Chapter 12
After planting the World Tree branch in a flowerpot and watering it, a gentle pale-green light flowed from its tender leaves.
“It really is different from an ordinary plant.”
Even after I turned off the fluorescent lights and lay down, the room was still faintly illuminated.
The room filled with holy energy, and I even felt as if my fatigue were being washed away.
The light didn't disappear while I was washing up. It continued to fill the room.
“Now I understand why she said it was expensive.”
Just planting this tiny branch had filled the room with such vitality.
People go crazy for things that invigorate them.
Tell people something is good for their health, and they'll eat anything, whether it's a snake or a wasp.
The people of Taepyeong City probably weren't any different.
If there was a tree that gave off such pleasant energy just from being planted,
people would definitely be willing to pay a premium for it.
“What a fascinating city.”
Something like this would be absolutely impossible in Korea.
It might give off a little scent of phytoncides.
But to think that merely planting it could wash away human fatigue.
“I suppose I can give Ms. Friella another bag of snacks.”
The tree was certainly worth at least that much.
After staring at it in fascination for quite some time, I became intoxicated by its pleasant fragrance, collapsed onto the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.
And then, the next morning, it was time for work.
“Good morning!”
As I entered the store, a familiar sound effect rang out from behind the counter.
Fwoooosh~!!!
“Wh-why isn't it coming out?! You said it was a pickup rate-up event!!!”
The manager was glaring at her smartphone screen as if she wanted to bore through it, venting her rage.
Apparently, she'd suffered a spectacular defeat in a gacha game.
The screen showed nothing but three-star characters.
“Manager, did you get wrecked by the gacha?”
“Q-quiet! It isn't Jinjo's luck that's bad! The game's pity system is simply vicious! I was merely deceived by the game's evil scheme to drain Jinjo's money!”
“I told you to let me handle it next time. I'll do the pulls for you.”
I'm lucky when it comes to gacha, if nothing else.
The kind of luck where a pickup character appears on a single pull.
I even once posted about it on the gallery and got banned.
Mm-hmm. This is why you humblebrag.
“N-no! The fun lies in pulling the characters one adores oneself. If I let someone else do it, I won't be able to enjoy it properly!”
She shouted while hugging her smartphone to her chest.
There was a special thrill in pulling a character you adored yourself.
That's why people played subculture RPGs.
They played because of that character.
“What a shame. I'm really lucky, though.”
At that, she bit her lip and glanced at me, gauging my reaction.
Then she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
“Don't think you can charm Jinjo! Jinjo has made up her mind!”
Was it because her gacha pulls had gone so badly?
Manager Jinjo shoved her smartphone irritably into her pocket.
“There isn't much to hand over! Oh, apparently the items I ordered will arrive this afternoon, so just handle those properly.”
“Understood.”
“I'm in a terrible mood today, so I'll admire the Asteria figure in my retainer's room before going to bed! Don't worry, I won't make a mess! Then, retainer, take good care of the store!”
I lightly shrugged as I watched her storm out of the store.
An owner's pain from getting wrecked by gacha was best healed with otaku merch.
The corners of my mouth were already turning upward.
I immediately put on my apron and began organizing the displays.
But just as I was peacefully arranging the products.
Bang!
The door opened, and the manager, who had just left work, came sprinting back into the store.
“Retaaaaainer!!!”
The manager shouted so loudly that the store seemed ready to shake apart.
I nearly dropped the tuna-mayo triangle kimbap in my hand.
“Whoa, you startled me. What's wrong?”
“Retainer! Did you plant the World Tree yesterday?!”
The manager urgently asked while pointing an accusing finger at me.
“Huh? Yes, I did. What's wrong?”
“I knew it! Why—why did you do such a thing?!”
I was momentarily flustered.
What?
Was I not supposed to do that?
Was the World Tree some kind of illegal plant that couldn't be planted indiscriminately?
Or did it violate Taepyeong City's environmental-protection laws?
No, Your Majesty the Elf Queen, you said it was okay to plant it!
“Is it perhaps something I shouldn't have done? Is it forbidden or something?”
“That is not it!”
“Then what is it?”
The manager pounded her chest as if she were being treated unfairly.
“The problem is that I can't fully appreciate the real Asteria of the Heavens!”
“Huh?”
When I asked what she meant, the manager furrowed her brow and grumbled.
“I can't concentrate on the figure because of the World Tree's holy energy! That energy has seeped into every corner of my retainer's room!”
“…….”
I felt all the strength drain out of me.
I thought something genuinely serious had happened.
“Ah. Is that why?”
“What do you mean, ‘why’? It's serious to Jinjo!”
The World Tree's holy power was supposedly the exact opposite of a vampire's undead nature.
Now that I thought about it, her complaint made some sense.
“So there are only two solutions.”
The manager cleared her throat, then presented her solution with an extremely serious expression.
“Either remove the World Tree immediately, or bring the figure to Jinjo's house and keep it there!”
In other words, she wanted to take the limited-edition figure from my home and bring it to hers.
I narrowed my eyes and studied the manager's complexion.
For someone who had been leaping around and claiming she could hardly breathe, she looked perfectly healthy, and her skin was as pale and smooth as ever.
“……Manager. You aren't feeling anything right now, are you?”
“Huh?”
“You seem perfectly fine. Aren't you just using this as an excuse to sneak the figure over to your house?”
“N-no, I'm not! Jinjo is suffering so much from the World Tree's power that she's gasping for breath……!”
The manager furtively avoided my gaze and stared into empty space.
‘I knew it. She got wrecked by the gacha, so she's trying to take the figure home with her because she's depressed.’
“But Manager, can Jinjo really be affected by such a small World Tree branch? If Jinjo, with her tremendous power, can't even withstand something that small, then maybe Jinjo isn't all that…….”
“N-no!!! Jinjo is strong! There's no reason Jinjo would lose to a measly World Tree branch!”
When I folded my arms and grinned at her answer, the manager bristled and raised her voice.
“Y-you tricked Jinjo!”
“You were the one who tricked me first.”
“Uuugh. B-but it really is uncomfortable! I want to admire the beauty of Asteria of the Heavens with Jinjo's refined eye, but wouldn't you hate it if an unpleasant smell kept wafting over?”
“Not today.”
The manager's eyes widened at my refusal.
“Th-then does that mean another day would be okay?”
Did she really interpret it that way?
I meant that it wasn't going to happen.
But seeing those bright red eyes looking at me so earnestly weakened my resolve.
“I'll think about it.”
The manager clenched her fists and trembled.
Her devotion to the figure was painfully obvious.
“Wait……!”
The manager's trembling gaze suddenly shifted to my hands.
“The World Tree's pollen got on your hands, too!”
“Pollen?”
I looked down at both my hands, but I couldn't see anything.
“What are you talking about?”
“Can't you feel it, retainer? World Tree pollen is on your hand. Even elves with high compatibility with the World Tree don't usually get its pollen on themselves…….”
The manager's brow furrowed slightly as she stared at my hand in fascination.
“Ugh, no matter how I look at it, that's an unpleasant power. Uuugh, no wonder something felt off today!”
The manager pinched her nose and leaped backward.
“Anyway! You weren't just saying you'd consider moving it to Jinjo's room to brush me off, were you?”
Manager Jinjo was surprisingly perceptive about things like this.
“…….”
“You mustn't think you can brush me off with a lie! Jinjo will withdraw today, but next time, be prepared to seriously consider moving it!”
After shouting that, the manager eventually clocked out once more through the Employees Only door.
Seeing her put on a mask before leaving, I could tell she was determined to admire the figure even if she had to wear one.
I stared blankly at the door that slammed shut, then scratched my head.
“Did she really hate the World Tree that much?”
I looked at the pale-green powder that was supposedly stuck to my fingertips.
“I can't see anything.”
The manager wasn't an ordinary human, so she had definitely seen something I couldn't.
“It should be fine as long as it doesn't bother the manager, right?”
The World Tree's power didn't seem to be doing me any harm, either.
After finishing the cleanup, checking the gallery during quiet periods when no customers came in was part of my daily routine.
It was, of course, useful for important tips, and it was also the best way to get a feel for Taepyeong City's atmosphere.
[Title : The streamer I watch got hospitalized doing the Lava Fruit Challenge ㅋㅋㅋ]
These days, hunters and YouTubers keep doing the Lava Fruit Challenge whenever it starts to die down ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
It's fucking hilarious watching them fail to eat even one properly before throwing away the bubbling lava fruit.
[Comments 12]
Excommunicated Paladin : That thing is genuinely insane. It really felt like lava was boiling inside my stomach.
Convenience Store Gallerist : └ Have you actually tried eating it?
ㅇㅇ : Hey, there are always problem customers who eat that at night and barge into convenience stores.
ㅇㅇ(223.39) : └ Fuck... I remember that. They cleared out all the water and ice, then rolled around on the floor.
Night Shift from the Mage Tower : Medicine doesn't work on that, either. Even if you drink a burn-treatment potion, it only regenerates the stomach lining. The pain remains exactly the same. You just have to endure it for several days until it cools down on its own.
Saranghaeyo : If someone like that comes in while you're working, just hand them some antacid and kick them out quickly. There's a 99% chance they'll cause a scene.
Mushroom Farm : I wish people would stop doing that, fuck fuck fuck.
“The Lava Challenge?”
What the hell was this?
It seemed similar to the spicy-food challenges people did in Korea…….
‘So even medicine doesn't work.’
Clicking my tongue as I read the comments, I took out my smartphone.
I wanted to search for the famous challenge everyone was talking about.
Ever since I came to Taepyeong City, my smartphone had been bringing me news from the city as if it had always belonged to this world.
Taepyeong City's influencers and YouTubers had taken over my YouTube algorithm.
Even the portal and email services I used frequently had changed in subtle ways.
A world where other species were commonplace,
where hunters existed,
and where using magic wasn't strange.
That was why I could contact the manager by phone, too.
The strange thing was.
‘My original Korean contacts aren't connected…….’
It was as if the signal couldn't reach them.
It wasn't inconvenient for now, at least.
‘I can go back, right?’
That thought began creeping into my mind.
Let's think optimistically.
If I started thinking negatively, there would be no end to it.
I shook my head to chase the thought away and watched a Lava Fruit Challenge video.
White smoke rose from the mouth of a man making a spectacle of claiming that his mouth was on fire.
A spicy fruit sold with advertising copy promising to make you feel as if you were breathing dragon's breath.
Why would anyone eat something like that?
It was probably because all those views turned into money.
‘I couldn't do something like that.’
I'd collapse immediately. I wouldn't be able to endure it.
It was then.
Bang!!
The store door flew open as if it were about to break, and a massive minotaur with bright-red, overheated skin charged inside, breathing heavily.
“Graaah! Ice!! Something cold!!!”
He charged at the freezer, pulled out ice cream and cups of ice indiscriminately, and poured them into his mouth.
As he swallowed the cold water and ice, white smoke rose from his mouth.
“C-customer?”
“It's hot! I feel like I'm on fire! Aaaaargh!!!”
Every time he did so, he howled as if the pain were growing worse.
He was clearly a victim of the Lava Fruit Challenge.
He was holding a selfie stick with a smartphone attached to it.
On the smartphone, a video showing his face played while chat messages appeared in real time.
It looked like he'd done the challenge as content for a livestream.
“Is there no way to calm him down? Please…….”
Sobbing and sniveling, he begged me desperately for help.
No, what was he expecting me to do about it…….
As for neutralizing the spiciness.
There was a way, technically, though.