Absolute Dweller-Chapter 254

The first thing I did was evacuate the people living in the domains around the world.

‘It won’t be able to form inside the domain.’

This was a conclusion I had reached after absorbing the heart of the World Tree that had grown in Africa.

The basic way the World Tree appears is similar to the way monsters appear.

In other words, if it were to appear in Asia or North America, under the influence of the house declaration skill, it would be trapped in a dungeon, just like other monsters.

‘It wouldn’t be so foolish as to do that.’

If that were to happen, it would actually be a blessing.

After bombing the dungeon with nuclear strikes, I could just take the heart of the World Tree.

There would be no negative impact on the Earth, just like now.

‘So, as long as they enter the domain, they’ll be safe...’

Accepting people into South Korea was just a precaution in case something went wrong.

At that moment, I received a message from Kim Da-bin.

[All people in the domains with gateways have been evacuated.]

Gateways.

It was a function that appeared when the Absolute Being's Gate reached level 4, allowing those who had acquired citizenship, as well as those with temporary permits, to use it.

Although it took nearly a month to construct and only 10 could be built, they were highly effective.

The 10 gateways were all interconnected, allowing people to move to any of them.

That meant that no matter which gate you took, you could reach the gate in Busan.

For efficiency, I had built them only in the Marquess's domains, but because many citizens lived there, it naturally took a long time to evacuate.

[Good work.]

Fortunately, except for the gateway in Busan, all nine others were built in domains outside the area.

It was a choice made purely for efficiency, but now it was becoming a lifeline to save as many people as possible.

‘The problem is the small domains without gateways.’

Those with citizenship were fine.

Whether they were in Dongdaemun or Namdaemun, they could use the gateways to move.

However, people who lived in domains with temporary citizenship had no way to be saved.

Naturally, those with temporary citizenship were feeling deep anxiety.

As proof, incidents and accidents were occurring in most of the domains.

“Move out of the way! Why are they the only ones being taken? Are we not human beings too?!”

“No! If you don’t have citizenship, you can’t use the gates!”

“Then what about us?! Are you telling us to die like this?!”

Watching the crowds trying to escape through the gates I summoned, Dongdaemun and Namdaemun, those without citizenship began to protest.

At least here, they were civilized.

In other places, many had been swearing at or even assaulting the people controlling the situation.

However.

‘They’re no match.’

In this world, having citizenship made a huge difference.

The difference was in levels.

Those who gained citizenship could level up by hunting monsters, even if they weren’t awakeners.

They could even level up to 15 by just working out at the gyms I built, within a few months.

If they hunted monsters on top of that, reaching level 20 wasn’t difficult.

In fact, the people in charge of security, who were controlling the situation, were all above level 20.

At this point, they were stronger than most orcs.

Naturally, normal people had no chance.

But.

“Kkkk! Let go of me!”

“That guy is killing people!”

“Everyone, stop this!”

Numbers were the deciding factor.

It was impossible for a group of fewer than ten to stop hundreds of people.

“Waaahhh!”

Excited people rushed recklessly into the Namdaemun gate.

However.

“Huh?”

“What’s going on?”

“Why is this happening?”

Unlike those with citizenship, they couldn’t use the Namdaemun gate.

“But... it disappeared from the air, didn’t it?”

They couldn’t even see the Namdaemun gate.

They just rushed in, seeing people disappear into the air.

[Stop.]

As I spoke a single word, those who had been causing chaos across the country paused.

[Anyone who interferes with the evacuation process will have their temporary citizenship revoked.]

My threat caused gasps to rise from all around.

“God, please have mercy!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“I told you not to do this!”

I understood their hearts.

They were anxious and scared.

Suddenly, the evacuation order was issued, and the citizens with proper citizenship began to leave first, so they were bound to be terrified.

However, I didn’t have the time to explain everything to them.

[Please don’t worry too much. Once the evacuation of the previous group is finished, we will grant you citizenship as well. Please wait a little longer.]

When I made this promise, people seemed a little more at ease.

With a few words of telepathy, I quelled the chaos and started working quietly.

I granted temporary citizenship to those who came through Dongdaemun, and temporarily revoked citizenship for others.

Those whose citizenship was revoked lost everything they had gained through the system.

Levels, experience, money.

These things didn’t return just because citizenship was granted again later.

Therefore, the revocation of citizenship had to be done carefully, and it was mostly the people who had just acquired citizenship who were targeted for revocation.

I temporarily granted citizenship to those who were using the gates and took it away as soon as they moved, giving it to others.

‘At least I’m relieved that I’ve managed to level up recently and have 1 million left in reserve.’

Over the last two years, I had rescued survivors from around the world and had gotten used to this process.

‘With this, most of the outer regions are done.’

Just then.

While I was focusing all my attention on the evacuation, Kim Da-bin contacted me.

[Mr. Jae-hyun.]

[What’s going on?]

[It’s a personal concern, but...]

[Go ahead.]

[Understood.]

Kim Da-bin took a breath before sharing his thoughts.

[Africa, the Arctic, and the Atlantic. It’s difficult to make a hasty judgment due to the lack of samples, but it seems that the regions where the World Tree appears are all located far from your domain. Doesn’t that seem strange?]

I had a suspicion about this and explained.

[It’s because the way the World Tree appears is similar to how other monsters appear. It probably knows. If it tries to emerge in my domain, it will get trapped in a dungeon and be useless.]

[Then...]

Kim Da-bin continued.

[How is the World Tree able to detect the extent of your domain?]

At that moment, it felt like someone had struck me hard on the back of the head.

‘How?’

How was the World Tree aware of the extent of my domain?

‘Logically speaking, for something as massive as the heart of the World Tree to cross dimensions, it would need an enormous amount of energy.’

And it would need sufficient time.

That was probably why the World Tree, which had recognized my existence two years ago, was only starting to invade now.

Then.

‘Africa, the Arctic, the Atlantic... They’ve been preparing for this from the very beginning.’

All of them were located far from the main areas of Asia and North America, where the house declaration skills had been installed.

The World Tree had only been growing in regions that were completely blind spots.

‘No way?’

I opened the Absolute Being's Eye and focused on the World Tree in Busan.

But nothing was felt there.

‘No. This World Tree is definitely subordinated to the system.’

Because it was located within the Absolute Territory, I was sure.

It would have been impossible for it to send information to the World Tree.

‘Then... How?’

At that moment.

Krrr—

Some of the thousands of eyes I had activated detected a disturbance.

The center of the Chinese continent.

There.

Kkwaa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—!!

A tree of a size similar to the one that had grown in Africa was sprouting.

‘!!!’

Because it was within my domain, I could more clearly sense its scale.

[Citizen Huang Li has died.]

[Citizen Wang Chou has died.]

[Citizen Hua Zari has died.]

[Citizen He Seol has died.]

[Citizen Liu Wei has died.]

[Citizen Lin Ting has died.]

……

……

As soon as it appeared, the people gathered in Wuhan were almost completely wiped out.

The violent growth of the World Tree, along with the elves pouring out like a swarm from that place.

What had happened?

‘How?’

This was clearly inside my domain.

A region where the dungeon net exists.

However, despite being under my influence, I didn’t have perfect knowledge of all the land within my domain.

Only South Korea, which is within the Absolute Territory, could be fully monitored.

But investigating what was happening wasn’t too difficult.

‘The Absolute Being’s Eye.’

In the deep part of the ground where the World Tree was sprouting, I could sense a specific energy pattern.

It was an energy pattern that felt extremely familiar.

It was a dungeon.

The answer came quickly.

‘It’s a Dungeon Break.’

Creak—

Dungeons took time to burst.

The more intense the energy contained inside, the longer that time was.

Despite this, what had avoided detection?

‘Was it hiding underground?’

Dungeons didn’t only appear on the surface.

They could form in the sky, the sea, and, as now, deep underground.

However, those formed under the sea or underground were difficult to locate.

That’s how it had been used.

‘How dare it.’

But.

The World Tree had severely underestimated me.

The place it had invaded was clearly my domain.

My land.

‘The Invisible Hand.’

An invisible hand extended throughout every space where the World Tree was growing.

Each time the giant hand reached, it effortlessly broke off the tree.

Crack—!

The imposing World Tree that had appeared proudly started to shrink.

And then.

[You have hunted a High Elf (Lv. 50).]

[You have hunted a High Elf (Lv. 51).]

[You have hunted a High Elf (Lv. 50).]

……

……

In between, the elves that existed in swarms like flies were crushed and died in piles.

And then.

‘Die.’

[300,000,000 won has been consumed.]

I exerted just the right amount of force.

Flash—

A dark lightning split the World Tree in two.

Whoosh—!

Soon after, black flames spread throughout the World Tree, burning all the elves that had emerged from it.

And then.

‘Devour.’

The heart of the World Tree, now revealed, was devoured greedily by the black wolf.

However.

Kkwaa-kwa-kwa—! Kkwaa-kwa-kwaak!

It seemed that there wasn’t just one or two dungeons waiting in the deep ground.

The Russian polar region. Kansas in North America.

Fortunately, the two places where the World Tree had appeared were far from areas densely populated by people.

‘This won’t do.’

I began to focus all my attention.

On all the people spread throughout my domain.

I concentrated my attention on them.

Even though many had been evacuated, there were still a great number of people remaining.

All the people existing in Asia and North America.

I gathered them all at once.

‘Teleport.’

I began to teleport them into the Absolute Territory.

Shush—!

Thousands.

Hundreds.

I teleported them one by one.

This was only possible because they were all within my domain.

However.

“Ugh.”

The backlash was immense.

It felt like my brain was melting.

The farther the distance, the greater the burden when teleporting so many people at once.

Drip—

It felt as if my brain was truly melting, and blood began to drip from my nose.

The fortunate thing was that as long as I was within the Absolute Territory, I would never die.

While I was struggling and teleporting the people.

Voices that I was glad to hear came from the communication ring.

[Group A. The World Tree’s heart has been secured.]

[This is Group B. We found the World Tree’s heart.]

[Group C. Mission completed.]

These were the groups led by Kim Myung-hwan, Ha Dong-geon, and Lee Joon-hyuk, all of whom had reached level 80.

They had all succeeded in securing the World Tree’s heart at the same time.

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Retrieving it wasn’t difficult.

All I had to do was move the avatars to each region.

‘Alright. Let’s see who wins.’

The World Tree and I.

The beginning of a full-scale battle.