Summoned to the Elf Village
Entered 2F.
Clear Condition: ⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
"As expected, the clear condition is hidden again."
I cautiously guessed that it might be because I, an Easy Mode climber, had slipped in among those who chose Hard Mode.
"This isn't the time for that."
To get a rough sense of the atmosphere, I looked around. A vast forest stretched out before me.
"Whoa."
The trees densely covered my field of view, giving it a slightly cool feel. Even so, this tranquility brought me a strange sense of peace.
As I watched butterflies fluttering by, I began to sense presences from afar.
It wasn't the sound of approaching footsteps or vague silhouettes—it was more like detecting the presence of mana.
The mana density here was higher than in the rest village, and with my Mana stat increased, my senses must have sharpened.
"…."
"…."
Roughly eight of them. Or not. The presences were coming from the trees, so they could just be animals.
Either way, anticipating a sudden attack, I gripped my staff.
If I used Dawn of Ashes, it would produce enough firepower to protect my body. Protecting myself afterward in a forest ablaze from the explosion would be another story, though.
We faced off in silence for about a minute like that?
The other side lost patience first and approached me without any sign of hostility. With the rest waiting behind and only the leader coming forward, it had to be people.
A monkey-like animal wouldn't have the intelligence to choose anything but charging or fleeing.
That assumption shattered the moment I saw their face.
'It's humanoid, sure, but….'
They looked mostly human, but with an unrealistically stunning appearance and pointed ears. The identity of the being approaching me was an elf.
"I apologize for the rudeness, human. Might you hear our plea?"
"Your plea?"
"You must be the human summoned to our village through our ritual. I understand your confusion at being dropped into an unfamiliar place, but we had no choice. It would be a great help if you'd follow us to the village first."
'Ah, so that's the setup?'
It seemed the elves had performed a ritual to summon me because a suspicious human popping up in their village would raise alarms. In typical stories, they'd treat me like nobility with utmost hospitality, but modern subculture metas were different.
There was that genre they called "hoop house"—regret, despair, obsession as the base, extreme 4Dron works that satisfied readers' dopamine with ruthless plots.
In those, you'd get summoned to another world, save it even at the cost of debt, only to be discarded once your usefulness ran out.
Of course, refusing to follow the elves would stall the tower's story progression. So, I'd go along while staying alert for when they'd ditch me.
"My name is Ivelin, meaning 'cold dew' in Elvish. You'll find the other elves waiting in the village. As long as you don't torment living plants or start fires, they'll all welcome you, so no need to worry."
"My name is Seha Jeong. Nice to meet you."
The elf named Ivelin continued as if a human's name wasn't worth remembering.
"Especially show respect to our Elder. As the incarnation of the World Tree's will, he commands the reverence of us all. That's all."
'Listen to this pointy-ear yapping.'
He'd said the elves would welcome me, but his own attitude was downright prickly. The elf I'd met at the shop was friendly—why were the 2F elves so grumpy?
After that, even the elves didn't exchange words, so I kept quiet too.
About 30 minutes of awkward silence later, the elf village came into view.
"We have further search duties, so we can't accompany you anymore. Here's another elf to guide you—follow her to meet the Elder first."
Checking the elf assigned to me, it was the youngest-looking female from the search team earlier. More precisely, out of the initial eight, the baby-faced one had gone ahead as a messenger, and now they'd stuck me with the next lowest-ranking one.
'Korean military or isekai elves, shoving the annoying jobs on the newbies is universal.'
Fortunate in misfortune? Unlike that Ivelin guy, this elf was sociable.
"Hi, Seha. I'm Silleia, meaning 'wandering green.' Sorry about the bad vibes earlier. That guy's notoriously high-handed among the elders."
Silleia, who touched my hair claiming it was her first time seeing a human, and peered intently at my face. Elves really varied in personality. She was so chatty it was draining.
"Do all humans look like this? You could pass for born from a World Tree seed."
"Sorry to interrupt, but how old are you?"
Same height, so maybe similar age—I figured casual speech might be okay, but elves gonna elf.
"You finally asked! I'm only 130!"
I decided to pretend I hadn't heard that.
Half-listening to Silleia's chatter with one ear and letting it flow out the other, we arrived at the Elder's house. Elves were lined up around it.
To my left were the young elves, and to my right, per Silleia, the elder ones.
'Generational conflict here too? They didn't summon me to fix that, right?'
The young elves showed interest in me, only for the elders to scold them harshly. The search team's vibe earlier suggested tensions between generations weren't great.
As the area quieted, the elf Elder finally spoke.
"Welcome, traveler from afar. I am the twenty-ninth Elder leading this clan. We summoned you out of dire need for aid from one outside our bloodline. Your hand is required where the forest's wisdom does not reach."
"What do you mean by 'where the forest's wisdom does not reach'?"
"Elves are bound to the forest's roots. Step beyond, and we lose all power. Yet, invaders exploit the World Tree's weakness to disrupt our borders. Purge those insolent ones in our stead."
The Elder wove words circuitously, but it boiled down to: We can't go out, so you handle it.
Hearing "invaders," I assumed human fights and hesitated, so he clarified.
"Invaders are ferocious beasts fed on demonic energy. Once, the World Tree's barrier shielded us, but now it's faint. Find and quell the source of this foul energy, if you will."
'This floor's concept is straightforward.'
I'd worried about wandering blindly with the hidden clear condition, but they spelled it out nicely. Go outside, smash the demonic core or whatever, clear 2F.
Communication made it so much easier—no solo brooding.
"Sure. No time limit, right?"
"Hoho, a human lifetime is but a blink to us. Take your time, no rush."
Time issue solved. True to Easy Mode, no real worries.
The ritual-like audience ended, and Silleia led the way, offering to show me around the village.
"Seha, you'll live with me at my house from now on!"
"What?"
"No empty houses in the village, and better with someone familiar, so I volunteered to lend you mine!"
Living under one roof with Silleia already felt energy-draining.
'Still, better than alone—plenty of upsides?'
Clear condition was simple, but befriending elves might snag perks. Learning magic, World Tree blessings—tower sent me here for that.
"Let's tour my house first! Say hi to family while we're at it."
"Your parents are home?"
Not a dad joke—I'd noticed something odd at the Elder's. Left: all young elves. Right: all old. No middle-aged anywhere. Impossible for natural reproduction.
My guess hit the mark.
"'Family' means something different for us elves than humans. It refers to the one who cared for us before the seed hatches."
"So all elves are born from World Tree seeds?"
"Yep. There's one dormant in me right now. Seha gets it quick—one hint and you grasp ten!"
Her words might aid 2F clear, so I memorized them. Smashing the core would be ideal, but who knows.
"Pardon the intrusion."
Chatting with Silleia, we arrived at her house. As I thought, This is my home starting today, nagging voices drifted out.
'Silleia! How many times has Mom told you not to go beyond the World Tree's blessing? Thought you'd mature past 100, but today you're set on breaking my heart….'
Her eyes met Silleia's mother's mid-nag, and silence fell.
"Oh, hello."
Awkwardly greeting, Silleia's mom introduced herself. Rune knew of the summoning ritual but hadn't expected the outsider at her house—she was flustered. She told us to wait in the room while she fetched food.
Following to Silleia's room, she apologized.
"Sorry. I used you as a shield, Seha. Mom's nagging scared me into running away, but with you here, it'll be fine. I'm selfish, huh?"
Contrasting her day's noisiness, her fidgeting with clasped hands made harsh words impossible. Forgiven, she perked up and chattered again. Kids gonna kid. Even at 130.
A sudden question hit me, so I asked.
"Your mom's nagging earlier—was it about going outside the World Tree's blessing?"
"Yeah. Atmosphere's tense lately, so no leaving without permission. Oh, you can go outside the forest, right, Seha? One favor?"
"Hear it first."
"I've wanted to explore beyond the blessing since I was little. Too risky for me, but explore for me and describe it!"
"Easy enough."
"Yay! But watch out exploring—know about dark elves?"
Dark elves felt tied to my 2F clear. As I opened my mouth to ask, Silleia covered it.