Game of the World Tree

Chapter 170

??THE PLAYERS TEACHINGS

To have the Chosen Ones take on the responsibility of educating the recently born primordial elf, Thranduil Moonlight?

Upon hearing this divine oracle from the World Tree, the elves were left in a state of astonishment.

T-This…Is the Divine Matriarch serious?

Suddenly, Alice seemed to have realized something, as a flicker of understanding passed across her expression.

In a solemn and respectful tone, she then knelt down and declared, “I understand. I will arrange for suitable candidates as instructors.”

So, the intention of the Divine Matriarch is for the elves to acquire virtues from the Chosen Ones as well, right?

While these Chosen Ones may often exhibit rudeness, greed, and disrespect, even demonstrating ruthlessness in battle, they also possess a decisiveness and straightforwardness that the native elves inherently lack, along with a range of new ideas…

Furthermore, despite being emissaries of gods, they do not possess the same level of arrogance compared to the complacent elves that originally lives within Saigües.

It seems… the Divine Matriarch truly wants the elvenkind to undergo a change upon their beliefs and morality.

However, it is still important to exercise caution and thoughtful deliberation upon choosing the individuals who will be responsible for instructing His Royal Highness, Thranduil.

Alice contemplated as she inwardly nodded her head.

Seeing that her believers comprehended her intentions, Evé felt a sense of satisfaction.

By only allowing a native elf, who still clings to their antiquated and obsolete beliefs, to instruct Thranduil, who is akin to a blank canvas, may result in the creation of yet another obstinate and uncompromising individual.

Moreover, the players also possess their own merits. Their distinct ideas and concepts are actually well-suited for the current development of the elvenkind, not to mention their otherworldly knowledge derived from earth!

The optimal approach would be to have both sides contribute to the education of the newly born primordial elf, leveraging the strengths of both the native elves and the otherworldly players.

I wonder what kind of spark will ignite from the collision of two worlds with vastly different civilizations and ideologies?

Evé was highly anticipating it.

Firmly believing in Alice’s capabilities, she entrusted this crucial matter to her, confident that it would be handled smoothly under her leadership.

Of course, Evé didn’t completely stopped there, as she also added a new sidequest,?Instruct the Primordial Elves?under the main questline of?Faction Development?

She made the quest’s description very clear: to impart some useful knowledge from Earth. Anything is acceptable just as long as it is positive and not detrimental to the growth of Thranduil.

However, unlike other quests, if players wish to accept this particular sidequest, they must first earn Alice’s recognition in order to qualify and receive the quest. The completion of the quest will also be evaluated by the Saintess herself.

Moreover, in the quest description, Evé made it clear that imparting strange knowledge to Thranduil is not allowed, and passing on bad habits should be avoided as well. Failure to comply to these guidelines would result in the quest failing, leading to the loss of rewards and severe punishment for the players responsible for such actions.

Of course, if someone successfully teaches Thranduil properly, then the rewards will also be quite substantial.

Furthermore, Evé subtly reminded Thranduil not to unquestioningly embrace the teachings of either the native elves or the Chosen Ones. Instead, she encouraged him to engage in critical thinking and form his own judgments in order to cultivate his own beliefs, which he would then subsequently report to her.

After arranging everything, Alice finally took Thranduil Moonlight and left the World Tree amidst the crowd of onlookers.

Upon learning about the birth of the Primordial Elf and discovering the newly added ?Instruct the Primordial Elves? sidequest, the players instantly grew excited.

“This game is really something else! We can actually teach the NPCs!”

“Does this mean we can also actively participate in the development of the NPCs’ logical reasoning and personality? Man, have AI advancements truly reached such a profound level?”

“Hahaha! We built the main city, and now we get to teach the NPCs too. Damn, the devs are getting too lazy!”

“Guess what? It’s all about creating an immersive experience! The stone monument at the city square still bears the nicknames of the 300 players from the closed beta. Once the open beta is launched, it’s sure to evoke envy among the players.”

“Hehehe~ I must take on this quest no matter what! I want to become a teacher for little brother, Thranduil… who knows, maybe I can even educate the next Elvenking!”

“Huh, you want to be a teacher? I bet you just want to drool over the Primordial Elf’s appearance and physique, you pervert!”

“Ahha! I remember she’s quite into BL, always shipping NPCs together…Hey now, don’t bend¹ the newly born Primordial Elf! Hehehe!”

“You two, get lost!”

“But on a serious note, this Primordial Elf is really good-looking. I’ve heard the natives say he’s even from the royal lineage. As a guy, I find myself a bit smitten as well…”

“Hahaha, are you gonna bend too?”

“Impossible! We still have our beautiful Goddess. Although he’s handsome, he’s still inferior to our Goddess. I’ll forever adore the Goddess Evé!”

“Agreed, Hail thee o’ Goddess Evé!”

“Well as long as you simp for the Goddess, you’ll forever be our comrade!”

The conversation amongst the players was filled with energy and enthusiasm.

Following the launch of the teaching sidequest, a multitude of players gathered around Alice, eagerly seeking her acknowledgement in order to take on the task of educating Thranduil.

Of course…

Ninety percent of those who surrounded her were actually females…

As Alice looked at the chattering group of female Chosen Ones around her, she felt surprised and a little bit troubled as well.

Nevertheless, she also felt a sense of relief.

In her own perception, these female Chosen Ones seemed to be more dependable and reliable compared to their male counterparts.

Based upon her own experience, the majority of troublemakers are male Chosen Ones, while the females tend to exhibit greater restraint and decorum.

However upon careful deliberation, she handpicked only a select few who successfully passed the initial screening and underwent rigorous interviews. In the end, she decided that only Li Mu and HootyBird would be the chosen ones suitable enough to become teachers…

There was no other way.

Alice discovered that the majority of the female players who applied were simply interested in flirting with Thranduil. As a result, she had no choice but to simply select the two individuals whom she was familiar with and had a track record of being reliable.

One was acknowledged by the Elves as the most educated and amiable Chosen One.

Whilst the other was the most knowledgeable Chosen One Alice had ever encountered.

Prior to commencing the teaching task, Alice, Li Mu, and HootyBird had a discussion.

Alice revealed her requirement which is to mold Thranduil into a king who embodies righteousness, nobility, bravery, fearlessness, knowledge, and versatility.

As a result, Li Mu and HootyBird found themselves with an additional responsibility of instructing Thranduil while simultaneously looking after the elven children.

This result made other players extremely envious.

However, despite the fact that they couldn’t officially take on the role of instructors, numerous players still persisted and flocked around the primordial elf, seeking to establish friendship and raise Thranduil’s favorability.

Especially… the female players.

This situation gave Li Mu a huge headache.

With these players having no teaching obligations, they then expressed themselves in various ways instead.

All kinds of tricks came out one after another, leaving Li Mu astonished at the sheer absurdity of it. They flirted and teased, yet still maintained appropriate behavior, making it really difficult for Li Mu to find any actual flaws that would be severe enough to prevent them from approaching Thranduil…

Heck, he was even a little bit jealous of this teenage elven pretty boy, although… the other party was just an NPC.

It served as a reminder for him that having good looks makes it remarkably easy to achieve success in life…

With them being constantly surrounded by numerous girls, the two instructors found it challenging to effectively carry out their teaching duties. Hence as a result, they had no choice but to relocate their makeshift classroom to Li Mu’s own home and put a sign at the door that says, “Restricted to teaching personnel only.”

Additionally, they also enlisted the help of Aél to stand guard outside whenever their class is in session.

Finally, without any more crowds to disturb their teaching sessions, they were able to experience a moment of peace and quiet.

And the division of labor between the two was clear.

HootyBird was tasked with teaching knowledge from Earth, while Li Mu took on the responsibility of cultivating Thranduil’s character.

For this reason, Li Mu went so far as to search online for what emperors of ancient times had studied…

Thranduil was indeed a primordial elf of royal lineage, blessed with extraordinarily high talent.

Throughout their teaching sessions, the two of them discovered that no matter how challenging the subjects they taught to him, Thranduil will grasped them almost instantly and was capable of deducing the correct answer even from a single instance.

The future Elvenking displayed a remarkable capacity to accept anything and exhibited curiosity towards every topic they presented towards him.

Sometimes, he even left both of them speechless with his counter arguments.

Because of this, HootyBird felt a bit discouraged because she had finally encountered someone with stronger learning capabilities than her…

Seeing her like this, Li Mu jokingly said,

“Why are you competing with an NPC? Even though ElvKing is so realistic, in the end it’s still just a game, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be normal for AI to learn things so quickly?”

Upon hearing Li Mu’s words, HootyBird’s face suddenly displayed a look of realization, as she let out a rueful sigh.

“You’re right. It’s just that…after such a long time, I almost forgot that this is a game.”

Almost forgot that this is a game?

Li Mu fully agreed with that sentiment…

Actually, he often entertained this thought as well. That’s why, once in a while, he would choose to completely disconnect from the game and return to the real world to get some rest offline without ever logging back in while he is sleeping.

Otherwise, he was truly worried that he would be unable to distinguish between reality and the game anymore.

From this perspective, Elven Kingdom has truly taken realism and immersion to the extreme.

The game has been in the closed-beta testing phase on Earth for a while now. However, what truly surprises everyone is that out of the 1,200 players who were invited, not a single person has yet chosen to quit the game. This unprecedented retention rate is truly remarkable.

Some may argue that being addicted to games holds no merit, but the players of ElvKing actually reap tangible benefits. This is because it was discovered that certain techniques learned in-game can also be applied in real life as well.

Players specializing in melee combat have reported a significant improvement upon their reaction time in reality. On the other hand, players who focused on spellcasting may not experience the same level of improvement, but they perceive notable enhancements within their memory capacity instead.

Furthermore, unbeknownst to the players, their consciousness and souls have also undergone some improvements as a result of playing the game.

Without them even realizing it, players’ consciousness becomes much stronger than that of average people on Earth, and their souls also receive significant benefits, resulting in a slightly extended lifespan.

Moreover, the players have also fully utilized the game’s four-fold mind acceleration feature. It has now become a common practice for Little Salty Cat to seek tutoring from HootyBird within the game, and some college students have even resorted to doing their homework in-game, as time moves more slowly inside game compared to the real world…

Thranduil’s education is proceeding right on track.

However it doesn’t mean that he only studies all the time…

In his free time, Thranduil also enjoys wandering around the Chosen City and interacting with the players.

During his leisure time, he frequently finds himself surrounded by female players. Moreover, while strolling around, certain players would also invite him to barbecue parties or engage in casual conversations with him…

Upon learning about these things, Alice became very concerned about Thranduil developing bad habits.

She really wanted Thranduil to sever communication with other chosen ones, except for HootyBird and Li Mu, at least until his worldview was fully established.

She tried telling the Goddess about her concerns but the Matriarch seemed fine with it, thus Thranduil’s communication with the players continued on without any hindrance.

Therefore, Alice had to give up in the end.

But at the same time, she also became vigilant. After all, Aél’s two younger sisters had developed a tendency to steal barbecue after they had become too familiar with the chosen ones…

Alice didn’t want Thranduil to follow in their footsteps and learn to steal as well!

After a careful consideration, she decided to regularly check upon Thranduil’s progress to prevent the future Elvenking from becoming spoiled…

However, it turned out that Alice’s concerns were unfounded and she was just being too much of a worrywart.

In actuality, the communication with the chosen ones didn’t seem to have a significant impact on Thranduil.

In fact, during her regular progress checks every few days, Alice discovered that Thranduil had not only avoided developing any bad habits but had also become increasingly gentle and humble instead.

Perhaps it was the result of his frequent interactions with female players, as he now consistently wore a bright smile that radiated gentleness and carried himself with an elegant demeanor. It seemed that he had learned how to interact with the opposite sex properly, and even Alice couldn’t help but feel a flutter within her heart whenever she saw his charming demeanor.

Furthermore, his knowledge was advancing rapidly, especially the otherworldly knowledge he had gained from interacting with the chosen ones. Alice realized that there were many things she could no longer comprehend whenever she inquired about the things he had learned…

Alice couldn’t help but marvel at the rapid growth of an individual with elven royal lineage. At the same time, she also felt a sense of relief.

That’s good…

Meanwhile, as Thranduil’s growth continued on the right path, Eve’s other sidequest under the questline “Faction Development” has also made some new breakthroughs…

¹ (??) – Bend/Bent is a chinese term that means to turn a heterosexual person into a homosexual.