CHAPTER 606

【 PROGRESS 】

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“I understand. Then let us put aside the matter of the restitution of our kingdom for now. I will explain everything to our fellow clansmen, and afterward, I shall pray to Her Grace and rally the Chosen Ones to devote themselves to the task of reforming the church.”

Alice spoke with resolution.

Evé regarded her quietly before giving a slight nod.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

But the Saintess only shook her head, her face radiating an almost unshakable devotion.

“This is what I ought to do, both for the glory of the Elves and for Her Grace the Goddess.”

Her tone and manner really reminded Evé of the way subordinates on Earth would respond to their superiors during formal meetings. The resemblance was so uncanny that Evé could not help but feel an odd mixture of bemusement as she watched the blond holy maiden.

Seeing Eve’s expression, Alice’s cheeks flushed a delicate shade of red.

“I-I learned this from the Chosen Ones. I believe their zeal in serving the Goddess is something truly worth emulating,” she explained, her voice tinged with a trace of embarrassment.

No, they are only doing it for contribution points, EXP, and because they are overly fond of my appearance and eager to raise their favorability with me…

Evé thought inwardly, suppressing a sigh.

After their discussion on church reform and the restoration of the kingdom, Alice appeared more at ease. She soon rose, offered a respectful bow, and took her leave.

As one of the few purple-class NPCs in the entire game, Alice remained constantly occupied. Although she no longer personally issued routine daily tasks as those had already long since been entrusted to other clerics, she still oversaw the more significant questlines tied to player’s growth and development.

Moreover, with the next stage of plans already settled in consultation with Zero, she now needed to hasten to the temple and offer her prayers to the Goddess, seeking Her Grace’s formal approval.

Ahem… though in truth, the Goddess in question was already aware of everything.

Evé herself did not leave her office but instead lingered quietly within the study, her expression calm, as if waiting for the inevitable.

Sure enough, it did not take long before she received a new prayer.

More precisely, it was Alice’s prayer, sent after she had departed to the central temple’s great hall. The content of the prayer mirrored word for word the matters the two had just discussed together.

Hearing Alice’s prayer, Evé naturally illuminated her holy statue as a sign of acknowledgment. She then issued an oracle announcing the Church of Life would undergo reformation to all her believers. At the same time, she also released a corresponding quest within the game system.

“Hm? A new server-wide quest? Let’s see…. A meeting with the church leadership to deliberate on reforms for the Church of Life? The primary topics includes refining the church’s regulations and doctrines? And players who submit constructive proposals during this meeting will even receive generous rewards?”

Reading the system prompt that flashed before her eyes, Meng Zhihan, who had already reached the level-cap of Silver-rank, could not help but arch a brow.

“So those lazy devs are once again leaving everything for us players to do, huh…”

She muttered while absentmindedly stroking Katyusha’s head. The little copper dragon nestled happily in her arms, face full of contentment, flicking its tiny tail as if agreeing with her words.

Meanwhile, lying beside Meng Zhihan, Dōngdōng chewed on a stalk of dogtail grass while shaking her head.

“Lazy? No Menghan, this is what immersion truly feels like! I have long wanted to complain about how the church of life is being run. Right now, just about anyone can become a priest, and there are no proper checks or regulatory measures at all. The NPCs side are still fine, but you have no idea what a disaster things are on the player side!”

Her tone grew more animated as she continued.

“Although becoming a priest is supposed to be a bit troublesome, but that guy Demacia still managed to found some exploit and turned it into a lucrative business. Now, for only 998 soft sister coins, anyone can become an apprentice priest… it’s absurd. It’s almost a guaranteed success, with a full refund if it fails. He even advertises it like that like some kind of late-night infomercial!”

She spoke with a chagrin smile, clearly both amused and exasperated.

“That guy’s exploit still works?”

Meng Zhihan was stunned and added, “Wasn’t there a requirement that in to advance to a fully fledged priest, one must first do some missionary work? Without patience and actual effort, it should be impossible for most players, right? So how can that guy twist that into a profitable business?”

Dōngdōng sighed, spitting out the dogtail stalk and propping herself up on her elbows.

“Menghan, have you ever heard of factory-mass produced idols?”

“What?”

“What Demacia’s doing is basically a simplified version of Earth’s celebrity-manufacturing model. The boss doesn’t have to lift a finger while the public-relations team does all the groundwork. They simply build a flawless persona for their ‘Idol’ during their missionary work, polish their image until it’s spotless, then brainwash the masses using the charm of the Idol in the same way idol companies cultivate mindless fans. In the end, every single one of them ends up converted. Thus, you’ve got yourself a group of fanatical believers.”

“So that’s how he got the NPCs to become believers?”

“Yeah,” Dōngdōng replied with a bitter laugh. “The NPCs in this world are far too innocent. They have never been exposed to the kinds of manipulative tactics we’ve seen countless times back on Earth. To them, it’s fresh, convincing, and worst of all, what that carefully cultivated ‘Idol’ preach to them feels genuine. They don’t recognize the scam like we do, so they fall for it completely.”

Meng Zhihan: “…”

“But as a result, nowadays anyone with money can practically become an ‘idol’ priest, which throws the whole system into chaos. Worse still, some take advantage of this loophole to deliberately mislead the NPCs, by spreading false doctrine or absurd interpretations, and this in turn tarnishes the reputation of the entire church of life. If you ask me, this upcoming reform isn’t just important, it’s long overdue!”

Dōngdōng said indignantly, her voice carrying the weight of genuine frustration.

Meng Zhihan gave her a strange look.

“You are sounding more and more like an actual fanatical believer of the Goddess, you know.”

“Oh, shut it. I simply love this world. For me, this is more than just a game. It really feels like a beautiful world, which is why I want it to become better.”

Dōngdōng replied sincerely, her eyes reflecting a rare seriousness that made Meng Zhihan pause.

Eventually she too nodded in agreement and sighed softly.

“…Yeah, I get what you mean. Elven Kingdom is no longer a game in the traditional sense. It has already become our second home. From our perspective, this exploitative practice is highly destructive to the game’s environment.”

This was the contradiction between game and reality.

Since no matter how Eve dressed “reality” in the settings of a game, reality still remained a reality.

And as long as players continued to act purely with a gamer mindset, conflicts and dissonance were inevitable.

It was only natural as every system has flaws, and players, by instinct, are drawn to exploiting them. They search for shortcuts, optimize every detail, and push boundaries until rules inevitably bend or break.

That is the essence of “playing the game.”

But when such behavior was placed into a world like Elven Kingdom, wherein the lines between the virtual and the real are blurred, the results became pretty jarring.

Tactics that once made sense within the framework of a traditional game now carried weight and repercussions that spilled over into this alternate reality.

And yet, it was precisely this very mentality of the players, coupled with their unique identity, that allowed them to rampage across the World of Seigües like a force of nature, feared as though they were a natural disaster.

In the end, all things bore two sides.

“Of course, that is not the most important matter.”

Dongdong suddenly changed the subject, then turned toward the direction of the Temple of Life, her eyes sparkling as though filled with stars.

“The most important thing is that Her Grace Evé is simply too beautiful! That divine appearance of hers is so irresistible! I swear, I want to worship her forever!”

She rolled across the grass in exaggerated excitement, clutching her cheeks as if she might faint at any moment.

Meng Zhihan: “…”

This friend of hers whose crazy over beautiful-looking people truly was beyond saving…

She could only shake her head helplessly.

Sometimes she even wondered how she had ended up befriending someone like this in the first place?

That being said, the Goddess truly was beautiful. Her charm seemed to transcend gender and common sense alike. Just last year on Singles Day, even Meng Zhihan had been unable to resist buying a Goddess-themed pillow online…

Dōngdōng suddenly sprang up with a carp-like motion, rolling up the sleeves of her priest’s robe before punching the air with exaggerated vigor.

“Enough idle chatter! I have no time to waste like this. I am going to sign up for this meeting right now! This time, I will make full use of my professional expertise to help cleanse the mess within the Church of Life!”

Meng Zhihan waved her hand dismissively, her expression caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement.

“Shoo, shoo. Off you go then.”

༺⟐༻

Implementing church reform was not something that could be achieved overnight.

Therefore, Evé decided to adopt the same approach she had once used when compiling the Holy Codex of Life. She would draw upon the collective wisdom of all, harness the players’ boundless energy and creativity, and merge those ideas with the systems left behind by her predecessor, gradually refining a model that best suited the current times.

After issuing this oracle, she no longer troubled herself with the finer details.

Once they reached a consensus and hammered out an appropriate new framework for the church reform, she would simply give her final judgment by approving what was in line with her vision and discarding what was not.

In any case, there was still one week left until the Harvest Festival.

Yet even now, the native elves dwelling in the Elven Forest had already thrown themselves into preparations.

Though the festival day had not yet arrived, both Florence and Kenorland were already brimming with signs of festivity.

Though the festival day had not yet arrived, both Florence and Kenorland were already showing signs of festivity. Every elf, including those whose bloodlines had been purified after coming from Ouros, looked forward to the festival with eager anticipation.

After all, the Harvest Festival was also a cherished tradition from their homeland of Ouros.

Even the players quickly noticed something unusual in the natives’ recent behavior. After asking around and learning about the upcoming harvest festival, they too grew eager with anticipation.

Given Elven Kingdom’s near-perfect simulation of reality, its celebrations had never once failed to impress.

After all, hadn’t there already been groups of players gathering daily in the central square of Chosen City, turning it into a never-ending party?

With the rapid pace of modern life, players found themselves with less and less free time in reality. Only here in Elven Kingdom, with its fourfold time acceleration, could grant them a pure haven away from the hustle and bustle of the real world.

While the preparations for the festival proceeded in an orderly fashion, the sealing operations of the Dwarven Kingdom also continued at the same time.

The first successful counterattack had greatly boosted the Dwarves morale. After reclaiming their position on the Sealed Lands and securing the second batch of offering supplies, they quickly returned underground to resume their sealing efforts.

One had to admit, a race with a legacy of thousands of years was truly wealthy. Even in decline, their reserves remained pretty impressive.

Their second round of summoning offerings was no less than the first.

The mountain-like supplies they offered made Eve, who received them graciously within her Divine Kingdom, sigh inwardly. If every faction that will summon the players were just as rich as these dwarves, then she would never need to worry about shortages of stocks in the exchange store ever again…

The dwarves worked swiftly.

Them summoning the players for a second time took place just half a day later.

This time, however, they did not penetrate deep into the heart of the Sealed Lands. Instead, they summoned the players at the outer perimeter.

The range of activity for the players was a circular area centered on the holy statue, with the radius varying in proportion to the amount of offerings the dwarves had presented.

The first summoning had dealt a heavy blow to the demon army summoned by the Evil God Barolte, but that had taken place deep within the corrupted region. Beyond those polluted lands, remnants of demons still lingered.

The goal of the second summoning was to eliminate these stragglers.

This cleansing was vital as each demon served as an eye for Barolte. If the dwarves failed to clear them out, then when they advanced deep into the sealed lands to launch the decisive battle, they risked being attacked from behind.

If they were caught in a pincer strike, the danger would be immense.

The players, however, did not disappoint.

The rewards from the first battlefield summoning had left many with a taste for more. The contribution points they earned far outpaced those of other tasks, stoking the enthusiasm of every participant.

In less than half a day, the players had already cleared the demons from the outer perimeter of the sealed lands.

This time, though, the dwarves acted far more shrewdly.

With the players charging ahead, they merely followed behind to reap the benefits, suffering almost no casualties themselves. The players, on the other hand, lost quite a few, perhaps even more than in the first summoning.

There was a reason for this.

Too many players wanted to participate in this battlefield summoning. Even with level restrictions, the queue extended beyond fifty thousand.

Each battlefield deployment had a set limit on numbers of participants. Although players were sent in continuously, it was impossible to transport everyone.

Moreover, once a player left the battlefield, they had to rejoin the queue before participating again.

As a result, every participant in the second battle was effectively a “newcomer.”

Most of the veteran players in Elven Kingdom had queued early and were already deployed during the first battlefield mission. As a result, the average strength of the second wave of players was somewhat weaker.

Therefore, casualties among them were naturally higher.

Of course, when quality is lacking, quantity makes up for it.

The number of players summoned in the second wave far exceeded that of the first. Under their relentless, bandit-like pursuit, even after suffering heavy losses, the demons in the end still had no chance to fight back.

Yet to the legendary warrior Tonglu, the sight of so many fallen elven Chosen Ones only deepened his guilt.

Flawed though the elves might be, he had grown rather fond of these long eared folks.

Perhaps it was due to his first impression. When he had first visited Sandstorm City, the elves had left him with a most favorable image.

“The Harvest Festival is only a few days away. If the war ends before then, I shall pay them another visit… I must express my gratitude properly, and also… erect a memorial for those elven friends who gave their lives here within the sealed lands.”

Tonglu resolved in his heart.

Even now, he could not forget the valor and fearlessness of those fallen Chosen Ones…

Their calm acceptance in the face of death.

Call it madness or call it fervor, that spirit of embracing death without fear was truly worthy of his admiration.

At the very least, Tonglu believed that if their roles were reversed, he himself could never face death with such serenity.

They were, without doubt, a band of great warriors.

With the demons cleansed in the outer perimeter, the High Pontiff of the dwarves alongside the legendary warrior Tonglu continued to advance with the holy statue of the Goddess of Life, pressing into the sealed lands to begin their true counteroffensive.

The counterattack went smoothly.

Perhaps the demons had been thoroughly frightened by the first summoning, or perhaps Barolte had never summoned that many demon kings to begin with. In any case, during the battles that followed, neither dwarves nor the players encountered another demon king.

This was a relief to the dwarves.

The control a demon king exerted over other demons was truly terrifying. Whenever their monarch was present, the demons usually fought at a completely different level.

Not to mention, these Demob Kings themselves were formidable in their own right, wielding the strength of Gold-rank expert, which were far beyond that of ordinary Silver-rank expert could handle.

Even the Chosen Ones who had received their Goddess’s divine favor had to fight with their full strength against such foes.

In contrast, the following battles were nothing short of overwhelming.

The dwarves’ morale rose higher with every victory, and more and more Chosen Ones joined the fray. Within merely two days, the demon army of Barolte, which had plagued the dwarves for thousands of years, was driven back into the very depths of the sealed lands.

In these two days, including the first two battles, the high pontiff had summoned the Chosen Ones a total of five times.

For the players, this meant five battlefield summoning missions.

The latter summoning campaigns were on a scale far beyond the first. Altogether, forty thousand player-participations were recorded, a force so vast it left the dwarves utterly astonished.

By then, no one doubted that the elves truly possessed the power to crush the coalition of the Dark City-States and the capacity to annihilate the orcs.

Two days later, the dwarves have finally reached the deepest part of the sealed lands where the evil god Barlote had been imprisoned.

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