He kept stabbing the Giant’s sole so mercilessly that, in the end, even tears began to roll down the Giant’s face.
Though it was much weaker than the blows from the Elves, the pain it brought was overwhelming!
[ <Giant Torture Technician> Title acquired.]
[The Giants feel fear towards you.]
A brand new torture title, following the one from the demons!
“Isn’t that giving it away too easily?”
Jaeho was dissatisfied, but given what he was doing, he more than deserved it.
“Well done, Lady Alicia!”
“As expected, you’re amazing!”
“We can’t just keep playing around forever!”
To their eyes, Jaeho’s performance was dazzling.
Thanks to him, the Elves, too, found renewed energy and drew their bows.
— Stop, stop!! I surrender!
At last, the Giant managed to declare his surrender.
“Hmm.”
Jaeho was caught off guard by the sudden surrender.
“Please don’t be deceived, Lady Alicia! Giants are wicked creatures who lie as easily as they breathe!”
Jaeho, hearing the Elves’ cries, felt a strange sense of dĂ©jĂ vu.
“This… feels oddly similar to how they talk about demons.”
But unlike the emotionally charged claims of the Elves, Jaeho’s own judgment told him the Giant’s surrender was sincere.
[Tall Bal Quest]
[The only pure-blooded Giant left in the Middle Realm, ‘Mountainside Hermit’s Mine’, has taken refuge underground to survive. For ages, he has lived in the darkness, using the light of the Bright Stalactite Flower as his sky. He has extremely underdeveloped social skills and shows fear toward intelligent beings, whom he encounters after a long while. Speak with him.]
[Reward: Favor of the Giant ‘Mountainside Hermit’.]
“His name is ‘Hermit’?”
What kind of joke of a name was that?
— ‘I’m the Mountainside Hermit!’
“Liar, right?”
— Liar?! That’s the magnificent name my father gave me!
“That’s… a bit much… No, wait—”
No matter how it was, he couldn’t bring himself to make a tasteless joke about it…
“They probably just gave him that name without much thought.”
But the Elves interjected coldly.
“As expected of Giants. Their naming sense is always obvious.”
“Hey, that’s a bit…”
Jaeho was startled, but the Elves stayed calm.
“It’s always like that. They’re called things like ‘Big Tree’ or ‘Rock Fist.'”
— Right. My father’s name was twice as cool as mine. It was ‘Red Mace’!
Their naming sense was almost unbearable.
So much so that ‘Mountainside Hermit’ started to seem like a decent name by comparison.
Talking about names, the battle naturally faded into a lull.
“Ahem, then… What about the other Giants?”
— They’ve all left. The world became too small for Giants to live in.
“Then why are you still here?”
At Jaeho’s question, the Hermit raised his huge finger and pointed upward.
— The shining flowers.
“Bright Stalactite Flower?”
— I don’t know their name. But they’re very sensitive and difficult. I couldn’t just leave them.
“What? You’re the one tending those flowers?”
With those huge hands?
“I guess with your height, reaching the ceiling would be easy…”
Since he said he grew flowers, ‘Hermit’ actually sounded like a fitting name.
— And they’re delicious.
“…?”
— If you’ll just stop fighting, I can let you taste one.
“All right. Give me one.”
As a Spirit Gardener, Jaeho had no reason to refuse.
Besides, if the Hermit really managed those flowers, he must have a wealth of knowledge.
It was a great opportunity to learn about flowers the Elves themselves admitted were hard to cultivate.
Gugugugu
The Hermit rose with a heavy rumble and plucked a single Bright Stalactite Flower from the cave ceiling.
— Here.
The Giant placed the flower in front of Jaeho.
And Jaeho, facing the flower, was taken aback by its sheer size.
“Isn’t this… way too big?”
He wondered how the Giant managed the flowers with those huge hands, and now he saw—the flowers themselves were enormous.
“This has to be at least a meter and a half tall…”
On top of that, when he touched the flower, it felt much too tough to just eat raw.
“Are you sure… this is edible?”
— Of course. It’s delicious!
Saying so, the Hermit plucked off a petal and placed it on his palm.
— Let me show you how I eat it.
Then, he placed a dead centipede on the petal.
Crushing a rock in his hand, he sprinkled it on the petal and rolled it up, popping it in his mouth.
“…?”
Is this… a wrap?
Crunch, crunch—
— Mmm! This flavor!
Jaeho didn’t even need to try it to guess how it would taste.
“Is that normal?”
To his question, the Elves nodded.
“There’s almost nothing Giants can’t eat. They even make use of rocks.”
“Shall we attack again?”
— Cough! Hack, cough!!
Caught off guard by the Elves’ question, the Giant choked and coughed.
“No, let’s not just attack so suddenly… Hermit.”
Jaeho called out to him again.
“So you’re really here just for the Bright Stalactite Flowers?”
It was hard to believe someone would stay for a single flower.
— …Not just for that.
The Hermit hesitated for a moment, then spoke slowly.
— I’m also waiting for the friends I met here.
Friends?
— Yes. Back when this mine was thriving, I befriended the miners who came and went. But it’s been a long time since their footsteps disappeared.
“Ah!”
Jaeho recalled the traces of people abandoned throughout the mine.
He saw the sorrow reflected on the Hermit’s enormous face as he gazed at those remnants.
— They didn’t leave without a word. I’m waiting, thinking maybe one day they’ll come back.
“But earlier, didn’t you say it was because of the flowers?”
— For the miners working here, those flowers were like the sun. If they return and see the flowers still shining, they’ll know I’m still here.
Contrary to his appearance, the Hermit was rather sentimental.
— By any chance, have you seen any Dwarves up there?
“Dwarves? The friends you meant were Dwarves?”
The Hermit nodded vigorously.
“They might be hiding somewhere in this forest…”
But the Elves refuted this firmly.
“If there were Dwarves, we’d definitely know. Besides, Dwarves don’t have a great relationship with demons, so they wouldn’t have stayed in Ember Bay Forest.”
— What? There are demons here?
“You didn’t know?”
— Not at all. So that’s why the Dwarves disappeared.
The Hermit nodded, accepting this.
— It’s a relief to finally know the reason.
“You don’t seem all that worried?”
If there were demons around, shouldn’t he be worried about the Dwarves’ safety?
— Dwarves? Those slippery snakes will have escaped, no problem.
“R-right…”
Jaeho thought for a moment about Vulca.
“Slippery snakes… Well, maybe that’s true?”
It was hard to say for sure.
“So, what will you do now?”
Jaeho now knew why the Hermit was here, but wanted to know what he’d do going forward.
“Will you keep waiting for the Dwarves?”
— Now that there’s a higher chance they’ll return, of course I will. And you all being here means the demons have been dealt with, right?
“…That’s right!!”
“…?”
Samantha flinched, but the Elves didn’t refute it.
“I’ll investigate the Dwarves who were here, so let’s make a deal.”
— A deal?
Jaeho’s goal was the Bright Stalactite Flower!
Even at a glance, it was a very unique flower, so he couldn’t ignore it.
— Th-that…
But from the Hermit’s perspective, he felt reluctant, as if his beloved flowers were about to be snatched away.
“I don’t want a lot. Anyway, with something that huge, how much could small humans like us even use?”
— Hmm.
“Think about it. The amount you use to make a single wrap with a petal could last me a whole month!”
— All right. Let’s do it.
In the end, the Giant agreed.
He probably saw the Elves subtly reaching for their bows.
[You are now friendly with the Giant <Mountain People> .]
[ <The hidden Mine of the Mountain Man> has been annexed to Elysia Garden.]
[If this fact becomes known, it may provoke backlash from neighboring Nations.]
“Well, with a Giant here, we’ve got plenty of excuses if anyone complains.”
Once things with the Giant were settled, Jaeho set up a workstation in a corner of the cave.
“Hmm? Lady Alicia? What are you planning to do…”
For Samantha’s curiosity, Jaeho raised his finger and pointed to the other side.
There lay the Bright Stalactite Flower the Hermit had plucked earlier.
“While I’m at it, I should analyze those.”
“But didn’t you say you had a lot of work requests pending?”
“It’s fine. I’ve already finished all the recipes, so I just need to assemble them now.”
Unlike blacksmiths, who need time to forge, a florist’s work was mostly trimming and assembling, so it took relatively less time.
“I want to finish everything I can here. It’ll be tough to research the Bright Stalactite Flower outside.”
To minimize variables, he had to do it here.
“Hermit! Tell me about the Bright Stalactite Flower.”
He was about to hear expert knowledge straight from a true master.
But then, Jaeho suddenly realized something was missing.
“…Where did that Jingjing-i brat run off to again?!”
[<Spirit of Vitality> says, ‘When the Fire Spirits were Summoned, I ran off ages ago.’]
***
In the past, there had been plenty of successful sports-ification cases for games.
However, when it came to RPGs, it was extremely rare, and even if such tournaments existed, they were mostly limited to PVP.
Even those PVP tournaments usually ended up being niche events for only certain classes.
That’s why there was a lot of skepticism about this New World League.
Most believed, as always, that it would be a one-off event and fade away.
But this time, the competition format was a little different.
[MAZE ROYALE]
A labyrinth filled with all sorts of traps and monsters, randomly spawned.
All teams would be thrown in together and compete for survival.
Everyone’s level would be standardized, and basic stats would be set equal, allowing redistribution at the start of the match.
Existing skills and items could be used, and any bonus stats earned outside of leveling up would also apply.
With enough talent, anyone could enter the tournament—this was the World Wide company’s slogan.
But in truth, with skills, bonus stats, and items allowed, veterans had a clear advantage.
After all, with more playtime, they’d have higher skill levels and bonus stats.
So, while it looked nice on paper… people still saw it as just more of the same. Still, the attempt at something new deserved applause.
Besides, wasn’t this the first official tournament organized by World Wide?
Just the company’s intent to pursue sports-ification was enough to send related stocks soaring—it was a huge event.
Many pro teams began preparing in earnest for the New World League, and Korea was no exception.
Before the official World Wide league began, Pro Team Alliance members had gathered to plan out a Trial League.
“Well, that wraps up our discussion about the Trial League. Thank you all for your hard work.”
After a five-hour meeting, the representatives wrapped up the schedule and engaged in some casual conversation.
“I heard Wingzone put together a pretty solid lineup this time? Did World Wide give you a heads up?”
“Haha, you guys were the ones who scooped up all the famous Korean Players, didn’t you? We put a lot of effort into getting Shake on our team.”
“Ah, Opponent! So the reason Shake hesitated with the contract was because he was in talks with Wingzone!”
At that moment, one of the representatives seemed to remember something and spoke up.
“By the way, have you heard anything about Alicia?”
“Alicia? Ah, you mean that Player known as the Spirit Gardener?”
“Yeah… There are all sorts of rumors online, but nothing concrete.”
“Care to give us a hint?”
They subtly tried probing the World Wide representative at the meeting.
“Haha, you all know I can’t give information on individual Players.”
“Come on, we’re all Koreans here.”
The representative just shrugged at the playful remark.
“Well, in any case, we’re getting tons of inquiries from teams all around the world…”
Looking as if he might say more, he soon broke into a faint smile.
“If you do try to cast them… you might have an edge over the other teams.”
“!!!”
“Huh?!!!”
Everyone in the room immediately understood the implication of his ambiguous answer.