25
There were many conditions required for the growth of a Spirit Tree.
1) Has the Spirit Tree grown enough to attempt its next growth?
2) Have enough crops been planted within the Spirit Tree’s domain?
3) Are enough living beings living within the Spirit Tree’s domain?
For number one, it simply had to grow well.
After several months of growth, his Spirit Tree had finished preparing to move on to the next stage.
Number two was the same. He had planted plenty of Krushvalbi, tomatoes, and lemons. In fact, the Krushvalbi had been planted, harvested, planted, and harvested in a whole frenzy.
The second condition had been fulfilled first.
The third condition had been fulfilled from the beginning.
In the first place, the humans living within a 500-meter radius alone....
“were more than enough for the growth of my small baby Spirit Tree.”
However, Ki Ja-hyeon had raised the “quality” of that population.
That was because this kind of Spirit Tree was one even Ki Ja-hyeon had never experienced before in his life.
A conjoined tree, this tree bark color,
“and even cannabis and cocaine. Ugh....”
Because of that, he had believed even more strongly that it must not be stained with bad influence.
It was true that Forest-Access Druid Village was a kind of hobby activity meant to fulfill Ki Ja-hyeon’s romantic ideal, but at its root, there had also been the purpose of raising the quality of the living beings before growing the Spirit Tree, creating the optimal conditions.
In any case, like this, he had fulfilled all three conditions.
However, this terrifying Spirit Tree established in this life was demanding another condition from the druid, one different from his previous life.
[Magic stones required for Spirit Tree next-stage growth. (0/100,000)]
“Ugh... You have no idea how surprised I was when I first saw it.”
Before, it had been 1,000, and he had needed 100 E Grade magic stones.
But now, it was not 10,000, but 100,000.
In other words, it had cost 3,000 coins before, but now it would cost 300,000 coins....
If he converted that into credits...?
It would be 3,000,000,000 credits.
And to gather that amount, Ki Ja-hyeon had had to wrestle while embracing the Krushvalbi Elixir jar, and he had had to live diligently in order to produce more Elixirs (True).
As a result, the coin balance in his System shop was?
[Coins: 324,722]
“Whew! I have earned steadily, have I not?”
He had spent a lot of money making Forest-Access Druid Village, but he still had plenty left.
Converted into credits, would it not go over 3,300,000,000?
Of course,
“I will have to pour all of this in....”
To make (0/100,000) into (100,000/100,000),
he would need ten thousand E Grade magic stones.
However,
“How long would I be standing there stuffing all of those in...?”
Even if he absorbed one every second, that would be 100,000 seconds.
Literally all day. No, it would take more than a day.
Ki Ja-hyeon connected to the System and bought the next higher grade, a D Grade magic stone.
A D Grade magic stone was larger and clearer in color than an F Grade or an E Grade.
When he placed it against the Spirit Tree, the Spirit Tree diligently ate that too.
[Insert magic stone? (100/100,000)]
“Does it get ten times stronger every time the Grade goes up?”
E Grade raised it by 10, but D Grade raised it by 100.
Since it was D Grade, that would be 1,000 seconds. He would have to spend three full hours feeding them in.
“Ugh....”
Annoying.
So annoying he could die!!
Thinking about it, the market price of a D Grade magic stone was 300 coins. Ten times that of E Grade.
It was nice because it was simple.
Which meant?
“I can just buy an A Grade magic stone, can I not?”
One A Grade magic stone should fill all 100,000!
Ki Ja-hyeon immediately searched for an A Grade magic stone in the System shop.
[A Grade magic stone]
[310,000 coins]
“That is a bit expensive.”
There were twelve A Grade magic stones on the sales stand, and as if their prices had been fixed through collusion, they were all 310,000.
“...Still, this is better.”
When would he ever feed all those magic stones one by one?
After thinking it over, Ki Ja-hyeon pressed the purchase button, but....
[Item unavailable for purchase.]
[Purchasable Grade: B- Grade.]
[Current Grade: F+]
“What? So that was how it worked?”
There was a separate purchasable Grade?
“Looks like I can only buy items up to two Grades above me.”
It was something he had only just learned.
In that case, Ki Ja-hyeon could not buy A Grade, B Grade, or C Grade magic stones.
There might be a way to obtain them in reality, but that method would probably be more complicated.
In other words, the highest Ki Ja-hyeon, who was F Grade, could buy was D Grade magic stones.
“One thousand D Grade magic stones... I have no choice but to stuff them in.”
He searched for D Grade magic stones.
The number of magic stones listed on the sales stand was 1,017.
A relieved smile appeared on Ki Ja-hyeon’s lips.
“Wow. That was cutting it close, was it not?”
Ki Ja-hyeon bought only exactly as many magic stones as he needed.
Of course, the problem was that the amount he needed was 999....
Then he began carefully feeding the D Grade magic stones to the Spirit Tree one by one.
[Insert magic stone? (200/100,000)]
[Insert magic stone? (300/100,000)]
[Insert magic stone? (400/100,000)]
“Good grief... My arm is falling off, my arm is falling off.”
Had he known this would happen, should he have fed them periodically beforehand?
In fact, if he had, it would have been good for many people.
Because....
***
“Director! Director, this is serious!”
“Pffft!”
Supervisor Han Do-hee’s urgent voice came rushing in.
Was it because of PTSD? Director Oh Man-sik spat out the coffee he had been drinking.
The sprayed coffee touched the English crossword puzzle paper he had been absorbed in and quickly spread.
Paper thin as could be.
Spreading coffee.
“...My English crossword...ahaha.”
He had almost finished it....
“Is now the time to be leisurely enjoying a hobby?”
“This is surprisingly fun. You should do it with me....”
“I will report.”
“...Right... You should. You should report. What is it this time? Did the System make another error?”
“The D Grade magic stone listings on the System Market are being erased in real time.”
“...And that is an important matter?”
Important enough to interrupt my happy time!
On the System sales stand, countless goods were bought and sold.
So naturally, there were times when a certain item happened to sell in large quantities.
“999 have disappeared.”
“Well, that can happen. There should be plenty left, should there not?”
“There are indeed some left.”
“How many are left?”
“Eighteen.”
“...No matter what, I am your superior, so please avoid swearing?”
“I am telling you there are eighteen left.”
“What!!!”
BANG!
This was no ordinary matter.
F Grade magic stones were frequently used in smartphones, and E Grade magic stones were effective in power systems such as automobiles.
From D Grade magic stones onward, they were used to make hunter-exclusive items, or used in earnest for armored vehicles and other things meant to defend the Shelter.
Because of that, the fact that D Grade magic stones had been bought out like this could only suggest many possibilities!
“Is some crazy guild trying to monopolize magic stones? Or what, are they trying to launch a c-coup! If not that, did the ‘Engineer’ buy them all out because he says he is making some toy...?”
Countless speculations. But what was frightening was that all of those speculations could be true.
What drove him absolutely mad was that the System shop was not something the state could do anything about. It was literally a natural phenomenon, so they could not know who had bought that many D Grade magic stones, or when and where.
“The Engineer’s side stated clearly that he has never bought them.”
“...That is certainly fortunate. Though it could be a lie.”
“He told us to stop with the nonsense and cough up an S Grade magic stone.”
“What... He speaks as if it is something he left in our care. Whew...S Grades truly are headaches. Headaches....”
Director Oh Man-sik’s eyes trembled. Who, and for what purpose, had paralyzed the magic stone liquidity of the entire Shelter?
“Wh-What should we report to the higher-ups?”
“It seems there is only one thing we can say.”
“Wh-What is that?”
“We do not know.”
“...S-Saying ‘do not know’ like that is informal speech....”
“No...whew. We have no choice but to say that we do not know either. That there is no way we would know.”
“Then I will be fired....”
“It has been pleasant working with you.”
“......”
Director Oh grabbed the back of his neck.
Recently, it felt like many bizarre things had been happening.
By habit, he took stomach medicine out of his sleeve and swallowed it.
The teacup from which the coffee had spilled was empty, just like his narrow mind.
He was very sad.
***
Ki Ja-hyeon, who had no way of knowing what kind of incident his actions were causing, simply....
“You sure eat a lot, uhohohoho.”
was stuffing what must have been the countless-th D Grade magic stone into the Spirit Tree’s throat.
It was not a metaphor.
Perhaps because he had inserted so many magic stones into one place, a knot hole had suddenly opened wide.
As if this was its mouth.
As if telling him to pour them in comfortably here!
At the appetite of the creature that swallowed everything he gave it, Ja-hyeon let out a hollow laugh.
“Right, eat a lot and grow big and strong, okay?”
Of course, this work too was nearing its end.
[Insert magic stone? (950,000/1,000,000)]
[Insert magic stone? (960,000/1,000,000)]
[Insert magic stone? (970,000/1,000,000)]
And when he inserted the long-awaited final D Grade magic stone....
[Magic stone charge complete.]
[All foundations for Spirit Tree growth prepared.]
[Select Spirit Tree growth direction.]
[Leaves]
[Spirit Fruit]
[Root]
“So it works like this after all?”
How should he put it?
Things he had done by sensation in his previous life were now being told to him by the System instead.
What the System was telling him was literally the direction of growth.
If he chose leaves, the territory radius would increase, and the air would become even clearer and denser.
If he chose spirit fruit, he could force the spirit fruit he wanted so badly to grow and make it spit them out.
Both were good. However,
“Leaves are a pass.”
If the territory radius increased, he would have to buy more real estate, and that was annoying right now.
“Spirit Fruit is tempting too, but pass.”
To be honest, spirit fruit tempted him the most, but he had to pass on that too.
Because,
“the root is the foundation!”
The root was the most important.
This was the result Ki Ja-hyeon had reached after planting countless Spirit Trees in his previous life.
Then,
what was good about the root growing larger?
“Everything!”
Everything improved, little by little.
The leaves and spirit fruit would also create synergy, and much better ones would grow.
Because of that, Ki Ja-hyeon chose the root upgrade as the first growth direction without hesitation, and,
Rumble, rumble, rumble......
growth began.
It was not as if there was anything special to the growth.
The roots simply grew thick and long, dug even deeper into the ground, and because of that, faint vibrations spread around.
However, the changes caused by it would be diverse.
The quality of harvested crops would rise, and the air quality of the territory where mana was emitted would improve as well.
The same would be true of spirit fruit.
Better ones than the ones that had appeared before would grow faster!
And the System also delivered a message exactly matching his thoughts.
[All growing crops absorb natural mana.]
[Leaves and branches, like the roots, become thick and sturdy.]
[Spirit fruit mana concentration increased by 50%.]
“I know, man.”
Sure enough, the leaves of the Spirit Tree grew larger and denser. The branches of the Spirit Tree also became thicker and glossier than before.
Up to here, Ki Ja-hyeon had expected it.
However, the next message listed results Ki Ja-hyeon had never dreamed of.
[Spirit Tree first-stage growth complete. Alignment determined.]
[Current Alignment: Good]
[Detailed Alignment: Good (20), Neutral (75), Evil (5)]
[Nearby individuals’ alignment shifts slightly toward “Good.”]
“Hmmm?”
Ki Ja-hyeon looked as though he found it peculiar, but soon accepted it and nodded.
“So it was not just my imagination after all.”
The more good the surrounding living beings were, the more the Spirit Tree’s alignment tended to be determined as good.
The difference had been too subtle for him to know.
It would probably be subtle now too.
Because most of the detailed alignment was neutral.
If one had to say, it was slightly good.
In terms of color, would it not be something like sky blue?
But....
“What is this Evil?”
There was a small amount of Evil mixed in.
Since he had accepted only people he had screened and screened again, there should not have been Evil.
And yet it existed.
Either there was someone Ki Ja-hyeon had judged incorrectly,
“or someone who can fool my eyes has entered?”
In any case, that seemed like something he could gradually find out later.
For now, let him simply celebrate the Spirit Tree’s first-stage growth.
Inhaaaaaale.
“The air has already changed.”
The mana concentration of this air went without saying.
By feel, the mana concentration seemed to have risen by about 50%.
If he asked Buy This to measure it, would it not now show over 300, not 200?
The same was true of spirit fruit.
Already, on the mound where the spirit fruit had been harvested before, two fist-sized flower buds had risen roundly.
Ki Ja-hyeon looked at Thunder and Cloud as if they were being hateful.
“The next spirit fruit is mine. Got it?”
The creatures did not even pretend to listen to Ki Ja-hyeon.
And for good reason....
Woof, woof! Wooof! (Power grows. I grow!)
“Right. Of course you do.”
Myaaak! Hissssss! (Stronger just by breathing. Qualities of a king!)
“Those are not your qualities... It is thanks to the spirit fruit you ate instead of me....”
And for good reason. The creatures had eaten spirit fruit and become spirit beasts.
Since the Spirit Tree had grown stronger, it was only natural that the creatures would grow stronger too.
The energy entering with every breath.
They must be trembling like that because they were feeling it....
Of course, this had nothing to do with Ki Ja-hyeon, who had not managed to eat spirit fruit.
“I want to... I want to become stronger too...!”
The alienation of one who had failed to eat spirit fruit...!
Of course, even if that situation came again, he would have made the same choice for the creatures’ lifespans. He had not chosen it himself, though. They had stolen them. Still, he could not help feeling regret.
Just as Ki Ja-hyeon was feeling poverty amid abundance like that and growing sullen,
[Grade increased.]
[You have become an E Grade Druid.]
“Ooh.”
Ki Ja-hyeon had been upgraded too.