𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟗
Rudin and Yua, having hunted for a whole day and gathered a satisfying amount of elemental energy, immediately used Return Scrolls to head to the Elf Forest.
Thanks to that, we could see Sina sitting blankly at home. Sina, having heard most of the story from Yua before logging in, shouted in a voice mixed with frustration and regret, asking why she was left behind.
But Yua didn’t ignore Sina, instead appeasing her with the promise of sharing some rewards. In the end, the three of us had no choice but to gather again and head to the Elf Forest.
Well, at least we had gathered enough elemental energy to share the rewards with Sina, so it might not be a big problem.
[Crystal of the Element Imbued with Light]
[Stored Attribute (Water): 14,565.]
Even if it wasn’t all the rewards, it was enough to pick and choose the expensive ones.
And since Yua would have likely obtained a similar amount, combined, we might be able to sweep up most of the rewards.
“Oh? So you’re saying Rudin-nim found the passage to the Iot Kingdom?”
“Yeah, in return, we agreed to receive the earnings from that one broadcast.”
“The broadcast we did yesterday wouldn’t have earned much.”
As Sina said, it wasn’t much.
The problem was that the promotion time was short, even though we advertised it on the way to the island.
In Aizen’s case, he had recognition and advertised for a whole day, so he could gather quite a lot of people, but Absolute Guild lacked both.
To put it simply, the entrance fee was sold at 5,000 won, and the number sold was 16,710.
We earned almost 80 million won, but considering the purchase of entrance fees and unsold tickets, it would be even lower.
Fortunately, Black Dragon took on all the losses and handed me the net profit, which meant, in other words, that this was the end of the calculation.
‘Well, come to think of it, there’s no reason to be involved anymore.’
Now all that’s left is to exchange the rewards in the Elf Forest and let Aizen know.
Then Aizen will take his guild members and work to obtain the branches of the World Tree, and when enough branches are gathered, they’ll break through the barrier and attack where the followers are, and everything will be over, right?
“It’s a shame about the rewards. It would have been better if we had asked for 100 million won.”
“It’s just finding one entrance. Is that worth 100 million won?”
“Out of the 6 kingdoms, only 2 have been found. Also, considering the main scenario reward, what’s 100 million won? We should have asked for 200 million won.”
Listening to her, it seemed Sina knew well about the main scenario rewards.
“Isn’t the reward a position and territory?”
“That’s what’s amazing. Originally, all players are treated as adventurers. It’s a reward that allows you to break free from that mold, so it’s bound to be amazing.”
“……?”
When I made a confused expression, Sina also looked at me with a puzzled expression and said,
“Why that expression?”
“Anyway, you’re saying the reward is worth more than 200 million won?”
“Actually, it’s more than that. They said they’d give territory. You could build various facilities there and collect taxes, or build houses and sell them to players, so you’ll probably be able to rake in money perpetually.”
“Well, I roughly understand.”
“And this is just my guess, but I think you’ll be able to gather NPCs and create an army.”
Though she finished by saying she wasn’t sure.
Still, I think I got the general idea.
It seems like if you have territory, you can manage it by installing various facilities like in a territory development game.
‘Well, there’s no point thinking about it.’
Even if we succeed in the main scenario, Aizen will receive the reward.
Remembering that fact, I decided to stop worrying about it and moved towards the Elf Forest. Before long, I was able to exit through the portal at the end of the passage.
‘But it’s quite quiet.’
It was so quiet that it was hard to believe that the Emperor Guild and Lee Juho’s forces were here.
Come to think of it, there hasn’t been any news of them clashing yet, has there?
It was an undeniable fact that they would definitely fight if they met.
But seeing as it was still quiet, it seemed they hadn’t encountered each other yet.
‘Their skills are quite impressive.’
Their ability to hide was truly remarkable.
If it were anyone else, they would have been immediately detected and killed, wouldn’t they?
However, since there was no direct harm to me, I didn’t bother to seek them out.
“Yua, what were the rewards?”
“The World Tree’s fruit and……”
Anyway, while listening to their conversation and walking towards the Elf Forest, I could see someone appearing from the front.
Like they were releasing stealth, the players gradually appeared, regaining their colors.
It was a different appearance from Lee Juho whom I saw a few days ago.
‘What is it?’
As I stopped walking for a moment and observed, soon, the number of people appearing easily exceeded 100.
Also, judging from the hostile mark engraved above their heads, it seemed Aizen had declared hostility. And if they were the ones Aizen declared hostility towards, it was obvious who they were.
Well, the fact that they were here in the first place explained everything.
‘No matter how I look at it, they seem to have appeared with a purpose.’
More than that, did these guys all acquire stealth skills as a group?
How?
It would take time to acquire it through a skill book, so it was likely they acquired it through other means.
Perhaps a quest?
Also, as hundreds of people suddenly appeared, Yua and Sina next to me looked around with tense expressions. Feeling a bit of irritation rising, I took a step forward.
“Did you appear to die?”
“That’s quite harsh.”
At the same time, the one who came out from the other side was a woman.
Since it’s a game, her appearance is needless to say.
Her long, purple-tinged hair was tied up, giving off a lively atmosphere, and her features overall had a soft impression.
The unexpected thing was the weapon she was holding.
It was a weapon that didn’t suit her pretty appearance at all. She was holding a huge two-handed axe with one hand.
“Or is there another reason you appeared before me?”
“We could have just come to talk.”
“That sounds like you could also have not.”
At my guess, the woman didn’t say anything.
She just smiled faintly.
They weren’t fools either, so they likely had prepared a way to deal with me.
And if they were actually trying to catch me, Yua and Sina could be in danger.
“……You two, go back.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t want to.”
Sina questioning my words and Yua refusing.
Seeing her refuse even though she knew we might end up fighting this group, it seemed she intended to fight alongside me.
“Don’t do that and quickly contact the Emperor Guild. Then everything will be resolved.”
“Are you done talking?”
Turning my head back, I could see the woman leisurely watching.
“If you’re done, let’s talk with me too.”
“Alright, then what do you want to say?”
“I heard what you said to Lee Juho before. You refused even when he offered 1 billion won for a guild transfer, right?”
At the mention of 1 billion won, I could feel Yua and Sina looking at me with surprised eyes.
“But you said you wouldn’t care if there was no direct harm. So what I’m saying is, can you not log in for just tomorrow?”
“For tomorrow…… Are you trying to attack the Emperor Guild then?”
“We can’t let the Emperor Guild monopolize it forever.”
“Well. If the Emperor Guild does well, it seems like there will be good things for me too.”
“That could be true, or it could not be.”
“……”
Whether this way or that way, it seemed like a threat.
If I don’t log in tomorrow, they’ll retreat. But if I don’t, they’ll attack. Interpreting it that way, I raised Roar of the Thunder Dragon with an indifferent look, and seeing that, the woman looked a bit disappointed.
“You’re a tougher nut to crack than I thought.”
“There’s nothing I can’t do if you just give me compensation.”
At my answer, the woman’s brows furrowed slightly.
It seemed she couldn’t understand me asking for compensation in this situation.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t prepared any compensation. I’ll prepare it when we meet next time.”
“Are you leaving?”
“I only came to talk today.”
With those words, they disappeared using Return Scrolls.
I couldn’t understand what their purpose was.
Did they really bring all these people just to tell me not to log in tomorrow?
In addition, thinking they might be hiding using stealth, I used Jayer’s Guardian Shield to look around, but as expected, not a single person was visible.
“Why did you use the skill?”
“I also have stealth detection. That’s why I used it, but…… I still can’t see anyone.”
“They used Return Scrolls, so they must have gone back to town.”
“No.”
I told them about what happened yesterday.
Even though they disappeared using Return Scrolls then, they somehow remained in this area.
And after hearing my story, Sina said with a puzzled look,
“Thinking simply, does that mean their return point is here?”
“That’s what’s strange. Those people were visiting this place for the first time then.”
Looking at her, it seemed Sina didn’t know either. If Sina, who frequents the Twilight bulletin board more than me, didn’t know, it seemed like a secret that hadn’t been revealed yet.
‘By the way, it’s strangely bothersome.’
I also thought they might attack the Emperor Guild as a group tomorrow.
‘Well, in the end, they’ll fight.’
It was close to impossible to come all the way here and proceed with the main scenario without the Emperor Guild knowing.
Moreover, since there was a high chance they would fight as soon as they met, I thought that battle was unavoidable. Letting out a small sigh, I decided to head to the Elf Forest quickly.
‘And just in case, I should get a branch too.’
I moved forward, thinking that after sweeping up all the rewards in the Elf Forest and telling Aizen the location, he would be able to clear the main scenario on his own.
* * *
[You have acquired a total of 3,641 Contribution Points for the achievement of restoring the World Tree.]
“……?”
Upon entering the Elf Forest, we could see the elves welcoming us, having heard that we had gathered elemental energy.
And after handing over the crystal containing the elemental energy and restoring the World Tree, I, who had expected to receive well over 10,000 Contribution Points, tilted my head in puzzlement at the unexpectedly low 3,000 Contribution Points.
Wait, why are the Contribution Points so low?
“It’s reduced to 1/4.”
Just then, I could hear Yua’s words from the side, saying it was reduced to 1/4.
Realizing that multiplying the Contribution Points I received by 4 roughly equaled the amount of elemental energy gathered, I nodded with a satisfied face towards Ladels and said,
“That……”
But what should I say?
Even though I wanted to say, “We gathered this much elemental energy, so why are the Contribution Points so low!”, Ladels was an NPC.
Would an NPC understand if I talked about things related to the system?
But I couldn’t just stay silent, so I decided to speak indirectly.
“We’ve gathered this much elemental energy, so we should be able to get 5 World Tree fruits, right?”
“Hmm? I’m grateful that you gathered elemental energy for the World Tree, but that’s not enough. At most, it would be about 1.”
“We gathered this much elemental energy?”
“You’re saying you’re giving us even 1 because we gathered this much elemental energy?”
“……”
It felt like we weren’t understanding each other, but I got the general idea.
‘No wonder the elemental energy was so easy to gather.’
If they gave Contribution Points according to the amount of elemental energy, it would mean earning 110 Contribution Points just by killing one monster there.
While hunting all day yesterday, I did wonder, “Is it okay to give this much?”, but I ignored it, thinking it was better to be safe than sorry. I never thought it would come back to me like this.
‘If I had known, I should have hunted for two more days.’
I even thought that with regret, but after clearing my mind and looking again, these 3,000 Contribution Points weren’t a small amount either.
If I chose the World Tree branch here, I would still have 2,000 left, so……
“Wow, what are all these rewards?”
Suddenly, Sina, who had also received the World Tree restoration quest, was looking around in the air with a surprised tone, having checked the rewards.
“Rudin-nim. Are we going to gather more elemental energy?”
“Hmm, I’ll think about it.”
For now, I decided to take one World Tree branch since we needed it.
[You have obtained ‘World Tree Branch’ as a Contribution Point reward.]
[Remaining Contribution Points: 2,641.]
‘The rest is……’
Even though I wanted to get an A-rank skill, I needed 3,500 Contribution Points, so I turned my attention elsewhere and found one reward that caught my eye.
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