“It’s starting to get a bit much.”
Namgung Jincheon forced his creaking body upright.
He grabbed Hong Ichan, who was struggling desperately with a dagger in front of him, and pulled him back.
“Young Hero, let’s switch.”
“Hah, haah.”
Hong Ichan continued his necromancy to the very end, gasping for breath.
When he moved his fingertips, dozens of undead twisted their bodies and attacked their own side.
“Phew.”
Hong Ichan leaned against the wall and looked back.
After checking the World Tree, he gave a faint smile.
“There’s… not… much… left.”
“That’s a relief.”
Shinhyeok had finally finished the work.
He shouted to the two standing right in front of him.
“Drive them over here!”
Hong Ichan checked the tunnel Shinhyeok had dug.
“Holy crap.”
At the end, he could see outer space, with faint stars twinkling.
“I nearly died digging this.”
At those words, Namgung Jincheon pulled himself back.
“Hup!”
Having almost stepped into the hole by mistake, he twisted his body and slipped over beside the moat.
“Guuuuuh!”
The undead surged in.
The entire group pulled back at once.
The undead that had crowded in slowly threw themselves into the hole on their own.
“Haa… it works.”
“Young Hero, we’re saved.”
Shinhyeok felt proud of himself for creating a trash can that automatically disposed of waste.
“Now we just need to control it so the numbers can be reduced properly.”
But the threat was not completely over yet.
Shinhyeok divided up the roles.
“Ichan, you stay here and guard this place. Control them right from the front and shove them in properly.”
“Okay.”
Shinhyeok looked at the swarm of undead rushing in together with Namgung Jincheon.
“We’ll have to lure them.”
“Hohoho, that seems like the most dangerous role of all.”
“Urgh.”
In truth, he was right.
But digging the moat any farther was too difficult.
‘Transmutation won’t… work anymore.’
He had pushed himself to the limit, so transmutation no longer functioned.
It was a strike, plain and simple. All his skills had become a complete mess.
Shinhyeok trudged forward, stepped on the wall, and vaulted over inside.
“Which direction would you prefer, left or right?”
Namgung Jincheon chuckled and pointed to the right.
“Then I’ll go left.”
Shinhyeok took out the height-limited Fly Leaf artifact he had used in the past from his inventory.
“Would you like one?”
“Thank you. I’ll put it to good use.”
He tucked it carefully into his shoe and loosened his shoulders and legs.
“Then let’s run like our lives depend on it again.”
“Haha, yes.”
The aerial sprint to lure the undead began immediately.
The two made a circuit, becoming sheepdogs driving a flock.
“They’re crowding at the entrance!”
Hong Ichan controlled the undead with all his might.
“Aaaaaagh! This is so hard!”
Namgung Jincheon leapt right in front of the entrance.
“Ha!”
In an instant, lightning rippled out and swept through the surroundings.
The bottleneck was forcibly cleared.
“Nice!”
Shinhyeok looked up and gave the signal.
“Throw!”
The moment the signal was given, Namgung Jincheon and Shinhyeok shot upward.
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
“When is this going to end?”
Shinhyeok looked at the World Tree with a frustrated expression.
The World Tree was now radiating brilliant light.
“Huh?!”
Before they knew it, it burst with an intense radiance, then sucked everything in at once.
[The World Tree of Night, having completed photosynthesis, is entering the Netherworld.]
Everyone cheered at the system’s voice and message.
The atmosphere around them began to change.
The boundary grew distinct, and the undead collapsed to the ground.
Fragments of broken spirits scattered out from all of them.
“It’s done.”
Everyone was relieved.
Shinhyeok descended to the ground and took the leaf out of his shoe.
“It’s in tatters.”
He simply tore it up and threw it away.
Stepping on the leaf that had fallen to the ground, he trudged forward.
“I’m exhausted.”
His tired eyes and staggering steps.
Those two things alone were enough to make it clear just how weary he was.
“Everyone, you worked hard.”
The residents and the two elders had struggled throwing things from atop the wall.
Aside from them, Namgung and Jegal had also gone through a great deal.
Shinhyeok headed toward the World Tree.
There, Baek Arin, utterly drained of energy, was sitting with her back against the tree.
“Mister, hi…”
She greeted Shinhyeok with empty eyes.
Shinhyeok sat down beside her.
“You really got wrung dry.”
“I used every last bit. Mister, what do we do next?”
Shinhyeok slumped down and lay back.
“No idea. It’ll work out somehow.”
She too, affected by the exhaustion of her energy, sagged limply like Shinhyeok.
“I don’t know either, whew.”
Shinhyeok looked around at the ruined surroundings with tired eyes.
‘I need to clean this up.’
His eyes gradually closed.
Before he knew it, his eyelids slid shut.
“Mister, are you sleeping?”
Baek Arin looked at him asleep and reached out a hand.
Soft, even breathing.
“He’s really asleep.”
She took off her outerwear and tossed it over him like a blanket.
“You worked hard. Ugh.”
Baek Arin groaned as she got up.
She looked at the rows of rotting corpses lined up near the entrance.
“Those are exactly the sort of things Mister would be perfect for cleaning up.”
Hong Ichan and Namgung Jincheon were temporarily covering the tunnel at the entrance that led straight to the trash can.
“Hey, we have to clean that up!”
Hong Ichan glared fiercely at Baek Arin.
“Aren’t you going to help?!”
“There he goes running his mouth again.”
Ichan twitched the corners of his mouth and teased her.
“You don’t have any holy power left, do you?! I saw you use it all!”
Baek Arin smiled benevolently and circulated the Sacred Jade Heart Sutra.
“It replenishes, you know.”
She immediately kicked off the ground.
Seeing Baek Arin sprint through the air, Ichan panicked.
“Aaagh! I-I’m sorry!”
Thwack!
Naturally, Baek Arin had no mercy.
Hong Ichan, who had taken a solid hit, clutched his head and collapsed to the ground.
“Aaaaagh!”
Namgung Jincheon simply laughed at the sight and headed toward the castle.
“How youthful. What a good age.”
Baek Arin passed Hong Ichan and went outside.
“Let’s clean it up together.”
Everyone came outside and began clearing away the considerable number of corpses.
* * *
Only after a long time had passed did Bu Shinhyeok wake up.
“Ah.”
After getting up, he looked around.
The sun was blazing.
“What… time is it?”
The sun never set in this place.
Because of that, it was impossible to tell the time by the sun.
“What? Where did everyone go?”
Looking around, it seemed everyone was in the inner castle.
When he went inside, the old knight waved at him.
“Come have some food.”
“Yes, yes!”
At the mention of food, he hurried over.
As he ate the prepared jerky, Shinhyeok asked about the situation.
“Was anyone injured?”
“Fortunately, no.”
At the answer that there were no injuries, Shinhyeok was relieved for the time being.
However, all sorts of problems were still piled up.
The old knight tore into his jerky and informed him of the current situation.
“The problem is, we have no food reserves left.”
“Ah.”
They had talked about this before.
Come to think of it, they had said from the beginning that they had no food.
“I’ll try to come up with a way to handle that.”
Baek Arin lightly poked Shinhyeok in the side.
“What?”
She whispered quietly.
“I’m at rock bottom on holy power. We need to solve this.”
Then Hong Ichan poked his left side.
“What about you?”
“Necromancy is the problem. Those undead are going to come again. What do we do next time? That was my limit. Even if my dark mana increases, I can’t control any more than that.”
They had come face to face with the various problems they had been putting off.
Shinhyeok made a pained expression.
“L-Let’s solve them one at a time first. Starting with food.”
Seeing Shinhyeok’s expression, everyone held their tongues.
‘One at a time… Let’s solve the food issue first.’
Thinking about food made him remember Elysia, who had churned out elixirs like a factory.
‘How did she produce them like that? She ran it on auto all the time, so I never really got a good look.’
Shinhyeok stood up and tucked some jerky into his pocket.
“Thank you for the meal.”
He went outside and checked the surroundings.
The area was still full of undead.
It seemed they had barely managed to clear the area around the entrance.
“I guess I’ll have to clean up the rest.”
Shinhyeok tried to start tidying things up, but he was reminded again of the aftermath of the hard labor.
[Transmutation cannot function due to severe soul and mental exhaustion.]
[Sufficient rest and sleep are recommended.]
“Ah, yes, yes.”
He brushed it off.
Shinhyeok stretched and nudged an undead with his foot.
“When am I supposed to clean all this?”
For now, he ignored it.
“If it can’t be done, I’ll leave it to tomorrow me.”
He wandered around, searching for a place where food could be produced.
“There seems to be enough land. Why didn’t they farm?”
Puzzled, he went looking for Malakai.
When he found him, Malakai gave a simple answer.
“We can’t grow anything! Most of the land is contaminated because of the waste and pollutants from the mines.”
“Ah.”
“That’s why our city always imported food. We bought all our grain without exception, and at most, we raised a few livestock.”
He had run into an unexpected obstacle.
‘So we can’t grow anything at all…’
Faced with this difficulty, Shinhyeok headed toward the World Tree, thinking he would at least have to try transmutation before he could solve the problem.
When he reached the World Tree, Shinhyeok inhaled the phytoncides and accelerated his recovery.
“Huuup, haaa.”
[You have inhaled the auspicious World Tree’s phytoncides.]
[Your exhausted mental strength has partially recovered.]
Shinhyeok sat in the shade and breathed.
“Hup, haa.”
As Shinhyeok focused on breathing, Ichan suddenly poked his head out beside him and stared.
“Your breath stinks.”
“So does yours.”
Shinhyeok looked at the elf beside him and asked.
“You’re an elf too, so don’t you have some talent for making plants grow instantly?”
“Me? I’m a dark elf. I’m good at hiding and playing ghost.”
“You really are useless…”
“So are you right now, hyung.”
A touching sense of beautiful love and affection blossomed between them.
Ichan closed his eyes like before and focused on soothing the wandering spirits.
“That sort of refined plant cultivation is only possible for high elves.”
“Is that so.”
Shinhyeok lay back and pondered.
Then he thought of magic.
“Isn’t there magic that makes plants grow rapidly?”
“Hyung, that won’t even activate if your intelligence is too low. You have to use it based on the situation.”
Every path was blocked off one after another.
Even while feeling hopeless, Shinhyeok diligently breathed to recover his transmutation.
“Hup, haa.”
Shinhyeok breathed hard and looked outside.
‘Is synthesis the answer after all?’
It seemed he would have to explore that world out there, where he had no idea what might be waiting.
“I guess I’ll have to go out.”
Someone’s voice suddenly came from nearby.
“When you come back, bring me one nice, fresh World Tree.”
Startled, Shinhyeok looked to the side.
Baek Arin was staring at him blankly.
“What are you so surprised about? You’re the guy with eyes everywhere.”
“I wasn’t mapping. My skills won’t activate right now.”
“Aha.”
Recalling what she had requested, Shinhyeok immediately refused.
“Denied. It’s not like World Trees are that common.”
She muttered desolately with dead-fish eyes.
“Right. That’s just my lot in life. I’ll become a fish-shaped bun without red bean filling now.”
At Arin’s rather provocative and irritating lament, Shinhyeok could not ignore her.
“I’ll go out and look for something. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try to find a core or something.”
At those words, she smiled brightly.
“Then I’ll be in your care. Take someone else with you instead of me.”
“Hyung, I can’t go either. I have to guide the spirits here.”
“Ah… yes.”
Shinhyeok took a deep breath and looked around.
“Then who should I take?”
Shinhyeok scanned the surroundings, and for some reason, one person caught his eye.
‘Jegal Seun…!’
He was peering around the area.
When his eyes met Shinhyeok’s, he smiled and said,
“Are you going somewhere?”
“Did you hear?”
“Hahahaha, it wasn’t intentional, but it just happened to reach my ears.”
“Will you be all right with it? I’m going outside.”
“That’s fine! I’d be glad to!”
Thinking of the outside, Shinhyeok asked him,
“Do you know any places with lots of plants?”
“Hmm. There are so many it’s a problem. But most of them are things like man-eating plants. Will that be all right?”
“Let’s take a look first. There may be something usable among them.”
‘If not, I’ll synthesize them and mash things together this way and that.’