"Reject?"

The quest window displayed was slightly different from anything he'd encountered before.

Alongside the options for "Quest Success" and "Quest Failure," a new category had been added this time: "Quest Rejection."

Hmph. They're forcing me to choose. Gamble for the perfect reward? Or play it safe with an incomplete one?

Accepting the quest and succeeding would bring a second artifact along with a hefty bonus reward.

But failing would mean everything, including the second artifact, would vanish.

On the other hand, rejecting the quest would grant him the second artifact immediately.

Of course, in that case, he'd have to endure a considerable penalty, even for the second artifact, let alone any additional rewards.

"Rejection, huh..."

Alteair shuddered.

When Carpe muttered the word "rejection," Alteair trembled violently.

It seemed like rejection would cause her significant trouble... but to cut to the chase, it was completely unnecessary worry.

"Of course, I'll fight alongside you."

[You have accepted the quest.]

*Yeah. There's no way you'd choose the safe option there unless you were crazy. Your game-loving DNA wouldn't let you. *

'Honestly, even if I ignored the love of gaming, you have to accept this one.'

Obtaining the artifact was great.

However.

[Quest Rejection: Instantly acquire the second artifact, but Affinity with the second artifact is permanently set to the worst possible level.]

Who would choose the rejection option after seeing that?

Moreover, the quest window helpfully included a "Tip" at the very bottom: "When Affinity is at its worst, the chance of the item refusing the user's commands is greatly increased."

In reality, it was a "choice" in name only. It was practically begging him to accept the quest.

"Phew. That's a relief. Carpe, I thank you for your assistance."

Alteair, who had been fretting over the possibility of Carpe rejecting the quest (something that would absolutely never happen), let out a sigh of relief.

But her reaction was understandable.

A single wrong move could plunge her entire clan into crisis.

The World Tree's fruit grows by absorbing mana from nature.

But besides the mana of nature, high-quality mana also provides a considerable boost—and that was precisely what the Mana King's artifacts contained.

It was a kind of fertilizer or nutrient supplement.

For this reason, if the Mana King's heir reclaimed the artifacts, the fruit's growth would be severely hampered. This was why Alteair couldn't help but watch Carpe's every move.

It was worth giving away one of the clan's treasures as a reward!

In truth, the bracelet that Alteair had given as a reward was disproportionately generous considering what Carpe had done.

No, it was far too generous.

He'd received a Hero+ grade bracelet for killing a few hundred bugs that couldn't even mount a proper attack. If other users of "Lacia" saw that, they'd be foaming at the mouth.

Since the beginning of time, humans have been a greedy race.

A bribe loaded with flattery.

Alteair offered an excessive reward as a gesture of goodwill, and her plan succeeded perfectly! The Mana King's heir had accepted her request.

...Of course, it was all in her imagination.

Ting!

[Time remaining until the fruit is fully ripe: 6 days, 17 hours.]

[Protect the fruit from the fragments of Seo Bingje during the remaining time.]

With the quest accepted, it began in earnest.

However, it wasn't quite the direction that Carpe had anticipated.

"Huh? Protect? Not capture?"

Drive away Seo Bingje.

Protect the fruit.

Nowhere in the quest window could he find the phrase "Capture Seo Bingje."

It was as if such a possibility hadn't even been considered.

"Sadly, with our clan's current strength, we wouldn't be able to subdue him. At best, we can only hold out. That would be the case even with your help."

But that alone was enough.

Once a seed took root, it couldn't be undone, so the moment the fruit was planted, the villain would give up and retreat.

A battle where all they had to do was endure and protect the fruit.

"Hmm. I see."

But Carpe's expression was indifferent. His expression, though he said he understood, showed he didn't understand at all, causing Chun Ma to sigh deeply.

Are you afflicted with some disease that makes you want to make things difficult? Damn it, I should've won that bet back then.

A guy who needed to take down even invincible bosses wouldn't be satisfied with just defending something.

"Queen."

"Hm?"

"Stalling for time is fine, but... it wouldn't really matter if I caught that guy, would it?"

"...What?"

Alteair looked at Carpe as if he were spouting nonsense, but Carpe didn't bother to answer.

Instead, he turned his back and walked out of the office.

A man speaks with his back.

Hey, are you really planning to catch him? That monster?

"I'd like to if possible, but I'll have to see how things go. If it's really hopeless, then there's nothing I can do. I'll have to give up."

What he'd said to the elf queen had just been a reflexive reaction, triggered by the perfect timing to deliver a favorite line. He wasn't truly intent on "definitely catching him!"

Carpe was someone who would do anything for fun, but he wasn't reckless enough to charge headfirst into something impossible.

"I'm not that clueless."

...I have a lot to say, but I'll refrain for now.

"Anyway, that praying mantis guy is on a different level, though."

His strength was on a completely different plane than the fanatic priest, who had been the event boss previously.

The memory of the 9-star skill "Eternal Permafrost" that the mantis had unleashed still sent chills down his spine.

"I didn't know a 9-star active skill could be that powerful. At that level, wouldn't it be worth intentionally drawing a 1-star guardian spirit when creating a character?"

When a character is created, the sum of the Guardian Spirit level and the skill level is always fixed at 10. This strategy gambles on the skills to automatically be 9-star if the guardian spirit is 1-star.

Well, there were quite a few guys who tried drawing a 1-star guardian spirit at the beginning, aiming for that. Most of them failed, though.

The biggest problem was that all 9-star skills took a long time to develop.

They all had ridiculously high MP consumption, so even if you got one at level 1, you couldn't use it.

Some 9-star skills consume over 1,000 MP for a single use. If you draw one of those, your skill is basically sealed until your second class change.

Plus, since you drew a 1-star guardian spirit, your job was bound to be bad, your guardian spirit skill was bad... everything was bad.

It was hard to find any potential at all.

You had to endure and endure, focusing solely on that 9-star skill.

The problem is that even if you endure and finally reach the point where you can use the 9-star skill, it's often mediocre.

Several conditions need to be met for a skill to properly display its power.

Your job has to support it, and you have to allocate your stats properly. And that's not all. You also need to equip dedicated 9-star skill gear, and you need other skills to support the 9-star skill.

Using a half-baked 9-star skill without those conditions met wouldn't produce proper hunting efficiency.

You'd use the skill once, take an hour to replenish your MP... and just repeat that until you quit. Unless you draw a rare 9-star passive skill.

Passive 9-star skills that changed the body itself, such as the Extreme Yin Body or the Sun, Moon, and Star Body, were like that.

In that case, you could aim to become a top-ranked player in the long run, thanks to the high potential...

But relying on that slim chance and drawing a 1-star guardian spirit is insane. You're much better off drawing a normal 5-star guardian spirit.

"…Then how do you get a 9-star skill?"

He vaguely remembered hearing that even the Advanced Skill Pack didn't contain 9-star skills.

There's a Special Skill Pack above the Advanced Skill Pack, and you can get them there at a low rate. You can also get them through combination at the Skill Card Combiner, and…

"And?"

They're sometimes given as rewards for certain hidden quests.

"Question."

I know what you're going to ask, but I'll ask anyway. What is your question?

"Is a guide to capturing 9-star skills written in the Chun Ma Secret Manual?"

Would I have mentioned it if it wasn't?

"Kuh."

"As expected. I'm once again amazed by the wisdom of our strategist. Even the Mana King only possessed a few 9-star skills."

"Kyuu Kyuu!"

His chest swelled with excitement at Chun Ma's confident words.

Now he had no choice but to shout it out.

"Chun Ma Blood Oath! Ten Thousand Demons' Vengeance! Okay, Hyangi too!"

"Kyuu Kyuu Kyuu! Kyuu Kyuu Kyuu!"

"Good job! Now, Tina!"

"...Ch-Chun Ma Blood Oath... Kuh. Ten Thousand Demons'... V-vengeance... I'm sorry, Lord."

Tina said that much and then bowed her head deeply.

It seemed that Tina still needed more training in anti-demonic power.

…Let's stop with the cringe. Please. Aren't you embarrassed?

"Who cares? It's just us. Are you embarrassed of us, hyung?"

Yes. Extremely. To be exact, I'm only embarrassed of you. The others are fine.

"Lord. I'm a little embarrassed too..."

"Kyuu?"

The unification of the Chun Ma Clan seemed to be a long way off.

"Well, shall we start by looking for quests we can do in the Elven village?"

There was quite a bit of time left until the fruit was fully ripe.

Alteair predicted that the fragment of Seo Bingje would appear a week later, when the fruit's magic was at its strongest, and Carpe planned to level up as much as possible before fighting him again.

I can't recommend quests like I used to. This is my first time here too.

"We'll probably find something if we wander around."

Elves were basically passive with their distrust and wariness of humans, but fortunately, Carpe was an exception.

He had been recognized by Alteair, the Elven Queen, and thanks to the kindness the former Mana King showed them long ago, the Elves approached him favorably.

"We are short on hands... would you be willing to help us? We need to build a new fence, but we are short on high-quality wood. We will compensate you sufficiently."

"Oh my. It's my first time seeing a human. I hear humans are very diligent? If it's okay with you, would you be willing to collect some herbs in the forest?"

Starting with ordinary collection quests.

"We need to hunt the wild monsters living deep in the forest. Seo Bingje may use his mind control skill to bring a monster army."

Hunting quests.

"Alteair? She's a wonderful queen. Perhaps the most diligent queen in history. I heard she was very lazy when she was younger... Oh, that's right. I have a favor to ask you too."

"The Queen seems to be lost again, could you look for her? What's that? Is it not a big deal? Haha. It happens all the time. The Queen is terrible with directions. Ah, keep that I said a secret from the Queen..."

Even bizarre quests related to Alteair.

...Were they waiting for you to come? Everyone's going crazy because they can't give out quests?

"I guess so. Wow, how much experience will I get if I clear all these?"

The question of 'How should I find quests?' paled in comparison as the quests poured in.

Moreover, whether it was because the elves' affinity was high or because that's how it always was, the rewards were generally better than the difficulty level.

Spirits' Elixir, which grants +3 to all stats for 30 minutes upon consumption.

Attribute stones that can impart various properties to items when crafting equipment, and crafting materials that can only be found in the Elven Forest.

And leather gloves that increase craftsmanship, made directly by an Elven artisan (given to Tina because there was no level requirement).

Items that were hard to find in human cities poured out as rewards.

Carpe spent his days exploring the Elven Forest, clearing quests.

[Quest completed. Reward and experience points awarded.]

[Level Up! Bonus points awarded.]

"Heh. This is what gaming is all about! A top-tier game!"

He was happy.

Minimum labor, maximum reward.

"Lacia must be a friendly game tailored to the tastes of busy modern people."

A statement that would incite an unlimited kill order if other players heard it!

...Aren't you worried? When they're giving this much away, it gives you a sense of how heinous Seo Bingje's fragments must be.

"That's then, this is now!"

Sigh.

"Anyway, I'm going to enjoy the present. The next quest is... ah, it's this again."

The missing queen search quest.

A recurring quest he called 'Carpe Finds Alteair!'

"It's amazing. How can a queen get lost so often in her own village?"

*Who cares? As long as we get experience and rewards. *

"That's true."

When he first received this quest, he thought they were joking.

But after witnessing Alteair wandering around for 2 hours, a mere 30 meters away, he couldn't help but nod in agreement.

The idea that elves are skilled in reconnaissance was a prejudice.

There are clueless elves somewhere in the world.

"I wonder where she's wandering around this time."

About 30 minutes after Carpe started searching the village...

"Ah, there she is."

It wasn't too difficult for him to find her this time either.

The moment Carpe was about to call out to her.

Wait. Hide yourself.

"Huh?"

Even as he answered, Carpe reflexively hid behind a nearby tree.

"Why all of a sudden?"

Take a look. Doesn't she seem a little different than usual?

The place where Carpe had found her was near the World Tree.

The World Tree was on the northern outskirts of the village, a place rarely visited by other elves...

"You're right. Why is she looking around like that?"

She was pacing around the base of the World Tree, looking around.

As if checking to see if anyone was following her.

"Huh?"

That's when it happened.

After confirming that no one was following her, Alteair entered under the base of the World Tree, where the roots were slightly exposed.

"..."

Suspicious. Too suspicious.

What are you going to do?

"…I'll have to do what my quest says."

The contents of the quest were to find Alteair and "bring her back" to her office.

Since he hadn't yet achieved his goal, there was only one choice.

"Here I go."

Carpe followed her into the World Tree.