The Gardener in a Hunter World

Disclaimer: This is an edited MTL. Thus, I can’t guarantee that my editing to be proficient. But I hope you enjoy this story with me. If there are any corrections or questions, it is highly encourage to leave a comment.

Not long ago, he saved a whale called WorldEater. 

A natural god who grew up to be huge and he displayed an appetite to eat anything. 

‘If your name is WorldEater, it means you can eat up a whole world, right?’ 

And the souls of countless living creatures……

Yoo Ji-Ha left the soul stone in the room and was in distress.

He wondered if this rainbow-colored stone had a real soul. 

If so, it should never be used for nonsense. 

‘To use the souls of living things as incense candles, it’s impossible.’ 

If there was an explanation, there would be no reason to worry.

Thump thump.

Anyway, it smells really good. 

It is said that the incense that whales spit out has a very terrible smell.

If melted a little bit, it can be used as a scented candle.

Among the miscellaneous items from the dungeon, candles sell quite expensively. 

Unlike mass-produced candles, they are made from real animal oil and have various shapes. 

Instead, it has a disadvantage that it smells when lit, but it can be said that there is no problem since it is for ornamental use anyway. 

While Ji-Ha was thinking about this, Beom and Daeng were talking about different things.

—That doesn’t really have a soul in it, does it?

—Of course not. It’s from the whale’s belly, that’s just a medium.

—What medium? 

—A medium that connects the countless souls that the whale has eaten. In some way, if you process that and let someone inhale it, they will be able to see the memories. 

Daeng’s forehead, which was wrinkled from always making an expression, narrowed. 

—What does that mean? 

—Think about it, you big piece of shit. No soul can connect like that. What the World Tree intends is to connect Gehenna’s power with those on Earth here. Like when the dead pass on his powers to the living? That would be it. 

—Even if the dead will do it well. If it’d me, I’d have an upset stomach……  

—That’s why you’re a mutt. It’s not a matter of doing or not doing it because it’s about sharing memories. 

—If you call me a mutt one more time, I’ll call you a shit cat.

—Shit dogs and shit cats. It’s clear who’s doing more damage. A lot of dogs actually eat poop, but cats don’t.

After saying that, Beom climbed up on top of the drawers, put his front paw on the Soul Stone, and cried softly. 

“Huh? Why? Is there a problem?” 

As Yoo Ji-Ha gently touched Beom, Beom was busy biting and chewing the Soul Stone while enjoying it. 

“Oh no, this is very important.”

Ji-Ha, who was trying to push him down, realized something. 

Beom looks like a snow leopard cub, but he is actually a natural god who knows a lot. 

If so, does that mean that this Soul Stone has no real soul?

“…There’s no soul in this?”

Wow. 

Beom cried out loud in a positive way and treated the soul stone as poop.

When he pretended to cover the stone with sand with his hind feet, Yoo Ji-Ha laughed. 

“Aha, so it doesn’t have a soul. Alright.”

He seems to have understood somehow. 

When Yoo Ji-Ha moved the soul stone to the studio, Daeng, who was sitting under the bed, delivered a message to Beom. 

—The world tree is really stupid. Why didn’t it write an explanation? ‘Soul Stone: There is no soul in it. It acts as a medium that connects the souls swallowed by the WorldEater. You can let them inhale the scent.’ Wouldn’t it be nice to write something like this?

—Some are written like that, and some aren’t. When the World Tree first recognized this place and borrowed the form of the system, it was on fire, and it had no power, so it’s impossible to do everything perfectly. 

—Hmm, so is that why the Hunter’s system is incomplete?

—It’s trying to fix that from now on. Through the owner.

—There must be an easier way… 

—Go outside and take a look around. 

When Beom pushed Daeng, he got up and went outside despite being annoyed. 

When he returned, he had an absurd expression on his dog’s face.

—What? Why is the world tree here? Tell me that’s not what I think it is. 

—The owner planted it. That World Tree serves to condense the energy of this place, and it will grow very large in the near future. And he himself will become a giant tower and share his power with the Hunters. Instead of doing that, the World Tree left the rest of the little things to its owner. It doesn’t matter if it takes some time. 

—That’s what it was…. 

—I think the real purpose is different.

—What is that? 

—Did you feel as if you crossed the dimension? Gehenna and Earth, don’t they seem pretty close together? Think about it carefully. 

—So, what does that mean? 

Beom did not answer any further and went into the studio and rubbed Ji-Ha’s hand with his body.

He was working on making candles. 

A nice scent wafted through the studio.

***

Early morning. 

Daeng was sitting on the table and chewing on the Pemmican¹It actually does exist. that Ji-Ha gave him. 

Beom, who was sitting on the shelf, saw it and revealed his intentions.

—You seem to like that preservative formula quite a bit.

—This human is also surprisingly useful. I wish we could keep making something like this.

—But you did hear there’s no real meat in there, did you? It’s all seafood. 

—What do you know? If it’s delicious, that’s fine. 

—That’s true.

Dang chewed the Pemmican for a while and then raised his head. 

—I’ve been curious about this for a while… There’s a strange guy walking around this store.

—Never mind. These hunters are sent to protect our owner. 

—It’s yours, not our owner. 

—Let’s see how long that heart lasts. In any case, it is not a person who harms the owner. 

—Heh, he seems to have a good reputation? 

—If the owner is in danger now, some passersby will come running right away. There wouldn’t have been any major problems without me. 

—He’s not even that good, he’s not worth protecting.

—Think as you like. But don’t you think you should do something in this store, too? 

—What do you mean? 

—Take a good look. 

Beom went out and glanced at the passersby. 

His target is a hunter, not an ordinary person.

A Hunter who seems to have quite a lot of money too. 

When the subject is identified, gently rub his body before he passes. 

Then the Hunter is embarrassed but slightly pleased.

He is mistaken that the cat is showing him favor.

The next step is to move quickly.

The hunter brought in by Beom had no intention of doing that, but the story is that he buys something and left… 

Daeng was shocked to see that. 

—Solicitation? To what extent did the immortal created by the Lord fall? 

—Hey, as long as you stay here, you have to pay for your meals. 

—Even if we sell only the things that come out of the garden at a reasonable price, we will still be buying a few buildings!!

—The owner has no intention of doing that, so we have no choice but to go out. Come on, do something quickly, if you don’t make money, you might end up eating bad food later. 

—Damn it. 

Feed is the most hated food by Beom and Daeng.

Usually, they live on meat and seafood that Yoo Ji-Ha buys, so there was no need to put feed in their mouths. 

Dang looked at the food piled in the corner with a shiver. 

He wants to throw it out somewhere.

—There’s nothing I can do. 

He took on the role of ripping off the wallet by showing aegyo to the guest Beom brought. 

There are probably not many guests who can blindly refuse a pretty cat and a cute puppy who treats them warmly. 

When Daeng turned over and showed his stomach, the customer caressed it. 

Beom said sternly. 

—You don’t have to do that… You corrupted, you bastard.

—Shut up.

A day at the general store had begun.

***

That evening. 

Yoo Ji-Ha’s bedroom was darkened and a candle made by melting the soul stone was lit.

TataTak.

The wick burned and a good scent was spreading, and Beom and Daeng, who were sitting right next to each other, sniffed. 

“Oh, it smells good.” 

It felt relaxing.

Yoo Ji-Ha did not resist the soft feeling that wrapped around his body and relaxed. 

There was no wind, but the candles seemed to flicker. 

Before he could think of anything, his consciousness was sucked into somewhere.

When he came to his senses, he was alone in the vast ocean. 

“Hyuk!”

His arms and legs were wet by the blue sea water.

The sea-scented wind brushed his cheeks.

“Oh my god.”

He was riding on a gigantic being.

It was too big to get a full appearance of it. 

‘Did he get on top of a submarine?’

When he thought so, something sprang up.

Poooooosh! 

Only then did Yoo Ji-Ha realize that the WorldEater was the one holding him.

“It’s really big…”

He never imagined it would be so big just by looking at the video taken by the aircraft. 

It felt like a small city was moving. 

A smile was etched on the corner of his mouth as he became accustomed to it. 

His usual wish was to travel the sea by boat. 

It’s impossible because of monsters now, but he decided to give it a try someday. 

‘Thank you’ 

The moment he thought that, his consciousness flew away again. 

Yoo Ji-Ha was moved to someone’s studio. 

Excuse me? 

He waved his hand and looked around, but he didn’t recognize the basement.

There was an old man with a long beard. 

He took something from the shelf, threw it roughly into a small cauldron, and stirred it slowly. 

Only then did the surrounding equipment and materials came into view.

‘This grandfather is an alchemist.’ 

Perhaps, the Soul Stone uses its scent as a medium to link the memories of a specific person on the continent of Gehenna.

‘I’m almost certain.’

Yoo Ji-Ha frantically paid attention to the work of the alchemist.

His bold yet delicate hand movements caught his eye. 

‘So that’s how you mix that.’

He thought it was just stirring the powder, but he guessed that’s not it. 

Depending on the movement of the hands and a little time difference, the material showed a big change. 

It was the first time he noticed that the concentration of the concentrate in the beaker changes over time.

‘What I am doing is not alchemy, it was an imitation.’

Even though he had skills, he’s not like this alchemist.

Yoo Ji-Ha felt ashamed and immersed himself in the work of grandfather alchemist. 

Not long after, his consciousness became blurred.

Yoo Ji-Ha woke up feeling frustrated. 

“Ummm…”

He hugged Beom and Daeng.

It was kind of scary.

After stroking them, when he checked the status window, to his surprise, his alchemy skills went up.

‘I saw that in my dream and it was added to my alchemy.’

Was the grandfather a master of alchemy?

Yoo Ji-Ha looked at the Soul stone, whose color changes every moment.

“It’s almost certain that the WorldEater spit it out, so should he call it a whale-given dream? 

Just like when Yoo Ji-Ha enters the garden in the dream, it allows others to have a similar experience.

All of this ultimately makes the hunters stronger. 

‘But what about foreign hunters?’

Everything that Yoo Ji-Ha has done so far may have helped Korean hunters, but not to foreign hunters. 

How does the World Tree understand that?

‘…I think it’s too big of a subject.’

The number of these Soul Stones is also limited, but if they are distributed to hunters all over the world, they will run out soon. 

Then maybe, what Yoo Ji-Ha should do is…

‘Understand the power of the World Tree and prepare it for future use like when Yoo Ji-ha enters the garden of dream, it allows other similar experiences.

All of this ultimately makes hunters stronger…’ 

For example, a tutorial.

It will be a role of having to go to a tutorial in advance and teach others later.

That thought made Yoo Ji-Ha feel at ease.

He thought it would be good to test the exact effect with a few people.

“Let’s make scented candles.”

Beom and Daeng were watching him as he got up and went out to the studio.

—You understand roughly, right?

—Maybe.

• 1It actually does exist.