Ruler of the Game 481

Chapter 481 – Mythology Academy

“Anyway, thank you for waking me up. However, I need to get some sleep now to recover my strength. So before that, I want to give you a present. Is there anything you would like to receive?”

“Uh… Um… Well… I haven’t really thought about it…”

When the world tree asked for compensation, Seong-il was speechless. He has never experienced what the World Tree gives as a reward through a game, so he is deeply troubled because he has not thought of a reward.

『Whoops… I didn’t think of anything in particular. You really tried to save me without greed.”

And the world tree praised the appearance of such a holy day as if it were proud. The hot Seong-il desperately shakes his head to keep negative thoughts from popping up in his head.

“How about this? I will give you the fruit of blessing. Eating this fruit makes you immune to all forms of disease. You will be able to live a long, healthy life.”

‘That kind of thing is of no use to me…’

Since there are already many things that heal and make one’s body healthy, such as martial arts, elixirs, and nanomachines, Seong-il rejects the suggestion of the World Tree. And the World Tree, who read that feeling, speaks in a puzzled tone.

“Hmm…? Don’t you like my conditions? Usually, mortal beings are very fond of this condition. You are very special.”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

『To the point where I’m sorry… What I pursue may be different. Then how about this…”

The World Tree begins to explain various compensation plans to Seong-il, who rejects his offer. A blessing that allows crops to grow well on a large scale. A wand that can use powerful healing magic.

He offered quite a lot of rewards, but Seong-il, who already had many similar items, felt that his offer was not particularly desirable.

‘…Should I just get something and go?’

Seong-il is disappointed with the proposal of the World Tree. He goes through all sorts of hardships across dimensions, and despite barely clearing sub-quests, if this is the only reward he gets, he thinks it’s better not to clear sub-quests in the future.

『Oh… It seems you don’t like all the suggestions I made. Somehow… Now all I can do is bestow the blessings of nature to communicate with the spirits, old trees, animals, etc…”

“!!!”

Seong-il is surprised at the unexpected words of World Tree, who speaks at the end, and replies to him.

“Would you rather give it to me?”

『Hmm…? Will it be just like that?”

“Doesn’t look bad? What ability is it exactly?”

The World Tree is puzzled when Seong-il shows a strong curiosity about a blessing that other mortals do not prefer. However, once he is satisfied, the World Tree explains his abilities in detail without further ado.

‘It’s useful!?’

The blessing of the World Tree, which seems to have many ways to use it even after hearing it roughly. Seong-il feels that his mind is focused on abilities that seem surprisingly useful, such as temporarily controlling intelligent animals for communication or sending out reconnaissance to share sight.

‘…The rest are useless and large.’

『I’m sorry.』

‘Oh!! Sin… Sorry…’

As soon as he muttered to himself, Seong-il showed a sorry look at the World Tree’s attitude of immediately apologizing to himself.

“No. Whatever it is, I want this blessing, so I’ll give it to you. Do you have any more questions?』

The World Tree speaks in a pitiful voice, perhaps feeling sorry for not being able to properly reward Seong-il who resurrected him.

“Ah! Then can I ask you a question? I can’t help it if I have to rest right away…”

“Ah! For a while, anything is possible.”

“…How on earth did you close the dimensional rift created by the foreign press? What the hell does the tree and the dimension have to do with it…?”

Seong-il asks questions about what he has been genuinely curious about while playing games for the past years.

『It’s that simple. It’s because I gained the power to control the power of the dimension to some extent through an accidental incident.”

“…The dimensions?”

“Okay. I happened to live on the boundary between reality and dimension for a long time even before the invasion of foreign media, so I was exposed to that mighty mystery and naturally realized the truth of dimension.”

“Hmm…”

『In such a situation, for nearly an eternity, I absorbed the power of the dimension bit by bit and accumulated it in this ‘nucleus’. In the end, I was able to interfere with the dimension based on that power.”

“That means… That the World Tree can stop the collapsed dimension?”

『I don’t know if I accumulate more strength as time goes by… But it’s not that much right now. All I can do is close the unstable dimension rift. Other than that, you can only do things like temporarily opening a portal and creating a dimensional gateway.”

“…Dimension Gate!!”

The strong causality and positive energy felt in the words of the World Tree.

“That’s right. Ah! By the way, my child will be able to handle that power more strongly than me. The reason I tried to raise new children by dividing the core was because I thought they might be able to permanently block the dimensional rift when they grow up.”

“Yes…!? Why?!”

『I was originally born as a tree, but after being in contact with the dimension for a long time, the powers of my essence collided, and I was only able to handle that power by chance. My children are different. Since I was born, I was strongly influenced by the power of the dimension, and since I inherited a part of my soul that mastered the dimension, the power to control the dimension must have grown even thicker.”

Having said that, the World Tree suddenly begins to infuse a branch of the Golden Tree, which is said to be its core, with intense magic power and the remaining power of the branch of the World Tree.

Wooddeuk!!!

And a loud plosive audible. The broken golden branches float in the air and float in front of Seongil’s eyes.

“…Why is this?”

『I feel strongly that you cared for and raised that child from before. The child’s remaining will was transferred there. Plant it again and take good care of it like before.”

‘…’

Seong-il desperately beats his internal energy in the head and tries hard not to hear the words ‘That was raised by the Kukuru and the Goddess’ Garden, not by me.’ Fortunately, the world tree seems to have worked, and the world tree just sends a warm gaze to him without saying anything.

“Well… Then, what will become of that existing tree…?”

『Ah, that tree now has only the bark left. The soul is completely gone. But, take that too. Although the substance has been lost, the authority still remains. If you make something out of it, it might be of great help to you.”

“Oh… Can you give me some advice on how to use it?”

“Well? Why don’t you make bows, wands, or jewelry just like our elven children did? Sometimes they even make dolls for trick-or-treating.”

‘You don’t know…’

Of course, since he’s never done anything bizarre with his own body, the World Tree doesn’t offer any good ideas for making things out of dead branches.

Through such questions and answers with the World Tree, Seong-il finished all the questions he had accumulated over the years. He decides to stop tormenting the World Tree.

“Now I’m done with all the questions. You won’t be able to rest because of me, so let’s stop here.”

“No. I was also happy to be able to talk to a good boy like you after a long time. Do you want to come?』

Perhaps the world tree that tells you to approach the holy day to bestow a blessing. Seong-il calmly takes his place in front of the golden tree as he said.

Wooooo!!!

An intense wave emanating from the golden tree.

‘Oh…’

The mysterious power of life that fills one’s body. At the same time, thanks to the will of the world tree that comes along with the power, Seong-il naturally realizes how to deal with this power.

“Whoa…”

When the blessing completely enters the body, Seong-il lets out a sigh of satisfaction. The World Tree radiates warm light and talks to him.

“Take this too.”

“Uh… Again?!”

『The reward I just gave you wasn’t what you originally wanted. Think of it as the meaning of an apology.”

“Uh… Well…”

In fact, he was satisfied enough just for now, but he didn’t have to refuse to give something again, so Seong-il calmly accepts the goods from the world tree.

“…Bracelet?”

The look of a bracelet made with only wood elaborately and beautifully. Interestingly, the bracelet had five walnut-like seeds attached to it.

『When a crisis hits, pluck the seeds from the tree and throw them on the ground. The tree will grow and hold the legs of those who try to attack you.”

“Oh…!!”

『Seeds absorb magic from the surroundings and regenerate naturally after a few days, so don’t be too sparing about using them.』

“Thank you!!!!”

The sub-quest reward was more generous than I thought. Seong-il feels his heart warm.

“Then… I really need to sleep. Take good care of that child.”

“Yes. Rest.”

As if the last words of the World Tree had been heard by the elves as well, when they finished speaking, they took the potion that looked like a nutritional supplement that they had prepared in advance and quickly spread it all over the place and started spraying it.

“It’s over?”

“Yes. Well done.”

“That’s great. What kind of blessing have you received? Jangsaeng?”

“…No. Just a blessing to be able to talk to trees and animals.”

“Ah! You’ve received the blessing of communication? It’s unusual. Usually, people like us are famous for bestowing life-related blessings… Is it because you haven’t woken up yet?”

‘Actually, I didn’t get that ability because it was useless…’

However, there was no need to unnecessarily reveal the secret story, so Seong-il quietly shuts his mouth and doesn’t say anything.

***

“Thank you. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“No. It was a natural thing for a clan to protect the World Tree.”

After everything was over, the chief of the elves who had been reported about the process by the elves who went with him. He puts on an expression of sincere regret and bows his head to Seong-il.

“I swear by the name of our clan. From now on, Han Seong-il is a friend of our elves, so he can visit our city anytime without any preconditions, and he will be warmly welcomed whenever he visits.”

“Oh… The hospitality of the elves. Have you heard all these stories in my life?”

When the elder himself called Seongil by name and recited an oath of friendship, Professor Torgrim looked at the two in turn with a surprised expression.

“What… Anyway, is your business over?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go back.”

Thorgrim is about to return to the academy with Seongil. However, the elves began to hold on to him.

“Let’s not just go! It’s the day the World Tree resurrected! We’re going to hold a grand banquet, so let’s play for a few days…!!”

“Uh… Is that so…?”

“Of course! We promise to give you a taste of all the delicacies we can offer.”

“Oh!”

Professor Thorgrim reacts violently to the word delicacy as it looks. Seong-il smiles wryly at him who looks at him for a moment and expresses his unspoken agreement.

“Let’s go!!!”

“Wow!!!!”

Cheers of joy erupted from all sides. So Seong-il moved to the village to enjoy the festival of the elves.

***

“Keuk… Even though I protected my body a bit with my energy, my head would break…”

The image of Seong-il holding his head and enduring a hangover because he drank so much. He was paying the price for enjoying alcohol purely by turning off his inner energy and nanomachines’ detoxification ability, feeling that it was different to drink and enjoy after a long time.

“First of all… Since we’ve escaped from the outside gaze, let’s check it out…”

Seong-il took out his smartphone while lying on the bed in the oak tree house the elves prepared for him. He turns on his status window for the first time in a while and checks his contents.

“Let’s see… His stats have gone up quite a bit… His passive… Huh?”

The surprising explanation you see while checking the status window to check the new passive received this time. There is also a reward, and Seong-il looks at it blankly with startled eyes.

– Lesser Druid: Now you have limited communication with nature. Maybe… One day I’ll be able to become a real druid…?

“Ha… Lesser Druid?! Wasn’t it just the ability to communicate…!?”