In one dimension, there was an enormous life.

It tended to a giant tree that was its child.

The tree, grown from a piece of its life, grew into a sacred being, and soon the tree gained intelligence.

In the end, it came to love a human.

“O great Tree of Life, please accept this humble child.”

“Accept them as your family, O great myth.”

“And bestow the blessing of life upon us humans!”

The tree did not listen to those words.

That the life granted to humans was limited was the natural order Life had set.

No one could carelessly receive the blessing of him, Life’s child.

But as the days passed, its love for the tiny human child only grew.

The child was pure, kind, and treated the tree as family.

But the human child was far too fragile.

“The child you loved has died.”

“They were split into five pieces and died, punished for daring to treat a god’s child with irreverence!”

“This is a fitting divine punishment, so please do not be angry and show only mercy!”

“We humans, including the child, dwell within the embrace of Life!”

The tree was so sorrowful that it burst into tears.

The tears shed by it, Life’s child, became a heavenly blessing to humans.

The humans grew even more cruel.

They offered it bloodstained sacrifices.

“We offer a sacrifice, so please bestow your blessing...!”

“Let the rain of life fall!”

One human among them shouted.

“If not that, then grant eternal life to all of us!”

How shameless.

“If you do, will not your beloved child also return to life?”

“O tree, how can you be so cruel to humans?”

“How can the lives of noble humans be so short!”

“Grant us eternal life!”

“Bestow everlasting life upon humans!”

Swayed by the humans’ coaxing, the tree at last broke down the boundary between life and death and revived the human child it had loved.

Greatly angered by the behavior of its child, who had damaged its authority, Life cursed it.

“A c-calamity!”

“A calamity has come!!”

“■■■■■...!!”

“An evil spirit has lodged in the sacred tree, we must burn it!”

“■■■■■■...!!!”

“The tree has become a beast!!”

The Tree of Life became a beast with four broad legs that made it hard to move, a long neck that could no longer see humans, and an enormous body that could no longer mingle with small things.

It was the sin of going against the natural order and giving in to greed.

“Aaagh...!”

“The tree, the tree has cursed us!!”

“Please, we have committed no sin...!”

“Show us mercy!”

“How can you turn us into beasts!!”

The humans who had carelessly received Life’s blessing also all became beasts.

The wicked humans who had killed the human the Tree of Life loved and plotted against it became monsters of the night, cursed with sleeplessness, and the humans who had dared to enjoy the excessive blessing spread by the Tree of Life became monsters of the day.

“SCREEEECH...!!”

“Kraugh, grrr... aah...!”

“Kreeeeeeek...!”

They all became beasts and were abandoned by Life.

Their dimension, abandoned by the natural order, gradually shrank, the heat of the sun that Life had left behind as punishment was hot enough to make them wish for death, and their intelligence drew closer to that of beasts with each passing day, leaving only pain behind.

“■■■...”

Within it was also the human child who had been revived by mistake by the beast that had once been the Tree of Life.

The pitiful child, torn into five pieces by humans, made one by the beast, and once again split into five as punishment.

It wanted this small child to be protected in its embrace.

The beast swelled its body very, very large.

In doing so, it blocked the boundary so the dimension would no longer shrink.

It made and raised a moon so the child could avoid the hot sun, and shed tears to cool the world.

“Grrrrr...”

“Grrk, hng...”

And the wicked monsters that had become four-legged beasts wanted this sweet time to last longer.

Even after losing human intelligence, they wanted this night to last longer, and wanted the dimension to become wider.

The insignificant beasts circled the small, fragile tree that had been the beginning.

For the sake of its little tree, the enormous beast embraced all those monsters as well, raised the moon more often, and even stopped by all sorts of dimensions to cool its body.

Even so, the terrible heat Life had left behind did not fade.

“...is what it says.”

Kang Seodam, who had organized all the dungeon’s clues together with the Hunters, continued speaking with a tired expression.

“So Hunter Seo Jio’s assumption was correct after all.”

“Oh dear, I didn’t expect it to actually be true.”

“But if that is the case, figuring out how to clear this becomes a headache.”

The other Hunters clicked their tongues as well.

“Then why did the night monsters feed those trees?”

“Rain falls periodically anyway, so is there any need to go as far as giving them fertilizer?”

“Uh... maybe because that way they get more slaves?”

“If those trees grow, don’t they become the Tree of Life or whatever?”

“Otherwise, I don’t think there would be any reason to prepare extra fertilizer.”

“So the monsters didn’t guard them separately because they knew it wouldn’t easily kill the trees it cherished like family.”

“Separate from bringing fertilizer because they wanted to quickly create a new Tree of Life.”

“Was that frenzy phenomenon back then led by the Tree of Life?”

“A parent’s heart trying to protect its child...?”

“Since the entire dungeon’s monsters went berserk, that seems likely.”

Jeong Youngwon, who had been listening to the Hunters’ conversation, added something as well.

“The rain falling in this rainforest was the tears shed by the Tree of Life.”

Only then did she feel like she understood why contact with it drove people mad.

“Because those must be the tears, or perhaps blood, shed by a mythical being in pain and despair... if a mere human is hit by it, of course they would lose their mind.”

“It would be worth investigating.”

“The dungeon monsters seemed fine, though?”

“Maybe the result ended up like this because they had already gone mad?”

“They were quite hostile and threatening toward humans, and now I understand why.”

“It would be strange if they welcomed intruders when they had lost their minds from being sensitive and irritated.”

The monsters had a severe hatred of humans by default, but there were differences.

There were monsters that hated humans and therefore tried to get farther away, monsters that judged coldly and devised schemes, and monsters that rushed in to kill them without warning.

‘This is exactly the third case.’

Jeong Youngwon also fell into thought.

“To clear this...”

“It is a headache.”

“It isn’t something that can be solved by simply smashing things.”

“The religious order that hired us will not stay quiet.”

“We need to complete the clear while preserving as much usable value as possible.”

“It certainly is a dungeon with many plants that look useful...”

“It would be a shame to destroy this place.”

Every one of the poisons in this dungeon was fast-acting and threatening.

If they could extract and distribute them, it would become a great source of income, and if they analyzed them diligently, they could also make medicine in reverse.

“In a world like this, poison and medicine are incredibly valuable.”

At Jeong Youngwon’s words, the Hunters’ gazes briefly gathered on Seo Jio.

“Do you have something you wish to say to me?”

“Ah, no.”

“I’m sorry, it was just for a moment...”

“I understand.”

“The effects of the medicine I gave you must have been too good.”

Giovanni smiled divinely.

“Please give your thanks to the Sun.”

“O-of course...!”

People were slowly beginning to think, “Something does seem a little strange.”

But Jio was not worried.

Because he possessed the clear-sky sort of mind that did not go looking for things to worry about.

Instead, Kang Seodam worried.

“...”

Kang Seodam, who alone could not hide his stiff expression, soon nodded with a small sigh.

“... It is truly shameless of me to say this in a situation where there have been so many deaths, but the truth is, we would like to preserve the dungeon intact if possible.”

“The contract also states as much.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“Please do not worry either, priest.”

“Fortunately, we have found the overall story and clues of the dungeon.”

“What matters now is how to clear this dungeon in a moderate way.”

“First, let us consider the criteria for a clear that this dungeon is presenting.”

The criteria for a clear differed from dungeon to dungeon.

Sometimes one had to resolve the final boss’s lingering resentment, sometimes one had to solve a designated riddle, and sometimes it was only cleared when one opened a specific door and left.

“Hmm, if we kill all the monsters in this dungeon... would the Tree of Life not feel somewhat better?”

“From the looks of it, it seems to have been betrayed several times, so wouldn’t it have a grudge?”

“If that is the criterion for clearing, then this is not something that can be done in a single subjugation, is it?”

“We would have to come and go several times, wouldn’t we?”

“And if resolving its grudge causes the Tree of Life to dismantle this dungeon, what then?”

“True, it might be satisfied and unable to hold on any longer.”

“No, how are we supposed to handle this?”

“Should we carefully... somehow dig up those tiny trees and move them to some isolated place?”

“I think we would all die to monsters fallen into a frenzy while trying to move those.”

“Everyone is exhausted from figuring out the story, so is there no gentler method?”

“We found the story too, so isn’t there a decent way?”

At that, Jio stepped forward.

“What if this place’s heat subsides?”

“Pardon?”

“The heat?”

“Then the monsters of the day will fall asleep, and we can deal with the monsters of the night.”

“Uh... so what Hunter Seo Jio is saying is...”

Before the other Hunters could continue, Sanarae tilted his head and asked.

“The carrot instead of the whip?”

“It was warm sunlight, not the cold wind, that made the traveler take off his coat.”

“Though this dungeon is currently going insane because of that sunlight.”

“Peace brings greater lethargy than pain.”

Living things struggled against pain and fell asleep in peace.

Most living creatures were like that.

“If the Tree of Life simply wanted to protect its family, then we can allow it to do only that.”

“It merely wanted to make a safe and comfortable nest for the family it loved.”

The tree sustaining this dungeon was not aggressive except when the little trees were touched.

“Would this dungeon not be able to remain intact then?”

“That is true if this place becomes a decent place to raise a child, but...”

The Hunters asked with subtle expressions.

“How would that be possible?”

“Let us say we can come by often and deal with the monsters whenever we have time, but from the start, driving all the heat out of this dungeon is... it is too wide.”

“That is right.”

“If we at least break the fake sun, something might work out, but if we destroy the entire environment, the sun and moon and all that, then all the plants growing here will be ruined too.”

“It will not be easy to remove only the heat.”

“This is not something one or two people who know how to handle magic or holy power can do.”

“No, of course, if it can be done, it would be a very good method, but...”

At that, Jio asked.

“Would it work if there were many people?”

“Uh, pardon?”

“I mean people who absorb heat.”

“... Are there such people?”

At that point, Kang Seodam added his words.

“A priest of the Sun can handle heat by default.”

“But my capacity is only around ten buildings at most, and this young priest’s capacity is around one large tree.”

“Are there not other priests of the Sun here?”

“If what I know is correct, the number of brothers remaining so far would be six including us.”

“We alone are not enough.”

“But if the mages also join forces, it should be possible to some extent.”

After thinking briefly, he continued.

“There are artifacts as well.”

Artifacts of the type that absorbed heat were a product patented by the Sun Cult.

In particular, since they had brought quite a large quantity for this dungeon, which had been reported to be especially hot, they seemed as though they would not be entirely useless.

“But even then, we cannot drive out all the heat.”

“From the start, as long as the sun does not disappear, there will be nothing we can do about this heat.”

“But removing the sun is both beyond our means and would deal a large blow to our side.”

“The dungeon would become impossible to maintain as well...”

Kang Seodam asked.

“What do you think, Hunter Seo Jio?”

“First, I will mention one of my theories.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“This place is like a steamer, is it not?”

“... It is.”

“The humidity is high.”

“That is true.”

“Why is that?”

“...”

Kang Seodam answered.

“Because it rains a lot?”

“It does not rain at that high a frequency.”

“A considerable amount did fall in a short time, but, hmm, that is true.”

“It cannot create humidity this suffocating.”

It was humidity difficult to endure unless one was a Hunter.

It felt as though one were breathing with a wet cotton cloth stuck to one’s face.

There was no way such tremendous humidity had been created by rain that had fallen only a few times.

“That means there is another water source.”

“I thought the same.”

Jio pointed at the trees.

“The trees in this dungeon are very large.”

“They are.”

“The roots must be large as well.”

“... And deep?”

“Could they have grown this large if the only water they had to drink was the occasional rain?”

“Since it is a dungeon, there may have been other factors, but that makes sense.”

“I think there may be an enormous body of water sleeping beneath this ground.”

“An enormous body of water.”

“Yes.”

Giovanni smiled.

“I am a person with many connections to water, so somehow, I feel confident.”

“... Aha...”

At this point, it was no different from a prophecy of divinity.

‘Should I be grateful that he is telling us in such a kind way?’

Kang Seodam, pressing his lips together from a strange exhaustion, soon asked.

“Then if we draw up that enormous water source...”

“The Tree of Life will be able to breathe somewhat easier as well.”

“And then the time the moon is up will also become longer.”

“First, we need to confirm whether there truly is water, and whether there is a way to draw it up.”

“Would we not know if we pulled out an entire tree?”

“... Yes, well... that is true.”

Sorry, but he wished they would not expect that kind of miracle from humans.

“...”

After taking a deep breath, Kang Seodam continued.

“Let us organize things one by one.”

They still had plenty of food left, and there were many talented people.

“If it looks as though this will truly take long, we need only convert it into a long-term expedition.”

“Must it take long?”

“Ah, did I mishear?”

“If you allow me, I will try dealing with the heat first.”

Having said that, Jio lifted the hem of his cloak.

“...”

“Dana.”

From the deep, pooled shadow, a cat cried.

“Meow.”