Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

"This... this is..."

"Holy shit! Ruins! There really are ruins!"

The players looked excited as they gazed at the spot where the Goblin had lingered.

In front of them spread a vast sea of flowers, stretching as far as the eye could see.

And amidst this floral expanse, dilapidated and ancient Elf buildings were scattered everywhere.

Undoubtedly, they had found a new Elf Ruin.

Although rundown, covered by wildflowers and vines, the ruins still faintly bore the glory of the past.

The stone carvings with exquisite patterns, the towering and majestic white stone structures, even when collapsed or weathered, still emitted a beautiful and enchanting aura.

Moreover, the ancient Elven architectural style, despite its ruinous state, added a depth and solemnity of time that made one feel an overwhelming sense of history.

This must have been an Elf City.

And judging by its scale, these ruins might rival the Holy City of Feilengcui and the Forging Capital Rivendell!

"A sea of flowers... a city... There's no doubt! This must be the Elf City mentioned in the documents found by Quetzal! What was it called again?"

Hu Lu exclaimed excitedly.

"It's called Cenolan,"

Chopin added.

"Exactly! Cenolan! It's one of the seven main cities of the Elf Kingdom!"

Prompted by his teammates, Hu Lu nodded enthusiastically.

"Awesome! There must be a lot of good stuff in there! Haha, if we can find a few epic-level or silver-ranked meditation techniques, we'll be rich!"

Optimist said excitedly.

The players' eyes sparkled with joy, caught in the throes of excitement.

They had been playing the game for a long time, becoming seasoned veterans.

Whenever players discovered Elf Ruins on a new map, they typically found some valuable items within.

Perhaps it was broken equipment, maybe some ancient books.

All these things could be offered to the Goddess to gain considerable contribution points.

Not to mention, if they were lucky enough to pick up a rare item, they would really hit the jackpot!

After all, the meditation technique Li Mu and Demacia found in Feilengcui was still providing endless benefits, envied by countless players.

"Hold steady, don't rush,"

Box Lunch reminded in a deep voice as he saw his teammates' excitement.

After hearing his words, the players quickly gathered themselves, falling silent.

This was a new map.

Even in excitement, they had to be cautious to avoid any dangers that might lead to disaster.

Not to mention, these types of ruins often housed many Goblins.

Though the current strength of the team made the experience points from Goblins insignificant, every little bit added up over time.

Seeing that his teammates had calmed down, Box Lunch made a gesture and whispered,

"Let's explore together, watch your surroundings."

They nodded at his words.

Gripping their weapons and with heightened awareness, they proceeded into the ruins...

The exploration by Box Lunch's team was unexpectedly peaceful.

As they ventured deeper, the imagined monsters and traps didn't appear.

The players were surprised to find the ruins were eerily quiet, seemingly devoid of any creatures.

Even the Goblins they had been chasing earlier seemed to have vanished.

"It's too quiet here, isn't it? What about the Goblins? For such a large ruin, there should be a Goblin nest, right?"

"Huh... if you look closely, there are still traces of Goblins living here, but strangely, we haven't encountered any."

"Hmm? What happened to the one we were chasing earlier?"

"Didn't notice, seems we lost it."

"..."

They continued exploring the ruins, whispering among themselves.

Before long, they put the monster concerns aside.

Because after entering the ruins, they discovered a large amount of damaged weapons and armor buried within.

It seemed a fierce battle had once occurred here, as just beneath the layer of soil under the floral expanse lay skeletons and various equipment.

Of course, the equipment mainly consisted of armor and swords.

There were some ruined robes and bows, but centuries had decayed these beyond recovery, leaving only metal armors and swords.

As for the skeletons, most were humanoid.

More precisely, they appeared to belong to the Elf Clan.

No other racial skeletons were found, which was somewhat curious.

However, the players no longer cared.

Joyfully, they picked up the equipment buried for centuries, stuffing them into their storage rings like scavengers.

The storage ring was shared by the team, pooled together to purchase from the exchange, with nearly thirty cubic meters of space to hold a lot of items.

However, unfortunately, besides the leftover war equipment, they didn't find the ancient books they had imagined...

There was a lot of equipment buried in the ruins, but the five players didn't just furiously dig and pick.

After scavenging for a while, they decided to survey the entire ruins first to avoid missing any more precious treasures.

Of course, this decision also stemmed from their experience that new maps usually came with potential new quests.

The team planned to explore and find any trigger points for quests.

None of them believed such large ruins wouldn't have a hidden quest.

They passed through collapsed ruins, picking up "treasures" along the way, until they finally stood before a solemn shrine.

Although half-collapsed, the shrine's architectural style matched that of Feilengcui, and the damaged roof displayed the symbol of the World Tree.

"It's a shrine! Let's check for valuable things inside!"

Bright-eyed, the players eagerly entered.

Yet, as they stepped inside, they suddenly froze.

Before the half-collapsed statue stood a figure familiar to every player.

In her black dress armor, with flowing silver hair, exquisite features, and a cool expression, she was the rare purple NPC from "Elf Kingdom," the only elf with Golden Rank power, endearingly called "Big Sis Zero" by the players.

Stunned, they instinctively hid or dropped the gear they had picked up and hadn't yet stashed in their storage rings...

Box Lunch was caught off guard, while the others burst into surprised exclamations:

"Holy shit! Isn't that Big Sis Zero?"

"Wasn't she supposed to be in the Chosen City? What is she doing here?"

"Hope she didn't see us digging for skeletons and stripping gear, or we'll lose favor again..."

"Shh... keep it down..."

"Wait... encountering a purple NPC on a new map, are we about to trigger a hidden storyline?!"

Though not loud, their voices resonated clearly in the otherwise quiet shrine.

The next moment, they saw a pair of eyes, scarlet with a hint of purple, glance their way.

The gaze was calm, curious, yet carried an air of authority and a pressure as if it could see through their souls.

Including Box Lunch, all five players involuntarily shuddered, feeling as if they had been seen through from the inside out... gulping reflexively.

Then, a clear, melodious voice with a hint of surprise rang out:

"Chosen Ones? What are you doing here?"