Forest of Elves, the Chosen City.

A large gathering of elves eagerly awaits in front of the teleportation array that connects to Black Dragon Castle, with some clutching small baskets and packages brimming with fruits of various sizes.

Nearly half of these elves are members of Rageblaze Clan and the rest are also mostly natives who, for varying reasons, refrained from participating in the recently concluded War of Faith.

The news about their victory has already been spread across mainly due to the resurrected players informing the wider populace about the situation and so, the natives who hadn’t joined the battle decided to rush towards the Chosen City to welcome the return of the “Country’s Army.” ¹

At this moment, everyone was looking in the direction of the teleportation array, filled with excitement and anticipation.

The Chosen Ones despite the odds and lesser numbers have actually defeated a formidable army of thirty thousand half-orcs!

For the natives, there is no news more shocking and thrilling than this!

The shocking result almost made all the natives deeply admire the Chosen Ones and further elevated their reverence for the wisdom and insights of their Divine Matriarch.

Despite the fact that some Chosen Ones can have a rather peculiar and not-so-honorable habits, it matters a litte in their eyes. After all, no one is perfect and even if these heroes were summoned by the Goddess, they still cannot be flawless, which a truth understood even by the natives.

Nonetheless despite their flaws, the arrival of the Chosen Ones alongside their Matriarch’s revival heralded a profound transformation amongst the Elvenkind.

Earth-shattering changes rapidly came about one after another as their lives developed and progressed to a better direction.

Almost every day, the natives learned some new knowledge from the Chosen Ones, and at the same time, their motherland, the Elven Forest also experiences some new changes.

This is beyond comprehension for many indigenous elves especially the older folks who, for many years, have valued tradition and strictly adhered to their old ways.

Nevertheless, even the most rigid and obstinate elder knew that they must now embrace this new wind of change for its the will of their Divine Matriarch and this new set of beliefs are what the elves needed to become more stronger…

“They’re finally here!”

Suddenly the silent teleportation array faintly glowed, prompting the excited crowd to pause in anticipation, only to swiftly burst into increased enthusiasm as the array briefly flashed and the first Chosen Ones finally came out.

It’s the player named Calabash.

Although he appeared somewhat disheveled and his equipment still bore some traces of dried blood spatter, his overall countenance was still quite sharp, and a hint of embarrassment as well as a tinge of uncontrollable excitement were evident upon his face.

Just now, the players who had participated in the boss battle immediately started a server-wide trade and auction below the Black Dragon Castle.

And the only legendary silver-grade weapon in the entire server, the Lionheart Longsword, was successfully auctioned off…

Of course, this weapon was auctioned off at a staggering three million contribution points!

The winning bidder turned out to be the Guildmaster of Moe Moe Committee, Little Salty Cat which was surprising, yet totally expected.

Surprising because no one expected a mage like her to bid on a swordsman’s weapon.

And expected because only she could afford such a ridiculous amount of contribution points.

As expected of a richest whale in the server, indeed.

Speaking of which, there are some rumors that this little rich lady might actually be the daughter of a certain CEO who owns a mega corporation that is listed off on the stock exchange in real life…

Well in hindsight, that makes sense.

However, even a rich lady like Little Salty Cat herself couldn’t produce so many contribution points all at once. As a result, she had to borrow some CP’s from Moe’s other members as well in her capacity as their Guildmaster.

She eventually managed to gather three million CP and won the bidding wars.

After the Lionheart Sword was successfully traded between the auctioneer and Little Salty Cat, the three million CP was then decided to be divided among the hundred verified participants who have directly took part in defeating the Orc King.

And as one of the players involved in the Boss battle, Calabash naturally earned a considerable amount of contribution points for himself, making him ecstatic.

Coupled with the gains from this war, almost everyone who have participated in this event have struck it rich!

As the war of faith finally concludes, and auctions are completed, Calabash was really eager to return to the City of the Chosen Ones.

He immediately wants to try out the lottery!

He accumulated four lottery tickets for this quest and now, he is eager to try his luck and see as to whether he will be one of the few lucky ones who can win a legendary golden item.

It would undoubtedly be a huge profit if he won, since even the most mediocre wristguard, should it be a golden-class equipment, can be sold for a hefty amount of CP.

However, just as Calabash passed through the teleportation array and stepped into the City of the Chosen Ones, he was suddenly awestruck as a large group of NPCs gathered and showered him with joyous salutations at the entrance of the teleportation array!

W-What’s going on here?

All these people appear to be eagerly watching him.

Their fervently intense gaze absolutely made Calabash’s heart pound more harder against his chest.

What in the blowing wind is happening here?

Why have these elven uncles and aunties suddenly left Florence to come here?

But soon upon listening to their shouts, Calabash finally understood what’s happening.

“They’re here! They’ve finally arrived!”

“Welcome back heroes who defeated the orcs!”

“Lord Chosen One, you’ve worked hard. These are freshly picked fruits. You must be tired; come and taste them!”

The native’s eyes light up as they surround Calabash, holding fruit baskets and warmly welcoming him.

Oh so they’re welcoming me…

Calabash realized as he sighed internally.

However, upon looking at the NPCs’ sincere smiles and gratitude, he also felt a warm feeling within his heart.

“If nothing else, the NPC’s in this game is really fantastic… Ah, it’s genuinely so touching.”

He once again sighs in his heart.

Actually…as time goes by, he began to inadvertently treat these NPCs more and more as real people because communicating with them feels so natural.

And this surreal sense of realism… is also one of the charms of playing Elven Kingdom.

Think about it more carefully, if these NPCs really do have their very own set of independent emotions and thinking schematics, then it wouldn’t really be farfetched to actually treat them as real people…

After all, even Nightingale has already become friends with all the members of Boxlunch’s team.

And the fond thoughts of this NPC maiden particularly towards the captain of his team are quite known throughout the entire server.

Well…

It’s really not hard to consider the world of Elven Kingdom as yet another real world besides Earth.

Moreover, by treating it as such allows one to fully immerse themselves and enjoy this game to its fullest.

Thinking about this matters, Calabash smiles slightly whilst responding “it’s nothing” and “you’re welcome,” as he accepts the fruits enthusiastically offered to him by the elves.

He then takes a bite.

Oh, it’s very delicious!

After Calabash, soon, the second player also finally emerges from the teleportation array.

This guy also showed excitement and looks to be planning to go straight to the central square and enter the exchange store. However, like him, he was also enthusiastically surrounded by the natives the instant he stepped out the array, leaving him confused by the sudden welcoming crowd…

Of course, after understanding the elves’ intentions, the guy also finally relaxes. He then unceremoniously takes the offered fruits and starts munching on them, just like what Calabash is currently doing.

He never realized it, but after participating in the questline for a day and a night…

He was now really hungry.

The teleportation array continued to flicker nonstop as more and more players finally returned from the Black Dragon Castle…

And soon, the few hundred welcoming crowd evidently found it more and more challenging to personally welcome each and every returning Chosen Ones as players continually emerged out from the array in droves.

At this moment, the natives suddenly realized something and asked themselves a question.

These Chosen Ones…

Don’t they seem to be more than ten thousand?

Usually, their numbers don’t seem significant because the players mostly operate either alone or in a small group of four to five people outside of the cities. Furthermore, most of the time they are scattered across a range of a few hundred square kilometers away from each other.

However when they gather together like this…

The natives finally realized that the Chosen One’s population have really grown exponentially!

For a moment, batches of Chosen Ones continously pour into the Chosen City through the teleportation array, overwhelming the hundreds of welcoming natives…

Looking around, all you can see are colorful heads of people sporting various non-traditional hairstyles, as the whole city drowns in a cacophony of myriad noises.

However, the majority of these people, upon returning, either immediately head straight to the temple or the central square…

They then respectfully bowed with sincere and nervous expressions whilst gazing at the World Tree in the distance.

For a moment, a spectacular scene of thousands of Chosen Ones all clustered together can be seen as they simultaneously pray at the central square.

And watching these usually non-religious Chosen Ones sincerely pray to the goddess for once made the indigenous elves feel even more moved…

“Indeed, looking at them solemnly praying like this made me once again realize that all these children are the envoys summoned by the Great Matriarch…”

“How pious! The first thing they did after defeating the enemy was to immediately pray to our Divine Mother.”

“Look! Look! Some of the Chosen Ones are so excited that they’re even crying…”

“Whoever said that these Chosen Ones have no faith must be blind, huh? Just look at them! They clearly are the loyal children of our Great Divine Matriarch! They are sincerely praying to the goddess!”

“What children? Obviously they are divine envoys! The beings closest to the goddess!”

The natives were entirely amazed and felt much closer to the players…

… Of course, what they didn’t know was that all these praying players were simply seeking the goddess’s blessing to draw a legendary golden item for their lottery tickets.

And as for those players who were crying…

They are simply the unlucky ones who drew a dud.

Little Salty Cat was heading back to her guild’s headquarters on the Chosen City after parting away from the crowd at the array.

This petite rich girl showed a look of satisfaction as she examined the Lionheart sword on her hands.

Walking beside her is Moe Moe Committee’s Vice Guildmaster, HootyBird.

Seeing her happy expression, HootyBird couldn’t help but sincerely advise her, “Little Cat, isn’t bidding on this sword quite pointless? It’s so expensive, and wouldn’t it be a loss since you’re a mage? Plus, if I recall correctly, despite your real family being well-off, you’re still a student, aren’t you?”

“A loss?”

Little Salty Cat smiles, with her eyes forming into a cheeky crescents.

She then looks around, giggles, and says to HootyBird,

“Don’t worry, Sis, it’s absolutely not a loss!”

“Sis! Believe it or not, when the equipment being sold in the store fully upgrades to silver-grade in the future, the price of this weapon will definitely only go much higher than what I paid for it, especially considering it’s a unique, one-of-a-kind equipment that was dropped from the main questline!”

“Plus I’ve also asked Meryer. He told me weapons of this caliber are not common, and it’s even an artifact!”

“Right now, everyone doesn’t have much CP, that’s why I needed to borrow from our guildmates, so it was possible to win it for three million. But in the future, who knows, the value of this sword might increase to ten million! When that happens, I’ll sell it and make a profit!”

HootyBird: “…”

“But…”

She shook her head.

“At that time, CP might not be as valuable anymore…”

“Well I’m not immediately paying out the three million CP that I’ve borrowed…and instead will slowly pay them back!”

“Also, I can rent this weapon to others. This weapon is very sharp and sturdy, almost never getting damaged. I’ll just rent it out and accumulate a steady income!”

“Of course, I’m not going to lend to just about anyone who has dubious reputation. Instead, I’ll pick guys like Tomato, who is the leader of First Legion. Although he’s a bit gloomy, he doesn’t dare to mess with things openly. He also wanted this weapon so bad; heck, he even almost won it. So if I rent it to him, then i’ll acquire a long-term consistent income!”

Little Salty Cat explained in a leisure manner.

HootyBird: “…”

Are all kids of businessmen this savvy with money?

Seeing HootyBird’s speechless expression, Little Salty Cat laughed again.

“Really now, Sis, did you actually believe any of that?”

HootyBird: “…”

“Were you just joking with me?”

HootyBird whose a straight-faced top-academic player widened her eyes, looking at Little Salty Cat with a perplexed expression.

“Haha! Hmm~ maybe half of it is true?”

Little Salty Cat giggled heartily, before her expression became a bit serious.

“Actually… I learned about the significance of the Lionheart Sword to the half-orcs through information obtained from a captive orc.”

“This weapon which symbolized royalty, is not just a simple silver-grade weapon for the half-orcs. Its history is even more longer than the Patron Deity of the half-orcs. I think… it might be useful in the future, that’s why I bid for it.”

“Perhaps… it could even trigger some hidden quests in the future.”

“Of course, half of what I said earlier is also true.”

“And if I happen to be wrong, then I’ll just consider it as wastefully spending my New Year’s money. Anyway, the point is to enjoy the game!”

Well that makes sense.

HootyBird nods.

However, she soon feels a bit horrified.

Oh my…

Nowadays, the exchange rate between CP to RMB is 5 to 1, right?

T-This girl…

She gets so much New Year’s money!?

For a moment, HootyBird feels like she’s poor even though she herself also came from a wealthy household.

Well, that’s how reality is.

It’s entirely possible that someone else’s starting wealth is the maximum wealth someone else would struggle for in their whole life.

No…

Perhaps most people wouldn’t even amass such wealth.

HootyBird shakes her head.

After speaking, Little Salty Cat sighed again, with a hint of regret in her expression.

“Ah…to buy this sword, I even gave up getting the Chief Shaman’s ceremonial robe…”

HootyBird: “…”

No, it’s actually because you, who is so conscious of one’s own appearance, finds the robe of the Chief Shaman way too ugly!

HootyBird rolled her eyes and mentally said to herself.

But indeed, the robe of the Chief Shaman which is made of sheepskin, was a bit ugly.

HootyBird also found its tribal design kind of unattractive and doesn’t suit her aesthetics.

As the two idly chatted, they finally reached the vicinity of the central square.

Seeing the other players seriously praying made the two want to try their luck as well since they too have also gained several lottery tickets.

“Sis, since I’m already fully decked out in legendary gear, I’ll just give it to you instead as a thank-you for tutoring me all this time if I pull another legendary golden-class equipment!”

Little Salty Cat smiled.

HootyBird raised an eyebrow in response and replied,

“Then I’ll gladly accept.”

Well why not, since this rich girl have already willingly offered it?

Of course, their friendship has long since changed from mere acquaintances, so being unreserved like this is nothing new for the two.

In fact, HootyBird, who is usually cold to others, now shows a much more lively expression whenever she’s with Little Salty Cat.

The two also joined the crowd at the central square and prayed towards the World Tree as they mentally entered the exchange store to start the lottery draw.

Unfortunately for the duo, the Goddess didn’t favor their tickets and they only won a small amount of CP, some revival coins, and a few ordinary meditation techniques.

“Ah, it seems I’m destined not to be lucky today.’”

Little Salty Cat shook her head regretfully.

HootyBird silently glanced at her and swallowed the words, “No, you’ve been so lucky since birth.”

Of course, even if Little Salty Cat and HootyBird had bad luck in their lottery draw, there are always those amongst the crowd who got lucky since there are so many players currently doing the lotteries.

In fact, occasional laughter of players could be heard amidst the crowd.

And in everyone’s field of vision, system notifications would occasionally appear like—

“Congratulations to the lucky player ×××, you’ve been blessed by the Goddess! You won an iron-grade legendary golden-class equipment ×××!”

Of course, seeing such message, envy and jealousy from others are also inevitable.

“Don’t worry; I’ll do some quests to earn more lottery tickets.”

HootyBird said.

Little Salty Cat nodded.

“I won’t go. I’ve played for too long this time; it’s time for me to log off.”

With a yawn, she said, “Ah…yawn…staying up all night within the game like this is a first for me…didn’t expect it to be as tiring as in reality.”

“Then I’ll log off first! I’ll come back online once my energy recovers.”

Little Salty Cat said to HootyBird.

And HootyBird also nodded in response.

“Goodbye.”

They waved to each other, one logging off, whilst the other continuing with some quests.

However, just as HootyBird was about to partake in a new quest, she suddenly saw her guild chat channel bustling with activity.

“What’s happening?”

HootyBird felt curious and opened the guild chat interface. Looking at the chat logs, she eventually found a video link posted only a few moments ago.

Clicking on the link, the first thing she noticed after being redirected was that the video’s title was quite eye-catching.

“Shocking! I’ve secretly captured the Goddess battling the God of the Orcs! Is this the game’s hidden storyline?!”

— 262 —

【 IS THIS A HIDDEN STORYLINE? 】

¹ 王师 – The term the author actually used for this means Emperor’s Army.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep