Absolute Dweller-Chapter 242

"Alright, I'll be there soon."

The place I was flying towards happened to be near my family home.

I ended the call and looked down at the ground.

Busan’s Seo-gu.

The landscape of Nam-bumin-dong, viewed from the sky, had changed a lot compared to a year ago.

The biggest difference was, of course, the existence of the World Tree.

The World Tree, which had been rooted and growing at our house, had now grown taller than the Lotte Tower in Jamsil.

Its thickness was so massive that, from the sky, no matter where you were in Busan, the World Tree was visible.

From the top of the World Tree, you could clearly see all of Seo-gu and Jung-gu, including Yeongdo, Nampo-dong, Bosu-dong, and Daesin-dong.

However, that view was very different from what it used to be.

The Jagalchi Market and freezing factories, located next to the Joint Fish Market.

Houses built tightly together halfway up the mountain.

The apartments in Daesin-dong and the many commercial buildings in Nampo-dong.

All the concrete buildings had disappeared, replaced by a forest.

It wasn’t as tall as the World Tree, but trees that had grown to several dozen meters in height filled the area densely, and the asphalt ground was covered with various grasses, while the concrete buildings were overtaken by moss and vines.

It was a scene that seemed impossible to have occurred in just one year.

‘This is also the influence of the World Tree.’

For plants to grow like this through normal processes, it would have taken at least several hundred years.

Every time the World Tree grew, the forest’s area expanded, and the gradually increasing area had now reached even Busan Station.

In effect, Seo-gu, Yeongdo-gu, and Saha-gu had become dense forests, not a city anymore.

The life force of the World Tree, which permeated throughout the forest, was the reason for this unimaginable result.

‘Now that I think about it…’

The life force of the World Tree.

It was also the power of divinity.

‘It must have naturally seeped in at some point.’

I could use the life force of the World Tree ever since my grandfather’s trust level reached 100.

At that time, I didn’t fully understand divinity, and I hadn’t absorbed any divine beings yet, so I didn’t pay attention to the existence of the World Tree.

But.

‘Actually, it was a bit different.’

My memory.

More specifically, the memories from another timeline.

In those memories, before I had the ability of the Absolute, I had only the basic power of consumption.

In that timeline, the World Tree wasn’t my grandfather’s ability.

The memories passed to me from my future self were mostly hazy, but I could vividly remember what the World Tree was.

It was a divine being that had consumed all of Busan and had extremely hostile feelings toward humans.

Honestly, ever since I inherited that memory, my feelings toward the World Tree weren’t great.

‘The World Tree was the one that killed my family in that timeline.’

Grandmother, grandfather, mom, dad.

They all met tragic deaths within the World Tree’s domain, and I witnessed their corpses with my own eyes in that timeline.

The shock from that was so intense that my memory of the World Tree still vividly lingers in my mind, as clear as if it had just happened.

"…Tsk."

That was why I didn’t exactly feel happy seeing such a massive World Tree rooted in the place that had once been our family’s home.

It was a place I had lived in for over 20 years before moving to the apartment in Seomyeon.

Seeing it transformed into a forest left me with complicated feelings.

-Beeep!

Kami, who had been flying around aimlessly under the sunlight, perched on top of my head.

Then, using her tiny wings, she gently patted my head.

As if she had read my mood.

Incredibly, receiving such a simple act of affection made me feel a bit better.

‘…Come to think of it, why did my future self give the World Tree’s power to my grandfather?’

If you think about it, Kami was in a similar position to the World Tree.

In the previous timeline, Kami was eaten after fighting against me.

And then, she was perfectly integrated into the system, appearing as a familiar beast.

She was in the same position as Lilith, who had been eaten and turned into a familiar.

Her previous personality had completely disappeared, and she had been reborn as a pure soul, fitting her cute and charming appearance.

But unlike Kami, the World Tree had grown in the same place as the previous timeline.

‘There are familiars among the summoned beasts, but...’

I could easily guess the origin of a fairy.

‘It seems to have been the elf tribe’s chief, the guardian of the World Tree.’

Like Kami and Lilith, the World Tree’s form had become smaller and cuter, but its characteristic prickly expression was still there, making it recognizable.

‘Why is it that only the World Tree’s main body wasn’t integrated as a familiar?’

Was it something my future self intended?

I thought there might be some hidden intention behind it.

My grandfather, who became the protector instead of the fairy, had survived based on his overwhelming power and had taken care of my grandmother, who fell into slumber.

Later, I could go to Lilith’s domain to wake up my grandmother.

‘In the end, everything worked out fine.’

But still, something felt off.

The World Tree was the only divine being that hadn’t been perfectly integrated into the system.

Whether it was a familiar, an item in the store, or a summoning skill usable for a certain amount of time.

Unlike other divine beings, which were completely bound to the system, the World Tree seemed to have been given a small amount of freedom, and that didn’t sit well with me.

‘Hey. Why did you do that? You probably hated the World Tree much more than I did.’

I asked in my mind, but there was no response.

‘Are you listening?’

Since the moment I was pulled into the normal world after defeating Yamata-no-Orochi, my future self hadn’t contacted me even once.

I didn’t know whether it was pretending not to hear or if it simply didn’t have the strength to speak.

Since I couldn’t keep talking to someone who wouldn’t answer, I decided to get to work.

“Silphid.”

“Yeah~?”

“Let’s go to the root of the World Tree.”

“Got it~”

With the wind gently blowing, we flew towards the root of the World Tree, where my family home was.

***

The living room, where the family had gathered.

A white snake with scales so bright they almost glowed occupied the room. Its body was about 50 cm long, which would usually make it seem like a repulsive snake, but its thickness was far greater than that of an average adult male's arm, making it surprisingly cute.

Could it be called a chubby snake?

It looked quite sluggish, and in fact, it was in such a state that it could hardly manage its own body, making it impossible to feel threatened.

It was more like a moving snake doll than an actual snake.

Beep?

Kami, who was a bit bigger than a chick, tilted her head as she stood in front of the white snake.

Purr?

The white snake followed suit and tilted its head.

The scene felt like watching a puppet show, and it made me smile faintly.

“Aren’t you going to eat it?”

While it seemed cute to me, since the little bird was standing in front of the snake, my mom seemed worried.

“Don’t worry.”

Even if the snake tried to eat Kami, it wouldn’t happen.

After all, Kami's level was a massive 33.

That was her level without releasing her power.

And then…

「White Dragon (Lv. 10)」

For a newly born hatchling, it was a high level, but it was still no match.

“Ughhh.”

Mom trembled as she looked at the White Dragon.

“Ugh, so gross.”

The White Dragon’s appearance was close enough to a snake that she didn’t seem to like it much.

‘It just looks cute though.’

As Mom scowled while looking at the White Dragon, she spoke up.

“…So how do we feed it? Should we catch a rat or something?”

Even though she was grimacing in disgust, she still seemed concerned.

“We probably don’t need to feed it separately. It seems to be feeding off the energy flowing from the World Tree nearby.”

The life force of the World Tree was still abundant in this area.

Some of it was entering the White Dragon’s body in real-time.

“It will take care of its food itself. Don’t worry, just leave it alone.”

“Hmmm. Then I guess we need to give it a name.”

“A name?”

“It’s still a baby, so we can’t just let it out. If we’re keeping it at home, it needs a name.”

After thinking for a while, Mom said:

“Do you have any ideas?”

Dad, who had taken over the baton, suggested an idea.

“Since it’s white, how about Whitey?”

“Hmmm. That’s fine, but doesn’t ‘Ha-yan’ sound prettier?”

Thus, the baby White Dragon was named Ha-yan.

Mom carefully approached the White Dragon, bent down on one knee, and spoke to it.

“From now on, your name is Kim Ha-yan. Got it?”

Hearing Mom’s naming sense reminded me of a puppy we had when I was little.

The first dog we raised, a Cocker Spaniel, was named ‘Kim Da-jeong.’

Adding a family name meant that, in Mom’s own way, she was accepting it as part of the family.

Purr!

As if it understood Mom’s words, the White Dragon tried to approach her.

Mom hesitated for a moment, but gently extended her hand and stroked the White Dragon.

“Y-yes. Good boy.”

Ha-yan closed its eyes tightly and let its body relax in Mom’s touch.

Seeing the faint smile on Mom’s face, it seemed like she was already growing fond of it.

‘I might have to say goodbye sooner than I think.’

In fact, Ha-yan had only been temporarily entrusted here to hatch.

‘To hatch the White Dragon, the power of the World Tree was probably necessary.’

In exchange, Ha-yan had left a tattoo on Grandpa’s hand, telling him to call on it when danger came.

‘It was essentially unnecessary, though.’

The White Dragon’s level was 63.

At that time, it was overwhelmingly powerful, but now, things were different.

I could summon an Immortal Specter with a level of 81 right now, and with Lee Joon-hyuk, who had successfully broken through his limits, his level was the same as the White Dragon’s.

Considering the various buffs and enhancements my retainers gained through their growth, I could easily overpower a White Dragon, especially in its home turf, the sea.

“Grandpa.”

“Huh?”

“The contract with the White Dragon. Could you use it now?”

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“This?”

Nodding as I looked at the tattoo on Grandpa’s right hand, I spoke again.

“Yeah, that one. Could you use it now?”

“Alright.”

A while ago, the White Dragon had come and warned us.

Not to covet the power of the World Tree.

And through that, we had been able to learn about Grandma’s slumber, which allowed us to enter Lilith’s mental world.

At that time, the domain that had been declared in the house wasn’t very wide, but now it had expanded to Japan.

The sea where the White Dragon once stayed had already been fully integrated into our domain.

But the White Dragon’s whereabouts were unknown.

During the time when the domain was explosively expanding, it had already disappeared from the southern seas.

‘I haven’t seen it since then.’

It might know that its child is about to hatch now.

‘I remember clearly, it said to me, “Transcend, don’t covet the power of the World Tree.”’

It sounded odd.

How could it say that unless it knew the true nature of my power—consumption?

Even beings with divinity couldn’t absorb the power of other divinities.

That was something only I could do.

‘When I meet it again, I’m going to make it spit out all the information it has.’

A while later.

[An unauthorized entity is attempting to enter.]

A hint of disturbance came.