[Day 187 — Mt. Seorak, Northern Range]
The wind howled like an animal.Snow fell sideways, cutting through Evelyn's cloak as she climbed higher along the jagged ridge. Her barrier flickered faintly around her — barely enough to deflect the freezing winds.
Her system pulsed in rhythmic intervals.
[Main Quest: The World Tree Seed — Korea (1/10)]
[Sub-Quest: Trial of the First Root]
[Status: In Progress]
The air itself felt alive, dense with something ancient.Below the mountain lay the remnants of a small village buried beneath frost, where twisted, petrified roots jutted out of the ground — like something had once tried to grow but froze mid-birth.
At the peak, a faint emerald light pulsed beneath the snow.
She pressed her hand to the ground. It was warm.The earth answered.
[Life Signal Detected: Dormant Entity — "Guardian of the First Root"]
[Status: Sealed]
[Command: Awaken or Release]
Evelyn hesitated. She could feel its heartbeat through the soil — slow, massive, endless.
"Awaken," she whispered.
The mountain trembled.
Snow exploded upward as a colossal figure rose from beneath the ground — a creature forged of roots and ice, with antlers that glowed like veins of crystal. Its eyes opened, ancient and sorrowful.
[Divine Guardian Awakened: FEN AL'THIR, THE VERDANT STAG]
The beast spoke, its voice rumbling through her bones.
"Child of the First Light… why do you wake me?"
Evelyn bowed her head, breath fogging in the cold."The world is dying. The seeds are lost. I'm here to restore what was broken."
The stag's gaze was piercing."Then prove you are worthy of the root."
The snow melted around her feet, replaced by glowing sigils.The trial had begun.
[At the Same Time — Sanctum, Seoul Outskirts]
Min Jae stood in the middle of Sanctum's main courtyard, surrounded by banners — none of them his own.
The Golden Chain, Ivory Dominion, and Crimson Banner had all sent emissaries.Each carried documents sealed with the System's crest, glowing faintly — proof of temporary peace accords among guilds.
The air was heavy. Tense.He knew what they wanted: control of Sanctum's neutrality.
An Ivory mage spoke first. "Guardian Min Jae, we come not as enemies. The world is rebuilding. Join us. Sanctum can become an official guild under the Union Charter."
Min Jae crossed his arms. "And surrender independence? No."
The mage's eyes gleamed. "Without registration, Sanctum will be deemed rogue. You know what that means."
He knew.It meant open season.
The Golden Chain representative stepped forward, gold-lined robes shimmering. "Or you can join us. Our vaults are open. Our protection— limitless."
Min Jae laughed bitterly. "Gold means nothing here. We trade in food and blood, not shiny rocks."
The emissary's smile faded. "Then blood it is."
[Back at Mt. Seorak — The Divine Trial]
The ground fractured under Evelyn's feet as tendrils of living wood burst forth, forming towering creatures — half root, half beast. They roared, charging at her.
She raised both hands. Her eyes glowed bright green.
[Skill Activated: Life Weaving Lv. MAX]
[Skill Chain: Regeneration Field → Mana Thorns → Seed Burst]
The mountain erupted in emerald light. Roots obeyed her call, twisting through the snow, trapping monsters mid-charge — but each cast drained her deeper.
The Divine Guardian's voice echoed through the storm."Your power sustains life… but can it protect it?"
The monsters broke through. One slashed across her ribs. Blood splattered the snow.
She didn't stop.She poured mana into the soil, and the very mountain answered her plea. Vines burst upward, wrapping around her wound, knitting flesh in seconds. Her breath came ragged, eyes blazing.
[Skill Evolved: Vitalis Command — Rank EX]
The final blow struck — her palm against the beast's chest.Light flared like dawn.
When the silence returned, the snow no longer fell. The mountain bloomed.
[Trial Complete.]
[Reward: 1st World Tree Seed Fragment Acquired.]
[Title Gained: Keeper of the Root.]
The stag knelt before her."The first seed recognizes you, Heir of Life. But others will come. Protect what you sow."
As it faded into the earth, Evelyn collapsed to her knees, the seed glowing faintly in her hands.Her vision blurred — but before she lost consciousness, she saw a new system alert.
[Warning: Sanctum Threat Level Increased — Hostile Guild Forces Detected.]
Her heart clenched."...Min Jae."
[Seoul — The Siege of Sanctum Begins]
By dusk, Sanctum was surrounded.
Hundreds of awakeners stood at its borders — Golden Chain soldiers gleaming in gold-plated armor, Ivory Dominion mages chanting at the rear. The Crimson Banner assassins moved unseen in the shadows.
The children were hidden in the underground shelter.Min Jae stood at the front gate, crimson aura already leaking from his hands.
"Last chance," the Golden Chain leader called out. "Submit your resources and your rank — or be erased."
Min Jae's jaw tightened. "Evelyn built this place to protect, not kneel."
The man smiled coldly. "Then you'll die with it."
[System Alert: Combat Zone Detected — Sanctum Defense Active.]
The ground trembled.Min Jae's body glowed red. The Berserker within him awakened fully for the first time since that day.
[Class Skill: Berserker's Domain — Unlocked.]
[Skill Effect: 200% Strength, 100% Damage Reduction, 0% Fear.]
He roared.And the battlefield exploded.
[The Divine and the Mortal]
The fight raged for hours.Every strike Min Jae delivered tore through armor, every blow he took healed instantly under the blood-red aura that surrounded him. Sanctum's defenders — healers, craftsmen, unaffiliated awakeners — fought behind him with desperate courage.
Still, the enemy's numbers were overwhelming.
Then the system rippled across the sky.
[Divine Link Established.]
[Entity: Evelyn Park — Keeper of the Root — Request Connection.]
A faint green light enveloped Min Jae.He heard her voice through the storm of battle — soft, calm, unshaken.
"Hold your ground, Guardian. The roots will protect you."
And from the cracks in the earth, green vines erupted, coiling around the Sanctum walls, forming barriers of living wood that glowed with divine light.
The enemy halted — stunned.
For the first time, the world saw it: Evelyn Park's divine signature, spreading across Seoul like a second sunrise.
[Epilogue — The Birth of a Legend]
By dawn, the enemy had retreated.Sanctum stood scarred but unbroken.
Min Jae stood among the ruins, exhausted, his hands trembling. Around him, the air still shimmered faintly with Evelyn's divine energy. The people cheered — not for victory, but for survival.
Far away, Evelyn opened her eyes in the snow, her hand glowing where the seed rested.
The system chimed softly.
[Sanctum Defense: Successful.]
[Guardian Min Jae — Promoted to Rank A.]
[Leader Evelyn Park — Rank: Divine-Class Unmeasured.]
She smiled faintly, whispering into the cold air.
"Good job, Min Jae."
Then she looked toward the horizon — where faint red lights burned in the distance.
Ten seeds.Ten continents.And one ticking clock.
[Countdown to Third Wave: 578 Days]
The world would not rest.Neither would she.