Eat The World Tree

Chapter 236: That’s A Goal (2)

Crazy guys.

“So, if you try it once, you won’t be able to forget it?”

I laughed in disbelief as I watched Taeyang give a long speech.

Sure, one might run into a tree.

I could understand if I conceded a hundred times.

I knew well that I couldn’t say much since I also did something like that out of mere curiosity.

But liking it was on a different level.

What’s so good about fucking a tree? It’s not like you were in a hurry for sexual release.

“Let’s move on from that topic now.”

Teach what?

Aori crawled out of the bushes, pulling her underwear down with her hands.

“You can do it quickly. I can make it as close to a knot as possible. I’ll make your roots numb.”

Aori reached out with her lecherous hands. Before they could touch my knees, I moved back.

I flicked her forehead using my index and middle fingers.

-Smack!

Aori’s forehead snapped back just like Taeyang’s did.

“It hurts…”

“Don’t touch. I have someone.”

“Okay.”

She mumbled while holding her forehead.

I couldn’t expect common sense from these people.

I started wondering if the Tree Spirit King, who ruled the world, was actually just a crude pervert.

Whether it was the guy who inherited his power or his descendants, they all had a screw loose.

“Hyung, but I can’t let this go. To properly use the king’s power, you have to consume the knot.”

“Stop using expressions like ‘consume the knot.’”

Taeyang seriously pondered.

“Then, how about grafting, like a noble?”

This was dizzying.

Yeah, in this world, this kind of talk wasn’t unusual.

I had experienced people making lewd jokes about trees in a metaphorical way when I had relationships with someone like Byeol or Seyeong.

“Isn’t it weird that a knot is considered the tree’s genital?”

They tilted their heads at my obvious question, as if they didn’t understand what I was saying.

“What do you mean? If you look through all kinds of universal encyclopedias, it’s obvious.”

“Then are all trees just standing there with their genitals out on the road?”

“That’s how regular trees are. But nobles wear underwear.”

“If we’re talking about genitals, wouldn’t flowers or leaves make more sense?”

Aori tapped my knee.

“If flowers are considered for women, then it’s that.”

“What?”

Aori placed her hand on her chest.

“Adam’s apple.”

Tree (木)… apple?

-Headache!

Could I keep hanging out with these guys?

“Hyung, do you even know how to properly stimulate it?”

“When would I ever need to do that to a tree?”

I knew that one way to get stronger was through grafting, but I never had the opportunity.

The closest was recently with Baekyang, but it was a clone, so it was impossible.

I felt a sense of self-doubt. Let’s get back to the topic.

Even if it’s about trees, I couldn’t make any progress without experience.

It wouldn’t be strange to hear about it later if I get to intertwine bodies.

“So, how did you know where I was?”

“We didn’t expect to see you at the Forester Selection Competition. Aori somehow instinctively pointed here.”

“Did you know the Tree Spirit King would appear?”

“Yes.”

Taeyang brushed the dirt off his hair and told me.

“Timing-wise, the Tree Spirit King was expected to appear around now. Anyone who knew, knew. Even Flower. And the World Tree.”

Was there a separate way to know that?

Even if I asked, these two wouldn’t know.

I knew I inherited the Tree Spirit King’s power from Baekyang’s hint, but it wasn’t my power from the start.

It began with the blessing of the World Tree.

If that power was the foundation of the Tree Spirit King, then there was nothing to say.

‘If they’re manipulating time, wouldn’t they know when I’d come?’

In fact, Flower even approached me.

Jin Dallae’s adoptive father, Lee Seonghan, had invited me.

No matter how much I tried to hide it, there were people somewhere who knew my identity.

“Hyung.”

Taeyang asked me.

“Just for reference, how much do you know about that power?”

The power of the Tree Spirit King.

If you made love with a World Tree, you could steal that authority.

It’s a power I realized from my experience with the World Tree of Healing.

And by the ability of the Tree Circle Pill, you gained power through intercourse with tree spirits.

Of course, each tree spirit had different characteristics, and in the case of some like the National Tree with deep blood, you could gain stats.

Climax. If you reached an extreme climax to the point of losing your mind, they bore fruit. Eating it helped improve talent or stats.

After explaining it, Taeyang nodded.

“You only know the basics.”

“Is there more?”

“There’s a lot, but it seems pointless to explain the trivial things. The most useful thing for you now is subjugation.”

Subjugation.

To place someone under your control.

“Just hearing the name makes me reluctant.”

“Hyung. Have you ever been betrayed?”

At the sudden question, I pondered.

If you considered bad endings to relationships as betrayal, then yes, I had experienced it several times.

If what my father did counted as betrayal, then that’s also betrayal.

Broadly speaking, yes, but I had never had someone stab me in the back literally.

“It’s hard to keep reliable people close. In such times, keep in mind when establishing continuous relationships.”

“Be conscious?”

“Think ‘You are mine. You belong to me.’ It might be abstract and hard to understand, but once you use it, you’ll get the hang of it. It may feel reluctant at first… but there’s no better authority.”

Taeyang’s voice was quite serious.

“It’s hard to always think that the people around you are on your side.”

“……”

“Even if they are on your side, it doesn’t mean they’ll act according to your thoughts.”

It’s an ability I might use someday.

After hearing Taeyang’s words, I decided to think only up to that point.

‘Subjugation.’

I felt something like that a few days ago.

When I was trapped in the dungeon with Maronnie.

Actually, my memory of that time was vague. I didn’t even know how I ended up having a relationship with her.

But I couldn’t forget the completely different feeling compared to when I have relationships with my housemates or my lovers.

If the strange impulse I felt then was part of that ability,

It seemed possible to use it directly with my own hands.

“There are many people targeting you, hyung.”

I knew that.

“It would be good to create a card you can use anytime.”

It was Taeyang’s advice.

I also knew that those who opposed me were more than I could imagine.

Flower and the World Tree.

Compared to them, I wouldn’t say my side was weak, but there were very few of them.

Moreover, each one of them was too precious to involve in my fight.

But was it right to forcibly make countless people my subordinates?

I needed to think more about that.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Just out of curiosity, is it possible for someone to have goodwill towards me just because they had a physical relationship with me?”

Taeyang hardened his expression.

“Well, I don’t know about that… but feeling goodwill because of a physical relationship isn’t limited to the Tree Spirit King, is it?”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. There’s a reason the term ‘affection born from sleeping together’ exists. The very fact of having a relationship means you share a certain line with that person. But why do you ask?”

I just asked.

It was something I had thought about for a long time, and I wondered if Taeyang, who knew a lot about the Tree Spirit King, might know.

“As long as you don’t use that ability, it’s just sharing love.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Oh, is a one-night stand different?”

A one-night stand was broadly sharing love too.

It’s just about shaking off each other’s loneliness in one go.

Or it could be sharing pleasure.

“You seem unfamiliar with this, hyung. Since you don’t even fuck trees.”

“Nobody would be familiar with that except you guys.”

“It’s quite a common preference.”

I didn’t want to know.

Aori was listening to our conversation with her hands forming a flower cup gesture.

Taeyang glanced at Aori and sighed.

“Anyway… it’s better to discover the other abilities of the Tree Spirit King yourself. Since you’re the heir, you might have different abilities than the old Tree Spirit King.”

“My questions aren’t finished.”

I knew who the Tree Spirit King was.

I understood how powerful that force was and what subjugation meant.

I understood that I needed to meet more trees in the future.

Even thinking about it made me feel filthy, but I understood.

To survive, that’s the only way.

“Why am I the heir of the Tree Spirit King?”

Taeyang immediately shook his head.

“Maybe you were the most suitable for that power.”

Even though I was from another world, I became the heir.

Seeing as there were beings who traveled between dimensions, I couldn’t deny it.

I straightened my back and sighed.

“What are you guys going to do now?”

“What do you mean? We need to help you, hyung.”

“Meeting a stranger for the first time and suddenly deciding to help? Aori, what about you?”

Aori grinned.

“It’s fine.”

“She’s abnormal, so I understand.”

“…That’s harsh.”

Taeyang shrugged. He grabbed Aori’s crown and spun her head around as he spoke.

“Aori has been waiting for the Tree Spirit King since birth. As for me, after being sold off at the slave market, I’ve been waiting for you, hyung. There’s nothing else we can do but help.”

“Live your lives. It’s not like you don’t have abilities. You even came out to the Forester Selection Competition.”

“No status, and if we’re caught, we’ll die. Helping you, hyung, and dying is a hundred times better.”

“This is our first meeting today. It’s hard to understand.”

Taeyang laughed.

“Hehehe, that’s because you don’t yet know the value of the Tree Spirit King.”

“Are you asking me to use it recklessly?”

At my gaze, Taeyang backed off slightly.

“Uh… but not between men.”

-Thunk!

Taeyang was hit hard on the head and flew back.

“Ouch! Can’t I joke a bit?”

“You guys volunteered to sacrifice yourselves.”

“Yes, hyung. Feed me instant noodles three times a day, and I’ll do anything.”

He spoke not humbly, but pathetically.

Rubbing his forehead, Taeyang stood up.

When he signaled with his eyes, Aori also stood up and faced me.

They were born and prepared to assist the Tree Spirit King.

It’s impossible for me to understand their thoughts or values.

With a spirited yet ridiculous look, they smiled in front of me.

Two perverts who loved trees.

“Now let’s hear your story, hyung. How did you become the heir… and why did you come here?”

The words that they’d make useful tools weren’t lies.

I briefly wondered if they had any ulterior motives.

“There’s still a lot to teach, hyung.”

“Yes, yes.”

However, since their personalities are so crazy, even my existing doubts disappeared.

I slowly began to tell my story.