Chapter 181

Chapter 181

“Wisteria?”

Gio was a little pleased.

“It resembles a wisteria tree. The petals are closer to lilac, but...”

“I didn’t expect you to be interested in vegetation as well.”

Kang Seodam was surprised that “Hunter Seo Gio” knew Earth’s vegetation. It might have been that he read the traits of living things through the privileges of divinity, but the line just now carried a kind of preference.

‘It’s rare for a divinity to embrace things of Earth this carefully.’

Kang Seodam, who was examining the pale purple tree together with Gio, nodded.

“It looks quite similar to one of Earth’s plants.”

“But since even the trunk is pale purple, it doesn’t seem to be an Earth plant.”

“Yes, most native trees on Earth have brown trunks, so...”

“With the color unified like this, it’s really pretty, as if the tree itself is a flower.”

At Gio’s words, Garasani, who was standing by his side, stared quietly in Kang Seodam’s direction.

“...”

“...”

Kang Seodam noticed that strange pressure.

‘It’s like he means that once we finish the raid and the Sun Church obtains autonomy, we should hand over shares of this tree.’

What kind of senile grandfather fussing over a late-born grandson is this? What kind of forced demand is this supposed to be?

‘If this tree is deeply connected to the raid, it’s questionable whether it will remain after the raid, and even if it does remain, it will be classified as an important research material or a hazardous substance, making distribution difficult... he’s absolutely not someone who wouldn’t know that.’

This was like telling someone, without the help of magic, to make flowers bloom in winter in a barren province. And because he misses his cherished grandson, he wants a miracle right now—something that absurd...

“What role does this tree play here?”

“...We’ll have to confirm that from now on.”

Fortunately, Gio himself seemed more interested in solving the raid than in ownership of the tree. It was fortunate they wouldn’t have to clash with the Collection Merchant over such a ridiculous reason.

Kang Seodam called over a priest.

“Do you sense anything?”

“...I’m sorry. I really can’t, not at all...”

“That actually gave me certainty.”

“T-that did?”

“This tree has no heat.”

At that, another team member expressed doubt.

“No heat? When this dungeon is hot like a steam cooker?”

“When you touch it, it even feels a bit cool.”

It wasn’t as though a special coldness flowed through it. But even this much was strange. Because all the vegetation in this dungeon was stained with strong heat.

“Because the average temperature of this dungeon’s vegetation is high, the poison spread faster too.”

“That’s true, but then why in the world is that...?”

“I don’t know about that. Priests of the sun like us would be even more confused.”

Sun priests find it difficult to grasp a target without heat. Because it doesn’t match well with their hot holy power, it refuses to be grasped from the other side. Kang Seodam looked around at the other hunters.

“Is there anyone else who can offer an opinion? Simply approaching it doesn’t seem like it will trigger the same frenzy phenomenon as before, so please examine it as long as you do not harm the tree.”

Then Jung Yeongwon, the gardener, stepped forward.

“If it’s plants, I’m fairly interested too.”

“Is that so?”

“I came to this raid because they said there was unusual vegetation.”

“Then please come closer.”

“As the priests said, I don’t feel any heat, but...”

Jung Yeongwon, who came right up to the tree, examined it closely.

“...”

A strange light entered Jung Yeongwon’s eyes.

“...Its vitality is extremely strong.”

“Vitality?”

“Just as the priests of the sun are sensitive to heat, I’m a healer, aren’t I?”

“So you mean you can sense vitality better.”

“Basically, if you can’t grasp a living being’s energy and atmosphere, you can’t become a proper healer.”

“I understand, Hunter Jung Yeongwon.”

“That’s why I’m telling you this.”

Adjusting his round glasses, Jung Yeongwon continued in his characteristic doll-like expression.

“The dungeon’s vitality is concentrated in this tree. If you compare it to a human, it’s like an important organ. You could think of the heart or the brain.”

“The heart or the brain?”

“Beyond just having a lot of vitality stored, it seems to perform the role of circulating it throughout the entire dungeon. Honestly, this part is vague even to me. It might simply be that vitality, overflowing beyond abundance, has spread out.”

Jung Yeongwon took a step back from the tree.

“I’m not sure whether this tree is favored by the dungeon, or whether the dungeon can be maintained because this tree exists. If it’s the latter, then there’s a method of quickly dealing with these trees even while accepting damage, but...”

A hunter listening to him made a sickened expression.

“Healer-nim. Even if that’s the case... we’ll all die. If they found it in other teams too, there must be multiple trees, but I think we’ll be wiped out before we can deal with all of them.”

“Yes, and it’s not a sure method. From what I heard, Team 6 that touched the tree also couldn’t deal with it, and even if it looks weak on the surface, it won’t be a tree that breaks easily.”

A member of the Collection Merchant, Yoo Jina, intervened.

“What happens in the former case? If the tree is favored by the dungeon.”

“At the very least, even if you destroy them all, this dungeon won’t be cleared.”

“Then would we just be provoking the dungeon’s anger? This is a headache...”

A single frenzy had produced many deaths and injuries. The situation wasn’t good enough to clear the dungeon by rashly removing the tree.

The young priest wore a sickened face.

“Even though so many outstanding talents have gathered, it’s come to this—then why was it an A-rank in the first place...”

“You must not speak weakly in front of those who joined our event.”

“S-sorry. In my frustration, I showed an ugly side. I will reflect.”

The priest lowered his head deeply, but he didn’t really look remorseful. The other hunters’ expressions crumpled as well.

In this hot and humid place, getting injured continuously, with the whole world full of poisonous plants, everyone was already on edge—so it was only natural to be irritated when someone started picking a fight that sounded like, ‘We paid a lot to call you, so why can’t you do your job?’

“I will apologize in his stead.”

In the end, Kang Seodam stepped forward.

“After the raid, I will also deliver an official letter of apology, hunters.”

“What? Ah, no. There’s the church’s dignity too, there’s no need to go that far.”

“It was said that sincerity and humility are more important than dignity. I would be grateful if you give us a chance to reflect.”

While Kang Seodam skillfully soothed the hunters, Hunter Sanarae, who had been pouting, quietly approached the pale purple tree. Gio greeted Sanarae with a smiling face.

“You’ve come.”

“There’s a strange smell coming from the tree.”

“Is it related to that sulky expression?”

“Sulky? What a cute way to put it.”

As always, Sanarae brushed the topic aside in an odd direction and wrinkled the bridge of his nose.

“...?”

At that expression, Jung Yeongwon, who had also been observing the tree, asked.

“Hunter Sanarae is famous for having excellent five senses, isn’t he? You should know something others don’t. If you feel anything, could you tell us?”

“Famous, it’s not that much. I feel good getting praise I don’t deserve. Mm, it’s nothing much, but... how should I put it...”

Trailing off, Sanarae spoke with his characteristic smile.

“It smells like a corpse?”

“...”

At Sanarae’s words, Gio called Garasani.

“Mr. Garasani.”

“Speak, Hunter Seo Gio.”

“What did Priest Kang Seodam say earlier during the maintenance time?”

“He said he found traces of something heavy being dragged.”

“And we confirmed that when evening comes, the monsters move to this place.”

“Hunter Seo Gio’s words are correct.”

“Then shall we check what the monsters do when evening comes?”

In this dungeon, where the times the sun and moon rose were all jumbled, if you waited only a little it quickly became dark. Skilled hunters erased their scent and presence, then hid and grasped the monsters’ movements—and the information revealed that way was quite shocking.

“...”

“...H-how...”

The still-youthful-faced priest collapsed to the ground.

“How could they use priests, priests...!”

“Calm yourself.”

“To use priests as fertilizer!”

His face was filled with hatred toward the monsters and the dungeon.

“These horrific monsters! Filthy monsters! Like evil demons that even the goddess has turned her gaze away from...!”

When night came, the monsters brought “fertilizer” from all around the dungeon. Most of it was monsters that fell asleep when night came, dragged over—but among them were also the corpses of the previous subjugation force that still hadn’t been recovered.

The priest, young enough to be called a youth, was sickened by the monsters’ blasphemous behavior.

“No wonder the brothers weren’t to be seen—this is what happened...!”

“I said to calm yourself.”

“H-however...! I didn’t know it would be such a dreadful dungeon!”

“You’re smearing the name of the sun.”

“...”

“Tsk.”

When Kang Seodam clicked his tongue, the young priest finally closed his mouth and turned pale. Within the church, Kang Seodam was a harsh priest with strong influence and a clear distinction between public and private matters. It was only natural to be afraid, having given him a bad impression.

Ignoring that priest, Kang Seodam turned to the hunters.

“Fertilizer... I didn’t expect such a method.”

“There weren’t any traces of the ground being dug up either, so it’s only natural, I guess.”

“Who would have thought the ground would split...”

Kang Seodam wore a tired expression.

When the night monsters brought “fertilizer” and jabbed the ground with their claws, the earth split open as if in pain. Then they put the “fertilizer” into the crack.

“The hole looked quite deep, yet you managed to smell the corpse odor, Hunter Sanarae.”

“It just happened that way? There was a weird smell, so I wondered what it was, you know?”

“Whatever the case, thank you for cooperating. Thanks to you, we’ve confirmed the location of the brothers’ bodies.”

“I’m not sure you can even call that bodies...?”

“It’s better than not finding them at all.”

Even though he had seen a place presumed to be the trace of family, Kang Seodam’s expression did not change. He knew very well what role he was meant to play in this expedition. It wasn’t the time to weaken, nor to show it.

“And we also learned unexpected information.”

“If we just stay hidden, even near this tree, the monsters can’t find us.”

“Yes, as Hunter Seo Gio said. I don’t know why, but...”

Even when they were elsewhere, if they hid, the monsters couldn’t grasp their location, but still, wasn’t this near the tree where the dungeon’s vitality was concentrated?

Frowning, Kang Seodam muttered.

“Are they so focused on the tree that they can’t watch other places well...?”

At that, the hunters showed puzzlement.

“Then does that mean it’s favor...? If they cherish it with their lives, I feel like they’d watch the surroundings more thoroughly. Honestly, if it’s such an important tree... it’s also strange that there aren’t any monsters staying here to guard it.”

“I agree. In a previous A-rank dungeon, there was a pillar that served as the heart, and there were monsters guarding it very openly. There were tons of traps too so you couldn’t get close, but there’s nothing like that here, right?”

“It is strange. If nearly all the dungeon’s vitality is concentrated there, and so it’s something... mm, something deeply tied to the dungeon’s life and death... shouldn’t it be harder to approach than this? It’s an A-rank dungeon, after all.”

At that reaction, Jung Yeongwon nodded.

“Then at least it means this tree isn’t the dungeon’s heart. I don’t know if it’s an invincible tree that can’t be harmed so there’s no need to protect it, but even considering that, it bothers me that the monsters are too indifferent.”

The monsters active at night seemed to have especially high intelligence. Such monsters wouldn’t be negligent about something tied to their lives. The smarter they were in a half-baked way, the more monsters there were that were faithful to instinct.

“Then what is it? The dungeon’s vitality is concentrated like this, but the monsters, the residents of the dungeon, are indifferent. If it’s simple favor, the monsters’ behavior doesn’t make sense.”

“In the first place, what role does that tree play in this dungeon? If vitality is concentrated to that extent, the meaning should be clear, but right now there’s nothing besides that it causes a riot if you touch it.”

“It doesn’t exude poison even if you touch it, it doesn’t attack people, it looks delicate... and if the night monsters hadn’t been stabbing the ground, it seems like it wouldn’t have opened the earth to eat corpses either.”

“Then isn’t it just a plant with no will to attack at all? Why is such a plant in the dungeon? And why does it cause a riot if you touch it?”

At that, Gio, who had been thinking, said,

“Isn’t this usually how it is when you deal with a hostage?”

“...A hostage?”

“A concept like a leash to handle someone useful.”

Gio continued.

“You have to feed it regularly, check its condition every night, but since there’s no affection for the target, it’s a kind of sense of duty. It seems less like caring for and cultivating something and more like treating it as a task that must be done. Then why would monsters go out of their way to do that?”

One hunter answered in an unsure voice.

“If dungeon monsters feel a sense of duty, then... isn’t it because the dungeon is maintained that way? They didn’t look like monsters capable of higher-dimensional thinking, but... maybe because of that, they’d be even more sensitive to their own disadvantage.”

“A good thought, Hunter Dangwoo. Then how does the existence and growth of this tree help maintain the dungeon and benefit the monsters? As I said earlier, the monsters have no great affection for the tree. And if they don’t even escort it out of duty, then this wouldn’t be an important organ of the dungeon either.”

“...It isn’t the dungeon’s heart, but it clearly helps maintain the dungeon... mm... I don’t know. Is the ‘hostage’ you mentioned earlier what this was about? Then whose hostage, and aimed at what?”

“The dungeon.”

Gio continued.

“This is a villa dungeon formed underground. It’s a space that formed beneath a cave. It isn’t connected to the sky, yet it rains, the sun rises, and the moon rises.”

“Well, that’s because dungeons are spaces beyond common sense in the first place...”

“We’re just making an assumption. Who is making this rain fall? Who is raising the sun, and who is raising the moon? This isn’t an entirely different dimension.”

It is a physically existing space.

“It could be magic.”

“That is true, but...”

“A question comes to mind.”

Gio turned to Yoo Jina, the Collection Merchant’s mage.

“Ms. Yoo Jina, can a human make rain with magic?”

“If an A-rank gets wrecked, it’s possible.”

“Can a human raise the sun with magic?”

“If an S-rank gets wrecked, maybe?”

“Can a human raise the moon with magic?”

“Same thing. That’s not within human territory.”

“Then whose is magic?”

Blue eyes curved softly.

“Isn’t it humanity’s?”

Humans cannot dare to raise the sun and raise the moon.

“Where does the sun here set to? When the moon disappears, where does it go? Earth’s sun and moon repeatedly rise and set through revolution, but as I said, this is a villa dungeon.”

“Uh...”

“It’s a fixed, physically limited space. Honey flew as high as possible, and Dana ran across the ground as far as possible, but this place wasn’t as wide as a planet.”

“...”

“Then when night comes, where does the sun go? What does the moon do until the sun rises? The sun and moon here rise and set in exact symmetry. The moon goes where the sun was, and the sun goes where the moon was.”

Gio looked at the “sky.”

“Since this above is Earth’s cave, the sky we’re seeing now is not actually the sky, but a massive ceiling. Through Honey, I confirmed that the ceiling here is covered by trees.”

He continued.

“And it rained.”

“...”

“If rain falls from the ceiling, then water must have fallen from the ceiling, right?”

Water droplets fine and plentiful enough to be called a rainforest downpour, no less.

“When the moon rises and it becomes night, the heat calms down a little, and the night monsters present food to this tree. And the monsters here don’t like heat either. So the day monsters can only sleep once night comes, and the intelligent night monsters can be active.”

If we assume here that the “moon” is a better concept than the “sun.”

“You said only this tree has no heat.”

“...That’s right.”

“And you also said vitality is concentrated.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s just make an assumption.”

Gio pointed at the “sky.”

“What if this dungeon is being supported by some gigantic ‘something,’ and these trees are favored by it? What if this frail-looking tree is like family to that gigantic thing?”

He lowered the hand that had been pointing upward, covered his mouth, and laughed.

“If it were me... I think I’d endure.”

If it were for my family, I would support this enormous forest.

“That’s why I brought up the word hostage for a moment.”

“...Hostage.”

“It’s highly likely it’s just a simple delusion, though.”

“...”

After listening to it all, Kang Seodam rubbed his face.

“...I will have all personnel capable of activity focus on exploration.”

There were dungeons that could only be cleared once you understood the story.

(To be continued in the next episode)