Game of the World Tree

?I’ll teach you how to play Infernal Affairs

“Hehe, victory is bound to be ours, the Orcs! I can’t imagine how our thirty thousand troops, comprised of the finest and mightiest warriors from every tribe, could possibly falter against the weakened forces of the Elves.”

Proudly declared by King Imsh, the Lionheart.

The Chief Shaman cast a brief glance in his direction and subtly shook her head, remarking, “Jushan believed the same, yet him and his Caverock Tribe no longer exists anywhere in this world.”

“Hmph! The Elves won’t stand a chance against our army, even if the Goddess of Death blessed them with some kind of resurrection ability!” sneered King Imsh.

Following his statement, the Orc King fixed his eyes on the horizon, displaying a trace of contempt upon his face.

“Despite enduring years of being hunted by both our kind and the humans, their dwindling forces still cannot rival ours even if they were to assemble a thousand warriors!”

“Our thirty thousand troops could even easily drown them if each of us takes a piss! Even Death’s Godwarden can’t protect them from total soul annihilation no matter how much they resurrect. Tch, I refuse to believe those Elves can keep endlessly coming back!”

“Not to mention… we also have a backup plan!”

Yet, in response to Imsh’s words, the Chief Shaman once more shook her head, with her demeanor turning grave.

“My Liege, do not underestimate the power of the gods.”

“The Elves may appear weak, but the entity they worship has not yet ascended to the Heavenly Realm, so currently they still hold the highest-ranking position here in Saigües. Despite having few followers, their power far surpasses ours.”

“As long as their divine power isn’t exhausted, the Elven God is nearly invincible here in the mortal realm. Otherwise, Lord Volker wouldn’t have fallen in the first place.”

Upon hearing the Chief Shaman’s reminder, King Imsh froze.

He looked at the female Shaman beside him, with his expression showing a trace of uncertainty.

“Are you suggesting…that this war might compel the Elven God to personally intervene to prevent the massacre of their followers?”

“…If we push the entity they worship too far, then it’s entirely possible that it might really personally intervene and break the covenant imposed by the gods.”

The Chief Shaman calmly explained as her expression remained grave.

However, after saying this, her demeanor suddenly became fanatical.

“Of course, if the opposition were to truly directly intervene and break the covenant, then it’s something our Divine Father would also want to witness…”

Hearing this, it seemed as if the Orc King realized something.

His complexion suddenly turned pale, with his hands clenched so tightly that his sharp nails almost piercing his skin.

“A-Are you saying…”

“Remember My Liege…beneath the true gods, we mortals are nothing but mere ants.”

And at that moment, the Chief Shaman’s reminder truly reached Imsh’s ears, snapping him out of his arrogance.

The Orc King trembled, belatedly recognizing that he had begun sweating profusely without his awareness.

He wanted to say something more, but he hesitated when he saw the Chief Shaman’s enigmatic smile.

“My Liege…”

Just when King Imsh was beginning to doubt himself, the Chief Shaman’s ethereal voice resounded again.

“What do you… think of us Half-Orcs?”

Without waiting for an answer, she continued,

“We Half-Orcs… are ultimately the lowest among the Iron races, and our potential is even less than that of humans, who aren’t even part of the Iron lineage.”

“For millennia, the mana in Saigües has consistently remained low. However, this has been beneficial for us Half-Orcs as it allowed the strength of our Divine Father to safely grow, enabling our race to establish a foundation within the Mortal Realm.”

“But now… the mana in Saigües is once more rising back up again and sadly, the power of our Divine Father has hit a bottleneck.”

“With the resurgence of mana, those ancient beings that have been lying dormant for so long are bound to awaken one after another. The peaceful Mortal Realm, which has stayed calm for thousands of years, will definitely enter a new age of chaos as these powerful entities start stirring once more…”

“The foundation of the Half-Orcs is still much too weak, My Liege. If we want our race to truly become powerful comparable to that of full-blooded Orcs, humanity, and even the Dragons, then there’s only one path for us—”

At this point, the Chief Shaman’s expression became increasingly zealous.

“—That is to empower our Divine Father with an even greater Divinity, to elevate him to a higher state of existence!”

“For this… we must spare no expense, even if it means sacrificing our very lives!”

King Imsh’s pupils contracted slightly.

“This is a gamble!”

“Indeed, it’s a gamble,” said the Chief Shaman calmly, but her gaze burned with unprecedented intensity.

“Two thousand years ago… we won a gamble and fully gained control over the Desert of Death.”

“A thousand years ago, we also won another gamble and gained the rights over the Dark Mountains and the Elven Forest.”

“This time…should we win, then we Half-Orcs will have the chance to become a truly powerful lineage, on equal footing to full-blooded Orcs, humans, and perhaps even the Dragons!”

Approximately 15 kilometers south of Black Dragon Castle, on a steep hillside, therein lies a certain outpost.

This particular location is approximately 300 kilometers away from the World Tree if one were to walk in a straight line, and it represents the maximum distance that players can currently explore.

Once a barren hillside, it now hosts a newly constructed makeshift watchtower. Within the watchtower, three elves are presently gathered around a campfire, appearing quite bored out of their minds.

“Ah-choo!”

Demacia sneezed loudly before tightly wrapping himself up in a small sheet of blanket he seized from the human merchant caravan.

“Man, the devs made the weather system too exaggerated. It’s so freaking cold, dude!”

“Well, it is autumn, and we’re in the mountains… Besides, the realism is what makes ElvKing so appealing, right? Plus, we could always turn off the temperature sensitivity in the settings menu anyway.”

One low-level player chimed in as he laughed.

Demacia shook his head.

“Yeah you can disable pain sensitivity, but I think disabling temperature sensitivity as well removes too much of the fun.”

Hearing this, the other two players pondered for a moment with one of them hesitating before curiously asking, “By the way, Big Brother Demacia, why did you take on this boring surveillance task at the edge of the map?”

“Yeah, I’m kinda curious too…” The other player by the campfire also nodded in agreement.

“I mean, it’s one of the most boring tasks in the game. Sure, it gives decent EXP for us low-level players, but big brother you’re already level 21, aren’t you? The task reward is hardly enough for you, isn’t it?”

Demacia’s face fell as he heard the comments from the two low-level players. He then let out a long sigh and shook his head helplessly.

“I couldn’t help it… last semester, I got too into playing games and flunked six subjects. And this year, our school had decided to have summer classes for those of us who failed!”

“It’s starting in a few days, and they scheduled the makeup exams during the summer classes. I’ll have to retake all six subjects at once if I fail again this time. Dude, that’ll be like a death sentence, you know… Heck, just attending the classes might kill me.”

“College student?” The two players asked curiously.

“Yeah, freshman year,” Demacia sighed.

“So, I figured… I’d multitask and do some tasks that also let me study for my exams at the same time.”

Demacia then casually took a screenshot of his in-game interface and sent it to his two teammates. Upon seeing the screenshot filled with lecture slides, the two couldn’t help but sympathize with him.

“In any case, ElvKing’s mind acceleration tech is really impressive! Especially when doing your homework and writing papers, it’s incredibly time-efficient.”

One of them remarked after letting out a sigh.

The other player shook his head,

“Come on man… how many people playing this game actually have the patience to use mind acceleration for studying? Watching videos is one thing, but actually learning? Haha, I bet’cha most are just trying to cram at the last minut—Uh, I mean, not you, Brother D-Demacia…”

Demacia’s face soured. He was about to say something when he suddenly changed his expression.

“Did you guys hear that? It sounds like footsteps…”

His pointed ears perked up as if it’s an antenna that’s aligning with the source of the noise.

“…Footsteps?”

The two low-level players glanced at each other with look of puzzlement.

“Did you?”

“No I didn’t…maybe it’s from the background music? Hmm…the BGM of the Dark Mountains do sounds like quite nice now that I’m listening carefully at it…”

Demacia: “…”

“You don’t need a freakin’ BGM for a surveillance mission! Fuck, Turn it off now! Turn it off!”

He looked exasperated at the two newbies.

Without waiting for the two novice players to respond, Demacia stood up, still wrapped in his small blanket, and walked towards the edge of the watchtower.

The sky was getting a little dark, and the mountain wind was blowing loudly, making his face itch, as Demacia squinted his eyes…

However, as Demacia’s gaze sharpened, with his eyes focusing beyond the watchtower, his pupils widened in shock, and an involuntary curse escaped his lips.

“W-What in the actual fuck!”

In his field of vision…

Countless Orcs covered the mountains, as far as the eye could see!

Endless and innumerable!

After being startled for a moment, Demacia’s expression gradually showed excitement.

“The Orc army is coming! The Orc army is finally here! Haha! The main questline is about to begin!”

While he began frantically taking screenshots of the scenery, Demacia also called out to the other two low-level players.

And when the two low-level players also saw the overwhelming Orc army matching in the horizon, their faces both turned pale with apprehension…

Even though they knew it is just a game, the grandeur and sense of intimidation brought about by the sight of hordes of Orcs marching remain undeniably unsettling.

One player swallowed hard and asked, “B-Big Brother Demacia, since the Orcs are coming, shouldn’t we inform the others and retreat quickly?”

“Retreat!?”

Demacia rolled up his sleeves, his expression etched into a grin that clearly showed that he couldn’t contain his excitement.

“We’re staying right here. Light up the torches and we’ll wait for them to capture us!”

“C-Capture… us?”

The two players looked utterly baffled.

“Hehe! Don’t you two get it? To them, we elves are precious commodities! The Orcs will definitely keep us alive and treat us as prisoners if they catch us and then… we can help the others pinpoint the Orcs’ exact location!”

“Hehehe… this time, I’ll teach you two how to properly play Infernal Affairs.” 1

Demacia eagerly rubbed his hands together.

The two newbies: “…”

“Aren’t you supposed to be studying?”

Demacia: “…”

“Cough, cough… I’ll study after this. It’ll take only a few hours anyway.”

Demacia chuckled awkwardly.

1 无间道 – The term ‘Infernal Affairs‘ in this chapter is based off on a Hong Kong action thriller film which follows an undercover Police Force officer who infiltrates a Triad, and another officer who is secretly a spy for the same Triad.

So what Demacia is implying here is that he’s gonna teach the two how to be a spy.

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