Game of the World Tree

Dusk was soon falling.

In the forest of elves, ancient trees of various shapes were towering into the clouds, their branches crisscrossed, and their flourishing leaves covered the sky and the sun.

A golden sunset shone over the trees through their leaves like twinkling stars in elusive stillness.

Cadences of singing slowly sounded as a few tough vines suddenly emerged from the soil and came flying from all directions, and twined round a tall and straight ancient tree.

Li Mu put down his staff, gently breathed a sigh of relief, and said to the people behind him, "I have fixed it!"

"Nice! The skill Twining Vines is very useful!"

"Hey, now we don't need to worry that the falling tree will accidentally kill people!"

"Poof… Demacia, you were purely unlucky to stand in the wrong place. What else can explain the fact that you were struck every time?"

"Get out!"

Several elves dressed in linen clamored, rushed to the ancient tree, and started chopping at the base with their wooden knives…

"I find it really strange… Clearly, the goddess is a World Tree. But our task is to cut trees…"

"It must be that the goddess is not in a good condition. As you can see, the World Tree is withered."

"There is no lack of wood in this forest. The goddess shouldn't be worried about it?"

"You are a hard-core deist…"

"It's just a game. Don't take it too seriously."

"Uh… If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten that this was a game…"

The players chatted while working.

They were Li Mu's teammates.

After finishing the first task, Li Mu teamed up with several players in order to do routine work more efficiently.

With bouts of shouting "one, two, three" and the sound of chopping, the ancient tree that was dozens of meters tall shook slightly, and then more and more intensely…

"Push it together! Quick! One! Two! Three…!"

"Broken! It's broken!"

With cheers, the huge ancient tree shook slightly before finally falling down and startling a group of flying birds…

Several elves rushed to it again and took out their wooden knives to chop it. With brilliant sword skills, they segmented the ancient tree like serious lumberjacks.

"This tree is enough for us to hand in?"

They talked while wiping sweat.

"It's enough. This tree is very big. I suppose that we cannot move all the segments in one trip."

Li Mu said while carrying the segmented ancient wood with the others.

This was already his sixth task. After teaming up with several other players, his efficiency had improved greatly.

Without noticing it, Li Mu had already been playing in the game for a whole day.

To be precise, it was a day of cutting down trees.

Glancing at his character card, he curled his lips and said, "After finishing this task, I should be able to upgrade to the rank five."

"Damn! Big boss!"

"You are a determined player! This is just one day? It is only three or four hours on the blue planet and you are going to reach the rank five?"

"This is Brother Mu!"

Several players instantly looked towards him in admiration.

Li Mu grinned, managed a smile on his handsome face, and explained, "I'm lucky. I found a sun fir of light affinity after receiving my first task. Alice directly gave me 300 points of experience."

"What a lucky player!"

"Is it the golden one at the gate of the camp?"

People around him were green with envy.

"That's terrific! Why am I so unlucky? Previously, the task I received every time was to clean the temple, which offered few points of experience value. I finally received a task to collect wood, but was killed several times by the falling trees. My experience points were all gone."

The elf with the word "Demacia" on his head complained.

"Ha ha ha ha, perhaps you are an unlucky player! Ha ha ha ha!"

"In a sense, you count as a talented person to be killed by the falling trees every time."

"You took off your clothes at the beginning and you took the initiative to flirt with Alice. I think you alone are remarkable on the whole server of this game."

"Demacia, what is Alice's impression of you?"

Demacia glanced at the system bar. His two sharp ears drooped. He touched his exploding hair and said weakly, "Minus… Minus 100…"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"You really want me to laugh to death. Ha ha ha ha!"

"It's no wonder that you get a rubbish task every time. Ha ha ha ha…"

"No, I think the only reason is the fact that he has a black face…"

Laughing, the freely formed logging team of several players carried the wood and returned to the camp under the World Tree.

There was originally a low shrub in the campsite. But at this moment, it had already been cleared out by the players.

Dozens of players in groups of three or two were building houses with timber from cut trees and collected stones.

Although a dozen wooden houses of different styles were simple, their shapes had already emerged. The players who were faster had even finished a two-story wooden house.

Looking at the decent buildings, Demacia could not help but sigh.

"They are talented people! They have built houses in such a short time!"

"Because they have skills! It's true that sometimes magic and sword skills are really useful. And the higher their rankings, the greater their strength and the more they can do…" some people explained.

"Of course, design is also crucial."

Saying so, he pointed to the center of the construction site. A tall female elf with pink hair wearing a magic robe stood there, holding a drawing made of an unknown material. She was gesticulating with several other players. The green words "Cuckoo Bird" were on her head.

"Do you see? The little sister over there called "Cuckoo Bird" is really a big boss. It is said that in reality, she studies civil engineering at Jinghua University. She has designed several houses here. It seems that she will soon upgrade to the rank 5 through the construction task."

Li Mu looked at her in surprise and secretly remembered the words "Cuckoo Bird." Other players were in an uproar.

"Gosh! It's less than a day!"

"Yes, I heard that she also planned to design an elf town with several other players who study city planning and gardening… And she has already obtained the permission of the goddess oracle."

"Damn, she is a talented person!"

"The realistic version of knowledge changing fate…"

"Is it too real?"

"I can see now that the real purpose of the tasks should be to let us build towns?"

"Poof, it's really a revival of the elf race! The novice village will be built by us pre-OBT players."

"Are the officials so lazy?"

"This is called a sense of participation!"

In fact, I think tree holes are more suitable for elves… And I always find it unnatural to cut trees."

"Perhaps there is a deeper meaning?"

"…"

Eve meant nothing deeper. He just wanted to save power and absorb a little vitality. After all, His survival mattered now. Everything else could be postponed.

Besides, He was not a god of faith, but an ancient god who directly controlled natural force. He did not need to strictly abide by the rules of the divine mission.

To build a novice village…

Li Mu was thoughtful as he listened to the players' discussion.

Carrying the wood, he came to the center of the camp with his teammates.

A bonfire had already been made in the center of the camp. Several elf players were talking and laughing around the fire, nibbling fruit picked from an unknown location.

Alice, the saint of nature, stood aside, busily handing out and clearing tasks with the players.

In order to move conveniently, she turned her long blonde hair into a high ponytail. She looked focused. Her fair face was tainted with several stains, her beads of sweat were crystal-clear with the glow of the fire, and she looked very lovely.

The team came to the maiden to clear the task.

Alice's eyes brightened slightly after she raised her head and saw these people, especially Li Mu among them.

"Have you completed your task?"

She was deeply impressed by this male elf. Although this chosen one looked thin and weak, he had always been hard-working, and he found a good sun fir.

In addition, he was very polite, distinctly different from some rude guys…

Alice's smile faded as she saw someone with red exploding hair in the team. She snorted softly, while Demacia shuddered and awkwardly hid behind Li Mu.

It seemed that the maiden remembered him clearly, for he had run naked and flirted with her.

Li Mu coughed and said respectfully, "Miss Alice, we are coming to hand in our task."

Alice's eyes brightened as she turned her gaze away from him and saw the wood they were carrying.

"Superior pine!"

She nodded to these people and said, "Put it in the timber area. You guys have completed the task."

Right after she finished her words, these people heard a reminder sound from the system at the same time and instantly cheered.

Li Mu was delighted to see the 150 experience points he had just obtained.

He could upgrade!

Li Mu thanked Alice and left the task spot with the other people.

Along the way, the teammates were chatting.

"Brother Mu, you are remarkable! Why do I feel that Alice has such a good attitude towards you!"

"Brother Mu, what is Alice's impression of you on earth?!"

Li Mu hesitated for a while and said, "Not many. It's just 20 points."

Upon hearing this, these players instantly blew up.

"Damn! It's already very high! Mine is only two points!"

"What's the big deal of two points? Mine is negative. And I have worked hard for it for a long time."

"Don't mention it. Ours are also negative. We have done many tasks. Normally, her impression of us should improve. But Alice never smiles at us…"

"I heard that many female players have positive points."

"The impression system is too difficult…"

"Don't complain that you guys are miserable. I did not say a word with minus 100…"

"You deserve it. Who let you touch her hair at will?"

"Brother Mu, how did you obtain the saint's little sister's good impression? Why did I only gain one impression point after finishing a task?!"

Li Mu did not answer them immediately. He walked slowly to a stake, patted his bottom, and sat down.

It had already gotten completely dark. The clear night sky was extremely deep, and the stars in the sky formed a magnificent galaxy, brilliant and mysterious…

The bonfire was blazing, crackling, and flashing.

Many players who had done construction work and collected wood had already stopped. They surrounded the flame, ate fruit that was picked from the forest, talked, and laughed.

There were also players in groups of two or three holding parties around the bonfire. They were singing and dancing. Someone even made a bagpipe with an unknown material and played music to accompany them.

The whole campsite was enjoying a cheerful and lively atmosphere, bustling and extremely joyous like a festival.

Watching all this, Li Mu almost fell into a trance.

He took a purple-green berry he had just picked on the road and put it into his mouth.

He bit it lightly. Milky white juice burst out with a slight acid taste along with the sweet fragrance.

The night breeze blew in the forest and the bonfire cast long shadows. The players laughed incessantly like they were in a dream… Everything seemed clean and pure, far away from the secular world.

He sat quietly on the stake and gazed at everything in front of him in a daze.

This feeling was incredibly wonderful. Unlike any previous virtual online game, this game made Li Mu feel as though he was not playing a game, but participating in an interesting large-scale outdoor camping activity in reality.

A group of people, who did not know each other, escaped far away from the chaotic secular world and the frustrations of everyday reality to come here together, to work together, and to rejoice together…

All of this was like an unreal dream.

And this dream was so illusionary, yet beautiful…

Taking a deep breath, Li Mu felt himself becoming unprecedentedly peaceful. He forgot about all of his troubles.

After being silent for a moment, he opened his mouth to explain, "It should be a sense of substitution."

"Don't you think that although this is a game, it is also a world?"