Tae-Jin, Tigrinus, and Chlor each comprehended Seong-Hwi’s concise explanation and responded accordingly.

“Hmm... I see. I understand the situation.”

“Grrr. A war of nerves before a negotiation, huh?”

“I don’t believe it! You have a way to end this tragedy, Seong-Hwi?”

“That’s right,” Seong-Hwi answered.

“T-then—” Chlor stared at Seong-Hwi, his eyes filled with hope.

However, Seong-Hwi apathetically shook his head and responded, “Chlor, I’m no volunteer worker. Not only that, but the elves have flipped the negotiation table first.”

Chlor could only stare at Seong-Hwi in silence as he bit his lip. He thought, What are the Sefirah thinking?! If a way to stop this crisis exists, they should have done whatever it took to negotiate!

As Chlor expressed dissatisfaction with the higher-ups, Tae-Jin asked, “Then are you here to confirm the Tortoise Emperor’s safety and to re-establish the negotiation?”

“You could say that,” Seong-Hwi said as he scanned Tae-Jin.

He should be... in his mid-thirties around now. He’s quite different from how he was back then, he thought.

First of all, his appearance was different. Although his sculpted body, large chin, and hair as long as a rock star were the same, his face was different.

He lost his left eye to a vampire High Ranker in my past life.

Seong-Hwi still remembered Tae-Jin’s vents about why humans did not have a secondary force as he bled profusely.

“Hmm... What are you aiming to gain from a negotiation with the elves?” Tae-Jin asked.

“We would have to discuss the details, but the key things would be for them to acknowledge the Underground Confederation and for Sefirot to give us their full support,” Seong-Hwi answered.

The two world quests have taken the Mirror World by storm, but they won’t ignore Underground forever.

Countless wanted to trample a newly-made power crawling up from the bottom. Hence, they needed an established power to support Underground’s legitimacy.

“Sefirot has say even in the Sēmen. Things will become much easier with their support,” Seong-Hwi added.

But of course, that won’t be the only thing I’ll demand from them. I need the thing that allowed Creo to break through the ninth zone in the past!

As Seong-Hwi’s eyes shone, Tae-Jin laughed loudly, “Wahaha! That’s awesome! The scale is so huge that I can’t keep up. So, you and Lee Kang-San have been up to something like this the whole time, huh?”

He licked his lips, his face red with excitement, and thought, I’d love to be part of something that important.

He believed he had been doing his best for humanity, but his accomplishments felt embarrassingly meager before those of the man before him.

Seong-Hwi smiled as he noticed Tae-Jin staring intently at him and asked, “Do you want in on it?”

“Huh?”

“There’s a part you can play. After all, this detainment zone is strategically useful.” Seong-Hwi continued furtively, “Barriers are normally meant to prevent things from getting inside, but we’re already inside.”

“Mm. Logically speaking, barriers are much easier to break from the inside than the outside,” Tae-Jin replied, nodding in understanding.

Chlor frowned as he listened to their conversation. “Are you guys... insane? Are you sure you should be saying something like that in front of an elf?”

“Grrr. You can’t say that you’re loyal to Sefirot, Chlor. As a Quarter, you’ve never fit in with any side. You’ve told us your whole story at the Tin Can,” Tigrinus said.

Chlor answered stiffly, “This and that are different. Whatever the case, I am an elf, a child of the World Tree.”

“A child of the World Tree, huh? Could you still say that proudly after knowing the truth about the World Tree?” Seong-Hwi asked.

The truth about the World Tree had spread throughout the Mirror World in his past life. The World Tree was a tool of the high elves that stole the powers of the other elves. Once the truth was revealed, high elves were defamed as fraudulent elves.

“The truth about the World Tree? What do you—” Chlor was about to ask, but Seong-Hwi had already turned to Tae-Jin.

“So? Are you up for it?” Seong-Hwi asked.

“Grrr! I’m up for anything, as long as I can get out of here!” Tigrinus agreed as he swung his tail.

Tae-Jin looked at Tigrinus, then back to Seong-Hwi, his eyes filled with seriousness.

He remarked, “Before that, I must learn about you as a person. There have been pretty bad rumors about you throughout the Network lately, Cheon Seong-Hwi. Some humans even call you the most vicious human killer to have existed.”

Seong-Hwi answered expressionlessly, “That must be because of Operation Pest Control. Do I look like a bloodthirsty killer to you?”

Tae-Jin looked intently at Seong-Hwi and shook his head. “Mmm... Nope, I suppose you can never trust rumors. Who would say that about someone who’s devoting himself to this extent for humanity’s betterment?” He then scratched his head and continued, “But that isn’t reason enough for me to trust you. I just met you today.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” Seong-Hwi asked, but he already knew what Tae-Jin was going to say. He knew what Tae-Jin found most important when building a friendship.

“Show me your D Weapon. I can more or less get an idea of what kind of person you are from it,” Tae-Jin said as his black eyes sparkled.

It was as if he were sitting at a table outside a convenience store with a beer in hand, waiting to hear a friend’s story.

He hasn’t changed, Seong-Hwi thought as he smiled.

It was usually disrespectful to ask about someone’s D Weapon at their first meeting, because it would expose their powers. However, Tae-Jin was not asking about it for that reason. He enjoyed understanding people by hearing about the stories intertwined in their D Weapon.

Tae-Jin was just a chatty busybody. Even during his days at Clan Calasanz, he loved to talk about things hidden deep inside the clansmen’s hearts, and was so empathetic that he often cried for them. One could say he was easily influenced by drama.

That’s why he’s so easy to handle, yet so difficult at the same time.

Seong-Hwi summoned the Tarot Deck of Destiny with a flash of golden light.

“Whoa... That’s quite a unique D Weapon,” Tae-Jin remarked, impressed by the Tarot Deck of Destiny.

Seong-Hwi thought, Winning him over is simple. Tell the truth.

The more miserable the story was, the more he empathized—and his story was the most miserable of them all.

“I was raised at a place called the Calasanz Home for Children, run by a nun named Mother Maria...” Seong-Hwi began to summarize.

***

A group of grey elves walked in the outer village. They were the guards that Chlor had encountered. They were on their way back to Qetseb, their home floor, after completing their shift.

“Any word from Master Yod, Sir Biran?”

“Master Yod is busy managing the detainment zone lately. I haven’t met him in a while.”

“Tch, if you haven’t seen them, then I suppose there’s no chance for me.”

“I wish I could catch their attention so I could go to Qaneh, or even Zemorah.”

They complained as they chatted, hoping one day to escape from the gutter-like Qetseb and raise their status.

“Just think about that half-wit earlier today.”

“Oh, that Quarter from House Chesed?”

“He gets to live in Tereph just because he was born to a good bloodline.”

“Damn it all...”

The grey elves began to insult Chlor as they felt a sense of loss and frustration. Qetseb, the floor that they lived on, did not have much light, and the Nature Force and mana density were extremely thin. On the other hand, a middle-upper floor like Tereph had plenty of sunlight and was overflowing with mana and Nature Force.

“I can’t rot in Qetseb my whole life. I won’t let my descendants live at rock bottom their whole lives.”

“Don’t worry. We just have to trust in Master Yod.”

“If they surpass House Hod or Chesed and become a Sefirah...”

As the grey elves chatted among one another, Biran, their boss, mumbled from the front, “Do you really think our problems will be solved just by climbing to the upper floors?”

“Hm? What do you mean, Sir Biran?”

“We can receive more of the light the higher we are! It’s the only way to heighten our caliber!”

“Yeah, if we reach the superior caliber... I’m sure we will be allowed to reside in Peri, alongside the high elves!”

Biran’s frown did not relax despite the grey elves’ fantasies. He said, “Have you heard about the recent battle in Qetseb?”

“Oh, that? Yeah, it was huge news because over ten high elves from House Hod came down to Qetseb.”

“From witness testimonies... the one who fought on par against a dozen high elves was a grey elf, like us.”

His subordinates shook their heads in disbelief.

“What?”

“How can that be?”

Biran paid no mind to their reactions and looked forward. A green light shone from inside a giant knar; it was the entrance to the inner village.

He remarked, “The grey elf came from outside. We may perhaps be... frogs in a well.”

His only goal in life had been to escape Qetseb, climbing from the bottom to the stalk, branch, leaf, flower, and eventually the fruit. He deemed it the most meaningful and valuable goal in life. However, a grey elf, not a part of any floor, had fought on par against a dozen high elves of House Hod.

“Come on, I’m sure they saw wrong.”

“Yeah. On top of that, House Hod is a failing bloodline at this point.”

“I’m sure it’s just an exaggerated rumor.”

Biran walked into the green light as he mumbled, “Yeah, probably...”

Bloodlines were absolute; it couldn’t be overcome with effort. The grey elves behind Biran soon followed him into the green light—alongside the concealed man following behind them.

***

There was a giant root of the World Tree in the center, and the ground was crumbly as if there had been a drought. The trees were dry, and grey elves walked around lifelessly. They were in Qetseb, the lowest floor of the inner village.

The residents of Qetseb received news of the situation outside from the young men on patrol duty at the outer village.

“How are things outside?”

“The orcs and centaurs are already right outside the barrier.”

“Why are the Sefirah simply leaving them to be?”

“Don’t worry. They can’t penetrate the barrier anyway. Master Yesod is overseeing it.”

They were on edge with the anxiety that they were at war, which only grew with the fact that they had received no news of the hundreds of thousands of drafted grey elves who had left Elvenheim.

Seong-Hwi canceled Shadowless Plum Blossom Branch and the Hermit’s Robe in an alleyway, far from the streets filled with elves.

It’d be nice if I had the Myriad Cheoyong Mask, he thought.

He had lent the item to Kang-San. Infiltration would have been much easier with the Myriad Faces skill, which allowed him to use the appearances of other races when the item reached A-rank.

No point sulking over what I don’t have. I’ll make do with what I have.

Improvising was his specialty. He pulled out two objects from his pocket: a pen resembling an owl feather and a green plastic toothbrush. They were garbage at a glance, but he had made sure to bring them with him before departing from the Capital. The pen belonged to Radix, and he had acquired the toothbrush that Kang-San had used by asking Remy Martin for it.

[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]

[Devil of Los Angeles]

[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]

[Night Stalker]

Seong-Hwi exhaled slowly as he suppressed the filthy bloodlust and aimed the .22 caliber handgun at the quill pen.

First, I need to find Radix and gain a better understanding of the situation.

He shot the gun, and the bullet passed through the pen as if it were intangible. The bullet trembled and pointed toward the center of the floor. Seong-Hwi reactivated Shadowless Plum Blossom Branch and the Hermit’s Robe as he watched the bullet flying rapidly.

***

The large Tae-Jin and Tigrinus were in tears.

“Hurgh! I-it’s so sad!”

“Growl! That son of a bitch... isn’t so bad.”

“Cheon Seong-Hwi... Sniff! What an unfortunate guy!” Tae-Jin gained a deep understanding of Seong-Hwi after hearing his story. “Tarot cards... grasping destiny, huh? Sniff... What an awesome guy. Right, Tigrinus?”

“Grrr! Yeah, I would’ve turned out twisted if I were in his shoes.”

Tae-Jin and Tigrinus emotionally talked about Seong-Hwi as if they had just finished a weekend tearjerker.

Unlike them, Chlor blankly mumbled, “The World Tree is... a parasite?”

He had heard the truth about the World Tree from Seong-Hwi. Floors were decided based on the unfair distribution of nutrients, forming high elves, Halves, Quarters, and grey elves.

“If that’s true... What has everything been for?” Chlor mumbled as he thought about the keliy ceremony.

The elves carried out the keliy ceremony daily, which involved gathering their Nature Force and mana to offer to the World Tree. The ceremony was to develop even stronger descendants. All elf infants were born in Peri, the fruit floor, and the more devoted one had been to the keliy ceremony, the more of the World Tree’s blessing the infants received, allowing them to be born with a higher caliber.

High elves offered much more Nature Force and mana to the World Tree, so their descendants were naturally born stronger. However, those who couldn’t would receive descendants roughly of the same level as them. Hence, every elf remained highly devoted to the keliy ceremony.

But it was all... a lie? Chlor thought.

He was so shocked that he couldn’t even hear the group discussion between Tae-Jin and Tigrinus.

“Next time... I’ll tell him my story, then we’ll become true friends,” Tae-Jin said.

“Growl! Are you gonna help him?”

“Of course! I was gonna cooperate regardless.”

Tae-Jin tied his hair tightly back and thought, Helping him is the same as helping the Tortoise Emperor and Underground. In other words, it’s for humanity.

“Grrr. I’ll help, too. I want to get out of here, and I have a debt to repay him,” Tigrinus agreed.

Tae-Jin nodded and thought, Now that I’ve heard the circumstances of a fellow human struggling alone in a foreign land, I can’t just ignore him!

Those of the same race were meant to help each other in times of need.

“Hmm... But can that little thing really nullify the Modesty of Yod?” Tigrinus remarked as he pointed at a corner of the room with a thick finger.

A silver-grey creature with an elephant’s head, a bear’s body, a tiger’s feet, and a bull’s tail was lying in a corner.

Pwoo! Bulgasal trumpeted sorrowfully.

“We’ll have to trust it. That aside, what’s with its trunk? Some kind of skin condition? It kind of looks like rust,” Tae-Jin said as he stared at Bulgasal’s trunk, which looked as if there were scabs on it.

Pwoo! It stings! I hate you, Daddy! Bulgasal shouted in resentment at its father, who had woken it up from its nap in the hoodie pocket and placed a bunch of stinging spots on its trunk. I’m never talking to you again if you break your promise to bring me a bunch of tasty food!

***

“GRAAAAAH! YOU FUCKER! IRURA!!!” screamed a grey-skinned elf with black hair and green eyes, restrained by gold tree branches. He was Radix of the Cecil Hotel, who had accompanied Kang-San to Elvenheim. “RELEASE ME! I MUST RESCUE KANG-SAN!”

The two grey elves keeping watch in front of Radix looked back at him in annoyance. The green eyes of the grey elf with disheveled hair blazed furiously.

“Sheesh, my eardrums are about to burst.”

“I’ll say.”

“I heard he fought against a dozen high elves of House Hod.”

“Apparently, they were all severely injured from trying to capture him alive. He’s a grey elf, like us, but... How can he be so strong?”

“I heard he used a taboo. Meaning, he used Chaos Mana, like the Dains.”

“Hah! So, he’s a corrupt dark elf?”

“Who cares? We just have to watch him until Master Hod returns.”

“Why would Master Hod capture someone this dangerous alive?”

“To find out who put him up to this, I’d bet.”

“Huuu, we may be understaffed lately, but why do we have to deal with—”

An elegant strum of a lyre sounded as they chatted.

[Applying Debuff: Sleep as per the effect of Hymn of Sleepiness.]

“Huh?”

“What... is...”

The two grey elves closed their eyes and collapsed.

Radix looked forward and shouted, “Who’s there?!”

A voice sounded from midair, “What a sorry state for the front manager of the Cecil Hotel.”

Seong-Hwi appeared, holding the Golden Lyre.

Radix’s eyes widened at the appearance of an unexpected individual. “How... are you here? Elvenheim should be on lockdown!”

“There is always a way if one wills it. That aside... where is Lee Kang-San?”

“Ah! Kang-San is in danger! There’s a pursuit party on him! Go to Domen. I’ll tell you how to get there. You have to get to him now!” Radix hurriedly shouted.

Seong-Hwi said calmly, “Let’s go together. I’m unfamiliar with the layout here. Even if you explain it to me, I’ll have a hard time on my own.”

“That’s impossible. Irura—no, that damn Hod himself activated this seal!”

“As you say... I can feel powerful mana from it,” Seong-Hwi said as he stared at the gold branches restraining Radix. “But, would you like to know something?” He placed his hand over the branch and continued, “Albeit minuscule, even plants contain iron. It’s an essential micronutrient.”

[Activating Skill: Rust of Ruin.]

“What... is this?” Radix mumbled, his eyes widened.

Dark red rust began to form on the surface of the golden branch like mold.

“This is... quite the powerful seal. Please hang in there. It’ll be over soon,” Seong-Hwi said.

“W-what are you planning on doing now?”

“There are fluids in plants as well.”

A dark blue lightning bolt mark appeared on Seong-Hwi’s right temple.

[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]

[Catastrophic Thunder, one of the symbols of No.16 The Tower]

The dark red Rust of Ruin combined with the dark blue Catastrophic Thunder, forming magenta lightning.

“GAAAAAH!” Radix screamed as various debuffs were applied to him.

[Applying Debuff: Electrocution.]

[Applying Debuff: Nightmare.]

[Applying Debuff: Despair.]

...

The lightning reached the inside of the gold tree branch, allowing the rust to penetrate deeply and completely corrode the branch. The branch, which had been absorbing Radix’s mana and Nature Force, shattered, freeing him.

“Gurgh! Was there... no other way?” asked Radix, sprawled on the floor with prickly hair, as he looked up in agony at Seong-Hwi.

Seong-Hwi shrugged and responded, “This was the most efficient way. Now, stop being a crybaby and let’s get out of here. You can tell me what happened as we go.”