014. Alternative

No matter how perfect a plan is, variables do happen.

The variable of this work was absolute trust. Being a high elf, it was natural to believe. A belief built up over time and existence that no one would dare to interfere with the World Tree.

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Julia admitted that she was too complacent.

The reason why she obediently followed the warden’s words after entering purgatory was because she had the confidence that even the warden would not be able to persecute herself as long as the restraints were lifted.

In the end, it was assumed that everything would go according to plan.

It was only for nothing.

Why he is the warden of the prison where the warriors are imprisoned should have been examined more profoundly.

looked so funny

I acknowledged it, but it was already too late.

She is imprisoned and has no other alternative than being in purgatory.

There are two things you can do right now.

I just desperately hope that what the warden did to the mother tree won’t have any effect.

It was a trust that had already been broken once, but there was no way.

Or ask for mercy from the warden.

Either way, it wasn’t her who made the decision.

* * *

mess.

The world tree seen up close was larger than expected.

The whole root covers the purgatory, and a dense tree stands tall from the rooftop.

The original form of purgatory has long since disappeared. It is like seeing a closed school that has been neglected for a long time and covered with vines.

Although he didn’t like the appearance, Kim Woo-jin first noticed that the world tree had sprouted and grew faster than expected.

“Chief!”

When I returned to the inside of the prison, the deputy director ran between the guards who were confused.

“The variant Tarsks have taken care of it.”

“That kind of lizard is not a problem now. The roots and branches of the World Tree enveloped Purgatory. Some of the magical equipment caught up in the storm of mana that occurred during the germination process became inoperable.”

“If part, to what extent?”

“Fortunately, the prisoner’s solitary management system is maintained, so all prisoners on the release have been reinstated, but other than that…”

What I paid the most attention to in Purgatory was the solitary management system. In a way, it was only natural that he endured until the end.

“How long will system recovery take?”

“The mana storm temporarily stopped it, but it’s not out of order. It won’t take that long.”

“How did the prisoners react?”

“Chaos, itself.”

There is no prisoner who accepts the sudden growth of the World Tree.

“Someone might see this as an opportunity and prepare for a prison break. Be more vigilant than usual.”

“Yes.”

“And send number 1178 back to the room.”

“I don’t think anything in particular has changed. But then obviously… yes? I beg your pardon?”

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Julia, who quietly followed Kim Woo-jin and looked out the window at the world tree, was startled.

“Go back to your room.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Can’t we stay outside a little, a little longer? In solitary confinement, you cannot properly examine the mother tree.”

“At the point I said that, you would know what I would say.”

“No one here knows more about the Mother Tree than I do. If you have any questions, I can tell you!”

“If you have any questions, call me.”

“No, still! please! This will kill me twice!”

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Julia was dragged into the prison. Instead of going up to the office, Kim Woo-jin came out again.

Headed to the place where the world tree was planted.

A huge stem appeared. There were not one or two stems that seemed like dozens of generals had to play Ganggangsullae.

A common mistake made by those who don’t know about the World Tree is that it is made up of only one stem.

Wrong. The world tree is a huge tree with many trunks intertwined and intertwined to form a single tree.

The extended stems completely encroached on the surroundings and headed towards purgatory. Climb the walls of Purgatory to the rooftop.

Following the stem, Kim Woo-jin also climbed onto the roof. Unlike the dazzling land or walls, there is only one big tree on the roof.

Several branches branching out from a single stem. heaped leaves.

The rich phytoncide scent is refreshing. The subtle mana that makes you feel good just by approaching it truly makes you admire the World Tree.

Kim Woo-jin put his hand on the stem of the World Tree. He stood still and indulged in mana.

The world tree is a divine tree and a spirit that does not grow in proportion to time.

It doesn’t matter whether the identity as a tree or the identity as a spirit comes first.

A moderately grown World Tree can express its will. At this level of growth, it should be possible to fully communicate and manifest as a spirit body.

“Is not it?”

– Beep!

A translucent blue bird that fell through the branches rubbed its face against Kim Woo-jin’s cheek.

* * *

Elixir is valuable at any level. Whether it originated from a plant, animal, or monster, there is only a difference in its purity, but the fact that it holds a huge amount of mana remains the same.

A valuable item that someone else built up for you to quickly raise your level to.

Of course, it should be carefully managed. But I felt that it was too much.

‘Why are you so thorough?’

Extortion of the spirit group.

The reason Kang Min-sik wanted to go to the barn or gardening class was to find an energy source to replace the suppressed mana.

It was called the Spiritual Corps because it was a barn, and only a few of the many monsters in the barn possessed it.

After trying for two months to slaughter them, Kang Min-sik still failed to qualify.

There were many reasons.

Because he is still a newcomer, he must be treated with respect.

He hadn’t even been near Yeongdan, and he hadn’t even started a grand plan to scrape out a very trivial amount.

‘Anyway, isn’t it a little too much to not let me go near it?’

If there is a problem with the command, it is because the warden is in trouble, but no matter how you look at it, it is a little excessive. Maybe to the point of doubting whether they are doing the same thoughts as himself.

Siena Olm. She is annoying as she manages the prisoners at the barn.

Anyway, it was a series of meaningless days. In the meantime, something strange happened.

A huge tree that threw Purgatory into chaos.

‘What is that again?’

The elves and high elves helped Kang Min-shik, saying that they were the message of the world tree, but they had never seen the world tree in person. That’s why I didn’t know that the tree that covered Purgatory was the World Tree.

But I knew that the world tree was no ordinary tree. And I instinctively felt that that would be a big variable.

And the direction was very positive.

‘Mana is abundant.’

Kang Min-shik laid several leaves on the floor that he had hidden from the prison guards.

As the tree grew rapidly, leaves were formed. I couldn’t just pass by the pure and rich mana that I couldn’t believe it was just a leaf.

It was like the first rain of a drought to him, who has not been able to get a chance to steal a proper decision even though he has been serving at the barn for more than two months.

I checked my surroundings and closed the distribution port. All surrounding noise and mana were blocked.

He held a leaf in one hand and a restraint in the other.

I couldn’t make a proper attempt due to lack of mana, but investigations to destroy the spell were conducted every day.

Magic circles and spells that I have become accustomed to.

Now that you’ve come up with a bunch of theories, it’s time to experiment.

Kang Min-sik started interfering.

* * *

Even if the sky turns gloomy and rain and lightning fall, it is the schedule of the prison that changes.

The sudden germination of the World Tree greatly affected the schedule of Purgatory.

schedule is gone. Mental training and discharge were all gone. Prisoners all spent boring days confined to their own rooms, and food delivery was also carried out by prison guards, not soji.

The purpose of the extremely reluctant contact between prisoners was to block even the exchange of opinions about the World Tree.

However, the act rather came to some prisoners as hope.

The old blacksmith, Dercain, was like that, and the elf, Siena, who was tired of prison life, was like that.

[World Tree. Barrier. effect.]

The fragmentary information written on the secretly hidden communicator gave Derkhain more confidence in his assumption.

Intentionally controlling the prisoners means that there is a lot of trouble.

[Yulia. Intent?]

Dercain responded. The communicator that he managed to evade the eyes of the prison guards and warden was designed to send only very fragmentary messages in a spherical system in order not to use mana excessively.

Even so, while in use, it scatters mana, albeit weakly, so you can’t use it normally. But in the current situation, it is very useful.

There would be no time to worry about such a speck of mana in the World Tree’s mana fluctuating world.

The message he sent went to the only pair of communicators. And again the answer came.

[certainty.]

The other owner of the communicator is Sienna. As a fellow elf, she was convinced that Yulia had deliberately handed over the seeds of the world tree to the warden.

Everyone would.

[Jailbreak?]

[uncertainty.]

But why? It is considered unclear whether the purpose was jailbreaking. If the prisoner’s primary purpose is not to break out, then what is?

[reason.]

[mother. this.]

Mother is mother tree. This is such a thing. It means that it is not like a high elf to easily consume the mother tree for such a thing.

I understand, but I don’t go. Being a dwarf, he couldn’t exactly understand the relationship between the high elves and the world tree, so he didn’t think there was anything more important than breaking out of prison.

Not knowing what the exact purpose of the person who did the work is quite a big problem. But that doesn’t necessarily work as a detriment.

Even if they have similar goals, they can be good collaborators.

Sienna said Yulia’s intentions were unclear, but Delcain thought it was fine.

In any case, the World Tree germinated and Purgatory was stopped.

And that means, in other words, that the grown World Tree is never doing anything good for Purgatory.

If it worked to your advantage, there’s no way it would stop.

“The time is coming.”

It’s time to jailbreak.

Dercain had a hunch that that time was near.

* * *

A translucent crystal is placed in the corner of the director’s office.

Soo-jeong, the size of Kim Woo-jin’s face, usually has little use for it. Left unattended, only dust accumulates.

But sometimes, crystals do their job. It works by accepting mana and emitting light. And it accepts someone’s communication from beyond the dimension.

When the crystal ball works, it is fixed.

It is when a new prisoner is admitted or when there is a problem in Purgatory. If it was the former, he might not have known it, but the latter was something Kim Woo-jin would never be happy with.

woo woo woo-

“Chief.”

It had been 10 minutes since I left the purging sphere, which emitted light and weak vibration, as it was. In the meantime, there was no sign of disconnecting the communication that reached the crystal ball.

Tak-tak, the fingers that lightly tapped the table eventually headed for the crystal ball. It reacts to Kim Woo-jin’s mana and emits a more intense light.

[You receive it late.]

[Ah, can you hear me?]

A rather frivolous voice leaked through the communication port.

Kim Woo-jin did not answer, but the man’s voice continued.

[A big change has occurred in the barrier of the dimension of purgatory. This is not what we intended. That means you are the cause. What have you done?]

“Looks like you have nothing to do. Do you see how he pays attention to such trivial things?”

[Because I don’t particularly prefer variables of injustice, whether in a positive or negative direction. Me and the others too.]

[Ask properly. Is there a problem with Purgatory?]

“Purgatory is always the same. It’s peaceful and I’m struggling to convince the prisoners. No problem.”

[Then, what is the cause of the change in the barrier of purgatory?]

“Well. The exact reason is not yet known. We are figuring it out on this side as well.”

[Kim Woo-jin.]

Sujeonggu’s voice became more subdued.

[We trust you. Your ability, your disposition, and even the achievements you have shown. There has never been anyone more suitable than you as the director of purgatory, and I don’t think there will be any in the future.]

“The editorial is long.”

[But that’s why there are overflowing people who want to catch even the smallest pods.]

[It is unprecedented that an abnormality occurred in the barrier of purgatory. Therefore, most of them cannot just pass it over.]

It was not a very positive reaction to Kim Woo-jin. It wasn’t too difficult to anticipate what would come at the end.

[Nevertheless, no action will be taken.]

yes, as always

You will be contacted in case of minor problems. But it doesn’t do anything obvious. just a warning I’m watching you, so don’t do nonsense and do well.

[As long as the prisoners are released well, nothing else matters. I believe you said there is no problem.]

[In fact, there was no harmful change to the barrier.]

[Unless it escalates into a significant situation, all trivial things can be overlooked.]

“Should I say thank you?”

But it wasn’t because of his favor toward Kim Woo-jin.

[no.]

[If there is a problem, the only good thing is that it is this side. Because that is our contract with you.]

In order to make a little profit, I’m just sitting on the sidelines, hoping that problems will happen that I can get out of my way.

[Then good luck. I hope I can see you for a long time.]

“Don’t say anything terrible.”

Suddenly, contact was lost.

“Are you okay?”

“There is no reason not to be okay. They made stupid choices.”

If all the elves chose to voluntarily get out of prison because of the World Tree, would they be able to remain calm?

If you go there and hit the ground and regret it, there is no turning back.

They are contradictory guys who want the release of the heroes, but don’t want to go out too much because of the contract with Kim Woo-jin.

“However, the growth of the world tree is a problem on a completely different level. If there was a significant change in the barrier, it would be better to catch the pod somehow, but why are you just passing it on?”

“It must be one of two things.”

or think it’s really trivial.

“There are other alternatives.”

Kim Woo-jin put more weight on the latter. I can’t believe the words of those insidious bastards.