Chapter 182

Chapter 182

In some dimension, there was a gigantic life.

It nurtured enormous trees—its own children. The tree, raised by splitting off a part of its life, grew into a sacred existence, and the tree soon gained reason. In the end, it came to love a single human.

“O great Tree of Life, please accept this insignificant child.”

“Accept us as your family, O great myth.”

“And bestow upon us humans the blessing of life!”

The tree did not heed those words. That the life granted to humans was limited was a providence set by Life. No one could carelessly receive the blessing of his, a child of Life.

But as the days passed, its love for the tiny human child only grew. The child was pure, kind, and treated the tree as family. But the human child was far too fragile.

“The child you loved has died.”

“He died, torn into five pieces—he was punished for daring to treat the god’s child with irreverence!”

“This is a deserved divine punishment, so do not be angered—only bestow mercy!”

“We humans, including the child, are within the embrace of Life!”

The tree was so sorrowful that it burst into tears. The tears shed by it, a child of Life, became a heavenly blessing to humans. The humans grew even more cruel. They offered him bloodstained sacrifices.

“We offer a sacrifice—please bestow blessings...!”

“Let the rain of life fall!”

Then one human among them shouted.

“If not that, then grant all of us eternal life!!”

How shameless.

“If you do so, won’t your beloved child return to life as well?”

“Tree, why are you so cruel to humans? Why are the lives of noble humans so short!”

“Eternal life for us! Grant humans everlasting life!!”

Swayed by humans’ coaxing, the tree finally tore down the boundary between life and death, and revived the human child it loved. Life, greatly enraged at its child’s behavior that had damaged its authority, laid a curse.

“It’s a d-disaster! Disaster has come!!”

“■■■■■...!!”

“An evil spirit has taken root in the sacred tree—we must burn it!”

“■■■■■■...!!!”

“The tree has become a beast!!”

The Tree of Life became a beast: four broad legs that were hard to move, a long neck that could not see humans, and a gigantic body that could no longer mingle with small things. It was the sin of defying providence and giving in to greed.

“Aaaah...! The tree, the tree has laid a curse!!”

“Please, we have committed no sin...! Bestow mercy!”

“How can you make us into beasts!!”

The humans who had carelessly received the blessing of Life all became beasts as well.

The wicked humans who killed the human the Tree of Life loved and plotted schemes became night monsters cursed with sleeplessness, and the humans who dared to enjoy the excessive blessing spread by the Tree of Life became day monsters.

“Kkiiiieeeek...!!”

“Kkauk, kraaah... aaah...!”

“Keheeeeeeek...!”

All of them became beasts and were abandoned by Life.

Their dimension, abandoned by providence, gradually grew narrower, and the heat of the sun that Life left behind as punishment was hot enough to make one want to die, and their intelligence drew closer day by day to that of beasts until only suffering remained.

“■■■...”

Within it, there was also the human child revived by the mistake of the beast that had once been the Tree of Life.

A pitiful child torn into five pieces by humans, made into one by the beast, then split again into five as punishment. This small child wished to be protected within its embrace.

The beast swelled its body very, very large. Thus, it blocked the boundary so the dimension would no longer grow narrower. So they could avoid the scorching sun, it created and raised the moon, and shed tears to cool the world.

“Grrr...”

“Krk, kkik...”

And the wicked monsters that had become four-legged beasts wanted this sweet time to last longer. Even having lost human reason, they wanted the night to last longer, and they wanted the dimension to grow wider.

The feeble beasts circled the small, fragile tree that had been the beginning. The gigantic beast held all those monsters together for its small tree, raised the moon more often, and even visited all sorts of dimensions to cool its body.

Even so, the dreadful heat Life left behind did not fade.

* * *

“...That is what it says.”

Kang Seodam, who had combined and organized every clue in the dungeon together with the hunters, continued with a weary expression.

“So in the end, Hunter Seo Gio’s hypothesis was correct.”

“My, I didn’t think it would be true.”

“But if that’s the case, it becomes a headache how we’re supposed to clear it.”

The other hunters clicked their tongues.

“Then why did the night monsters feed those trees? Since it rains periodically anyway, is there a reason they have to add fertilizer too?”

“Uh... so more slaves increase? If those trees grow, don’t they become the Tree of Life or something? If not, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to prepare additional fertilizer.”

“Anyway, since they know it won’t easily kill the trees it cherishes like family, the monsters didn’t bother escorting it either. Separate from bringing fertilizer because they want to make a new Tree of Life quickly.”

“So that frenzy phenomenon back then was led by the Tree of Life. A parent’s heart trying to protect its child...?”

“Considering the entire dungeon’s monsters went berserk.”

Jung Yeongwon, who had been listening to the hunters’ talk, added,

“So the rain that falls in this rainforest was the Tree of Life’s tears.”

Only then did it seem clear why simply making contact could drive people mad.

“Of course. It would be tears, or perhaps blood, shed by a mythical existence from pain and despair... If a mere human is struck by it, their mind can’t help but snap. It’s worth investigating.”

“But the dungeon monsters seemed fine, though?”

“Maybe they already went mad and that’s why it turned out like this? They were quite hostile and threatening to humans, so I understand the reason. They’re sensitive and irritated and their minds have snapped—if they welcomed intruders, that would be strange.”

Basically, the monsters had strong hatred for humans, but there were differences. There were monsters that hated humans and thus tried to keep away, monsters that judged calmly and plotted schemes, and monsters that rushed in to kill on sight.

‘This is exactly the third case.’

Jung Yeongwon fell into thought as well.

“To clear this...”

“It’s a headache.”

“It’s not something that will work if we just smash it.”

“The order that hired us won’t just sit still.”

“We have to finish the clear while keeping it in a state we can utilize as much as possible.”

“It really is a dungeon with lots of plants that look useful...”

“It would be a waste to destroy it.”

All the poisons in this dungeon were fast-acting and threatening. If they could be extracted and distributed, it would be a huge income, and if analyzed diligently, they could also be used to make antidotes.

“In a world like this, how precious poisons and medicines are.”

At Jung Yeongwon’s words, the hunters’ eyes briefly turned to Seo Gio.

“Is there something you wish to say to me?”

“Ah, n-no. I’m sorry, for a moment I just...”

“I understand. The effect of the medicine I gave must have been too good.”

Giovanni smiled sacredly.

“Please give thanks to the sun.”

“O-of course...!”

Little by little, people began to think, ‘Something feels strange,’ but Gio did not worry. Because he possessed a clear-headed brain that did not borrow worries.

Instead, Kang Seodam worried.

“...”

Kang Seodam, who alone could not hide his stiff expression, soon nodded with a small sigh.

“...It’s truly a shameless thing to say in a situation where so many deaths have occurred, but it is in fact our wish to preserve the dungeon as intact as possible. It was stated that way in the contract as well.”

“Yes, I remember. Priest, please don’t worry either.”

“Fortunately, we have found the overall story and clues of the dungeon. Now what matters is how we clear this dungeon in a gentle way. First, let’s think about what standard of clearing this dungeon is asking for.”

Each dungeon’s standard of clearing was different. Sometimes you had to resolve the grudge of the final boss, sometimes you had to solve a designated riddle, and sometimes it only cleared when you opened a certain door and left.

“Mm, if we kill all the monsters in this dungeon... wouldn’t the Tree of Life feel a bit better? From what I see, it looks like it got betrayed from behind multiple times—wouldn’t it hold resentment?”

“If that were the standard, it wouldn’t be something that’s done with a single subjugation. We’d have to come and go multiple times. And what if, after resolving its resentment, the Tree of Life dismantles this dungeon?”

“True, it might be satisfied and unable to endure anymore. No, then what do we even do? Do we gently... somehow dig up those tiny trees and move them to a remote place?”

“If we move them, I feel like we’ll all die to the monsters that go into a frenzy. Everyone’s exhausted from grasping the story—can’t we do something gentler? We found the story—there isn’t a good method?”

At that, Gio stepped forward.

“What if the heat here subsides?”

“Pardon? The heat?”

“Then the day monsters will fall asleep, and we can deal with the night monsters.”

“Uh... so what Hunter Seo Gio means is...”

Before the other hunters could continue, Sanarae tilted his head and asked,

“Carrot rather than whip?”

“It wasn’t the cold wind but warm sunlight that made the traveler take off his coat.”

“Though this dungeon is about to go mad because of that sunlight.”

“Peacefulness brings a greater lethargy than pain does.”

Most living things struggled in pain and fell asleep in peace.

“If all the Tree of Life wanted was simply to protect its family, then we only need to allow it to do that fully. It only wants to make a safe, comfortable nest for the family it loves.”

The tree supporting this dungeon was not aggressive except when the small trees were touched.

“Then couldn’t this dungeon be maintained as well?”

“Certainly, if this becomes a decent place to raise children, then yes, but...”

With subtle expressions, the hunters asked,

“How is that possible? Even if we can come by often whenever we have time and deal with monsters, in the first place, to drive out all the heat of this dungeon... it’s too vast.”

“Right. At best, maybe we could do something if we broke the fake sun, but if we destroy all the environmental elements like sun and moon, all the plants growing here will be ruined too.”

“Just extracting only the heat won’t be easy. One or two people who can handle magic or holy power can’t do it. I mean, of course, if it could be done, it would be a really good method, but...”

To that, Gio asked,

“Would it work if there are many people?”

“Huh, yes?”

“People who can absorb heat.”

“...Are there such people?”

At that point, Kang Seodam added,

“Sun priests can basically handle heat. But at best, I am a vessel of about ten buildings, and this young priest is a vessel of about a single large tree.”

“Aren’t there other sun priests here as well?”

“If my understanding is correct, the number of brothers remaining, including us, would be six. With just us, it won’t be enough. But if the mages also join forces, it will be possible to some extent.”

After thinking for a moment, he continued.

“And there are artifacts as well.”

Artifacts that absorbed heat were patented products of the Sun Church. Especially because they had brought quite a large amount for this dungeon, which had reports of being particularly hot, it seemed it wouldn’t be entirely unhelpful.

“But even then, we cannot drive out all the heat. In the first place, unless the sun disappears, we won’t be able to do anything about this heat. But if we try to remove the sun, there is no method, and the blow to our side will be great. The dungeon also would not be able to be maintained...”

Kang Seodam asked,

“What are your thoughts, Hunter Seo Gio?”

“First, I will tell you one of my guesses.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“It’s like a steam cooker here, right?”

“...It is.”

“The humidity is high.”

“That’s right.”

“Why is that?”

“...”

Kang Seodam answered.

“Because it rains a lot?”

“It does not rain that frequently.”

“It did rain quite a lot in a short time, but... mm, I see.”

“It cannot create humidity this suffocating.”

It was humidity difficult to endure if you weren’t a hunter. Like breathing with a wet cotton cloth pressed to your face. There was no way such enormous humidity could be made by rain that had only fallen a few times.

“That means there is another water source.”

“I thought so as well.”

Gio pointed at the trees.

“The trees in this dungeon are very large.”

“They are.”

“The roots would be large too.”

“...And deep.”

“If the only water to drink were rain that falls sometimes, could they have grown this large?”

“Since it’s a dungeon, there may have been other factors, but it makes sense.”

“I think there may be a vast body of water sleeping beneath this ground.”

“A vast body of water.”

“Yes.”

Giovanni smiled.

“Since I am a person with many ties to water, I feel strangely confident.”

“...Ah-ha...”

At this point, it was no different from a revelation of divinity.

‘Should I say it’s fortunate he’s telling us in such a kind way.’

With a strange weariness, Kang Seodam pressed his lips tight, then asked,

“Then if we draw up that vast water source...”

“The Tree of Life will be able to breathe easier.”

“Then the time the moon stays up will grow longer as well.”

“First, we should confirm whether there truly is water, and whether there is a way to draw it up.”

“Wouldn’t we find out if we pull out one tree entirely?”

“...Yes, well... that’s true.”

I’m sorry, but I hope you won’t expect such miracles from humans.

“...”

After taking a deep breath, Kang Seodam continued.

“Let’s organize things one by one.”

There was still plenty of rations left, and the number of talented people was great.

“If it seems like it will truly take long, we can simply switch to a long-term expedition.”

“Must it take long?”

“Ah, did I mishear?”

“If you permit it, I will first try to deal with the heat.”

Saying that, Gio lifted the hem of his cloak.

“...”

“Dana.”

From the deeply sunken shadow, a cat cried.

“Meow.”

(To be continued in the next episode)