Chapter 129: I want to tell you thank you

“Make way for the Queen! Bow your heads!”

Koharu returned to the village triumphantly. I had to slow the tiger down occasionally to keep pace with the gorilla.

“Do you like it that much, Koharu?”

“Gal!”

Koharu straightened her back, placed her hand on the gorilla’s head, and shouted.

“From now on, the gorilla and I are one. Call me not Koharu, but Gorilla-nim!”

“That’s a bit…”

I muttered softly, but couldn’t hide my chuckle.

The gorilla, in tune with Koharu’s antics, lumbered around the square.

– The gorilla’s walk is hilarious lol
– What would she have done without Leah’s help lol
– Didn’t Leah do everything…
– She tried to act tough and catch it together, but got schooled by a gorilla punch lol

Just then, Sera’s character appeared in the square.

“Leah, can I talk to you for a moment?”

Having been arrested before, I instinctively tightened my grip on the tiger’s scruff.

“What is it? I’m as innocent as the morning dew of the Elven forest…”

“…The forest you grew up in, right? I’m not here for that today. I have something serious to tell you.”

“What is it? Can I listen too?”

Koharu, who was next to me, expressed her curiosity.

“Yes. It’s not that serious. It’s about what the two of you are riding.”

Sera looked back and forth between us and slowly began speaking.

“Originally, capturing wild animals was planned for after the Stage 2 unlock. It was content designed with weapon upgrades and party hunting in mind. So, before that, even if they were discovered… like the 6-person party today, we didn’t think they could be caught.”

I tilted my head and asked.

“Then couldn’t you have just prevented them from appearing?”

“We never intended to prevent them from appearing. We intentionally designed them to be visible. Wild animals were a device to imprint the idea of ‘something you can’t catch now, but will challenge someday.’ It was also structured so that desire would explode when weapon upgrades were unlocked later.”

I silently looked into Sera’s eyes.

“But you, Leah, succeeded solo. With a basic bow, much faster than expected.”

– Ah, they should have expected it lol
– Yeah, the 3,000 contribution points was a bit strange
– That was originally meant to be shared too? lol
– I saw the 6-person party; it was like a completely different mob… its force was beyond even the Dark Dragon

Sera continued cautiously.

“Thanks to you, the mount content was revealed early, and some of the contribution point system was activated prematurely. As a result, the overall timing for the Stage 2 unlock has been moved forward.”

Sera’s tone was calm, but it contained the concerns of a responsible administrator.

“So, discussions were held regarding this matter, including whether to take retrieval measures.”

At those words, Koharu grabbed the gorilla’s ear and jumped up.

“Wait a minute!!”

Her voice was almost a shriek.

“You can’t take my gorilla! I’ve already… I’ve…!”

Koharu placed her hand on her chest and shouted.

“I’ve become one with the gorilla! I’m not Koharu anymore! I’m Ko! Ril! La! Even if it’s you, Sera-nim, if you take my gorilla, I will fiercely resist along with Leah!”

“No. I never agreed to that…”

– Failing gacha really messes with people
– It’d be a bit pitiful if she lost the gorilla after all that
– But retrieving it is too much, isn’t it?
– It’s just that Leah’s physical abilities are overwhelming
– This is a design flaw… if they retrieve it, Leah is taking the fall for their mistake
– Retrieval would be a real d*ck move from the admins

Sera paused at Koharu’s outburst. But soon, she calmly continued.

“Yes. I knew this kind of reaction would come. It was only briefly discussed internally. To put it simply, the mounts will not be retrieved.”

“Phew, thank goodness.”

Koharu patted her chest in relief.

Sera turned to me and said,

“However, there will be a few other measures.”

To summarize Sera’s words:

The contribution points earned from the early capture of the tiger and gorilla would not be retrieved. However, until the Stage 2 unlock, capturing wild animals would no longer reward contribution points.

Instead, it would be changed to awarding a special title with certain stats and effects.

Finally, they would slightly adjust the capture difficulty at the Stage 2 unlock and add more content.

“I wonder if this caused you extra work…”

I asked cautiously.

“Extra work? Well… it’s good that the content is dynamic. However, our ‘sleep time’ has also become dynamic, yes.”

– The tears of office workers ㅜ
– Overtime incoming lol
– The admins are reasonable, but… I feel bad for them
– Our Leah is sorry… (Actually, not sorry)
– From now on, consider Leah as a human when designing content! Demon of physical abilities! Beast! Design it like that!
– Beast Leah lol

I continued with the Week 2 Voxel Craft server after that.

To the seniors and colleagues who I had promised rare pets, I gave mounts instead.

I gave Sara a gray bear, Senior Ayame a wild bull, and Senior Ena a black panther.

With half of the server participants riding decent mounts, the rest were in an uproar.

Because they had to ride the standard horses, mules, and pigs available in Voxel Craft.

I even heard complaints from Senior Miya and Karen about why I hadn’t raided their houses.

After paying off my debts, I declared that I wouldn’t capture any more wild animals until the Stage 2 unlock.

I had also obtained the title <Wild Soul>, and it was out of consideration for Sera regarding the rapid consumption of content.

Of course, even capturing five animals must have changed her plans a little.

But after the Stage 2 unlock, I was accepting party invitations and specific animal requests.

Since I received house materials as down payments, I no longer had to worry about running out.

So, the construction of my residence, the ‘Sky Garden,’ was progressing smoothly.

Almost everyone had completed their houses. Only Senior Ayame, who was building a giant palace, and I hadn’t finished.

Still, I wanted to put in the effort and build it properly. Not just a place to stay, but a symbolic location for elves.

So, I was focusing on construction today, when.

– Wow, crazy
– Barex interview mention lol
– Leah, go watch the Origin Rift League interview
– I’m a Titan fan, thanks for beating Chrono!
– I just watched the interview~ Is she the Spirit Ranger master, Esmi Leah?
– Pros are taking notes lol
– You’re that good at Origin Rift? Let’s see your skills lol
– Seriously, forget Voxel Craft lol

As Barex’s face appeared on the central screen, the cheers filling the stadium reached a crescendo. The Player of the Match. And the man who decided the flow of the first set.

He stepped onto the stage with his characteristic bright smile and faced the announcer.

“Titan Strike secured a clean 2:0 victory against the strong team, Chrono Esports, maintaining their 1st place position in the league. At the center of it all, as always, was the Player of the Match for today’s game, Barex. Hello!”

“Hello. This is Barex.”

“In the early game of the first set, we saw an unexpected choice. The scene where you solo hunted the elite mob ‘Rift Devourer’ as a Spirit Ranger.”

As the prepared highlight played on the big screen, gasps of admiration erupted from the audience again.

The scene of him eliminating the elite mob without losing a single drop of HP. Even a few frames off, and survival wouldn’t have been guaranteed.

“We’d love to hear your explanation of that scene.”

Barex, holding the microphone, wore a slightly embarrassed expression.

“It was a risky choice. But I practiced enough, and I thought it was worth trying.”

“What if you had failed?”

“I thought I could make up for it from the second set. I also had faith that our team was capable of that.”

The announcer nodded with a smile.

“Wow, that’s the weight of a veteran. The boldness to take risks, and the trust that the team will have your back even if you fail – That’s what makes Titan Strike, Titan Strike.”

The announcer continued with another question.

“Since it was such a rare strategy, many people are curious how you came up with that idea.”

Barex paused for a moment, then turned his gaze towards the audience.

There were thousands of fans there, and though not here, somewhere… there would be another person who would receive this news.

“Actually, one day, I saw a video.”

His tone was casual, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.

“There’s this… Vtuber called Esmi Leah. I saw her soloing elite mobs, in even more unfavorable situations than mine, very cleanly.”

A light laughter briefly erupted from beyond the microphone. It meant that more people than expected knew the name.

“At first, I thought there must be some technical trick. But the more I watched, the more I thought… ah, this is just pure skill. Seeing her effortlessly repeat routes that only true experts can pull off, honestly, I couldn’t help but be impressed.”

Finishing his words, he smiled again.

“Thanks to you, I practiced hard. I’d like to thank you.”