Young Masters Pov Woke Up As A Villain In A Game One Day Chapter 242

“Okay, this… is not good!” I muttered.

“Calm down,” Lily whispered back.

I scowled. “I am calm. Shut up!”

…I was not calm.

Juliana and Alexia, two of the most important heroines, were about to become… tree food!

Now, it may sound harsh, but I could maybe afford to lose Juliana.

Yes, she was a key figure in many plotlines.

And, sure, losing her would make dealing with some of the upcoming events extremely difficult — but not outright impossible.

However, losing Alexia so early in the story was a whole different matter.

If she died here, stopping the Total War, and killing Arthur and the Western Monarch would become significantly harder.

Actually, not just harder — downright suicidal.

So yeah.

I couldn’t let Alexia die in this godforsaken place, or I might as well just give up and open a tea stall instead of trying to fight the Spirit King.

I took a deep breath and summoned my Appraisal Card.

«Identity»

The Card manifested in a swirl of light particles and floated up before my left eye.

It turned transparent like a clean-cut shard of glass.

And when I looked through it at the tree-monsters below, it showed me their stats.

====

Name: Not Recorded

Species: Unidentified

Estimated Rank: Minor-grade Spirit

Description: Not Available

Advised Action Based on User’s Level: Engage with caution.

====

Well, that didn’t help much.

But it was expected.

This Appraisal Card was created by Rexerd. It contained a vast database of all kinds of Spirit Beasts.

But it was based on records of monsters cataloged by humanity.

And Noctveil Wilds… wasn’t exactly a well-explored region. This jungle hadn’t been conquered by humans yet.

Actually, I doubted anyone from earth had ever stepped foot anywhere near this forest in decades.

So most of the creatures that dwelled here were unknown — classified as ’unidentified’ simply because nobody had filed proper reports on them.

Still, appraising those beasts wasn’t completely useless. At least I knew their rank now.

With a nod to myself, I turned my gaze toward that humanoid-thing made of vines and roots — the one sitting like a king on that wooden throne beneath the massive tree, wearing a crown of spiky branches.

====

Name: Not Recorded

Species: Unidentified

Estimated Rank: Lesser-grade Spirit (Close to Greater-grade)

Description: Not Available

Advised Action Based on User’s Level: Do not engage alone.

====

Yeah. Just as I feared.

That thing was a Lesser Spirit Beast, on the verge of ascending to Greater.

It wasn’t as strong as the Solbraith Cyclops I faced during the Massacre, but not weak enough for me to be able to take it on without any problem either.

The suggested action was to not engage alone.
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Which made sense.

Because aside from that crown-wearing creature being a serious threat, the entire canyon was infested with a horde — no, an army — of those tree-crab monsters.

They were its minions.

Hunting down that many beasts would require a full party of multiple [C-rank] and at least two [B-rank] Hunters.

Charging in there head-on without any backup would be actual insanity.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time.

Because those tree-crab monsters were now skittering toward Juliana and Alexia, ready to plant their baby trees in them.

…Okay, that sounded so much more disgusting than I actually meant for it to sound.

But my point was — we had no time.

So I dismissed «Identity» and summoned another Card.

Lily widened her eyes at me. “Wait, Sam! We need a proper plan of attack.”

I shrugged and stepped to the very edge of the ledge. “Sure. Here’s the plan — burn them down.”

Immediately, a flaming arrow blazed into existence in my grasp, burning hotter and brighter than it usually would.

The oxygen-rich air was feeding the flames.

I bent my knees slightly, pulled my arm back — then whipped it downward.

—Swooooo!

The arrow whistled through the air, falling fast into the dark canyon below… and lit it up in a ring of orange-red glow, like I’d tossed a burning match into the mouth of a pitch-black well.

The beasts noticed the incandescent radiance and snapped their focus up at us.

But by then, it was already too late.

—FWOOMPH!

The arrow struck the ground and exploded.

Fire surged across the underbrush and clung to the vines like oil on dry paper.

Shrieks rose from the tree-crab monsters — inhuman screeches and cries of pain that echoed off the canyon walls as several of them caught fire.

Their bark-like skin hissed and cracked like timbers in a furnace.

And I still didn’t stop.

Several more flaming arrows rained down like a salvo of missiles. When they exploded, it was as if a cluster of tiny stars had been spawned there to banish the darkness.

—FWOOMPH! FWOOMPH! FWOOMPH!

The air turned thick with smoke and heat and the choking stench of burning bark and boiling sap. Roots flailed and flames devoured everything in their path.

One of the bigger tree-crabs tried to bolt toward the cliff wall and climb it — its numerous root-legs scrambling faster and faster.

But a well-placed shot turned its trunk into cinders mid-rush. It let out a rattling screech before toppling backward into the inferno.

Many more of its kind met the same fate, their wooden bodies exploding into fiery chunks the moment my arrows struck them.

All of it happened in mere seconds.

…But none of it was enough.

Because in the very next moment, the crowned beast lifted its vine-woven head.

The glowing white flowers it had for eyes locked onto me before it let out an ear-splitting howl that seemed to vibrate inside my skull more than out in the air.

Then it stood up from its throne.

And a deep groaning rumble resounded through the canyon — like a large boulder being dragged through gravel.

“Oh no,” I muttered.

“Oh no,” Lily echoed.

Immediately, dozens of roots burst from the scorched earth, sprawling outward into defensive barricades around the Tree King’s minions.

Yes. I named it Tree King.

Yes, my naming sense is immaculate.

The fire flickered, dimmed, and then choked out — snuffed by a sudden growth of thick, damp roots.

I sent two more arrows flying.

But more roots sprouted from the soil and coiled together to form a massive hand-shaped construct.

—SNAP!

The massive root-hand caught both of my flaming arrows mid-air — like they were nothing more than toy darts — and crushed them. Embers sputtered out like dying fireflies, swallowed by its barky fist.

“What the fuck?” Lily took the words out of my mouth.

Because seriously. What the actual fuck?

That creature could manipulate plants?

In the middle of a jungle?

Seriously?!

That was such a broken power to have in the middle of a fucking jungle!

Forget Tree King.

Forest Lord was a way better name for that bastard!

“So be it,” I said, summoning my Origin Card. “Time for Plan B.”

“Which is?” Lily asked cautiously.

I grinned like a maniac. “Hit them harder.”

And with that… I leapt off the ledge.