Chapter 328: Seventy-Ninth Floor, Euros's Forest (2)

[Spend time in Euros’s Forest. Time remaining: 47 hours 44 minutes.]

Only a brief time had passed for us, but decades had flowed by in the forest. With them, many changes had taken root.

It was no longer covered only by flowers, but by the World Tree’s domain itself. Calling it a flower forest would be a misnomer; calling it Euros’s Forest was truly appropriate.

I let my gaze sweep across the landscape. Memories of its former appearance overlapped with what I now saw. Back then, it had been saturated with pollen and spores. That was no longer the case.

It wasn’t that the flowers had vanished, as the luminous blossoms still remained, but they no longer released clouds of dust. The forest was now filled with more saplings than before.

The air was remarkably clear, and with every breath, it felt as if my lungs were being gently purified.

My former party members looked around, wide-eyed and clearly fascinated.

I turned my attention to the boy. “Aphershi, how long does it take to reach the village?”

“Roughly an hour.”

“That’s a bit of a walk,

huh?

”

“Yes. We moved closer to the World Tree after it was born about twenty years ago,” Aoshi’s son, Aphershi, replied with a warm smile.

That made sense. Their tribe had once protected the heart of the flower forest. Relocating closer to the World Tree wasn’t all that strange.

I quickly ran through some calculations in my head. “Near the World Tree?”

“Yes.”

We were about an hour away. Instead of traveling on foot, teleporting near the World Tree would be better, since our time wasn’t exactly abundant.

“So if we are near the World Tree, we can get there quickly.”

“Right. Wait,

oh!

Don’t tell me that you’re talking about the spatial travel of legends?” Aphershi turned to me in genuine surprise.

With how exaggerated he had reacted, some would assume he was faking it, but he was sincerely taken aback.

I nodded and opened a portal. “Yeah. I actually just came from near the World Tree.”

“So this is that magic! Wow, I never imagined I’d get to see it in person. It’s incredible.”

As Aphershi stared in awe at the portal, I glanced over at my party.

“None of you have seen the World Tree before, right? Let’s go take a look.”

Even Ha Hee-Jeong had admitted that she had never seen it with her own two eyes. That was probably why everyone let out quiet exclamations of excitement. Each person’s expression was filled with anticipation.

I didn’t discourage them. Even if they expected something grand, they would soon see a sight that exceeded even their greatest expectations.

With me in the lead, we stepped through the portal. Aphershi was stunned by the magic itself, while the others were left speechless at the sight of the World Tree.

“

Whoa!

”

“

Wow.

”

“Magnificent.”

Watching the party’s awe, Aphershi beamed with satisfaction.

I felt the same.

Though she didn’t make a big display of it, even Ha Hee-Jeong’s eyes had grown wide. For someone like her, a regressor, that kind of genuine reaction was rare and rather endearing.

After giving them a moment to take it in, I decided we couldn’t waste too much time. “Let’s keep moving. We’ll have more chances to see it again later.”

According to Aphershi, it would still take about fifteen minutes to reach the village from here. That was a significant improvement over an hour, though.

We could talk as we walked.

I was mulling over what to say when I felt a faint prickling sensation on the back of my neck. Glancing subtly to the side, I saw my party members exchanging glances as their eyes nudged me with silent curiosity.

They wanted me to ask Aphershi about Aoshi and Ferel—what had become of them in our absence, and what had transpired in the flower forest while we were gone.

Well, I suppose I should meet their expectations.

I cleared my throat and looked at Aphershi.

The boy seemed to have understood, and a faint smile tugged at his lips. “It’s been a while, so I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions. Feel free to ask everything.”

“Yeah?”

“But if it’s alright, could I ask you a few things later, too? There’s so much I’ve been curious about when it comes to you, Mr. Su-Hyeok.”

“

Huh?

You’re curious about me?”

“To us and to the other tribes, you’re still remembered as the God of the Flower Forest. A living legend.” Aphershi gave me a cheeky wink. “My father told me that you were human, of course, but honestly? Just hearing about you is basically the same as hearing about a god.”

“Ahem.”

Being called a god to my face was, admittedly, embarrassing. Even more so with the rest of the party standing behind me.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

I glanced around and saw them all smiling warmly.

I nodded sheepishly. “Alright, ask away, as much as you’d like.”

“

Wow!

Thank you. Please, go ahead and ask your questions first!”

Where should I begin?

There were so many things I wanted to know. Exactly how much time had passed, whether anything significant had happened, and how Aoshi and Ferel were doing.

After some thought, I decided to just take it step by step and ask everything. “The day we saved the forest—

Hm.

Maybe that sounds a little vague?”

“You mean the day the God of the Flower Forest descended?”

Aphershi’s words made me freeze, my face heating up from embarrassment. That was exactly what I had hoped he would say, but hearing it spoken aloud still made me feel strange.

It was a bit much.

Still, Aphershi hadn’t meant it teasingly. He had spoken casually as if it were simply the truth.

Seeing my reaction, he waved a hand. “I’m not the only one who calls it that. Everyone does.”

I shifted the conversation forward. “Right. So, exactly how long has it been since then?”

Aphershi responded immediately, without a moment’s thought, “Sixty-five years exactly. We recently held a commemorative ceremony, so I’m certain.”

I didn’t catch much of what he said after that. The number sixty-five shocked me so much that I reacted too late.

“What?”

“Pardon?”

“Sixty-five years?”

I wasn’t the only one echoing the number. The entire party had stopped in their tracks, mouths slightly agape, exchanging stunned glances.

We had known that time had passed. The World Tree had sprouted two decades ago, and even before that, we had noticed the shifting of day and night. Still, we had guessed maybe thirty or forty years at most.

But sixty-five?

Aoshi and Ferel had been sixteen back then, which meant they would now be over eighty.

“Wait. That means Aoshi and Ferel are eighty-one years old?”

“Yes,” Aphershi answered with an unbothered look, as if wondering what the issue was.

My party and I were speechless.

Eighty-one. Even on Earth, that would be considered old. Let alone in a forest-dwelling tribal society—not medieval, but certainly not modern either.

Wait a second.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t actually been told whether Aoshi and Ferel were still alive. All he had said was that he would guide us to the village.

The chietain he mentioned wasn’t necessarily Aoshi after all.

They aren’t... dead, are they?

“They’re both still alive, right?”

“

Huh?

Of course they are!” Aphershi looked genuinely surprised by the question.

It felt like there were several misunderstandings between us. I wasn’t sure where they had started, but I would need to unravel them slowly, one at a time.

Then, something else occurred to me. “Hold on. If they’re eighty-one, how old are you?”

Aphershi looked about the same age Aoshi had been when I first met him—around sixteen. This would mean they had had a child at sixty-five.

Not exactly common.

“Me? I’m twenty-seven.”

“Twenty-seven?”

Once again, my party and I were left stunned. The strange revelations just weren’t stopping. He looked unmistakably like a boy in his mid-teens, but he was older than us.

“You,

um

, really don’t look to be that age.”

“

Ah

, I suppose that’s understandable. But I’m not the only one like this. A lot changed when the World Tree was born.”

“

Huh

? What do you mean by that? Hold on, let’s stop here and talk this through.”

“Yes, of course.”

Meeting Aoshi and Ferel was something I had been eagerly anticipating, but even so, I felt it necessary to clarify a few things before moving forward.

After all, this world had clearly undergone drastic changes.

That said...

Because he looked just like a young boy and was Aoshi’s son, I had naturally slipped into speaking informally with him. But after hearing his actual age, I couldn’t help but grow more cautious.

He is older than me and Ha Hee-Jeong.

A subtle glance around confirmed I wasn’t alone in that thought. My eyes met Ha Hee-Jeong’s.

‘Should we start using honorifics?’

‘No clue.’

We hadn’t exchanged words, nor resorted to telepathy, but the meaning passed between us effortlessly.

Hmm.

As I lapsed into silence, Aphershi tilted his head slightly in confusion.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s kind of a long story, but the thing is, we came straight here after that day. Which means, we’re younger than you technically. I mean— we are, right?” Even as I had spoken, my tone wavered between casual and formal.

When I suddenly switched to speaking politely, Aphershi immediately waved his hands in alarm. “Oh, please don’t! There’s no need for that. Even my father now calls you ‘hyung.’ How could I possibly accept honorifics from the one who protected our forest?”

“You’re really okay with that?”

“Of course. Regardless of how things unfolded, nothing changes the fact that you’re our benefactor, Mr. Su-Hyeok.”

The boy—or rather, the young man—Aphershi gave a firm, confident nod.

***

[Spend time in Euros’s Forest. Time remaining: 47 hours 26 minutes.]

I had often heard that nothing could withstand the relentless passage of time, that everything is fleeting in the face of it. It was something my parents, and especially my grandmother, used to say frequently.

Hearing it and feeling it were entirely different matters, however, especially considering how we had directly experienced time go by.

Anyway, our conversation with Aphershi gave us detailed insight into just how much the world had transformed.

He said that people started aging more slowly after the World Tree emerged.

Some individuals had even become slightly younger, and many theorized that it was the result of the endless life force the World Tree exuded.

However, not everyone had been granted that gift. Those living outside the forest remained unaffected, with only Aoshi’s tribe experiencing a more permanent change. It was a remarkable phenomenon, but not completely inexplicable.

Climbers had received blessings too, and I myself had been entrusted with a Seed of the World Tree.

He also informed us that the various tribes that had helped defend the forest had eventually joined Aoshi’s people.

The World Tree probably extended its grace to those who stood by it.

Even now, the tribe continued its role as guardians of the forest.

I had heard that people beyond the woods were only allowed to harvest a restricted amount of lumber, and that Aoshi’s people monitored those activities—harvesting itself wasn’t forbidden.

It was tolerated to some degree as a necessary part of survival.

They said it is all thanks to me.

Sixty-five years was a long span of time, yes, but not so long that history would be forgotten.

Even now, my deeds were passed down here as legend, and that, at least, was a comfort. It meant they wouldn’t be inclined to harm the forest.

Of course, as time continues to flow, those stories will fade.

For now, though, there seemed to be no cause for concern.

Aphershi had grown into a capable warrior. Given his age, he had already surpassed Aoshi’s strength from sixty-five years ago.

That is also thanks to the spirits.

When the seventy-ninth floor began, I sensed the return of ancient spirits, similar to the ones living with the elves we had faced during earlier floors. Aoshi’s tribe had learned to commune with them.

Apparently, there were even several individuals stronger than Aphershi, which meant the forest’s future was in good hands.

One fact that caught our attention was that Aoshi and Ferel had eight children, and Aphershi was the youngest. Judging by how he spoke, their relationship remained as affectionate as it had been in the past.

In the end, what I felt most was a quiet sense of wonder.

They really are like the elves from Earth’s stories.

I remembered something Seo Ho-Su had told me, after I had encountered real elves. The elves in fantasy novels lived for centuries, protected their forests, and shared deep bonds with elemental spirits.

That had been true then, and the similarities here were undeniable.

Of course, they didn’t have pointed ears like the elves of fiction, but their lifestyle was nearly identical.

After that, we spent time talking about various topics. I answered Aphershi’s questions regarding stories from the past, tales of Aoshi and Ferel, and even the fact that we would be leaving in two days.

Before long, the village came into view in the distance.

“There it is. Take your time. I’ll run ahead and let them know.”

“

Huh?

That’s really not necessary.”

Though I tried to decline, Aphershi shook his head and dashed off like the wind.

“I insist!”

As the village came into focus, I felt my heart start to race.

Eighty-one or sixteen.

Their age didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I would get the chance to see Aoshi and Ferel again. Aphershi had said they still looked young.

What will they be like now?

With a sense of anticipation, we continued walking. Less than thirty seconds later, a figure appeared in the distance, crossing the village toward us.

It was Aoshi.

“Hyung!”

His greeting was warm and familiar, but I couldn’t bring myself to return it.

“Holy shit.”