▪️BOXLUNCH’S MORNING

In the early morning, the golden sun slowly rises in the east, radiating a brilliant light that gently disperses the dense white fog enshrouding the Elven Forest.

Shortly after, the artificial lights in the Chosen City began to dim one by one with the arrival of the sunrise, unveiling a lively atmosphere among the residents.

From time to time, life-oriented players who had stayed within the game all night have slowly come out in groups of twos and threes, yawning and stretching as they look for any NPCs who have also just woken up in the city to complete tasks.

Some returning combat players have also decided to come back at this time to their own in-game homes in order to catch some sleep after briefly checking their status screen and noticing that they exceed their fatigue value after hunting monsters all night.

In the game Elven Kingdom, players must let their in-game character avatar sleep every once in a while, or else their physical abilities will decrease significantly.

As such, many hardcore players found this quite frustrating since they have the desire to play nonstop.

However, the majority of the players have adapted to this kind of schedule. After all, it is nothing more than going offline for two to three hours of “sleep” to recover their real bodies physical strength. Furthermore, it is also recommended to take such rest.

In a two-story villa located to the southwest of the Chosen City.

The player with the username ‘Boxlunch’ had just logged into the game and rose from his bed. He then first checked his status screen and messages before he proceeded to equip himself before finally opening the bedroom door and stepping outside.

This villa is Boxlunch’s in-game ‘home.’

However he doesn’t own it all by himself but rather, it also belongs to the five members of his combat team.

As a matter of fact, this shared communal “home” model is not uncommon in Elven Kingdom. Many independent non-guild affiliated combat teams, as well as a second batch of beta-testers with limited funds, and even real-life friends all adopt this kind of cohabitation lifestyle.

When Boxlunch finished freshening himself up and arrived at the villa’s dining hall downstairs, his other teammates had already been waiting there for him for quite some time.

They sat around the dining table, each preoccupied with their own tasks.

Some are just watching videos online with vacant expressions, as they occasionally burst into fits of laughter, while others seemed to be totally engrossed in studying strategy information posted on the official forums.

A couple of members are also engaged in a conversation.

“Hey did you hear? Apparently the Guildmaster of Nature Heart had already obtained a Crypt Spider mount…”

“What!? That’s so fast dude…How did he do it!?”

“I heard he somehow managed to improve his favorability with the Spider Queen just by telling her some bunch of stories and imparting some of the game’s common knowledge. He easily turned his favorability from -20 to +40 just by doing so, and the Spider Queen gave him an adult Crypt Spider mount as a reward! Dude, I heard that thing has the strength of an Iron-rank!”

“Dang, I’m so envious! Haha, that Mu guy truly is the best at sucking up to NPCs! But… won’t the Crypt Spider’s strength be greatly weakened here on the surface?”

“Well, even if it’s weakened, it’s still a mount! Its strength may diminish on the surface, but it just means that it will also have bonuses underground! Besides… an adult Crypt Spider can even produce silk! And Spider silk is quite valuable!”

“Yeah I guess that’s true… sigh, too bad we ourselves can’t own one… I mean, our favorability with the Spider Queen is still at -100…”

“A-Ahhha, let’s just wait for new mounts in the future.”

The two players looked at each other ruefully before shrugging each of their shoulders.

Ever since they bombed the Spider Queen’s Lair to smithereens, their team became the target of her hatred. Hell, they were even hesitant to go back to explore Rivendell, fearing that Rose might ambush them from behind.

Upon hearing his teammates’ conversation, Boxlunch couldn’t help but sigh to himself.

“Ah…”

It had been his own idea to use explosives, but he hadn’t expected things to backfire like this.

Even now, he still feel somewhat guilty about it…

Despite their regret, the members of his team didn’t blame him for the situation as they understood that it was a mutual decision by everyone at the beginning.

Of course, Boxlunch’s prestige also played a role too. As the team leader, he was reliable and responsible.

Under his leadership, the team’s average combat power ranked top in the entire server!

Upon seeing their leader finally arrive, the other members of the team halted what they were doing and warmly greeted him.

“Good morning Captain!”

“Mornin~ Boss Box!”

Boxlunch put aside the regret within his heart and nodded to each of his teammates who have greeted him.

Then, he sat down in his seat.

The players kept chatting, but the conversation shifted to a new topic.

“I wonder what we’ll have for today…I’m hungry.”

“Hmm, It’s about time. They should be here soon, right?”

“Sigh, I feel a bit embarrassed about always eating for free…”

“Well, It’s all thanks to Box!”

The entire team sat neatly at the dining table, waiting for their meal.

Just as Boxlunch was settling down on his seat, the villa’s main door was then skillfully opened, and a cheerful voice rang out.

“Hey! You guys are up! I see that you’re all so early today!”

Boxlunch paused for a moment, and though the other players were still busy with their own tasks, their peripheral vision inadvertently glanced over the person who had just arrived.

A tall, long-eared female figure walked briskly into the villa from the outside. She was dressed as a hunter, exuding an imposing aura—it was the elven maiden, Nightingale.

Upon spotting the usual five people seated around the dining table, a slight smile formed at the corners of her mouth.

“Are you all ready?”

The players looked somewhat embarrassed but greeted her with a chuckle, having already grown quite familiar with her.

“A-Ahem… Good morning, Miss Nightingale!”

“Morning! Miss Nightingale!”

“Well… we can’t resist your kindness, Miss Nightingale!”

“That’s right, we’re hungry and waiting for your meal…”

Nightingale raised her head slightly, before her lips curled into a smile.

“Heh, since I’m in a good mood today, I tried making some snacks that seem to be a specialty from your world. It’s called…’Baozi,’ ¹ or something? Anyway, my little brothers and sisters liked them, so I thought you guys might enjoy them too.”

As she spoke, she waved her hand, and a basket filled with steaming Baozi appeared.

The players’ eyes instantly lit up upon seeing it.

“Whoa! Miss Nightingale, your cooking skills are getting better and better!”

“Ah… we’re really sorry for making you bring us breakfast every day like this.”

“We can’t help it. It’s all thanks to the beautiful Miss Nightingale!”

The group of players sat neatly around the table, waiting eagerly for their meal.

Nightingale raised the corners of her mouth at their reaction, then she glanced at a particular someone who didn’t verbalize anything yet showed a rare look of astonishment before clearing her throat and distributing the baozi.

“Alright, alright, enough with the compliments. Just try them and see how they taste.”

As the players swiftly began eating their share, their eyes lit up with delight after taking their first bite.

“Mm… delicious! Mushroom filling?”

“It’s excellent! Very authentic!”

“Miss Nightingale, why don’t you just stay with us, along with your little brothers and sisters?”

“Yeah! If anyone could marry Miss Nightingale, they’d be an incredibly lucky guy…”

The players teased and laughed as they gleefully stuffed their mouths with food.

Blushing slightly at their words, Nightingale snorted and turned her head away.

“You guys are daydreaming again! I don’t want my cute little brothers and sisters to pick up your bad habits! Cough… you all just enjoy your meal, I’ll get some water for you.”

She said and then swiftly made her escape.

“Hehehe…”

“Hahaha…”

Pleasant laughter filled the dining hall.

Then, everyone turned to the person who kept silent amidst the banter.

“I say, Boxlunch… Nightingale’s behavior is so damn obvious. Don’t you want to respond?”

“Yeah! She’s clearly interested in you!”

“Sigh… the power of the hero saving the damsel really is so great, man…”

“Indeed, how many days has it been now?”

Boxlunch: “…”

“…Just eat your food quietly.”

He said with a stern expression.

With his typical response, the others simply covered their mouths and laughed light-heartedly.

Soon, Nightingale returned with a water pitcher, with her expression back to normal.

“Are you going underground yet again today?”

She curiously asked as she poured honey water for each of the players.

“Yes… we’re continuing to hunt some Shadow Monsters underground! Thanks.”

Calabash responded while taking the water.

Since the completion of the main questline [Shadow Army] and the storyline [Dark Dwarves] a week ago, the Deep Rift Cavern where Blackrock City was located had become the players hunting area where Shadow Monsters keeps spawning.

According to the game’s storyline, although the players had successfully repelled the invasion of the Shadow Legion, the Dark Lord’s followers have also corrupted the world underground. This led to the formation of a spatial crack in the Deep Rift Cavern, connecting it to the Darklands.

The material world had a fatal attraction to shadow creatures and abyssal creatures.

Moreover the underground world, was predominantly associated with dark magic due to it being once part of the Netherworld!

Therefore, although Zero, the Elven Godwarden, had borrowed the power of the goddess to seal that spatial crack, thus preventing high-level monsters from entering the material world, low-level Shadow Monsters could still occasionally slip through it, posing a significant threat to the safety of Blackrock City.

Thankfully, under the guidance of the goddess, Zero, accompanied by the Dark Dwarves, established a protective array to enclose the several-kilometer-wide area centered around the spatial crack.

All Shadow Monsters that entered the crack were trapped within this sealed space, separated by their levels into different areas…

Of course, the materials for setting up the array were provided by the dwarves, as they had plenty of ore and weren’t short of magic stones.

And the dwarves were more than willing and expressed deep gratitude to the elves for doing such a thing…

After all, if the elves hadn’t taken action, this particular spatial crack would have brought endless potential dangers to Blackrock City if left as it is!

This region, where the Shadow Monsters constantly spawn and gathered, had became the players’ new hunting grounds, a dungeon of some sort where they can repetitively do task such as [Clearing Shadow Monsters]

As for the contents of this particular task, it is quite simple and straightforward.

Players simply must enter the dungeon and hunt the Shadow Monsters that came out of the crack!

Since the monsters’ levels ranged from lower Iron to upper Iron, it was an ideal place for players to gain experience. Moreover, the Shadow Gem Fragments these monsters occasionally dropped were not only excellent dark-attribute magical materials but could also be offered to the goddess for substantial contributions. As a result, this place have became the top choice for combat players to level grind and hunt monsters.

Since the appearance of the Shadow Monster dungeon, it had become the hottest topic of discussion among all players in the official forums. Many players eagerly hunt shadow monsters, hoping to quickly advance to intermediate Iron-rank.

The top group of combat players who had been promoted to intermediate Iron-rank thanks to the [Shadow Legion] questline also wanted to grind more contributions to exchange for purple-grade Iron-class equipment and update their full combat gears completely.

During these days, Boxlunch’s own combat team had also been doing the [Clear Shadow Monsters] task.

Hearing Calabash’s words, Nightingale took a sip of honey water and slightly frowned.

“I really can’t understand why you guys all enjoy fighting and killing so much…”

“Because we want to level up and become stronger quickly!”

The warrior who served as the team’s tank replied matter-of-factly.

“Sigh, I wonder when we’ll become as powerful as Lady Zero. Godwarden’s is truly amazing… I wonder if the Godwarden jobclass will be available in the future.”

Chopin, the druid of the team expressed wistfully.

Hearing the players’ words, Nightingale pursed her lips and clarified.

“A Godwarden isn’t a jobclass; that role can only be bestowed by the Divine Matriarch.”

“Well then, let me put it in another wat….I really want to receive such role from the Goddess…”

“Maan, I wonder when they’ll release the Priest class. I really want to switch to a healing class.”

Nightingale: “…”

“Anyway… let’s level up quickly. The members of the First Legion are almost catching up to us you know.”

“Hey! Our team must remain the top combat team!”

“I really want to reach level 40 soon! I feel uncomfortable if I’m not at the max level…”

“But, level 40 is just the peak of intermediate Iron.”

“Well, I’m sure they’ll definitely release higher levels in the future.”

The players discussed such topic amongst themselves.

“Strength…”

Nightingale muttered as she showed a complex expression while listening to their conversation.

She then looked at the chosen ones sitting around the dining table and saw the overflowing enthusiasm and passion within their eyes.

She couldn’t help but to let out an inner sigh within her heart.

It’s precisely because of their striving spirit that the elves can rise up once again.

¹ 包子 – Baozi or simply bao, is a type of yeast-leavened filled bun in various Chinese cuisines. There are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations, though the buns are most often steamed.

Sorry for the radio silence these past few week, my city was hit by a two typhoon back to back. My place was flooded and electricity/net was down for a couple of days, so I had no energy nor in the right mind to translate anything. My situation is now somewhat back to normal tho, so my usual updates should resume again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep