[Kek. Look at that mist; it was formed from the curse clumping together⌠The outside world has gotten worse.]
[If you feel like you canât handle it, you have to get close and grab onto Paul Zero immediately!]
[Ahhh, we canât even find traces of our mothers anymoreâŚ]
The Dryads seemed elated at first when they got outside, but they soon became depressed upon realizing how appalling the situation was, as the Underground Empire was covered in the curse.
Even though the forest was a lot cleaner than the other areas as undead couldnât trespass deep into the forest!
[Eww, this wasnât the world I was looking forward to.]
[Itâs so unfortunate. You canât call it a world when all the living beings are dead.]
[Is there nothing we can do for this world�]
[Paul Zero, letâs hurry up and go.]
Sinea spoke as the representative of the drooping Dryads. It was difficult to even say anything right now, so Lee Shin Woo silently nodded his head.
âYeah. Follow me quickly.â
[OkâŚ]
[I want to hurry and see living trees.]
[Me tooâŚ]
They ran silently. As Dryads couldnât live without trees, the strength they could exert was diminished, yet they were able to follow behind Jin who ran at full speed. He was thinking about whether he needed to slow down or not, but both Lee Shin Woo and Jin were shocked.
[This horse is really fast!]
[I didnât think itâd be able to run as fast as a spirit!]
Even depressed, they marveled at Jinâs speed. Jin didnât show it, but it seemed like he was a bit happy. Some spirits found the conversation about Jinâs speed as their opportunity to speak, and after one or two of them began speaking, they changed the subject of their conversation to Lee Shin Woo.
[Why is Paul Zero special?]
[What did you do before you died?]
âI was just a wandering knight.â
[Youâre an Elementalist too, right? Right?]
âActually, Iâm not an Elementalist.â
[Thatâs impossible!]
Lee Shin Woo explained himself to the Dryads using the Paul Zero profile heâd set up. They were in disbelief and shock when he explained that he could use the elements themselves, but they eventually came to this conclusion.
[Is Paul Zero actually a spirit?]
[A skeleton spiritâŚ!]
[How cool! I knew he didnât feel like a stranger!]
ââŚâ
Because it was gradually becoming troublesome to reply, he decided to let them think what they wanted. He wouldâve preferred if some undead monster appeared, but because he was moving with a force of level 5 Dryads, it seemed like the undead instinctively sensed the danger and avoided them.
How many hours had they run? When they were close to the vineyard, Lee Shin Woo performed a final check on the Dryads for the curse. Since it would be best if they were completely clean before entering.
âIf you feel uneasy from the curse, come over here.â
[Ok. Excuse me.]
Sinea, who hadnât been corrupted thus far, seemed like she wasnât immune to the curse once coming outside, and as soon as she heard Lee Shin Woo, immediately approached him. But when he actually checked Sineaâs condition, he couldnât help but be surprised.
âYou seem pretty clean to meâŚâ
[âŚReally? Thatâs a relief.]
âWas Sinea special amongst her people?â Lee Shin Woo thought, as he completely sucked out what little curse she was afflicted with.
Perhaps Sinea knew what he was thinking about; she tightly gripped his hand and just gazed into Lee Shin Wooâs skeletal face.
âWeâre here.â
[This is it? I donât feel anything though.]
[You idiot. Thereâs no way living trees would be above ground.]
[Oh, I see!]
Lee Shin Woo arrived at the exit that he and Erian had used to leave the vineyard. It was quite far from the winery.
âHere.â
[Ooooh!]
[It was a dungeon!]
With a bit of control, Lee Shin Woo opened the dungeonâs entrance; the Dryads cheered and scrambled to get inside the dungeon. As more than 300 Dryads entered instantaneously, Sinea turned around to look at Lee Shin Woo and tilted her head.
[Paul Zero, youâre not going in?]
âIâll go in after setting up the safety device.â
[Ok. Thanks.]
As soon as all the Dryads went into the dungeon, Lee Shin Woo crouched down and tinkered with the entrance. The threads of mana that came from his hand cut off the branches, and Jin asked.
âWhat are you doing?â
âNothing much. Iâm just trying to copy the wineryâs safety device.â
ââŚYou can do that?â
âWhy not?â
Jinâs expression became dazed. Though Lee Shin Woo went beyond his expectations all the time, he felt as though Lee Shin Woo had gone to a place he couldnât even begin to comprehend after undergoing various experiences with him.
âYou said you didnât know how to use magic.â
âItâs simple once you learn the trick to it. You canât even call this magic. Itâs more like intuition.â
Jin had his own hunch the moment he heard that. The âintuitionâ Lee Shin Woo was talking about was definitely different from the intuition he knew about!
âIâm finished⌠Now most people wonât be able to harm the spirits inside. Good, letâs go inside.â
âI have no idea what you did to finish up, thoughâŚâ
As soon as Lee Shin Woo and Jin entered, the entrance softly shut and was camouflaged with the surrounding landscape.
It would be impossible to discover it unless someone like the 12 generals was involved. Even Lee Shin Woo wasnât aware of it, but his mana abilities were growing at a considerably fast rate.
[Waaaah!]
[Theyâre really grapevines!]
[Itâs filled with trees! Itâs overflowing with life!]
By the time they went down, the spirits had already sensed overflowing life energy and found the orchard filled to the brim with grapevines.
The two sources of such refreshing energy met, permeating the room with brightness. To be more specific, the Dryadsâ voices prickled his ears, to the point that it was unbearable.
[Theyâre really aliveâŚ!]
[Ah, there really were living trees leftâŚ!]
The girls, upon discovering the lines of trees emitting such vigorous energy within the vast, underground orchard, each cradled one of the trees and expressed joy with their entire bodies. The grapevines selected by these Dryads emitted an even greater vigor than before.
[These children are so healthy!]
[How could they be so pure again when they were dirtied by human hands? This isâŚ]
[An elf. Itâs an elf!]
As expected, these Dryads, as tree specialists, quickly figured out what had happened to these trees. Then, upon discovering Lee Shin Woo, who had just come down, the Dryads latched onto him and asked.
[Paul Zero, were you an elf before you died?]
[I had that feeling about you!]
âNope, this place was already like this by the time I found it.â
[I seeâŚ]
[There might be an elf still living in the Empire.]
[I want to meet that elf!]
But that elf wasnât born in the Empire⌠Lee Shin Woo smiled bitterly and approached them. He was trying to suck out any remaining curse within them just in case.
The Dryads obediently allowed Lee Shin Woo to do so and eventually, he purified them completely.
âNow weâre finished.â
[Weâre all done?]
âYeah. You guys can just keep living here now.â
[AhâŚ]
Lee Shin Woo had safely moved them to their new home, and just like he promised, had provided them with living trees. Heâd also blocked off the entrance so that not just anyone could enter, and had absorbed the curse from them in its entirety, so they were planning on doing whatever he wished in return.
[Thank you so much for helping us, Paul Zero.]
[But we donât know what we can do for you.]
[We couldâve been a lot more helpful back when there was much more of our kind.]
This was after Lee Shin Woo had explained to them just what he did outside (while lying about a considerable number of things). His (seemingly) noble intent of purifying the Empire and destroying the undead had impressed them. Only Jin gazed at him as if he were a swindler, but that didnât concern him.
[Paul Zero.]
Then, Sinea stepped forward. She had picked the toughest and most vigorous grapevine as her own, and perhaps because of that, the grapevine was already starting to emit a brilliant energy.
[Youâre our savior. We can never fully repay you for that, but we want to repay you in any way possible. We must.]
ââŚMm.â
They would probably look favorably upon him if he said that he didnât do it seeking a reward, but Lee Shin Woo didnât respond like that. Because if he lied too much, then there was a chance that the Dryads would get suspicious of him.
âTo be honest⌠there is something I wanted from you.â
[Just tell us. Weâll do anything in our power to help you.]
Sinea was actually happy that he told her he wanted something from them. They truly were gullible, as it seemed like they would be fooled by anyone. But even now, Lee Shin Woo couldnât complain as he was fooling them while receiving high praise.
âI told you that I was trying to purify the Empire, right?â
[Yeah. To be honest⌠I think itâll be difficult.]
âThere are people who are helping me. Theyâre fighting someplace else right now. Some of them are undead, and some of them arenât.â
[âŚ]
They already had Lee Shin Woo as an example, so they werenât surprised. Hearing that, Sinea momentarily stood still and slowly nodded her head.
[Youâre saying that thereâs still hope in this world⌠like these living trees that have survived in this seemingly dead world.]
âYeah. And I want you guys to be a part of that hope.â
[Mmm.]
He wasnât asking something from them, but was asking them to stand alongside him. Sinea murmured to herself. It wasnât an easy decision as the representative of the Dryads. HoweverâŚ
âJust staying here is enough for now. However, there may be a day when I need your help. You just need to help out a bit then.â
[âŚHoo.]
Sinea anguished over it, but could ultimately only respond in one way. Plus, it was something that all the Dryads wanted anyway.
[I⌠as well as everyone else want to purify the Empire.]
âI appreciate you thinking that way.â
[Iâm the one⌠whoâs thankful.]
Lee Shin Woo stretched his hand out first, and Sinea stiffly grabbed onto it. It was truly a surreal sight.
âAh, and now that you mention it.â
After they finished shaking hands, Lee Shin Woo took a step back; he suddenly remembered something and searched his inventory. He took out a stone radiating a turbid green. It was none other than the spirit stone that contained the power of the Dryads.
[T-ThatâsâŚ!]
âI know how you feel, but just wait a sec.â
When heâd first acquired it, he thought he wouldnât be able to do anything to it, but now that he could suck out the curse with Jinâs ability, it was a different story. As soon as Lee Shin Woo glanced at Jin, he shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head.
[Does that contain our mothersâ strengthâŚ?]
[Look. The lightâs gradually becoming clearer.]
It mightâve been difficult for Lee Shin Woo and Jin had the spirit stone been an ordinary item, but because it was an item that contained the power of spirits theyâd encountered already, it was much easier than normal to suck out the swirling curse within.
âWow, Blessing of Death has increased again! Now I can die five times!â
âThatâs nice.â
Though the darkness that permeated the spirit stone was quite strong, once he gained momentum, he was able to vigorously draw out the curse. Ultimately, the spirit stone returned to its perfect, clean state in less than a few minutes.
[Spirit Stone holding the power of the Dryads]
Firstly, the itemâs explanation changed. The vividly green spirit stone was filled with so much elemental power that it felt like it would explode at any moment!
Though it felt like he could absorb it himself⌠it would be better to give it to the person who could absorb it best, rather than absorb it just to increase his magic a bit.
âHere, take it.â
[Youâre giving it to meâŚ?]
âOf course. It belongs to your people.â
[AhâŚ]
Sinea accepted it with trembling hands. Heâd somewhat expected this to happen, but at that moment, the magic within the spirit stone harmonized with Sinea and emitted an explosive light!
Lee Shin Woo watched closely as Sinea absorbed the magic from the spirit stone and was reborn. The other Dryads also silently approached and watched without saying a word. It seemed like they knew what exactly she was going through.
[Lv6 Dryad Princess â Sinea]
When the spirit stoneâs light disappeared and Sinea could be seen once again, the spirit stone no longer remained in her hands.
But the fact remained that her level and her position had changed, as well as her power; the power she emitted was incomparable to before, proving that the spirit stone hadnât disappeared in vain.
[Thank you so much, Paul Zero.]
There wasnât much change in her physique, but she possessed much more mana than before, as well as that mana becoming clearer. As she was composed of mana, her dress became more splendid. He supposed that that was proof that she was a higher level spirit than the others.
[Weâre⌠we will keep our promise to you. Always.]
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Her voice was trembling with effervescence and happiness. He could tell how she was feeling purely through her voice. As expected, these spirits really were messed up. Lee Shin Woo inwardly muttered.
[Even if we die at the end of it, we will alwaysâŚ]
âNo, itâd be pointless if you died, so you donât have to go that far.â
Sinea declared as she gazed more deeply at Lee Shin Woo, and Lee Shin Woo replied humbly and thought.