Chapter 52 (1/2)
Chapter 52
“It’s here?”
Choi Hyun ran here after hearing Baek Seoin’s call, and the Berserkers gathered here all had puzzled expressions.
The place Baek Seoin said was the entrance looked no different from any other place. It was flat with lots of gra.s.s. They didn’t see anything that resembled a tunnel entrance and even when they heightened their perception ability, they didn’t feel anything that felt like a tunnel.
“This is the place. Try to feel the karma here rather than the surrounding terrain.”
Even when Baek Seoin explained, the others were still puzzled. Only Choi Hyuk felt something was weird.
“Now that I think about it, karma only ripples here?”
Natural karma changed unpredictably. There were times when the density of karma would increase and even ripple. However, it was rare to see only a specific part move completely differently from its surroundings.
Other Berserkers had a hard time comprehending what the natural state of karma was so they were slow in realizing it, but Choi Hyuk instinctively felt what was wrong.
“Yes, leader. It looks like the natives are much better at using karma than we expected. There’s no doubt they used karma to hide the entrance.”
“Like illusionary magic…”
“Maybe.”
Choi Hyuk nodded.
“Okay, I know what to do.”
Whether it was magic or not, as long as it was created with karma, the solution was simple.
Choi Hyuk gathered a karma storm in his right hand.
“Void Wave!”
Booooom!
Void Wave had the effect of blowing away karma near its vicinity. As the storm of karma rampaged on its surroundings, tree roots started to appear from the ground which was only filled with gra.s.s previously.
“Huh? There?”
People became surprised when they saw the tree roots. However, once the effect of Void Wave was over, the tree roots were concealed, turning into a gra.s.sy area once again.
“As expected, it’s not enough with just this.”
Choi Hyuk had controlled his strength to test it out.
Huuu.
This time he took a deep breath and became serious. He created another karma storm. Unlike last time, he created three storms and repulsed them in his hand. This was the critical skill that allowed the Void Wave to be recorded in the supply store. A resonance and explosion utilizing repulsion. It required precise control but, with it, it was possible to bring forth a large effect without using a lot of power. The storm of karma resonated above Choi Hyuk’s hand and exploded.
…
A silent explosion. The karma that blocked their vision was blasted away.
As if snow had melted to reveal the world’s true self, tree roots appeared above the gra.s.sy ground. The ground they had thought was a shallow furrow was, in fact, all tree roots. The scale was quite significant as well. To the point that they filled the whole area the Void Wave affected. This most likely extended beyond the Void Wave’s range.
Something was strange. They saw tree roots, yet they didn’t see any trees. They didn’t even see a single trunk or branch, only tree roots covered the ground.
“Wow… It’s like magic.”
Lee Jinhee admired as she walked on a tree root that was stuck in the ground. Half the area was dirt while the other half was made up of roots. She, who was plodding along, suddenly stopped. At her feet lay a door made of carved roots.
“This looks like the entrance? For us to not notice it even though it was right here.”
There didn’t seem to be other security measures on the door either. When Choi Hyuk nodded, Lee Jinhee opened the door. She was able to easily open the door that seemed to be four times larger than regular doors.
Creaak. Thud!
The door opened wide.
“Wahhh…”
The door led to the inside of a tree root. The roots on the surface were only a small portion. The giant hollow tree root formed a long underground tunnel.
Lee Jinhee jumped in and brushed her hand against the walls. It was smooth like wooden furniture. The tunnel wasn’t dark as light flowed from the wood grain.
“This is no joke. The groups found until now were from small-scale villages of 100 natives… Looking at the illusionary magic… and this amazing tree, we might actually meet a city of natives instead of a village.”
Baek Seoin said in a voice filled with wonder and suspense. He jumped into the wood tunnel and looked around before carefully suggesting to Choi Hyuk.
“The natives might feel threatened by us and try to attack. Wouldn’t it be best if we sent an envoy first?”
Those with good intentions do not come and those who come do not come with good intentions{1}. To humans, this may be an exciting adventure in a mysterious world, but there was no guarantee that the natives didn’t see them as invading plunderers who had deactivated their defense system. There are no good men among those who trespa.s.s.
However, Choi Hyuk shook his head.
“No. Everyone will enter except for 1,000 who will stay up here. And Baek hyung, how do you feel?”
“Well… Calm now. Actually, I’m a bit excited.”
Just in case, he checked Baek Seoin’s Intuition. There wasn’t any problem.
“Good, enter!”
They began their march inside the long tree root. The wood tunnel slowly kept going deeper.
At first, the tunnel was wide enough for 3 people to walk side by side, but as more and more tunnels joined together, it became wide enough for 6, then 12, then 24 and so on the deeper they went.
“This… feels like an upside down tree.”
Baek Seoin noted as he gazed at the faint light that wrapped around them.
A tree where the roots led to the surface, and the trunk and branches reached deep into the ground. A faint scent of wood wafted in the air, and they would occasionally see unidentifiable green ores. Every time they came across a green ore, Baek Seoin would crack off a portion and collected them.
“But why are you collecting those unknown rocks every time we see them?”
When Lee Jinhee asked, Baek Seoin clicked his tongue.
“You call yourself an executive and you still don’t know? I’m making a map. As there are no constellations here, we are only able to roughly approximate our location using the whirlpools in the sky and the distribution of ores.”
“Ah, a map… So, if we find rocks similar to those ores found near other portals, we might be nearby… like that?”