Game of the World Tree

Outside the window, the cicadas chirped incessantly as the scorching summer reached its peak.

Gù Qíng, clad in a cool tank top, sat at her desk.

Her shoulder-length hair is presently fashioned into a high ponytail as the oscillating fan next to her delicately brushed the strands on her cheeks, while also dispelling the summer heat out from her body.

Gù Qíng disliked using air conditioning.

Instead, she prefers the gentle hum of the fan as it harmonizes with the enchanting chorus of the cicadas in the background. Together, they weave a distinct summer symphony that nostalgically reminds her of her childhood days spent in her old hometown back in the rural countryside.

Whilst basking in this setting, she found it much easier to delve deeper into her thoughts and solve problems that currently plagued her mind.

Meanwhile, upon her desk lay various papers filled with writing and drawings that are untidy organized in a haphazard manner.

Gù Qíng twirled her pen in between her fingers, staring intently at the papers in deep contemplation.

The writing on the documents is rather peculiar, featuring a blend of hieroglyphic and cuneiform-like characters that are intricate and completely unfamiliar to modern linguistics.

Moreover, one particular sheet of paper even has a hand-drawn depiction of an entirely new continent, not found on any geological map of earth.

This alien-like map has Chinese labels such as ‘Chosen City,’ ‘Elven Forest,’ ‘Black Dragon Castle,’ and ‘Florence’ placed upon its geographic topography.

From a layman’s perspective, this map might not made sense but for players of Elven Kingdom, this map clearly depicts the world of Saigües!

In a specific region northeast of the map, a place was marked in red with a question mark, and the word “Royal Capital” written on it.

“I didn’t expect that the elves had a royal capital. If I hadn’t started reading a lot of their old books, then I wouldn’t have known about it!”

Gù Qíng thought with her eyes gleaming in delight.

She is one of the first beta-players of Elven Kingdom.

Username : HootyBird

At this moment, Gù Qíng’s eyes sparkled with wonder whilst holding the handdrawn map in her hands. Those who personally knew her could tell it was a telltale sign of her being in a good mood.

“This location might just be yet another major elven ruins! And maybe after this recent update, we can finally explore this area!”

Gù Qíng exclaimed with excitement.

There were once seven large elven cities in the entire expanse of the Elven Forest.

Gù Qíng learned this after reading some ancient text that was either salvaged or preserved by the natives…

The old texts aptly named these seven cities as the Royal Capital, Florence, Rivendell, Kenorland, Mirovia, Crystal City, and Icewind Dale.

Among them, Florence and Rivendell have already been explored by the players and it can even be easily accessed through a teleportation array.

However, the other five cities remained untouched and inaccessible considering the range of maps currently available to the players.

Nonetheless, by deciphering the prevailing records written in the ancient texts, Gù Qíng gained a rough understanding of the coordinates of these cities.

Based on her estimates, Kenorland was located southwest of the Elven Forest. It was described as a magnificent city built amidst of a sea of flowers.

Whereas Mirovia was a beautiful coastal city situated to the west. Crystal City and Icewind Dale on the other hand were located in the far northern section of the Elven Forest.

Yet, they cannot currently access these areas because these cities are more than three hundred kilometers away from the core area of the Elven Forest, far beyond the reach of the current map available to the players.

As a matter of fact, although the core area of the Elven Forest is called the central area, technically, it is not actually the center of the Elven Forest.

It is only called as such because it is where the World Tree grows and this ‘central zone’ is actually the southeastern portion of the forest.

Of course, in addition to these major cities, the Elven Forest also harbors some other ruins, which was remnants of various smaller towns and villages left behind by the elves of olden times.

However, most of these smaller ruins lack anything substantial or of importance, with some even being used as bases by trespassing goblins.

The only noteworthy items that the players discovered from these small ruins are a few Divine Blood Crystals which has a contribution value of 800 when offered to the goddess.

But according to the ancient texts, aside from the Holy City of Florence and the manufacturing citadel of Rivendell, the nearest city to the core area of the Elven Forest was the Royal Capital.

Gù Qíng furrowed her eyebrows as she analyzed the approximate location of the Royal Capital on her hand-drawn map.

She nodded for a while, but then shook her head not a minute later.

“No…something doesn’t seem right.”

She then took out a paper covered in strange characters and scrutinized it, as her brows furrowed even more.

“It clearly states here that the Royal capital is located within the Elven Forest, surrounded by beautiful oak trees and a towering, holy statue of the goddess as a landmark—”

Whilst talking to herself, Gù Qíng pulled out yet another paper.

“—But this one mentions the capital’s location is about four hundred kilometers northeast of the World Tree…”

Frowning even more, she picked up her hand-drawn map and moved it closer to her face.

“Yet, based on the maps we’ve already explored, the 300-kilometer straight northeast of the World Tree is already outside the Elven Forest. So, does this mean the Royal capital is actually situated beyond the territory of the Forest?”

She then instinctively scratched the top of her head.

“But…isn’t that region supposed to belong to a human kingdom? Something called the Holy Maniya Empire? Meryer even went there to take some livestock…”

“Could it be that the information written in these old texts is inaccurate?”

Gù Qíng grew increasingly puzzled.

After thinking to no avail, she gently rubbed her temples and set the papers aside. Glancing at her watch, Gù Qíng realized that, at some point, the clock hands had moved past twelve noon.

In an instant, Gù Qíng’s expression softened.

“Well, time to go online.”

“Since I can’t figure it out, I’ll just ask Alice directly instead. The natives surely must know where their old capital is located.”

With this in mind, Gù Qíng finally stood up from her seat.

She lazily stretched her limbs before finishing her takeout food with a few bites and tossed the leftovers into the trash bin.

After brushing her teeth, she then approached the immersion pod in her room and donned the apparatus’s headgear as she lay down inside it.

“Initiate… Elven Kingdom!”

【? 】

【Game successfully connected…】

【New updated version discovered, beta 0.1.5】

【Updating to latest version…01%..02%..】

【100%— Update successful!】

【Update log V1: Added equipment binding feature】

【Players can now use contribution points to bond an equipment exclusively to themselves. Bound equipment can also return alongside the dead player upon their revival at the World Tree. Players can now also check the coordinates of bounded equipment on their mini-map.】

【However equipment binding has a time limit, and bound equipment shall receive a binding buff that requires contribution points for maintenance.】

【Update log V2: Expanded Maps】

【New locations are now open for exploration: Players can now access, the Dark Mountains, Human Kingdom, Northern and Western section of the Elven Forest.】

【Update log V3: Added more hidden Questlines】

【 New Hidden Quests now available in Elven Kingdom. Exploring the new locations may trigger hidden questlines.】

Equipment binding?

Gù Qíng blinked in surprise.

It’s not permanent and it actually requires maintenance of contribution points?

Isn’t this a bit too much?

“At least we can now bind our equipment to ourselves personally, its just that I’m not sure if the upkeep is expensive and worth the cost…”

“However, the new locations were expected.”

Thinking of this, HootyBird finally logged into the game…

【Logging in…】

【Username : HootyBird】

【Welcome back to Elven Kingdom O’ Chosen One!】

Along with the familiar chime of the system that signifies her being connected into the game’s server, the scene before Gù Qíng also suddenly changed.

No, she was now HootyBird.

A strong sense of weightlessness swept over her entire body, and HootyBird felt a momentary pang of dizziness.

It lasted for a moment, and when she regained control of her body, she found herself in the bedroom of her private villa situated within the Chosen City.

HootyBird slowly opened her eyes and got up from the bed.

However, as soon as she stood up, she couldn’t help but to instinctively sneeze.

“Ah-choo! Ugh… it’s so cold.”

She sniffed and shivered slightly, realizing that she had not properly closed the window in her bedroom the last time she logged out.

While tweaking the temperature perception settings within her system interface, HootyBird casually strolled towards the window, poised to shut it tight.

However, she immediately froze in mid-stride as she drew nearer to the window and finally noticed the view from the outside.

She had only been gone for just one night.

Yet, in that brief span of time, the entirety of the Chosen City had already been blanketed in a pristine white layer of snow.

High above the skies, luminous snowflakes gently made their descent, fluttering about with grace along with the wind, as they accumulate on the ground and conjure a splendid panorama of a winter wonderland.

Meanwhile, down on the streets, a group of players who had also logged in at the same time as her frolicked in the snow, shouting and playing like some rambunctious children…

From the looks of it, the last autumn leaves have already fallen, heralding the change of seasons within the Elven Forest as the first snow graces the lands, signifying that—

Winter has finally arrived.

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