Chapter 127: Chapter 127
I looked up to find that the portrait really was crying. The woman within the portrait was weeping red tears.
'It's clickable.'
Unlike earlier, it was now interactable.
[Rapundel's Portrait]
A portrait imbued with the grievance of Charles' owner. Has been activated by a special condition. An item that can prove Charles' survival is necessary. Burn the item with 'magic-created fire' to alleviate Rapundel's Grievance.
I had already shown the item that could prove Charles' survival. To Tycon, that is. Darongi had collected it again.
"Darong?"
A [!] appeared above Darongi's head. He shook his head. This little squirrel, he was setting his sights on not just fried chicken, but Black Yak meat now.
"I'll give you a new one. Not one that's been regurgitated."
Darongi nodded. Apparently, that was what he'd wanted from the start. I gave him some new Black Yak's Lean Meat, and he gave me the one that was eaten by Charles.
"Sung-gu."
"Yeah? What?"
"Not getting off me?"
"I'm scared, bro."
"Should I help you get off?"
Sung-gu shivered all over. He took one step back, still clutching the hem of my clothes with one finger. Maybe I needed to tell him that people were scarier than ghosts.
"Burn this."
"He-Here?"
"No. In front of the portrait."
"I-I-I need to go over there?"
Sung-gu inched backwards, waving his hands. Thankfully, the direction he backed off in was towards the portrait. Ultimately, Sung-gu knew it was inevitable. It was time for him to act.
"Y-You'll come with me, right?"
Going with him was no difficult matter. I went up to the portrait with Sung-gu. Red tears were still dripping from it.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck… I'm not scared, I'm not scared."
Muttering to himself, Sung-gu obediently did what I asked him to do.
Fwoosh!
Flames surged up, and the smell of burning meat filled the mansion. I heard a notice.
['Rapundel's Grievance' has confirmed Charles' survival.]
The flow of blood tears stopped.
['Rapundel's Grievance' remembers Charles.]
A dreary wind blew past us. The portrait I'd thrown the dagger into fell to the ground with a thud.
Shaaaa–!
The frame disappeared along with the wind.
'The building is aging.'
I didn't know if that was the best way to put it, but it really was aging visibly. Nothing was happening to us, but the mansion around us was quickly degrading into ruins.
['Rapundel's Grievance' welcomes the guests.]
['Rapundel's Grievance' is happy.]
['Rapundel's Grievance' has a request.]
I was given a quest.
[Deliver Rapundel's Remains to Charles!]
Deliver Rapundel's Remains to Charles. A part of the remains is behind Rapundel's portrait.
"Darong."
He scampered over and brought over a bone from behind the portrait. It was the same item I'd gotten after Tycon was killed.
[Rapundel's Remains 2/2]
The remains of Charles' owner, Rapundel. It's said that Rapundel cried day and night, longing for the companion she lost. Rapundel's Remains are suffused with heartfelt longing towards Charles.
"Well done."
Acorns and fried chicken were emergency weapons, so I opted to give him a banana instead. Darongi devoured it with relish like the gluttonous squirrel he was.
Sung-gu had raced back to my side again, shivering.
"Fuck. Bro, I'm scared as fuck. Why did the building suddenly become so old?"
I looked around. It looked like 'Tycon's mansion' had weathered three hundred years in an instant. Everything was old and falling apart.
"Everything's aged all of a sudden."
Three hundred years. Why did that particular number come to mind? Because that was what 'Observer's Eye' told me.
`Three hundred years.'
It wasn't an ordinary number.
'If three hundred years have passed in this field…'
That meant something else.
['Rapundel's Grievance' wishes to give you a special gift.]
['Rapundel's Grievance' asks if you have a 'Map of the Predator Tree Colony'.]
I took it out, saying, "I have one."
['Map of the Predator Tree Colony, Addended' acquired]
The map in my hand flashed yellow. Some kind of 'power' was taking effect on it. When I examined it, there was a new description.
[Map of the Predator Tree Colony, Addended]
A Predator Tree Colony is a forest with many Predator Trees. Rapundel's father made a Predator Tree Colony for his daughter because 'Predator Tree Seeds' were known to be effective against 'Red Flower Tears'. An artificially created 'Predator Tree Colony' has a lifespan of three hundred years at most. The Predator Trees are unable to maintain the ecosystem for longer than that and perish.
Some of this was familiar to me. Ten years in the future, it was basically common knowledge that Predator Trees had a lifespan of about three hundred years. However, the rest was new to me.
'Does this mean only artificially cultivated Predator Trees have a lifespan of three hundred years?'
No one had known that in the past. Didn't that mean that all the Predator Trees mankind had met in the past were Predator Trees that someone had artificially cultivated?
'I've also never heard about the seeds having an effect on Red Flower Tears.'
In the past, this was said about Red Flower Tears:
–'Red Flower Tears' can be called one of the disasters mankind suffered with the coming of the new culture era.
It was the name of a disease where the afflicted would weep tears of blood, like the woman within the portrait, Rapundel, had shown earlier. Eventually, the afflicted would wither and die. It was a rare disease, but once you caught it, there was no cure and you would die within three years. Korea also had at least thirty patients with the disease.
'So Predator Tree Seeds have that kind of effect, huh.'
This revelation posed yet another question we had to consider.
'Who are the people cultivating the Predator Trees?'
Were they NPCs? If they were NPCs, it was likely they would have told Players about the effect of Predator Tree Seeds, but mankind was totally in the dark about it. That meant this information wasn't given out. Whoever it was, they weren't NPCs, but they were strong enough to artificially make 'Predator Tree Colonies'.
'There really is… a world I didn't know.'
That made me question something else.
'Then did the top Players who lived in the world of Rankers in the past… know this?'
That much I couldn't infer. But I did know that I gained this kind of information as early as the 'beginner period'. Did the super high level Rankers, the masters who passed the mid-game that was level 40-70, really not know this?
'I'll probably find out later on.'
This feeling of uncovering mysteries, of dipping my toes into a world I hadn't even known about, and this situation, where I was actively creating those feelings, suffused me with a special emotion.
'For now, let's focus on the now.'
The ecosystem of the Predator Tree Colony would collapse within three hundred years. If what I observed with Observer's Eye was correct, about three hundred years had passed here. We were unchanged, but the field had aged three centuries.
'Which means…'
The Predator Trees were near death. You could say they were in critical condition.
"We're going to go hunt Predator Trees now."
Normally, it was almost impossible to hunt Predator Trees en masse. But what if the Predator Trees were on their deathbed? If they were completely unable to resist? I knew a Player in the past who hunted a Predator Tree Colony in such a state—the Wargod Salvatore, the Player contracted with Italy's representative Guardian, the 'Conductor of Sound'. It was said that Salvatore stumbled upon a Predator Tree Colony near the end of its lifespan and reaped a huge profit from it.
'I'm taking a similar route to the Wargod Salvatore.'
Such a scenario didn't originally exist in the Korean server, but my actions created it.
"Let's go."
We left to hunt the Predator Trees.
Ahn Seohye spoke hesitantly.
"So this is what you meant."
"Yeah."
The Predator Trees in front of us were already sick and old. They couldn't even move anymore and were just barely holding on. Despite that, their names were still red and showed up as '?' marks.
"If you give me a little time, I will make a barrier."
"What kind of barrier?"
"A Frenzy Hunting Barrier."
The barrier she named was the same one the Red Demon used to indiscriminately slaughter 600 people in the heart of downtown Seoul. Not much was known about the Red Demon's ability, but the Red Demon herself revealed the skill name. As a result, the Frenzy Hunting Barrier was attributed as the Red Demon's flagship ability.
It took quite a while to set up, at least 30 minutes of work. Seohye's face dripped with sweat.
'She enjoys… the act of making barriers itself.'
She was, so to speak, a genius who enjoyed her work. She looked at the map while sticking 'red thread' everywhere, so engrossed she even forgot we were there. She also occasionally uttered something like magic incantations and did something with her mana.
[A Frenzy Hunting Barrier has been completed.]
A little later, the notices started streaming in.
[Predator Tree has been killed.]
[Predator Tree has been killed.]
[Predator Tree has been killed.]
[Predator Tree has been killed.]
…
Notice after notice came in.
"Darongi. If you go pick up a lot of items, I'll give you fried chicken."
At those words, Darongi scampered busily all over the map.
[Level increased.]
[Current level: 32]
My level went up in the 30-40 period that was so grueling to level up in. I got to level 32 even without resorting to the special strat that used 'Noah's Helm'.
'Wow…'
[All Predator Trees of the Predator Tree Colony have been killed.]
[A special condition has been fulfilled.]
[The Clear Crystal is being generated.]
We didn't just come into Seohye's gate; we actually satisfied the conditions to clear it. This went beyond my expectations.
'Great.'
We destroyed the Clear Crystal.
[The Predator Tree Colony has been destroyed.]
[You cleared the Predator Tree Colony perfectly.]
['Superior Predator Tree Seed Bundle' acquired as a clear reward.]
I got an item with a whopping 20 'Superior Predator Tree Seeds' in it. Both Sung-gu and Seohye also got the bundle, so we obtained 60 seeds total as a reward for the clear.
Even the chatterbox Sung-gu seemed at a loss for words. He stared at Seohye with wide eyes. "You're… incredible. I've never seen anything like this."
"..."
After finishing the raid, Seohye returned to her usual self. Her body language made it very apparent that she was scared of Sung-gu. She was still deeply distrustful of men.
A long moment of silence stretched out. Seohye opened her mouth with difficulty.
"I was the surprised one." Her gaze moved towards me. "Just who… are you, Oppa?"
My Eye of Perception picked it up precisely. As she asked the question, Seohye's eyes became red again. At the very least, they didn't look human.
The Red Demon's eyes gleamed ominously.
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