Rape. Obsession. Actions I wouldn't have taken under normal circumstances.
I remembered attacking Lee Seyeong in a fit of rage, overwhelmed by emotions.
During quests at the academy, I found myself fixated on Jin Dallae, even though other simpler options existed.
Justifying my actions as necessary due to life-threatening circumstances, I resorted to desperate measures like scattering chocolates or insistently speaking to her.
Despite performing actions I never would have, I felt no strangeness in them.
I committed rape against a noble.
I felt compelled to befriend a girl involved with a cult just because I thought I had to.
Lee Seyeong and Jin Dallae – people who could have caused me serious trouble back then. That's how I realized, looking back, my actions always left me on the brink of danger.
The sympathy I felt for Jin Dallae was real, but wasn't it strange? Why did I have to make such choices?
Thinking this far, a headache ensued.
[Compulsion is activated!]
Rising inner monologues. Don't think about it. It was best to forget these doubts, whether they were my voice or something implanted in me.
I clenched my jaw and shattered these thoughts.
[Compulsion is activated!]
[Compulsion is activated!]
[Compulsion is activated!]
[Compulsion is activated!]
[Compulsion is activa-]
Inside my throbbing head, something ripped apart. The window in my vision shattered into pieces, scattering around.
'Perhaps.'
Recollecting my scattered thoughts, I dove back into contemplation.
Was it the World Tree of Resentment trying to isolate me in this society? Making me rape a noble, planting the thought of befriending a troubled girl, leading me to overlap with many others. But I survived. The story fit if what it sent after me was Alpha and Beta.
But why didn't the World Tree of Resentment completely destroy me?
Was there a limit to its godlike power?
That question was soon answered.
'Purity.'
The entity at the other end of the spectrum from Resentment, strangely favoring me. If the World Tree of Resentment limited my choices and actions, the World Tree of Purity could have done the same.
Lee Seyeong, desiring rape, and Jin Dallae, obsessed with friendship. Their personalities allowed me to escape extreme situations.
The situation seemed too contrived. I questioned myself.
I didn't believe the World Trees could manipulate every aspect of a person's character or past. If that were possible, entities opposing the World Trees wouldn't exist.
Perhaps they could only manipulate my thoughts as a husband candidate.
The World Tree of Resentment always pushed the worst options in my situation. It was reasonable to assume some intervention in overcoming those options.
Meeting Lee Seyeong, sitting near Jin Dallae during the entrance exam.
Maybe, just maybe, those were connections made by the World Trees.
I had no intention of advocating fate. It might sound ridiculous, but now, free from manipulated memories, it didn't seem impossible.
Above the head of the World Tree of Resentment, a World Tree mocking fate.
'Is that right?'
Asking it yielded no response.
The connection with the World Tree of Purity had been severed long ago.
But now it was okay.
'I'm sorry for hating you without reason.'
Now, my destiny was something I must carve out for myself.
In the fissures of a distorted world, I stretched out my hand. The impenetrable walls of purgatory began to crumble, like inserting a hand into fine sand, adjusting to my form, and widening the rift.
Clink!
[ Temporary disconnection from the World Tree is initiated. ]
Thin branches rose from the female form, extending towards the sky, intertwining into a shape resembling a tree.
Celestial Demon.
Draped in a gown several sizes too large, she casually stepped onto the carpet, hands clasped behind her back.
"...You are."
The elder's roar echoed behind the dark tendrils of purgatory. Cheondo bore a chilling, arrogant expression.
"For one who created this dungeon, you seem rather frail."
Snap. The sound of teeth grinding.
"Just barely living and now descending to the grave."
The elder gripped his staff tightly, causing fragments to scatter.
"Are you talking about me barely living?"
"You wretch."
"Better off than you, forever waiting for a king who may never return."
"...!"
Woosh!
The tendrils of purgatory reached for Cheondo, but upon touching her skin, they crumbled to dust and disappeared.
"Tree Spirit King. I've heard much about you from my master."
"Insolent tree! You dare not speak of him so lightly!"
"The one who claimed to control the World Tree… such was the man."
Cheondo glanced over the tendrils.
"What power are you using now?"
Purgatory. She recognized the magic immediately. The power to trap one in their past, originating from the World Tree.
"A servant who despises the World Tree, using its power so shamefully?"
"Silence."
"Not thinking to refine your own power and seek divinity. Pity for your king."
Cheondo shrugged her shoulders.
"Discipleship is innate, like me."
The elder, snickering pathetically, clutched his staff and mumbled to himself while looking into purgatory.
"A woman soon to die with so much to say. Your disciple… that fragile man? Absurd! Too much so!"
The elder spread his arms, his mad voice filling the royal chamber.
"That shattered soul can do nothing. You should quietly accept your death!"
"Who—"
Cheondo cut him off. With a sneer of ridicule, she spoke coldly enough to send shivers down one's spine.
"Who are you calling a shattered soul? Blind as a knot hole."
"Ha!"
The elder turned to look behind him.
For some reason, the surging purgatory seemed to be melting away under a harsh impact. The elder's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Ah."
Cheondo, covering her mouth playfully, muttered.
"I used vulgar words in front of my dear disciple."
Did it matter?
Cheondo smiled leisurely, observing the scene.
Crackling!
"What nonsense… such a tainted soul."
The elder stood agape, shocked, as Lee Shiheon emerged through the black waves.
Slowly lifting his eyelids, Shiheon's shoulders emanate an ominous aura.
A Monster of Chaos (怪力亂神).
Why did such a phrase come to mind now? His body seemed to writhe like a dragon, enveloped in dense energy.
The elder swallowed a hollow breath, his mouth agape.
The world seemed dwarfed under the towering strength emanating purely from a human, unmingled with any essence of trees.
Thump.
The mask he was wearing fell off.
His eyes, long and slit, marked with bloodstains, conveyed an intimidating presence. The elder stepped forward, captivated by the ferocity in those eyes.
The face hidden behind the mask was nothing more than Shiheon's original visage, unchanged since arriving in this world.
"That's your true face."
Cheondo smiled.
"Much more handsome."
Red energy bloomed over Shiheon's shoulders like a fiery flower, eventually dissipating like a dance.
The spontaneous display resembled that of a peach (桃).
Heukdo (黑桃) - Black Peach Tree.
Shiheon's power, always present in major battles like those against Lee Seonghan and the Ent. It was the moment when the fragments he had independently formed came together.
Breaking through purgatory and temporarily disabling the status window, it was an epiphany.
It was baffling how this power became available. Shattering the status window should have naturally led to the disappearance of the power gained from it.
But instead, it felt like he was forcibly seizing the power bestowed by the World Tree.
The voracious king of consumption.
A tingling pain under his fingertips, even that discomfort felt pleasing.
'Status window.'
No response. Completely shattered, it would likely take time to return.
I took in my appearance with newfound clarity.
Taller, broader shoulders. My face seemed more natural than the artificially elongated one in this world. If the mask-created face was like pieced-together features, this was a true reflection of my own.
The container of power within my body expanded like a vast ocean, and my physical strength had significantly increased.
Freed from the threatening quests and the twisted application of common sense, my own existence now felt strangely unfamiliar.
"Impossible!"
The elder's incredulous tone reached me, and I turned towards him. The being I had thought unapproachable now seemed so small.
"You, you!"
Swish!
Tendrils of purgatory, splitting into hundreds, wildly wrapped around me with terrifying speed.
Crunch!
Caught in a brutish grip, my body floated above the royal chamber. A chandelier, pushed aside, crashed to the ground, shattering.
The tendrils of purgatory, pressing down on his body, snapped effortlessly as Shiheon extended his power-filled hand.
…Definitely.
He had become much stronger than before.
"Huh."
He inhaled deeply, then forcefully expelled his energy.
Boom!
The purgatory tendrils, like a burst balloon, vanished. His body plummeted to the ground.
Thud.
A heavy sound echoed as he straightened his bent legs. The elder, mouth agape, was trying to mutter something.
"The King."
Shiheon paid no mind to the elder's words.
Now, perhaps, he could do it.
His fingers still stiff, he curled them and wrapped black energy around his arm. The surging energy swelled, and without hesitation, he thrust it towards the elder.
'Il (一)'
A single, decisive move.
'White flowers blooming-'
White energy surged over the black, enveloping the elder. It extended like a rampant tiger, his energy swirling through the castle like a bladed wind.
The seemingly colorless training now shone brightly.
'Baekdo (白桃)'
The first flower he had ever bloomed.
It would fully bloom here.
Crash!
A loud explosion echoed, creating a sizable hole in the sturdy walls of the castle. It was a spectacle by neither Cheondo nor Baekdo but solely his creation.
Staggering from the depleted energy, someone caught his shoulder.
"You've done well, but… Ah!"
Clasp!
As soon as he recognized the voice, Shiheon embraced the figure tightly. Feeling the warmth through a thin layer of fabric, he held on as tightly as he could.
His body trembled, drained of energy. The storm of emotions returned.
"…Such an irrepressible disciple."
The delicate touch of his master's hand caressed his hair, face, and neck. He said nothing in response.
Gradually, the dungeon began to crumble.