, clenching his fists.

“Damn those Bulgeom bastards…! After all the dirty work I did for them, and now that I’m suffering here, they don’t even think about helping me!”

“Ah.”

It sounded like what Wansik had told him.

“They only use you when they need you, then abandon you when you’re in trouble? Those scumbags! No wonder they say you should never associate with racists!”

“You’re in Bulgeom Guild too, aren’t you?”

“Ahem… Bulgeom Guild, yes, but I’m no racist!”

“And you call that an excuse?”

That’s like saying ‘I drank but didn’t drive under the influence’—what’s the difference?

“I’m Russian. Bulgeom Guild is the pride of Russia and one of the world’s top guilds. Who wouldn’t want to be treated well in a place like that?”

Jaeho really regretted that Taylor wasn’t an NPC.

If only he could check the truth with Angler’s Eye Patch.

Then, an idea occurred to Jaeho.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“If I let you out, you’ll just go right back to Bulgeom Guild, won’t you?”

“No way, never! Those guys only care about brotherhood and loyalty when it suits them…”

“No, you are going back to Bulgeom Guild.”

“What? Go back?”

Taylor asked, clearly flustered.

“Then you send me information about our people who get caught by them.”

“…?”

In other words, become a spy!

“This isn’t a one-time deal. You’ll keep working as a Bulgeom Guild member.”

T-that’s…!

That was no different from asking him to betray his homeland, Russia!

“If you refuse, you can stay locked up here forever.”

“Who said I refused?!”

Afraid of missing his chance, Taylor answered instantly.

***

Proof of the deal with Taylor was all captured by Huka’s camera.

If he ever tried to betray them, everything that had been recorded so far would be released as blackmail.

It was a bit late, but…

To get Taylor out, Jaeho called one of the loggers from Luxi Forest.

“H-holy! Al-sia-nim, I’m your biggest fan!!!”

Like a kid meeting a celebrity, Polza hopped up and down, but Jaeho calmed him and pointed at the Moonlight Elm bars.

“Can you cut this for me?”

“Of course! I’m recognized by the Elves themselves for my skill!”

Taylor was speechless at this.

No matter how he looked, the guy was a newbie in rags.

And yet, with a single axe…

“…!!”

With one strike, the log hit the bar and split it halfway!

Thunk—!!

With a second swing, the bars were cleanly cut through.

“Mmm! All that practice paid off.”

The watching Elves muttered in admiration, nodding.

“Hehe!”

With a goofy smile, the logger hacked away, making enough space for Taylor to crawl out.

“Well then, I’ll be counting on you.”

Jaeho held out his hand to the newly freed Taylor.

“Don’t even think about stabbing me in the back.”

“…Of course not.”

He had no such thought whatsoever.

Even the Elves were scary, and there were newbies here who could shatter Moonlight Elm bars in two swings.

Realizing he’d only seen a tiny part of Elysia while locked up, Taylor absolutely! did not even consider betrayal.