Game of the World Tree
chapter-21

▪️IS THIS A HIDDEN QUEST?

Back on Earth, it had already been three days since the launch of Elven Kingdom’s closed-beta program, while in comparison, twelve in-game days had passed in Saigües instead.

As time goes by, more and more players out of the initial three hundred beta-testers have finally advanced to level ten.

Demacia is no exception.

He became a level ten, melee-type player just a day ago.

However, the amount of experience needed to advance from level 10 to level 11 is way beyond any of the players’ predicted expectations, requiring a whopping 10,000 EXP values, whereas it only takes 3,000 EXP just to level up from level 9 to level 10.

After familiarizing themselves with the mechanics of the game over the past few days, the players have began figuring out the two most efficient methods in gaining experience in Elven Kingdom.

It’s either completing tasks or hunting mobs just like in other games.

However unlike in other games, the visualization of killing monsters in this game are quite realistic, almost as if you’re actually murdering a true living being in real life. This life-like depiction of gore has made people wonder how the hell did the publishers even managed to convinced the regulatory board to grant the game a license to operate.

Many players were initially not used to this level of carnage, but eventually some hardcore ones became completely numb to it…

After all, it is proclaimed to be the most realistic virtual game! If anyone can’t stand it, then they can just alter their own censorship settings to have any of the game’s gory materials to be entirely pixelated.

After reaching level nine, most players were divided into two factions regarding the issue of level development.

Some relatively conservative players, such as HootyBird, chose to stay in the camp and intended to focused on completing labor task in order advance to Iron-rank.

On the other hand, some radical players who were eager for adventure chose to leave the ten-kilometer safe zone and test their luck outside.

The players could accumulate experience points either by performing tasks sush as cutting trees or the traditional method of killing mobs. However the available mobs within the safe zone have gradually declined and the only ones still around have became too weak primarily due to the players being overleveled, hence the EXP they would gain upon hunting these mobs have lessened, far lesser than that of doing tasks.

Therefore, since the safe zone couldn’t accommodate their needed EXP anymore, some players proposed to finally try venturing out of towards the outer zones, and perhaps find more powerful mobs out there that can provide a more larger amount of experience in which they needed.

Swayed by the proposal, a few players decided to leave the safe zone after reaching level nine. They explored the unfamiliar outer zone to test their luck and see if whether they could find those mobs that could offer a more higher experience points.

As it turned out, their choices were not wrong. On that same day, a player with the username ‘Boxlunch’ led a team outside the safe zone and encountered a level nine Forest Python. They killed it altogether and gained a considerable amount of experience points.

The news of their great achievement spread to the entire playerbase, causing an uproar all throughout the various chatrooms, and many players were tempted to copy the actions of these brave pioneers, including several players who originally planned to advance to level 11 by completing labor tasks.

Nonetheless, the vast majority of players still chose to follow the introductory guide provided by the system and advance steadily through the more safer method of finishing tasks.

After all, as their level increased, the penalty for dying also got increasingly severe. Nobody wanted to lose all their hard-earned progress and start from scratch yet again.

In fact, some players are already feeling resentful in regards to the game’s exceedingly complex and brutal mechanism of resurrection.

Completely reverting one’s progress back to level one just after experiencing death is simply too sadistic and ridiculous in their opinion.

Quite a lot of players have actually complained about it in the game’s official forum for so many times that Evé was starting to be concerned by their growing numbers…

Henceforth, she finally considered making some adjustments to the death mechanics.

Apart from that, even with the use of mosaic censorship, the vicious and gruesome way of fighting mobs made some players uncomfortable. Therefore, only a minority of players, most notably males, ultimately choose to embark on the wild adventure outside the safety zone.

Demacia was one of these players and exploring the vast unknown completely excites him.

He had died several times before reaching level five and had worked his ass off to get back to where he was currently. Meanwhile, his peers like Li Mu and HootyBird are already duking it out to see who will reach the Iron-rank first!

He didn’t want to fall too far behind his brother Mu, so he ultimately chose to embark on the adventure and invited three other male players who are also at level 10 to take their chances.

The four of them consisted of three melee-based players and one spellcaster, and they decided to leave the safe zone and venture into the dark outer areas.

As they left the safe zone, Demacia’s team realized that the vegetation of the outer regions are more denser, making it more difficult to navigate around.

Demacia and his team walked through the forest, using their weapons to cut a path while remaining vigilant and searching for potential mobs to hunt.

“Man, there are too many plants here…it’s so hard to walk with these shrubs blocking our way.”

“Well what do you expect, it’s a primitive forest after all.”

“Bro, is your information really reliable? Are there really forest pythons around here?” One player asked while giving Demacia a doubtful look.

“Don’t worry! My sources are credible! I personally bought the information from that well-known player ‘Boxlunch’ with a Sun Pine wood, and that guy told me he saw it with his own eyes.”

Listening to his teammates’ inquiries, Demacia reassured them whilst patting his chest.

Currently there isn’t an official monetary system in Elven Kingdom, thus the players could only barter for any of their transactions. Resources like weapons or equipments were not abundant hence raw materials like wood are more widely used as an item for exchange.

However Evé had already implemented a contribution system as the game’s mode of currency, which would be unlocked after the players reached level 11.

“Oh, I see!”

After listening to Demacia’s explanation, his teammates felt relieved.

The team continued to move forward.

Meanwhile a hundreds of meters away, a pair of sharp, hawkish eyes were watching every movements of Demacia’s party.

It was the Oak Guardian, Berserker.

The Oak treant was hidden in the crevices of an ancient trees, silently observing these players, while holding a trembling goblin in his hand…

He had caught the goblin while lurking on the edge of the ruins of Florence. The green creature had a strength of level 10, but Berserker had already beaten it half to death.

As he held the goblin like a dead goose, Berserker kept an eye on the movements of the four male players.

Demacia and his companions did not notice anything as they continued to chat merrily as if they’re on a picnic and move forward completely unaware of their surroundings.

“Do you guys know far have we gone out already?”

“Umm, I think we’ve already gone almost seven kilometers beyond the safe zone.”

“Shhh, keep your voices down. This isn’t the safe zone anymore. It’ll be game over for us if we encounter an iron-rank mob here accidentally.”

Suddenly, Demacia, who was acting as the vanguard, changed his expression and his pointed ears twitched slightly as if alarmed by something.

He raised his hand to signal for silence and whispered to his teammates, “Quiet! I think I heard something!”

Contrary to his serious behavior, his voice carried a hint of excitement in its tone.

The team immediately quieted down, and everyone became highly alert.

They lowered their bodies and held their breath as they widened each of their eyes to perceive any movements within the surroundings.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”

Suddenly, a sharp and animalistic scream came from the front, startling a group of flying birds.

Each of Demacia’s teammates hearts tightened, and they quickly drew out their weapons in preparation for the inevitable battle.

“Wah! Rah! Ah!”

The screams grew more closer, and they could already feel the madness contained within the creature making such noises.

All the four male players tensed up and quickly took a combat stance with their hearts pounding in nervousness and anticipation.

“It’s just right front of us…”

Demacia said gravely.

As soon as he spoke, the bushes in front of them suddenly rustled, and a thin and weak-looking green-skinned creature rushed out.

The creature was dressed in tattered clothes, with a fierce expression and bloodshot eyes, and it charged at the group as if it had gone completely mad.

“G-Goblin!?”

All of them shouted in unison.

The only spellcaster in the team used an appraisal spell, and then his eyes brightened looking relieved.

“Level 10! But it seems to have been injuried!”

“It doesn’t look like it has any weapons with it!”

“Damn this goblin is so fierce! Isn’t it afraid of us?”

A hint of excitement flashed in Demacia’s eyes. He waved his wooden sword and exclaimed,

“Who cares! It’s just a prey that offered itself into us! Let’s do it guys!”

“Surround it!”

“Don’t let it escape!”

His teammates also shouted.

With that, the entire team wielded their wooden swords and hacked at the goblin while shouting nonsensical battle cries.

However, what surprised them was that the goblin did not dodge at all, and it just charged forward with its blood splattering everywhere. It felt really anticlimactic since the goblin was easily killed directly in just a flurry of swords and knives…

In its final moments, a hint of relief flashed in the goblin’s eyes.

The hidden passive skill war sacrifice activated in the background, and the goblin’s body instantly aged and turned into fluttering ashes in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, the four players received a system prompt notifying them that they had gained some experience. However, they inadvertently ignored it, as they were still a bit flabbergasted at the moment.

“Why…didn’t this goblin just hide instead of attacking us?”

“I think this mob is seeking its own death…”

“I agree. It’s like this goblin is running away from something…”

“Ugh…h-help me up guys, I feel dizzy…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Wait, what is this?”

Suddenly, one player squatted down and fumbled out a shiny crystal from the goblin’s ashes.

It was an irregular light green crystal that seemed to contain a mysterious power.

“Hmm? A drop item?”

“Is it some kind of gemstone?”

“Wait guys, let me appraise it… huh? That’s weird…it says, unable to appraise. Could it be a quest item?”

All four players were both feeling a bit perplexed and excited.

Just then, the trees in front rustled again, and this time, a giant towering figure appeared before them with its shadow fully enveloping the whole team.

Berserker walked out of the woods and stood in front them in an imposing manner.

Looking upwards at the thirty-meter-tall oak guardian that suddenly emerged out of nowhere, all four players involuntarily swallowed their own salivas as their eyes comically popped out of their sockets…

“What the f***! What is this!?”

“Holy Sh*t A tree man!?”

“S-So… so big…”

Demacia thought for a moment and a proverbial light bulb lit up in his mind.

“Guys it’s the Oak Guardian! We’ve encountered the Oak Guardian!”

“Oak Guardian? The rare NPC that Xiao Mu mentioned in his video?”

“Yes! It must be him! I’ve seen some of his screenshots!”

After speaking, Demacia suddenly realized something.

“No wonder that goblin was running for its life, it must have been chased by the Oak Guardian from behind…”

And then he fell silent…

Wait a minute…

Did their group just KS (killsteal) this Oak Guardian’s prey?

Some of his other teammates also thought of this and looked awkwardly at each other, before raising their heads back warily towards the colossal NPC, ready to run at the instance this wood man turn hostile against them.

They already knew that they could not measure the NPCs in this game with their experience of that in other games. The NPCs in this game exhibit complex emotions. Although this Oak Guardian belongs to the same faction as the players, there is still a possibility that it is not a peaceful creature and may attack them despite its allegiance with the Elven Goddess.

What if it has a bad temper…

Anyway, looking at the thirty-meter-tall figure and its ferocious appearance, the group felt a little bit scared for their lives.

This big guy doesn’t look easy to deal with at all…

However, the Oak Guardian’s next behavior completely stunned them.

They saw the giant tree man who stood up to thirty meters tall, suddenly bend his body and mildly bowed his head toward them. He then gestured a tree symbol upon his chest afterwards and spoke in a deep voice akin to an old refined gentleman.

“Esteemed Chosen Ones, I thank thee for eliminating the evil bandit for me. As a token gratitude, I can fulfill one appropriate request for your group.”

Demacia’s team looked at each other and seemed to still be lost in the Oak Guardian’s words.

“A bandit?”

“Is he talking about that goblin who had that gem?”

“One request?”

Suddenly, Demacia’s face brightened, as if he understood something.

He slapped his thigh and loudly exclaimed, “You guys are all stupid…It must be a hidden quest! We must have stumbled upon a hidden questline!”