CHAPTER 56
056 - First Feelings
For Jinwoo, it was a bolt from the blue.
The 3rd Floor, Pandemonium, wasn't a completely safe place, but it couldn't be compared to the 6th Floor.
The 5th Floor, the Dragon Star Realm, was already a perilous place overflowing with dragons, so what about the 6th Floor above it?
According to Kalesian, the Spirit Realm was a place only ancient dragons of 8,000 years or more could ascend to. This meant it was a world beyond worlds, teeming with such beings.
'Wait! How could you just send me to a place like this!'
He immediately tried to protest to the God of the Moonlight Forest, but her voice was gone.
He asked the Sky God's scabbard and the power of the blessing in his body, the glass bead, multiple times, but there was no answer.
Is it because I'm not on the 3rd Floor, so the message can't get through? Or don't tell me she's ignoring me on purpose?
'Damn it.'
Jinwoo looked around. It was a meadow dense with reed-like grasses that grew wild.
Some were relatively short, about waist-high, while others were as tall as he was.
Dewdrops from the mist had formed on the blades of grass, and each one was a bead of condensed, high-purity mana.
That in itself was astounding, but it also made him worry.
If this high-purity mana was the norm in this world, just how strong were the beings that lived here...?
'So I have to find a blue portal here, is that it?'
Hoo. Jinwoo took a deep breath to calm his agitated mind.
In the end, no matter the world, his task was the same. To explore safely, find the blue portal, and return to his original world.
Even if it was the 6th Floor, it was still a Gate. Nothing had changed.
'The white tower.'
Beyond the mist, a majestic white tower soared into the sky.
It looked exactly like the tower of the Elven royal palace that the World Tree had shown him in Bellen Village.
If it really was that tower, the Priestess of the World Tree should be living inside, but Jinwoo didn't get his hopes up.
'The tower might look the same, but this is the 6th Floor, not the world where the queen lives. The inside might be more like a dungeon.'
Approaching an unidentified structure was dangerous. As convenient as it might be for a base, there was a high probability that other beings had made their nests there.
But he couldn't just pass by without checking.
Jinwoo cautiously approached the tower and circled it, examining its perimeter.
'The entrance... is it just that one door in the front?'
He couldn't see any other entrances. There might be a secret door operated by magic, but for Jinwoo, who knew no magic, it was as good as non-existent.
'The door is too big.'
The door was massive. Opening it wouldn't be a problem, but it was bound to make a loud noise.
It would be impossible to open the door without alerting any beings inside the tower.
'Blue Flame.'
Just then, he sensed a blue flame from within the tower.
It was descending from the top of the tower and had just entered his detection range.
It was the only blue flame his senses picked up. This meant there was only one moving life form nearby.
'That is...'
Seeing that flame, Jinwoo leaned his body against the front door. Then, with a slight push, he slowly opened it.
Kkiiiiik
As he feared, he couldn't muffle the sound. He could feel the blue flame on the upper floor pause in surprise.
The first floor of the tower was filled with only a cold chill. Jinwoo stepped into the space, devoid of any human warmth, and...
KWANG!
The moment he entered, the door behind him slammed shut.
Then, the blue flame that had been far above appeared on the ceiling of the first floor, as if it had teleported.
"Who goes there!"
The strongly resonating voice was younger than he expected. Light emanated from hair the color of blue water, and moisture in the air gathered to form sharp spears and swords, threatening the intruder.
A wide, white robe fluttered in the wind, exuding a formidable aura.
Jinwoo drew his sword just in case, but he didn't point it.
A flame he had seen once before, and a face he recognized.
"Are you the Priestess of the World Tree?"
"...Eh?"
The priestess floating in the air above the tower stared at Jinwoo, her mouth agape in disbelief.
The spears and swords, which had been radiating killing intent towards the intruder, went limp and turned back into ordinary water, dripping onto the floor.
He didn't know why she, who was supposed to be in the Elven world, was here on the 6th Floor, but he knew one thing for sure.
The God of the Moonlight Forest was indeed the World Tree.

A short while later.
Jinwoo was sitting across from the priestess in a greenhouse garden inside the tower.
Unlike the chilly first floor, this place was filled with warmth and light, a comforting feeling like basking in real sunlight.

Roses of various colors—red, blue, and yellow—filled the garden, along with many other types of flowers.
It was a garden where flowers of all four seasons, from spring to winter, bloomed in profusion.
At an elegantly finished white table, Jinwoo was being served tea by the priestess.
"I apologize if I'm mistaken... but are you the human I saw back then?"
The priestess herself didn't even touch her cup, simply sitting there fidgeting.
"If you mean the being the World Tree showed you, then yes, that's me. Our faces are the same."
"I didn't see your face, only your soul... So you really are him!"
The priestess was extremely excited, yet at the same time, she squirmed with awkwardness.
Until now, she had only heard about humans from Rona and other elves; this was her first time meeting one in person.
In fact, it was her first time meeting any other race at all, so she had no idea how to hold a conversation.
"I... I've always wanted to meet you!" she managed to say, forcing out the difficult words with great courage.
But Jinwoo, who was listening, was just puzzled.
"You wanted to meet me? Why?"
"Because I've never met a human before. Ah! And I also wanted to ask about your relationship with Mother World Tree! She has never shown me the form of a human before."
His relationship with the World Tree...
Unfortunately, Jinwoo didn't know either. He wanted to know what connection his past life had with the World Tree himself.
"Did any of the offerings end up here?"
"Pardon? Offerings?"
"Have you ever seen something like this?"
Jinwoo took out one of the remaining dolls from his inventory and showed it to her. It was possible that the offerings from the Moonlight Forest had been sent to this tower.
"Oh my, how adorable! Is it a white fox? Oh my, my, I've never seen such a soft doll before."
However, the priestess reacted as if she was seeing it for the very first time.
She touched the fluffy arctic fox doll with wonder and even rubbed it against her cheek.
The doll was cute enough for a man to appreciate, so it must have seemed even more so in her eyes.
"You can have it if you want."
"Really!?"
She asked back in the loudest voice he had heard from her yet. When Jinwoo nodded, she looked at the doll with eyes that sparkled brighter than ever.
'It seems this really is her first time.'
Her reaction couldn't be an act. The picture books and other dolls he had offered had clearly not come to this tower.
So those childish tastes really were the World Tree's...
"By the way, didn't you live in the world of the elves? What was it called... the Delphinia Kingdom? You were in the palace of that kingdom."
"Yes, that's right. I am the queen."
She said, lightly grasping the hem of her white skirt while still seated, mimicking a curtsy.
Proper etiquette would require her to stand and bend her knees, but she kept it simple.
She was often scolded by her handmaiden, Sher, for things like this, but her innate playfulness was hard to suppress.
"Then why are you on the 6th Floor? Were you also guided here by the World Tree?"
Her playful demeanor vanished at Jinwoo's question, replaced by a sad and sullen expression.
"I exist in that world, and at the same time, I exist here in the Spirit Realm. Though it feels more like I'm straddling them."
"Straddling?"
"This tower is situated between the world where the kingdom is and the Spirit Realm where Mother World Tree resides. You can think of it as a medium to connect our world with Mother World Tree."
The priestess's explanation was as follows.
This white tower did not exist entirely on the 6th Floor, nor did it exist entirely in the Elven world.
It was a bridge that straddled the middle, connecting the two worlds.
The souls gathered in the Elven world pass through the tower to the World Tree on the 6th Floor, and the World Tree, through the tower, gives birth to new life in the Elven world.
In a way, it was similar to the Sky God's scabbard that Jinwoo possessed.
Though it was on an incomparably larger scale than the divine objects on the 3rd Floor, which could only transmit voices or blessings.
"The image of Mother World Tree seen from the kingdom isn't real, it's merely an illusion. Gods don't descend directly to the mortal plane, do they? They always watch over us from on high."
"So that mirage-like thing..."
The mirage-like image of the World Tree he had seen in Bellen Village. It seemed it wasn't a physical entity but a true mirage.

The World Tree's main body, like the other Monarchs, was located on the 6th Floor, connected to the Elven world through the white tower.
"Then can you freely travel between the Elven world and the 6th Floor?"
"...It's the opposite. I can't go to either world."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't completely belong to any world. I can't go out to look after the people of my kingdom, nor can I go to see the true form of Mother World Tree in the Spirit Realm. I can't leave this tower."
Only then did Jinwoo understand why she was so dejected.
A tower straddling the middle of two worlds. She, bound to the tower, was not a being who could go to either world, but one who could go to neither.
A being who had lived her entire life within this tower.
"But I can still welcome guests who come to the tower! Until now, it's only been Sher, Rona, or the boring elders. You're the first guest to come through the Spirit Realm!"
She said, deliberately raising her voice.
A visitor to her lonely tower must be a joyous occasion. While he sympathized with that, Jinwoo couldn't help but ask.
"I need to find a blue portal to go back. Have you ever seen one somewhere in the tower?"
Asking the host how to leave right after she thanked him for coming was a rather heart-wrenching thing to do.
"Uh... are you leaving already?"
"No, not right away. Besides, I can't leave even if I wanted to without finding a blue portal. So, have you seen one in the tower?"
"Blue portals don't appear in this tower. It straddles the Gate, but it doesn't belong to the Gate."
As he thought. It seemed he had no choice but to explore outside to find a blue portal.
Jinwoo thought for a moment and then asked the priestess.
"Could I ask you a favor?"
"Anything."
"Could I use this place as a base for a while to explore the 6th Floor? It's a dangerous place, so I need a safe base."
"Of course, you can! You can even stay here forever!"
"Forever is a bit much."
"If you don't like forever, then... how about just 100 years?"
For a human, 100 years is a lifetime...
He wasn't sure if she knew that or not. Jinwoo just shook his head.
"I just realized we haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Kang Jinwoo. Kang is the family name, Jinwoo is the given name."
"So you're Jinwoo-nim! My name is Permu!"
And so, using the tower where Permu lived as a base, the exploration of the 6th Floor began.

He talked with Permu all through the night.
They were both so curious about each other that they didn't even think about sleeping.
From incredibly important topics like the 6th Floor, the Monarchs, and the World Tree, to trivial stories about their daily lives.
Among them was a story about Rona.
"So you're the human Rona was talking about!"
Permu was incredibly surprised when Rona's name came up by chance. Jinwoo, on the other hand, wasn't as surprised.
'Rona said she was a knight of the royal castle.'
He had already anticipated that she might know the queen, being a knight who worked in the royal palace.
If anything was unexpected, it was how close they seemed to be.
"If Rona comes to the tower, will I be able to meet her?"
When he asked out of curiosity, Permu shook her head.
"No. Rona enters the tower from that world, while you, Jinwoo-nim, entered from the Spirit Realm side, so you probably won't be able to meet. Only I, the being in the middle of the two worlds, can meet you both."
"At best, I could probably pass on a message."
"That much should be possible, but Rona has left for the 5th Floor and isn't at the palace right now."
Rona had apparently prepared thoroughly and left for the 5th Floor. Exploring the 5th Floor was very dangerous and would take a long time, so she wouldn't be back for a while.
The next day, after talking about this and that.
Jinwoo stood before the main gate of the tower.
He couldn't stay in the tower forever; it was time to set out on an expedition.
"P-Please be careful."
Permu's hesitant voice wished for Jinwoo's safety.
"Please, you must not approach the divine territories of the Monarchs. The Monarchs have various personalities, and while some may be merciful, you never know what might happen."
"The twelve divine territories, you said?"
Among the topics they discussed yesterday was the divine territories of the Monarchs.
They were the domains where the twelve Monarchs had made their nests. It was said to be an extremely dangerous place even within the Spirit Realm, inhabited not only by the Monarchs themselves but also by their followers.

The Monarch's servants Jinwoo had met were the Black Knight and Island, and while the Knight was one thing, just a couple more servants like Island would be nothing short of a catastrophe.
Meanwhile, during that conversation yesterday, Jinwoo had asked a question.
Twelve divine territories? Not thirteen?
Pardon? There are twelve Monarchs.
Her answer was the same as Kalesian's. Kalesian had also said there were twelve Monarchs and that the thirteenth god in the Gate was an unknown entity.
—Is the World Tree not a Monarch?
—...Jinwoo-nim. Even for you, I cannot overlook a remark that insults Mother World Tree.
When he asked about the World Tree and Erosion, Permu's reaction was firm. It was more than firm; he could feel her anger.
'Permu doesn't know that the World Tree is using Erosion.'
He knew because he had seen it with his own eyes.
The sight of the World Tree's roots not merely being affected by Erosion, but actively using and coveting it.
But Permu, the Priestess of the World Tree, did not know this fact. If she didn't know, it was safe to assume that the entire Elven race was unaware.
What was the true identity of the World Tree?
What was its relationship with Erosion?
And what was its connection to his own past life?
All of it lay beyond the door. In the mist-shrouded world, the Spirit Realm.
"I'll be back."
"You must! You must come back safely!"
The door opened, and Jinwoo departed from the tower.
Permu watched his retreating back and reached out her hand. But her hand was blocked by something like a transparent wall, unable to go any further.

A completely isolated space. She was an existence alienated from every world.
"Please come back safely..."
So, all she could do was wait. For him to return safely, without any trouble.
Kkiiiiik—
After Jinwoo left, the tower door quietly closed.

Outside the white tower. Jinwoo stepped into the misty meadow.
'First things first.'
If he were being greedy, he'd want to find where the World Tree was. The white tower was here, but the World Tree's main body was nowhere to be seen.
Was it physically far away, or was it hidden by some unknown power?
But searching for the World Tree now was true greed.
'...This is insane.'
Just a short distance from the tower, scenes that made him doubt his eyes appeared beyond the mist.
In the distance, a silhouette like a dinosaur the size of a mountain was walking around. It was almost the same size as Island. It breathed fire from its mouth, and the fire was setting the entire sky ablaze.
In another direction, there was a swarm of pitch-black clouds that seemed to suck everything in, from which huge ice crystals and lightning bolts rained down ceaselessly. It truly never stopped for a moment; staying in a place like that for even a day would surely rupture one's eardrums from the 24-hour thunder.
In another area, waves surged and whirlpools churned, and creatures that looked like dragons were engaged in a massive brawl. Since they weren't using magic, were they just exercising? Not a single one was a hatchling like Kalesian; they were all proper adult dragons.
'Just find the blue portal. Nothing else.'
This was no time to be leisurely searching for a single tree in a place like this. He had to find the blue portal and jump in as soon as possible.
He pushed through the undergrowth that was almost as tall as he was and moved across the meadow. Compared to what lay beyond the mist, the meadow was relatively peaceful. He didn't sense many dangerous blue flames.
'Is this... like a wild raspberry?'
As he wandered, he found a fruit that resembled a wild raspberry. He wasn't sure if that was the right name since it was a meadow, not a mountain.
'It's probably not poisonous, right?'
He picked one berry and crushed it on the back of his hand. There was no rash on his skin, nor any particular stinging sensation.
This didn't confirm it was poison-free, but...
Jinwoo picked a tiny berry, the size of his pinky nail, and popped it into his mouth.
'!'
The moment he put it in his mouth and chewed, his eyes widened.
The mist of the Spirit Realm contained an amount of mana incomparable to the lower worlds. The same was true for the air, the land, and the water, and thus for the wild berries that grew in that environment.
Simply put, each of these berries was no different from a small elixir. It couldn't compare to a renowned elixir cultivated over many long years, but an elixir was an elixir.
And what surprised Jinwoo more than anything was...
'It's delicious.'
The flavor of the fruit was worthy of being called heavenly. If this tiny wild berry could produce such a rich flavor, he could only imagine what other fruits would be like.

Jinwoo's eyes sparkled as strength filled his body. For some reason, the feeling he had when he first entered the Primitive Forest resurfaced, and vitality began to course through him.