Eat The World Tree

Chapter 191: Living Together (1)

Early in the morning, I packed my belongings.

Though it wasn’t a lot to call it moving, there was surprisingly more than expected once I organized everything.

At first, there was only one suitcase, but it seemed like miscellaneous items like kitchen tools and magic theses piled up over time.

-Rustle, rustle.

Shiba, who had her head buried in a toy box, pulled out a toy and handed it to me.

“Ppi!”

Shiba put the chick doll into a plastic bag.

“Is this important?”

“Sba!”

“Sba! Shiba’s.”

Shiba’s beloved doll. It looked just like a chick doll.

It’s a bit big, about the same size as Shiba. Jin Dallae bought it for her.

Whenever I wasn’t around, this chick doll was always between Jin Dallae and Shiba.

‘…Sbashiba.’

The words came out as if planned.

I guess it was good that Shiba liked it.

Shiba stood in front of the toy box again and buried her head inside.

She could just reach out and take the toy, but did she have her own routine?

Eventually, Shiba completely entered the toy box, only her head sticking out like a cat, staring at me.

A cat that chirps.

“Pihihi.”

Her round eyes make it seem like she’d purr if you petted her.

“Daddy! Go!”

“…Daddy hasn’t finished packing yet.”

“Ppiing~”

I could feel that she was gradually speaking more.

Soon enough, I wouldn’t even hear those words starting with “Ppi” anymore.

I felt a bit sad. I thought Shiba would always chirp like that. But she’s grown so much in the blink of an eye.

They said children grew up fast, and it’s true.

‘But with that voice… will she call me daddy when she enters elementary school later?’

As I rummaged through the wardrobe, a warm smile spread across my face.

-Squish.

“Hmm?”

While going through the underwear section of the wardrobe, I pulled out something.

A black, racy piece of underwear. It was stuck inside, so maybe it couldn’t be taken out before.

I untangled the strap from my fingers and spread it out. Its large size left me stunned.

‘Is this Hwangdo’s?’

Ugh, so careless.

I took out my phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to Hwangdo.

-Me: [Photo] - Read.

-Hwangdo Express: ????

-Hwangdo Express: What’s that? Why do you have it?

-Hwangdo Express: Little brother, don’t tell me….

-Me: It’s not like that. It was stuck in the wardrobe at home. But why is your nickname like that? Hahaha.

-Hwangdo Express: Oh, this? Hehehe…. Baekdo changed it on her own.

-Hwangdo Express: But that underwear,

-Hwangdo Express: …what are you going to do with it?

Turn off the porn.

-Me: I’m burning it.

-Hwangdo Express: Noooo! It’s precious!

-Hwangdo Express: Keep it!!!

-Hwangdo Express: (Angry peach emoticon)

-Hwangdo Express: (Crying peach emoticon)

I pressed the power button on my phone and sighed.

‘Talking with this person fills my head with nonsense.’

My thoughts keep leaning towards lustful things. There’s that.

It was like I had adopted some of Lee Seyeong’s manner of speaking, I might have picked up some of Hwangdo’s personality too.

In fact, just seeing the underwear made me feel a bit lustful.

“If only my lustful tendencies didn’t rank up.”

“Lustful Demon?”

“Shhh… you shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Lustful Demon! Lustful Demon!”

Excited, Shiba repeats the terrible word several times.

I must be careful with my words. I shouldn’t use bad words in front of children.

Carving this recently realized parenting principle into my heart, I lightly tapped Shiba’s forehead with my finger.

“Ppiak!”

Shiba fell backward. I continue picking out clothes.

“Come to think of it… this box seems quite old too.”

I took out an old box from the deepest part of the wardrobe.

It wasn’t something I used in the dormitory, but rather a box where I stored my expenses and the clothes I wore during my diet when I first came here.

At that time, I had debated a lot about whether to bring it or not.

After all, I no longer had any use for the clothes and items from back then.

It was half a memorabilia item.

I opened the box and took a look at its contents.

“Huh?”

On top of the box lay a round, colored bead.

It didn’t seem unfamiliar, but why was it here?

I picked up the bead, which exuded a deep red aura, and looked at it.

At that moment, the status window reacted and recited its information.

▶ XXX (?)

[Category: Equipment, Consumable]

A weapon crafted from mistletoe.

It is in an incomplete state.

As expected, it was a weapon my master had handed down to me a long time ago.

Because it was made using the mistletoe that grew from her body, its grade was quite generous.

I had asked her to complete it, but why did she give it to me in an incomplete state?

Thinking there must be a reason, I turned the bead up and down.

At that moment, the bead vibrated intensely.

-Crack!

The bead cracked.

I was startled.

The cracked bead spewed out black magic through the fissures.

“Oh? Oh shit, wait.”

“Ppi?”

“No, I wasn’t calling you, my daughter… Hold on!”

This, this couldn’t break now.

As I hurriedly gathered the broken pieces of the bead and placed them in my hand, the pieces made a sizzling sound and turned into a sticky liquid.

It felt like handling wet clay.

What started as a bead the size of my palm gradually transformed like clay, expanding in volume and beginning to fill the room.

“…What is this?”

Just as I was about to lift my phone with a bewildered face, the bead vibrated once more.

-Thump!

The round and hard clay slowly clumped together.

Soon, the bead found a definite shape and was no longer a bead.

A silver bracelet.

It couldn’t possibly be called a weapon… just an ordinary ornament.

I tilted my head, recalling the weapon Cheondo might have given.

If my master were to give me a weapon, it would probably be gauntlets. I thought she’d provide something like gauntlets to protect only the bones, nothing too fancy.

-Crack!

As I imagined, the bracelet vibrated again.

The bracelet slowly melted and adhered to both of my arms, gradually taking on a definite shape.

It was exactly the gauntlets I had imagined.

“…Ah.”

Finally, a normal reaction escaped my lips.

-Currently, the shape is not fixed.

Belatedly, the World Tree sent additional information.

How it found out and sent such information was beyond me. I also didn’t know which World Tree was inputting this data.

Could it be the World Tree of Purity?

【‘The World Tree of Purity’ shrugs its shoulders.】

This woman was surprisingly supportive.

Come to think of it, the status window always informed me ahead of time whenever I was curious about something.

Anyway.

Since its shape was not fixed, did it mean it can fulfill any role in any form?

If so, I wondered if the weapon’s original purpose was being properly realized.

I imagined a different shape while looking at the gauntlet.

-Crack!

A magic staff.

As soon as I thought of it, the magic power from the gauntlet took shape again.

A staff, seemingly carved from wood, appeared in my hand.

Just in case, I gathered magic power, and it performed extraordinarily well.

It seemed to produce better-than-expected performance, no matter what kind of weapon I imagined.

‘Not bad.’

Except for someone like Lee Dowon.

As someone pretending to be a wizard right now, there was nothing better than this.

Or I could change it to a sword and act like a swordsman. Above all, with this ability, its versatile usage was incredible.

My innate combat form already seemed familiar with this weapon, coming up with various ways to use it.

‘I don’t know why Cheondo kept this here….’

Perhaps, simply put, she wanted to surprise me.

Wasn’t it like how children were?

Secretly hiding a cupcake they made in kindergarten in their parents’ desk drawer, hoping it would be found.

And if it’s not found, they eventually get tired and bring it themselves. Cheondo might have thought something similar.

‘She has these childish thoughts in her. When giving advice, she’s a seasoned woman who sees through the world, but with these things, she’s always like this.’

Her thoughts were deep, but her actions were completely cute.

She’s my cherished and proud master.

I took a picture with my phone and sent it to Cheondo.

-Me: [Photo]

Did she see it?

Soon, a reply came back.

-Cheondo: Were you surprised?

“Hehe.”

Thank you, Master.

After sending the message, I could finally finish moving.

-A wish.

Byeol still remembered.

That one sentence Shiheon said to her. That he would grant any wish!

Anything. Anything at all, he said.

It’s like something straight out of a porn video or comic.

[…Hey, nothing dirty!]

[Just this once! I’m begging you like this!]

[This, really only once?]

Such absurdly strange things.

But Byeol could say she was completely different from the people in those comics.

“I’m not like those fools.”

It had already been a long time since they had been intimate.

So it meant that it was not strange to ask for any favor at all.

Any play, any place, and any outfit was her choice!

“Hehehe.”

Byeol laughed sinisterly and then suddenly, as if fired up, began searching for materials… but soon her face turned cold.

…After looking at so many dirty things, her mind suddenly cooled down.

Just the right timing for self-loathing to kick in.

“Ah…”

Honestly.

She liked dirty things… but she didn’t want to meet for that purpose.

Byeol leaned back in her chair.

Further back, stretching as she looked at the screen, she tilted back. Her earphones popped out as she fell backward.

“Eek!”

Crash!

Immediately, a game anime song blared from the computer speakers!

[Kimino zenzenzen…]

Byeol quickly got up, forgetting her pain, and plugged the earphones back into the speakers.

“…Ah, they didn’t hear, right?”

No, they couldn’t have heard. No, they absolutely mustn’t have heard.

How hard had she worked to build up this pure image… This wasn’t it.

Still, it’s fine.

This was the vice-chairman’s office. Most importantly, it’s a room she used alone.

Byeol didn’t have time to go home after working late anyway. So, she handled both eating and her hobbies here.

But this was the Hunter Association. Occasionally, people came and went near this place.

“…Whew, whew.”

Confirming there was no presence outside, Byeol sighed in relief and stood her chair back up.

“Phew… Thank goodness. If I’d been caught, I would’ve become an otaku~”

The wise and discreet life of a gaming otaku.

Luckily, she got away with it this time as well. She could say she was incredibly fortunate.

“Anyway, what wish should I make… Should I ask Shiheon to go to an amusement park with me?”

Byeol leisurely dragged her mouse, shaking her head side to side excitedly.

“…A wish?”

At that moment, Lee Seyeong’s voice came from behind her.

“Mother of god, Shiba!”

Startled, Byeol turned her head to look at Lee Seyeong.

“Se, Seyeong-chan, you scared me! Since when have you been there?”

“Well, you were daydreaming… I was wondering what you were doing, so I stood next to you. By the way, you still listen to Japanese songs, huh?”

Japanese songs.

A term used by someone who had no interest in games or anime when referring to anime songs.

It didn’t matter much to Seyeong anyway, as she had already found out all of Byeol’s tastes, both existing and non-existent.

The biggest problem was that.

“What happened between you two?”

That she had been caught having a secret rendezvous with Lee Shiheon.

“Uh, what?”

And Byeol accidentally stuttered.

“…Why are you stuttering?”

That, that genuine face!

Looking at Lee Seyeong’s cold, hardened face, Byeol trembled in fear.

“Shiheon… that bastard, what did he do again?”

“…W-what are you talking about?”

-Beep beep beep.

The sound of Byeol’s life draining away could be heard in her mind.