The One Branch of The Tree
- Raka, an ordinary high school student, dies of exhaustion and is reincarnated with his entire class into a fantasy world. There, everyone receives a class and a blessing from the gods to start a new life. While his friends acquire powerful classes like knight, mage, healer, and assassin, Raka is given the class considered the weakest and most shameful: the One Tree Branch.
- Considered a burden and a threat to the group, Raka was betrayed and hunted by his own friends on their first day of arrival. Cornered in the Forbidden Forest, a place known as a region full of monsters and death, Raka discovered his class' true ability: Devour Root, the power to absorb the attributes, energy, and even skills of anyone he kills.
- Since then, his life changed completely.
- To survive, Raka is forced to kill monsters, bounty hunters, and the people who hunt him. Each victory makes him grow stronger, while his class weapon slowly evolves from a lowly twig into an increasingly terrifying weapon.
- In the midst of his struggle for survival, Raka meets Nara, a mysterious girl wielding two daggers who has her own agenda in the Forbidden Forest. Together with Nara, Raka enters the Core Zone, the mysterious center of the forest filled with ancient ruins, artifacts, and a dangerous organization called the White Council.
- There, Raka discovers that his class resonates with a mysterious entity called the False World Tree, a giant tree that is the source of the anomalies in the Forbidden Forest.
- The deeper he unravels the secrets of the False World Tree, the more it becomes clear that the One Tree Trunk class is not a failed class, but rather a forbidden fragment of the true World Tree-a power that has long been sealed away because it was thought to be capable of destroying the balance of the world.
- Now Raka is at a crossroads: take revenge on his friends who betrayed him, or pursue the truth behind the World Tree fragment that is now directly connected to him.
- But one thing is certain, the more power he absorbs, the closer he gets to something far more dangerous than death: losing himself and becoming the new vessel for the World Tree.
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Chapter 15
Trees fell one by one the sound of breaking wood echoed like giant dominoes.
ALL.
ALL.
ALL.
The ground shook every few seconds, as something was approaching, something very large. I stood, gripping the World Thorn Sword even tighter, my body still exhausted from running out of the collapsed dungeon and still not fully recovered.
The enemy's timing was either absolutely terrible or perfectly consistent with my life. The fog ahead began to shift, the trees parted, and finally, the creature appeared.
I automatically tensed. Its shape resembled a deer, if a deer were experiencing an evolutionary nightmare. Its body was nearly five meters tall, its antlers branched like dead tree roots. Its skin was greenish-black, its eyes glowed red, living roots sprouted from its legs and back, and its aura of corruption was so thick that the air felt heavy.
A notification appears.
Guardian Beast — Cervaros
Level: 22
Status: Corrupted
Threat: Extreme
I stared at the number.
"Twenty two?"
I'm level 16, and the difference isn't funny at all. Nara also seems more serious than usual, which is a really bad sign.
Cervaros lifted his head to take a breath of air then his eyes locked on me specifically me, I pointed at myself.
"Why is it always me?"
Cervaros roared, a low, distorted roar that moved the surrounding roots. Oh, and he was also a plant-themed, large, natural boss fight.
Cervaros attacked without warning, no warm-up, the monster immediately shot forward for its size, its speed was strange, I barely had time to avoid its horns sweeping the area where I was standing.
BOOM!
The ground exploded, I rolled to the side, and dust flew up covering the area. Nara came in from the left, slashing the monster's hind leg with her dagger.
CLANG!
The sparks that came out didn't penetrate the natural armor too hard.
“Good,” I said.
“Even this deer's legs have plot armor.”
Nara didn't respond to focus mode. Cervaros swung his tail, a large root sweeping the area. Nara jumped back and I advanced.
Root Domain activated, the surrounding roots responding to my call, holding Cervaros's front legs for a split second, stopping the monster. Good enough, I jumped, the World Thorn Sword blazing. Ember Slash, I slashed at its neck.
SHRAK!
The incoming attack caused a small amount of black blood to flow out, Cervaros roared angrily. The damage had been confirmed, and I landed with a faint smile.
“Very much.”
“It can still be hurt.” Important information,
The monster stepped on the hard ground black roots burst from under the attack area, I jumped back but was a little too late one of the roots whipped my thigh.
BUK!
I was thrown, it hurt so bad.
“UGH!”
I rolled on the ground almost losing my grip on the sword, Nara appeared in front of me blocking the next root attack.
"Wake up." he said shortly.
I stood up grimacing.
“I'm doing it.”
Cervaros attacks again, this time his mouth opening, dark mana gathering. Oh no, a projectile attack.
“Get down!” Nara shouted.
We both jumped to the side, the next second a burst of black energy hit the center area.
BOOOOM!
The ground melted, I stared at the crater.
"No."
To avoid getting hit by the attack, I activated Minor Mana Sense. Focusing on analyzing the flow of mana, I saw the strongest corruption energy pattern gathered in the center of his chest. "Core? Most likely," I shouted.
“Nara!”
“Her chest!”
He immediately understood good cooperation, Cervaros attacked me again on purpose, I attracted perfect attention.
“Yeah, yeah, I don't like my face either.”
I ran in a circle, the monster chasing me, while Nara disappeared from view in stealth mode. Cervaros slammed into the ground, his roots chasing me, and I dodged as best I could, my mana dwindling.
Too bad, I need bait now, Cervaros jumped his giant body down towards me, I stopped suddenly raising my hand.
Root Domain — Full Release
All the roots in the surrounding area rose up, dozens of roots wrapped around Cervaros' legs holding his body in the air for a split second.
“Now!” I shouted.
Nara appeared from above, I don't even know how long she's been there, she's kind of scary. She jumped from the tree branch, her two daggers blazing, stabbing straight into Cervaros' chest.
CRACK.
The sound of breaking.
Good, the monster's cracked core roared loudly, but it wasn't dead yet. Damn, I ran forward, the last of my mana gathered, the World Thorn Sword vibrated, and the new skill activated automatically.
World Root Devour activated.
Compatible corrupted target detected.
Oh? Interesting, I stabbed straight into the crack in the sword core, Cervaros froze, his roar stopped, the roots on his body shook wildly, then the greenish black energy began to be sucked into my sword, I widened my eyes.
“Whoa.”
Cervaros struggled unexpectedly, but the process was already underway. The mana corruption flowing through my body was painful once again—of course, everything always hurts. The monster slowly weakened, its massive body beginning to crack and then collapse.
BOOOOM.
Dust rose into the silent air, I still held the sword stuck in the last of the energy absorbed.
Notifications appear in succession.
Guardian Beast defeated.
Corrupted essence absorbed.
Level 17 reached.
Level 18 reached.
New trait acquired:
Beast Vitality
New skill:
Corrupted Burst
I pulled out my sword, breathing heavily, my body trembling, but somehow still alive. Nara landed lightly beside me, looking at Cervaros's now motionless body.
“It worked,” he said.
I let out a short laugh.
“Yes.”
“A little overdramatic, but it works.”
Nara looked at me then at my sword, her expression changing to a faint trace of worry.
“The energy of corruption earlier,” he said quietly.
“You absorbed it all?”
I looked at my hand, and a thin black root line appeared on my wrist and then disappeared. Hmm, a bit of a bad omen.
“I think so,” I replied.
Nara didn't look like she could understand, I opened the status.
Name: Lock
Class:
World Tree Trunk Fragment
Level: 18
Condition:
Stable (?)
I stared at the question mark.
…
Your system is not helpful at all, I close the status then the quest notification appears.
Quest progress updated.
Day 5/7
Reward condition nearly complete.
The fifth day is only two days away, almost here, I took a deep breath.
“Maybe we can finally get out of this place alive.”
A sentence I shouldn't have said because the next second the ground shook again, not because of a monster, not from below but from the sky.
Nara and I both looked up and saw something descending from the clouds, a large, winged, humanoid silhouette with a very terrifying aura.
A notification appears.
Emergency event triggered.
Executor descending
I stared at the screen then the sky, then my life and came to one conclusion: I was simply not allowed to rest.
[END CHAPTER 15]
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8.3
Betrayed at the altar. Replaced by her own sister.
On what should have been the happiest day of her life, Amara loses everything-her fiancé, her dignity, and her future.
But that same night, a dangerous man steps out of the shadows with an offer she can't refuse.
Marriage. Power. Revenge.
Now bound to a ruthless CEO, Amara is ready to destroy everyone who betrayed her.
There's just one problem...
Her new husband knows more about her past than he should.
And the closer she gets to revenge-
the more she realizes she may have married the man who ruined her in the first place.
8.4
I worked three double shifts at the garage just to buy a velvet-boxed cake for my wealthy girlfriend, Arleen.
But when I pushed open the VIP room door, I saw her lover kissing her bare leg.
She didn't push him away. Instead, she laughed and swirled her martini.
"I only forgot Finn because I knew he would stay. He is a poor boy from Queens who follows me around like a loyal dog."
Later that night, her lover intentionally crashed a Porsche to scare me, sending a piece of jagged metal into my skull.
Lying in a growing pool of my own blood, I watched Arleen crawl out of the wreckage.
She didn't even look at me. She threw herself at her uninjured lover, screaming for a medic.
"He just got scraped by a piece of plastic. He is faking it. Deal with Jaquez first!"
When I woke up, I wasn't free. Arleen had locked me in a private hospital wing with 24-hour security, planning to isolate me and keep me as her broken, captive toy forever.
My blind, pathetic devotion finally froze into absolute disgust.
I looked at the heart monitor next to my bed and grabbed an IV needle.
I severed the sensor wire to trigger a flatline, slipped out the fire stairs while the nurses panicked, and burned my identity to ashes.
This time, I was going to disappear to London, build my own empire, and watch hers burn.
7.2
Clifton, the god of esports, was secretly battling a career-ending wrist injury to protect his team.
A year ago, he kissed his duo partner, Justice, only to be met with violent disgust. Justice shoved him away and dry-heaved in the rain, looking at him like a monster.
Humiliated by the straight man's raw revulsion, Clifton cut him out of his life.
But now, Justice suddenly appeared at Clifton's club as a rookie tryout.
Instead of an ambitious climber, Justice played the perfect, pathetic victim. He cowered, trembled, and acted terrified whenever Clifton was near.
He even signed a bloodsucking contract with a toxic teammate, sparking rumors he was brought in to replace Clifton as captain.
During a scrimmage, Clifton hesitated to shoot because he remembered Justice had just severely burned his hand.
Justice showed no mercy. He ruthlessly gunned Clifton down, humiliating the captain in front of the entire coaching staff.
Clifton was consumed by blinding rage and betrayal.
If Justice was so disgusted by him, why did he fake his devotion for six months just to use him?
Why was he acting like helpless prey now, after trampling all over Clifton's pride?
Determined to rip off the liar's disguise, Clifton dragged Justice into a live stream in front of sixty thousand viewers.
"He's asking if you are in love with me."
Clifton smiled cruelly, waiting for the public execution. But just as the trap snapped shut, a choked, terrified gasp came through the headset.
8.6
Lilac Stone once wanted nothing more than being unnoticed. But everything changed the moment she met Adrian Cole, the new lecturer.
He's distant and completely off-limits. She's quiet, guarded, and unprepared for the way he sees right through her.
What begins as harmless conversations after class quickly turns into something far more dangerous-something neither of them can stop no matter how hard they try.
But then they're living in a world where rules are meant to be followed, and their connection is one line they were never supposed to cross.
Whispers turn to accusations. Secrets are exposed. Their futures are at risk.
They are merely two opposites-a lecturer and a student, a male and a female-but they are bound to destroy each other as long as they are huddled in one space at the same time.
What then can they choose: forfeit their futures and embrace their happiness, or let the latter slip while keeping their careers intact?
8.8
"Fuck...please..."
He risks a nibble, sending shockwaves to my core. My back arches off the wall with a sharp moan.
His hand slides between my legs, cupping my soaking panties.
"Look how wet you are," he whispers, "...shaking, and I haven't even fucked you yet."
He strokes my clit gently first, then harder. My toes curl, hair spilling into my sweaty face.
He's breaking me, ruining me with just his tongue and fingers. I can't speak. I can't think. I just tremble in his arms.
*********
The night I caught my fiancé cheating, something in me broke.
I cried.
I screamed.
I drove - into the rain, into nowhere, into him.
Cassian Cross.
A stranger with gray eyes, a sinful mouth, and hands that made me forget my name.
One night was all it took. One reckless mistake to burn away my heartbreak.
Until he showed up at my mom's wedding...
As my new stepbrother.
Now, Cassian won't stop.
He corners me in hallways, whispers filth at the altar, and looks at me like he still owns my body.
But there's one thing he didn't tell me-
He already belongs to someone else.
A fiancée bound to him by a contract... and a secret that could destroy us both.
He's dangerous.
He's forbidden.
He's promised to another.
And God help me, I still can't stop wanting him.
9.7
Gemma expected the tearing agony of the bullet wound that had just ended her life.
Instead, her trembling fingers met the cool, smooth friction of heavy silk.
She stared into the mirror. Her face was flawless, completely devoid of the jagged scar that had marred her cheek for the last five years.
It was exactly ten years ago. The day of her engagement party to the ruthless billionaire, Brion Hubbard.
In her past life, her "best friend" Katelyn convinced her to run away with a scheming scumbag.
Katelyn claimed Brion was a heartless tyrant who would ruin her. Gemma had foolishly believed those fake tears.
That choice led to her family's bankruptcy, her brutal disfigurement, and ultimately, a fatal bomb explosion.
The only person who tried to save her was Brion, his blood-soaked body shielding hers from the blast.
She even realized too late that the strawberry cream cakes she always made for him were full of dairy.
He wasn't leaving to cheat on her. He was locking himself in a medical bay, fighting fatal allergic shock, just to accept a tiny scrap of her affection.
Gemma had been so incredibly blind. Why did she trust the venomous snakes who destroyed her, while hating the man who died for her?
Hearing Katelyn frantically knocking on the dressing room door, urging her to run away again, a towering hatred surged through Gemma's veins.
This time, she wasn't going to run.
She was going to expose the traitors, take back her family's wealth, and claim the tyrant for herself.