“I’ll start by scouting this place too.”
[Beginning mapping.]
‘Don’t tell me this is going to get blocked too.’
It was a tiny crystallization of mana, something generally difficult to sense.
Ten scouting spheres skimmed through the air, and the resurrection grass clinging to the building reacted.
“Uh……”
[The scouting sphere has been destroyed, and mapping will be automatically canceled.]
“So that can be destroyed too.”
That was news to him.
Sinhyeok immediately turned around and looked at Jegal Seun.
“Are these the only plants nearby that we can see?”
“Isn’t the seed you’re looking for one that can endure even without soil fertility?”
He nodded.
“Then this is the best you’ll find, but there’s another fellow that has its own kind of amusement.”
“Mm?”
Jegal Seun smiled and pointed in another direction.
“That one is also quite entertaining to listen to. I stake my life on it—you’ve never seen anything like it.”
Hearing it put that way only made Sinhyeok feel uneasy.
“I’ll take just a few samples for now.”
At that, Jegal Seun moved a good distance away and said,
“Be careful. You’d best hide every last thread of your internal energy!”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
Sinhyeok focused as much as he could.
[Casting Sense Acuity.]
His five senses sharpened.
The traces of mana naturally flowing from him brushed against all the resurrection grass.
Wriggle. Wriggle.
“Careful……”
Jegal Seun’s voice came from behind him.
Sinhyeok carefully backed away as he answered.
“I know.”
He quietly placed a hand on the ground and prepared to transmute.
[Material Transmutation]
He melted the earth, then spread it out as it was.
Then the resurrection grass spread out its tentacle-like branches and leaves and came toward him.
“Eat up, eat up.”
He snatched them all at once.
The resurrection grass licked and ate the completed net of soil.
“Let’s go now.”
Sinhyeok carefully took hold of the end of the net and moved.
As the net was dragged along, the resurrection grass was dragged along with it.
“Hooh~ A secret technique only you could use.”
“What’s next?”
Jegal Seun scratched his chin and said,
“Ginseng. But it’s a little peculiar.”
“Ginseng?”
He went over with slight expectations, and it truly was peculiar.
This time, it was not a monster mad for mana like the resurrection grass.
“Those fellows are extremely sensitive to presences. Even this distance is cutting it a little close.”
Far in the distance, a mandrake was walking around.
A creature slightly larger than a person, with grass and red berries sprouting from its head, was tearing apart a boss.
The creature that appeared to be a minotaur seemed to have had its limbs ripped off by the all-muscle mandrake.
“Don’t tell me that thing is a plant?”
Jegal Seun lowered his body and laughed heartily.
“Peculiar, isn’t it? Astonishingly enough, it’s wild ginseng.”
[The corresponding entity appears to be a mutated mandrake.]
‘I know.’
“That fellow’s strength isn’t actually a threat. You can just dodge it. Compared to its strength, it’s slow.”
Sinhyeok looked at the incredibly bizarre mandrake and asked,
“Does that thing cry if you mess with it too?”
“Correct. It cries so thunderously that even the Lion’s Roar can’t compare. Your entire body will be paralyzed, and you’ll faint. So don’t approach rashly.”
“Then from a distance……”
To secure a sample, he prepared a long-range snipe.
He carved out a rock and pulled it free.
[Magic Transmutation - Stone Spear]
[Magic Transmutation - Wind]
On top of that, he manipulated the air flowing through the atmosphere and whipped it up powerfully.
The mandrake, which had been tearing off the bull’s head, noticed this and snapped its head around.
“Young hero!”
[Casting Sense Acuity.]
[Sense - Hearing has been blocked.]
[Amplification multiplier is increasing.]
“Won’t do you any good.”
He immediately launched the Stone Spear.
The fiercely spinning spear pierced through the mandrake.
“Kuaaaaaaaaaaa!”
A plant’s grotesque scream rang through the atmosphere.
Jegal Seun, unable to defend himself in time, collapsed.
“Cry all you want. I can’t hear you.”
After shrieking for quite some time, the creature flopped to the ground.
Sinhyeok quietly rose and took the mandrake in his left hand and the resurrection grass in his right.
“Master Jegal?”
He nudged Jegal Seun, who had not awakened, with his foot.
“Please get up already.”
Nudge, nudge.
“May I put the resurrection grass on you for a moment?”
“Huuurk!”
Jegal Seun gasped and sat up.
“Young hero, please give me a warning in advance……”
Sinhyeok grinned.
“My apologies. I didn’t think you would fail to defend yourself.”
“Good grief. I told you my martial arts are weak.”
Grumbling, he picked up the mandrake and dragged it along.
Jegal Seun looked at the two samples and asked,
“Will that be enough?”
“For now, I’m thinking of using these two as a base to create various seeds. One of them should work out.”
“Oho, to think you have such a peculiar ability too. How wondrous.”
As they walked along, they soon saw the tide of undead again.
The two once more took out leaves and leisurely began to sightsee the sky.
“There really are a lot.”
Jegal Seun walked through the sky and looked down at the horde of undead filling the ground.
“A ridiculous number. When will we ever kill them all?”
Sinhyeok said calmly to Jegal Seun,
“Won’t we kill them all soon enough?”
Jegal Seun looked at the composed man and asked,
“May I ask why you struggle so desperately?”
“There are people to save, and there’s someone I have to kill.”
“Ha ha ha. A hero of troubled times, then.”
Jegal Seun looked around the area and said,
“Can you get out of here?”
“I can. I will definitely get out. I’ll make it happen.”
At the answer filled with certainty, Jegal Seun felt his mood lighten for no particular reason.
“A hero is a hero indeed. Your aspirations are different. I’ll be in your care from now on as well.”
“Of course.”
Jegal Seun looked at the resurrection grass thrashing about below and asked,
“But isn’t that thing going a bit too berserk?”
They checked the resurrection grass below, which was just about to break free.
Sinhyeok looked at its condition and said,
“We should hurry a little.”
“Let’s.”
The two immediately began to run.
After running for quite some time, the system marked their destination.
[500 meters until arrival.]
[300 meters.]
[100 meters.]
[10 meters.]
[You have arrived.]
[Confirmed the leaf of the Night World Tree, Notdrasil.]
[Entering the Netherworld.]
“Phew.”
As soon as Sinhyeok entered, he immediately began digging into the ground.
He sealed all sides firmly with iron and tossed the resurrection grass inside.
“Stay put.”
Then he covered it up.
He set the mandrake aside and checked the rotting corpses scattered all around.
“Ah, when am I supposed to clean all that up?”
‘If I try to clean it all, transmutation is probably going to get blocked again.’
After returning, Sinhyeok first stopped by the castle and asked the residents whether they had any seeds left.
An old knight handed him a few.
“We have barley, potatoes, and apple seeds, at least. We kept them just in case.”
Sinhyeok held them carefully in his hands.
“I won’t take long.”
“Ha ha, don’t worry about us. If things really don’t work out, we can just tear into that monster and eat it.”
He heard something rather savage.
Sinhyeok smiled awkwardly and stepped outside.
He sat down in the open space outside the castle wall and looked at the materials.
‘What would be best?’
He was pondering how to combine them.
“What’s the point of thinking it over? I’m going to be guessing by feel anyway.”
He simply spread them out and sat down, trying them one by one.
‘Resurrection grass and potato first.’
He took out a little of the resurrection grass he had buried.
Rustle!
Dodging the berserk creature this way and that, he made a pair of tongs and clamped down hard.
He had only torn off a tiny leaf, but it grew all on its own and fiercely aimed for Sinhyeok.
“Stubborn bastard.”
After dodging for quite some time, the thing curled up on its own.
“I’m tired.”
He was already exhausted.
He carefully placed it on the ground and put it together with a relatively large number of potatoes.
‘First, these two.’
He closed his eyes and focused for now.
He cast Sense Acuity and awakened the senses throughout his entire body.
[Attempting Biological Transmutation.]
Every mana particle in the potato and resurrection grass appeared in minute detail.
‘Ugh, I’m getting dizzy……’
Living things were still difficult.
He focused for a long while and linked every particle together, one by one, in precise detail.
For thirty minutes, he continued the work while sweating profusely.
“Haa.”
When the work was over, Sinhyeok held the result in his hand and rubbed his eyes for a moment.
“They’re dry.”
After staring without even blinking for so long, his eyes felt extremely dry.
Sinhyeok looked at the result of his hard work.
“It looks fine on the outside.”
Its appearance was just that of an ordinary potato.
Even when he stared at it intently, no explanation window appeared.
‘Hmm, is it because it’s a living thing……?’
Living things did not display any particular description.
He did not know whether that was because his level was insufficient or because of the trait’s limitations.
“Do I have to plant it to find out?”
Sinhyeok kept his distance and tossed the seed into an empty clearing.
He backed away and watched the result.
‘There’s no reaction? Do I just have to wait?’
“Should I give it mana or something?”
Just in case, Sinhyeok tossed a mana crystal onto the seed.
Then it reacted immediately.
A stem shot up into the sky, wrapped around the crystal, and grew its body in an instant.
The stem, transformed like a tentacle, coiled around the surrounding corpses and dragged them in.
“Uh…… uh.”
It was a truly grotesque sight.
“What did I make?”
Sinhyeok grew tense and prepared to destroy the result he had gone to such trouble to create.
The mutated potato, having swallowed the corpses, targeted Sinhyeok.
“Take this!”
[Magic Transmutation - Stone Arrow]
Arrows made of stone flew from the earth.
Papapap!
The arrows pierced through the stems and passed by, but more stems continued to stretch toward him.
“Ugh, seriously!”
[Magic Transmutation - Stone Sword]
Holding a sword, he cut down the stems.
Sinhyeok advanced and thrust the sword toward the place where the seed had been.
“Kieeeek?”
The scream that should not have been heard was full of bewilderment.
Soon the stems went limp and slapped down.
“Is it done?”
He carefully dug into the ground with his hands.
Below was a gigantic potato-like thing that had grown before he knew it.
“What the hell, why is it green?”
It was an ominous color.
When he tapped it with the sword, the surface slowly cracked.
“Huh?”
Sensing something strange, Sinhyeok hurriedly threw himself away.
“Damn it!”
Boom!
The potato suddenly exploded.
It spewed green poisonous smoke, and the potato vanished without a trace.
“Cough, cough!”
Having unintentionally inhaled a little of the green smoke, Sinhyeok felt his entire body gradually becoming paralyzed.
“Cr-crazy……”
Unfortunately, Sinhyeok froze with his mouth still open.
He was left like that for thirty minutes.
Namgung Sohye, who happened to be passing by, found Sinhyeok and poked his butt with her finger.
“Mister. What are you doing on the ground?”
Sinhyeok could only roll his eyes around and could not answer.
“Unni! Mister is dead!”
Baek Arin approached leisurely from behind, glanced at his condition, and said,
“He’s still alive. It would be a big problem if that mister died.”
She chuckled and poured a very faint bit of holy power into Sinhyeok.
“Huaaak!”
“Just what did you make, mister?”
Sinhyeok sprang to his feet and stared blankly at Baek Arin.
“A potato. It was an insane potato. You can’t eat it, but as a weapon, it’d be amazing.”
“Huh?”
Sinhyeok grabbed her.
“Don’t go anywhere. Watch carefully and save me if something happens, all right?”
She giggled and nodded.
Sinhyeok grew anxious as he looked at the few materials he had left.
“I can’t afford to fail.”
‘I’ll just ask for a potato that grows a little quickly. Or an apple.’
Sinhyeok tried several more times.
Once, he produced an apple that looked normal.
It was an apple that grew by chewing up corpses, but it seemed fairly acceptable.
The downside was that the apple was full of poison.
It contained enough deadly poison to rot a corpse.
“Damn it!”
He threw the apple away and tried again.
This time, it was barley’s turn.
As expected, another failure.
When he mixed barley with the mandrake, it pulled out its roots, charged at him, and started throwing grains.
“Ah.”
Sinhyeok lay blankly on the ground.
[Sense Acuity’s level has increased.]
He swept the message window away with his hand.
“Sense Acuity is rising like crazy.”
Since he kept using it to concentrate, it rose at an insane pace.
Baek Arin looked down at Sinhyeok.
“At this rate, you’re going to die, mister. What exactly are you trying to make?”
“Just a potato, barley, or apple that grows a little faster.”
“Then try making it that way.”
Her tone, as if it were obvious, made him flare up.
“Do you know how hard that is? I don’t know what’s what either!”
[Sense Acuity’s level has reached its limit.]
[Akashic Pocket, Sense Acuity, and Transmutation are producing a synergy effect.]
[A special option for administrator-exclusive Transmutation has been created.]
[Transmutation - Simulation is now provided.]
“Huh?”