Three days before the mercenary corps departed for the Singanling Mountains.

Not long after parting ways with Morine, Yeomyeong left the Saintess and the dwarf behind and returned to his room in the base camp.
It was an unfamiliar room where he hadn't even unpacked since he had to leave for Northern Manju right after arriving.

He took his phone out of his bag, which was sitting in the corner of the room. He planned to update Seti on the situation.

‘What the...’

But when he turned on the phone, he saw dozens of unread messages from her.
As Yeomyeong looked through the messages, packed tightly without any emoticons, he recalled what he had thought about last time.

‘...Does she really not trust me that much?’

A brief chuckle, followed by a belated sense of guilt.
Because he had left his bag at the base camp, he hadn’t been able to check the burner phone until now, and he felt bad about it.

Pushing aside the emotions rising within him, he began reading through the messages one by one.

Thanks to Seti’s decent writing skills, the messages were easy to read.
They ranged from light questions about his well-being to serious matters like the Imperial Academy searching for the rightful owner of the Imperial Knight's sword.

The messages contained various topics, but at some point, they all started saying the same thing.

Be wary of the Saintess.

Even if by bad luck you get involved with the Saintess, do not under any circumstances build a relationship with her.
She warned that if Yeomyeong did, the crazed people around the Saintess would not leave him alone, especially urging him to be cautious of her mother.

Yeomyeong swallowed a bitter smile.
‘It’s already too late.’

He had already gotten involved with the Saintess, and he had made a “deal” with her insane mother.

While the Saintess and the dwarf had been chatting, a secret deal had passed between them.

‘A mother who cherishes her daughter dearly could become just as dangerous to others...’

Yeomyeong pushed thoughts of Morine to the back of his mind. There was no need to understand her madness any further.
Madness was like ink; the closer you got to it, the more you got stained by it.

Anyway, to distract himself, he pulled out a falsified resume from his pocket.
A symbol of the past he hadn’t yet changed. Yeomyeong’s gaze cooled as he stared at it.

He pondered whether he should inform Seti that his false resume had been exposed, that her behind-the-scenes work had failed.
Knowing her personality, she would undoubtedly blame herself.

His brief contemplation led to only one conclusion. Yeomyeong decided to tell Seti the truth. For some reason, she was the one person he didn’t want to lie to about anything.

After tearing the resume to pieces, he picked up his phone.

He had only one number saved. Should he call? But she was probably in class right now.

In the end, Yeomyeong slowly typed out a text, though he wasn’t used to it. Even though it hadn’t been long since they parted, there was so much to write about.
The mercenary corps trying to take advantage of his exposed resume, his encounter with the Saintess, and the deal he made with her mother...

[Seti, it’s Yeomyeong. I’ve received your messages. Sorry for the late reply...]

It took him about 30 minutes to finish composing the lengthy text, which was over 5700 characters long. Just as he was about to finish it, someone opened the door and came in.

"New recruit... No, Yeomyeong."

It was Darulma Dune, the dwarf tycoon from Dungan Heavy Industries.

He made eye contact with Yeomyeong while holding an antique wooden box.

"This is a token of my apology to you."

As soon as Darulma stepped into the room, a pure fragrance pierced the air. It was so strong that even the surrounding mana shifted.
The moment Yeomyeong smelled it, even someone like him, who knew little about elixirs, could tell. This was something worth obtaining personally by Commander Kwon.

"We specially procured this elixir from beyond the dimensional gate. I’m sure you’ll like it."

"…Thank you. I’ll accept it."

Despite receiving such a precious item, no words of gratitude came out. He had already realized this elixir wasn’t prepared for him but for the Saintess.

‘For something meant for the mercenary with the falsified resume, this is far too valuable.’

He could only assume it was a bribe because the Saintess had taken a liking to him.
The mercenary corps had no interest in Yeomyeong from the start. Their target had always been the Saintess.

‘Should I be grateful to the Saintess?’

As Yeomyeong glanced between the box and the dwarf, he returned his attention to his phone and finished typing the message. He hit the send button.

Perhaps misinterpreting this action, Darulma hastily added in a nervous voice,
"May I, um, explain a bit about this elixir?"

"No, that won’t be necessary..."

"Well, like with all elixirs, if you take it the wrong way, it could be disastrous."

He moved closer to Yeomyeong with his short legs and opened the wooden box.
Click.

In the next moment, the fragrance that had filled the room disappeared. The elixir seemed to absorb all the air around it, retracting the scent it had been emitting.

Was it protecting its own medicinal energy? Inside the box, revealed as if it had absorbed all the air like a vacuum, was a translucent green gemstone.
Yeomyeong’s eyebrows raised slightly.

The elixir inside the box was completely different from anything he had seen before. Rough like an uncut gemstone, yet gleaming like glass?

‘Aren’t elixirs usually in pill form, or look like raw ingredients, like ginseng?’

Before his thoughts could go further, the dwarf began explaining.

"Isn’t it beautiful? This is an elixir from the world tree."

"...The world tree?"

The largest tree in the world, burned down by the Americans to quash the elves’ will to resist. Why was the name of that tree being mentioned here?

"This is a solidified sap from the world tree. Now that the world tree has burned down, it’s something you can’t buy, no matter how much money you have."

"..."

"What do you think? To obtain such a rare item, Dungan Heavy Industries had to—"

At that moment, Darulma’s voice faded from Yeomyeong’s ears.
To be precise, all of his senses were overwhelmed by a single sound. His vision blurred, and every hair on his body stood on end.

— I can feel the fate connected to that child.

A strange voice, unlike anything a human could produce.
Yeomyeong realized that the voice was coming from the world tree's gemstone and furrowed his brows.

What the hell is this now...?

— What are you? Why is a being like you, without any predetermined fate, meeting that child?

What nonsense is this? Yeomyeong wanted to reply, but his mouth wouldn’t open.
Yet the world tree’s gemstone, like Morine’s telepathy, naturally read his thoughts and responded.

— You really don’t know anything. Haven’t you met an elf recently?

An elf? I have.

— What was your connection to them? Was it a good connection, or a bad one?

There was no connection. Just someone I passed by.

— That’s a lie.

...

— But since you sincerely believe that, it is also the truth.

What the hell are you talking about? What kind of nonsense is this?

As Yeomyeong tried to gather his mana to regain control of his senses, the world tree’s gemstone glimmered.

— You have no destiny, but you are connected. You have no qualifications, but sincerity is felt. While it is unfortunate for the demon intended to acquire me… I will gladly accept this choice.

...

— I would rather choose you than be consumed by a demon. Now, human connected to my child, take me with joy.

With that bold declaration, the voice disappeared.
All of his senses returned to reality, and the mana he had been gathering faded into the air.

Yeomyeong blinked, feeling slightly dazed.

"…Yeomyeong? Are you alright?"

Seeing his face, the dwarf, who had been explaining the effects of the gemstone until moments ago, frowned.
His expression was filled with concern, as if wondering, "What the hell is wrong with this guy?"

"I just felt a little dizzy for a moment... It’s nothing serious, so you don’t need to worry."

His head throbbed briefly, but that was all. Rubbing his forehead, Yeomyeong stared at the gemstone in the box.

‘That was…’

The world tree's gemstone gave no response. As if the conversation from a moment ago had been a lie.

‘…Was it a dream or reality? I’ll find out after I eat it.’

Yeomyeong reached out for the gemstone. At that moment, the dwarf, panicking, pulled the box away.

"Hey, hey! Wait!"

By the time the dwarf reacted, the world tree’s gemstone had already entered Yeomyeong’s mouth.
Gulp. The gemstone surprisingly tasted like toothpaste.

"Didn’t I tell you not to eat it yet? What the hell were you thinking...?"

The dwarf was dumbfounded as he watched the gemstone slide down Yeomyeong’s throat. But Yeomyeong, calm as ever, started gathering his mana.

"You said three days, right? I’ll digest it before then, so please ensure no one enters the room."

"..."

"I promise."

Before Darulma Dune could respond to that ridiculous statement, a surge of mana swirled around Yeomyeong’s body.
Even someone who wasn’t a superhuman could feel the intense mana.

‘Holy shit.’

Not wanting to witness any more of this trouble, the dwarf gritted his teeth and hurriedly left the room as if fleeing.