The World Tree Discovered
“Huff! Huff!”
Jang Antonton was running. Or more precisely, he was being chased.
Thwip— Thud-thud-thud!!
Those damned arrows again.
Arrows embedded themselves in every footprint he left behind. They rained down from the sky. From the right, from the left, they came flying at grotesque angles.
A storm of arrows assailed him from every direction.
Of course it did—dozens of elves were firing at him, not just one or two.
Elves.
The forest race. Forest warriors.
Pointy-eared fairy monsters.
Their beautiful appearance had made them synonymous with handsome men and beautiful women among ordinary people, yet among hunters they ranked among the top three most avoided monsters.
“Damn it! Ease up already!”
As expected, their basic attacks were all ranged.
Their effective range was absurdly long. They could fire curving, snake-like shots or straight, spear-like volleys with equal ease.
Moreover, elves lived in communities by nature. They never traveled alone. They had a chain of command and employed basic tactics.
And the most troublesome part…
They commanded spirits.
Fire, wind, water, earth.
The four great elemental spirits.
A wall of sand erupted from the ground. Wind howled and bent the arrows into unpredictable trajectories. Fire spirits blocked paths with explosions, while water spirits turned the earth into sucking mud that drained stamina.
Through it all, the arrow barrage never ceased.
A storm-like offensive.
Yet Jang Antonton kept charging forward with stubborn determination.
‘At least I accomplished the objective.’
The number “7” displayed on the level detector.
He had confirmed the monsters were elves.
It had been dangerous, but he had also spotted that from a distance.
‘Of all the rotten luck, running straight into their scouting party.’
Jang Antonton spat and poured every ounce of strength into his lower body, sprinting as though his thighs would burst.
He had to get out fast. Right now it was only the scouting party, but the main force would arrive soon. One of the elves’ most annoying traits was their ability to communicate instantly through spirits, no matter where they were.
The scouting party alone was already a nightmare. If the main force showed up, he was dead for real.
Jang Antonton leapt into the forest like a man flying. The elven scouts who had been chasing him followed right after.
Once inside the forest, the elves’ speed increased dramatically. The title “forest race” was no exaggeration. They gained every terrain advantage within the woods.
The distance between them steadily shrank.
A veteran mercenary like Jang Antonton knew this better than anyone. Yet he had deliberately entered the forest himself. That meant he had a card to play.
His body began to transform as he sprinted through the trees.
His eyes widened, his frame swelled, a snout protruded, and fangs and claws sprouted. Then pitch-black fur erupted across his body like a bottomless abyss.
In the next moment, a massive black bear bared its fangs.
It raised its forepaw toward the sky—
“Don’t mess with me!!”
—and slammed it down!
A thunderous roar erupted, followed by a shockwave that disintegrated everything it touched. Soil turned to dust, grass scattered into the air, trees became sawdust, and even the elves clinging to the branches were flung down, spewing blood.
When three or four elves fell, the pursuit halted.
Far ahead, Jang Antonton grinned with his fluffy snout.
“Serves you right.”
But the grin lasted only a moment.
A flash of light glimmered in the distance.
Startled, Jang Antonton jerked his head back. The light grazed his ear as it passed.
“What!?”
At the origin of the flash stood a single elf. A longbow hung at its side, a laurel wreath rested on its head, and a cloak symbolizing an elven commander draped from its shoulders.
“……Elder Elf?”
In an instant, countless glowing eyes ignited throughout the dark forest. They wanted him dead. The woods seethed with killing intent.
“I’m screwed.”
Jang Antonton laughed hollowly and turned tail.
Run!
A short while later.
A black ball of fur burst out of the gate. A trail of blood marked the path it had slid across.
“Sh-shit, what the hell, Boss!!”
“Potions! Hurry!”
His subordinates yanked the arrows from his back and poured potions over the wounds.
“O-oh god, I almost pissed myself. Holy crap.”
Jang Antonton, spat out like chewed gum, reached out with a hand whose transformation was already fading.
“That thing.”
“Yes.”
“Th-th-th-the thing, you know.”
“The radio?”
“G-give it, quick.”
Grabbing the radio, Jang Antonton forced the words out with difficulty.
“……‘World Tree’ discovered.”
Then he lost consciousness.
While his men shouted and administered emergency treatment, the radio lying on the ground emitted a cold mechanical voice.
— Confirmed.
They had finally found it.
The World Tree.
……Gates in danger zones hide quite a few events. Normally, you can obtain items here that cannot be acquired through ordinary means. In particular, a few of them……
……
The final event I will mention is the ‘World Tree’ event. As an event in an 8-level gate, it boasts the most extreme difficulty among all events occurring in North Korea. One wrong move and the entire raid party could be wiped out. Therefore, unless you have the ‘Mountain King’ character, there is no need to attempt it.
If you do intend to try, here is a useful tip: right before the gates merge, while it is still a 7-level gate……
— From Professor Lee’s GM Beginner’s Essential Guide, “Hunting Grounds” section
Half a day after receiving the radio message.
The Mir raid party entered the gate from which Jang Antonton had fled.
Perhaps because only half a day had passed, the main elven force that had chased him was still present.
Elves hidden in the forest released their drawn bowstrings all at once.
Arrows flew from every direction.
Thwip-thwip-thwip—!!
The sky darkened as arrows poured down like a downpour.
At that moment, a surge of magic power swirled and a massive silver-gray shield materialized. The arrows struck the shield created by Hwarang’s defensive skill and embedded themselves in the ground like blades of grass.
Before the arrows had even settled, the soil they had pierced began to tremble. With a lurch, dozens of tree roots erupted upward.
They were the Mountain King’s roots. The roots that had shot high into the air surveyed their surroundings like serpents searching for prey, then struck downward. Their target was the main elven force waiting in the forest.
At that instant, the Elder Elf leading the main force drew back the string of its longbow. The moment its glowing eyes flashed, the released arrow became a streak of light that pierced straight through a root.
Then it shouted fiercely at the surrounding elves. The language was incomprehensible, yet its meaning was obvious.
Awaken your fighting spirit. Draw your bows.
The eyes of the buffed elves flashed with the same light as the Elder Elf’s.
Just before the Elder Elf’s buff could fully activate—
“Stop.”
“!!”
The milky-white giant’s clasped hands slammed downward.
Down, down, relentlessly pounding. Preventing the elves from looking anywhere else.
At the same time, the magic power that had formed a shield collided and shattered into rainbow fragments, creating a spatial rift.
A tiny gap.
Smaller than a child’s fist.
Yu Ri-ra, perched atop one of the Mountain King’s roots, aimed at that gap.
She pulled the trigger.
“Fire!”
Bang—!!
With Yu Ri-ra’s cheerful cry, the bullet punched straight through the Elder Elf’s heart.
The Elder Elf stared expressionlessly at the hole in its chest before collapsing. As the elven unit fell into chaos without its commander……
“Clean them up.”
The raid party that had returned from hell swept through the surroundings.
Mealtime.
Lee Shin called out to the raid party as they ate.
“Alright, everyone listen while you eat.”
Normally he wouldn’t disturb them during meals, but the situation demanded they save every second.
The raid party sensed the seriousness in Lee Shin’s expression and focused on his words while shoveling food into their mouths.
“This is the real deal. You can see the number on the scanner, right? That’s correct. This is a 7-level gate.”
A 7-level gate was the highest level among commonly generated gates and the highest level encountered in league raids.
“The monster type is elves. Standard elves that use bows and spirits. As you saw earlier, each unit consists of one hundred to two hundred individuals, and every unit has an Elder Elf attached.”
“In other words, these guys don’t just charge in blindly like ordinary monsters.”
The difference between monsters with a functioning chain of command and those without was like heaven and earth. The former were closer to an “army,” while the latter were merely a “mob.”
“Absolutely! Do not! Engage in solo play! Especially you dealers—don’t get greedy thinking about the hunts you’ve done so far. Follow the Mountain King’s commands without question. Understood?”
“……”
The dealers chewed their food in silence and simply nodded.
Though there was no verbal response, Lee Shin was actually pleased. Their energy was no longer the wild, reckless fervor from the beginning of the camp. It was clearly disciplined now—the exact state he had wanted.
Seizing the momentum, he continued his advice.
“Forget any notion that elves are weak in close combat. These are 7-level elves. A 7-level gate is unequivocally classified as high-tier. They have their own trump cards. Their dagger attacks may seem minor, but they carry poison, so stay alert.”
“Other than that, I don’t have much to say to the dealers. As humanoid monsters, their defense and stamina are both low. Their vital points are similar to humans as well.”
At those words, the dealers immediately understood what Lee Shin was implying.
“So this is a stage where we can shine?”
“Yeah, elves are definitely easier than golems.”
“A bit annoying, but humanoids are easier to deal with.”
Lee Shin gave the dealers a thumbs-up as he passed.
Next came the tanks.
This group required more detailed instructions.
“Tanks, you actually need to be more aggressive than usual. Your opponents are elves. They fight at range and even use spirits. On top of that, this terrain is familiar to them.”
“If they find themselves at a disadvantage, they’ll use the terrain. Even on flat ground, don’t let your guard down. Never forget that they can reshape the landscape with spirits.”
Even a mangy dog fights better on its home turf—and these were 7-level elves.
If the tanks played passively, the elves would exploit it relentlessly, and once that dynamic took hold, the fight would become hell.
So Lee Shin spoke with an apologetic expression.
“……I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be prepared to get injured. Your sacrifices will turn this into a short battle. That’s the only way to minimize casualties among the rest of the team. I’m sorry again.”
When the usually teasing Lee Shin spoke so seriously and apologized, the tank team—and the entire raid party—scratched their heads.
It felt, for lack of a better word, like hearing their parents say they were sorry.
Perhaps because of that, the tank team responded even more cheerfully.
“Hahaha, don’t worry, Representative! We’ll handle it. Right?”
“Exactly. After everything we’ve been through, a few injuries are nothing.”
“Hehehe, you think those puny elves are stronger than the Mountain King or Hwarang? Right?”
The younger tanks from Team 2 chimed in as well.
Lee Shin smiled and finally turned to the supporters and healers together.
“From now on, the healer team will operate alongside the supporter team. What you need to watch out for is that these elves are under the command of Elder Elves.”
The higher a monster’s intelligence, the more sensitive it was to aggro.
Supporter buffs and healer heals generated extremely high aggro. A cunning Elder Elf would never ignore that.
“They will definitely send a detachment to the rear. When that happens, your first priority is composure. Your second priority is also composure. If you panic and get separated from the main force, things will get really bad.”
“Remember, this is the real thing.”
Agile dealers might escape with only injuries even if they made mistakes, but for supporters and healers, mistakes would not end with mere injuries.
At Lee Shin’s warning, both supporters and healers nodded with equal determination.
After distributing emergency “medicine” to the entire raid party, Lee Shin gathered the key members separately.
First, Baek Yeon-woo and Yu Ri-ra.
“Yeon-woo, stick with the dealer team for now. Don’t push yourself.”
“……Should I not use the thing you gave me?”
“Yeah, don’t use it. That’s our secret weapon. Ri-ra, you’re the opposite of Yeon-woo. Just listen to the old man.”
“I’m not moving with the dealer team?”
“Right. If Yeon-woo is the secret weapon, you’re the old man’s exclusive weapon. Got it?”
“Yep!”
Lee Shin slipped one “medicine” each to the pair and sent them off.
Next were Park Su-bin and Kim Yu-shin.
“Sorry. I’m going to have to ask something difficult of you two.”
“It’s fine, hyung.”
“Haha, I’m used to it.”
“Then…… take care of the Elder Elves.”
If the Elder Elves could command their units freely, every single engagement would drag on and become exhausting.
But commanders were usually positioned in the safest part of their forces. In other words, hunting these Elder Elves meant diving deep into enemy lines and accepting the risk.
At Lee Shin’s apologetic gaze, Park Su-bin and Kim Yu-shin exchanged glances and smiled.
“I never thought I’d be coordinating with the next-generation ranker monster this soon.”
“Ah, n-no, Senior. Please speak casually.”
“Should I?”
The two most reliable members of Mir Guild clasped hands.
Lee Shin watched them with satisfaction. Even without eating, he felt full just looking at them.
After organizing the raid party, Lee Shin finally arrived at his last destination.
The spot beside the Mountain King, who was gazing out from a hill.
“Should I thank you for doing my job for me?”
“Heh heh, no need between us.”
Lee Shin looked in the same direction as the Mountain King.
In the distance stood an altar built of bricks.
It was too crude to be called a pyramid, resembling the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.
“Do you know what’s over there?”
“Roughly.”
“Is that thing connected to me?”
“Why?”
“Vita’s been saying it for a while now. ‘It’s over there.’”
“Heh heh. Smart kid.”
Lee Shin placed a hand on the Mountain King’s shoulder.
“You remember our promise, right?”
“You mean the protagonist?”
Lee Shin’s finger pointed toward the distant altar.
“It’s over there. The protagonist.”