Elf Kingdom: Game of the World Tree

"They succeeded!"

Seeing the figures of the five players, Boxed Lunch, disappear into the space rift and sensing their vibrant life force, Eve felt a surge of joy in her heart.

She left her avatar in the Cenolan temple, while her main consciousness returned to her Divine Country, connecting to the game system network.

Finding the blue star symbolizing Boxed Lunch, Eve directed her attention toward it.

The scene shifted, and she saw the perspective of Boxed Lunch.

What unfolded before her eyes was an endless expanse of water."

"Water?"

Eve was slightly taken aback.

She watched as Boxed Lunch's view struggled and thrashed about, soon emerging from the water's surface.

The view was of a shimmering lake.

In an instant, Eve understood what had happened.

The five players had indeed successfully entered the mysterious half-plane.

It was just that their luck had been poor; the portal opened mid-air above a lake, causing them all to plummet into it.

Boxed Lunch seemed to be quite a good swimmer; Eve watched as his view quickly stabilized, bobbing up and down in the water and swimming toward the shore.

Meanwhile, she also heard the grumbling voices of the others from Boxed Lunch's perspective:

"What the heck? Is this space portal rigged? Opening right in the lake?"

"That really scared me, but luckily I can swim."

"Wait... where's the Optimist?"

"Oh no! That guy was wearing heavy armor, did he sink to the bottom?"

"Hahaha! This is hilarious, he picked the heaviest armor from the shop just a few days ago. Is he going to be the first player to drown?"

Hu Lu, Chopin, and I am Invincible laughed uproariously, splashing about in the water, showing their true nature as mischievous friends.

However, soon, a panicked voice came through their team chat channel from the Optimist:

"Nock knock! (Save me!) Blub blub..."

Apparently, he'd swallowed a bellyful of water, and his voice sounded odd coming from underwater.

"Hahaha!"

The three jokers laughed without mercy.

"Chopin, save him,"

Eve heard Boxed Lunch's slightly hoarse voice through his perspective.

"On it!"

The Mage player Chopin could be heard chanting a rhythmic incantation, casting the third-circle magic spell "Feather Transformation Technique," applying it to the tank warrior, the Optimist, who was sinking to the lake bottom.

The Feather Transformation Technique could turn the target's gravity as light as a feather.

With the gravity on the Optimist's body lightened, he finally managed to free himself, quickly floating to the lake's surface.

He could be seen spitting water, swimming toward the shore with the help of his teammates, while still unable to resist saying,

"Wow! I really thought I was going to die! Thanks, Old Chop, I'll treat you to some barbecue later."

"No need to be polite, we're all teammates. Hmm, I'll take roasted whole lamb."

"...You sure know how to make demands!"

"Hahaha!"

The players laughed heartily as they swam together toward the shore.

Luckily, the spot where they fell wasn't in the middle of the lake, and in less than three minutes, they reached the shore.

Once ashore, they collapsed onto the ground like dead dogs, shared a glance at each other's soaked expressions, and couldn't help but burst into laughter again before finally inspecting the half-plane world around them.

They were situated on the shore of a small lake.

Surrounding them was a lush forest, its density not a bit inferior to the Elf Forest.

However, compared to the towering ancient trees of the Elf Forest, the trees here seemed far younger.

On the forest floor lay a thick layer of dead wood and fallen leaves, forming a rich humus layer.

"By the way, when I was underwater just now, I seemed to hear someone calling out from the shore, did any of you hear it?"

The players looked around and conversed while taking in their surroundings.

"I didn't notice, I only heard the 'what the heck' when you fell into the water; maybe you heard wrong?"

"Hmm... maybe."

"But it seems quite safe around here, I don't sense any powerful presences."

"Isn't that obvious? The boss lady already said this half-plane's energy level is at most Silver Upper, so we're probably the big shots here, right?"

Boss... boss lady?

In the Divine Country, watching them, Eve couldn't help but twitch her lips.

The players' conversation continued:

"I didn't expect this place to be a forest... I thought it would be a maze or some special kind of space."

"Yeah, same here, if not for the sky, I'd think I was still in the Elf Forest."

The players chatted as they looked around.

And Eve saw Boxed Lunch's view look up to the sky.

Unlike the Segis World sky, which was very similar to Blue Star, this half-plane's sky was all a misty white.

Furthermore, black cracks, like electric snakes, could be seen constantly moving across the sky.

"The sky... it looks like shattered glass, a bit scary."

Hu Lu clicked his tongue in wonder.

However, Eve recognized what it was.

*"It's a space rift... It seems this half-plane is indeed very unstable, probably due to my past two attempts to forcefully enter..."*

She mused.

The players first familiarized themselves with the environment and then wrung the water out of their clothes.

Meanwhile, they continued to chat intermittently, sharing any discoveries they made.

"The magic power level in this half-plane seems extremely low, when I used Feather Transformation Technique just now, I almost entirely relied on my own magic, without much resonance with the magic power in the air, and... I feel like my magic recovery speed is really slow."

Said Chopin, the mage player.

"I have a similar feeling... Also, even though the scenery here is comparable to the Elf Forest, I feel an indescribable sense of irritation since coming here, a mirage of power draining that makes me feel stifled... But my personal panel doesn't show any change."

Druid player Hu Lu frowned and touched his nose as he spoke.

After speaking, he looked at the others:

"What about you guys?"

The other players closed their eyes to sense the area and shook their heads:

"No, I didn't have that feeling."

"Me neither, but... there is indeed an inexplicable sense of oppression, even though we're surrounded by forest, there's a sense of a gloomy and lifeless atmosphere..."

"Could it be related to our target? Is it the influence of the Life Scepter fragment? After all, it's a Divine Artifact, it would be normal for it to have some peculiar effects, right?"

"It's possible..."

The players engaged in lively discussion.

However, without any conclusions from their musings, they quickly focused on their next course of action:

"Where do we go next? There doesn't seem to be any mission hints..."

"Should we explore the forest?"

"Then we need to choose a direction first, right?"

"Captain, do you have any ideas?"

As they spoke, the team members looked at Boxed Lunch.

After a moment of thought, Boxed Lunch said, "Let's ask Ling."

"Ask Ling?"

Hearing this, the others were initially puzzled, then their eyes lit up.

They slapped their thighs:

"That's right, when we came in, the big sis... cough, Lord Ling said she could communicate with us across worlds!"

"Quick, ask her! It's like having a built-in 'grandpa'!"

"We should call her big sis! Be careful, Lord Ling might hear and lower your affinity!"

"Ahem..."

After a few jokes, the players quickly called out to Eve:

"Lord Ling, are you there?"

"Lord Ling, did you see our view?"

"Lord Ling, where should we go next?"

Upon hearing their call, Eve, who was watching through Boxed Lunch's perspective, pondered for a moment, cleared her throat, and was about to give guidance.

However, just before she spoke, her heart suddenly stirred, and she stopped.

She saw the low shrubbery in the nearby forest suddenly rustle.

Accompanied by a clear female voice, a group of tall figures appeared in the players' view.

"Nicoya! In the lake up ahead! I saw several people fall into the water! Quick, go save them!"

And seeing the seven or eight figures emerging from the bushes, the players were all taken aback:

"Humans?"

At the same time, the opposing group expressed surprise, carrying a hint of doubt and astonishment:

"Div... Divine Race?!"

...