In the blink of an eye, dusk had arrived.
In the Elf Forest, ancient trees of various shapes soared into the clouds, their branches crisscrossing, the lush leaves blocking out the sun.
The golden sunset filtered through the shade of the leaves, shimmering like twinkling stars, with an elusive tranquility.
A melody with ups and downs slowly began, as several sturdy vines suddenly burst from the soil and flew from all directions, wrapping around a tall ancient tree.
Li Mu set down the magic wand in his hand, letting out a sigh of relief, and said to his companions behind:
"It's secured!"
"Nice! The Entanglement Technique is so useful!"
"Hey, now we don't have to worry about accidentally killing someone when a tree falls!"
"Pfft... Demacia, that's purely bad luck, standing in the wrong spot. Why else do you think you're always the one getting hit?"
"Get lost!"
"Hahaha!"
A few elves in hemp armors chattered noisily as they rushed forward, wielding their wooden swords to start chopping at the base of the ancient tree...
"It feels weird... The Goddess is the World Tree, yet our task is to cut down trees..."
"Maybe the Goddess isn't feeling well, look at how the World Tree is withering."
"But the forest here never runs out of wood, I guess the Goddess wouldn't mind?"
"Hardcore Nature God Sect..."
"It's just a game, don't take it too seriously."
"Uh... if you hadn't mentioned it, I almost forgot this is a game..."
The players chatted while they worked.
They were teammates of Li Mu.
After submitting their first task, to improve efficiency in daily tasks, Li Mu formed a team with several players.
Accompanied by the chants of "One, two, three" and the sounds of chopping, the ancient tree, several tens of meters tall, began to sway slightly, then more violently...
"Push together! Quick! One! Two! Three...!"
"It's down! It's down!"
Amidst cheers, the giant ancient tree swayed slightly and finally fell, startling a flock of birds...
The elves rushed forward again, wielding their wooden swords to chop, and with a series of dazzling sword skills, they cut the ancient tree into segments, working diligently like serious lumberjacks.
"Is this tree enough for us to complete our task?"
The group wiped sweat from their brows as they spoke.
"Enough, this tree is huge. I doubt we could carry all of it in one go."
Li Mu spoke while he and others lifted the segmented ancient tree together.
This was his sixth task, and he had become much more efficient since forming a team with other players.
Unknowingly, Li Mu had been playing the game for a whole day.
To be precise, he had been chopping trees all day.
Glancing at his character card, his lips curved into a smile:
"After completing this task, I should be able to reach level 5."
"Damn! Big boss!"
"Grinding king! It's barely been a day, right? Converted to Blue Star time, that's just three or four hours and you're about to hit level 5?"
"Typical Brother Mu!"
The other players suddenly looked over, faces full of admiration.
Li Mu grinned, a handsome smile appearing on his face, as he explained:
"Lucky first task, found a Sun-loving Fir right away, Alice gave me 300 experience points."
"Luck King!"
"That golden one at the camp entrance?"
Everyone around was filled with envy, jealousy, and hate.
"Lucky you! Why am I so unlucky, always getting the temple cleaning task with pathetic experience points, and when I finally got the wood gathering task, I got killed by falling trees several times, and lost all my experience."
The elf bearing the name "Demacia" lamented.
"Hahahaha, maybe you're just born unlucky! Hahaha!"
"In some way, being consistently killed by falling trees also shows talent."
"The moment the server launched, you stripped and started flirting with Alice, I'm only convinced by you."
"I say 'Demacia', how much affection do you have with Alice now?"
Demacia glanced at his system bar, his pointed ears drooping as he touched his spiky hair, sounding somewhat deflated:
"Negative... Negative one hundred..."
"Hahahahaha!"
"You're gonna kill me from laughter, hahaha!"
"No wonder you always get the worst tasks, hahaha..."
"No, I think it's purely his bad luck..."
Among laughter and cheers, the makeshift lumberjack team carried the timber back to the camp under the World Tree.
The campsite was originally a patch of low shrubs, but at this moment, it had been cleared by players into a spacious open area.
Dozens of players grouped in threes and twos, using the cut timber and collected stones to construct dwellings.
Though the several distinct wooden houses were simple, they were already taking shape; the faster ones had even built a double-story wooden building.
Looking at the sophisticated structure, Demacia couldn't help but exclaim:
"Talented! Such a short time to build houses!"
"It's because of the skills! Not gonna lie, sometimes magic and sword skills are really useful, and the higher the level, the stronger one becomes, able to do more..."
Someone explained.
"Of course, design is also crucial."
As he spoke, he pointed to the center of the construction site, where a tall pink-haired female elf in a robe stood, holding some kind of blueprints made from an unknown material, discussing with a few other players, with the name "Gugu Bird" in green letters overhead:
"See that? That 'Miss Gugu Bird' over there is the real pro, heard she studies civil engineering at Jinghua in real life, she designed several of these houses. Seems she's about to reach level 5 just from construction tasks."
Li Mu looked over in surprise, quietly noting the name "Gugu Bird". The other players were stirred:
"Oh my god! It hasn't even been a full day!"
"Yes, I heard she's also planning to design an Elf Town with some other players who study city and garden rules... and she has already obtained the permission from the Goddess."
"Oh my, what a talent!"
"Real-life version of knowledge changes destiny..."
"Isn't this too realistic?"
"From what I can see now, the real purpose of this task seems to be to get us to build the town, doesn't it?"
"Pfft, it really is about reviving the Elf Clan! The newbie village is even being built by us beta players."
"Are the officials that lazy?"
"It's called engagement!"
"I actually think tree holes match elves better... and chopping down trees, it just doesn't feel 'natural'."
"Perhaps there's a deeper layer of meaning?"
"..."
Ivy has no deeper layer of meaning, he just purely wants to save his strength plus absorb some life force, after all, his life is crucial now, everything else can be postponed.
Besides, he's not a deity of faith, but an ancient god who directly controls the Power of Nature, not strictly bound by the clergy's rules.
Building the newbie village...
Listening to the players' discussion, Li Mu pondered thoughtfully.
He carried wood and came to the center of the camp with his teammates.
A campfire had already been lit at the center of the camp, several elf players surrounded the flames, nibbling on fruits from unknown sources, laughing and talking.
And Natural Saintess Alice stood aside, busy distributing and settling tasks with the players.
For ease of movement, she tied her golden hair into a high ponytail, her expression focused. Her fair face was stained with a few smudges, beads of sweat under the firelight glistening enchantingly, looking very cute.
The group approached the young girl to settle their task.
Alice looked up, her eyes slightly brightened when she saw them, especially Li Mu:
"Task completed?"
She remembered this male elf well, this Chosen One though frail, had worked very hard and even found a fine sun spruce.
Besides, he was very polite, completely unlike some rough guys...
Catching sight of a certain red-haired, explosive-haired guy in the team, Alice's smile faded slightly, she hummed softly, and Demacia shuddered slightly, sheepishly hiding behind Li Mu.
It seems, streaking plus teasing, the girl has completely remembered him.
Li Mu coughed and said respectfully:
"Miss Alice, we're here to submit the task."
Alice's gaze returned, and her eyes lit up seeing the wood they were carrying:
"Quality pine wood!"
She nodded at them:
"Place it in the wood area, your task is complete."
As soon as she finished speaking, all of them received the system's prompt sound, immediately letting out a cheer.
Seeing the 150 points of experience credited, Li Mu's heart leapt.
Upgrade time!
Thanking Alice, Li Mu led his teammates away from the task area.
Along the way, his teammates chattered:
"Brother Mu, impressive! Why do I feel Alice's attitude towards you is so good?"
"Brother Mu, how much is your favorability with Alice actually?"
Li Mu hesitated, then said:
"Not much, just 20 points."
Hearing this, the players exploded.
"Damn! That's already very high! I only have 2 points!"
"2 points? What about me who is negative, even though I've tried so hard."
"Forget it, several of us are negative too, we've done many tasks, the favorability should have risen, but Alice has never smiled at us..."
"I heard female players do have some positive numbers."
"The favor system is too tough..."
"Stop playing the victim, I haven't said a word with my negative one hundred..."
"That's your own fault, who told you to touch her hair?"
"Brother Mu, how did you achieve such favorability with Holy Miss? Why do I only get 1 point of favorability per task!"
Li Mu didn't answer immediately; he walked slowly to a wooden stump, clapped his buttocks, and sat down.
It had fully darkened, the pristine night sky was immensely deep, the twinkling stars forming a magnificent Milky Way, resplendent and mysterious...
The campfire blazed fiercely, crackling, the flames flickering.
Many players who were constructing and gathering wood had stopped, they gathered around the flames, eating fruits collected from the forest, chatting and laughing.
Some players grouped around the campfire and started a party, singing, dancing, and even someone used some material to make a bagpipe, playing music on the side.
The whole camp was enveloped in a lively, joyful atmosphere, bustling with excitement, as festive as a holiday.
Watching all this, Li Mu's gaze seemed a bit dazed.
He picked up a purple-blue berry he had plucked on the way, popped it into his mouth.
With a gentle bite, milky juice spilled out, sweet yet slightly acidic.
The evening breeze from the forest blew, making the campfire flicker, the laughter of the players ebbing and flowing, like a dreamlike illusion... Everything, as if a sanctuary away from the mortal world.
He sat quietly on the wooden stump, intently watching everything in front of him.
This feeling was quite marvelous, different from any virtual online game he had experienced before, Li Mu felt as if he was not playing a game, but participating in an interesting large-scale outdoor camping in reality.
A group of strangers, away from the hustle and bustle and worldly affairs, away from the disappointments of reality, came here together, shared tasks, shared joy...
All this, like an unreal dream.
Yet this dream was so beautifully illusory...
Taking a deep breath, at this moment, Li Mu felt an unprecedented calmness, all his troubles thrown to the back of his mind.
After a moment of silence, he explained:
"Perhaps, it's the immersion."
"Don't you think, although this is a game, it's also a world?"