Chapter 159 – Blessing (1)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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USA.

An emergency was declared at the AAU West Branch.

Branch Director, Jim Joshua.

At midnight, even in the middle of the night, the lights in the Branch Director’s office did not turn off.

Our boss is not that kind of person…….

“Overtime? The great Jim Joshua?”

Not to mention on Thursdays when there are regular updates, even when emergency updates popped up, it was Jim Joshua who talked about work-life balance.

Furthermore, today is Friday.

If it were normal, he’s a gentleman who would be enjoying a fire Friday on his personal yacht, what wind blew to make him like that?

“Katrina, what do you think?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“No, I mean Jim. He’s not that kind of person.”

“The boss? Come to think of it, I wonder what’s going on.”

“Man, your reaction is discouragingly bland.”

Slurp slurp

The man racked his brain while sucking on a straw.

Surely, there must be a reason he’s doing that.

“He went on a business trip to Korea, right? Both of the two people, West and East.”

“Yeah, said it was a Branch Director-level meeting.”

“……But, isn’t that a bit strange?”

“What is?”

“No, if it’s a Branch Director-level meeting, they’ve been doing it perfectly fine through video all this time. But suddenly an overseas business trip? Across the Pacific to Korea of all places? I’m saying is there a reason to do that.”

If he had to point out a reason, there was one thing he could guess.

“……Could it be because of Lee Ho-yeol?”

In Korea, there’s Lee Ho-yeol.

Because there was Lee Ho-yeol who cleared the London dungeon rift.

But speaking frankly, it’s not like it’s the first or second time Lee Ho-yeol cleared this kind of rift. As if a business trip wasn’t enough, to the point of working overtime after returning. Meaning, is there a reason to make such a fuss.

“Did he perhaps, hear some bitter remarks at the meeting?”

“Who? Our boss? From whom?”

“No, from whoever. Since from the beginning, he’s no different from a person who came out to play during working hours, right? Just slacking off a bit and busy kissing the asses of the higher-ups…….”

Tadadadak

With gossip about the boss.

While the topic was about to naturally shift.

The man’s eyes changed.

Katrina, who he thought was just answering without soul.

“What’s that, what are you pounding away at this time?”

“Ah, this? It’s nothing much.”

“You always say it’s nothing much. Let me see, I can look right?”

Screech

When Katrina pulled her chair back, the monitor came into view at a glance.

To be precise, the photos that popped up on the monitor were seen.

The man asked back.

“……Wait a minute, isn’t this London?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Are you gathering pictures of Aquariu Oak Trees to use them somewhere?”

Before the Cataclysm, Arcana’s developer.

Thanks to the AAU, the name of the tree was known to the world, albeit late. Katrina, who was typing information regarding the oak trees as if pictures weren’t enough, shrugged her shoulders.

“No, I’m not really trying to use them anywhere.”

“You’re not even going to use them anywhere, but you’re summarizing them this meticulously? What is it, I’ll keep it a secret. Just tell me. What kind of hypothesis is it this time?”

“Hmm, alright. Sure.”

Click

The typed part being dragged.

The man tactfully read the letters.

“It has no notable characteristics other than requiring a lot of moisture……. Is having no characteristics a characteristic? To think you wrote down even such trivial information.”

“Because it is definitively different.”

“Different? What is?”

“It doesn’t match the testimonies of the London citizens.”

……Wait, come to think of it.

There was no need to deliberately turn on the internet to search through internet articles.

Because what had been heating up the mass media for the past few days were the news regarding London.

“Didn’t they say they felt something like warm vitality?”

“It wasn’t simply a feeling, it was a definite effect. That.”

“Right. Because they said a message popped up for the players.”

Thinking up to that point, he seemed to know why Katrina was collecting photos of trees and such.

The man lowered his voice and whispered.

“So this means it’s not an ordinary Aquariu Oak Tree?”

Katrina nodded her head.

‘It’s not something to say at this stage but.’

If it’s a tree related to vitality…….

At least in Katrina’s memory.

Only one such tree in the Arcana worldview came to mind.

The World Tree.

Of course, it didn’t mean that the hundreds and thousands of Aquariu Oak Trees that bloomed in London were the World Tree. Because only one characteristic called vitality overlapped.

However, there was one more point of contact.

‘Exactly Lee Ho-yeol.’

Because Ho-yeol had a past of sprouting the seed of the World Tree.

Katrina thought seriously.

Would it be correct to view this as a simple coincidence?

Above all, the Aquariu Oak Trees of London did not grow on their own. The spirit, Hiel. Because they bloomed through the ability of Lee Ho-yeol’s contracted spirit.

It would be too much of a stretch to just consider it a coincidence and move on.

Of course, it didn’t mean there was evidence that it was.

It’s not like they could ask Lee Ho-yeol directly to clear their minds either.

However, it was the same back then, but one fact is certain.

Now that the World Tree is involved.

‘That race’ will not stay put forever.

Katrina drove away the intruder.

“Now now, please step aside.”

“No, so is this all? What, is there no hypothesis?”

“There is nothing to tell you at the current point in time.”

“……What’s that, that annoying way of talking?”

If by chance, that race reveals their appearance in reality through a rift.

The aftermath would be hard to even dare imagine. Even when Arcana was merely a game, it possessed an impact capable of causing a stir in the world with just foreshadowing.

Katrina shrugged her shoulders again.

“Well, let’s keep chatting to our hearts’ content while we can now.”

“What’s with that meaningful line again?”

“Because I feel like a day will come soon where we won’t have time to rest even if we want to.”

“……Seriously making absurd remarks ahead of the weekend!”

*

Time should have been fair to everyone.

To the elves living eternal years, time was merely something that flowed. It was the same for the Demonic Eye (魔眼) that popped up in the night sky instead of stars.

Just the night view changing like seasons changing according to the flow of time.

“It is meaningless.”

Living years akin to eternity, the elves’ emotions dulled.

The demons that jumped out of the Demonic Realm.

The lives of the Arcana continent suffering from such demons.

From the elves’ perspective, that too was a daily life no different from usual.

Because from their aloof eye level, humans and demons weren’t largely different and were inferior. It’s the same for wars. There had never been an end to conflicts on the Arcana continent from the beginning.

“However, Mother seems to have a different will from ours.”

The elves’ hometown, Sisley.

Where their gazes headed, there was the World Tree.

The World Tree losing its vitality and collapsing.

It must be because you felt a crisis and scattered seeds all over the continent.

Truly, it was an incomprehensible matter.

“It is merely a passing matter.”

Even in front of the World Tree, their Mother, there was no humility in their eyes.

“You have become weak, Mother of all things.”

The intense aura of the wild remaining around the World Tree.

It was the aura of a dragon that enjoyed eternal years just like them. To sow seeds. Did you even extend your hands to the arrogant lizard bastards?

The corners of the elves’ mouths distorted.

“We understand Mother’s will. But we cannot follow that will.”

The elves declared in front of the World Tree.

“Are we not past the age to be swayed by your anxiety?”

That day, the elves rebelled against the will of the World Tree.

The crisis of the continent’s extermination?

What does it matter.

Whether an ant nest is smashed, or the king of ants changes.

It is a matter that has nothing to do with us in the slightest.

As stated, time was generous in front of us.

Looking back in the future, it would merely be a past event.

Where everything was meaningless.

It was so.

Emotions dulled from living a long time.

The only thing remaining is arrogance.

Pride or sublimity did not exist in elves.

However, the sight of a child going astray.

There was no way a Mother would just quietly watch.

Even if it’s a body collapsing after losing its vitality.

“?!”

They could immediately notice the change.

The generous time began to flow. Fatigue accumulated in the flesh that hadn’t lost its vitality, and mental strength that hadn’t even needed rest also started to creak.

The elves had an intuition.

“Damn it!”

That the World Tree had retracted the ‘Blessing’ from them.

How could a Mother abandon her children?

They purely could not understand.

“Why!”

Having the blessing retracted meant.

It meant that she had bestowed the blessing upon someone else.

However, no matter how much they looked around, it was unseen.

Even if they had gone against the will of the World Tree.

There were no figures on the continent to receive the blessing in their stead.

Because every single one was unqualified.

In front of the collapsing World Tree, the elves cried out loudly.

“Mother, do you perhaps pity humans? In what way are humans different from demons? Their true nature is no different from demons. The current suffering is merely karmic retribution accumulated over time!”

However, no answer returned from the World Tree.

“……We, who are foolish, cannot understand.”

Having the blessing taken away, they lost eternal life.

They could no longer afford to be relaxed.

It meant they could not just stay in Sisley like now.

“We will definitely find out who took the blessing from us. We will observe with our own eyes to see if they are qualified to grasp that blessing.”

If by chance, it is someone without such qualification.

The crumbling World Tree.

We will reclaim it again on behalf of you who have grown old.

That blessing which would be absurdly undeserved for trashes.

“You may trample on anything that blocks the path as much as you wish.”

The departure of the elves.

Even within the eternal years.

An incident that had never happened even once was occurring.

*

……Suddenly I feel a chilling sensation.

Is it the aftereffect of wandering around soaking wet in the rain.

I wondered if I was coming down with a cold but.

Since I have the [Warmth] buff, how could that be.

Must be my imagination, my imagination.

‘Moreover, since I came back after doing acts to earn resentment.’

Ahead of the golden weekend, it would be no different from a bomb being dropped on the AAU. Coming from me, even thinking about it myself, it is a nuclear bomb-level declaration. The AAU Yusra Branch, I bet everyone couldn’t even imagine it.

“Above all, harmony is important.”

The space of [『Bizarreness』], the rift.

Naturally, bizarreness must be met with bizarreness.

Actually, the information regarding the Arcana continent was enough even with what I currently have.

Because there were allies reliable enough to render my absence meaningless.

The Mage Tower.

The Lionheart Knights.

The Shadow Mercenaries.

The Explorer’s Federation…….

Starting from Arcana factions that are hard to even list all of them.

Even players including the Giant Alliance.

And that too, by distinct fields.

So I didn’t expect much from the AAU.

Since the AAU had already acknowledged their limits from the beginning.

What I want is just.

Information regarding ‘The Biography of the Arcana Continent’.

To be more precise, it was information regarding the Arcana system.

‘The system does not lie.’

Whether they like it or not, wasn’t I the one who proved that fact by risking my life? Thanks to the [Title] system, there would be no more certain proof than dying on the Arcana continent and resurrecting in reality.

“Therefore, not a single thing can be neglected.”

A correct statement for once, Granfel.

Not to mention the holy war.

In order to save reality from the encroachment of Arcana, understanding the system accurately is also required.

In that sense, the information of the AAU, which was Arcana’s development team in the past, would be of great help.

‘Actually there was no need to go as far as making a Yusra Branch.’

There’s no way this damned lofty pride would choose the easy path.

“Only when looking from an equal position can you finally see things as they are.”

……But, it’s also not an entirely wrong statement so I can’t complain.

Let’s assume I receive information delivered through the AAU.

The possibility of someone delivering distorted information?

It’s overflowing to the brim.

Because I still clearly remember the gazes they sent me at the meeting.

If I acted even slightly clumsy, they would have spouted all sorts of bullshit.

However, like them, the AAU Yusra Branch.

It means if I become at the Branch Director level.

I don’t need to worry about that. The reason the AAU, entangled with the interests of countries around the world, has been maintained until now is precisely thanks to the mutual checks between branches.

‘Moreover, I’ve gained quite some allies in the AAU too.’

Starting with the London Branch Director, Baker.

It means there are people who changed their minds due to Granfel’s pride theories.

Naturally, there was no justification for my proposal to be rejected.

In all matters, there is a give and take.

Because I also planned to provide information on the Arcana continent to the AAU side.

“It is not just them.”

No, accurately speaking, to everyone participating in the holy war.

In reality, it was because of the exhausting pride of hiding nothing because I am confident but. Well, the reasons can be added on however. Anyway, it wasn’t the time to be wasting time like this.

─Temper the weakened flesh. (Repeat) ▲

● Run 40KM (Success)

● 3,000 Push-ups (Success)

● 2,000 Pull-ups (In Progress)

● 1,000 Burpee Tests (In Progress)

The increased physical training requirements!

It came to a point where multitasking is necessary to fill the daily quota. It meant I had to cram the knowledge of magic books into my head even while exercising.

Damn it, things are getting dizzy before I even start……!

If I knew it’d be like this, I wouldn’t have invested points in [Strength] and [Agility].

However, complaining is useless.

As long as pride exists in my heart.

Because I will accomplish whatever physical training quest it is while downing hot green tea.

So let’s stop talking and start.

One, two…….

“A magic circle. It is an interesting form of interference.”

……One thousand.

● 1,000 Burpee Tests (Success)

……By the way, what is this.

I crammed through the contents of the magic books on top of the physical training.

Yet neither my body nor my brain feels fatigue……?

I wondered if it was because of the increased stats but.

This wasn’t a change possible just because stats increased by a few points.

‘There definitely should be a reason though……?’

As I checked the status window, I ended up getting startled.

[The first World Tree blesses you.]

……Wait a minute, you’re saying that nonsensical blessing was a permanent buff?