Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

At the root of the World Tree, Demon Maze.

A group of well-armed elves were cleaning the battlefield.

They had just fought a battle with a group of lesser demons, each with an average power of Black Iron Lower Rank.

"We've been wandering in this maze all day, where exactly is the Demon God Palace... At this rate, if we can't find the palace, we might as well go to the Underworld and grind wild monsters."

Picking up the Demon Armor left behind after killing a lesser demon, a female player dressed as a mage couldn't help but complain.

She was a player who had advanced to silver and chosen an elemental specialization, belonging to the Autobot Guild.

As one of the four major guilds, the Autobot Guild naturally sent out an exploration team.

The team consisted of twenty-five people, led by Transforming Ji Gang. Ten players were Silver Professionals, and the remaining fifteen were max-level Black Iron players at level 40.

This was already Autobot Guild's strongest force.

As a grand guild established by players from the third beta test, Autobots inherently had a disadvantage and relatively low strength.

Fortunately, Transforming Ji Gang was quite good at rallying players.

Except for him, the other nine silver players in the guild were actually veteran players from the first and second tests, whom the guild leader went out of his way to recruit into the organization.

"Yeah, yeah, and we've been wandering for so long and haven't encountered a single Great Demon. Didn't they say they love ambushing players? I saw several exploration teams get ambushed on the forums."

Another warrior player of silver strength said.

As a silver player, he was no longer satisfied with lesser demons and was eager to try killing a Great Demon.

Great Demons were of silver strength.

And monsters of silver strength certainly dropped richer rewards!

Hearing his words, the guild leader Transforming Ji Gang said uncertainly,

"Maybe it's because our guild's exploration team is relatively strong. I've asked around, and many of the teams that got ambushed don't even have silver players. The Great Demons in this maze are too cunning; they only pick on the weak."

Seeing their guild leader say that, the other silver players could only sigh helplessly.

That's right.

The Great Demons were indeed too sly.

They specifically targeted player teams that were not strong.

And the complex maze allowed them to set traps that frequently succeeded.

However, luckily in the maze, it was easy to teleport back to Chosen City; players only needed to silently recite the Goddess's revered name in their hearts.

Although many exploration teams were ambushed, few players actually died. Most managed to teleport away at the moment of crisis.

The players were quite satisfied with this.

Everyone thought this mechanism was fantastic, effectively reducing players' mortality rates.

Of course, they didn't know that a great being simply didn't want to waste Divine Power reviving players for nothing.

All the top players who came to the Demon Maze cost much more to revive than regular players.

*Saving a bit of Divine Power was better than nothing; after all, teleporting players from the root of the World Tree to the surface didn't take much effort.*

However, the extended exploration had finally worn down the team's enthusiasm to almost nothing.

Seeing the team's morale getting lower, Transforming Ji Gang quickly encouraged them,

"Don't rush; it's only the first day. After all, if this might drop a silver profession transfer slot, it's expected to be hard to find! Besides, it's not just us; no other exploration team has found the palace yet. We still have a chance to be the first!"

The first place was an honor and would be immortalized, recorded in the "Chronicles of the Elf Kingdom."

Having their ID commemorated was very appealing to players.

After all, the source of excitement was fame and fortune!

Just as Transforming Ji Gang was comforting everyone, suddenly he sensed a familiar fluctuation of magic power...

Other players sensed it too and looked towards the source of the magic power.

There, in the corner of the maze, lights shimmered, creating a resplendent vision, and an intricately designed, illusory treasure chest soon appeared.

This was... a Lucky Chest!

After defeating several lesser demons, they encountered a Lucky Chest again!

The players' eyes lit up, and the whole team's morale was rejuvenated:

"Haha, another chest!"

"I wonder what we'll get this time!"

"So, how are we doing it this time? Roll the dice to open?"

"Anyone who has opened before shouldn't participate. Those who haven't, roll the dice! Whatever comes out is what we keep!"

The items from the Lucky Chest weren't bound to the opener.

So every time they found a chest, they would roll the dice to see who was lucky.

Of course, the item belonged to whoever opened the chest.

So far, they had opened boxes twelve times in total, and the luckiest player had received epic purple Black Iron Upper shoes, while the unluckiest got only 50 gold pounds.

Of course, compared to even unluckier players on the forums, 50 gold pounds was not bad.

It's said that Dema from the Nature's Heart Guild opened two boxes in a row, both containing plain apprentice shoes, and he was already doubting life...

*That's pretty unlucky.*

And the player with the best luck reportedly even opened a legendary golden item.

But it was only one person, and it was a Black Iron Middle Rank support weapon.

Yet even so, it was enough to make people envy; it could be exchanged for tens of thousands of contribution points.

In short, the Lucky Chest was currently the most anticipated item in the Demon Maze.

The group was ecstatic and once again rolled the dice in the team's chat channel.

This time, Transforming Ji Gang had the highest roll.

The guild leader's expression gleamed with joy,

"Haha, finally my turn!"

He rubbed his hands vigorously, whispering in his heart,

"Eve Goddess bless me, let the chest burst with golden light!"

Golden light meant good loot.

On the forums, players had already identified the signs of the Lucky Chest opening.

If white light appeared, the contents would be the worst.

Next was blue light, which was most common; the contents were relatively ordinary, but still profitable.

Then there was the rarer purple light, often resulting in epic equipment.

And the best was the golden light.

*Players jokingly called it 'golden shock.'*

Transforming Ji Gang offered his prayers, then approached the illusory Lucky Chest.

He took a deep breath and reached out to the chest.

When his right hand touched the chest, it immediately radiated brilliant light.

But when they saw the color of the light, the players were all stunned.

"R-rainbow?"

Transforming Ji Gang was slightly dazed.

*Did a rainbow light really exist?*

The light came and went quickly.

The chest disappeared, and in Transforming Ji Gang's hand appeared a phantom key.

At the same time, information about the key also appeared in his view:

[Key of Demon Palace: This is a key to open the Demon God Palace. Holding the key and calling the Demon Palace allows summoning of the Demon God Palace.]

"Whoa!? A key to summon the Demon Palace?"

Transforming Ji Gang's eyes widened, filled with surprise.

*So...* the Demon Palace needed to be found this way?!

The other players were quickly drawn to the item he obtained.

"What's this?"

"The Key of Demon God?"

"What? You can summon the Demon Palace with this? No wonder we couldn't find it!"

"Quick, quick! Guild leader, summon it!"

The team members were all excited.

Transforming Ji Gang was equally exhilarated.

The Demon God Palace refreshed only once a day, and it seemed this time their guild would be the first to clear it!

Taking a deep breath, Transforming Ji Gang held the phantom key and began summoning the Demon Maze.

As he called, the Key of Demon Palace suddenly emitted black and red light and slowly vanished.

In the instant the key disappeared, a giant palace gate appeared before everyone.

At the same time, a new system announcement appeared in the players' view:

["Congratulations to player Transforming Ji Gang for finding the door to the Demon God Palace."]

"Hahaha! So this is how you enter the dungeon!"

"Quick, quick, guild leader, let's get in before the other players!"

The team of players was overjoyed.

Transforming Ji Gang felt the same.

Suppressing his excitement, he called the members of the exploration team,

"Let's go! We're entering the dungeon!"

The Autobot players all nodded and eagerly stepped through the giant palace gate.

Inside the gate, it was pitch black.

After they entered, the door behind them instantly disappeared.

Simultaneously, an angry roar echoed in everyone's ears,

"A bunch of lowly ants! How dare you trespass into my domain!"

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Publish first, revise later.