“But, Lady Elysia. Are you sure it’s safe?”
She strolled across the field at ease, enjoying the warm sunlight.
“Of course. You have no idea how gentle they are.”
Contrary to her words, a drake streaking across the sky violently snatched up a beast on the ground and snapped its neck.
“Kraaaagh!”
At the scene, which was far from gentle and instead downright brutal, Sinhyeok let out a hollow laugh.
“Are you really sure they’re gentle?”
“They are gentle.”
She wore a benevolent smile that resembled a mother’s.
“Oh, how pretty.”
“…….”
‘She’s crazy. Completely crazy!’
“Sergeant, aren’t you coming?”
Walking ahead, she turned back to look for Sinhyeok, who had fallen quite a distance behind.
“Y-yes! I’m coming!”
As she watched Sinhyeok close the distance again, she gave him both a warning and a piece of advice.
“Don’t stray too far. Sometimes the children bite guests.”
“Pardon?”
“It hardly ever happens, but sometimes they get hungry or lose their minds. So be careful~”
At those words, Sinhyeok quickly closed the distance between them.
When Sinhyeok came right up behind her, she pointed to a certain spot with her finger.
“There’s a field I deliberately left untouched from long ago for the captain’s junior.”
Sinhyeok followed the direction she was pointing and stared.
“Is it over there?”
“That’s right. Go closer.”
Following her lead, he approached the field.
“It’s been neglected for quite a long time, so it’s rather overgrown and messy. Still, it’s quite substantial.”
“Oho.”
If she, the one in charge of Hongik’s special elixir meals, called it substantial, then it had to be incredible.
‘What’s in there? Ten-thousand-year snow ginseng? Or ingredients for some legendary elixir?’
“We’re here.”
Sinhyeok tilted his head at the thicket before him.
“Isn’t this a forest?”
“Oh, a forest? Don’t be silly.”
She took one step forward, pushed through the grass, and yanked something out of the ground.
“It’s sturdy. This one is snow ginseng. Judging by the size, hm, it should be about a thousand-year snow ginseng. If you’re skeptical, touch it. Yggdrasil will show you.”
With a doubtful expression, Sinhyeok gave it a tap.
[Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng][Legendary]
===================
A source of life that endured for ages in the freezing earth.
Within its root, which contains cold energy, dwells a powerful essence of recovery.
※ Maximizes the efficiency of life-force recovery potions
※ Greatly increases resistance to cold and freezing attributes
====================
“It’s real.”
Smiling, she placed the thousand-year snow ginseng in Sinhyeok’s hand.
“Then shall we begin?”
“Pardon? Yes.”
Elysia sat down in a spot where the ground was fairly soft.
“Up we go. Sergeant, you sit too. You need to hear the explanation.”
“Ah, yes.”
He carefully sat beside her.
“If you went through that smelly dwarf, you probably learned how to see through ‘waves,’ correct?”
“That’s right. I checked the mana reactions of objects and identified things like their unique characteristics and forms.”
At the explanation, which was exactly as she knew it, she nodded lightly.
“You learned well. Now, what you’re going to learn is the way elves see the world.”
Elysia took the thousand-year snow ginseng from Sinhyeok’s hand.
“In the forests where elves dwell, plants and animals of truly diverse vegetation and species grow. Before a single elf’s life comes to an end, the forest ecosystem changes many times.”
“Ah, when you put it that way, you really do live a long time.”
At those words, Elysia burst into laughter.
“From a human perspective, it may seem that way. In any case, whenever such an ecosystem changes, the plants and animals of the forest change as well.”
“Ah~”
‘That’s fascinating. The ecosystem around me changes while I’m still alive.’
“Each time that happens, we don’t go around naming every plant and every animal one by one.”
“Ohh, ah?”
It felt like a familiar pattern somehow.
‘Aurumstone?’
“We simply look at the attributes and forms we sense, then use and manage them.”
“For elves, it’s ‘attributes’?”
“Something similar. To see those ‘attributes,’ we use ‘resonance.’”
The snow ginseng held in her hand slowly began to emit a deep fragrance, and its energy started to intensify.
“If you use resonance well, something like this is possible.”
A chilly yet clear fragrance spread around them like perfume, and a faint coldness made the surroundings cool.
“C-cold?”
“This is resonance. We use resonance to amplify, sense, and identify unique attributes.”
[You have discovered a clue to the trait Insight.]
[By experiencing the Dwarves’ Wave and the Elves’ Resonance in succession, you have gained the possibility of attaining ‘Insight,’ which pierces through all things.]
[Special Quest Activated]
[Title: Insight]
[Details: Fully learn the Dwarves’ Wave and the Elves’ Resonance, and gain insight into all things.]
[Dwarves’ Wave Acquired 1/1]
[Elves’ Resonance Acquired 0/1]
[Reward: Trait Insight]
“Something must have popped up. The captain was like that too.”
“I’m sorry. The system displayed something called a quest.”
At the word “system,” Elysia showed curiosity.
“What is Yggdrasil’s authority like? I think it would be fun to experience it myself, and it would help with my research.”
“W-well. I don’t really know the details either.”
“What a shame. Later, I should catch someone and run an experiment, hohoho.”
For some reason, it didn’t sound like she was just saying it as a joke, which made him a little afraid.
“So, we use resonance like this. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand, but… how do you do this resonance thing?”
She shrugged and stood up.
“How would I know? For elves, it just happens naturally. If I had to give you a tip… hmm.”
Elysia pondered carefully over what tip she could give Sinhyeok.
“Relax and match yourself as much as possible. To the other party.”
“Pardon?”
She left the field just like that.
“That’s the tip! And please pull up some ingredients that could be used for elixirs~ Also, be careful of the forest. It hasn’t been managed, so there are lots of strange children in there~”
“Pardon!? Lady Elysia!”
She was already gone. Left behind in the dense forest, Sinhyeok let out a hollow laugh.
“How much am I supposed to pull up? And what counts as an elixir ingredient?”
For some reason, he didn’t want to take even a single step forward.
“I don’t want to go in.”
When he stepped in just a little and looked around inside, it didn’t seem like there were only plants.
Rustle.
When he turned to the side, a snake as thick as Sinhyeok’s forearm lunged at him with its mouth wide open.
“Shit!”
He immediately grabbed the snake by the mouth and slammed it onto the ground.
Bang, bang, bang!
After he mercilessly smashed the snake down, it went quiet.
“Ugh, damn it, how is this a field!”
The place, which was no field but a forest, was quite gloomy and dangerous.
“Haha… how is there not a single normal thing here!”
For now, since things had turned out this way, he decided to stay calm.
“Let’s calm down.”
‘Let’s remember how to use that resonance thing.’
He recalled the method and scene from when Elysia had done it earlier.
‘She held it and focused for a moment, then the energy the snow ginseng emitted was amplified.’
“Amplified?”
The word “amplified” made him think of a skill and technique he used often and was familiar with.
‘Enhancement!’
It seemed fairly similar.
Wondering if it was along those lines, he grabbed something at random and tried it.
[Attempting Enhancement.]
[Enhancement has been successfully completed.]
“Hmm?”
Something felt vague.
So he tried again until it became something like before.
[Attempting Enhancement.]
[Enhancement has been successfully completed.]
[Attempting Enhancement.]
[Enhancement has been successfully completed.]
[Attempting Enhancement.]
[Enhancement has been successfully completed.]
[Attempting Enhancement.]
[Enhancement has been successfully completed.]
No other message appeared.
It was just a weed. On top of that, he couldn’t feel any attribute or distinctive energy from it.
“This isn’t it.”
This wasn’t the right method.
“I don’t think this is it. Haa, how am I supposed to use something called resonance to find elixirs!”
‘Should I just touch everything one by one? The system will explain it on its own.’
[Some system functions cannot be used in this area.]
“Haha, what perfect timing.”
[^^]
“Haa.”
Seeing the system message expressing emotion, Sinhyeok realized who it was.
“Is this Yggdrasil?”
[Yeah]
There had once been a rumor among Awakened.
A rumor that Yggdrasil, who had created and distributed the system, sometimes spoke with Awakened.
“Somehow, I don’t think you came because you were curious about me.”
[The Administrator makes a special proposal to the Awakened.]
[You are requested to hear the proposal.]
[If you accept the proposal, assistance with ‘Resonance’ is promised.]
It wasn’t a bad proposal.
Sinhyeok stared at the system message.
“Mm… fine. What is the proposal?”
The system displayed an arrow in midair, pointing toward a certain spot.
“What are you pointing at?”
The arrow grew even larger.
When he stared at that spot, he saw a monstrous tree.
A giant tree carrying monsters within it.
[Please go close to that tree and touch it.]
[I promise you a reward. Please help me stop that crazy bitch.]
Something strange had been mixed in at the end, but Sinhyeok decided to follow along.
“It’s a bit far, but I’ll go.”
[^^]
Sinhyeok set resonance aside for the moment and moved toward the monstrous tree at the center.
“Surely… those monsters aren’t going to rip me apart.”
He gripped the hat on his head tightly.
“If they tear into me even though I’m wearing this, I really won’t let that elf get away with it.”
He emerged from the overgrown field and began crossing a neatly maintained field.
“It’s wide. But how does she manage it? She seemed to be alone.”
As he moved while looking around the field, the surrounding nature moved in an unnatural way.
“Mm?”
A stream of water stretched out from somewhere and moistened the field.
“Wow.”
A gentle breeze blew beside him.
Following the trace of the breeze, he saw fully grown fruit get cut and drop with a thud.
“Amazing.”
The wind caught it and carried it floating along.
As for the weeds in the field, the earth squirmed and ate them on its own.
“It’s a fully automated system. Isn’t this a smart farm?”
While admiring the astonishing automatic management system, he headed toward the giant tree growing at the center.
“It’s even scarier up close.”
At the ends of the branches, instead of fruit, there were huge cultivation membranes.
Seeing what was growing inside made it feel slightly like a horror scene.
“She said I only had to touch it.”
Glancing around, he quietly placed his hand on it.
[Thank you.]
The message, which had seemed like a hologram, shattered and scattered.
Then it seeped into the tree.
A moment later, the tree trembled.
“Wh-what?”
Startled, he pulled his hand away.
From the tree came the sound of something splitting open with a crack.
“Oh… I’m screwed.”
He felt it immediately.
A strong sense of doom.
“No! Stop!”
When he looked back, Elysia was running toward him in desperation.
“No! Mother!”
With an urgent expression, she seized the tree.
“Ah. Mother Tree.”
Elysia gazed at the tree with a devastated face.
“Mother….”
With an awkward expression, Sinhyeok approached her to apologize.
[Please touch her shoulder. I have something to say.]
The system appeared again.
“Hup…?!”
It was insane, but since there was no other way, he tried it.
“Um, excuse me.”
Tap.
Elysia turned back with an extremely vicious look in her eyes.
“How dare you.”
As her sharp gaze fell upon him, every beast in this space began to glare at Sinhyeok.
[Awakened ‘Bu Sinhyeok’s’ system will be partially modified.]
[Functions have been updated.]
[The Administrator’s video transmission function has been added.]
She stared directly at the system message floating in midair.
“What?”
[Yggdrasil is transmitting a video.]
“Ah. Aah. Can you hear me?”