Chapter 117 – Retreat (4)

“Alright then, the first game~~”

The voice of the highly spirited host, Gu-seul, fills the auditorium.
Her powerful voice is so commanding that the students, who had been preoccupied, are caught off guard and turn their attention to her.

“Let the game begin!”

Oh, oh!

Cheers and applause erupt. Rhythmic background music sets the atmosphere, and the stage is fully equipped with audio that makes one’s hips instinctively sway.

-Team 8, fighting!

Gu-seul, who giggled at the daring cheers for Team 8, reached out to them with the hand holding the script.

“Heehee~ I love the enthusiasm! Team 8, 100 bonus points!”

Wow!

Team 8 claps and rejoices. Not to be outdone, other teams start shouting their own cheers.

-Go, Team 2!
-Team 4, fighting!!!

“Oh, it’s so predictable! I wish the voices were louder~”

A soft chuckle escaped at the sight of the quivering figure. I was worried, being a mere novice rather than an expert, but from any angle, this appeared to be a fully matured form of recreation. After shouting words of encouragement like this, one’s body inevitably heats up.

If we’re playing a game, we should at least try to get a score, right? It’s a question of drinks and snacks. Everyone, shout louder! The atmosphere, which began to follow this flow, simply couldn’t cool down.

The problem is… how to solve this.

A movie question. Naturally, it’s not my area of expertise. So far, the only movies I’ve watched are old films shown for free in the hospital ward, and “Go, go. Precure vs. Tree Rangers” with Heaven, who adores children’s cartoons down to her core.

“Anyone here well-versed in movies?”
“Uhm… I’ve only seen the popular ones. Not very confident.”
“What about Azalea?”

At the mention of her name from my lips, Azalea’s shoulders jumped with surprise.

He steadied his quivering lips and weakly shook his head.

“I’ll do my best… yo.”
“You are our hope. Sansuyu and I have no answers.”

She candidly admitted her lack of confidence. Sooyoung’s eyes widened at my words, and she sidled up to me, muttering.

“…Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?”
“Is it really alright to speak with Sansuyu?”

It seemed more surprising to her that I had spoken with Sansuyu than being ignorant about the movie.

‘I thought she kept stealing glances at Sansuyu earlier. So that’s what she was thinking.’

At the L Academy, especially the Korean branch, Sansuyu had a noble image that didn’t allow anyone to approach her. Would she even talk to someone as insignificant as me? She probably wouldn’t want to get entangled with me at all. With such thoughts in mind, I had initially tried to keep my distance.

“Why can’t I talk with Suyu when I can talk with you?”
“I’m just a lowly noble… Are you really okay with that?”
“We’re close. And I don’t care about such things.”

It was somewhat peculiar when one considered it. Typically, nobles would strive to present themselves well to those of higher rank, but this wasn’t the case for Sansuyu. Azalea, who found herself in a similar situation, had no qualms about forging friendships.

Living like this for the rest of their lives simply wasn’t an option, so something had to change. That was why I had included Sansuyu within my circle.

I tugged at Sansuyu’s cheek as she sat beside me. It stretched like a glutinous rice cake—always satisfying to touch, no matter when.

“…What are you doing?”

Suyeong, who was observing us, couldn’t close her mouth, seemingly lost in thought. Her pale face appeared both concerned for me and terrified of what might happen to her.

‘She wants friends that badly? I’ll have to help her make some.’

As I continued to gently massage her cheek, I contemplated the situation. The reason Sansuyu struggled to form proper friendships was because the image entrenched in the minds of the other students was far too powerful.

“We should cheer, too.”
“Huh?”
“Just count down from three, and then we can shout ’10 trillion fighting!’ together.”
“Cheering? Do we have to?”
“We can do it together.”
“…Together. Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

Nodding, Sansuyu gathered her delicate hands and brought them to her lips, her face showing slight uncertainty. She seemed to think that it was worth trying since she wasn’t doing it alone. However, I couldn’t bring myself to shout properly.

3, 2, 1.

“10 trillion fighti–!”

Sansuyu’s high-pitched voice rang out for the first time. The unexpectedly cute sound pierced through the voices of the other cadets, popping out like rabbit ears from a hole.

-Huh?

Everyone turned their heads to see the source of the soft, melodic voice.

“Teeing…?”

As soon as Sansuyu sensed the oddity, her voice dropped. Her eyes looked directly at me. The rabbit, feeling the gaze, was shocked and quickly hid back inside the hole. Betrayal washed over her resolute face.

“Sieon.”
“Sorry.”

“You said we’d do it together.”
“Really, I’m sorry.”
“…I hate you.”

Her lips pouted as she playfully patted my shoulder. To me, it seemed like a significant step forward for Sansuyu. I decided to let it be, since it wasn’t a bad situation.

Proudly watching her swim, she had a nervous smile on her face.

“How is it?”
“…Later, tell me how you two became friends.”

I would do it countless times, with Sansuyu. If it meant helping her make more friends, I’d be willing to sacrifice myself, even if it meant dying a hundred times.

“Team Ten, fight on!”

Just then, a loud voice burst out from right beside me, a determined cheer that seemed to come from the depths of their stomach.

In response, Guseul laughed heartily and raised her hand in our direction.

“Hahaha! Team Ten~! Add 100 points, please!”
“Hey, that’s so biased!”
“If you cheer like that, you’ve got to grant it, hehehe. No objections accepted!”

A deluge of jeers filled the air, but they were not heartfelt. The chirping sounds of Cornus broke the silence, and Azalea took over, unexpectedly earning a point for one question. But why all of a sudden?

Upon glancing at Azalea, she was tightly closing her eyes and sweeping her heart.

“…It’s nice to have more points, right?”

“Yes, indeed. Good job.”

The corners of her mouth briefly lifted into a smile—perhaps it was just the atmosphere.

Time passed, and the movie quiz began. The first question was a consonant puzzle.

-ㅌㄹㄹㄷ

As soon as the consonants were revealed, someone at the front raised their hand and called out.

“Answer! Treeland!”

Gu-seul, who had drawn a large circle with her hand, shouted loudly.

“Ding dong deng! The first question was easy, wasn’t it? Enchanting love, intense passion! The romantic musical movie, Treeland!”

Familiar-sounding musical tunes flowed from the large speakers.

“Ah, I knew it.”

Watching Suyeong slap her knee, it’s clear that this must be really famous. Of course, I didn’t know. There is no way I could have known. To begin with, everyone in this world seems to have a bizarre sense of naming, so my common sense literally prohibits any predictions.

It’s a romantic musical movie, yet for some reason, it involves a tree. Honestly, these people must experience an assault by a tree at least once before they’d stop using it as a subject matter.

‘Still, I must have seen at least one.’

With that thought, I focused all my attention. The following questions progressed similarly.

“Correct! Good tree, bad tree, strange tree!”

It started with those three damned trees.

“Disney’s Mermaid Tree!”

Even hybrids of humans, trees, and fish that no one would have ever thought of.

“I want to eat your insect-catching sac!”

Now they’re going crazy about devouring the digestive organs of carnivorous plants.

‘Heh heh heh, I’m losing my mind.’

Wouldn’t watching PreCure be a much better choice?

The enemy tree rangers are also elegantly sorted by tree type, making their transformations quite majestic.
Gu-seul even feigned wiping away tears, claiming that the aforementioned entomological film was deeply moving. It’s madness.
Now I understand why Heaven’s taste in entertainment is so limited.

‘Still…’

Surprisingly, Kim Soo-young and Azalea were performing well.
They claimed to know only the more famous works, but given that the questions mainly focused on those, their answers came quickly and accurately.

“Kind Shepherd!”
“Correct!”

Azalea’s continuous correct answers brought their score to 400 points.
With numerous teams participating, 400 points was enough to tie for second place.
Considering that first place had 500 points, answering the final question could potentially secure them the top spot.

“Alright, the last question! This one might be tough to guess? Hehe… It’s a bit risqué~”

Laughter erupted around Gu-seul as she flashed a mischievous grin.

The issue at hand was a movie unsuitable for teenagers, but it didn’t pose any significant problems.

“This time, we’re going for 300 points!”

A flash.

The initial consonants displayed on the screen were quite lengthy. I couldn’t see them, and all the immersed cadets, previously marching toward the correct answers, clamped their mouths shut.

-ㄱ ㄴㅈㅇ ㄴㅁㅃㄹ : ㅈㅊㅂ ㅅㄱㅅㄱ

In the middle, anyone can see it’s a tree. I might not know anything else, but that much is certain. I wonder how many times one has to experience it to finally let it go and move on.

“A tree… What could it be?”

Even Suyeong, the ace of our group and a sensible person, has given up on this problem. It’s true, though; it doesn’t make sense for 20-year-olds who aren’t adult video actors to memorize the titles of erotic movies from a bygone era.

“Ah, is the question difficult? Then, let’s move on to the picture!”

-Beep.

A somewhat explicit silhouette of a woman and man appears from behind. In the corner of the poster, a nine-pronged whip and rope can be seen.

“If only I had Zodiac with me, I would have guessed it right away.”

Thoughts of Zodiac, who had mastered the obscure culture, flashed through my mind. Asking her would give me the answer directly, but my conscience pricked me. Was there another way?

“…Ah.”

At that moment, a short exclamation came from right beside me. Sooyoung caught that faint breath, which would have gone unnoticed had she not been paying attention.

“Azalea, do you know?”
“Ah, no?! I don’t know!”

Azalea’s reaction was so rough that it gave her away, and she quickly shook her head. Sooyoung and I exchanged a brief glance at Azalea’s slightly reddened earlobes.

‘…Let’s pretend we don’t know this.’

Somehow, we understood each other without speaking. Yet, it seemed like a genuinely difficult question. Even with the picture revealed, no one could guess the answer.

“Ah, what a shame. I’ll reveal the answer in exactly 10 seconds.”

The countdown began. Azalea, right next to me, grew increasingly restless as the numbers dwindled one by one.

There was no need to feign innocence with a face betraying guilt. After all, wasn’t it normal for women to play coy at times?

“…If you guess that right, do you win a prize?”
“Will it be more likely?”

In response to the question, Sansuyu looked straight ahead, humming in a nasal tone.
Perhaps her words had flipped a switch.
As her hand stealthily crept up, Gu-seul let out a gasp!

“…Correct.”

All eyes were drawn to Azalea, her reddened face a sight to behold.
Did she truly need to go that far?
The humiliation exchanged for 300 points was no small matter.

But Azalea,
She embodied the true spirit of competition in this age.

“The roots of that man’s tree… A dorm room raid incident.”

A perfect title for the precise paragraph.
Impressive. Confident.
As Gu-seul pressed the remote control, the last hint, ‘whip,’ sprang forth.

“Right, phew… Answer.”

Gu-seul’s voice, barely containing her laughter, echoed through the auditorium.

I’m truly grateful for the curtains on the auditorium windows.
Azalea’s flushed face wouldn’t be visible from afar.

“…Thank you, and stay strong.”
“Please, forget…”

I will forget.
…After all, it’s been a while since I understood Azalea’s taste.

“So, Azalea, that’s your preference.”

Upon Soo-young’s brazen declaration, Azalea couldn’t help but cover her face with both hands.
The gossip among the students had just increased by one.

* * * * *

Jijik, Jijijik.

An ancient tree that has withstood the test of time, inhabited by the spirits of the earth and the essence of mana.
It was once called the World Tree by someone. After a very long slumber, it began to stir its consciousness.

[…….]

It had been consumed by flames once and had no choice but to face death.

Of course, even now, it was as good as dead.
Even with its power, it couldn’t alter the reality.

It once ruled over the absolute concept of time, but now it was less than half as powerful.

The tree, barely able to maintain consciousness, attempted to connect with other World Trees, but seeing no response, gave up.

[…Opening my eyes means I have been resurrected, after all.]

The World Tree of Time.
Without a physical form, the tree, barely sustaining its soul, slowly began to disperse its mana beneath its decaying roots.

[King Mokryeong…]

Whether it had been resurrected or had moved on to the next realm was uncertain.
But the task at hand was clear.

…To never let him go astray.
The tree once again instilled in itself the resolve it had engraved during its death.