Game of the World Tree

“Whoa… Did Boxlunch and his team just got lucky again? Really? They triggered another hidden questline?”

“This is what being a pro looks like, huh?”

I’m so envious…”

The new system notification spread through the playerbase like wildfire, immediately catching the attention of a large number of players.

The moment the notification popped up, many players immediately recognized the familiar names tied to it, causing a ripple of envy to spread like wildfire across the Elven Forest.

However, once players took a closer look at the quest details, their envy quickly shifted to something deeper. Curiosity and anticipation filled the virtual air as the implications of the hidden quest began to sink in.

“Wait… what exactly is the Heart of Life?”

“Demi-realm? God of Creation? Did I miss something?”

“This…are we even playing the same game?”

“Huh? Look, there is no limit on the number of people allowed in this quest. Could it be that we can join in as well?”

“Wow… those rewards look great!”

A new hidden questline had been triggered by some veteran players, and this time, there was no player cap as well!

As the system announcement spread, players across the various places turned their attention to the newly unveiled hidden questline.

At the same time, the details of this particular questline were also presented in the record logs of the game system in the form of text, pictures and even videos:

“Fuck! Boxlunch and his team actually discovered a demi-realm?”

“Isn’t that a new map?!”

“Amazing! They just quietly stumbled onto that quest.”

“So, one of the Goddess’s former followers betrayed her… Go figures.”

“So even Elves are capable of betrayal, huh?”

“Well, when the forest gets big enough, it’ll inadvertently attract all kinds of birds, so to speak. But hey, no one ever said this ‘God of Creation’ had to be an elf, right?”

“Hold on, the quest hasn’t officially started yet?”

“Based from the info, it looks like Boxlunch’s team has to initiate it first. Then we’ll need to find Big Sister Zero so that she could teleport us over to where they are…so, I guess we’ve got to wait for now.”

“I see.”

The questline details were deliberately released to the public by Evé, as she deemed it necessary for other players to have some sort of understanding on what exactly Boxlunch and his team were currently up to.

After listening to Elder Roergue’s account from Boxlunch’s perspective, Evé was nearly sure that the players’ upcoming actions would almost certainly provoke interference from the so-called ‘Guardians’ of the Creator.

This was the conclusion Evé reached, as Elder Roergue’s limited power and perspective prevented him from fully understanding how a mythical being behaves.

However, Evé could see through them, being one herself.

And from her understanding, it is almost instinctual for mythical beings to arrange for guardians, sort of like ‘Petitioners’ ¹ to protect the Heart of Life and safeguard their own dormant bodies.

“I need to be ready to summon the players at any moment. Fortunately, I have the exact coordinates for Boxlunch and his team, and this demi-realm is connected to Seigües, which means I can still cover the cost, even if I teleport a significant number of players…”

Evé sighed softly.

This should please the players, as taking part in large-scale quests like these comes naturally to most online MMO gamers.

With the questline revealed to the public, most players who had already reached level 31 and above eagerly accepted the quest—even those who hadn’t fully read all the details of the questline.

“Who cares if I can complete it? Let’s just accept it first.”

“I’ll just follow the main group when the time comes.”

This was the general sentiment amongst most players.

Of course, no matter the players’ outlook, it was still necessary to explain the quest’s background and unfolding events more clearly.

While the hidden quest spread among the players, Evé pondered about the information she had obtained from Roergue:

“The Heart of Life is most likely the Scepter’s last fragment, but from the way Roergue described it, the power of this artifact seems far beyond what a mere fragment should typically possess. Hmm, perhaps some mutation has occurred to it…”

“However, this makes me more curious about this ‘God of Creation’…”

“And more or less, I already have some guesses about his identity…”  

“Since he’s able to gain the loyalty of those three hundred ancient elves, he’s likely one of the eight former demigod followers of my predecessor…”

Eve’s eyes glimmered with realization.

The former World Tree had no subordinate gods, but she did have eight followers whose strength has reached that of demigods.

And although these followers were only demigods, they could still develop a demi-realm without fully creating it, if they needed to, by using the right sacrifices or through the usage of magical artifacts.

As for these former demigod followers of her predecessor… they were either elves or had some elven blood within them.

These were the most loyal servants of the World Tree—of at least that was written on the World Tree’s inheritance and in some elven historical texts.

Of course, by now it was assumed that they all have already died or… disappeared.

From these findings, Evé developed a vague suspicion about the identity of the group that had fled into this demi-realm.

“It seems every member of the Divine Grace Clan in this demi-realm is a human with elven blood, but they most likely originated from the very flesh and blood of this ‘Creator’…”

“In other words, this so-called ‘God of Creation’ probably also has some human bloodline within his veins.”

“He probably is… most likely a half-elf, a half-human demigod!”

A half-blooded demigod!

In most cases, the elven blood within a half-breed’s lineage would dilute as it is passed down from generation to generation.

Henceforth, if this Creator truly is a half-blooded demigod, then everything would make sense—even his betrayal.

As someone who had inherited the World Tree’s legacy, Evé knew that the bond between the elves and the World Tree was unique and very special.

Due to their inherent racial nature, elves would never betray the World Tree.

Even those half-elves who had undergone the ritual to purify their bloodline and become pure-blooded elves still developed an innate affinity for the World Tree, so the possibility of their betrayal is infinitely close to zero.

But what if it’s just a half-blooded elf that never purified their bloodline?

The possibility of them betraying the World Tree…was less certain.

In fact, among the former World Tree’s followers, there was indeed a half-elf demigod!

This half-blooded elf name is Ouros, and oddly enough, he was briefly only mentioned in the World Tree’s inheritance despite being one of the most powerful followers of her predecessor.

Evé found it peculiar, so she set out to learn more about this particular demigod after examining some of the ancient elven texts.

And based on her findings, it was said… this half-blooded demigod was extremely arrogant and ambitious.

At the same time, he is the demigod who most desires to ascend into godhood among all the followers of the World Tree.

Moreover, athough he’s a follower the previous World Tree, he disagreed with some of her predecessor’s principles, and this caused him to have occasional conflicts with the other demigods.

What’s more, according to historical records provided by the Rageblaze Clan, the last place where this half-blooded demigod disappeared to was coincidentally, the magnificent city of Kenorland!

At this, Evé couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.

“…So, even your followers are capable of betrayal.”

After accepting the task that Elder Roergue had bestowed upon them, Boxlunch’s team immediately set off that same day toward Seigües City.

This journey was bound to be a turbulent one, not because their identities had been exposed, but rather, because all five of them were being flooded with chat messages from various friends and acquaintances after Evé announced their ongoing quest to the public.

Inside this demi-realm, they simply needed to ride safely in the carriage for a few days.

But for the broader community of players outside, the five of them had already become the center of discussion, with everyone eagerly anticipating their next move that would result in the players being teleported into the same demi-realm.

With some encouragement from Little Salty Cat, Calabash and Chopin even started to livestream their journey on some video sharing sites…

However, the playerbase attention didn’t remain focused on the five of them for long…

Because just half a day later, the Elven Forest welcomed a new guest—

More specifically,

—Dragons.

— 438 —

【 THE REAL IDENTITYOF THE CREATOR 】

¹ Petitioners (祈并者) is a term in Dungeons & Dragons in which applies to a dead person’s soul that made it in some way or another to a plane of existence other than the Material Plane.

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