"Hold on—hold on a minute…" Shun muttered, his thoughts screeching to a halt.
Crystallization… happens at sixteen…
"…I'm sixteen," he whispered slowly. "…Where the fuck is mine?"
His hand went up, patting the top of his head once. Twice…
A little harder the third time, just in case the damn thing was hiding.
Nothing.
"…Huh."
Shun slowly looked back at the old lady, eyes narrowing.
"…Wait. Where's your crystallized flower?" he asked.
She chuckled.
"Here," she said.
She tilted her head forward slightly.
Shun leaned in—
Then froze.
"…The hell?"
There was no crystal flower.
Just a pale green sprout.
Small, Old.. With two tired leaves drooping to the sides.
Shun blinked.
Somewhere deep within the tangled roots of the World Tree…
Shun's assigned Ent sat slouched in his chair, mumbling to himself.
In front of him, a wide screen projected Shun's current situation in real time.
At the bottom corner of the screen—
10
The number flickered quietly.
"…Huh?"
The Ent squinted, then leaned closer.
"…Well I'll be damned."
He straightened a bit, cleared his throat, then waved awkwardly at the screen.
"Hello, sprouts…" he muttered.
"…How've you guys been?"
Pause.
For a brief moment—
—even the narrator was confused.
[…Hold up.]
[Is this… a livestream?]
Yes… yes… Shun is doing fine right now… Shun's ent mumbled, eyes flicking across the flood of messages.
"Wut?"
He leaned closer to the screen, squinting.
"Ahhh—yeah. He's from a family of blacksmiths…"
More messages poured in.
"Hah?"
The ent's brow twitched.
"Do a backflip?"
He slowly looked around the empty office.
"…Who da fuck do you think I am?" the ent muttered, already annoyed.
A beat passed.
Then he pushed his chair back and stood up anyway.
"…Tch."
The ent took one dramatic step back, spread his arms like he was about to perform something legendary—
—and jumped.
A clean, confident flip.
For exactly half a second.
Then—
THUD.
He landed… FACE FIRST!
Flat on the floor.
The chat exploded.
lol
OUFF
LMAO
Back to where Shun was…
He was about to ask why the thing on the old lady's head was just a sprout—not a crystallized flower—when something clicked.
Descendants… from the southern region.
Shun started tapping his head repeatedly.
Work properly, goddammit…
"That old man from earlier…" the old lady suddenly muttered.
Shun stopped and looked straight into her eyes.
"Don't take his threats to mind," she said calmly.
Shun blinked once.
Then he smiled, easy and loose.
"Ahh… don't worry about it. I don't mind."
He leaned back slightly in his chair
Shun's ent leaned closer to the screen, watching Shun's stupidly calm smile.
"Look at this bastard… not a shred of remorse whatsoever…"
He crossed his arms.
"He's probably still thinking about how pretty that explosion was."
Messages began popping in one after another.
Sprout #03 – Essos: he's a lunatic when it comes to explosions
Sprout #01 – Hypergyphon: lol true, I remember that huge blast at their estate
Sprout #02 – Linnene: I'm excited about what nickname he'll get once he becomes a proper seeker
Sprout #03 – Essos: something explosion-related for sure
The ent suddenly scooted closer to the camera, face filling the projection.
"Oho… Oho…"
He pointed straight forward like he could see through the screen.
"Do you want to join us, esteemed readers?"
Both hands shot up in an overly dramatic flourish.
"If you do…" he said, lowering his voice, "…just stay active in the novel. Wink, wink."
He straightened, smug.
"And thus… cement your legacy… your username… in our universe…"
A pause.
"…forever.
The chat immediately lit up again.
Sprout #02 – Linnene: Is he okay?
Sprout #01 – Hypergyphon: probably not after that face-first backflip earlier
Sprout #03 – Essos: pff—
"OIII— STOP IT!" The ent barked, ears reddening as he jabbed a finger at the scrolling chat.