8 AM, the following morning.
Do-Jun was ready to head to the Core’s eighth floor. In truth, his preparation amounted to grabbing the Core Talisman and his SpacePad and changing into casual clothes. There were no visible weapons, armor, or battle-support artifacts.
“I won’t be long,” Do-Jun said apologetically, glancing at Hakase and Kiriel seated across the table. “I’ll pay you for today’s business when I get back.”
Leaving Byeol alone at home weighed on him, so he entrusted her care to the duo for the day.
“Please do not worry about that. It’s an honor to be of service,” Hakase responded with a serious expression.
Do-Jun smiled at the sight. Even though he occasionally caused trouble with Kiriel, deep down, the duo was kind-hearted.
“Thank you. And make sure Byeol eats breakfast when she wakes up,” Do-Jun said.
“We will. Please take care out there.”
The Core Talisman shimmered, enveloping Do-Jun in light. In an instant, he disappeared from Earth. Once Hakase and Kiriel realized Do-Jun had entered the Core, they exchanged solemn nods.
“This is our chance. You know that, right?” Hakase spoke first.
“It’s a golden opportunity to earn the King of Earth’s trust. Letting it slip would be the height of stupidity.”
“I know,” Kiriel agreed again.
“First, let’s prepare breakfast.” With that, Hakase walked over to the kitchen.
Kiriel also pushed back his chair and stood up, causing a loud snap! to echo from the floor. He picked up a rectangular object, now broken in two, and inspected it carefully. It was an Earth device called a remote control.
“Lizard,” he called out.
“I must visit the electronics store.”
Hearing the reply, veins bulged on Hakase’s forehead as he saw the shattered TV remote.
On the eighth floor of the Core, a small Fissure appeared in the air and then closed. Marf, who had been hiding among the roots and lower trunk of the World Tree, sensed the arrival of a new adventurer on the eighth floor.
The Fissure spat out a man, who plummeted through the sky. A single leaf drifted in from somewhere, catching the man and gently slowing his descent toward the ground. It was the World Tree’s considerate gesture, tearing off a leaf to save the adventurer.
He’s dead, Marf thought. There’s no way a rookie can survive the Sea of Death.
The leaf was drifting farther and farther away from the World Tree, heading toward the center of the Sea of Death, which seethed with toxic energy. Usually, the leaf would have landed safely near the shallow roots of the World Tree, but thanks to the damned Rainbow Bird, the tree was in a weakened state and, at times, caused such errors.
The Sea of Death burned flesh on contact. Only adventurers coated in the World Tree’s sap could withstand it for more than ten seconds.
Marf clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking, And as if it’s not already bad enough, that’s where.... The poor bastard has terrible luck.
The rookie was headed toward the lair of a monster akin to Entusha or Laikar from the first floor—a creature known as Antaras, who devoured everything in sight. The sea beneath the falling rookie turned black as Antaras surfaced, its enormous shadow rising ominously.
Marf gulped at the sight. He was the most powerful adventurer on the eighth floor and, therefore, its Monarch, but he decided to ignore the rookie.
Suddenly, the ground beneath Marf shook violently, as if hit by an earthquake. Looking up, he saw the sky filled with the massive wings of the Rainbow Bird, which kept pecking at the branches of the World Tree. Marf couldn’t help but swear inwardly.
Focusing on the rookie was a luxury he couldn’t afford.
He thought, I don’t know how much longer the tree can hold out.
There were no options left. They either needed to descend to the next floor prematurely or fight the Rainbow Bird to the death. But all the adventurers, including Marf, knew the truth: no one could defeat the Rainbow Bird or Antaras.
As Do-Jun floated down on a leaf that was over two meters long, he saw a quest message appear before him.
[A Quest Has Been Generated.]
[Quest: The World Tree, the Tree of Life.] ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NovєlFіre.net
[The World Tree, which sprouted in the Sea of Death with the birth of the Core’s eighth floor, offers hope by enabling adventurers to survive. However, the monsters are draining its life force, and the World Tree grows weaker by the day.]
Do-Jun skimmed the quest details and looked below. The large leaf slowed his descent. Standing up, he looked at the vast shadow stretching across the water’s surface, prompting the words “Special Quest Triggered” to appear before him.
Antaras, huh? he thought.
Do-Jun instantly realized this was a Hidden Piece.
Hidden Pieces were typically reserved for future raid teams from Earth, but Do-Jun occasionally claimed them for himself in two situations. First, if leaving the Hidden Piece alone posed a danger to the future raid teams, and second, if the Hidden Piece was too powerful for the raid teams to handle.
Antaras fell into both categories.
Do-Jun assessed Antaras’ strength using his qi senses. After running multiple simulations, he concluded that even Earth’s strongest teams, like Behemoth or Icarus, had no chance of defeating it.
The shadow lengthened and darkened, indicating that Antaras was rising from the depths of the Sea of Death.
Do-Jun considered for a moment whether Behemoth could actually handle this monster once they reached the eighth floor. The deliberation didn’t take long.
Antaras broke the surface, its shell as large as an island. It slowly lifted its head from the shell, turned toward Do-Jun, and opened its massive jaws. From within, a violet mist began to seep out.
Do-Jun realized it was poison.
The toxic mist shot toward Do-Jun like a cannon blast, engulfing him, but it quickly dissipated, revealing an unscathed Do-Jun.
Antaras froze, its body stiff with shock. The poison that should have dissolved the adventurer instantly had done nothing.
Do-Jun’s Poison Immunity and his physique, honed beyond human limits, left him completely unaffected. He clenched his fist as his right arm turned pitch black. It was the power he had obtained in the Tutorial Zone, allowing him to super-enhance parts or all of his body.
The leaf beneath him had disintegrated from Antaras’ poison, yet Do-Jun remained aloft as though standing on an invisible platform.
He launched himself at Antaras. An enormous shockwave rippled across the water as Do-Jun’s strike hit Antaras.
“What the fuck... That’s insane,” said one of the adventurers.
After the chaos subsided, adventurers who had been tumbling around on the swaying roots of the World Tree due to the fierce earthquake gathered their composure and tried to understand what had just happened. Especially Marf, the Monarch of the eighth floor, who had witnessed firsthand the scene of the rookie fighting Antaras.
“No way... how is that even possible?” he muttered in utter disbelief.
Without a doubt, the man was a rookie.
By the time all the adventurers reached the second floor of the Core, they learned a crucial fact: they could descend to lower floors but could not go back up. Moving between floors was strictly one-way—from top to bottom. Therefore, an adventurer arriving at the eighth-floor entrance was clearly one who had just come down from the seventh floor.
Antaras’ shattered corpse floated to the surface. A man stood atop a fragment of its shell, with a purple spear hovering before him. He casually shoved the spear into a pouch, which seemed to have an incredibly vast interior, as the spear slid in with ease.
It wasn’t just the adventurers who were in shock. Another being stood frozen, unable to believe what was happening before him. The Rainbow Bird, which had been pecking at the branches of the World Tree to become stronger, had polymorphed into a human form and was now staring blankly at Antaras’ lifeless body.
His fists trembled violently, the spasms showing no signs of stopping.
At first, he had simply assumed that the newcomer was just another adventurer who had descended from the seventh floor. But he suddenly remembered the Water Serpent’s words, “Lee Do-Jun is coming to the eighth floor.”
The Rainbow Bird didn’t need anyone to confirm it; he instinctively knew that this man was none other than the adventurer that the Water Serpent had warned him about: Lee Do-Jun. As per the warning, the adventurer who had slain Antaras was, indeed, a man with black hair.
The man looked in the bird’s direction, making it flinch involuntarily. Although it was far away and seemingly impossible to see clearly with the naked eye, there was no doubt that a man who had taken down Antaras in a single strike was extraordinary. The Rainbow Bird knew that this man was looking at him.
The Water Serpent’s words, “I’m telling you this as your good friend: That guy is unbelievably strong. Don’t pick a fight with him,” were, without a doubt, true. That guy was unbelievably strong.
Fortunately, there was another fact working in the Rainbow Bird’s favor: it hadn’t yet confronted Do-Jun. That meant, if it handled this situation wisely, its chances of survival could improve.
He killed Antaras with a single hit. That means I will get... what am I supposed to do? How do I survive against that monster? The Rainbow Bird paced nervously, gulping repeatedly.
Then, something caught its eye. “Wait, this is...”
What caught its eye in this urgent moment was a book titled Hangul for Children, Vol. I. It remembered that this was a book that taught the basics of Korean, the language from Earth where Lee Do-Jun lived.
The Rainbow Bird, clutching its trembling legs, stumbled over to where the book had fallen and carefully held it close to its chest.
Do-Jun looked at a bird perched at the top of the World Tree. The moment their eyes met, the bird polymorphed into human form and began to panic.
Did it realize it stood no chance?
Scratching his head, Do-Jun checked his quest log.
[The World Tree, the Tree of Life.]
It said that a monster was gnawing on the World Tree. There was no doubt—the monster referred to that bird.
With a running start, Do-Jun launched himself into the air. The corpse of Antaras, which he had been standing on, flipped over and splashed into the water. Though it was just a single jump, Do-Jun landed effortlessly atop the distant World Tree.
Now standing face-to-face with the Rainbow Bird, Do-Jun saw it clutching a book tightly to its chest. Slowly, the bird started to approach him cautiously.
Black energy radiated from Do-Jun’s hand.
The Rainbow Bird flinched, but continued inching forward with trembling steps. Finally, it knelt before him and held out the book, Hangul for Children, Vol. I, exclaiming with desperation, “I-I respect you...!”