Chapter 68 (1/2): Roots That Devour

“The Minotaur for three is here.”

The restaurant ajumma entered as she slid open the door.

I had booked a private room because too many people recognized me.

The power of nationwide news and Watcher Cast videos was incredible.

It used to be that a few people would recognize me as a celebrity’s acquaintance, but now people openly recognized me.

Some even asked for autographs.

I’m not a celebrity, so of course, I don’t have anything like an autograph, and politely declined.

Seeing their disappointed faces as they left made me wonder if I should prepare one just in case.

“Would you like me to grill the meat for you right away?”

“Yes, please.”

As I nodded, the ajumma picked up the Minotaur meat with the tongs.

Each piece she placed on the grill was streaked with dazzling white marbling.

The white, snowflake-like fat bloomed beautifully.

“Wow, hyung. Are you really okay with this?”

Kim Jae-shik, sitting across from me, asked.

He directed the question to me, but his eyes were fixed on the meat.

He looked like he was about to start drooling.

Seeing his anticipation, I felt it was worthwhile to treat him.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you pay. Just eat as much as you want.”

“Whew, thank you! I’ve never had Minotaur meat before.”

Just as I expected.

Minotaur was a high-end ingredient, after all.

You had to be at least a B-rank Hunter to hunt it safely, so supply was low and the price was high.

Only the lower half of its massive body was fit for consumption, which drove the price up even more.

The upper body was too heavily tainted by the mana of the Gate to be edible.

Only the lower half, which looked like the hindquarters of a cow, was safe enough to eat.

The reason I’d come to eat such expensive food with Kim Jae-shik was because the Minotaur was the very monster that had left me crippled before.

A Minotaur that had evolved with black horns.

My revenge would be slow and steady, so I’d savor every bite as payback.

“So it seems.”

“Ahaha.”

I let out a small laugh, and Kim Jae-shik, a bit embarrassed, responded with an exaggerated one.

Even the ajumma grilling the meat beside us smiled, finding Kim Jae-shik endearing.

“Let it grill just a bit longer, then you can eat. Don’t eat it yet.”

“Huh? Ah, okay.”

Before leaving the room, the ajumma warned Kim Jae-shik.

He had picked up his chopsticks and was already holding a piece in his mouth, waiting for it to cook.

It seemed he was chewing on his chopsticks because he couldn’t eat the meat yet.

He carefully set the chopsticks down.

Just how much had he been looking forward to this?

“Enjoy your meal.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The ajumma left, sliding the door closed.

Only the sound of the meat sizzling filled the room.

I decided to save the talk about S-Top TV for later.

It was clear that Kim Jae-shik’s mind was filled to the brim with thoughts of Minotaur meat.

Feeding him a little first and then continuing the conversation seemed like the right order.

“Ah, it’s ready now.”

With that, I picked up a piece of Minotaur meat and took a bite.

Kim Jae-shik’s eyes sparkled as he reached for his chopsticks on the table.

His expression was even more earnest than when we’d hunted the Giant Ant in the Muju Ant Nest.

“Thank you for the meal!”

“Yeah, dig in.”

Kim Jae-shik and I quickly polished off the Minotaur for three.

Seriously, who decides what constitutes a serving for one person?

It wasn’t quite enough, so I ordered two more servings.

We calmly waited for the next two servings to finish cooking.

Now that he was a bit fuller and had come to his senses, Kim Jae-shik started talking about S-Top TV.

“Hyung, do you know Ji Sang-wook?”

“……?”

“You don’t?”

“First time hearing that name—”

[The World Tree Sapling reports that he was the human who gave it a petty look.]

[It also recalls the fond memory of hitting him with a thrown pebble.]

“Ah.”

Now I remembered.

The mention of a ‘petty look’ jogged my memory.

He was the guy who got hit by the pebble Sapling threw and had to drink a healing potion.

He also lost all will to fight when I showed him Arca.

“Oh, I saw him once.”

“You guys aren’t on good terms, right?”

“That’s true, but… How do you know that?”

Only Woo Chae-yeon and the S-Top TV staff should know that.

Or maybe some people at the Association watching via CCTV?

Ah.

“Because of that guy, S-Top TV edited and uploaded the video to make you look bad.”

“S-Top TV and that guy are friends, huh?”

It was clear they’d used me as a scapegoat for their friend’s sake.

Kim Jae-shik cautiously asked, looking surprised.

“You knew?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then—”

“You said you’d look into why S-Top TV was being so ridiculous, so if you bring up that guy, it makes sense.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

He nodded, accepting my explanation.

Then he asked a question.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll go find Ji Sang-wook.”

“Huh? Not S-Top TV?”

“Do you know where he is?”

“No, I don’t, do you?”

“Exactly.”

On Watcher Cast, he never revealed any information about himself, only posting carefully edited videos.

Tracking someone like that down would take time and resources.

I had plenty of both, but there wasn’t much point.

It’s easier to just ask someone who knows him.

“A friend like Ji Sang-wook should know where that guy is.”

“Ah….”

Even so, he was one of the few B-rank Hunters in Korea.

His main activity area could be found with a quick internet search.

There was even a ‘K-Hunter App’ that listed Hunter grades and activity locations, so finding his whereabouts wouldn’t be difficult.

Kim Jae-shik seemed to think the same.

He tapped on his smartphone for a moment, then said,

“Uh, hyung, I think you’ll have to fly.”

“Fly? Why?”

“Ji Sang-wook’s main activity area is Jeju Island. The K-Hunter App says he’s there right now.”

“Jeju Island?”

“Yes.”

So he lived far away.

Ah, now I remembered the rumors people whispered about him.

He became famous for soloing Hallasan Gate, the Red Manticore’s habitat.

I’d thought he just went because Taecheon wanted to try, but apparently, there was more to it.

He lived there.

B-rank Hallasan Gate….

“Well, that works out.”

“Huh?”

“I wanted to test out my new skill anyway.”

“A new skill?”

“Yeah. I just got it earlier.”

“You just got it…?”

It was a skill crafted by Dishing na Thor, the former World Tree Caretaker, after much thought.

The Roots of the World Tree.

After reading the manual, I naturally mastered it, and it was classified as nothing less than S-rank.

Even Gentle Touch is A-rank, but this skill is S-rank.

I couldn’t even imagine how powerful it was.

I wanted to use it as soon as possible.

Isn’t it only natural to want to try a new skill right after getting it?

I arrived at Hallasan Gate around four o’clock.

I headed straight to the management office in front of the Gate.

The manager inside didn’t even look at me and just reached out his hand.

He wanted to see my Hunter license.

I took it out from my wallet and handed it to him as I asked,

“Have you seen Ji Sang-wook by any chance?”

“Why are you asking about….”

The Gate manager frowned and glanced up at me.

When he saw my face, his words trailed off.

“Gasp, Baek Do-woon?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

The manager checked my face and the license repeatedly.

Then, as if he understood something, he nodded to himself.

Looked like a misunderstanding.

“…Mr. Ji Sang-wook went in around two o’clock.”

I didn’t bother correcting him.

After all, his misunderstanding had gotten me the information I wanted.

The manager continued.

“It’s been about three hours since he entered, so he’s probably preparing to hunt the Gate boss, the ‘Black Manticore,’ by now.”

“You seem to know a lot.”

“He’s a celebrity. There’s no one in Jeju Island who doesn’t know Mr. Ji Sang-wook’s hunting routine.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But….”

The manager’s expression soured.

From the way he furrowed his brows, he seemed genuinely worried about something.

I waited patiently for him to speak.

“He’s been looking absolutely terrible for the past few days.”

“His appearance?”

“Yes. I was worried and told him to get some rest, but he wouldn’t listen.”

He looked terrible?

He used to look sharp and neat.

Why would he suddenly be in such bad shape?

“…….”

For a moment, Violet Violence flashed through my mind.

A buff potion that hadn’t passed the Food and Drug Administration’s inspection.

It wouldn’t be surprising if it caused some side effects.

Crowd had one, too.

Of course, I couldn’t be sure.

There could be other reasons for his poor condition.

Hong Soo-jung said the results would be out in two or three days.

I’d have to wait.

“Anyway, thank you for telling me.”

“Sure. Oh, and Mr. Ji Sang-wook is a bit hot-tempered, but he’s not a bad person.”

“Hm?”

“Please be nice to him.”

He even bowed his head to me.

Just what kind of misunderstanding did he have?

At this point, there was no point clearing it up.

“…….”

Eh, whatever.

I didn’t say anything.

“Please take care of him!”

Yeah, I can’t hear you.

Ignoring the manager, I entered the Gate.

The clear air of Hallasan vanished instantly.

Instead, the Gate’s thick, dirty air filled my lungs.

But it was purified right away thanks to the World Tree Caretaker’s skill.

“Hallasan Gate, huh….”

The Red Manticore’s habitat.

I never expected to come here alone.

Honestly, it was pretty moving.

“Well, let’s start by hunting a Red Manticore.”

I climbed the granite mountain, searching for monsters.

I needed to find Ji Sang-wook, but first, I wanted to test my new skill.

After climbing for about twenty minutes,

I spotted a Red Manticore dozing on a gray rock, snoring.

I stretched out my right hand.

“Roots of the World Tree.”

I activated the new skill.

My five fingers transformed into tree roots.

“……!”

The root-like fingers shot forward at incredible speed.

They looked like five snakes hunting for prey.

I recalled what was written in the manual.

This skill was similar to ‘Energy Drain,’ a spell used by low-mana mages.

Of course, Roots of the World Tree was an S-rank skill.

It was on a completely different level from the F-rank Energy Drain.

“Kreugh!”

The wooden roots wrapped around the sleeping Red Manticore.

It struggled desperately to break free, but the more it resisted, the tighter the grip became.

In the end, unable to move its four legs, it crashed to the ground.

“Krgh….”

A pitiful, whimpering sound came from the creature.

It had clearly sensed its own impending death.

At that moment, its body began to shrink, little by little.

Meanwhile, the roots binding it became thick and knobby.

They were absorbing its life force.

Soon, the Red Manticore was withered to a husk.

“…….”

Watching it, I shivered.

I looked down at my right hand, now returned to normal.

A B-rank monster had died without a struggle, all its life force drained.

At the same time, I could feel the energy I had taken from it inside me.

Just as the dirty Gate air was instantly purified by the World Tree’s mana, the energy from the creature was quickly being converted to World Tree mana in my body.

“If I used this on a person—”

Boom!

A massive explosion drowned out my words.

The ground beneath my feet shook.

An explosion powerful enough to make the earth tremble….

“That wasn’t the Black Manticore.”

The boss monster of Hallasan Gate, the Black Manticore, uses magic.

But not spells that shake the ground with explosions.

Even if it had grown black horns, it couldn’t produce that kind of power.

That meant someone had caused an artificial explosion at the mountain’s summit.

‘It’s been about three hours since he entered, so he’s probably preparing to hunt the Gate boss, the Black Manticore, by now.’

The Gate manager’s voice echoed in my head.

Why did I have the feeling that Ji Sang-wook was behind this explosion?

I hurried up the mountain to find the source.

“……!”

My hunch was correct.