Not knowing what to say, I put a loaf of bread in my mouth in the same way, chewed it, chewed it desperately and went into contemplation.

There are windows, so this is a virtual world based on real technology, and some people are conducting some kind of experiment in this world. If so, why did such an "incident" occur? I swallowed the bread in my mouth and asked these words in a moment of hesitation.

「…… How's she going, you know what......?"

With his eyes closed, Mouu shook his head slightly.

"The enforcers said that after the interrogation, they would be executed...... However, I don't know exactly what kind of punishment will be imposed. I once tried to ask the village chief, Gashut...... I think it's a death sentence...... but ah, Qin Huai, I'm sure she's still alive."

After a short while.

"Murong Xue, she must be living somewhere in the central capital......

The moment I heard the name, I gasped.

That incredible feeling came back to my mind. The sense of anxiety, loneliness, and nostalgia that is stronger than these and can shake the soul -

It's an illusion. I say this to myself and wait for the shock to dissipate. I have no reason to be a childhood sweetheart with Mu Ou, and I also have something to do with Murong Xue, a resident of this world. It must be, I started a screening of this general term Murong Xue. That's right - it must have been said by Wenxin yesterday when she was at school. Take-off Development Company, and the virtual world "Mandate of Heaven", aren't these names taken from the game?

It's no coincidence that these two names are exactly the same, and I am afraid that there is some kind of meaning in them. Regardless of that, I focused my attention on the other piece of information contained in Mou'Or's words.

As Mouu said, he was eleven years old six years ago. That is to say, he is now seventeen, and judging by the tone of his voice just now, he has memorized all the long—almost the equivalent of the years and months I have lived to this point.

But that kind of thing should be impossible. Even considering that the game accelerator can produce three times the speed, if you want to simulate the time of seventeen years in this world, it should take six years in the real world. And it's only been three months since the game came out.

How can this be explained?

This is not the world I know, it's in an unknown complete stealth, and by the longest reckoning, it probably started working seventeen years ago. In other words, I have heard that only the acceleration limit of three times is wrong, but in fact it can be achieved at least thirty times or more. Either one, it's unbelievable.

The uneasiness and curiosity quickly swelled deep in his chest. I want to log out immediately and ask the people around me about it.,But at the same time, I want to stay inside and do my best to pursue the truth of the question.。

Swallowing the last loaf of bread, I tried to ask Yugeo.

"In that case...... How about we go to find it? Go to that, Forget the Immortal Gate."

As soon as I said this, I felt troublesome. These words made Mu Ou react unexpectedly.

The young man, with a puzzled face, looked at me in amazement for a few seconds, and whispered in a tone of disbelief.

「…… This fairy tree village is located in the northernmost part of the Northern Empire. To get to the southernmost Wangxian Gate, it takes a week to use the fastest horse. On foot, it takes two days to reach the nearest town. And you have to leave at dawn on your day off."

"So...... As long as you can prepare well......

"I said Qin Huai. You're about the same age as me, so you must have been given a vocation by the village where you live, right? Isn't it impossible to leave your vocation and embark on a journey?"

「…… yes, yes."

This boy is not a simple NPC, this is clear from the beginning. The rich expressions and natural ways of responding make people think of real human beings.

At the same time, however, his actions are constrained by absolute norms that are more effective than the laws of the real world. Yes, it's exactly like an NPC inside VRMMO, and it never leaves the framed range of movement.

According to Mouou, he was not arrested because he had not intruded into the areas that were not allowed on the Taboo List. It seems that the directory is the absolute law that binds him, and probably his fate is directly controlled in this way. It is not known that Much's talent may be a professional thing, but this errand is more important than the life of a girl who has been with her since birth, which I can't imagine at all.

To confirm this, I carefully chose the language and asked Mouou, who had put the water hose to his mouth:

"Eh, that, the village where Mou'ou is located, breaking the taboo...... Catalog, the people who were taken to the central capital, is there anyone else besides Murong Xue?"

Mu Ou's eyes widened again, wiped the corners of his mouth, and shook his head sharply.

"How is that possible. In the 300-year history of Xianshu Village, the law enforcers went here only six years ago, and they all heard from the old man in the village."

As the words fell, he handed the water cylinder over. I took the water hose, thanked it, and pulled the cork that looked like it was made of cork. When you put it on your mouth, it doesn't feel too cold, and it looks like an aromatic liquid made of lemon and vanilla flows into your mouth. After taking three sips, I returned the water bottle.

With a nonchalant expression, he wiped his mouth, but the wind of consternation had already blown in his heart many times.

- Three hundred years!?

If this is not a "set situation", but to simulate this long period of time, the computer can run hundreds of times...... Even a thousand-fold acceleration can be achieved. So, if I used this magnification for the stealth test, how much time would I have spent internally? Thinking about it now, goosebumps rise in my arms, but I don't have the leisure to feel the authenticity of this psychological reaction.

The more information I got, the more I felt like I was stuck in this mystery. Is Mouu a human being, or a program, and what is the purpose of making this world?

The answers to these questions can only be found by following Mu Ou to the village called Immortal Tree and coming into contact with the others. I'm afraid I'll meet other people there...... As I thought so, I reluctantly put on a smile and said to Mouou, "Thank you for your hospitality. I'm so sorry I ate half of your lunch."

"No, don't care. I'm tired of that pie."

He replied with an extremely natural smile and quickly packed up his bento bag.

"Well, just wait for me for a while. Wait until I'm done with my afternoon's work.

After saying this, Mu Ou quickly stood up, and I faced him and asked:

"Then again, Mu'ou's job ...... That is, talent, what is it?"

"Ah...... I can't see it from you."

Mouou laughed again and beckoned me to come over. I nodded, stood up, and walked around to the trunk of the giant tree behind him.

Then, I felt a shock that was different from the previous one, and my mouth opened widely.

The huge cedar tree, with its dark night-like black trunk, had an incision about twenty percent in diameter—about one meter. The wood inside is as black as charcoal, and a metallic sheen is released along the dense growth rings.

Moving his gaze, directly below the incision, there is an axe stuck in it. Probably not for combat, although the shape of the axe blade is simple, whether it is a slightly large blade or a long grip, it is made of the same gray and white material, which is also the characteristic of this axe. Like stainless steel with a grip pad, I gazed at the uncanny sheen of the axe, which seemed to be made entirely of a single piece of raw material.

Mouou picked up the axe, which was only partially wrapped in black leather with the handle, with his right hand, and carried it to his shoulder. Walk towards the left end of the incision, which is about a meter wide, with your legs open, bent over, and hold the axe tightly with both hands.

Squinting his eyes, bending his body, and throwing the axe behind him, tearing the air in an instant. The seemingly heavy blade hits the middle of the cut, and a crisp and pleasant metal note sounds. Without a doubt, this is the body of the incredible note that has led me here. The sound of logging, it seems that my unfounded intuition is correct.

The skill can be described as beautiful, and in front of me, who made this emotion, Mu Ou maintained an accurate pace and track that was more accurate than that of a machine, repeating the blow of the axe. Move the axe to its starting position in two seconds, charge it in one second, and swing the axe in one second. A series of movements, as if it were a sword skill that exists in this world, are smooth and free.

Repeating fifty times at a pace of four seconds, Eugeo, who continued to swing the axe for two hundred seconds, slowly pulled the axe that had delivered the final blow out of the incision, and let out a long sigh. He stood next to the trunk of the tree and sat down on the root of the tree next to it. The beads of sweat on his forehead were glistening, and he was constantly panting, and looking at him like this, wielding an axe was really more tiring labor than I had imagined.

I waited for Mu Ou to adjust his breathing, and then asked briefly:

Muou's work...... Isn't it "The Woodcutter"? Logging in this forest?"

Eugeo, who was wiping his face with the handkerchief he had taken out of his short pocket, tilted his head slightly, and after thinking for a while, he replied:

"Well, that's right. But in the seven years since I took up this vocation, I have not cut down a single tree."

"Huh?"

"The name of this huge tree is the Immortal Tree, and the village is named after it, but most of the people in our village call it the Devil's Tree."

Immortal trees? Why is it called the Devil's Tree?

Looking at me in bewilderment, Mul smiled as if he had given up in some way, pointing straight to the treetops far above his head.

"The reason for this name is that the tree draws the blessings of the sun from the surrounding land. Therefore, only moss grows under this tree, and the trees in its area of influence do not grow tall."

Immortal tree, I don't know what that word means, but Eugeo's statement is exactly the same as the impression I had when I first saw the tree and the clearing. I nodded, as if urging Mul to continue.

"The adults in the village want to open up this forest as a wheat field. However, as long as this tree is standing here, there will be no good harvest of wheat. So I wanted to cut it down, but this tree deserves to be called a demon tree, and its hardness is very terrifying. A normal iron axe only needs to be slashed once and turned back into a broken blade. The "Dragon Bone Axe" placed here, which was cut from the ancient dragon bone, was bought from the central capital for a lot of money, and a full-time "woodcutter" was hired to cut it every day. This woodcutter is me."

Stunned, I looked at Much, who had said this casually, and then at the carving of the giant tree, which was almost a quarter of the way in, and looked back and forth.

「…… So, Mu Ou has been cutting down this tree every day for seven years? It took seven years to get to this point."

This time it was Mouou's turn to stare at me with wide eyes.

"How is that possible. If I can do that much in seven years, then I am too capable. Very well, I'm a seventh-generation woodcutter. Xianshu Village has lived on this land for 300 years, and every generation of woodcutters comes here every day to do such things. Probably as I get older and pass on the axe to the eighth generation, this errand will continue......

Mouou's hands made a gap of about twenty centimeters.

"That's about it."

All I could do at this point was take a long breath.

Although in normal games, production professions such as craftsmen and miners can only do boring mechanical work like this all the time; However, it would take a lifetime to cut down a tree, which is too out of common sense. In this created world, someone who configured this tree probably had other intentions, but I don't have a clue what it is.

— but putting that aside, there was an urge to try it on my back.