Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 57

EP.57 Hana

Feeling dazed, as if nothing was coming to mind, Jeong-hyeon stood there, unable to think or speak. As he remained overwhelmed by confusion, the child in Lucia’s arms fidgeted and looked up at him. Their eyes met unintentionally. Jeong-hyeon awkwardly smiled as he took in the sight of the child nestled against Lucia.

‘Horns?’

The child had long, white horns and light blonde hair. Her eyes were a bright blue, just like Lucia’s, and she appeared to be around four or five years old. Judging by her age alone, it was clear she wasn’t a child Lucia had given birth to, but Jeong-hyeon was still perplexed as to where this kid had come from.

Lucia noticed his confusion and with a smile, explained the child’s identity.

“Ah! This is the plant we’ve been growing from seed. It might be a sapling now. But either way, this is what we’ve been nurturing.”

A plant that had grown into a little girl?

It sounded unbelievable, so Jeong-hyeon repeated his question in a tone of disbelief.

“…Really?”

“Yes!”

Seeing Lucia’s confident response, it seemed that the mysterious plant had indeed transformed into this child. Jeong-hyeon didn’t know what to say. All he could do was silently stare at the little girl, who sniffled as if she’d been crying but then smiled at him whenever their eyes met.

Suddenly, a message appeared in front of him.

*-*

[Congratulations! You have achieved a remarkable feat!]

– Discovery and Birth of the World Tree!

[Achievement points have significantly increased!]

[Young World Tree]

– Although still young and unable to fully harness its powers, if it awakens, it will become your most powerful ally.

– Its growth is linked to the Holy Sword.

[Restoring Holy Sword]

– Currently in a shabby state, but once restored, it will become the most powerful weapon in this world.

*-*

Reading the message, Jeong-hyeon let out a short, incredulous laugh. His earlier suspicion—that it might be a World Tree—had turned out to be true.

‘Who would’ve thought it really was the World Tree?’

Who could have imagined that such a remarkable seed would suddenly sprout in the Trial Chamber? Overwhelmed by the constant surprises, Jeong-hyeon briefly closed his eyes to collect himself. Then he focused on the most important part of the messages he had seen earlier.

‘So, the Holy Sword is linked to its growth.’

If he wanted to use the Holy Sword, it meant he had to take good care of the World Tree.

Honestly, if the Holy Sword’s powers were vague or didn’t seem very useful, Jeong-hyeon might not have been as motivated. But the phrase ‘the most powerful weapon’ made him determined to fully restore the Holy Sword.

He pondered for a moment about what to do next, then calmly brushed his bangs aside and spoke to Lucia.

“Let’s eat first.”

At his words, Lucia exclaimed.

“Oh, right!”

She handed him the food she had prepared.

***

Jeong-hyeon wondered if she remembered how much he used to eat. Holding out a large amount of food, Lucia was motioning for him to eat. Seeing this, he eagerly devoured the food.

‘I really feel like I’m about to die.’

He believed that quite a few people likely experienced a similar feeling of exhaustion after leveling up. He was stuffing his mouth with food, trying to ward off that feeling when the World Tree child, who had been in Lucia’s arms, came over to him. She started to imitate his voracious eating.

‘……’

Jeong-hyeon hadn’t expected her to imitate him like that. He felt as if he were looking into a mirror, which made him try to eat more calmly. The World Tree child, seeing this change in his behavior, blinked her eyes with interest and then began eating slowly, copying him.

There was a strange sensation. Jeong-hyeon found himself wondering what on earth was happening when Lucia, watching them, spoke up with a pleased expression.

“You two look so much alike!”

Not knowing how to respond, Jeong-hyeon remained silent. Before he could say anything, the World Tree child grinned and responded as if in agreement.

“Yep!”

She could already talk?

Of course, if he were going to point out anything odd, he should start with the fact that she looked about four or five years old despite being born just yesterday. The fact that she could speak a language without ever having learned it was simply astonishing.

Jeong-hyeon wanted to ask her something to see if they could have a conversation. But every time he stopped eating, a gnawing hunger would hit him hard, so he decided to put off any questions for now. For the moment, he focused all his energy on eating.

***

After consuming a significant amount of food, he finally felt satisfied. As he sat there, smiling in contentment, the World Tree child climbed into his arms and settled herself onto his lap.

‘I have no idea what’s going on here.’

Finding the situation increasingly confusing, Jeong-hyeon decided to stop thinking too hard about it. Instead, he called out to Lucia, who was sitting in front of him, asking for a simple explanation of the current situation.

“So, what exactly is going on here?”

Lucia hesitated for a moment before giving a brief summary of what had happened the previous day.

“Around lunchtime yesterday, I was infusing divine power into the pot, and suddenly, the sapling transformed into this child.”

Jeong-hyeon had somewhat expected an explanation along those lines. He pondered for a moment before voicing the part he didn’t understand.

“Why did it transform into a human form?”

Lucia paused, thinking carefully, then offered a plausible answer.

“Perhaps it took the shape of the person who raised it? I’ve heard that dragons, for instance, will change into a human form if they’re raised by humans from the time they hatch.”

Listening to her, Jeong-hyeon realized something important. If dragons could turn into human form right after hatching, it meant they were capable of understanding speech from the moment they were still in the egg.

‘In other words…’

The World Tree likely grew up listening to their conversations while it was still a sapling or seedling.

‘That would explain why it can speak.’

Of course, the World Tree’s learning ability still seemed extraordinarily advanced.

Jeong-hyeon found himself pondering what kind of existence the World Tree really was, when Lucia, who had been watching them with a contented expression, brought up a topic.

“We should give the sapling a proper name! ‘Sapling’ is too generic. How about giving it a nice name?”

Indeed, calling it ‘Sapling’ or ‘Seedling’ was too generic. Jeong-hyeon considered referring to it as the World Tree but calling it that openly might attract unnecessary attention and danger. So, he decided to come up with a different name. However, nothing came to mind. After all, he had never named anyone before. As he struggled to think of a name, Lucia, who had been watching him, offered a suggestion.

“How about ‘Hana’?”

“Hana?”

“Yes. I remember seeing that name in a registry once. It stuck with me because it was so pretty.”

As he considered the name, Jeong-hyeon found himself liking it. He turned to the World Tree child sitting on his lap.

“How about the name Hana?”

At his question, the World Tree child blinked and looked at them, then broke into a wide smile, repeatedly saying that she liked it.

He wasn’t sure if she truly understood, but since she said she liked it, Jeong-hyeon decided to call her Hana from now on.

“From now on, your name is Hana.”

At these words, the World Tree child quickly nodded. Jeong-hyeon wondered if she truly comprehended, but there was no way to verify it at the moment. Choosing to believe she understood, he turned to Lucia.

“Could you call Miria for me?”

“Miria? Sure, I’ll go get her now.”

As Lucia left to fetch Miria, he decided to check the ‘Demon’ trait he had just acquired.

*-*

[Demon]

– Increases stats with each enemy defeated.

*-*

Upon reading this, a short laugh escaped his lips. He had previously possessed the ‘Bloodstained Berserker’ trait, and now it was ‘Demon.’ The names were getting more brutal. Shaking his head, he dismissed the message.

‘It’s not bad skill at all.’

Considering how often he found himself facing multiple enemies at once, a skill that boosted his stats with each defeated foe would be incredibly beneficial. Pleased with this realization, he smiled, and the child nestled in his lap, Hana, mimicked his expression, smiling back at him. Watching Hana, Jeong-hyeon realized he needed to be more mindful of his actions. Just then, Hana, as if remembering something, called out to him.

“Daddy…!”

Her speech pattern was strikingly similar to Lucia’s, likely because she had grown up hearing Lucia’s voice. Feeling a strange sense of familiarity, Jeong-hyeon nodded awkwardly. In response, Hana pulled out a shabby-looking sword from thin air and offered it to him.

“Here, for you.”

Curious, Jeong-hyeon took the sword, and a message popped up.

[Restoring the Holy Sword]

The words “holy sword” appeared before him. Wondering why Hana was giving him the holy sword, he accepted it, and Hana gazed up at him with a look of anticipation, as if waiting for praise.

“Thank you.”

Hana’s face lit up with joy, her smile more radiant than ever.

‘She really does remind me of Lucia.’

The way Hana acted, it was easy to imagine Lucia behaving the same way when she was a child. As this thought crossed his mind, Miria and Lucia entered the room.

Miria, wearing a mischievous grin, looked at Jeong-hyeon.

“Do you know what responsibility without pleasure is?”

Jeong-hyeon had a vague recollection of hearing those words before, but he gritted his teeth and pretended not to understand.

“Congratulations on becoming a dad. You’re in for a rough ride!”

Miria seemed to have decided to take revenge on the humiliation she had received so far, and she started teasing him in all sorts of ways.

Jeong-hyeon, growing tired of her teasing, stood up with the intent to flick her on the forehead as payback. But just as he was about to, Hana looked up at him with teary eyes.

“Daddy… you don’t need me?”

Miria was the most surprised by this. She hadn’t expected Hana to understand her words, and now she was frozen, quickly trying to explain herself. Sensing an opportunity, Jeong-hyeon leaned down and whispered to Hana, urging her to bite Miria. Thus, the battle commenced.