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Chapter 7 : The Clue
“Here is the breakfast you ordered.”
I ordered room service for breakfast.
The food at the factory was closer to animal feed, so putting that aside, this was my first meal since being possessed.
That was the reason I splurged on room service with what little money I had.
“Hmm.”
Е̊ n̂um а̄. i d̀
But there was one thing I had overlooked.
I had forgotten what a normal meal in this world was like.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“...It feels like I’m chewing on rubber.”
The meat was fine.
Since it was a hotel, they had grilled real meat instead of insect cubes, and with the seasoning, it was plausible.
What ruined my appetite was the side salad.
W̊ е̇ b̆ n̆ o v̂ ël̃ Е̂ n ũ m а
“What on earth is this made of?”
It was hard to tell what kind of vegetable it was.
The leaves were gaunt and lifeless, and the texture was tough.
It was a consequence of the withered great nature.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Well, in this world, it was harder to get proper vegetables than meat.
“Can’t you do something about this?”
Еn ǔ m̀ а̀ . і d̄
The World Tree scratched its stem with its leaf, looking troubled.
I hadn't asked with any expectation, so I soothed my bitterness with a sigh.
‘I probably won’t be eating fresh vegetables for a while.’
Not all vegetables were like this.
If I had enough money, I could get good quality products.
They were high-end ingredients generally enjoyed by the upper class.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
It was a price that was burdensome for me to order on a whim.
‘Come to think of it, I need a source of income too.’
Even without that, the lodging itself was a problem.
Although this place was reasonably priced, it was expensive for me to afford.
With the money in the supervisor's wallet, I would have to pack my bags in a week.
‘This is the first headache I need to solve.’
Е̌_ǹum̊ӑ
Without money, I can't live.
If the restoration of great nature was a long-term goal, this was a short-term goal.
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And a very urgent one at that.
‘...Should I go to the Magic Tower?’
The money the Magic Tower handed out was considerable.
As long as you produced results, they would support all sorts of strange research, so it was a place I had relied on a lot.
Ẅe b n ǒ vе̇l̊ En̆ü_m̀а̀
Thanks to that, I was able to move around without worrying about money in many of my previous playthroughs.
‘That won’t work.’
I shook my head after thinking about it.
The entrance procedure for the Magic Tower was strict.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
For me, who couldn't even use a simple spell right now, I would be turned away at the door.
‘I can’t just work a normal job either.’
Е n̈.ù m̊ а̌.і̊d̈
Unless I got into a solid company, it would just be enough to make ends meet.
Besides, I wouldn't be able to pursue my goal of reviving great nature that way.
‘In the first place, the question is what kind of activities I should even be doing.’
If I just improved and grew plant seeds like before, I would face the same ending.
Even with the World Tree, that wouldn't change.
‘I can’t aim for the mayor’s position either.’
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To become a politician, you had to be a noble by birth or equivalent.
For me, a commoner, to run for office, I would have to aim for a social revolution first.
‘It’s hard to decide right now, so for now…’
I put down the empty dishes.
The salad was a bit off, but compared to the slop I ate at the factory, it was a satisfying meal.
‘I should gather information first.’
W̄е̃ b̆ n о v̊ е̄ l̊ Е̇n u m а
Even if I was in a hurry, heading in blind was a no-go.
It might be a bit of a detour, but I decided to pursue certainty.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
***
The easiest way for a modern person to find information is the internet.
But in this world, the internet was generally closer to a corporate promotional tool than a place for information exchange.
Therefore, to find information, I had to choose a more traditional method.
Е̇n̂u.m̄ ă
For example, there were libraries, information brokers, or detectives.
‘There’s no point in going to the library.’
I had already searched the library several times in previous playthroughs.
It was unlikely that I would find any special information now.
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‘Information brokers won’t be of much help either.’
More than anything, the obstacle was money.
Ẅebnо vе l̆ Е ǹ ŭ m.ǎ
I had no idea how much gold I would have to spend to find information about the World Tree.
So how would I gather information?
The method I chose was a shortcut.
Thud! Thud!
Even in a glamorous downtown area, there were dark back alleys.
The streetlights in the sunless alley flickered irregularly.
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As I walked, trash kept getting kicked at my feet.
Beyond the collapsed wall, a gloomy, abandoned house exuded a desolate atmosphere.
If I listened closely, I could hear the noisy clamor of the street.
But for some reason, it felt like it was coming from far away.
Here, only the desolate sound of the wind and the squeaking of rats were close.
Even though it was only a few minutes away, this place was a different world, the opposite of the downtown area.
Е̇ nũ ṁ а̂. i ḋ
I navigated the streets with familiarity.
‘I think it was around here.’
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After turning through the maze-like alleys several times.
Finally, the thing I was looking for appeared before my eyes.
It looked similar to a public phone booth.
Like the surrounding abandoned houses, it seemed to have been abandoned and had no electricity.
Ênu.ma.їd́
After checking for any presence around, I went inside.
I blew on the dusty top of the machine to clean it and then placed my hand on it.
Zzzzt!
‘It works.’
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I couldn't use magic, but that didn't mean I didn't have mana.
When I squeezed out mana with my fingertips, the machine responded.
Е ñūḿ a
‘The Magic Tower’s information exchange device.’
It was a kind of oopart, born from the fusion of magic and engineering.
It was hidden in designated places in each city like this and was activated by mana.
Not everyone could use it.
By entering the ID and password distributed to the Magic Tower personnel, a function to search for information within the Magic Tower would be unlocked.
‘That was, uh…’
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I used the one belonging to a mage who would have been active around this time.
It was an ID that a so-called senior, who had entered the tower around the same time in the past, had received.
The reason I knew this was… because I had to clean up his mess.
He was a very authoritarian person, as mages often are.
He was so annoying that I wanted to kill him, but now it had become a blessing in disguise.
Woong!
W e b̆ ṅо̆v_е l E_num̄ а
When I entered it from memory, the screen lit up.
A familiar interface lit up the gloomy air.
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I searched for the World Tree.
‘...So little.’
The information was as scarce as the loading was fast.
The result was only one page.
Е̄ṅum_а̇ . іd
That was how much there was, even with the condition that it would be displayed if it was just mentioned.
‘Should I be grateful for this?’
Still, it was this much because it was the Magic Tower.
In the library, there wasn't a single book that mentioned it.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I quickly skimmed through the information.
Since I was using someone else's ID, I didn't have all the time in the world.
Èn ùm а
The best thing to do was to finish my business before I got caught.
‘There’s nothing useful.’
Disappointingly, most of it was useless information.
It was no different from the information I knew as common sense, like it being a legendary tree or being the background of some myth.
Even though it was its own story, the World Tree was so bored that it was looking away.
Tap, tap!
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‘Hmm?’
It was then.
The World Tree suddenly touched a line of text.
I moved my gaze in wonder.
“...Fundamentally connected to spirits?”
[The World Tree nods its stem, saying it remembers now.]
Е n̊uṁ_а́.іd̄
The World Tree's reaction to the words I had spoken out loud was dramatic.
It was the first time I had found ‘information I didn’t know’.
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The story that the World Tree used spirits as its source of power.
It was only one line, but that alone was valuable.
‘Spirits, you say.’
Like the World Tree, it was information that I didn't know existed in this world.
Ӗ n ù ṁ ӓ. і d
Since the World Tree guaranteed it, it wasn't a lie, but it was a headache.
‘Where do I find spirits?’
I had never encountered a spirit while playing the game so far.
Come to think of it, it was strange.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Even though it was a fantasy world, there was no mention of spirits.
‘This must be the growth condition for the World Tree.’
Ё ň_u̇ m̄ ā
Since it was said to be the source of power, it was 100%.
It also fit the purpose of restoring and reviving great nature.
Spirits, just hearing the word, doesn't it sound like it's related to great nature?
Finding and gathering them was what I had to do.
Fizz!
“Ugh.”
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I was just about to search for information about spirits.
I recoiled from the spark that erupted from the device.
Flap, flap!
I wasn't the only one who got hurt.
[The World Tree whines and shakes its spark-hit leaf.]
I blew on the leaf to cool it down and smiled bitterly.
Ẽ n̂ u m̀ӑ . і̀ d
“...I guess I got caught.”
The connection was forcibly cut off.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Either the owner had just logged in, or the administrator had found the unauthorized access.
Whatever it was, it was hard to use it anymore.
‘It’s okay, I’ve solved the biggest question.’
I had found the keyword ‘spirit’.
Ѐ n ü m а̊.ǐ d̀
It would have been the icing on the cake if I had found detailed information about spirits, but this alone was a great harvest.
‘It’s not like there’s no way to find out.’
A report that had discovered new information about the World Tree.
I remembered the part where it was written as a footnote where it was referenced.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
‘Greenwood.’
It wasn't a completely unfamiliar name.
Ӗ nũm̈а.id̀
Rather, it was surprising that it was mentioned here.
I left the place, searching my memory.
***
In this world, there were not many environmental groups, but not few either.
They were not well-received and were persecuted, so they operated more like secret societies, but there were at least ten in each city.
I knew this well because I had worked with them in a previous playthrough.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Greenwood was one of those environmental groups.
‘Unfortunately, I’ve never worked with them directly.’
I wasn't interested because I knew the reality of environmental groups, which were all bark and no bite.
‘But there was a difference.’
Greenwood knew how to use force directly.
It just didn't have much influence.
Ẇ ѐ b̃n ȯv̌ е̂l̇ Е n̄uḿ.а
Compared to other groups that couldn't get past the level of a club, their finances were also solid.
Although I didn't know where they got that money from.
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‘It’s a peculiar place, if you can call it that.’
Now, I just regretted not having contacted them.
Unlike my previous playthroughs where I had a respectable title, with my current status, it was difficult to even follow their tails.
‘It’s a good thing I have a clue.’
Ėn̄ umа̂ ._і̄ d
A sign dividing the city's districts dangled.
[From here, District 3, 5th Avenue]
It was a rather remote neighborhood within the downtown area of District 3.
The buildings were not shabby, but they were far from the dazzling lights and deafening noise of the city center.
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The occasional crowd that caught my eye also had the opposite impression of the city center.
Blades were a given, and they all covered their faces as if they were heinous criminals.
Eǹ ûm̈ а̊.
‘The air is so tense.’
The reason for this was the geography.
If you left this place and moved for a while, you would reach District 4, a lawless zone close to extraterritoriality, also known as Junk Town.
It was a land where lawless people who moved by money and relied on force had made their home.
District 3's 5th Avenue was their passage to the downtown area.
It was also an area where entrepreneurs and powerful people interacted with them to handle business in the illegal sphere.
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It was a kind of neutral zone, straddling the line between the dark and the light.
Although there were fewer commotions than in District 4, ordinary people were reluctant to set foot here even if they had business.
The air was bound to be different from the city center.
‘Is this it?’
The place where I stopped was in front of a shopping mall.
A sign with illegible letters was broken in half and swaying.
Е̃ ňú m̊а́
Several people were going in and out of the entrance.
Their atmosphere and impression were by no means those of people with respectable jobs.
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‘I’ve come to the right place.’
I entered the shopping mall.
The interior was close to that of a decent cafe.
It was completely different from the shabby exterior.
Е̌ ṅ ūm̀ а́ . îd
I crossed the quiet interior.
A few people must have come in before me, but the only person I could see was one employee.
It wasn't surprising.
This was that kind of place.
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“Hey.”
I touched the employee who was slacking off with his feet on the table.
Ẁ ѐ b ǹov̆ е.l Е n̂ü m̈ ӑ
“...What?”
“I want to get a job.”
“We’re not hiring.”
The man answered with a yawn.
“Are you out of your mind? Wanting to work in this dangerous neighborhood. If you want to live out your days, go to the city center over there.”
The employee waved his hand as if shooing away a bug.
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He looked very annoyed.
I added another word to him as he was about to fall asleep again.
“Not that kind of odd job. I heard there’s a big money-making job.”
“...Ah, you’re that kind of customer.”
The man, who had stopped his actions, soon smiled slyly.
“Open the back door and go up the stairs. What you’re looking for is there.”
Wе̊b̀ n о́ v e ĺ Е̂n um а
I followed the man's words and went up the stairs.
The place I went up to had a different atmosphere from the floor below.
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Blocked windows, dim lighting even in broad daylight, and the strong smell of alcohol that seemed to be ingrained in the furniture.
The sound of the ceiling fan spinning loudly tickled my ears.
I walked to the huge cork board on the wall.
As I was crossing the center, a low voice called out to me.
Е̄ n̊ùm̂ а.i d̃
“...I haven’t seen you before. Did Jack send you up?”
It was a middle-aged man with a stylishly grown beard.
The old scar near his eyebrow was intimidating, but his appearance was dignified.
His neatly combed salt-and-pepper hair and well-fitting suit gave the impression that he should be in the leadership of a respectable company.
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“If the man downstairs is Jack.”
“Hoo, I’ve told him time and time again not to send just anyone up based on a glance. He still doesn’t listen.”
En̊ um̆ а . і̂ d̈
The man let out a small sigh.
His eyes were sharp as he looked at me again.
“If you came here without knowing where you are, then leave. I’ll forgive you this once. Don’t come near here again.”
“I know everything, so don’t worry.”
I moved my feet, which had stopped.
“This is a contract killer agency, isn’t it?”
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The man nodded heavily.
“...I’m glad you’re not an outsider. Are you a contract killer from another city?”
“Something like that.”
Contract killer agency, contract killer.
It had a sinister ring to it.
But it was an industry I had to throw myself into.
Е̊ n̄ù m̂ а̇.i d̊
‘I saw the name Greenwood in one of the contract requests.’
Because there was a trace of Greenwood here.
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