Hidden Piece (1). The Clever Elf Sage
Level 8. Hidden Piece (1). The Elf Sage. The smart-ass pretending to be brilliant when he can’t do anything. The Elf Knight. He only knows how to cast mana, but it’s just a piece of shit with barely any mana stored in his body. “If we’d fought harder, I really would’ve won.”
The elf knight knew how to use mana. But the amount he had accumulated inside his body was so pitifully small that he was practically empty. With that, he should have easily come out on top. Honestly, he was slaughtering hundreds of dead men, but I didn’t feel even the slightest bit cowardly. Where in the world could you find a straight-up guy like me?
Finally, the Elf Princess.
“You! Don’t look at the princess with those lewd eyes!”
“What do you mean? I didn’t even see anything weird. We’re super sensitive to that stuff in our dimension, so knock it off. If you don’t want to die.”
Of course, my gaze kept sliding over to her. The Elf Princess was wearing an outrageously revealing outfit. The Elf Knight protecting her reacted so sensitively because humans were already used to seeing it.
It was the very beginning of the tutorial, yet humans were seeing the princess’s chest and hips and they weren’t about to just stand there like idiots. In our modern society, moderately pretty girls got bothered by countless men. On top of that, laws were thrown away like dog food and these players from across dimensions carried cultures humans couldn’t even understand. Of course they were going to harass the Elf Princess in every way possible.
“Eloren! That’s enough now. Not all humans are like that.”
“...Yes. Understood.”
The Elf Knight slumped and stepped back. What the hell? Just some sword-wielding trash sticking his nose in where he didn’t belong?
I ignored him and followed the Elf Princess as she strode ahead. The flowing fabric of her top, the cloth barely covering her lower curves. It was impossible to keep my eyes from wandering. The unique scent of elves carried something that definitely stirred humans. My girlfriend, my wife, my daughter... especially Yoo Dahui... if she started walking around dressed like this, I’d be crying blood from my balls.
Krruurung–.
“Here they come again. Priest.”
“Poor little monsters. We’d better put them out of their misery quick.”
Killing dead men had become my daily routine. The Elf party naturally showed their strength as well.
Among them, what pulled my eyes was the ‘Spirit Magic’ the Elf Princess showcased.
“Undine. Help me out.”
Pororong–.
“Hmm. Why is the lowest-ranked spirit showing up?”
The water spirit Undine twisted her little body and hurled tiny water droplets at the dead men. The droplets exploded the moment they touched, and the dead men vanished without leaving even a trace. They would’ve turned to dust anyway.
‘She’s actually good.’
Even though she was the lowest-ranked spirit and looked pitifully weak, the potential she held was real. If her affinity for spirits was high, she could spam them endlessly without tiring. A top-tier skill. I was definitely going to learn it.
‘When I regress, am I taking the spirits with me too?’
It was just a passing thought. I didn’t need to worry about it right now. I hadn’t even learned Spirit Magic yet.
“The Elf Spirit Magic is amazing every time I see it.”
“Is it? But after we got summoned to the Tower of Struggle, the higher spirits stopped responding. I guess my spirit affinity isn’t that great, huh?”
“It’ll respond soon enough. It probably just needs time to adapt.”
I gave a vague answer. I couldn’t explain the downward normalization in a way that made sense. It was better to stop trying to do something I couldn’t handle.
I kept hunting with the Elves like a normal hunter. Killing dead men had already become a month-long habit. Too boring. Boring to the point where I was hoping for something new to happen.
Then the Elf Sage found something unusual.
A stone protruding from the bushes.
“Here. There’s a strange stone. Princess.”
If it had been an ordinary stone, we would’ve walked right past it. But this one had a gray base with a deep purple tint. A stone that emitted light. No way we could ignore it. Still, it gave off an ominous aura that screamed ‘don’t touch.’
Had there ever been hidden pieces on the first floor? I’d never heard of it. But I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t one either. The novel only described the hidden pieces Yoo Dahui knew about, so there were gaps like this in the middle. Annoying situation.
Let’s just stay quiet and let the middle get skipped. Like the saying goes...
‘Wait, am I still a regressor even though I’m half a person?’
Return by Death could loop based on me. Theoretically, if I died first and Yoo Dahui died after, we’d restart at the Colosseum square. Using regression aggressively wasn’t bad. ‘Eh?’ Then if I died and her starting point became the first floor, I’d be dead forever?
‘Whoa, relax.’
No need to risk it. I decided to give up right there.
“What is this? Priest.”
“I don’t know either. First time seeing it.”
“I can’t even read the carved letters. What does it say...?”
The Elf Princess shot the Elf Sage a silent glare. An invisible pressure.
The Elf Sage startled and began closely examining the stone.
“Do you know anything?”
“It looks like I’ll need some time. Right now I can’t...”
“Fine. Let’s take a break here.”
While the Elf Sage’s brain was short-circuiting, I plopped down on the dirt ground like a beggar. The Elf Knight found a decent rock, brushed the dirt off with his handkerchief, and called the princess over.
“Princess, please sit here.”
“Ah, I’m fine. I can’t just make you uncomfortable.”
The Elf Princess had decided to drop her royal status and live as a player after being summoned to the Tower of Struggle. That resolve to give up power hit me hard.
Her supporting Elves and Sage probably didn’t understand, but...
After some time, the Elf Sage straightened his bent back. His face looked bright, so he’d probably figured it out.
“It’s easy. The greatest scholar of Alvheim. This was way too simple for Elbaren, Princess.”
“Haah...”
Whether it was Elbaren or Albaeren, it was none of my business. “I see. Elbaren. What does the stone say?”
“It says it’s about the monsters that appear around here.”
“Monsters?”
“Yes. The stone has a power embedded that prevents monsters from approaching this area. It’s written as a ‘blessing,’ but I couldn’t interpret what kind.”
If I only had a little more time...
According to the Elf Sage, there was a blessing on the stone. Thanks to its power, monsters couldn’t approach the area. That meant this spot was safe from monsters. ‘Why the hell?’
Who would’ve set up a stone like this here? It felt like one of the author’s abandoned settings.
“Hmm... a blessing?”
“Yes. Do you know something?”
“I do. There’s one called ‘Nature’s Blessing’ in the info.”
Nature’s Blessing. A blessing occasionally held by the Elf race that loved nature.
Seeing that a blessing was attached, the Elf Princess wasn’t an ordinary Elf. But she ended up dead anyway. Not being able to meet Yoo Dahui on the first floor meant she never ascended. Some kind of event.
“Princess.”
“Yes, Priest.”
“Mind if I hold your hand once?”
“NOOOOOO!!”
The Elf Knight dashed forward and roared at the top of his lungs. The sound was loud enough to make the princess cover her ears.
“Eloren! That’s disrespectful to the Priest!”
“But Princess...! That guy is just like the other humans. Humans always look at the princess and...”
“The Priest isn’t like that. Holy power is the power of the Goddess! The Goddess doesn’t lend holy power to just anyone. Only those with firm faith, sincere hearts, and altruistic souls can receive it and help others under her divine protection!”
The Elf Princess reaffirmed my greatness through worship of the Goddess.
In that world, her logic would’ve made sense, but we were inside the Tower of Struggle. The tower mixed powers from various dimensions and used the System to let players learn faster than their original levels. Just like how even if you go to the same university, there’s a huge difference between regular admissions and a special rural quota.
‘How convenient.’
He explained it so well. I felt really blessed. The Elf Princess would eventually learn the System’s rules after staying in the tower, but right now she was still under the illusion.
“Cough...”
“For Eloren’s rudeness, I apologize. I’m sorry, Priest.”
“It’s fine. Misunderstandings can happen between us.”
I smiled kindly and took the Elf Princess’s hand.
I felt Nature’s Blessing reacting to my holy power. Nature wasn’t hostile toward me. The princess was treating me well too. Rubbing it once or twice wouldn’t be bad.
“Princess.”
“Yes?”
“Could you tell me about Spirit Magic?”
“Spirit Magic...? Well, since I’ve met the great Yggdrasil, the pure academic curiosity in me has been stirred. I want to learn the true Elf Spirit Magic instead of the artificial one humans have been using.”
The Elf Princess showed a hint of hesitation. It wasn’t dislike. From my perspective, it was like ‘Can I really learn this by just being told?’ like a elementary-school tutor adjusting the pace.
I asked again with a changed tone.
“Could you explain Spirit Magic? The spirit you summoned earlier—was it the water spirit Undine?”
“Yes, it was Undine. It was the lowest rank in size and power, though.”
Explaining Spirit Magic was easy. I could introduce myself just fine. The hard part was making the princess understand me.
The princess answered my questions one by one. Everything I had wondered about while reading the novel—and everything I wanted to know right now.
The System inside my body began stacking data.
After talking about Spirit Magic for a while, a System message popped up.
> 【Spirit Magic】 has been acquired at Lv.1!
“Eh? My Spirit Magic level went up!”
“What level is it?”
“Three.”
The Elf Princess’s Spirit Magic was level 3 with Nature’s Blessing. Fuck, do I have to cut my losses? It didn’t look like it was going to grow at all. ‘More skills are better.’ One more skill was one more skill.
‘Info.’
— —
【Kim Jinwu (1★)】
Race — Human [Race Restriction ↓]
Stats — Strength Lv.3Agility Lv.1Mana Lv.1
Skills — Hard Skin Lv.3One-Handed Sword Lv.2Shield Lv.2Holy Power Lv.1Light Step Lv.1Spirit Magic Lv.1
—
Still weak, but not bad. I could see it gradually getting stronger.
The forest was quiet. The wind brushing the trees made a cool sound as it passed. The conversation died.
I had no reason to talk about Spirit Magic anymore.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, a strong stench hit me.
Four players were approaching from that direction. Their speed and posture screamed that they were deliberately targeting us.
‘Are they going to die here?’
These Elves would die at some point. The ones we couldn’t see on the first floor when Yoo Dahui cleared the tutorial. I just didn’t know if it was now or later.
“Someone is coming. Princess.”
The Elf Knight drew his sword. His eyes burned with righteous fury.
Male voices rang out.
“So this is where it continues?”
“Yes. The scent of the young master is coming from here.”
Their voices were loud enough to sound like an advertisement.
The Elf Knight gritted his teeth.
“Those bastards again... Look, Princess. Humans never reflect. Don’t believe them. They have no value to believe in.”
“Eloren...”
The Elf Knight glared at me. For being human, he was treating me like I was part of some syndicate.
The Elf Princess adjusted her outfit with uneasy eyes. It looked like the kind of thing that would only be worn for a one-year anniversary celebration with her boyfriend. One touch and everything would be exposed. Chest, hips, everything.
“Ooh!”
The owners of those voices appeared.
A group of four humans. Loose clothes, Murim warriors who had crossed over from another dimension. If they were third-rate, their specs should’ve been similar to mine. But if they were first-rate, there was no way I could handle them. And humans received less downward normalization, so my win probability was basically zero.
For example... let’s say the max level was 200 but the Elf Knight was only level 10. The best swordsman had level 20 but was only level 11. That was downward normalization.
So this situation was no good for the Elves or for me. Because of the unreasonable nerf, the Elves’ survival rate was at rock bottom. In the story, only one Elf survived.
“Kukuk. See? I told you I was nearby.”
“Hmm. Look at the young master’s body. Why don’t you say it out loud and ask me to eat you?”
“Hey, what’s that guy? He wasn’t here earlier.”
They were acting completely arrogant. None of them had any intention of dying.
“What does it matter who that guy is? Just let the young lady live and kill everyone else.”
“You’re right. Men are the ones who get killed.”
“DIE!!”
The Elf Knight poured mana into his sword.
“Oh? You know how to use sword qi? But your internal energy is thin. Just starting to learn it, huh?”
“Boss! Please!”
“Fine. I’ll kill this colored boy. You guys kill the strange one.”
“Yes!”
The so-called boss raised sword qi on his blade and sent the rest of the group charging toward the Elf Sage.
The Elf Knight’s sword clashed with the boss’s. They fought with perfect harmony for a long time, then launched their attacks.
And soon, I was kissing the dirt.
Because I was a third-rate warrior, I couldn’t even touch that bastard.
Kugugu gugu gong–.
The ground shook and cracked open. I felt my body falling down, down, down.
[The moment it reaches zero...]
[Return by Death activates.]