Game of the World Tree

“Haha, I knew it! We’ve finally found some human traces. There must be a village nearby if we just follow these traces. Look… there’s even a trap here. I’m positive there’s a village up ahead!”

While dressed as a mercenary, Demacia picked up a trap from the snowy ground and grinned at the other players.

After saying that, he then drew out his knife, cut off the rope on the animal trap, and stowed it away.

“I understand your logic, but why do you bother picking up these things? I also remembered you picked up the tattered clothes lying on the ground earlier, and now you want this trap too?”

Remarked Li Mu as he shook his head.

He is currently wearing noble attire, and the outfit he was using was found amongst the goods they had seized from the human mercenary group that tried to kidnapped elves beforehand.

According to Nightingale, most nobles from the southern Kingdom of Aries preferred this type of clothing, and in recent years, it has also began to grow in popularity within the Holy Maniya Empire in the north.

Behind Li Mu and Demacia were hundreds of players as the group accompanies a procession comprised of a dozen or so carriages and each marked with the symbol of an oriental dragon.

Each and every one in this group were the first batch of players who successfully met the requirements needed to explore the human territory.

Given the extensive journey ahead, fraught with unknown dangers, along with the information they’ve gathered from the natives, players from the three major guilds decided to disguise themselves as a smuggling caravan on their way to the human lands.

Some players masquerade themselves as mercenaries, while others dressed up as servants of nobility.

Meanwhile, the carriages they are using were the very same ones they conveniently seized from the Crocodile Mercenary Corps.

Of course, following the advice given by the natives, the players also didn’t forget to change their outward appearances. As a result, their prominent pointed ears were now magically altered by spellcasting players to look exactly just like the ears humans have.

Furthermore, they also adjusted their overall appearances to a lesser degree, as Elves in general were simply too good-looking. Even with altered ears, the players still looked like gorgeous men and women, making it impossible not to attract attention.

After all, being too handsome or beautiful made it hard to stay low-key…

Naturally, some modifications were also made to the carriages to prevent it from being recognized as well.

The chances were slim, but it was better to be safe than sorry…

In response to Li Mu’s remarks, Demacia shook his head playfully and said, “Listen, Bro, how could there be randomly discarded clothes with blood in the wilderness? It might be a key item needed for some quest later on or something…”

Li Mu listened and said nothing more.

Looking at the small town in the distance made of black wood and blue stone, with smoke rising from the chimneys, Little Salty Cat’s eyes lit up with excitement.

“Is that a human town? Nice! It gives off a very strong distinct Western Fantasy vibe…”

“That should be Riverwood.¹ I heard from an NPC that it’s the most furthest town in the borderlands of Holy Maniya Empire”

HootyBird explained while tinkering with something within her mini-map interface.

“Riverwood…” Tomato murmured and suddenly chuckled softly before adding, “I wonder… if there are any chickens that can be killed in that town.”

Little Salty Cat heard what he said and looked at him with a slightly puzzled look.

“…Why do you want to kill chickens?”

“You don’t get it; it’s a gaming meme. What is being killed is not a chicken, but a god ² instead.” briefly explained by Tomato before further elaborating,

“It’s from a classic Western fantasy game called ‘Elder Scrolls.’ Coincidentally there’s also a place called Riverwood in that game too and there’s a carefree chicken at the village on the start. However, if you kill it, then everyone in town will immediately turn hostile towards you, including the quest NPCs, and they will all hunt you down like crazy. Hence, we call that chicken, ‘Chicken God.”

Little Salty Cat: “…”

“Elder Scrolls?!”

“Yeah I remember once you did that, it’s almost practically impossible to kill everyone unless you installed a mod.” Demacia chimed in while humorously shaking his head.

Little Salty Cat: “…..”

“By the way, the NPC that Senior Hooty asked about is Nightingale, right?”

Demacia asked as he looked towards their silent coachman who is actually Boxlunch in disguise and raised one of his eyebrows.

“Boss Box, Miss Nightingale really wanted to come with you, but you didn’t let her. What are you thinking? She’s an experienced NPC so I see no harm in letting her come with us, right?”

Boxlunch: “…”

He merely glanced at Demacia and curtly said, “We can resurrect.”

“Uh…” Demacia was momentarily speechless.

True.

This time, everyone came prepared with a good amount of resurrection coins, anticipating the possibility of dying.

Therefore, they weren’t afraid of death at all.

But the NPCs were different.

Although they were aware that this was just a game, the NPCs still behaves as if they have real emotions and memories. Despite being programs, players still often befriendeds them.

So, hearing Boxlunch’s words, Demacia clearly understood the underlying meaning behind it.

The group then chatted in a leisurely manner as they slowly advanced towards Riverwood.

However, when they finally reach the vicinity of the town, a player suddenly noticed two human guards running towards them from the opposite direction.

“Is this… a caravan?!”

Watching the vast procession from a distance, the two guardsmen looked at each other with surprised expressions.

Generally speaking, not many caravans operate during winter and only two types are known to do so.

One type is a large caravan with thousands of people that can operate across the entire continent regardless of the season, and the other…

—Is a smuggling caravan.

Seeing this caravan that only has a modest number of members along with the dozen or so carriages they are accompanying in the style of Aries Kingdom, the two guards began to speculate within their minds.

This was definitely a smuggling caravan from the Aries Kingdom!

Smuggling caravans like this were not an entirely uncommon sight in the town of Riverwood.

In fact, they even often provided accommodations or assistance in obtaining fake entry permits for these smugglers and in doing so, the town would also gain some benefits in return.

Riverwood isn’t particularly affluent, and supplies are also scarce since merchants don’t visit frequently. As a result, the townsfolk adapted by deciding to trade with these smugglers.

The two guardsmen felt relieved and hurriedly ran towards them.

“Someone’s coming!”

Seeing the pair of humans coming towards them, the players’ eyes lit up with excitement.

They instantly became alert and eagerly gazed towards the approaching humans who seemed to look like the town’s security.

Meanwhile, following their prearranged plan, Li Mu while disguised as the caravan leader, stepped forward to greet the approaching humans.

Soon, the two guards reached the player’s caravan.

According to their usual experience, when a smuggling caravan approached the town, their protocol would be to first question who they were and ascertain whether these smugglers would be dangerous or not.

Then after confirming it, the guards would ask for some ‘benefits’ and finally guide the caravan into the town.

However, the two guards instantly became suspicious after getting closer to this particular caravan…contemporary romance

They look like the typical smugglers from a distance but upon closer inspection, they found this caravan to be very different from the norm.

First of all, the mercenaries guarding these caravans radiated a youthful and vibrant aura, with smooth skin far from the rough appearance typical of mercenaries operating in the northern and south territories.

Not only that, but their eyes also gleamed with curiosity, revealing a youthful spirit absent from a typical smuggler whose line of work involves performing illicit tasks.

Secondly, their equipment… was exceptionally high in quality and looks to be entirely brand new.

What was even more astonishing was the presence of some exceptionally gorgeous female mercenaries among them!

Additionally, there was a unique air about them as well, with each person in this caravan giving off a subtle sense of superiority, clearly indicating they were pampered and well-bred.

The two guards instantly made a correction upon their initial judgment.

This… was definitely not a smuggling caravan!

However, when the pair saw the excited and curious gazes from the approaching group, that practically reeks of sheltered innocence…

The lanky guard, who had once been a mercenary, suddenly had a flash of insight.

This people…

Could they instead really be just a group of naive young nobles from Aries Kingdom who, for some reason, decided to disguise themselves as smugglers?

He remembered hearing that doing weird stuff like this seemed to be quite popular amongst the young noble circles and lately, he also heard some rumors that these rich kids were hooked on doing—

What was it called again?

—The caravan game?

— 271 —

【 SMUGGLING CARAVAN 】

¹ 溪木镇 (Riverwood) – Previously translated as Ximu Town. There is a also a town with a same name in the game Skyrim.

² 鸡神 – Some Chinese gamers refer to the chicken in skyrim as ‘Chicken God‘ or ‘The Sixteenth Demon God of Skyrim‘ since killing it essentially brings forth the wrath of the townspeople of Riverwood.

NEXT

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