“Of course they can’t be replaced,” the Elf said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Without skills, farmers couldn’t cultivate their land easily, fishermen and hunters would struggle to catch anything, and Priests and doctors would find it difficult to heal the sick and injured.”
“A world like that is truly unimaginable.”
‘As if,’ Marlow muttered to herself. She was someone who had come from a world that didn’t have any of those things.
However, she didn’t intend to argue the point with the Elf.
These things, which seemed redundant to her, were simply common knowledge and common sense to the people of this Another World.
It was difficult for a person to understand things outside their own cognition. For instance, she still hadn’t figured out the principles behind how magic functioned, so explaining things to the Elf would be like talking to a brick wall.
It was more likely that the moment she opened her mouth, the Elf would cover her ears, shake her head, and start chanting about heresy.
So, it was enough that she understood it herself. At the same time, she decided to be more wary of these so-called gods.
In any case, she didn’t believe in gods, so she didn’t feel like such thoughts were sacrilegious.
As for other ways to deal with them… Hey, those were gods. In every story she had ever read, they were the definition of overwhelming power. As a little mushroom, she could only think about it in her head; she couldn’t ask for anything more.
After a short silence, she asked, “So you’re saying that skills and everything else are gifts from the gods to the people?”
“At least, that is what most people believe.”
Lumina tried to nod, but she failed, feeling a bit depressed.
The Paralysis status was a total nightmare for someone like her who was used to expressing herself through body language.
‘The abilities an individual gains through hard work and study become the generous gifts of a god… Yeah, that sounds very religious.’
“And what about you?” she asked with a hint of amusement.
“Me? I think of it as a reward from the gods for my hard work. However, some people think the gods don’t actually care. They believe that people are just projecting their own wishes, and that instead of seeking the approval of a god, one should focus on making oneself stronger.”
“There’s also a small minority who are purely anti-god and anti-religion… Never mind, let’s not talk about those guys.”
Seeing the Elf look as if she were offended by the thought of heresy, Marlow didn’t really care. She actually felt that the world should be this way.
If everyone in the world believed in the gods without a single dissenting voice or doubt, she would be worried that the entire world had been brainwashed by religion.
“Alright, don’t be angry, my pious Miss Priest. Can you tell me more about the time before the gods created the world? For example, if the gods created the world, then who created the gods?”
“That…” Her voice sounded a bit hesitant. After a moment, she whispered, “Stories from that far back cannot be verified. We can talk about them as idle gossip, but you must never spread them around recklessly.”
After receiving the Elf’s disclaimer, Marlow gave an affirmative sound, indicating she would definitely keep the promise.
‘But what does she mean by “cannot be verified”? Do people have reference materials to prove what’s happening now?’
For example, to prove that the gods created the world, they would probably only have the oral accounts of those involved.
It wasn’t as if a god would personally tell their believers how impressive they used to be… ‘Well, actually, that’s entirely possible.’
“The gods woke up from a dark chaos. The first to awaken was the God of Light, who brought light to the empty land. Then came the God of the Night, who rotated with the light, giving the world its first cycle of day and night. Then came the earth, the sea, life… many gods arrived, adding color to the empty world.”
“They lived on a giant tree that supported the world. It was a carefree paradise where the gods feasted every day. The God of Nature brought sweet nectar and honeyed wine, and the God of War provided sacrificial dances for entertainment… The former Kingdom of the Gods is the heaven that people today long for so much.”
“Former?”
“Yes. Because the madness of one god destroyed that beauty. Heaven collapsed, and the past was no more. The gods feared a future of madness, so they found a way to create a new world from the ruins of heaven.”
“But I still believe that heaven exists, and that after death, people will enter that eternal paradise where there is no pain.”
As she said this, there was a glimmer in the little Elf’s eyes. That was probably the faith of a devout believer. As an unbeliever, Marlow couldn’t understand it.
She originally wanted to joke that if souls only went in and never came out, heaven could never accommodate an exponentially growing number of souls, so paradise couldn’t possibly exist.
But after thinking about it, she decided not to do something so annoying.
Lumina paused for a moment to calm her emotions before continuing.
“This is the Old World Theory. it ends with a divine war that led to the fall of many gods. In the end, only four gods whom we are familiar with remained: Nature and Life, Wisdom and Knowledge, Courage and Hope, and Love and Virtue.”
‘Wait, how could it be exactly those four?’
‘What kind of Another World is this?’
The mushroom was completely puzzled. Putting everything else aside, the fact that the God of Love—who sounded like they had zero combat power—could survive a divine war defied all logic.
‘It’s just an unofficial history anyway,’ she thought conspiratorially. ‘Maybe these four were the masterminds behind it all.’
While she was still fantasizing about the love and hatred between the gods, the Elf suddenly stood up and said happily, “Oh, the Paralysis status has worn off.”
She moved her limbs, which were still a bit stiff. After jumping around and accidentally squashing a mushroom, she stepped back with an apologetic look.
“Be careful not to touch a poisonous mushroom again.”
The Elf pouted and muttered, “I’m not that stupid.”
***
They resumed their journey to retrieve the Steward Map.
The Woodland area was monotonous. Other than the strangely shaped Screaming Wood, there was nothing but more Screaming Wood. Magical creatures were also scarce in the forest, with only round, soft Slimes rolling around.
“LIGHT BULLET!”
A neat glimmer of magic accurately hit a core. The Slime died instantly, turning into a puddle of pure water that soaked into the ground.
Although it was an easy task, the mushroom was constantly buzzing in her ear.
Marlow absolutely loathed these pests. As for the reason, one only had to look at the patches of bare earth to see that the milky-white Mycelium covering the surface had been devoured once again.
New Mycelium spread, connecting into a Fungal Network and latching onto the Slime’s remaining crystal core. In just a short while, it was completely digested.
Lumina watched the scene before her and then listened to Marlow’s complaints in her head, tilting her head slightly.
The Slime ate the Mycelium, and then the Mycelium ate the Slime. In other words, did Miss Marlow just eat herself?
Marlow was unaware of the Elf’s strange mental activity. She was just irritably forcing herself to ignore the growing number of gaps in the Fungal Network.
The Fungal Blanket had been under constant attack by Slimes since it was laid out. If she didn’t make a conscious effort to maintain it, it would have been full of holes long ago.
But now, she had to give up on this area she had managed for so long.
After all, going to the Cavern Area naturally meant leaving the Woodland. Although the Fungal Network was constantly spreading outward, only the first kilometer had grown at an incredibly fast speed.
It had slowed down after that. Though it hadn’t stopped growing, she had no idea how many years it would take to reach the Cavern Area.
So, she could only cut her losses and say a regretful goodbye.
The Mycelium left behind couldn’t be recycled like the Decomposition of mushrooms; it could only serve as food for the Slimes. Because of this, she was quite resentful about the helpless result of providing resources to the enemy.
‘What a loss. I can’t accept this.’
If these Slimes could all drop experience points for her, she wouldn’t mind feeding them some Fungal Blanket.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have the time to harvest them one by one.
“Um, Marlow, can you see something in the sky?”
“What?”
The mushroom’s vision came from the Mycelium network. Compared to her all-seeing perspective on the ground, she was completely blind once things went above a certain height.
Fortunately, she shared a sensory connection with the Elf’s body, so she could see what Lumina saw through her eyes.
‘Hmm, those look like bees.’
‘Are they out scouting? It makes sense. After all, they suffered quite a loss at our hands. Not only did many basic bees die, but they even lost one of their elite knights.’
If it were her, she wouldn’t easily let go of an enemy that had caused her such a significant loss. So…
**[Race: Knight Bee, Knight Bee, Knight Bee…]**
When the System Panel entered her vision in a uniform block of text, even she couldn’t help but gasp.
Hiss. A whole squad of Knight Bees. This lineup was a bit too much respect for them.
Using a cannon to hit a mosquito… was it really necessary?
“Marlow, do you think they’ll forgive me if I apologize to them right now?”
The Elf’s face went pale as she asked blankly.
“Stop thinking about surrendering and run, you silly roe deer! We really might die this time!”
“I remember you said it was in the bag!” Lumina turned and ran, her heart almost fluttering as she reminded Marlow of her mistake.
“Also, I’m not stupid, and I’m not a roe deer! You’re not allowed to give me weird nicknames!”
“Gosh, can’t you focus on something positive for once?”
Seeing the Elf’s excitement as if she had won an argument, Marlow could only mutter helplessly. She then focused all her attention on preparing her skills to help Lumina survive the crisis.