Chapter 5

# Chapter 5. <Met>

‘Wasn’t I chased away from the city gate early in the morning?’

After burying all the villagers he had grown fond of, Chaihan moved in the direction he remembered from the villagers. That direction was Western City.

Chaihan had come over when he was in his first year of high school but had lived for decades. Of course, it was a time of survival to stay alive in the Dark Forest, which made him a bit strange. Nevertheless, he was more rational than expected.

‘I’ll go report to the castle.’

It was a remote village, but Harris Village was part of the Hetunis Duke's territory. Therefore, Chaihan wanted to hold a small funeral and start from Western City.

He also intended to find information about those who had lost their lives, causing him to momentarily lose his composure and kill them all without asking any questions. However, honoring the dead came first before revenge.

‘Come to think of it, I’m quite a sentimental guy, aren’t I?’

But after losing precious people he had gained after decades, it was inevitable for his mental state to be a bit off. At that moment, Kale occasionally provoked him and eventually touched his sore spot. He recalled the words Kale had said in the book.

["What does it matter to us if a few dozen of those vermin die? A drink I have is worth more than their lives."]

To which Chaihan smiled and asked,

["That’s an interesting thought. I’m very curious whether it will change or not."]

["Want to try an experiment?"]

The experiment involved beating Kale to the point of near death. Despite being beaten severely, Kale’s thoughts never changed.

“Ah, goosebumps.”

Kale saw goosebumps rise on his arms and rubbed them. He quickly took a sip of the tea Villos had left. When he looked out the window, goosebumps rose again.

‘It’s him.’

At the moment the city gates opened early in the morning, a boy wearing a blackened, charred-looking outfit entered. It was Chaihan.

Kale didn’t immediately stand up but observed Chaihan.

The speed at which he had traveled a distance that would normally take a week by carriage was astonishing, but his appearance was terrible, partly due to the events in the village.

With his head bowed, Chaihan was weakly stopped by the guards. Though he couldn’t understand what they were saying, he shook his head in response.

‘They’re probably asking if he has an ID badge.’

The guards of Western City were generally gentle, but they strictly followed the rules, reflecting the character of the Duke Dert.

“He’s being chased away.”

As expected, Chaihan obediently left the city gates. He didn’t resist because the thin thread of sanity he had left after a day of running told him not to kill innocent people.

‘Chaihan will wait until night and then climb over the city wall to sneak in.’

He would eventually meet Kale, who was drinking and playing around at night.

Creak. Kale was alone, so the sound of his chair scraping as he stood was quite loud. He went downstairs and told the counter attendant, Villos,

“I’ll be back soon. Don’t clear my seat.”

“Yes, young master. I’ll see you later.”

Kale ignored Villos’s plump cheeks and cheerful smile as he left the teahouse.

“He didn’t break anything!”

A voice from inside the teahouse was heard, but Kale didn’t care. Today, he needed to lay the groundwork to obtain an unbreakable shield.

Unbreakable shield.

It doesn’t refer to an object. If we must compare it to something, it’s similar to a mage’s shield, but the content within is very different. It’s more like a superpower than mana.

Ironically, the person who created this power but died was a heretic who worshipped a god.

‘A strange mix of things.’

As with all fantasy histories, this world also has an ancient history. In that ancient era, magic wasn’t developed, nor were robust sword or spear techniques.

Instead, it was a society where supernatural powers were obtained by chance or through innate talent. The greatest power in that society was superpowers, divine power, and the power of nature. It was a primitive world.

Some of these powers remained in certain places or objects and have existed throughout the continent for a long time. They could be obtained by meeting a few conditions.

Ancient power.

These powers were taken by heroes and used as supplementary powers rather than their main strength.

The powers Kale wanted to obtain were these.

‘Of course, divine power is excluded.’

He didn’t want to get involved with gods, angels, or devils.

Ultimately, the power Kale wanted was innate and natural.

‘That way, I don’t have to put in effort.’

Sword techniques and magic ultimately require effort, which he didn’t like.

Unlike other books, the ancient civilization in this hero’s birth story wasn’t that strong.

Compared to the magic and elemental rules established by human development, the natural power left by the ancient primitive civilization was insignificant. Even mediocre superpowers can be destroyed by a single aura.

It’s not for nothing that heroes use them as supplementary powers.

‘And by gathering these mediocre powers, one can become moderately strong.’

It was a satisfying goal.

He also knew the ancient power that could enhance these mediocre powers.

Kale began searching for the ancient power buried in Western City to achieve his goal. He knew how to obtain it.

“Y-Young master, please come in.”

The bakery owner bowed so deeply that his head almost touched the ground, and Kale only nodded in acknowledgment. The bakery owner took a deep breath, but Kale, feeling sorry for the trembling bakery owner due to his own mischief, ignored it and got to work.

“Give me bread.”

“Huh?”

Kale pointed at all the bread in the bakery’s display case and said firmly,

“From here to there.”

Clang. A gold coin Kale took out spun on the counter.

“Wrap it up.”

To the frozen bakery owner, Kale added,

“By the way, if you give me two or three more gold coins, it would cover a week’s worth of bread.”

The bakery owner’s eyes, which had been fixed on the gold coin, turned to Kale. It was more than enough to cover a week’s worth of bread. With a trembling gaze, the bakery owner responded stiffly,

“If you don’t like it, I’ll go elsewhere.”

“No, no! Young master! I’ll do it as quickly as possible!”

The bakery owner moved very politely and quickly, unlike before. Kale, with a bag of bread on his shoulder, left the bakery.

The bread was quite heavy, and his face contorted from the weight. Ignoring the bakery owner who came to see him off, he walked down the street.

Kale walked leisurely, noticing that people who met his eyes flinched and looked away, and most people tried to avoid eye contact by heading to the corners.

‘Definitely different from Korea. This is a fantasy world, after all.’

Walking through the market with a typical fantasy atmosphere, Kale looked around.

“Hmm.”

“Ah.”

Every time he met someone’s eyes, they flinched and looked away. Tsk. He must have been quite a troublemaker. Cursing himself, Kale left the market and headed west to Western City.

To the west, there was a slum. Even in a wealthy territory, there were always slums. In such cases, people usually think,

‘Ah, if I share food with the poor, I might gain a stroke of luck, right?’

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

As soon as he entered the slum, Kale could see the wary gazes of the people. It was a place where the laziest and the most hardworking coexisted.

Even if they were poor, they knew the Duke’s face, but they knew Kale’s face. People who caused trouble in the market, taverns, and squares knew him well.

“Tsk.”

Despite being a troublemaker, the sweet scent that emanated from Kale made some people follow him. Ignoring them, he quickened his pace.

His expensive leather shoes gradually got dirty from the filth. An unknown stench lingered in his nostrils, and his face naturally wrinkled.

His pace quickened even more. The slum was built on one side of a small hill, with old houses huddled together. He headed to the top of the hill, and the number of people following him gradually decreased. His sharp gaze also contributed to this.

‘This is better.’

Free from the stench, he looked back at Western City from the top of the hill. It was amusing that the small hill was higher than the castle. Of course, the Duke wouldn’t place the slum higher than the castle.

Shaking off his unnecessary thoughts, Kale approached a tree inside a circular fence at the top of the hill. The fence, about as high as his waist, had a wooden door that rotted and broke under his touch.

It was a large tree that seemed to have lived for several hundred years. Trees in the slum usually became firewood or were stripped of their bark, but this one was different.

The reason was simple. The answer came to his ears. The only two gazes that followed him from the bottom of the slum to the top.

“That tree, you can’t go near it!”

Kai ignored the voice. Then, a weak voice came again.

“No, no! It’s a man-eating tree!”

Man-eating tree.

Those who hanged themselves on this tree all turned into mummies overnight. If blood touched the tree, it would disappear instantly.

And there was no grass or wildflowers near the tree, only dirt.

This was the tree Kai was looking for.

A long time ago, in ancient times, there was a person who worshipped a god but was expelled from his position due to his insatiable appetite. This person died of hunger.

The tree that grew on his grave was imbued with his resentment and power. This was the unbreakable shield’s power that Kai was seeking.

How primitive, local, and mysterious. Ancient powers were usually this mysterious.

Kai carefully observed the hole in the tree trunk, about the size of an adult’s head, and took bread out of the bag.

He needed to drive away the owner of that voice before starting his work. However, before he could do so, a louder voice came from outside the fence. The voice was trembling.

“You’ll die! No, no!”

Kai pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“Sigh.”

The fewer people followed him as he approached the man-eating tree, but the owner of that voice continued to follow.

‘There are always meddlesome people no matter where you go.’

Kai, with a scowl, turned his head. A girl, about ten years old, was holding her younger brother’s hand and looking at Kai. Her eyes were filled with anxiety.

Kai, with a frown, stared at her, and the girl stammered,

“It’s a man-eating tree. Y-You’ll die.”

“I won’t die.”

He took two pieces of bread from the bag and threw them near the girl. The bread was wrapped, so it didn’t matter if it rolled on the ground.

“Take it and go.”

The boy immediately picked up the bread, but the girl hesitated. Eventually, Kai had to use his advantage. He stood up and stuck his head out of the fence.

“Don’t you know me, the troublemaker Kai?”

The girl’s face turned pale. The boy, after staring at Kai, picked up the bread for his sister and pulled her.

“Sis.”

“Mm.”

The girl, while being pulled, kept looking at the tree and Kai.

“You’ll die.”

Seeing the girl persist, Kai clicked his tongue and, after confirming no one was around, sat down at the base of the tree. People outside the fence couldn’t see what he was doing unless they approached the fence.

“Let’s start.”

He first experimented by tearing open a piece of bread and putting it in the hole in the tree trunk. His hand soon disappeared into the darkness inside the tree, and he felt the bread being sucked in