Chapter 117 – Moonlight Stay Festival (2)

“Haa. Haa.”

Silvia took a deep breath and looked like she was about to die.

Right, this was why.

The path that Jin-hyuk guided her through was so rough that even elves wouldn’t take it.

A rough road that was well-known to be blocked.

However, Jin-hyuk dug through cracks in the rocks and moved through the thick bushes, running towards the elven village at a crazy pace.

Jin-hyuk arrived and then looked back at Silvia, who was lagging behind.

“We go from this way now. It is a lot faster.”

It wasn’t like she would understand, but time was precious, which was why he showed her this shortcut.

At his words, Silvia shook her head and said.

“T-that is quick!”

How could one be slow after coming down such a crazy path?

Even if the time was shortened, this man made it even shorter by several times due to his speed.

The only problem was that it wouldn’t be strange if a few people died while traveling his path.

‘How on earth is a human able to make such movements?’

Even an advanced ranger would have difficulty moving with grace and dazzling movement.

Besides, didn’t he seem to know this path so perfectly, something that elves born in this land wouldn’t be able to?

It was hard to believe.

This broke all of her common sense.

‘Wait, he couldn’t be a polymorphic dragon, right? Like coming down from its floor in the Tower to play around. Maybe even tasting some elf meat… gulp.’

Silvia began to drown in her own delusions.

She began wondering if she actually heard those rustling sounds.

Woong!

Boong!

Something flew past with the sound of the wind.

It was fast.

“Ah?”

Silvia was startled and couldn’t react, but suddenly Jin-hyuk held a reddish dagger in his hand.

Kaang!

The arrows blocked by Jin-hyuk spun in the air and hit the floor.

It was an arrowhead made of white wood with a distinct pattern.

No doubt that this was shot by an elf.

“Your attitude is quite bad towards guests. Is it because I didn’t bring any housewarming presents?”

Jin-hyuk asked plainly.

Several elves then appeared beyond them in the forest.

‘We have quite a few here.’

Just at first glance, he counted more than 20.

Rangers armed with longbows and daggers completely surrounded Jin-hyuk.

“Guest… are you speaking about yourself?”

A male elf with long silver hair addressed him with a cold tone. His beautiful appearance was something you’d only see in movies.

However, the main thing that caught Jin-hyuk’s attention was his annoying memory of this elf.

The high elf, Tetlon, was similar to a leader for the rangers and held their highest rank.

Right, that was this elf’s name.

Jin-hyuk immediately used the ‘Eye of Gluttony’.

Name: Tetlon
Gender: Male
Age: 926
Level: 30
Strength 18 Agility 30 Stamina 21 Magic 45 Forest Spirit 40
Unique Ability: ‘100 Aim and 100 Shot’
Skills: Lv6 Rapid Fire, Lv6 Strengthen spirit, Lv5 Light steps, Lv5 Wind Protection, Lv4 Clairvoyance.
—

[Copy Conditions: Tetlon is a first-class ranger of the elves. He takes more pride in his bow than anyone else, so if you want to copy his unique ability, shoot an arrow with higher accuracy than him at least once.]
Damn it.

This guy was the elf who had chased after Jin-hyuk from the festival to the outskirts of the forest in a previous run.

Jin-hyuk sighed.

Uncomfortable memories came to his mind as he looked at the disgusting face. This elf was gonna follow him until the end of time.

If there was a kind of innate nature for an elf, it would probably be the most embodied in him.

At that time.

“Mr. Tetlon! Wait! Wait!”

Silvia, who was beside Jin-hyuk, stepped forward. Tetlon, who had been drawing his bow, immediately stopped.

“You… are you not a ranger under elder Pennheim?”

“Yes. My name is Silvia, a 3rd class ranger.”

“Then tell me. Why are you with a human?”

“That…”

Silvia mumbled as she couldn’t give a clear reply. This drew a stern look from Tetlon.

“If you say that you brought a human into our lands, even if you are an immature young elf, I will not forgive your actions.”

“No. The elder gave me the right to invite this human.”

“What? The elder allowed it?”

Tetlon looked doubtful.

His suspicion clearly showed that he doubted what he had just heard.

“It happened while Sir Telton was away at the Central Forest. This is proof that I can bring him as a guest here.”

Silvia took out a sculpture made of sapphire stones from her belongings.

This was a relic that only an elf elder could make.

“I cannot believe this. The elder invited a human to the festival… such a low-level one as well.”

Tetlon mumbled in disgust.

This was because a high-ranked elf couldn’t disobey those orders.

Jin-hyuk, who was listening to this, scratched his head.

Um…

How should he put this?

Nothing would happen if he could simply put up with this elf just once. However, after hearing those words, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to sleep for a year if he let it go.

“Oh my. I am sorry for being a rude human. But can I ask you one thing? Do you have a noble upbringing where you are taught to shoot arrows at the guests? Or is it that even the brain of such nobility and dignity doesn’t have thoughts of its own?”

Jin-hyuk spat out words like a rapid-fire gun.

Ahh, that cleared the knot in his stomach.

It was in some people’s nature to not hold back their words. Well, at least he won’t have an upset stomach now filled with regrets.

“W-what? What did you just say now?”

“I was talking to myself since it looks like you’d stab me if I spoke the truth.”

“It looks like you want to die!”

Tetlon loosened an arrow in an instant.

It was fast.

It was fast, but…

“I think it would be unwise to disobey the orders of an elder. Are you really going to try it?”

Jin-hyuk didn’t even blink.

No, instead, he was taunting him.

“If I want to shoot too, not a single shot will touch me, but if you think your anger will calm down, you can try it.”

“… you. If you think that the invitation of an elder can make you ignore us, you are making a huge mistake.”

“You are the one making a mistake.”

Because….

“Now that there is a shortage of the swamp figs for the festival, the only hope is to fill that shortage in time.”

There was a reason for this.

Silence filled the forest.

Followed by a commotion.

Tetlon and the other elves in his retinue were visibly shaken.

“H-How do you know that?”

“How do you know we are lacking that item?”

“No way. There is no way an outsider could know…”

Their whispers grew louder.

They were clearly shocked.

The first human they encountered suddenly had inside information regarding their village.

Given the degree of confidence, Jin-hyuk would be unlikely to take back those words.

‘Tetlon and those other elves must have been going around picking those figs until just now.’

Jin-hyuk glanced at the elves’ shoes which were covered with mud.

Specifically moist mud.

Wasn’t this like an open advertisement that they had been running around in a swamp?

Besides, the Central Forest that was mentioned by Silvia was a dangerous place where the figs grew.

The fact that even the rangers had been sent out, who was in charge of keeping an eye on the border, was proof that their lack of figs was severe.

“You know about those figs and how to get them?”

“Right. As much as you want. I can do anything if I put my mind to it.”

“…”

Tetlon pursed his lips.

But it was only for a moment.

“It is dubious, but we are in a situation where our feet are burning. We will trust you, just this one time.”

This was…

“You must have misunderstood something.”

Jin-hyuk smiled.

“I said I had a way. I didn’t say anything about leading you to them.”

How dare he act like he was giving him permission.

This elf must still be out of his mind if he thought that Jin-hyuk was working for him. He was the guest!

And he was one of the landlords who mistreated their guests.

Jin-hyuk refused with a single sentence and then looked at Siliva.

“For now, let’s move. After meeting with the elder, I will see about how to help. Except, of course, those elves there.”

“Uh? Yes… yes.”

Silvia nodded her head and passed the elves who surrounded them.

And Tetlon couldn’t even move a single finger.

He was grinding his teeth in anger at Jin-hyuk.

After some travel, Jin-hyuk saw a village where trees and houses delved in harmony.

“Wait here for a moment. I will go inside to inform the elder and then bring you in.”

Silvia said this to Jin-hyuk, who nodded.

Jin-hyuk stood alone and admired his surroundings.

The sight of warm sunlight breaking through the leaves was amazing.

‘Kuak. It is gorgeous.’

How long had he wanted to come here?

If he hadn’t played that damned Titanic song back then, he wouldn’t have suffered the humiliation he did inside the game.

However, he didn’t have to worry about repeating that mistake again.

Because he had already collected all the necessary unique abilities.

All that was left was to arrange the benefits he could gain from this festival.

‘This time, I will erase that black history.’

Jin-hyuk was overflowing with confidence.

How long was he waiting for?

Rumble.

Finally, the door opened, and an old-looking elf appeared.

Such a different impression compared to Tetlon.

Was this old man really one of the elders?

“It must have been a lot of hard work coming here from the outside world. My name is Pennheim, an elder of the elves.”

Pennheim offered a hand for a handshake.

“I am Kang Jin-hyuk.”

Jin-hyuk took the offered hand and introduced himself.

He didn’t forget to use the standard greeting here.

“First of all, thank you for inviting me. Personally, I have always wanted to visit here. The chance to come to such a peaceful village of elves isn’t something that comes often.”

“You are welcome. Silvia ate your food and praised you so much. Haha. We are glad to have met you.”

Pennheim burst out laughing as he liked Jin-hyuk’s manners.

“My cooking. I will serve it to you right away for dinner, then?”

“Um… thank you for saying that, but before that, I have something to ask.”

“Please.”

“I heard a bit from Silvia, but she said you could solve our difficult situation. Were your words true?”

This must be about the swamp figs.

Nice.

He was waiting for this question.

“Of course, it is possible.”

Possible.

Possible, but…

“But…”

Jin-hyuk coughed and then said.

“I don’t know what the price for it is, but I actually wanted to learn the archery of elves. Is that possible? I want to climb the Tower in the future, so I definitely want to learn the archery of elves which is considered the strongest.”

It was common knowledge that elves were terrific archers.

Fortunately, Pennheim nodded his head.

“That is what you want to do. Of course. Should I give you Silvia?”

“No, learning from an elf who shoots very well would be quite embarrassing for me. If possible, having someone slightly better than me in skill level would be better. That way, even if it’s my first time learning, wouldn’t I be able to imitate the actions at least?”

“Then from which elf do you want to learn? Anyone in mind?”

“I can think of one.”

Jin-hyuk pointed his finger at one particular elf.

“There, that one. If it is him, I think it would be perfect for my level as a first-time user. Ah! Maybe I can do better too.”

The elf who Jin-hyuk pointed quickly distorted his face in anger.

“This… cheeky.”

He had pointed towards Tetlon, the captain of the elf rangers.