The five sacred relics guarded by the beast-kin natives were obviously designed as gimmicks.

    This wasn''t just about easy progress—even at the pace of an anorexic meta sprinting at full speed while refusing to eat, the 70th floor had already been plundered, which meant the upper floors would likely be looted as well.

    The Amber Lantern from the 66th floor, which could locate other sacred relics, was clearly meant to track the Orc Champion who had stolen the relics. If we split the remaining four relics into pairs, the Lightning Spearhead and Crystal Shield would form one set, while the Invisibility Helmet and Foam Fang would form another.

    A named-rank assassin armed with the Invisibility Helmet and Foam Fang, targeting players equipped with the Lightning Spearhead and Crystal Shield. The Amber Lantern would counter this by tracking the relics'' locations. Players would be strengthened to easily deal with the boss, while the assassin would try to interfere.

    ...That was roughly what I thought, but the orc wearing the Invisibility Helmet suddenly deserting threw my calculations off a bit.

    "Still, our village will be more comfortable for you, human children. Since it''s a more familiar place, it will be easier to find those gate things too."

    "Can''t this Amber Lantern... find gates?"

    "If you''re curious, you''re welcome to try it. Since we''ve agreed to lend you the sacred relic, feel free to use it as you wish."

    Han Se-ah seemed to be pondering the same questions as me, staring at the Amber Lantern in her hand while racking her brain.

    The lantern—a truly amber-colored relic from the World Tree, with everything from its base to its frame glowing with a lustrous yellow hue—emitted a soft light even without being lit.

    The problem was that this appeared to be its only feature. Since no beast-kin had ever used it, we couldn''t tell how it differed from the ordinary lanterns adventurers carried at their waists, except that it was more beautiful and sparkly. What was this supposed to do—glow brighter when near other sacred relics?

    What good was speeding through the game to get sacred relics if we didn''t know how to use them? The viewers couldn''t predict how it worked either, but that didn''t stop the flood of teasing comments.

    "Come on, stop making fun of me when none of you know either! If I actually knew how to use the lantern, you''d all be shouting conspiracy theories about how ''Han Se-ah must be a BB Games insider~'' and I''d never hear the end of it!"

    -Gasp, is she pretending to be wronged while actually confessing? Just saying lololololol

    -It''s the opposite, Hanna! If you''re going to freeload your way through, at least go all the way without getting stuck on weird details

    -For real lol. If you commit to being ridiculous all the way, it becomes art—hurry up and freeload your way to the 70th floor and become a legend?

    -I heard amber isn''t actually a gemstone, but this is insanely pretty lol. Not even comparable to those crappy brass lanterns

    -When they said "amber lantern," I thought it was a Halloween pumpkin lantern, but why is it so pretty and sparkly?

    The World Tree''s treasure cherished by the 66th floor beast-kin. Its feature was that it was pretty, and since no one knew how to use it, viewers could only laugh.

    "Wow, it''s beautiful... It looks more like a lantern-shaped work of art than an actual lantern."

    "So it''s not just regular amber, but made from the World Tree''s sap?"

    "World Tree sap... that sounds impressive."

    Unlike Han Se-ah, who was irritated by the viewers'' crossfire, the party members admired the Amber Lantern like a genuine piece of art. Come to think of it, wasn''t amber treated as a gemstone despite not actually being a mineral?

    A beautiful sacred relic comparable to dwarf craftsmanship. Regardless of its abilities, the women were entranced by its beauty.

    While our hero party was admiring the World Tree''s sacred relic, the mages began moving busily. Naturally, they were bringing all sorts of rocks and metals to offer the baby jewel dragon that had been sleeping quietly on the cart.

    "Gate? Well, they haven''t found one yet."

    "A few who lost the bet went to the gate connecting the 65th and 66th floors, so we need to wait here for a new gate—oh, it''s eating it!"

    "So it eats not just rocks but metals too?"

    Whether due to seniority differences or entanglements involving research materials and funding, some mages had finally managed to get free time away from gate research.

    I wondered what they were doing, but seeing that Charlotte Cavendish didn''t interfere, they probably weren''t completely abandoning their duties. Charlotte was clear-headed and firm about such matters, so if she allowed it, there was nothing to be done.

    And so, the beast-kin warriors reassured their villagers that the massive fire was over and set out to find gates, while the mages huddled together, feeding the baby dragon and the little finch. The deserter orc had finally escaped the tower, but the scene remained utterly confusing.

    ''Would they be angry if I damaged the forest with sword practice...?''

    Contemplating whether to call this scene peaceful or chaotic, I quietly moved away. Though it felt wasteful to let the holy sword''s cooldown pass unused, I couldn''t openly wreck the area around the village—perhaps I could practice with it drawn minimally.

    With beast-kin, mages, the starlight finch, and the baby jewel dragon capturing everyone''s interest, no one said anything as I slipped away toward the village outskirts. Only Grace, with her keen senses, noticed and smiled, waving me off.

    Receiving Grace''s send-off, I reached a clearing by asking directions from beast-kin rushing out of the village. Thinking that the Orc Champion from the 70th floor couldn''t possibly reach the 66th in a single day, and that there was no chance a mother dragon would suddenly appear roaring "GRWAAAAANG—", I drew my holy sword.

    "Huh, what? The lantern! The lantern!"

    Little did I know that this would help Han Se-ah''s freeloading.

    ※

    The Amber Lantern bestowed by the World Tree had the function of locating sacred relics.

    And, surprisingly, the holy sword was classified as a sacred relic.

    More precisely, the lich''s skull was a low-grade sacred item, while the holy sword was a top-grade sacred item. The distinction between "sacred relic" (seonmul) and "divine object" (sinmul) might sound like wordplay, but in game terms, it made perfect sense.

    "Sacred item" (seonmul) is short for "holy relic" (seong yumul), referring to objects associated with religious saints. The holy sword in my hand was obviously related to saints as it was used by the hero, and the lich''s head, having been created by the hero''s party, narrowly qualified as a sacred item.

    A "divine object" (sinmul) refers to mysterious items with supernatural powers. In other words, a skull that accepts holy power and emanates life force and mana, or a holy sword that ignores defense and cuts through everything in the world.

    What else would you call a defense-ignoring holy sword and unlimited potion if not divine objects? Simply put, the holy sword was a divine object designated as a sacred item by the Goddess''s church.

    "What is this? Did it light up in response to the holy sword? Oh, wow! Damn, if Roland hadn''t used the holy sword, we would have been stuck struggling forever!"

    [What the beast-kin warriors gave us was the World Tree''s Amber Lantern]

    [The beautifully glowing lantern, along with starlight, began to guide us]

    [What message does this legacy from the otherworldly World Tree want to convey to us?]

    Thanks to this, when I drew the holy sword to practice, the Amber Lantern began to glow brightly, and a quest log appeared simultaneously.

    I was startled when Grace and Katie suddenly came running with the brightly glowing lantern just as I was warming up with my holy sword in the clearing near the village. I wasn''t the only one surprised—they had left Irene and Han Se-ah in the village to rush over.

    After a brief commotion, we returned to the village to retrieve Han Se-ah and Irene, who couldn''t even find their way to the clearing, and only then could we talk properly.

    "Oh, ohhh! A sacred relic! The World Tree has sent a revelation!"

    "The human child has received a revelation-!!!"

    "Hmm? It seems the hero has activated the World Tree''s item?"

    "Ahem, Miss Charlotte. Perhaps you could discreetly ask if the hero is interested in researching the sacred relic..."

    But only after fleeing back to the clearing, not inside the village.

    I had activated a sacred relic in front of beast-kin who had enshrined it their whole lives, and demonstrated something new in front of mages who had devoted their entire lives to exploration. The beast-kin and mages looked ready to pounce with wide eyes—baby jewel dragon be damned—so we quickly fled to the clearing, fortunately without being followed.

    Like escaping from a zombie horde, I grabbed Han Se-ah and Irene under each arm and dashed away. Only after we were safely in the clearing did we begin to carefully examine the brightly glowing lantern.

    "There''s something inside the empty space."

    "It looks like they put fireflies or spirits in there? Something''s floating around, glowing."

    I held the lantern in my palm while everyone huddled close, heads nearly touching. Their tiny heads were pressed so close together they were about to squish each other''s cheeks as they examined the now-glowing Amber Lantern.

    The lantern, already beautiful like a work of art even when not lit, was now glowing with sacred light, making everyone''s eyes sparkle too.

    Of course, Han Se-ah''s reaction was half genuine amazement, half performance. It was clearly her ^Magician Hanna, Unworldly but Naturally Gifted^ act.

    With the quest window updated and hints for the game scenario obtained, she was pretending to figure things out herself based on viewer tips. According to one viewer, the light inside moved in a regular pattern like a honeybee''s flight, so she was checking this and pretending to have discovered it herself.

    "I think I''ve got it now."

    "Already? Wow, mages are amazing."

    Despite the holy sword''s cooldown ending pointlessly while we fussed over the Amber Lantern, the buzzing light inside continued to move.

    Following viewers'' reports, she reviewed the footage and even confirmed it with the lich''s skull, which we''d gotten back from the Secret Terror who had just returned from reconnaissance. It wasn''t nonsense after all.

    While it was difficult to perceive the pattern with the human eye because it was somewhat dizzying, recording it with a camera and comparing the video files made the pattern visible.

    Han Se-ah pretended to perceive it through mana, Grace was amazed at her observation skills sharper than a guide''s, Katie praised her saying "that''s our Hanna," and Irene smiled broadly saying how remarkable she was—

    ''At this point, shouldn''t we add "con artist" to Han Se-ah''s long list of titles?''

    And so, amid this elaborate deception, the lantern began to be thoroughly analyzed by our collective intelligence.

    Enjoy the chappy!