“This one seems like it would go well with that child.”
Elysia personally picked out a seed suited for the synthesis.
She took out a fist-sized seed from a wooden tub.
“I think you can use this one as the base and add whatever you like.”
Shinhyeok held up the seed she had chosen and looked it over.
“What kind of seed is this?”
“It’s called an Ent. Once fully grown, some of them uproot themselves and walk around. They can only be grown near the World Tree, so I have a few.”
At her explanation, Shinhyeok thought of the moving tree monsters that often appeared in games.
“Does this one move too, of course?”
“No. An Ent is only complete once a spirit called a Dryad dwells within it. Before that, it’s just a monster that grows absurdly fast and devours soil like mad.”
She pointed at a shelf filled only with seeds as she spoke.
“That child will absorb energy on its own and grow rapidly as long as you give it plenty. Perfect, right?”
It fit Shinhyeok’s situation perfectly.
“Now, keep shopping. Imagine freely and make a truly vicious, threatening baby.”
Anticipating the new baby Shinhyeok would create, she ushered him into the sample room full of seeds.
Inside glass tubes, sample plants were stored, with seed samples kept directly beneath them.
‘Unlike the dwarves’ place, this is neatly organized.’
Shinhyeok looked around at the countless samples, then asked her.
“Lady Elysia, how long did it take you to gather and absorb this many samples and this much knowledge?”
She scratched her chin for a moment, thinking.
“Well. This profession is something you spend your whole life learning, so… let’s say three thousand years.”
At that staggering age, Shinhyeok stared at her.
“Three thousand years…?”
“Yes~ Did I look too young~?”
She smiled bashfully, looking pleased.
“Why aren’t you dead? Aren’t you living a bit too long?”
“Hohohohoho. A lady’s lifespan is a secret.”
For some reason, it sent a chill down his spine.
Shinhyeok told her about a concern he had been having lately.
“Lately, I’ve been thinking that alchemy isn’t everything, even if you have talent.”
He spoke to her while closely examining a plant on the shelf.
“Oh my, Sergeant? That’s an insult to other alchemists.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what I’m supposed to make. I feel like I can make anything, but when someone tells me to design something, my mind keeps going blank.”
“Mm-hmm. I know what you mean. It feels like you should be able to make anything with your talent, but when the works you actually create are shabby… it’s frustrating.”
Shinhyeok’s hand stopped at one plant.
He picked up the seed, examined it carefully, then looked at her.
“How did you overcome it?”
“I didn’t. I just kept making things, learning new recipes, discovering them, and trying them.”
Shinhyeok was disappointed by her answer that there was no solution.
“For someone at your level, Sergeant, you’re doing well. Before long, you’ll become greater than anyone. I can guarantee that.”
At her honeyed words, Shinhyeok gave a faint laugh and asked.
“When?”
“Hmm~ In about five hundred years?”
“I’ll be dead before then.”
“Oh, come on. Looking at your current state, you’ll live at least that long.”
She took a close look at the seed Shinhyeok had chosen.
“By the way, what did you pick?”
Shinhyeok read the name Insight had interpreted for him.
“Corpse flower?”
“Ahh. That smelly child. It does have good compatibility with corpse explosion.”
“This one, and one more. Do you happen to have any that contain poison? I feel like it would be a good match.”
She thought for a moment, then walked straight ahead, turned a corner, checked something, and beckoned to him.
“Sergeant, over here! How about this child? It’s a black camellia tree, and its fragrance is incredible.”
She pointed at a miniaturized tree inside a glass tube.
“The fruit grows black like this. Then the round little ones naturally fall off.”
When she tapped it with a spirit, pop! It burst, and a small cloud of graphite formed around it.
“It causes light hives all over the body, then paralysis makes you collapse. Of course, if you eat it, you may tap-dance for about an hour before dying.”
The explanation was terrifying.
Which made him like it even more. Shinhyeok took the seed with a satisfied expression.
“Sergeant, you’re going to combine them through synthesis, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve always improved genes through methods like grafting.”
With an expectant face, she watched Shinhyeok’s synthesis show.
On the worktable lay the corrupted fragment, the Ent seed, the corpse flower seed, and the black camellia seed.
Shinhyeok watched them carefully, then asked because there was one thing he needed to confirm.
“But how do we dispose of this later? We can’t just leave it alone.”
“Just leave it. I’ll come pull it out later.”
“Ah.”
Disposal had become simple.
“Sergeant. Hurry and synthesize it. I’m so, so curious what kind of child will come out.”
Elysia stared at the materials on the worktable with sparkling eyes.
“Let me organize things a little first.”
Shinhyeok checked the spread-out materials and arranged them.
‘The base will be the Ent, the rest will be added on, and I’ll imprint corpse explosion with enchantment.’
He searched through the Enchanter’s Book and confirmed corpse explosion.
“What were the rune words again?”
“Probably Explosion, Life, and Ring. Those three.”
She answered immediately.
“You know them well?”
“They’re rune words. If you’re a High Elf, you have to know them as a basic. You have to master magic too if you want to draw children out properly.”
“Ah.”
Shinhyeok checked the recorded rune words and committed them to memory.
“Phew. I’m nervous.”
He always felt a slight tremble whenever he attempted a new synthesis.
“Sergeant, you know if this fails, all the materials are gone, right?”
The annoying High Elf raised the tension even more.
“I know without you telling me, so could you please not make me more nervous?”
“Hoho.”
She merely laughed annoyingly.
Shinhyeok focused on the table and began the transmutation.
[Beginning transmutation.]
His fingertips touched the materials’ innate mana, and all the materials softened and melted down.
The materials melted within Shinhyeok’s touch, clumping together one by one and blending.
‘The base is the Ent….’
He clearly remembered the child that would become the center.
‘This is a bit tough.’
As expected, even though it was a plant, it was difficult because it was still a small fragment of life.
The more he looked into it, the more he touched it, the more he could see and feel vast, expansive information and origins.
“Urgh.”
“Sergeant, you can do it! Don’t give up!”
As she watched, she offered advice at just the right moment.
“Except for the child that will be the core, cut the rest away decisively! You can’t preserve every child’s characteristics!”
Shinhyeok, who had been trying to encompass and preserve everything, set his direction at those words and continued the synthesis.
After the synthesis had continued for quite some time, it came to an end, and Shinhyeok let out a thin breath.
“Haa.”
[Transmutation complete.]
Only a single black, hard seed remained on the worktable.
“Sergeant, is it done? Success? Complete?”
Elysia, whose curiosity had reached its peak, leaned her face close to the seed and asked him.
“I think it worked.”
“Hurry and check with those fascinating eyes of yours. Please?”
When she urged him on, Shinhyeok hurried. As he touched the seed, Insight read it.
[Corrupted Gluttonous Ent][Heroic][Life][Plant]
=======================
A one-use explosive Ent mutant artifact born through alchemical fusion of a corrupted World Tree fragment, an Ent’s life core, a corpse flower’s hallucinatory organ, and the graphite toxicity of a black camellia tree. Unlike a normal Ent, no spirit dwells within it, leaving it devoid of a “self,”
and in order to fill that void, it possesses an impulse to absorb the memories, mana, and life force of nearby living beings.
It rapidly grows over a short period and scatters a scent of decay, graphite poison spores, and hallucinogenic fruit.
After it finishes growing, it explodes, leaving behind only a single seed in its place.
=======================
[Warnings]
Attacks and parasitizes upon approach.
Due to the defect of lacking an indwelling spirit and its corruption, it possesses an impulse to devour beings with souls.
Inhaling graphite spores carries a high risk of severe neural paralysis and lung damage.
The scent of decay may induce not only hallucinations, but also memory distortion and collapse of the self.
The more corpses or life force are nearby, the more the scale of the explosion and toxin concentration will surge.
The remaining seed carries a risk of unpredictable mutation depending on the memories and emotions it has absorbed.
=======================
After slowly reading the description, Shinhyeok was left speechless.
“What the hell is this monster…?”
At the word monster, her curiosity reached its peak.
For the sake of the curious Elysia, he slowly read it aloud.
“Oh my, oh my! Sergeant, I will absolutely go pick up this child’s seed!”
She was brimming with anticipation.
As the mad light in her eyes glittered, Shinhyeok felt a chill run down his spine and grew slightly afraid.
“Huh? Yes, yes.”
Shinhyeok hurriedly took only the seed.
She followed after the seed, trailing behind it.
“I should get going now.”
“Hmmm. Baby, I’ll see you later.”
She caught Shinhyeok as he tried to leave.
“Yes?”
“Take some culture soil with you. I don’t know where you’ll plant it, but it’ll be better than not having any.”
“Thank you.”
Shinhyeok took the culture soil she prepared for him and truly got ready to leave.
She looked at Shinhyeok with a regretful expression.
“Be sure to tell them not to touch it, all right? Yes?!”
“Yes!”
He answered quickly and left the workshop.
After returning to the factory, Shinhyeok looked around.
“Would this place be suitable?”
He spread plenty of the culture soil she had given him.
Looking at the seed planted in the culture soil, he felt that something was lacking.
“Ah, it needs to eat energy.”
When he directly released mana, it swallowed it up greedily.
The small seed swelled and bulged out.
“Is it not enough?”
Shinhyeok emptied out the mana stones he had stockpiled in his inventory and scattered them all.
Before long, it swallowed an appropriate amount of energy and popped out a small stem.
“This should be enough.”
After Shinhyeok left, the Corrupted Gluttonous Ent, now alone, swayed this way and that as it swept its surroundings.
It was a bizarre movement, as if it were waiting for prey.
Leaving the Ent behind, Shinhyeok immediately exited the factory and contacted Hong Juyeon.
“The trap is ready. Leave it for a few days, then lure them in.”
“Did you actually do it properly? I heard you only planted a plant.”
“You’ll know when you see it later. I planted a truly incredible one.”
After finishing his report, Shinhyeok quickly returned to headquarters.
On the way up, he checked the noisy media.
“The reaction is loud. I wonder if they’re handling it well.”
The reactions of the people chattering on the radio all centered on exactly one thing.
The inside of the wrapping paper called “god.”
People were cursing the ugliness dwelling within.
Accordingly, Auzar’s subscription service took a hit.
After quickly returning to headquarters, Shinhyeok looked for Baek Arin.
“How are the service applications?”
“There aren’t any reservation cancellations right away, but the number of applications that had been rising sharply has dropped.”
“Looks like they’re testing the waters?”
Baek Arin agreed.
“I think that’s right. The response is that they want to watch the situation for now.”
Shinhyeok found that quite unfortunate.
“The timing isn’t good. Then what about awakenings on their side?”
“Right now, the demon side’s awakenings are, annoyingly enough, going smoothly. The number of applicants is gradually increasing.”
“Damn it.”
The not-so-good situation left Shinhyeok frustrated.
‘That bastard’s smiling face keeps coming to mind.’
The demon’s sneering face rose in his mind, making his stomach twist.
“By the way, where’s the Priest?”
Baek Arin shrugged.
“I don’t know. I’ve been looking for him since earlier too, but I don’t see him.”
Shinhyeok also looked for I Chan, who had likewise disappeared.
“Why is I Chan nowhere to be seen again? And did he say he won’t do the interview?”
Baek Arin nodded.
“He says he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want his face to become known.”
“Tsk. Was I asking too much?”
“A little?”
Arin did not deny it.
“Maybe I pushed too hard.”
Thinking of the uproarious current situation, Shinhyeok approached the window to soothe his complicated feelings.
He looked outside, gazing at the darkening scenery beyond.
“I wonder what everyone’s doing.”
“They’re probably going to Gates. I want to go too.”
At her words, Shinhyeok also nodded.
“I want to go in and spend two hours searching.”
Shinhyeok’s gaze was drawn to a figure far below whose radiance stood out particularly.
It was a considerable distance, but he recognized him immediately.
“That looks like the Priest.”
At those words, Arin also scurried over and pressed her eyes to the window.
“Huh? What is he doing there?”
Since they were on a relatively low floor, Shinhyeok opened the sixth-floor window and shouted.
“CEO, where are you going!”
At the powerful shout, Eizar lifted his head and waved.
“I’m going to collect what’s owed!”
Shinhyeok checked the people around him, the ones Eizar said he was going to collect from.
They were full of protesters holding picket signs.
“Oh, seriously! CEO! Don’t cause trouble!”
He smiled and turned his head back.
Because of those words, everyone around them turned their attention to him.
Hong Juyeon, who was beside him, took out her phone and began filming.
Ding.
“CEO, the live stream has begun. You may speak.”
Eizar looked at the surrounding people murmuring and gathering, then smiled benevolently.
“Greetings, everyone. I am Eizar, the CEO of Auzar.”
Everyone was puzzled by the sudden appearance of the CEO.
One of the people gathered stepped forward and asked him.
“CEO, what have you come out here to do?”
“Mm, I’ve come to talk about this person called ‘god.’ Is that all right with everyone?”
There was a faint tremor within his benevolent smile.
“CEO, you may call it a company, but aren’t you essentially a religious order too?! Didn’t you come out here to defend him?”
Everyone nodded fiercely at those words.
“How can people who claim to believe in god take money and sell power! In the end, isn’t Auzar no different!”
Eizar faced the terrible distrust, hatred, and anger of the people before him.
‘I’m used to this. Their anger is justified.’
He simply endured their anger.
“That is correct. We are no different.”
“What?”
At that absurd admission, the people lost their momentum.
Eizar smiled and briefly looked at Hong Juyeon.
“CEO?”
Sensing a strange unease in his gaze, she hurriedly lowered the screen and turned off the live stream.
“CEO, no. You can’t talk about that.”
She hurried over to cover his mouth, but it was already too late.
“I was the same as you. My name is Eizar, and my homeland is not here.”
The people looked at him in confusion.
“CEO, what are you talking about?”
“No, there’s no need to listen! This guy’s trying to scam us!”
Some people blindly distrusted him, while others looked puzzled.
“I came from the place you call a Gate. My homeland is Ariel. That place. It is a pleasure to meet you, people of Earth.”
Then he removed the translation artifact hanging from his neck.
“@@#$(%@#.”
As incomprehensible words flowed out, the people were all thrown into confusion at once.
“W-what the hell?!”
Eizar greeted them haltingly.
“I, I am Ei, zar.”
Hong Juyeon clutched her forehead.
“Ha, I’m… dead.”