The forest fairies looked at us with complicated expressions.

Of course they would—we'd burned the entire 62nd floor to ashes.

Layers that could be connected through gates were arranged in a somewhat linear fashion. Not perfectly straight, but roughly in a line. Moving upward from the 61st floor was like traveling along South Korea's east coast: Busan (61st floor), Pohang (62nd floor), Uljin (63rd floor), Gangneung (64th floor)... that's how the spatial movement worked.

The forest fairy village was on the 61st floor, and what we'd burned was the 62nd floor right next door. It was such a massive fire that even the keen-sensed beast-kin had dispatched an investigation team—so how would the forest fairies who lived even closer have felt?

Imagine a crazed arsonist who burned down the entire Pohang Industrial Complex now driving an oil tanker into Busan. No matter how many times they said, "I won't burn anything here!" it would only create anxiety.

"Um, we wanted to ask about this little one."

"Ah! So that's where it went, really...!"

"See, I told you it would follow the hero."

"You were so worried you couldn't sleep, weren't you."

The thing we needed to present to these forest fairies was the fairy.

With perfect timing, Irene stepped forward with the fairy on her palm. The forest fairy village had a better impression of Irene, the saint serving the Goddess of Life, than Han Se-ah the arsonist hero. Plus, the fairy followed Irene, who cared for it like a baby.

While it hid in Grace's nape when feeling endangered, it actually sought comfort from Irene. Perhaps Grace was like its father and Irene its mother.

Anyway, since the fairy belonged to the fairy category, it seemed to regain its energy after passing through the ashen 62nd floor and returning to the forest fairy village on the 61st floor. It had been hiding in Grace's nape, clinging so tightly that she could barely turn her head.

"Do you have questions about that child?"

"Yes, well. This little one seems to have lent me a strange power—"

As the fairy that had been hiding in Grace's nape regained its energy while perched on Irene's hand, the forest fairies' expressions softened.

Irene and Grace began the conversation, attempting to change the fairies' perception of us from "crazy arsonists from the neighboring area pretending to be heroes" to "kind humans who cared for a fairy." Of course, Han Se-ah, who reeked of oil, was pushed behind me and prevented from making eye contact.

Han Se-ah grumbled as she broadcast from behind me, while Grace recounted her experience of seeing through the barrier, and Irene gently played with the fairy, patting its tiny head.

As I silently watched this beautiful scene of gorgeous women side by side, viewers tossed in their comments.

"But seriously, how long has it been since we set the fire? We just passed through a forest turned to ashes, and being looked at like that hurts a bit... How should I put it? It's like when a really kind person despises you but is too nice to express it strongly, so they just give you that look..."

-Lucky the fairy women are nice because given what you did, turning hostile would be the normal reaction, you crazy bitch lolololololololololol

-I set fire to the area right in front of where fairies live but why are they upset? (genuinely confused)

-Heroes have no human hearts Heroes have no human hearts Heroes have no human hearts Heroes have no human hearts Heroes have no human hearts Heroes have no human hearts

-That crazy old man who set fire to Sungnyemun Gate probably didn't understand why people cursed at him either lololololol

-I mean, you did it in a game lol but since you did it in a game, your game NPC relationship is wrecked, you idiot lololol Did you think faction reputation would fix itself?

When Han Se-ah dramatically claimed to be hurt by the forest fairies' cold glares, viewers seized the opportunity to pile on. Both Han Se-ah and her viewers knew this was the perfect moment for this kind of ritual.

The viewers enjoyed mocking the world's #1 broadcaster while cackling, and Han Se-ah grinned as she took thousand-won punches that had evolved into ten-thousand-won punches. Considering her viewership, her bank account must be accumulating millions, yet she seemed to prefer these thousand-dollar punches—perhaps that's what you'd call humble.

Anyway, while Han Se-ah pretended to cry but actually grinned as she controlled her camera amid these ten-thousand-won (or ten-dollar) punches, the fairy mom conversation continued.

"Yes, you won't need to feed it baby food or milk like a human child. Children born in the forest all grow up eating fruit."

"The strange power to shoot through a barrier... it seems you did receive help from the fairy. We'll only know the details after this child grows up and learns to control its powers."

"Your eyes glow? Hmm, were you perhaps pranked by fairies when you were young?"

Listening carefully to the conversation, there wasn't much useful information.

According to the forest fairies, fairy beings were too diverse. They shared the common origin of Mother World Tree condensing forest energy into seeds, but the fairies born from those seeds had all sorts of differences.

There were fire fairies that prevented forest fires, healing fairies that cared for injured animals, spring fairies that prevented drought, peace fairies that prevented conflicts—

It sounded like some bizarre gacha game pet draw, with all kinds of extraordinary fairies popping out with different abilities. So regardless of what powers this newly born fairy might use, we shouldn't be surprised but simply raise it well and wait until it learned human language.

Instead, much of the conversation centered on Grace's sparkling eyes.

"Amber eyes? Hmm, could there be our kind in this world too...?"

"Since the outside of the Tower isn't the world we know... I'm not sure."

Apparently, amber was quite precious to forest fairies in many ways.

※

Both forest fairies and beast-kin were races living in a forest created by the enormous World Tree.

From what the forest fairies and beast-kin said, the World Tree was so massive that its top was hidden by clouds. But it wasn't just a gigantic tree—like a dryad tree spirit, it had a will of its own that cared for and nurtured the forest.

This explained why the shadow fang tiger, clearly a carnivore, could survive eating only fruit instead of killing herbivores. It explained fairies being born from seeds to create springs, extinguish fires, and soothe predators fighting over territory. It explained wraiths like the Secret Terror appearing to defeat invaders.

The forest's growth, the abnormal ecosystem cycling, and protection from external threats all happened under the World Tree's will, so it wasn't strange that forest fairies and beast-kin worshipped it as "Mother World Tree."

"Huh, are my eyes amber?"

"They've brightened from brown, with a yellowish tint."

"Isn't that amber? Brown mixed with yellow, bright, and sometimes with a slight reddish tint."

"That's right, they're similar to those amber lanterns—truly beautiful."

So if humans valued diamonds as the highest gem due to rarity, the most precious gem in the forest was naturally amber.

Not ordinary tree sap that had hardened, but a precious gem created from the tips of Mother World Tree's branches or roots and given as a gift. In the deep forest without mines, amber was used as the most precious material.

And Grace's eyes now glowed amber.

Just as those who value gold might see pure golden hair as a sign of nobility, forest dwellers couldn't help but see Grace's amber-glowing eyes as blessed.

"Wow, a human's eyes sparkling like amber..."

"Could she really not have been born outside the forest?"

"But her ears are round?"

Thanks to this, forest fairies gathered around Grace. Since the forest fairy village was populated by fairy girls, they surrounded Grace with curious eyes.

Some forest fairies focused on caring for the fairy, but it was only palm-sized. When Irene placed it on her holy power-infused palm, it sprawled out like a cat on a heated floor and purred itself to sleep. Not many people were needed to care for such a tiny child...

Which meant the rest of the numerous forest fairies all flocked to Grace.

"Still, it feels familiar somehow..."

"Isn't that because of the fairy?"

"Or could it be the opposite—the fairy follows you because it feels familiar? Like an outside fairy or something."

"A fairy from outside the forest, not a forest fairy? Hmm, that's complicated."

The forest fairies gathered around Grace, whispering among themselves. Whether she laughed awkwardly with a troubled face or not, they kept chattering among themselves without leaving her side.

"Hmm, could Grace unnie really be part fairy? But then, when she was 3★, she should have had a title like 'Half-Elf' instead of 'Novice Ranger'..."

-Isn't it standard fantasy protocol for ancient bloodlines to awaken through trigger quests? I believe her ears will become pointy eventually

-Isn't it weird that this is progressing without any quest? The kiddo gets armor acquisition quests but why doesn't get any quests?

-Maybe it's different for each character? The kiddo is a pillar of the kingdom as the Northern Duke's daughter, while Grace is just a country village girl—that's probably the difference

-For real, VR game forum posts always mention epic story quests and stuff, that could be the difference

-Regular game forum users are always dealing with continental-level or world-level main scenario quests lololol

However, since no clear answer emerged, viewer theories began to run wild.

Since Grace was pretty, she must be a fairy—that was the general direction.

...Well, she did have looks that weren't outshined among the forest fairies. But wasn't that evidence a bit flimsy?

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That's it guys! Thanks for reading. Hope to see you guys soon. Join the discord if you can and say hi!

- raei (￣ー￣)ゞ

Enjoy the chappy!