Eat The World Tree

-Chirp, chirp.

Birds chirped outside the window.

-Throb.

I woke up to the pain in my lower abdomen, and it was already morning.

-Ugh.

My hips and back hurt. Have I not exercised in a while? Thinking of Lee Shiheon, who kept touching me, saying my flesh was soft during the night, my face heated up.

-…Still.

We had sex.

This shouldn’t happen. I shouldn’t fall for this. Turning over, Lee Shiheon’s face was right in front of me.

So close… I couldn’t breathe. Was he asleep?

I put my finger to his nose to check if he was breathing, and he was exhaling air at regular intervals.

-……

‘He’s asleep… A kiss should be fine, right?’

Very carefully. Very slowly. I brought my lips to his and slowly slipped my tongue inside.

-Mmm…

So happy…

It’s warmer because it’s morning. His lips were rough.

A smile formed on my lips. He wouldn’t mind, would he? No… he shouldn’t.

For life, we must always be together. I stretched my arms out with a bit of aegyo in my inner voice.

I pulled Lee Shiheon’s hand to place it over my waist. With one hand, I moved his other hand above the pillow, resting my head there. I wish he would stroke me… Was it too much to expect that unconsciously? It looked like we’re hugging as I stretched out my arms this time.

-Squeeze.

“Shiheon… filled in his embrace. Ugh…”

Ah, really… the best. Mine. All mine.

My own revenge? I didn’t care about such regrets. Even if I hadn’t sought revenge… this person was more precious to me than vengeance.

‘I don’t like people increasing… but if only they genuinely like me.’

I wished to keep him in my pocket for life, but the world would just deny it.

-……

-Slurp, smack.

Continuously mixing our tongues, I stroked his rough hair with my hand. His sleeping face looked like a child’s.

Was this how to lead? Poking his unresponsive tongue with mine, I imitated the rhythmic movements from last night.

-Flash!

At that moment, Lee Shiheon’s eyes, who had been sleeping like a child, opened.

-Gasp… “Phew.”

Startled, I pulled back, and Shiheon, with a mischievous laugh, pulled me into his arms. My heart thumped.

“Were, were you awake?”

“From the start.”

“……”

“You were cute.”

“Ah, really…”

My cheeks must’ve turned red again, they felt warm. Shiheon hugged me tightly from the back and rubbed his face against my cheek.

It’s like puppy-like skinship, but I loved it. It felt like he’s marking me as his own.

Yes… I was his. He was mine. I was also his.

Touching hands was nice, and skin brushing against each other brought smiles. Where else could you find a connection stronger than this? Few things in this world brought such certainty.

Even my birth mother betrayed me.

…But this person might not.

Their touch was warm enough to melt my deeply ingrained distrust in humanity.

“Still, there’s always that one chance… they could leave me.”

For life. Until death, even if I died first, for life…

I must keep an eye on them.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“If something happens, tell me right away. No… if it’s something serious, come to me for advice. Got it?”

“…Yeah. You too.”

I never wanted to forget their warm touch.

Like my dad. I wouldn’t lose someone I loved ever again.

['Tree Catalog' has been updated with Rhododendron.]

---

-Rhododendron[Catalog Number: 041][Scientific Name: Rhododendron mucronulatum Turcz][Other Names: Azalea, True Flower, Sky Flower]

-Plant kingdom, Wood people. Azalea order, Azalea family, Azalea genus.

-A deciduous shrub in the Azalea family. Distributed in Asia, it grows to a height of 2~3m. Small branches have scale-like fragments.

-Flower Language: Moderation, Integrity, Joy of Love.

'You, a true romantic, capture and hold many people's hearts. However, your innocence leads to lonely and painful days.'

-Affinity: [Spirit Affinity]

-Open Information: 78.53%

[Catalog opening perks, stat increase and spirit operation, add a great affinity.]

“Wow…….”

After sending away Jin Dallae, I turned on the status screen after a long time and looked at the view.

It was filled with various content, but what caught my eye immediately was the ability gained through the relationship with Dallae.

‘…Spirit Affinity.’

Spirit magic. Interesting, but I already had enough means to fight. Expanding further might mean losing out on both fronts.

‘And it’s a significant harvest.’

The more time passed, the more I felt the power of the Tree King.

When stats exceeded 10, they tended to plateau. But the Tree King’s power allowed me to easily increase my stats without much effort.

‘If I consider that I’ve almost fully unlocked my potential…’

Filling the catalog with the Tree King’s power while most of my potential is unlocked seems like the ideal way to grow.

‘Does this mean not touching the catalog until now actually helps?’

I had seen the end of my potential in the past.

Thanks to pushing myself to the extreme in training, I had grown to not lose against most opponents, though it’s a bit much to say I had reached enlightenment. Maybe I could kill a weak World Tree with my own hands.

[ Name ]

Lee Shiheon (World Tree's Husband Candidate)

[ Age/Height/Weight ]

20 years / 187cm / 84.18kg.

[ Stats ]

-Strength 9.8.

-Durability 8.6.

-Agility 9.2.

-Stamina 8.7.

-Magic Power 12.6.

-Charm 9.

-Intelligence 7.

-Potential 15.

-Luck 10.

□Unique Traits(2)

[Tree Catalog(S)][Combat Body(S→SS)]

□Owned Skills(2)

[Black Path(-)] [Heavenly Devil Technique(S)] - NEW!

□Qualities(4)

[Tree King(-)][Swordsmanship(B→A)][Magic(B→S)][Lust Demon(F→B)]

■Powers(2)

[Healing(-)], [Remnants of Time(-)] - NEW!

[As a result of growth, your potential has decreased. ]

[Your potential is absorbed into your qualities! The rank of several qualities increases.]

[In awe of your mental strength, not collapsing under the horrific pain of being severed in entirety.]

[The aura of a king is recognized. The status window is partially updated.]

A lot had changed.

It’s because I hadn’t checked the status window for a while, but the notable changes were the new powers and skills.

The grown combat body and each of the qualities.

Most importantly, the Heavenly Devil Technique, which was all the more valuable because I earned it myself.

▶Lustful Demon (B)

[Category: Quality]

[You are the top pervert among all I know.]

[Bonus to all sexual activities. If you don’t release sexual desire, you will feel so miserable you'd wish for death. And you can get excited by anything! Are you really going to devour everything?] ---

“…Damn.”

I wondered why it was so hard to endure an F-rated Lustful Demon trait, but it had grown in the meantime.

“Such a horrible trait.”

It’s been a while since I cursed my own ability.

It felt like going back to the old days, thinking the World Tree of Purity had returned. I used to roll around doing this and that.

Now, it’s a memory worth pausing and reminiscing about.

▶Remnants of Time (-)

[Category: Power, Single-use]

[Ich, vertraue, dir]

[A tree that remembers you.] ---

“…There’s no description of the ability?”

The window displayed a sentence in German and another in Korean, with no description of the power anywhere to be found.

It was clear that the power given by Baekyang would be helpful to me someday… but it’s frustrating not knowing.

I scratched the back of my neck and turned off the status window.

I thought about spinning the draw with the points obtained from checking the affinity but decided to put it off for later.

-Creak.

I opened the hotel door and stepped outside.

Dressed casually, I stuffed my phone into my pocket and wandered around the hotel.

‘I wonder where Sansuyu is.’

Sansuyu, with cheeks soft and eyes round and cute like a Labrador retriever, even more innocent than a sunflower.

Being with her was so comforting, it could be called Sansuyu therapy.

And she particularly loved tteokbokki.

“Oh? Shiheon, hi~”

Walking down the corridor, a familiar girl greeted me cheerily.

“Yeah. Do you know where Sansuyu is?”

“Sansuyu? They might be drinking in the auditorium.”

“…Eh? Sansuyu?”

“Yeah. Sansuyu is so cute… Pff.”

Had Sansuyu… evolved?

The female student’s face lit up with amusement as she recounted stories about Sansuyu, as if reminiscing about fun events from the day before.

It was as if Pikachu evolved into Raichu in my absence.

It would be surprising if true.

“Ah, but Shiheon, it might be a bit dangerous for you.”

“Why?”

“Um…”

The female student stared at me, then suddenly blushed.

“Ah, no. There was something, some issue. Was it urgent?”

“Not really… but they’re in the auditorium?”

“Yeah. They were playing a drinking game last time.”

After a brief goodbye to the female student, I headed down to the auditorium.

Eh, that Sansuyu? The one who used to cling to me saying they had no friends taking the lead in making friends with someone.

It’s like a close younger sister leaving my side to spread her wings.

As soon as I arrived at the auditorium, I opened the door.

-Creak.

The smell of alcohol wafted through.

Some students were passed out in a corner, having drunk till morning, while a few resilient ones were still drinking. Among them, Sansuyu was giving a lengthy speech.

“…For geomeusuul, just strike! And flick!”

“Keke, what’s geomeusuul, Sansuyu? Swordsmanship?”

“I mean, geomeusuul!…I want tteokbokki.”

“Aha, there goes tteokbokki again.”

Were they discussing swordsmanship? Sansuyu was mimicking swinging a sword around, rolling their eyes playfully.

“…Why are you laughing?”

“Nothing.”

“Siwon always laughs when looking at me too. Is there a reason?”

“What’s your relationship with Lee Shiheon?”

It’s amazing how she remained expressionless even then.

Hearing my name, Sansuyu tilted her eyebrows and slightly puffed her cheeks.

“Siheon… don’t know.”

Why didn’t she know?

“I’m a stranger.”

“But you keep talking about them.”

“Who…?”

“Sansuyu.”

“Hmph, don’t know. Who’s Siwon?”

Why were they asking others about me?

“They said they’d introduce a friend, then suddenly disappeared.”

“…Ah, haha, well. Something came up. Sansuyu understands, Shiheon is pitiful.”

“I understand. But. You left without saying anything…”

Well, um, sorry for that.

Sansuyu must have had a hard time in my absence.

Losing a steadfast group project member would indeed cause trouble.

Especially in cases like “Form groups with people you like,” it’s even more problematic. Groups with only two or three friends were in big trouble. Then, the slackers or those who didn’t study joined in, and essentially, someone ended up being a freeloader.

But seeing them gathered and drinking like this, it seemed they became closer in my absence, turning misfortune into a blessing. It felt a bit like teasing. After all, Sansuyu was at her best when teased.

The students would know their boundaries. After all, they were the cream of the crop among nobility.

“…So I don’t know about Siwon.”

“Pfft.”

If I barged in there now… um, it wouldn’t look good.

I quietly backed away from the auditorium.

I’d apologize to Sansuyu later.

‘The remaining time is um….’

Should I go to meet the teacher and just send them off? She said I didn’t need to pick them up, but if I didn’t, they might sulk. Let’s start getting ready to go out.

After leaving the auditorium, I immediately went back to my room to get ready.

The end of the retreat.

How should I put it? It ended very uneventfully.

Aside from the first day, I didn’t enjoy any of the scheduled activities. After returning, most of the time was spent resting, meeting other students, or drinking.

I parted ways with the teacher and agreed to contact them later. I also planned to have a detailed discussion with Byeol soon.

The flight back was soon.

After returning, the sun had already set, casting darkness.

Standing in front of my dorm room, I relaxed my shoulders and stood in front of the door.

“…Cheondo.”

Master. Hwangdo and Baekdo.

This was the first meeting since my trip to the past.

They might not remember me, but for me, it was a different kind of feeling.

I put my trembling left hand in my pocket and opened the door of my room with the other hand.

It had been three months.

-Thunk.

“Kyaa! Hurry, hurry!”

Hwangdo’s cheerful voice came through the crack in the door.

As the door opened halfway, I saw Hwangdo’s face frantically stomping her feet through the gap.

As expected, a neat and cute face without a single flaw.

At that moment, as I pushed the door open.

-Click.

I saw Shiba standing in the entranceway, waiting for me with her round eyes lifted. My daughter, who seemed to have just returned from kindergarten, was adorable in her chick-like kindergarten uniform.

“Shiba?”

“Shiba~ Hurry, show what you learned.”

Hwangdo clapped from behind Shiba, urging her on.

Shiba clenched and unclenched her adorable little hands.

Her head swayed from side to side, and her green hair, the exact color of nature, fluttered softly.

Shiba parted and then closed her lips. After a while, she looked at me and slowly, awkwardly opened her mouth.

“…Daddy.”

I was about to enter the room and hug Shiba when my body froze.

Did I hear that wrong?

“Did you… come home?”

['World Tree of Purity' rings out brightly!]

After I returned from the past, Shiba had evolved.

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