63 – Elf Forest

Elf.

A race that existed in creative works even before the gates were connected, said to live in harmony with nature and possess extraordinary beauty.

Their defining feature is their pointed ears.

‘That feature remains the same.’

The characteristics mentioned above are all present.

Having heard that, Ha-yeon couldn’t help but be excited.

After all, a being from a creative work actually existed, and the descriptions were exactly the same!

In any case, she was standing in front of the elf gate in the heart of the Amazon.

After a grueling 14-hour journey, the threats of the Amazon had long been overcome with modern technology, and now all that remained was to enter.

“I wonder when I’ll be able to get out once I go in… I hope I can finish this as quickly as possible.”

As she said that and entered the gate, a System window appeared.

[You have entered the S+ rank Dungeon ‘Spirits of the Great Forest’.]

The elf forest she saw for the first time was truly filled with green and brown.

The ground was covered with soil and grass, and the sides were lush with trees and leaves.

At the same time, it wasn’t humid, hot, or cold like the Amazon, but just the right environment, making it a great place to live.

It felt like even incurable diseases could be cured if you lived here for a while.

“The elf village is straight ahead, right?”

The elves’ village, or rather, city, is a bit further away from here.

So, she sighed and walked straight for five minutes.

“Come to think of it, Kaede said she was in the elf forest too, right?”

She hadn’t heard from Kaede for three months.

She went to the elf forest for a mission but liked it so much that she stayed there on vacation.

Honestly, it felt a bit forced.

Was Kaede even the type to like this kind of thing in the first place?

Anyway, as she walked while thinking about this and that, the entrance to the village appeared before long.

Behind a huge gate made of wood was a single tree.

“Is that the World Tree…?”

A giant tree that even pierced the clouds.

As expected of the Divine Beast worshiped by the elves, it boasted tremendous majesty.

As she was admiring the massive World Tree, a System window popped up.

[The Constellation, ‘Turquoise Leader’ expresses surprise at the unexpected visitor.]

A message from a Constellation.

And a message from a Constellation she had never heard of before.

“Who… are you?”

As she asked that, another System window appeared this time.

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ chuckles, asking when they were discovered.]

Someone even the Constellation knew.

…Actually, maybe the Constellation knows all the other Constellations.

[The Constellation, ‘Turquoise Leader’ boasts that nothing can escape their detection within their Sacred Domain.]

Sacred Domain?

Wait a minute.

“Are you perhaps the World Tree…?”

[The Constellation, ‘Turquoise Leader’ indicates agreement.]

[The Constellation, ‘Turquoise Leader’ introduces the item, ‘World Tree (?)’ as their incarnation.]

Wait, the World Tree was an item too?

Of course, a Constellation can’t keep incarnating on the ground like this, so maybe that’s why…

[The Constellation, ‘Turquoise Leader’ asks you to come to their incarnation.]

“The World Tree? Well, I don’t mind.”

Now that she knew the Divine Beast was here, there was no need to rush.

There was no reason to refuse.

Anyway, the World Tree’s message stopped appearing after Ha-yeon’s reply, and the Constellation’s message appeared briefly.

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ advises that the World Tree can be trusted.]

“If the Constellation says so, then I guess so?”

With those words, Ha-yeon passed through the village gate.

What she saw was giant trees growing around and houses built on top of them.

On the ground, magic was engraved, and fields with green effects occasionally emanated.

And a wide prairie.

-Groooar! Gro!

“Rain, how many times do I have to tell you, humans can’t understand that.”

Finally, there were the Forest Guardian made of wood and an elf.

They approached Ha-yeon first.

“Hello.”

As she greeted them, the blonde elf in front of her greeted her in return.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Quite tall, with a moderately voluptuous and slender figure.

Covering it was revealing green clothing.

“Is this your first time in Seidia?”

“Seidia…?”

“Ah, I mean this village.”

She felt like she had become an idiot for a moment, but she tried to ignore it and continued speaking.

“Yes, it’s my first time.”

“Then we would appreciate it if you could fill out this information form!”

With those words, the elf handed over a sheet of A4 paper and a pen.

“Wow… you even have things like this here?”

“Of course, we’ve been steadily interacting with the human world, so we’ve been able to create things like this.”

I’m sure we’ve gained something from them as well.

Thinking that, she filled in the blanks on the information form one by one.

‘Name is Baek Ha-yeon, age is 27, and rank is S.’

Her epithet is Sword Demon, and her ranking is 17th.

She wrote down that and other things, as well as the general purpose of her visit, and handed it over to the elf.

“Here.”

The elf, who had been reading the form Ha-yeon gave her for a moment, put the paper in her pocket and said.

“Confirmation complete. Welcome to Seidia!”

Whether there was no problem or whether it was thanks to this ring, she entered the village without any trouble.

“There aren’t many elves around?”

She expected there to be many elves when she entered the village, but she didn’t see many except for a few walking around the streets.

“Everyone is out on an expedition right now.”

“An expedition?”

“Some monsters with magical energy have been appearing frequently nearby, so the opinion came out that it would be better to just subjugate them all at once rather than suffer damage little by little.”

It seems pretty busy here too.

Thinking that, Ha-yeon had a question.

“Do you happen to know someone named Kaede?”

She thought Kaede would know since she had been here for quite a while.

And she was right.

“Ah, the person who came a few months ago? She’s probably at the Endia Inn.”

“Thank you.”

She didn’t know where the Endia Inn was, but she could just ask.

Thinking that she should meet up with her later when she had time, Ha-yeon asked her next question.

“Then how do I get to the World Tree?”

It was because of the World Tree’s words.

She cautiously asked if she shouldn’t approach the World Tree carelessly, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.

“I’ll guide you, are you going right now?”

“Yes, I would appreciate it if you could.”

After that, they didn’t exchange many words.

Just that this elf’s name was Euphoria?

But when they were almost close to the World Tree, Euphoria said something truly unexpected.

“Come to think of it, Baek Ha-yeon…? Was it? Are you Korean?”

“Yes, I’m a Hunter affiliated with the Republic of Korea Association.”

“A Korean S-rank Hunter came a few days ago. They might not have left yet.”

A Korean S-rank Hunter?

There aren’t many, so I’d know if I heard their name. Who is it?

“Do you know their name?”

“Ah, no, I don’t know that much, it’s an elf in charge of a different area.”

Well, then.

It’s a shame, but I’m not that curious.

Anyway, after walking a little further like that, they arrived in front of the World Tree before she knew it.

[The Constellation, ‘Turquoise Leader’ is pleased with the new guest.]

[The Constellation, ‘Turquoise Leader’ tells you to quickly ascend to ‘Keter’.]

Euphoria had briefly told her on the way that the World Tree was divided into layers like the Tree of Sephirot.

Keter, the highest layer, was said to be the only place where one could meet the World Tree.

“Can I go up to Keter?”

As she said that, Euphoria’s expression became a bit serious this time.

I guess this is a bit difficult.

“That would be a bit difficult… World Tree-nim!?”

It seems the World Tree is directly intervening.

That’s right, if it’s difficult, the person who told me to come should help.

Honestly, if they had stopped me from going up here, I was just going to go back.

“I have received permission from the World Tree-nim! Then please enter here.”

Soon after, Euphoria opened the path to Keter, the highest layer.

Like the various passages in the Tree of Sephirot, it was quite difficult to reach Keter, the highest layer, by twisting and turning, but thanks to the guide, they arrived quickly.

Anyway, if the leaves hadn’t lifted her up and sent her up quickly in the middle, she would have spent the whole day climbing the tree.

How big is the World Tree?

It pierces the clouds, and frankly speaking, even the tallest tower in the world wouldn’t be able to compare to this World Tree.

It’s that enormously huge.

“Is this it?”

There was no one in the highest layer.

But there was only one room with one connected passage, so it wasn’t that difficult to find the way.

“I guess that’s it.”

[The Constellation, ‘Moon-Cleaving Flash’ says that’s the center of Keter.]

The hallway alone was incredibly long, so she walked for a bit.

And she arrived at a door decorated with trees and grass and filled with mana.

She opened the door without hesitation.

And what she saw was.

“Why are you so late? If I hadn’t moved the leaves for you, it would have taken you ages!”

Green hair and pointed ears like an elf.

A small physique and a childlike appearance.

Nevertheless, the World Tree, Turquoise Leader, was still beautiful.

This isn’t the problem.

The fact that the World Tree, who I thought would be quite old, looks like a child is a problem, but it’s not the reason I’m surprised.

The problem is that there’s one more person here.

“Are you the Sword Demon? Your name is… Baek Ha-yeon, right? Since you live in Korea, I think we’ll be seeing each other quite a bit in the future, so please take care of me?”

Short silver hair.

Eyes like Aquamarine and casually worn clothes and a black coat.

White skin and an appearance that has something decadent yet playful about it.

The number one in our country.

The world’s ‘6th’ World Master.

Lee Yuha of Akrot was here.