It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 165

Chapter 165: The Tree Spirit Arliv (2)

” (~°•°)~~♭~♪♬ (~˘▾˘)~♫•¨•.¸¸♪ “

” ……? “

Muse suddenly started singing and dancing!

Kyung-joon was flustered by the sudden turn of events, but for some reason, he felt his body swaying to the music.

A pen on hand and started shaking his hips…….

” ……Whoa! “

He came to his senses just in time.

Kyung-joon almost fell for Muse’s charm!

” Wait, why was I suddenly going to dance……? Go back!”

” ~♩~♪~♬ “

And so, Muse went back to her work while singing.

After Muse left.

” Can you understand the spirit’s words directly, Kyung-joon-nim? “

Ceram asks Kyung-joon with a slightly surprised look.

” Ah, you’re right. “

Thinking about it, the system helped Kyung-joon when he was talking to Bangwool and Mod.

For example, when Bangwool said something, the system would show a translation window.

But that wasn’t the case with the arliv this time.

Of course, it could also be because they haven’t made a contract yet.

<•̀.̫•́✧>

<Master. The reason for that is in the status window. I put it away for a while because I thought it would interfere with the conversation.>

” Ah, is that so? “

As Teemo said, Kyung-joon could quickly find the reason by looking at the status window log.

[Rare skill 『Spirit Contractor (Lv.6)』 is activated.]

[Unique skill 『Will Conveyance (Lv.1)』 is activated.]

[You can directly communicate with the 『arliv spirit』.]

” Aha. So that’s why. “

Spirit Contractor was a passive skill in the first place, and Will Conveyance was often used when using monster language, so he must have used it unconsciously.

Simply put, it was like being always activated.

He thinks it became more like that because he was always recovering HP/MP in real time while he was at the Study Villa.

Anyway, more importantly than that.

” Oh my. “

Kyung-joon plopped down on the chair with a troubled look on his face.

” It’s really chaotic these days because of the black magic stone or whatever. “

Ceram, who was next to him, agreed with Kyung-joon’s complaint.

” You’re telling me. That…… the Black Leopard incident last time was also because of that, right? “

” That’s right. You may not know this, Mr. Ceram, but this has happened a few times before. “

Besides the Black Leopard, the Mutated Minto Morco from the Magic University and the mutated orc Protein from the Luxemb defense.

These incidents were all caused by the black magic stone.

” Who the hell is doing this? “

” Who……? You mean this isn’t a natural phenomenon but something someone is doing? “

” Probably. Look at this. “

Kyung-joon took out a black magic stone and handed it to Ceram.

Ceram, who looked at it for a moment, frowned slightly and said.

” Do you see it? “

” Yes…… This one, it has traces of being processed. “

” That’s right. The shape is too artificial to have been created naturally. “

If it was made naturally, it should be one of two things.

Either it’s in the form of a perfect crystal and looks very beautiful, or it’s weathered and deposited everywhere and is very irregular.

However, the Tarnished Black Magic Stone that Kyung-joon obtained by catching the mutated monster was neither.

And at that moment.

” Hmm……? “

Ceram, who was carefully examining the Tarnished Black Magic Stone, noticed something.

” This is…… a arliv’s crystal core……? “

” What? A crystal core? “

” No, it’s just that…… I’m an earth attribute, so I’m quite knowledgeable about stones and ores, and I can vaguely feel the energy of a crystal core in this black magic stone. “

” No way. Let me see that for a second. “

Kyung-joon took the Tarnished Black Magic Stone back from Ceram.

If he looked closely, it was the one he got from catching the Black Leopard.

The one he got most recently.

Woooong.

Kyung-joon began to analyze the mana contained in the black magic stone using his 『Multi Mana Control: Nano』, which had reached level 5 from his mana genetics research.

” Teemo. Collect some residual mana from where the arliv just passed and run a match test. “

< (ง°̀ﾛ°́)ง>

<Okay.>

<Comparing…….>

Woooong!

The mana that entered Teemo’s crystal ball began to rotate fiercely, forming a ring.

One was the mana that Kyung-joon handed over from the black magic stone, and the other was the residual mana he brought from the path the arliv passed.

The mana rings spun at an incredible speed, like a centrifuge in a biology lab.

Soon, the comparison of the mana that had been separated into information began.

< (｡•́︿•̀｡)!>

<Error!>

<Undetected or unanalyzed mana information detected. In detail…….>

Kyung-joon nodded his head several times at Teemo’s detailed report.

” That’s probably information about black mana. For now, upload it to your database. If you think of it as an unmatched mana code, what’s the match rate? “

<Assuming the error mana code is a black mana code, the match rate is 74.9%. This is about the same as the relationship between water and ice attributes.>

” Then it’s like the case where a temperature-related code was added to water and it became ice. “

In other words, the black mana was combined with the original mana of the arliv, resulting in the mana that is currently felt in the black magic stone.

Combining this clue with Ceram’s words just now…….

” ……The black magic stone is made from the arliv’s crystal core? “

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Click. Click, click.

Kyung-joon was fiddling with his smartphone, not in the virtual world of a game for once, but in his real-life bed.

Of course, he wasn’t just trying to kill time while lounging around.

『Search Results for arliv crystal core』

『Subject: Buying arliv crystal core

Content: ……Buying arliv crystal core. It’s killing me, there’s been no stock near Aegis Protectorate lately. Is someone hoarding them at the Player Auction House?…….』

『Subject: AngerManagementVodka of Ruski Komrade?

Content: ……Why the hell is that guy camping out in the arliv colony? Are arlivs that profitable? ……[ㅇㅇ]: I heard the crystal core there…….』

『Subject: What’s with the arlivs going berserk since yesterday……?

Content: ……Got inspired by SurvivalKing’s video and went exploring Whale Forest, almost got wrecked by a dark magic-using arliv;; lololol What is this? An event? Luxemb defense……』

” Hmm. “

Kyung-joon pondered how to solve the problem plaguing the arlivs, searching this and that on his smartphone.

So far, this is what he had learned from his searches and research:

『1. Not sure about the first two as they seem quite old, but the third, the Tarnished Black Magic Stone obtained by defeating the Black Leopard, is indeed made from a arliv’s crystal core.』

『2. And it seems that the arliv’s crystal core is being exclusively farmed and supplied by someone called AngerManagementVodka from the famous workshop guild ‘Ruski Komrade’.』

” Ruski Komrade…… AngerManagementVodka…… Getting involved with them would be a huge pain…… “

In other words, even if he successfully resolved the issue with the arlivs, it could lead to a confrontation with these people.

After all, the arlivs were a gold mine to them.

A clash with Kyung-joon, who aimed to bring the arlivs to his side, was inevitable.

” But then again, do I really need to worry too much? “

From the arliv cloud video he saw earlier, they were completely wiped out by a single corrupted arliv.

From Kyung-joon’s perspective, facing not just one corrupted arliv but an entire colony, AngerManagementVodka and his group were nothing more than inconvenient puddles on the road.

He might get a little wet, but he could just step over them if he wanted.

Or……

” I could just avoid them and take a detour. “

『Subject: What the hell is up with this BlackChef dude? Freaking terrifyingㅅX;

Content: ……Go to the Whale Forest to get something called a arliv’s crystal stone……』

A post he had seen while searching for BlackChef’s identity a while back.

If used correctly, this information might allow him to avoid a major conflict with AngerManagementVodka and his group.

Of course.

Before worrying about all that, he had to solve the corruption problem plaguing the arlivs.

” I hope Ceram has found some clues. “

Ceram, who had lived as an earth-attribute Silva and thus had some knowledge of stones, ores, and the like.

As it turned out, he was incredibly knowledgeable, even possessing extensive knowledge about the Video Memory Stone and Magic Memory Stone.

Therefore, Kyung-joon had entrusted him with the research and analysis of the Tarnished Black Magic Stone for the time being.

The goal was 『to find a way to restore the Tarnished Black Magic Stone back to its original, pure crystal core state.』

If this were possible, he might be able to solve the problem without killing the corrupted arlivs—unless the corruption was too severe.

『Search Results for arliv』

『Search Results for Black Magic Stone』

『Search Results for Dark Magic Purification』

．

．

．

Scroll. Scroll.

As Kyung-joon continued to scroll through the search results, changing keywords… 

” Huh? “

He suddenly spotted a search result that caught his eye…….

『Search Results for Mutated Arliv』

『Subject: Mutated arlivs now?! A massive arliv migration! Where are they headed?!

Content: ……SurvivalKing’s YouTube channel, Man vs World…….』

” Arlivs……? SurvivalKing? “

It was a video link leading to SurvivalKing’s YouTube channel.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

━Greetings, this is SurvivalKing. I’m in the most dangerous place in The World……

After his usual greeting, SurvivalKing immediately began his live stream.

━Right now, I’m at the entrance of Whale Forest’s tail, about to enter the middle section. Even for a high-ranker like me, hunting alone in the middle of Whale Forest is no easy feat. That’s because most of the monsters here possess intelligence comparable to humans.

━It’s become even more challenging lately with the emergence of monsters fully equipped with rare and unique gear. If you’re curious about what fully geared monsters look like, please click the link in the upper left corner of the screen.

━A few weeks ago, the monsters’ patterns suddenly changed, and now we have these fully armed monsters appearing. Could this be a foreshadowing of things to come? Look at this. A first-ever reveal in The World, 『a mass migration of the arliv colony』.

As SurvivalKing spoke, the camera panned upwards, revealing the scene beyond.

Gigantic trees were moving, their roots acting as legs.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Although not particularly fast, the sight of an entire forest on the move was awe-inspiring, as if nature itself had gained sentience.

━The arlivs, tree spirits that live together in colonies in a single location. They may look like ordinary trees, but each one is a force to be reckoned with, boasting levels over 200. Many adventurers have met their demise after mistaking them for harmless trees and approaching carelessly. They’re not particularly aggressive, but lately, there have been many reports of mutated arlivs appearing throughout the World, just like the other mutated creatures we’ve been hearing about. This must be the true face of Chapter 2, 『Anomaly』.

━But this time, on top of the mutations, we have a mass migration of the entire arliv colony. Could this be a reaction to the mutations? They’re known to stay rooted in one place for hundreds of years, so what could have caused this?

━This is truly a momentous event in the history of the World’s ecosystem. To find out the reason behind this, I’ll try to get a closer look.

The scene transitioned as SurvivalKing walked deeper into the forest.

━Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo!

━Hoo, hoo hoo-hoo……!

━Hoo-hoo…… Hoo, hoo…….

Screams unlike those of humans, sounding almost childlike.

Much smaller than adult humans, with wings on their backs and green skin.

Kyung-joon had seen them once before.

“What the…… Why are the Silvas being attacked?”

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