“Today’s a great day, isn’t it, Yggie?” That’s right. It’s a beautiful day, one without Granny Ilya planting new herbs that want to eat me. And most of the dangerous ones have already been harvested! One disciple disappeared in an unfortunate accident, but when compared to the total number of disciples helping, he was just a rounding error. Eh? When did I become so callous? I’m not! Plants have to eat people too sometimes. Don’t plants deserve rights? Of course they do—just look at Yggie. He’s so cute and adorable, and he’s going to be the greatest world tree to ever come into existence! Granny Ilya gave me so much good stuff for growing plants; I really have to treat her nicer. Yggie really loves the dragon manure fertilizer, and the sunlight orb is really neat! There’s no more plants to worry about, no more fear of being eaten; it really is a good day today. I’m feeling lucky.

Rustle, rustle.

“Huh? What was that, Yggie?”

Rustle, rustle.

“You feel a sense of foreboding? From what?”

Rustle, rustle.

“Just an omen? Well, you’re a world tree, so I’ll trust you.” The thing is … Yggie’s a world tree. He’s an invaluable existence. He could support a whole world by himself once he grows up! If he gets even older, he can support multiple worlds, one on each one of his leaves! Some elves even believe we’re living on a world tree’s branch right now, and there’s multiple branches representing different worlds. It’s not unbelievable to me; I’m in a completely new area after all! Of course, that being said, a world tree rarely grows up because it experiences a lot of danger. Its natural predators are people who want to eat it to become stronger! “Don’t you worry, Yggie; no matter what appears, I’ll stop it with my sword, Y’terasi the Second!”

Rustle?

“Ah? You want to know what happened to Y’terasi the First?

Rustle, rustle.

“…A giant squirrel ate it. I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” It was a long time ago…. Agh! That stupid Mrs. Wuffletush! I hate her. It’s a good thing she’s not here anymore. She’s still there, but she’s not here where I am, that’s what I mean. I knew it; this Immortal Continent is a great place! Other than the fact some plants want to eat me, but that’s to be expected. As long as I respect the plants properly, I’ll be safe. Reena taught me that when she was taking care of the predators. As long as they’re respected, they don’t eat people.

Ugh, I’m going to get some food. I don’t want to think about those terrible thoughts anymore. Where was the cafeteria again…? Granny Ilya said there wasn’t one originally because people didn’t eat or something, but what kind of person doesn’t need to eat? Was the cafeteria this way? I’m pretty sure it was. Huh? How come I don’t know where it is despite being here for so long? Well, for some reason, things keep getting destroyed…. Like, when two cultivators get into an argument, poof, a building disappears. It’s really inconvenient sometimes.

Rustle.

“Oh? It’s that way? Thanks, Yggie.” Sometimes I feel like Yggie can read my mind. It’s quite possible that he can. A world tree can do anything! “You were right. The new cafeteria is right here.” Oh, that’s odd. There’s actually people inside. Usually it’s empty. There’s only two of them though: a bald man, and a handsome fellow wearing some strange armor. He’s … pretty cute—the handsome fellow, not the bald man. I wonder what they’re talking about? I’ll walk extra close to their table while getting my food.

“—couldn’t believe it! Your luck is simply too amazing, Long Chen.”

A sigh escaped from the handsome fellow, and he shook his head. Was he drinking? It seemed like he was. “When I first met Boss, I…, I thought I was the unluckiest fellow in the world. I was minding my own business at a tavern when a sky-realm expert came in with a phoenix and started making fun of me. That shouldn’t happen to a normal person, you know? Only unlucky bastards have to deal with being extra respectful towards sky-realm experts to prevent being killed.”

Right, right. That sounds awfully similar to me having to be respectful to those plants and predators. Am I unlucky? I don’t think I am. I might not know my parents, but I have a loving grandma who cares a lot about me. I have a best friend named Yggie. There’s also plenty of food to put in my stomach. I don’t think I’m unlucky at all. Maybe my job could be less hazardous, but the risk comes with an added reward.

“Hah! When I first met Master, she stole my brand-new sky-realm-ranked daggers that I had just taken out a loan for. Can you imagine the despair I felt? …Speaking of which, I owe that Pentorn Armory an arm….”

Granny Ilya’s store? She … would totally accept arms as payment. I’ve snuck into her lab quite a number of times, and she had so many body parts in there…. Just thinking about it gives me the heebie-jeebies. Well, it’s not as bad as her collection of herbs. All those plants that had to die….

“I know. I was there, remember?”

“Really? Huh, your presence wasn’t very big back then, you know? But can you believe it? That tomb actually trapped us inside for ten years, but almost no time at all passed out here. I’ve never seen anything like it. You even got the inheritance.”

The handsome fellow shrugged. “It was all luck.”

“You can say that again. It seemed almost straight out of a story! I thought you were definitely dead for sure, but who knew that armor of yours had a hidden function and saved your ass? You should be dead right now, you know that?”

“Ha-ha, but I survived, didn’t I? Come, let’s drink. We’re not stopping until both of us are drunk!”

…They’re a duo of weirdos. The day just started, and they already pledged to drink until they drop. There’s people like this everywhere, huh?

Rustle.

What was that, Yggie? Of course! I would never act like them!

Rustle, rustle.