Eat The World Tree

A giant transport aircraft.

It was so luxurious that it looked as if a mansion had been lifted into the sky, where various people were gathering for a meeting.

“Soo-yeon, Soo-yeon, what kind of people will we meet?”

A pink-haired woman wearing a mask wiggled her slippered feet and asked innocently.

She wore a traditional Japanese outfit with a pink base.

Her clothes were adorned with faintly glowing cherry blossoms.

“…Even if you ask me, I’m not the World Tree, how would I know?”

“Right, right. Shiheon! Will Shiheon show up?”

“Shiheon…? Oh, you mean Lee Shiheon.”

An exalted figure, granddaughter of the Hunter Association president.

Kim Soo-yeon half-heartedly listened to Saku’s words.

“Saku, don’t get your hopes up. At best, it’s just academy cadets.”

“But they were wearing masks.”

“It’s just that they happen to be wearing masks, that’s all.”

The Sakura family has a unique custom of never taking off their masks except in front of their house or husband.

Kim Soo-yeon tapped the cheek of Saku’s mask.

A white base with long slit eyes and ears like a cat. A red curved pattern painted on the cheeks and forehead.

It was the mask of the guardian spirit, Mokho (Wooden Fox), always depicted alongside the cherry tree.

“You wear a fox mask. That one… what was it again? Anyway, the type of mask is different.”

“Isn’t it romantic that they each cover their faces? Surely they only take off the mask next to their significant other.”

“Romantic, my foot… You’ve been obsessed with such trivial things since you were a kid.”

“Eh, isn’t romance nice?”

“It’s not.”

“Sonna!”

Well, since she was usually confined in a cage without much interaction, it’s understandable to be excited.

Even Kim Soo-yeon’s heart was pounding this time.

Sakura Saku was bouncing on her seat, her head filled with blooming flowers.

The yukata she was wearing swayed gently.

“We’re not here to play.”

A woman sharply corrected Saku.

With bronze skin and blank eyes.

Her name was Banya, an Indian national flower, who was clutching a thesis with books stacked on the desk.

Like Saku, her body was adorned with red patterns spread across her lower abdomen, shoulders, and back.

Korea, Japan, India.

Of course, at other tables, familiar conversations were blooming among the national flowers.

“Ha ha! I wonder if everyone’s ready?”

A blonde man with a hearty voice lounged on the sofa.

The main family of the Oak family.

The national flower of the UK, Oak. Bell.

He looked around casually.

“…Could you sit with your legs closed? And lower your voice! My ears nearly burst.”

A woman snapped at Bell.

A petite woman with blue hair, the national flower of France, Maronie.

At her words, Bell put his hand on his forehead, looked around, and pretended to be surprised when he saw Maronie.

“Oh, was someone there? Ah~ I didn’t see you because you’re so short.”

“…Sigh. You’re huge, you crazy.”

Maronie’s eyes turned fierce at Bell’s teasing.

A brown-haired man watching their conversation chuckled.

“Ha ha. You guys fight every day.”

“Bell always acts so arrogantly. He’s no match for me.”

“Such a small woman sure talks big.”

“You big oak fool. Why don’t you paint yourself green to match the orcs in your game? Oh~rk.”

The German national flower, Abie, intervened between the two.

“Calm down, friends. There’s no point in fighting here. We should get along.”

National flowers in their twenties.

In a few years, they might reach the highest levels, and it was certain they would support an entire nation.

Maronie snapped at Abie.

“So? In the end, only one of us can be the forester, right?”

“There’s no way you’ll be the forester, so why don’t you go over there and make friends, Maronie?”

“Shut up, green slime monster.”

“Huh.”

Like a dragon and tiger glaring at each other, grinding their teeth.

Seeing no end to their fight, Abie sighed and opened his brown eyes slightly.

Putting his finger under his nose, he spoke quietly.

“We don’t know how many survival rounds there’ll be… Is it necessary to increase enemies?”

Even though they were outstanding national flowers, there were dozens of them.

To become the forester, they had to compete and come out on top.

Not only the national flowers?

This year’s academy cadets were also rumored to be exceptional.

“Think about it. If you carry the title of national flower and get eliminated while fighting each other? Or worse, lose to an academy cadet… you know what happens, right?”

Abie’s warning.

-Gulp.

Maronie and Bell shuddered.

If a national flower lost to an academy cadet?

That moment would bring national disgrace, a fall in honor, and a storm of public criticism.

“Remember, when you return to your country, you might get pelted with eggs instead of flowers.”

Abie’s warning seemed effective, as Maronie and Bell swallowed hard.

“Eh… we won’t lose, right?”

“Yeah, Bell is right. Abie, you worry too much.”

Bell, usually bold, now shrugged his shoulders, pretending to be confident.

Maronie agreed, but who knows what would happen.

Abie chuckled with narrowed eyes and scratched his brown hair.

“…Well, let’s see. The Korean I saw before had some talent. Still far from enough, though.”

“A Korean you saw before?”

“Jung Siwoo.”

“Oh, that kid… he did have some talent.”

Maronie nodded at Abie’s words.

Jung Siwoo, the World Tree’s husband candidate.

Though far behind them as an academy cadet, he was wildly popular worldwide as a husband candidate for the World Tree. Despite his popularity, his skills were quite lacking compared to them.

‘But his perseverance was commendable.’

Would he not be participating in this Forester Selection Competition?

That was certainly disappointing. Still, there’s no way of knowing when someone similar to Jung Siwoo might appear.

Abie exhaled sharply and looked around.

A place where national flowers were gathering one by one to form groups.

At first glance, it seemed like a harmonious social gathering, but there were clear boundaries among the groups.

Even among the national flowers, there were trees that got along well and those that did not.

‘Three women from Asia… Plum and Ginkgo haven’t arrived yet?’

Kim Soo-yeon, Saku, and Banya.

Each one of them was a formidable force not to be underestimated.

‘So those three will likely form a team.’

Abie came to a tentative conclusion.

Forming teams of three to four people was the most effective.

Although the Forester Selection Competition was officially an individual event, forming teams was not prohibited.

A survival competition starting with hundreds of participants.

Teaming up was one of the key strategies to easily eliminate competitors.

In missions that required surviving on a remote island, the help of a team was often indispensable.

That’s why the national flowers were starting to gather one by one like this.

Abie, Maronie, and Bell were sitting together for a similar reason.

‘I wonder how this selection will turn out.’

Abie put his hands behind his head and smiled with his eyes.

‘Well… it won’t end smoothly.’

A huge building began to slowly come into view outside the passenger plane’s window.

-Tok.

And in a corner of the passenger plane.

A black-skinned woman, with a nervous expression, was tapping on her phone, keeping everyone at a distance.

‘The one most closely related to Spring Peach Blossom.’

The national flower of Africa. The Baobab tree.

Despite the continent’s functions being virtually paralyzed due to gate and flower terrorism, the national flowers still existed.

Black hair. Yellow eyes. Clothes barely covering her chest.

Bao.

A people of warriors who have fought against terrorism, gate monsters, and Ents since childhood.

“…Where are you?”

She glared fiercely, muttering a man’s name.

“Lee Shiheon.”

The person closest to Spring Peach Blossom in the Forester Selection Competition.

The masked man in the picture was depicted on the screen of Bao’s phone.

[Yoo Seung-ah, reporter?]

[Yes, this is Yoo Seung-ah from MBS. I am currently on the scene where the Forester Selection Competition is being held.]

On the screen, news and broadcasts about the Forester Selection Competition were being shown.

National flowers and academy cadets were getting off the plane one by one.

They lined up in a row and stood next to their respective national flags.

Although they represented the academy, they also represented their countries.

The national flowers stood at the forefront of each flag, waving their national flags.

-Crunch.

Baekdo, chewing on a hard peach, watched them.

Nearby, Bob, Goroshi, and P were also chewing on peaches.

[Squeal~ Little Brother! Baekdo, there’s Little Brother! Little Brother is on TV!]

‘…What’s so special about that?’

[It’s different seeing him on TV! But he’s wearing a mask?]

-Crunch.

Baekdo briefly enjoyed the sweet taste of the hard peach.

Roshi, who was watching the screen, pointed towards Lee Shiheon.

“There he is. A prospective member of Spring Peach Blossom.”

“Oh, I saw him too. He’s been showing up in videos a lot lately.”

P responded to Roshi’s comment.

“P. Your sister isn’t coming out as a mentor this time?”

“Well… I’d know if I had heard from that bitch.”

“That Champi?”

“Damn it, I told you not to mention that name.”

“How can someone’s name be Champi.”

“Shut up, Goroshi.”

Their bickering above caused Baekdo to frown.

“Shut up for a bit.”

“Yes.”

“Got it.”

Both fell silent.

Baekdo, staring blankly at Lee Shiheon on the screen, continued chewing his peach.

The quiet was just right.

For some reason, the peach tasted even sweeter.

“Wait a minute… Hey, Bob.”

“What’s the matter?”

At that moment, P spoke again.

She pointed at a corner of the TV screen with a puzzled expression.

A line of people stretched out.

In a slightly remote area, a black-skinned woman was waving something that wasn’t a national flag.

P pointed at her and asked Bob.

“Isn’t that your sister?”

“YES?”

“Looks like she’s there to find you.”

Bob should have been in that place.

But he had evaded his responsibilities as a national flower and immediately fled to the mercenary group Spring Peach Blossom.

His sister seemed to be filling in for his absence.

“…Oh. It is her?”

“Is her? Seriously, you’re such a pain. Shouldn’t you go over and take her place?”

“No, thank you.”

Bob spoke firmly.

The reason Bob had abruptly left Africa and joined Spring Peach Blossom.

“I won’t return until I meet the strongest tree.”

This was due to Bob’s purpose, which neither Roshi nor P, nor even Baekdo, fully understood.

His goal was too grandiose and ridiculous.

When he first tried to leave home, his family’s opposition was intense.

And the one who opposed it the most was Bob’s sister, Bao.

Even now, she was searching the world for Bob’s whereabouts.

Bao’s sudden participation in the Forester Selection Competition.

This meant she had tracked down the movements of Spring Peach Blossom.

And the person she was targeting was, of course, the one person in contact with Spring Peach Blossom.

“Oh.”

Sumpee sighed.

“Shiheon’s screwed.”

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