Eat The World Tree

Training, ascending to a higher realm.

I was willing to do anything to improve my skills.

Especially upon seeing this old man with overwhelming talent.

“I said it’s okay to experience death.”

The old man, who descended from the sky, murmured.

Really, a guy like me often forgot his previous resolutions once he found a stable place.

People didn’t change easily.

It meant that one must constantly push themselves mentally to not repeat a foolish life like before.

“Wake up.”

At that moment, my heart, which had stopped, began to throb again.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

“I took you in because of your stubbornness and my interest in why you came here. I’ve been accommodating as you wished, but if you’re a migratory bird that will eventually leave, I won’t hold any regrets. Stop whenever you want.”

The old man brutally stomped on my hand and rubbed his feet back and forth.

Blood slowly seeped up from the dirt floor.

I tied up the broken thread of consciousness several times.

Despite being mercilessly torn apart, my mind felt as if it had been cleansed.

The euphoria of shedding blood.

Not the sense of achievement from stepping forward into future safety, but focusing on the fight itself.

I got up and gathered my magical power.

A thick smile spread across my lips due to the denser magical power than before.

“…Laughing in pain, what a fool.”

“I haven’t had this much fun in recent times.”

I found solace in the fact that I was steadily progressing.

There’s more I can do.

A feeling close to self-hypnosis overcomes even sleepiness. As I used it more, the World Tree’s power seemed to grow, and the torn flesh of my battered body began to heal.

“When I first saw you, I thought you were a complete idiot for inheriting my power.”

The old man once again clenched his fist with magical power.

“The moment of fighting reminds me of my younger self.”

Just as the old man was about to move, I swung my broken arm, scattering the blood I was holding.

For some reason, the old man didn’t dodge the blood. Fortunately, the blood splashed into his eyes, blinding him. That was my chance. Just as I was about to move, my legs gave out, and I collapsed.

“You only deserve praise for your toughness, although I went easy on your hand speed. You’re the only one who has struggled against me for half a day.”

Then I realized I couldn’t see well.

It was because the sun had set and the moon was bright.

The old man clicked his tongue while looking at the blood-stained peach blossom he was stepping on.

“Because of you, the flowers on the entire mountain have been dirtied. Come back next time. I’ll fill up the holes in your body too.”

“I can still do it.”

“Shut up, I’m busy too. Because of what you’ve done, I have to look after the internal affairs of Dowon for a while.”

Internal affairs.

After pondering for a while, I finally spoke up.

“…I will take care of that.”

“What?”

“I’m not bad at studying, and I’ve learned quite a lot outside, so I won’t be useless.”

Running a region was not easy, but I had seen and learned enough.

I couldn’t be sure if it’s the same work. After all, this place was its own kind of martial world.

But since I was not lacking in education, I could be of help.

And at the same time, I wanted to repay the kindness and learn about DoWon.

For a long time, I had been too ignorant about my surroundings.

I also needed to learn about Cheondo and Cheonma, and broadly, about the karma of the peach tree I heard about a long time ago.

Maybe it would help with future dealings with Cheondo, Baekdo, and Hwangdo.

The old man’s eyes widened in surprise at my words.

“It seems you didn’t come here just to drain my energy.”

“It’s Cheondo’s hometown.”

I intended to say it was the hometown of my master, but I choked up and substituted it with another word.

Yet, the old man seemed to understand my words like a ghost and chuckled.

“That tender-hearted old girl… even raises a disciple.”

The man quickly realized I came from the future.

Knowing about the King of Trees, he might also have information about the World Tree of Time.

“Despite that, you know nothing about me other than how to address me. You must have hidden it well. I don’t know what happened, but are all three of them still alive?”

Hesitantly, I answered the old man’s meaningful question.

“I’ll make sure of it.”

Hwangdo, Baekdo, and Cheondo shared the same body.

That alone was worrying, and in the future, they even disappeared.

However, since I couldn’t mention the future, I could only convey my intention as best as I could.

It was a resolution.

The old man, though serious, seemed to appreciate my determination and spoke irritably.

“Foolish kid. Fine, learn about this work from Hongyeon. I’ll give her a heads-up. Ask if you have any questions.”

There was a lot I was curious about.

Why Dowon failed, why Cheondo became so emotionless.

I also wanted to know about Baekdo’s change. Why the playful girl suddenly changed her way of speaking.

‘I knew so little.’

But before that,

There was something I had to ask him.

“What is your name?”

The old man stopped walking and turned around upon hearing my question.

“Name… Everyone calls me Cheonma, so I hardly remember when someone last called me by my name.”

Behind his bitter voice, the old man said,

“I don’t know. I forgot. Maybe because I was abandoned by my mother when I was young, I lived without a name.”

However-

The old man’s voice lowered.

I watched the departing silhouette of the old man until it disappeared into the distance.

“That mother called me Taejin. I don’t know the meaning. Nor do I want to.”

That was the last thing the old man said.

The next day.

“I heard about it.”

Cheondo approached me early in the morning and asked,

“You’re going to take care of Dowon’s management?”

“It turned out that way. I couldn’t just do nothing and be too noticeable.”

“You could have just stayed as a guest…”

I casually responded and stood behind Cheondo, who was following me.

Then, I hugged her, our bodies overlapping.

A ticklish feeling arose, calming my trembling hands.

“You’re clinging again. Don’t think anything weird.”

“What’s weird?”

“Ah, that…”

“Ha, I don’t feel anything for minors.”

“Then, get off me.”

“But I still like it.”

Soft and squishy.

Cheondo, who had been quietly listening to me, slightly furrowed her brows.

“Sigh, if you need a woman to hug, you should just get married.”

“I am married.”

“Then why hug?”

“I planned to spend my life looking at just one person. But it seems it wouldn’t matter if there were more.”

“Ugh. You’re the first person to say that so openly.”

Was that so?

As I tilted my head, Cheondo, looking up at my face, began to mutter softly as if sulking.

Middle schoolers were just like her peers, showing quite childlike behavior.

“What… I came because I was worried.”

The middle schoolers in the world I came from learn strange speech patterns from their cellphones and use them just like that.

Seeing the innocent yet honest Cheondo, my heart melted.

‘…It would be great if our Shiba grew up like this.’

I wondered how my daughter was doing.

Whether she’s fighting with Baekdo again or screaming because she’s overwhelmed by Hwangdo’s excessive love.

I worried a lot about our daughter because of her incompetent father.

“Did you worry about me? Thanks.”

“Never mind. It’s over. I shouldn’t associate with someone who won’t even tell me their name… How shocked I was because of the match that time. It was all a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!”

“Ha ha.”

I wrapped my arms around Cheondo’s neck and rested my chin on top of her head.

Maybe because of the height difference, I could do this too.

“Don’t hug me!”

“Were you that scared? How long have we known each other that you get scared and worry?”

“Wouldn’t you worry if you saw a puppy that could die at any moment, soaking wet from the rain?”

It’s a pretty sharp analogy, but I didn’t really feel it.

It’s okay if Cheondo swore at me. It’s okay if she hit me.

“Should I visit your room after work today for the first time in a while?”

“Don’t come.”

As I tousled Cheondo’s hair at will, I finally released her from my embrace.

Cheondo, pushing me away, fixed her hair and then displayed a sad expression.

“Meanie!”

Did I show too much affection?

I smiled bitterly as I watched Cheondo run away.

I’d love to grab her right away and head out to eat street food in some marketplace, but there’s somewhere I need to go first.

The top of Dowon.

It didn’t have a special name.

If it were a kingdom, it would serve both as a palace and as the place where all affairs of Dowon are managed.

It’s a building so large that it’s questionable whether it could be built on a mountain range.

As I entered, the guard at the front bowed slightly and greeted me.

“I greet the Young Demon.”

“…Yeah, okay.”

Young Demon, maybe someone similar.

I knew quite a few people had been trained by Cheonma.

But not all who were trained were called Young Demon.

Still, the fact that the guard recognized me as a Young Demon meant the old man must have hinted at something.

“Walk down the right corridor, and enter the room at the very end. The leader will be there.”

I nodded and found the room as instructed.

Hongyeon (紅聯). The name was written in brush strokes above the door.

Was this the office of that woman I faced?

I didn’t enter right away but gently knocked on the door.

-Come in.

A woman’s solemn voice sounded heavily.

When I opened the door, I saw Hongyeon’s face.

“You’ve come.”

Her face was wrapped in bandages. Her eyes were so swollen that she couldn’t open them properly.

The gauze on her bruised nose was still bloody.

Despite that, Hongyeon, who was diligently moving her quill pen, looked at me with a sullen expression.

“You look like a maple tree drained of sap.”

“Do you have to say that? And stop talking informally to me…”

It’s not something that necessarily needed to be said.

I was just a bit regretful for not hitting her more back then.

Hongyeon sighed as if she was annoyed just by looking at my face.

“Sigh, it was my mistake to expect manners from someone like you. Right, you said you’d take care of things yourself. I hope it wasn’t just idle talk. Sit down, I’ll hand over the work that needs to be done.”

-Scratch, scratch.

Still moving her quill pen, Hongyeon handed me a few old books.

“Are you sure you can handle it?”

“I don’t know if it’s exactly the same as the work I’ve been doing. But there shouldn’t be anything you can’t understand when taught.”

“…And stop talking informally. There’s a hierarchy here.”

“If there were people around, I would.”

“Why do I even bother with you?”

Why did such a person even come here?

Hongyeon started to swear but then began to explain.

“First, this is the basic rule of DoWon that you need to know. In case of disputes, punishment is based on this, so memorize it by tomorrow.”

It wasn’t a constitution, but it was a fairly thick legal code.

Documents organizing the goods coming in and out.

From taxes to the military, it seemed to have its own system.

“Can you memorize it?”

I quietly read a few lines of the book and nodded.

“Yeah. I’ll see about the rest.”

Every country’s laws or systems looked plausible at first glance.

Whether it served its purpose or left room for misuse was another matter.

I’d have to read and work here to know for sure, but Dowon as I knew it isn’t exactly known for its public order.

I had heard rumors about the things happening in the lower parts of Dowon from previous investigations.

“I hope it’s not all just for show. The next task is…”

Though she subtly showed her displeasure, she seemed like a competent person in managing Dowon.

‘Maybe Cheonma had a reason to cherish me enough to stop me.’

It’s fortunate if the teacher didn’t teach incorrectly.

I began to immerse myself in the place called Dowon, listening attentively to Hongyeon’s words.

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