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Chapter 48
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“What… what are you doing, Rai?”
At the top of the Illusion Magic Tower.
Hina approached me and spoke.
I was currently engrossed in manipulating a segment of the world where the Dark Elves and Elves were engaged in a bet.
“Right now, BigTree and Lady Riana are trapped in a Piglin bastion in the Nether. Want to watch together?”
I showed her the illusion footage extracted from the main server as I spoke.
Hina let out a small grunt as she sat beside me.
“Trapped…? Do Piglins do stuff like that?”
“Of course not. I set it up intentionally. I configured the Nether portal to connect directly to the Piglin bastion, and I lured them into being chased and captured by a large group of Piglins.”
“Wh-why? Normally, getting Ender Pearls from Piglins isn’t that hard.”
“I thought they might have a conversation while they’re trapped. If I left them to compete endlessly, it felt like a war might break out inside. Of course, I didn’t expect BigTree and Lady Riana to end up trapped together.”
I originally thought multiple people would rush into the Nether.
I had prepared multiple prisons to trap everyone as they came through.
The goal was to lock them all up, forcing them to cooperate and escape.
Now that only those two had entered, I was adjusting the difficulty so two people could escape if they worked together.
“So… why did you do something like that? Doesn’t that mean the competition can’t conclude?”
“Even if the competition ends, what difference would it make? If the Elves win, things go back to the way they were. And if the Dark Elves win, the Elves still wouldn’t admit something like ‘the World Tree is just a big tree.'”
“Th-that may be true…”
“Didn’t Galliard mention this before? The Elves…”
I recalled my conversation with Galliard before the second bet.
***
“Elves are rigid and strict. They believe they were born from the roots of the world and bear a great destiny. On the other hand, Dark Elves are prickly and bad at expressing themselves, like most artisans.”
“Are you saying the difference in personalities caused the conflict between the two races?”
“Exactly. Both races live in isolated environments for long periods, making meaningful conversations between them nearly impossible. They’re all just social misfits, that’s what it boils down to. All those Elf types are like that.”
“Yeah, Elves are definitely rigid.”
At my request, Galliard shared stories about the past wars between the Elves and Dark Elves.
Hina, who had lived during the time of those wars, occasionally nodded and added bits to the story.
Galliard, though he hadn’t lived through that era, had heard stories from Riana during their time in the Hero Party.
It was a bit shocking to learn Hina was older than Galliard.
“It doesn’t seem like something worth such a huge fight. Maybe some arguments, but nothing more.”
“They weren’t taught proper family values. The only thing Elves revere as their parents is that giant tree. Did the World Tree teach them manners or raise them? Of course not.”
“Uh, Galliard, hold on. Talking bad about parents is a bit…”
Galliard’s words had no filter.
Though he was usually blunt, words like “not taught proper family values” were new.
It seemed he’d been spending too much time on COL recently…
“Actually, it’s not even a parent! It’s just a big tree. Sure, it forms the foundation of the world and purifies mana, but in the end, it’s just a tree! Calling it their parent is why they turned out this way. Does a tree talk or do anything?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“Problems like this were bound to happen. Personality develops through diverse relationships and experiences. But Elves only interpret the World Tree’s will however they want and act accordingly. Naturally, their social skills are non-existent after all this time.”
“…That actually sounds like a reasonable explanation. The Elves’ society is particularly isolated, after all.”
The World Tree has no personality.
As a parent, it neither teaches nor guides. The Elves have little interaction with other races.
Their society is essentially a stagnant pool of self-reinforcing ideas.
It’s no wonder humans call them “rigid fools.”
To humans, their lack of social skills is maddening.
At least the Dark Elves, who interact with humans more frequently, are somewhat better.
“They may be old, but they’re all just kids. Age doesn’t make the person—experience does.”
“G-Galliard, calm down…”
“Why are you so upset? Everything you’re saying is true, but still…”
I suspected he’d had a recent run-in with Elves in COL before coming here.
Elves may excel in COL, but their stubbornness is unmatched.
“That Ashe player last game couldn’t even deal damage and kept blaming me…”
Sure enough, Galliard was grumbling again.
Since it wasn’t the first time he’d come to vent about COL, I brushed it off.
“But this is tricky. If the Dark Elves and Elves keep competing like this, their relationship will only worsen.”
“…That’s right. What they need isn’t conflict but dialogue and cooperation. Can’t you do something about it?”
“Me?”
“Yes. Maybe just trapping them together would be enough.”
“Wouldn’t they kill each other?”
“It’s just a game. And kids grow by fighting and reconciling. They fight one day, work together the next, and fight again the day after. That’s how they slowly mature.”
“Aren’t Elves at least hundreds of years old?”
“Do you not know the phrase ‘wasted their years’? It was coined because of Elves!”
Trusting Galliard’s advice, I adjusted the map for their bet.
If I could bring them peace through my game, that’s what I wanted.
Of course, their conflict might not resolve this easily.
But I decided to believe in Galliard, who had lived far longer than me.
***
“So, you’re forcing them to be on the same team?”
“Exactly. Maybe they’ll grow closer as they cooperate and fight together, just like Galliard said.”
“That… might work for kids.”
But if Galliard was right, Elves weren’t much different from kids.
At that moment, the two Elves in the game discovered the lever.
“Wh-what?”
In the game, Kilia was tinkering with the lever to fix it in place.
Meanwhile, Riana held onto the lever.
“That lever can’t be fixed. One has to hold it, while the other goes to find the key.”
“O-okay. But… they ran away.”
It turned out Kilia had deceived Riana to escape alone.
Riana banged on the walls furiously.
“W-what now?”
“I expected this might happen. But even if they get out, escaping the bastion requires both of them to cooperate. Kilia will probably see the next room and come back…”
I had anticipated such a situation.
So I designed the next area to require two people to escape.
But Kilia acted unexpectedly.
Instead of returning after escaping, she immediately opened the prison door and freed Riana.
“Maybe… she’s nicer than I thought.”
“Seems like it.”
“Dark Elves have less ‘annoying personality points’ than Elves… noted.”
Had she intended to escape together from the start?
Kilia unlocked the door and left the prison with Riana.
What was she thinking? We couldn’t know.
“But… couldn’t she just kill herself to get out?”
“If they die, I’ve set it so they return to the first prison room.”
“Ugh, that’s…”
“It’s like an escape room. Anyway, let’s just watch.”
We began watching the escape drama of the two Elves.
***
Kilia stood hesitating in front of a bunch of keys on the ground.
Should she release that annoying Elf and escape together? Or just go alone?
Honestly, it didn’t really matter. After all, this was just a game.
‘…She’ll probably be useful if I bring her along.’
After some thought, Kilia decided to take Riana with her.
She could sacrifice her and run if things got dangerous.
Clink—
“…Huh?”
“Get out, you annoying Elf.”
Kilia unlocked the cell and turned around, walking away.
Riana, who hadn’t expected to be rescued, looked confused.
She felt a pang of guilt for misunderstanding her.
She wanted to say thank you, but the words stayed trapped in her mouth.
Instead, Riana followed Kilia in silence.
“This is…”
As they passed through the prison hallway and climbed up, they came upon a strange room.
The floor was filled with lava, with two pathways leading across it.
Each path connected to a door at the opposite ends of the room, and next to each door was a button.
“It seems like we need to press both buttons simultaneously.”
“…Yeah. You take that side.”
Kilia and Riana crossed to opposite paths.
When they pressed the buttons simultaneously, only the door on Kilia’s side opened.
“What, what?!”
Meanwhile, monsters suddenly spawned on Riana’s side and began approaching her.
“W-What is this… Wait, BigTree!”
By the time Riana called out, Kilia had already gone through her door.
Riana desperately fought off the approaching monsters on the bridge.
But no matter how many she defeated, more kept coming.
As she considered sacrificing her items and just dying,
Whoosh—
Someone suddenly grabbed her from behind.
It was BigTree—no, it was Kilia.
“The structure requires one person to go back and open the door.”
“I… I see.”
After that, the two continued cooperating as they escaped the Piglin Bastion.
‘I can’t just ignore it when I’ve already been helped.’
Since Riana had been helped initially, she too came to Kilia’s aid whenever she was in danger.
At some point, it became natural for the two of them to help each other and progress together.
“We’ve gathered almost all the materials.”
“Looks like it.”
While escaping, they naturally gathered the materials needed to craft the Eyes of Ender.
Kilia had collected five, and Riana six.
“We needed a total of eleven, right?”
Together, they had exactly eleven pieces.
But no more materials seemed to appear after that.
“What?”
“Is this it?”
Eventually, the two Elves successfully escaped the Bastion.
Outside, other Elves were waiting for them.
“Huh? What happened, Riana?”
“What happened, Kilia?”
The two were swarmed by their respective allies.
Both briefly explained the situation to their respective groups.
“So… you’re saying those two were Dark Elves? Of course…”
“But the materials they mentioned couldn’t be found outside.”
Apparently, the Eyes of Ender materials couldn’t drop outside the Bastion.
This meant the door had to be opened using the materials Kilia and Riana had collected.
For now, since the two were exhausted, they logged out and returned the next day.
And soon, the rumour spread that they were going to take down the “Ender Dragon.”
“Did you hear? BigTree and her group turned out to be Dark Elves!”
“Does this mean another Elf war is about to start?”
“Of course! Only Dark Elves could create structures like that! All these new builds look the same anyway…”
Up to 1,000 spectators could observe the game world without affecting it.
As soon as the news spread, the spectator count filled instantly.
“Hmm? Looks like they’re opening the portal together.”
“I see. So the key is who defeats it first?”
“Either way, this’ll be fun.”
BigTree and Riana placed the Eyes of Ender into the portal frame.
The portal opened simultaneously.
Both the Elves and Dark Elves entered the End World together.
“Is that it?”
“Attack it!”
As soon as they entered, the Ender Dragon appeared and immediately began attacking the Elves.
Its attacks were far stronger than what was written in the End Fortress’ books.
“Let’s attack too!”
“Let’s go!”
Without hesitation, both the Elves and Dark Elves began their assault.
No one had time to worry about competing with each other.
If they didn’t fight with everything they had, both Elf factions would be wiped out.
“Aaaah!”
Amid the chaotic battle, one Elf tripped after their armour durability ran out, falling to the ground.
The Ender Dragon’s attack hurtled toward them.
Clang—
But before the Elf was struck, someone deflected the attack with a shield.
It was one of the Dark Elves.
The Dark Elf glanced at the fallen Elf briefly before resuming their attack.
“Why…?”
In reality, the similarity of all “Minecraft” characters had caused confusion.
This kind of situation happened repeatedly during the battle.
At some point, no one knew who was an enemy or an ally anymore.
“I-I can’t tell who’s a Dark Elf and who’s an Elf anymore.”
“But this battle… it’s incredible! Was the legendary fight between the Hero and the Demon King like this?”
“To witness such an epic fight live… this is truly a blessing!”
Spectators were more captivated by the battle than anything else.
Whether someone was an Elf or a Dark Elf didn’t matter.
Everyone resonated with the resolve and competitive spirit against a common enemy.
After what felt like an eternity, the Ender Dragon’s health reached its lowest point.
Screeeech!
With a final roar, the Ender Dragon plummeted to the ground.
“It’s… it’s over…”
“We… we really did it. Haah…”
“It’s done.”
Waaaaahhhhh!
The exhausted Elves collapsed onto the ground.
The spectators erupted in cheers.
The cheers weren’t directed at the Elves or the Dark Elves but at the monumental moment itself.
After the battle ended, the Elves began to think.
Who would be declared the victor?
And at the same time, everyone knew.
The Ender Dragon had been defeated through the combined efforts of both factions.
Without either side, it wouldn’t have been possible.
Realizing this, the Elves and Dark Elves glanced at each other nervously.
At that moment, the Queen of the Elves rose and spoke first.
“This match…”
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