Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

"On it!" several voices echoed.

Even after fighting and killing the monster horde, their work wasn't over. So far they had been living on the world fruit. But with so many beast corpses lying around, they could finally eat something different.

Yeji coordinated people to take the corpses away, while Gina and some select individuals were busy hacking the beasts into smaller pieces. Anna, using her knowledge, carefully cleaned the corpses and sorted them into edible or poisonous stuff.

As usual, Lysandra didn't participate in such tasks. Instead, she chose to cook along with Min-Ji.

Coordination between the teams was of utmost importance. If they wasted even a second, the diligently prepared food might rot. Even those eating had to do it quickly and get to work so others could have their turn.

While they were busy, the bubbly angel appeared before them again. But this time, she had a foolish grin plastered on her face.

"Sorry for the delay!" she announced, knocking her head as she giggled. "Since you cleared the trial, the path within the world tree will be opened!"

Before anyone could say anything, the angel snapped her fingers, and a glowing gate appeared at the base of the World Tree.

"There you go! Your pathway to doom—I mean, redemption!" the angel playfully winked at them. "I would love to guide you in there, but as you know, I got a busy job so... hehe. Bye for now!"

With that, she vanished as quickly as she had appeared. YuWon didn't know how to say it, but he liked their previous angel more.

At least she was patient enough to explain things to them instead of throwing a bunch of information their way and leaving them to figure it out themselves.

However, Yeji was quick to take notice of a little detail.

"She didn't say it was a trial," she mumbled, looking at YuWon.

"I was thinking the same thing..." YuWon replied, scratching his chin.

Whenever they received a trial, they also received a quest. But this time, it didn't happen. Which meant it wasn't necessary to enter and climb the tree. But as YuWon thought, not everyone needed to climb.

Since they had established a stronghold at the roots, there were quite a few of them who wanted nothing to do with the trials anymore. They had grown accustomed to normalcy and didn't want to let go.

Then there were people like him who didn't want to miss out. Besides, he needed to be prepared to fight Lucifer, and even Asmodeus. He couldn't do that while sitting at the roots.

Hence, climbing the tree was the only choice he had.

"Let's eat first," Anna said, hinting at something.

"Alright," YuWon nodded and followed Anna.

***

"...you've never been inside the tree?" YuWon asked, baffled.

"Nope," Anna shrugged. "Since we only killed one disaster before, we didn't get the opportunity to enter the thing."

"That's... troublesome."

YuWon had hoped Anna could tell him something about the tree, like where to find a relic or something. But now, that will not happen anymore.

"Meh, it's fine," YuWon shrugged after thinking about it. "I can always respawn—"

"Yes, and doom this timeline in doing so." Anna shook her head.

"Well, I've already messed up so many timelines. Messing up another won't weigh on my conscience."

Anna couldn't help but sigh. It's true. After all, once he died, he would have nothing to do with that timeline. The rest would suffer, but he would thrive in an identical alternate reality. Even she would be in that reality, so... it'll all be fine.

"You do you..." Anna shrugged, walking off. "But try not to make a habit out of it."

***

The next day...

Some awakeners decided to explore the tree. The rest would stay behind and do Asmodeus's job: protect the tree and guide any awakener that arrives there.

"Are you... sure about this?" YuWon asked Lysandra as she hugged him.

"Yes..." she replied.

In Asmodeus's absence, they needed someone strong to stay behind. Since Lysandra already had a deep connection with the world tree, she volunteered for the role.

YuWon nodded slowly, knowing she was right. But it didn't make saying goodbye any easier.

As Lysandra was about to turn, YuWon leaned down and kissed her. She was taken aback for a moment before kissing him back as her hands rested on his face.

"You just had to make things difficult, didn't you?" she said, smiling.

"You expected me to leave without having a taste?" he teased back.

With that, he gave her one last look before joining the others. As YuWon approached them, Anna and Gina grabbed his hands to reassure him. Even Yeji joined in, hugging him.

"Alright, enough emotions for now," YuWon said, freeing himself from their loving clutches. "Let's go."

***

[You're entering the Great Forest of Lykaion.]

The message flashed before their eyes as soon as they left the roots. Suddenly, they were in a vast forest, unlike anything they had ever seen. It was like they were in a new world.

They were surrounded by trees that disappeared into the sky. The flowers around the bushes were as big as themselves. Everyone was mesmerized by the sight before them.

So much so that they didn't notice something approaching them. The sudden rustling of leaves made them turn. Just then, a creature jumped out of its hiding place.

"What the hell is this?" Yeji mumbled, looking at the creature.

It stood on two legs and had the body of an ape. But it wore an armor that looked like an exoskeleton. Its eyes glowed even in the light as it dragged its sharp claws behind. welcome-to-NovelFire

Suddenly, the beast lunged at them. YuWon pushed everyone aside and swung his fist, punching the creature in the chest. The impact was like a thunderclap.

The creature let out a pained screech as the impact shattered its exoskeleton and sent it packing. It crashed into a nearby tree and got shattered into many pieces upon impact.

"...that was weird."