With a swishing sound, the gigantic fists of the Alice doll swung down, and the monsters attempting to assault Alice burst like balloons.
Alice swung her fists enthusiastically, as if she didn’t care whether her body was smeared with red stains or not.
Watching her felt strange.
Of course, it wasn’t like Daesik had suddenly become scary.
The more Daesik, posing as Alice, swung his fists, the less likely the monsters were to harm humans, making me want to praise him even more.
Still, it seemed like Daesik was having a bit too much fun.
This wasn’t necessarily bad for Daesik. It wasn’t so much that his latent violence was surfacing but more like how a puppy feels on a rare outing—wagging its tail uncontrollably.
He felt like he was moving more vigorously, unable to contain his overflowing energy.
I always thought he didn’t like going out since he was usually sitting on the bed watching TV, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
Was I just leading solo outings all this time while leaving him behind?
It felt a bit odd being the one who just went out and wandered while leaving a child behind.
But then again, Daesik isn’t a child, and he’s grown so much…
If he had appealed to me, I might have brought him along.
Maybe this was just my one-sided assumption, so it would be better to ask him.
Thinking that way led to another thought.
Could the Singularities under Jelly’s surveillance also wish to go outside?
But I decided to stop at just thinking about that.
Looking at the tree, the supposed origin triggering the monsters’ attacks on people, my thoughts dissipated.
Anyway.
Riding the giant Alice doll, I approached the tree, unleashed Daesik, then stuck to the tree like a friendly neighborhood hero by launching Jelly, adhering there.
On second thought, I didn’t feel like a cicada attached to an old tree but rather like an ant climbing to transport sap.
The tree was truly colossal. From where I sat on Daesik’s shoulders, it seemed massive, but up close, it was significantly larger than expected.
With my body smaller than before, the size of the tree certainly was overwhelming, but even without that, the tree’s dimensions exceeded any standard size.
In all my years, I’ve never encountered such an immense tree.
Left be, it might keep growing until it touches the sky.
While approaching it with high spirit, as soon as I got closer, my confidence waned slightly. People instinctively fear anything overwhelmingly large, don’t they?
It’s said that we feel scared when we truly grasp the vastness of the universe, isn’t that what cosmic horror is?
But that doesn’t mean I’ll hang onto the tree shaking. Now that I think about it, could I grow even bigger than the colossal Alice if I wanted?
Therefore, I headed toward the tree’s enormous roots to implement my original plan.
Climbing down the rugged tree felt like riding some amusement park ride, and it was somewhat thrilling.
However, some unknown beast, either a bird or a bee, came near, apparently trying to snatch me, but it simply turned into a puddle after tasting the giant Alice’s fist.
The sweet smell rising from where the tree was punctured made it feel almost like jam.
Now I understood why Jellies eagerly tried to consume those creatures—they must be sweet.
Realizing this, I slightly felt nauseated.
While they won’t eat my pudding, they devour these creatures?
Damn, what secret is Kim Cheon-soo hiding…?
Sigh.
Let’s calm down.
My job isn’t to worry about trivialities like pudding making but dealing with Singularities.
It’s unnecessary to hurt my pride over such matters.
Kim Cheon-soo may be able to make pudding, but handling Singularities like this is difficult—no, impossible for him.
Settling the wobbling Jelly, I arrived where the roots began.
Accurately speaking, I stepped onto the ground.
When I was on Alice’s shoulder, I thought cutting the roots might work.
It felt like severing or pulling the roots would solve the problem.
However… Now face-to-face with the roots, it seemed harder than expected.
Even if I could somehow cut or pull them… If this tree collapses now, it would be catastrophic.
This growing tree could cause chaos just by falling. The people around might be exhausted and unable to move out of the way, and Jellies, while protecting humans, don’t seem to be guiding them beyond their range.
Thus, it was challenging to bring this tree down.
We’re trying to save people here, so what good is it if it crushes them?
Even Han Seori might find it hard to clean up on this scale…
Not to mention, considering my current status akin to a nationwide star, it would be extremely difficult to handle the aftermath of such events.
Ahem. So, not being able to make pudding isn’t a flaw.
No, that’s beside the point.
The better option is handling the situation without causing collateral damage.
Meanwhile, the monsters the tree emits seem to be under control by other Jellies.
Thanks to that, now it’s down to a one-on-one showdown between this tree and me. But with the original plan falling apart, I’m unsure how to proceed.
Hmm.
In such situations…
It’s better to go inside and think things over.
Inside the tree, that is.
Hardening my hand, I attempted to break through the tree’s tough surface. It was fairly solid, but with stronger force, the bark creaked and crumbled.
Once the broken wood fragments dissolved into Jelly, they tasted like cinnamon.
The spicy and sweet sensation was pleasant.
Now I understood why the Jelly eagerly devours those monsters.
What could the fruit of this tree taste like?
But this isn’t the time for that sort of thought.
The more I dawdle, the higher the chance of injury or death even with Jellies out there.
Refocusing, I tore into the tree even more.
The tree groaned and cracked, vertically splitting open.
While I managed to tear enough to fit my body, given the tree’s size, it felt like stepping on a pin.
Going in blindly won’t necessarily solve the issue, but I must proceed.
Walking off confidently and then failing to do anything would be embarrassing, right?
Perhaps I could just set it on fire from the outside, I briefly wondered, but quickly dismissed it since doing so would destroy the village carefully crafted by Ki Hyang.
Therefore, this remains the best course of action.
Environment preservation is essential. Fire isn’t exactly eco-friendly.
As such, the ironic joke of a Jelly about humans disappearing from the world lingered in my mind.
Nonetheless, I continued to gnaw into the tree like a destructive pest.
It was faster to eat it than throw it away, making it a true gnawing.
As I eagerly ate my way in, the faint light indicating I was inside the tree began to fade.
This meant I had burrowed deep into the tree.
At this point, I decided to take a short rest.
It wasn’t due to Jelly being tired but rather to assess the surroundings.
Once I paused digging and observed… A strange sight met my eyes.
It was clearly a tree, and the sensation of being inside the tree was present.
However, tracing the wood grain, vein-like structures pulsed with a sound—Thump! Thump!
As I tore again, a crimson liquid gushed out like the creatures flying around.
Judging by its prompt disappearance, it seems measures are taken immediately upon damage.
This also tasted syrupy.
…It almost felt like the tree was inviting me to eat it, so sweet all over.
If the outside were clear before I return, Jellies might swarm and devour this tree.
The more I pondered, the more I felt like the villain.
Perhaps it was because the tree appeared in a natural form.
I began to question my assumptions framed by human-centric thinking, which left my head spinning.
Nonetheless, seeing these vein-like structures meant I had passed through the outer layer.
My helmet was starting to become annoying, but since humans weren’t too far, I couldn’t remove it.
If only I didn’t have to wear it, I could have progressed faster.
It’s bothersome…
How long had I been like this, a white ant, no, a blue ant gnawing at the tree?
Just as I started worrying the Jelly might have been infused with cinnamon flavor…
Crack! With the sound of splitting timber, an empty space revealed itself.
More accurately, it wasn’t entirely empty, as it was filled with vein-like structures seen occasionally from the outside.
Though it was large by my standards, it wasn’t that big in relation to the entire tree.
However, upon entering, the pulsating veins became more noticeable.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Looking at these large veins pulsating like a heart might be somewhere nearby induced a strange feeling.
Had this been merely repulsive, it might have been easier to bear.
Thump, Thump.
As I listened to the resounding beats, a sensation of sadness emerged.
…Why?
As I couldn’t comprehend it, I pushed the thought out of my head.
With the helmet in hand, I jumped down.
While contemplating whether to climb up or descend, I figured the roots were the tree’s origin.
So, descending would be correct, right?
Of course, it wasn’t because climbing up was cumbersome.
Didn’t I aim for the roots from the beginning?
