The southern corner of Gangwon Province.
A man was spacing out, smoking as he listened to the radio.
After quite a while—
“Hah...... these bastards. I can’t believe it.”
The man listening to the radio muttered in a tone that said he didn’t buy it.
“They just dump information that valuable, for free?”
“I thought the same thing at first—what kind of lunatics are these?”
“Right? You hand that kind of intel to people who’ll get stronger—who knows what they’ll do with it?”
Food and clothing are precious in this era.
Even if they’re human, it’s a world where you cannot trust them.
Most people, if anything, see other humans as competitors for survival.
“I don’t get it.”
With no internet now,
even the smallest piece of information has enormous value.
And yet that kind of precious intel, with no compensation at all—
they scatter it across the whole Republic of Korea by radio?
“Soldiers, huh.”
The reason they did something that insane—
only one guess came to mind.
“‘It’s our duty to protect the citizens,’ is that it?”
“Good grief.”
“So they toss out that valuable intel for free, is that what you’re saying?”
“In a world where there’s no longer a state to pay the soldiers a salary—what is this?”
It’s ridiculous.
But it’s also true that nothing else explains it.
“Are they really a military unit that survived?”
“Hm. Who knows.”
“They said stronger monsters appeared around military bases in particular. He told us that, didn’t he? That there are people who survived there...... I can’t believe it.”
“I don’t know either, but—”
The man took a long drag.
“All that aside, military bases would be overflowing with powerful weapons.”
“That’s true.”
“If the person commanding that unit were truly an unbelievably great hero—”
“......”
“then the possibility of surviving those powerful monsters...... isn’t zero.”
At that,
the man standing behind with his hands clasped behind his back answered like he found it absurd.
“Come on. A twenty-first century Admiral Yi Sun-sin, is that what this is?”
“Heh-heh. We don’t know that yet. Surviving up to now and being able to survive from here on out are separate things.”
Then—
another man who had been quietly listening lowered his head and spoke to “big brother.”
“Big brother.”
“Yeah.”
“We can’t just leave those guys alone.”
“I figured as much.”
The mere fact they’re a surviving military unit isn’t the main problem.
The problem is—
“If they survived, they should just live it up on their own.”
“Whether it’s that so-called soldier’s spirit or whatever, the fact they’re a unit that goes around helping others—that’s the problem.”
It wasn’t enough that they survived.
They started spreading information
to save other humans.
“If this intel ended here that would be one thing, but if it keeps growing—”
“the average combat power of humans will skyrocket. Which means—”
“our master will hate it.”
Flick.......
“We can’t go against our master’s feelings.”
He ground the cigarette out roughly on the floor,
then rose to his feet.
“Where are they?”
“Chuncheon. Lucky for us, they’re in Gangwon Province too. But......”
“Right. Judging by the volume of intel, they must have grown into an enormous force.”
“I think eliminating them with just us may be difficult. Even if we succeed, the damage will be massive.”
“Hm.”
The man stroked his chin and fell into thought for a moment.
A little while later—
“Is there a large military formation near there?”
After wrestling with it for some time, he spoke up.
“Well, it’s Gangwon, the foremost line. Military formations are everywhere.”
“As expected?”
“Among those, if it’s near the area mentioned in the broadcast...... that’s the 12th Corps’ sector.”
“The 12th Corps, huh.”
He muttered to himself,
and then a chilly smile spread over his face.
“Gather the brothers who are ready to be sacrificed.”
“Understood. And after that, what should we do?”
The 12th Corps.
A frontline corps of the Republic of Korea that touches the DMZ.
The Republic of Korea Army, said to rank among the world’s best.
Among those, a corps that ranks at the very top in size, and......
“Those guys called themselves the ‘Iron Legion,’ right?”
“Yes.”
“This will be fun.”
“......What do you mean, fun?”
Right now,
it would be a corps occupied by monsters.
“If it’s the monsters that occupied the 12th Corps—”
Grin.
“don’t you get curious whether they can also occupy those self-styled ‘Legion’ guys?”
****
After the radio broadcast ended,
a few engineers stayed behind at the Ammunition Battalion to keep the broadcast going on a continuous basis.
We’d need to use this facility again when it was time to release more intel.
“Then we’ll head back first.”
“Yeah.”
Most of the unit decided to head straight back—
“Sergeant Shin, are you really not coming with us?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a little errand.”
Before that, for a moment,
I decided to take care of my errand and then go.
Since we came all the way out here—
“I should at least see my friend’s face, don’t you think?”
The broad grounds of the Ammunition Battalion.
A gigantic forest that had invaded over a third of it.
“Haven’t been here in a while.”
As I approached the entrance,
as if the trees themselves opened the way,
a neatly kept path leading deeper into the woods revealed itself.
As soon as my foot touched that path—
Crackle.......
The ground split, and a tree root popped up
and gently lifted me.
“You’re offering me a direct ride?”
As if to affirm my words,
the root carried me at speed into the forest’s interior.
How far did we go?
A jungle far broader than before.
We arrived at its center.
‘......Why is it warm here?’
Even though winter had definitely come,
the heart of the jungle encircled by gigantic trees was warm like a greenhouse.
And in the very middle,
a shape stood that was half human, half tree.
[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Queen of the Forest — Alraune]
The first time I saw it,
it looked like a skinny tree with a face-like pattern stamped on it.
Its hideous aspect was unmistakably that of a monster.
‘Mm. It’s a bit rude to say, but—’
But
that must have been a kind of “power-saving mode.”
After I fed it a heap of fertilizer I’d made with care and cured the tree’s malnutrition—
“You look way better than back then.”
it had
returned to what it should have been.
A tall, beautiful woman
with a lush mane of red hair.
From that figure, I could feel an aura befitting the title of queen.
And what’s more,
it wasn’t only her looks that had changed.
— You’ve come, my one and only friend.
This one—
she’d even ended up able to speak.
Of course, her essence was a monster closer to a tree.
Her mouth didn’t move.
[Trait]
[Mental Language]
A kind of telepathy.
It was a trait [Pontiff of the Deep Ones] had as well.
‘It was the same when I checked with the [Combat Power Meter].’
This one—
is a fairly advanced monster.
Of course,
be that as it may—
“Yeah. Seeing your face after a while, I’m glad, hey.”
— Hehe. Don’t just say it. How about you stop by more often? It’s this hard to see my friend’s face.
“I wanted to, but I’ve been a bit busy until recently.”
Right now,
thanks to my cooking, we’d shared a besties’ meal.
[Affection — High]
It sounded archaic, like a historical drama,
but each word carried deep warmth.
No matter how advanced a monster—
there was no reason to be particularly afraid.
— Since you never come, I was thinking I should go to you.
“......For you to come to me—well, that forest would have to expand that much, right? Is that possible?”
— Not impossible. But I figured that’s not what my friend would want, so I let it pass.
“......Phew. Thanks, hey.”
She really did think of me as close.
She sat me a little too close for comfort and began to chat.
‘......Our faces are going to bump.’
Maybe because she’s fundamentally a tree,
I got the sense she wasn’t good at gauging personal space with other life-forms.
“By the way—heard you’ve been giving the farmer ajusshi attitude.”
— Hmmm. Did he say even that much?
“Don’t do that. He’s a good guy.”
— A trifling prank. I allowed a different race who isn’t my friend to set foot in my forest. He should tolerate at least that much.
“Still. He’s the one bringing you meals, right? Be nice.”
— What he brings is edible enough. But compared to what you made, it’s lacking.
A faint smile.
— If he wants to earn my favor, he’ll have to put up something close to my friend’s level.
Something close to my cooking, huh.
......That’s
a pretty high bar.
It’s awkward to say, but—
when it comes to cooking, I’m somewhat confident.
“Right. Since it came up—”
I let a small smile slip, too,
reached into the shadows, and took out what I’d brought.
[War Chef’s Wholehearted Mixed-Mana Bone-and-Flesh Meal Fertilizer]
— Oooh. That is—
“You’ve been helping a lot with the base’s defense, right? Thanks to you, we could work elsewhere with peace of mind. Consider this a return favor.”
— It was my friend’s request; that much is nothing. I didn’t do it expecting anything in return.
“Take it anyway, you punk.”
— Then I’ll gratefully accept it.
I spread the fertilizer around,
and she closed her eyes, focusing on the taste.
— My friend’s cooking is, as expected, excellent......
“Yeah? Is it a little different from the farmer’s?”
— Hm. If it’s only nutrition, his is far superior to yours.
“Eh?”
That was unexpected.
‘I assumed mine would be much better.’
She preferred my fertilizer so much I’d taken it for granted—
but purely on nutrition, the farmer’s was better.
Then why like mine more?
— But in the realm of flavor, the two aren’t even comparable.
“Ahh. So that’s it.”
Figures.
The farmer’s might be better for nutrients,
but mine crushed it on taste.
‘They’re both fertilizer, sure, but—’
A farmer’s fertilizer is meant to promote plant growth.
A chef’s dish pursues taste.
That’s probably the difference in character.
You know how health food is rarely tasty.
It was exactly that vibe.
— Especially lately, as my forest expands. I can procure the nutrients needed for growth on my own.
“Ah. You said you hunt monsters and use them as nourishment?”
— Right. Which is all the more reason I end up wanting taste over nutrition.
When nutrition isn’t urgent,
of course you pursue flavor.
— If that farmer could manage even half this taste, I could see him a bit more kindly. What a pity.
After that,
we chitchatted for a while.
Within her domain, she’s unbelievably strong.
But she’s a tree rooted in this land by nature,
so she carries the penalty that she can’t just move outside as she pleases.
‘She’d get bored stuck here alone.’
She’s guarding our unit because I asked her to.
I could invest at least some time to chat.
After we’d talked for quite a while—
“Alright. Time to get going.”
— Has it already gotten that late? You could stay a bit longer.
“I’ve got a lot to do. Need to get back to the unit.”
— Is it the short lifespan? You are terribly hasty, my friend.
I can’t stay here all day.
Time to wrap the conversation and head back.
— My friend.
“Hm?”
— Before you go, may I give you ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a piece of advice?
Just before I left,
Alraune spoke, her gaze a touch more solemn.
— As I said, right now I live full enough that I don’t even need the farmer’s fertilizer.
“What, is this bragging out of nowhere?”
— Partly because my forest has grown. But more than that...... because more meals have been walking into the forest.
“......”
— And the amount of mana those meals carry is getting denser.
Alraune, who said she hunted monsters and used them as nutrients—
if she has enough to be full,
— It’s good for me, but it may not be for you, my friend.
it’s clear proof there are more monsters,
and they’re getting stronger.
‘Even this one, for instance—’
When she was first summoned, she was much weakened.
The fact she could be summoned unsealed was because she’d lost that much power.
But—
‘Even then, she wasn’t something you could call weak.’
Now that she’s recovered a large portion of her strength......
she’s a formidable foe our unit would struggle to攻略.
Somewhere in this world right now,
there may be monsters on par with this Alraune emerging.
Our unit might manage somehow,
but to others, they’d be disasters.
Still—
“Thanks for the concern, but I know. I’ve taken measures of my own.”
— Is that so? Seems I worried for nothing. As expected of my friend.
We’ve spread the monsters’ weak points.
We’ve revealed zombies’ true identity.
Now that the radio has gone out,
human combat power will climb rapidly.
Even against monsters that grow stronger,
resistance will be possible somehow.
‘What’s left now is—’
to bring those strengthened humans
under the Legion’s power.
— Even so, as your friend, I can’t help but worry.
“Hm?”
— In return for the meal earlier, take this.
With those words, she waved her hand.
Then—
Swish.......
From far off,
a single flower flew into her hand.
“What is it, something to eat?”
— Hm? Hehe. Your line of thought is truly fascinating.
A flower, beautiful and gaudy.
Even its fragrance was cloyingly sweet.
Since she said it was a return for the provisions we’d given,
I thought she was handing over some usable edible flower.
Apparently not.
‘......Have I gotten too fixated on culinary thinking?’
Either way, a gift is a gift.
As I reached out my hand to take the flower......
— Wait.
“Hm?”
— I advise you not to touch it.
Alraune drew the flowered hand back.
— It’s fine for me, but it would be a bit fatal for you.
“......What?”
At her words,
I hurriedly activated my trait.
[Ingredient Appraisal (Enhanced)]
[Nepenthes that Melts Souls]
What unfolded before my eyes
was a bit shocking.
[A plant that contains a poison so potent it ranks among the strongest across all dimensions.]
[It is a Nepenthes.]
[Its beautiful form and fragrance melt the viewer’s heart,]
[and the poison that flows within is said to melt even the soul of whoever it touches.]
[As an extremely rare ingredient, it is a flower that can be seen only rarely near forests where a World Tree has taken root......]
“......”
Extreme poison.
It melts even the soul of whoever it touches.
......Don’t tell me—
‘Did I almost die just now?’
For a flower I’d almost grabbed without thinking,
the wording was deadly in the extreme.
— Only just recently did it manage to bloom.
“Only just?”
— When I first opened my eyes—had you not helped me then, I wouldn’t have been able to make this one bloom.
It was small enough to hold in one hand.
But—
when I checked with the [Combat Power Meter]—
‘Faint, but green.’
This little thing held fairly strong mana.
Most likely, a plant-type monster similar to Alraune.
— Originally it bloomed to protect me...... but this time, I will concede it to my friend.
“You’re giving this to me?”
— It’s hard to get it to bloom once, but it grows well in any environment. It doesn’t even have to be soil.
A flower that grows even without earth.
It didn’t take long to grasp what that meant.
— It can grow just fine using a living organism as its base.
As she said that,
Alraune carefully set the [Nepenthes] on my arm.
Then—
— Ding.
[Parasitic Plant, ‘Nepenthes that Melts Souls,’ attempts to parasitize.]
[A friendly parasitism request.]
[The Parasitic Plant’s trait — ‘Soul Reaving’ will not activate.]
— It’s only my hunch, but—
[If parasitism is allowed, Mana stat decreases by ‘5’ during parasitism.]
[If parasitism is allowed, the trait — ‘Soul-Melting Poison — Nepenthes’ activates during parasitism.]
[If parasitism is allowed, you become immune to all poisons lower in grade than ‘Soul-Melting Poison — Nepenthes’.]
— I think this one’s poison...... will pair well with your cooking.
“......”
— As your friend, I worry for your safety; this much will put me at ease.
Crack......
— Please accept it.
The flower, shaped like a small rose, coiled around my right wrist.
The thorns blooming on the flower dug into my skin.
A brief, pricking pain.
Soon,
I felt this small flower taking a portion of my mana.
[The effect of the Parasitic Plant — ‘Nepenthes that Melts Souls’ activates.]
Like a tattoo,
the flower settled naturally on my wrist.
“......Thanks.”
— Between my friend and me—this is nothing.
Watching me recede,
Alraune waved lightly with a gentle smile.
— Someday. I’ll look forward to the day we meet again.
