WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Gate Summoner Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 41: Death Approaches. Becomes a Plant.
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Kang Yul, prepared to be scolded, poked Worm's soft body.
Poke! Poke!
But no matter how desperately he tried to wake it, Worm showed no reaction.
'If I'd known this would happen, I should've just run outside the Gate....'
Kang Yul had mistakenly believed that Worm would notice something was wrong, wake up quickly, and save him.
Still, if he ran toward the entrance now, the overgrown plants would surely catch him along the way.
And so, in the end.
Rustle!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: She feels affection for you.
: She is happy to meet you.
Kang Yul had to face the Woman in the Roots, who had approached right up to him.
No, saying they were facing each other was a little misleading.
Kang Yul was fairly big himself, yet he had to look up at her. She was clearly over two meters tall.
Which meant...
'...I'm going to die.'
She could kill him instantly just by touching him, and he was outclassed by her in size as well. There was practically no chance of Kang Yul getting out alive.
So the instant he became certain that he could not survive, Kang Yul redirected his survival instinct toward another desire.
'At least save Worm.'
Kang Yul himself was weak, but if Worm woke up, it might somehow find a way out.
It might even swallow that being whole. And if that failed, it could escape by eating dirt.
So although it might have been presumptuous, Kang Yul thought that if he was going to die anyway, it would be better to increase Worm's chances of survival, even a little.
Smack! Smack!
Kang Yul pressed himself against the cavern wall and began moving his hands frantically.
Even as his nails broke and his flesh tore open and bled, he did not stop digging into the wall with his bare hands. Once he had dug a hole of a suitable size, he hid Worm inside and covered it with dirt.
'Goodbye, Worm.'
Right after offering his own farewell.
"Nice to meet you. Did you want to meet me?"
Kang Yul casually walked away, putting distance between himself and Worm so that she would not pay attention in that direction.
Then he actively spoke to the being before him, trying to please her so that she would focus on him.
Then...
Nod nod nod!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: She feels affection for you!
The being before him nodded vigorously, as if she had wished for this very moment.
"Is that so? Honestly, I feel the same way. I really wanted to meet you too, but... I was a little shy, so it was hard to approach you."
Tremble...!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: She feels a deep fondness for you...!
The being before him began to tremble slightly.
At first, Kang Yul flinched, thinking he had said something wrong and made her angry. But he soon realized that she was trembling because she was overwhelmed with joy at his words.
'She doesn't seem hostile toward me.'
But that thought lasted only a moment.
Sliiide...!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: She feels a deep fondness for you...!
: She wants to give you a gift...!
The being before him spread both arms, clearly wanting intimate physical contact with Kang Yul, and said that she wanted to give him a "gift."
"A gift... huh."
With a resigned smile, Kang Yul vaguely realized that the gift was inescapable death.
Even so...
"If you're giving it to me, then I'm grateful. I'll gladly accept it."
Kang Yul decided not to refuse the gift.
Just look at that reaction.
Nod nod nod!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: She feels a deep fondness for you-!
: She thinks she will give you a tight hug-!
What did he think would happen if he said, "Actually, I was lying. I might die if I touch you, so I don't want your gift"?
There was a high chance that the thing would get angry, turn the surrounding area upside down, and drag Worm, sleeping behind him, into it too.
In the worst case, she might do something worse than death to him and make him suffer forever.
So Kang Yul had no choice but to accept this gift.
'Come to think of it, it was like this with Worm last time too.'
Back then, he had thought he would die if he refused the gift, so he shut his eyes tight and accepted it, learning how to eat mountains. Was it because he was on the verge of death?
Looking back now, he began to think of it all as memories. His life had been a little disappointing, but enjoyable in its own way.
'Though it feels like most of the fun was packed into the later part of my life....'
...Well, there was no changing what had already happened.
Rather than regretting the past and saying, "I should've bought when they said to...!" Kang Yul decided to focus on the present.
Of course, someone might say, "What present is a guy who's about to die supposed to focus on?"
But surprisingly, Kang Yul was certain that even in the face of death, he could find a kind of joy he had never experienced before.
Kang Yul looked at the large things before his eyes and thought.
'Is this the thrilling height difference people talk about?'
It felt as though the usual man-woman roles had been reversed, but still.
As he looked at the two large mounds filling his vision, he thought that if he died buried in them, perhaps that would count as dying well.
When he saw the Jiangshi last time, he had shuddered, thinking that monsters were simply monsters. But if he saw it now, perhaps he might feel differently.
'Well, it's just rationalization from a man about to die.'
Anyway, after going through his own process of accepting death, Kang Yul fully accepted it.
And he hugged the sweet death approaching him with all his strength.
Then, at that moment.
Squish!
Through the sensation against his face, Kang Yul realized something.
A woman's breasts were softer and more elastic than he had imagined, and they even had a pleasant scent.
This really was a good way to die.
And at the same time.
Smack!
The soft, warm sensation of lips against his forehead confirmed it for him once again.
This really was a good way to die. A death like this was not so bad.
Of course.
Crack...
That belief did not even last a minute.
Crack... Rip... Crack... Tear...!
Sprouts began to emerge from Kang Yul's body.
At first, it was a single branch that grew from his heart and pierced through his chest.
There was pain... vivid pain. Pain so clear that he wanted to burst into tears, scream, and roll pathetically across the floor at once.
Forget the feeling of breasts. Kang Yul wanted to die immediately.
No, more precisely, he had to die.
A branch that had used his heart as nourishment had pierced through his chest. It was a fatal wound, a certain death that no human could endure.
However.
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
Kang Yul did not die.
Instead, new branches burst through both his temples.
It hurt. It hurt so much. His head felt as though it would split apart, and his heart felt as though it would burst.
No, his heart had already burst, and his skull had already cracked open, brain matter spilling out.
But he did not die. He did not even have the presence of mind to think about why these things were emerging.
He only wanted to be freed from this pain as quickly as possible. He only wanted the comfort of death as quickly as possible.
But Kang Yul did not die.
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
Instead, every time, new branches burst through his skin.
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
Sometimes, branches emerged while breaking his bones.
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
Other times, they burst through while crushing his internal organs.
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
The branches that took root like that sucked up Kang Yul's bodily fluids and used them as nourishment.
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
And the process repeated.
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
Until when?
Crack... Rip... Tear...!
On and on.
Tear...!
Until he died.
Tear...!
Again.
Tear...!
Again.
Tear...!
Again.
Tear...!
Stop.
Tear...!
Again.
Tear...!
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Tear...!
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Crack... Rip... Tear...!
...Again.
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...On and on.
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tearcrushfillrootagaintearripintotearagainroottearandtearandtearsuckandtearandtearagainagainagainagainagainagainagaintearandripandtearandtearsucktearandtearanddrawinagainrootagainrootagainteardownithurtshurtsstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsbetteroffdead─
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"─Ah?"
Kang Yul suddenly made a strange sound and came to his senses.
The pain that had seemed as though it would last forever was no longer there.
As though nothing like that had happened from the beginning.
As though Kang Yul had never suffered such terrible pain.
But if that were true.
Squish!
Kang Yul could still feel the sensation of sweet death against his face.
The sensation of breasts that were softer and more elastic than he had imagined, and carried a pleasant scent.
Kang Yul was still... no, more precisely, he was still embracing the Woman in the Roots exactly as he had been at the start.
As though no time had passed at all after that.
As though the eternal agony Kang Yul had felt had all been an illusion.
'Was it really an illusion...?'
But Kang Yul's body was soaked in cold sweat.
So drenched that he wondered whether a person was even allowed to sweat this much.
His body seemed to be fiercely protesting, as though the process he had just experienced absolutely had not been an illusion.
Which was why...
'What the hell did she do to me...?'
Kang Yul thought as cold sweat ran down his face, unable to shake the sense that something was wrong.
What exactly had happened to him?
What had the being embracing him done?
Was he... really still human?
Then, at that moment.
Ding!
A familiar notification sounded beside Kang Yul's ear.
He tried to move his body to check it... Squeeze! ...but he could not move, so he slightly lifted his head from her chest and checked the message.
Then the notification window read...
['Tree with a Thousand Roots - Baniar' has taught you how to become a plant.]
[You can now produce nutrients.]
...It said that Kang Yul was no longer human.
From today on, Kang Yul had become a vegetable capable of photosynthesis.
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