It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 164

Chapter 164: The Tree Spirit Arliv (1)

『Mana Genetics』. This was newly created by Kyung-joon while he was conducting research on attributes.

The progress of that research has been updated.

It was reflected after talking with Ceram and proving the results of the research himself.

[Mana Genetics]

▶A new academic field that combines genetics, a part of biology, with the theory of magical attributes.

▶Research Progress: 3.4%→5.2%

※When the Research Progress reaches 100%, you can complete the academic discipline.

As with the previous 『Mana Mechanics』, there were no skills derived from it yet.

It seemed likely that it would happen after conducting more research and actually applying it.

The status window didn’t end there.

[You have acquired the second piece of the quest piece 『Black Skinned Silva, Ceram』.]

[You have acquired a special piece of the second quest piece.]

[The development of subsequent quests will be greatly influenced by special pieces.]

[Quest Piece – Black Skinned Silva, Ceram-]

▶Ceram seems to have a big trauma about the fact that his skin is black, unlike ordinary Silvas. It seems like he has a story to tell……

▶It is said that Silvas kill black-skinned Silvas as soon as they are born to maintain the purity of their attributes, even though they are spirits of the forest. That’s how Ceram, he was abandoned.

※ (Special Piece): According to Kyung-joon, the purity of attributes was nothing more than ignorance in the first place. He argues that there is only a 1% difference between the forest attribute and the earth attribute.

▶???

0.9%.

The algorithm for calculating the match rate itself is not yet strict, so this level can be considered an error.

Kyung-joon thought as he looked at the quest pieces.

‘The first piece is the background. The second piece is the content. And the third is…… probably a choice.’

Ceram’s choice.

Depending on what choice Ceram makes, the quest will be revealed and decided.

It’ll probably take a while until then.

So.

“This time, I’ll knead and bake it.”

Potato pancakes that my mother used to make often.

Kyung-joon received the pan and started baking, the taste of his mother that Ceram had never tasted before.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Knock, knock, knock.

Having finished breakfast and cleaned up the dishes, Kyung-joon suddenly heard a knock from beyond the wooden fence.

“Huh?”

Who else would it be this early in the morning besides Ceram?

All the residents should be busy with their own work.

Did something go wrong with the construction?

But if it were a resident, they would have identified themselves first.

“Hmm. It could be a traveling merchant like me.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

It was then that Kyung-joon approached the door, calling out, ‘Who is it?’

Another knock came.

Knock, knock, knock.

But this time, it didn’t end there.

Knockknockknock. knock. Knockknock.

This familiar rhythm…

“Strong-weak-weak. Strong-strong-strong-weak. Strong, medium-weak…?

An irresistible curiosity!

Kyung-joon thought he knew exactly who this crazy bastard was.

Creak.

As he opened the door, a familiar boisterous atmosphere greeted Kyung-joon.

“Hello~♩ Thank you~♭ Goodbye~♪ See you again~♬”

The person who knocked was Muse, the famous musician from the Study domain.

Kyung-joon also greeted her with a wide smile.

“Hey, why are you leaving as soon as you get here?”

Holding onto Muse, who was already saying goodbye after hello, Kyung-joon asked what she needed.

And then.

“Be our guest! Be our guest! You walked in and oops-a-daisy!”

Judging by the song, it seemed like a guest had arrived.

“What? A guest? Where are they?”

But there was no one around Muse.

It was just Muse.

“Darling~ open your eyes~♪ Let me show you light↗♪”

“Hmm…?”

That’s when Kyung-joon noticed.

A different, foreign mana was emanating from Muse’s chest.

“Sur~prise~ ta-da~♬”

Swoosh!

As Muse dramatically spread open her chest like a musician, a single green cloud-like face appeared there.

《Followed… the Crystal’s… memory…》

It was a strange, cloud-like being.

With no arms, legs, shoulders, knees, or feet, just a fluffy head floating in the air.

Kyung-joon, gathering the mana he had saved up in case of danger, spoke.

“……A spirit?”

The energy he had felt countless times from Bangwool and Mod.

This was the energy of a spirit.

《You are…… the one who solved…… the……》

The echoing voice rang out once more.

“The? The what?”

However, it was hard to understand, like a staticky radio.

But with the next words that followed, Kyung-joon was able to understand why the tree spirit arliv had come to find him.

《…problems… of the forest residents… I heard…》

“Ah.”

Monster problem consultations.

For the past month, Kyung-joon had been making friends with all sorts of monsters in Whale Forest, solving their problems. It seemed the rumor had spread to arliv.

“Alright. But I’m not a volunteer, so.”

《To gain…… an equal price must be……》

“Okay, as long as you understand that.”

Kyung-joon nodded in satisfaction at the quick reply.

And then.

“So, what’s the problem? I’ll solve it for you.”

Kyung-joon didn’t say anything senseless like he would decide after hearing the problem.

This way, it would lead to a stronger bond after he solved the problem.

Through his interactions with various monsters, Kyung-joon had learned that unlike humans, they valued this kind of mental exchange and camaraderie more than material gains and losses.

《Memory…… the trees’ memory……》

arliv’s face momentarily puffed up, and a cloud-like image began to play from it.

The image was of the large colony of trees he had seen once before.

It was the sight he had seen in the distance when he was coming down from Sky Cliff.

Then the image zoomed in rapidly, and……

Drag. Drag, drag, drag.

He saw a tree being dragged away by humans.

It was an arliv’s physical body.

The humans pulling it, tied up with ropes all over its body, all seemed to be players at a glance.

Except for the one who seemed to be the leader of the group, they were all dressed the same. It was the outfit of the famous workshop guild 『Ruski Komrade』 that he often saw on World Inven.

As the workshop members were dragging an arliv away like that……

Suddenly, the center of the image flashed, and arliv stopped abruptly!

As if it was caught on something.

At this time, the workshop members were all turning their backs and seemed too tired to notice the light on the ground, but Kyung-joon was different.

Kyung-joon knew what that light was.

“Black Magic Stone……”

He had already collected three Black Magic Stones from catching Mutated Minto Morco and the variant Siri series.

But unlike the Tarnished Black Magic Stone Kyung-joon had, the one in the image seemed to be overflowing with black mana, full of energy.

The subsequent development of the image unfolded predictably, as expected.

In the end, arliv, corrupted by the Black Magic Stone, shouted ‘F*ck you!’ and killed all the players who were dragging him away.

And perhaps due to the influence of the Black Magic Stone, the image became increasingly distorted with black static, eventually leaving only noise.

This was the memory of the tree that the spirit of arliv in front of him possessed.

After watching the entire video, Kyung-joon spoke.

“I understand. You want me to defeat that corrupted arliv, right?”

Defeating corrupted variant monsters had become Kyung-joon’s specialty.

This would be his fourth time, and he felt confident he could handle it right away.

However, the cloud, which only had a head floating around, shook its head as if to say no.

《It’s… a little… different…》

“What?”

《It’s… not… just one…》

“What?”

Unlike the previous ‘What?’, this one was higher-pitched.

《This is… another… tree’s memory…》

Swoosh.

arliv showed another image, just like before.

And this image was far more serious than the previous one.

The arliv colony, which served as the dividing line between the tail and lower torso of Whale Forest.

He couldn’t tell how many trees there were, but countless trees were gradually turning black, starting from the bottom.

Like viscous ink slowly spreading through clear water.

Then, the arliv uttered shocking words.

《You… please… annihilate us all…》

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The spirit of the tree, arliv.

They were spirits that pursued harmony, like nature itself, neither good nor evil.

Carnivores hunt and eat herbivores.

It was a natural phenomenon.

Sometimes herbivores defeat carnivores.

This too was a natural phenomenon.

Humans who entered the forest cut down trees out of necessity.

Human behavior that goes against nature.

But this behavior was also a very natural phenomenon for the arliv.

So, for the past half year, the entire AngerManagementVodka group did not respond to them being cut down.

Only the arliv under attack and a few surrounding arliv resisted.

This was the reason why the AngerManagementVodka group was able to continue farming arliv.

《The black corruption… has changed… some of us…….》

But the black gemstone changed the situation.

They came to hate the guys who were cutting them down, and further, they came to hate humans themselves.

Just like Black Leopard did.

Kyung-joon, who was listening to the arliv’s explanation, asked.

“Then we can just get rid of the corrupted part, right? Why do you ask us to exterminate all of you?”

To Kyung-joon, it seemed like burning down the whole house to catch a flea.

But there was a reason why the arliv had no choice but to make such a choice.

《We are all… connected… It has been contaminated…….》

Arlivs are not a solitary spirit, but a collective spirit.

Like a network, each individual is connected by a network.

So now that some have fallen and the network has been contaminated, even if some are killed, the spread of the contamination cannot be stopped.

Just slow down the speed.

《So we… must be exterminated…….》

If we don’t uproot everything now, while normal conversation is still possible, the future that will come will be nothing but disaster.

The mere thought of the entire arliv colony, which occupies a part of the forest, being corrupted by black magic stone was horrifying.

‘A big disaster like this at the end……’

And that is something that should never happen in the 『Whale Forest Monster Alliance』, which is Kyung-joon’s goal.

…….

After more talk about this and that.

Kyung-joon, who was agonizing with a serious expression, finally made a decision.

“Arliv. Can you hold on a little longer? I’ll try to do something.”

《You are… the savior of the forest… trustworthy…….》

The arliv accepted Kyung-joon’s words surprisingly easily.

“Are you sure you’re okay? It might take a while?”

《It has already begun… the taint upon the pure… forest’s mana…》

[The quest will be put on hold and will not appear.]

Afterwards, the arliv floated away and disappeared through the wall.

Moreover, his echoing voice was no longer heard.

The song was heard.

“The atmosphere suddenly turned cold~ Oh, I don’t know! PPAP!”

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