"Recruiting helpers to clear magical beasts and plant trees by the riverside." Walking back to town, Du noticed a banner with these words at the entrance. Particular to him was the word ’tree’.
Toting the sapling which had just sprouted from the orb, Du approached.
The sapling was a result of defeating a Water Willow Treeman. It was rather high level but not particularly useful. Nevertheless, Du figured soone would want it.
Stepping closer, Du questioned, "Hey, what are you up to, recruiting people to clear beasts and plant trees?"
The man opposite him replied with a bitter smile, "New here, huh? Bad luck upon bad luck, my mainline task is tree planting. I’ve got to find others in the sa boat."
He continued with an even more bitter smile, "If all fails, I’ll have to hire help. Looks like I am going into the red this ti." Du squinted, thinking of sothing.
"Why hire for tree planting? Just pick a spot. Saplings are everywhere, aren’t they?"
"Yes, saplings and seeds are everywhere, but it is really difficult to plant trees in this world. The giant trees claim pretty much every spot. Only when a large number die may you find a plot vacant. Otherwise, they’ll compete for nutrients and not survive."
"A couple of trees dying does nothing, as the others will quickly take their place. Many dead trees, on the other hand, is destructive to nature and hence provokes those elves."
"You an to say there is no plot of land at all for planting trees?"
"There used to be so. After the folks ca to this world though, the quests made them plant so many trees there’s no open land left."
Du understood. Planting trees was a simple task until all the land was planted and the nature-defending elves interfered. Only then did the task beco problematic.
If things go wrong, this could be quite ti-consuming, leaving one stuck in this world indefinitely.
Even a peaceful world has difficult tasks. His task was also tree planting; it seed he had to understand the specifics.
"Aren’t there lots of empty spaces in town where people can plant trees?"
"The town? Don’t start! It took us so much effort to clear a construction spot. If we allow tree planting, it’ll soon be covered. Then what are we to do? We can’t live without houses! We can’t just fight those unreasonable elves every ti we clear the plants, can we?"
Nodding comprehension, Du inquired, "So, why not go to naturally vacant places? What about the riverside you ntioned?" This was what he wanted to know the most.
Now the man seed to have found a companion and beca more talkative. "The riverside—mostly sand, not suitable for planting. Most importantly, it’s where beasts co to drink. With so many animals and beasts, the space by the river can’t be small."
"Even if there are plants, magical beasts will clear them out. They do it to survive. Elves understand that animals are part of nature; they don’t interfere as long as the animals aren’t overly destructive. Humans, however, are different."
"Similarly, what humans do to animals doesn’t bother the elves unless it’s on a massive scale. But they absolutely don’t tolerate massive plant destruction."
After pausing a bit, he continued, "So the best way to complete a planting task is to find a spot on the riverside, plant the trees and leave once the trees survive. The animals will co and devour the sprouts. By then, we’ve completed our task."
Right! Du nodded. His previous failure in planting saplings was due to the judgnt of the rules that his saplings couldn’t possibly survive, as nearby plants were nutrient stealers.
When there are many plants, fights beco more intense and brutal. Plants can’t run away, so they either fight until the end and beco the winner, or beco nutrients for victors.
Suddenly, Du asked again, "What about the levels of magical beasts by the riverside? You seem to be only a hunter. What if you co across ferocious magical beasts?"
He replied with a wave of his hand, "Can’t help it. There are only a few of Tier 5 beasts, you barely see them. Tier 4 ones are scarce, too. As for our riverside, Tier 3 beasts rarely show up. Tier 2 beasts are probably the most dangerous we’ll encounter. The question is, how many of them? If there are too many, it’d still be very dangerous."
He sighed, "I don’t know when it started, but the tree planting task in this Jadeite Forest world has beco one of the most dangerous mainline tasks, literally a noob killer."
Watching him express disappointnt, Du chuckled secretly. While others worry about Tier 2 beasts, he doesn’t. Even if he encounters weaker Tier 3 beasts, he has confidence in his ability to defeat them too.
They chatted for a while longer; Du learned much about this world. Only then did he make an excuse to leave. His informant didn’t mind; soone willing to chat was a rare find in this rat race.
Who has ti to chat after reaching Other World? Everyone is rushing to complete their quests, so his listener communicated surprisingly long.
After the man left, Du turned to the Duo sisters, "We’ve found the solution for our mainline task. Now, let’s find a local map and set off right away. " There’s nothing to brood on here. The quests are hard to find and mass killing does nothing to level up.
People co here mainly for potions and herbs, which do not interest Du. So, the sooner they complete the quests, the better. He needs to open the next level of tasks to advance.
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