"So it's the World Tree of the Elves… huh?Wait—'reproductive unit'??"
Kurose Akira froze for a moment, his brain lagging behind the words he'd just read.
Does that mean elves are actually born from the World Tree?
He quickly realized this definitely wasn't how elves were originally designed—but this world's interpretation of the elven race was clearly… different.
To be fair, he wasn't that familiar with elves in this game. All he really knew was that they were absurdly good-looking across the board, and that their national power placed them firmly among the top-tier factions.
Compared to humans, elves were more united, kinder, and more passionate. You could tell just from the fact that over tens of thousands of years, they had maintained a single nation under a single queen.
After sending Liu Xue a shocked reaction sticker, Kurose Akira logged into the game.
The moment he entered, he saw Ivsha and Alice chatting and laughing in the guild hall, apparently deep in a discussion that definitely wasn't suitable for children.
His gaze then shifted to Loserine.
He noticed that she was only a few minutes away from completing the absorption of the final memory fragment.
As her memories gradually returned, Akira could clearly see the details of the soul-body enveloping her crystalline skeletal frame becoming more and more distinct.
For example—the fine lines on her lips,the fingerprints at her fingertips,the faintly glowing blue eyebrows, and…
Only then did it hit him.
He had forgotten to make Loserine put her armor back on.
Which meant that every single detail of her form was now laid bare before his eyes, with nothing left to the imagination.
Ah… crap.
"Is there, like… a whole starry sky installed inside this body or something?"
Akira studied Loserine curiously and reached out, gently poking her skin with a finger.
It felt like poking a water balloon—soft and comfortable.
Cold to the touch. No body heat at all.
Come to think of it… since this is a fantasy world, there should be resurrection items, right?
But…
Akira glanced at Loserine again and decided she was just fine the way she was now. No need to change anything.
So what if she's undead?
She's not that different from normal people—actually, she might even be better~
As Akira was quietly admiring Loserine's undead body, he had no idea that she had already completed the absorption of the final memory fragment and was slowly opening her eyes.
When she realized her guildmaster was carefully—and very thoroughly—appreciating her, her delicate brows knit together slightly.
In a soft voice, she asked, "Is it… nice to look at?"
"Yeah, yeah! Very nice—huh? Loserine, you're awake?!"
Akira finally snapped out of it.
He'd assumed she'd get some sort of notification or buildup before waking up…
[Your adventurer Loserine has completed the absorption of all memory fragments. Her soul has fully recovered. All memories unlocked!][Level increased to Lv.20! All attributes +20!][You have obtained a new Trait!]
"A new trait!"
A glint flashed through Akira's eyes.
He hadn't expected Loserine to gain an additional trait after fully restoring her memories.
These four memory fragments were absolutely worth it.
But—
Before that…
He now had to face Loserine, whose memories were completely restored, as she looked at him with cool, composed eyes.
"How does it feel, now that all your memories are back?" Akira asked.
When Loserine had only absorbed one or two fragments, she'd seemed adorably absent-minded, like a genius scholar who was a little airheaded.
But now that she'd regained everything, her aura had changed dramatically.
Her cool gaze carried a sharp, capable intelligence. Compared to her previous dazed self, it was like she'd become an entirely different person.
The adorable undead version of Loserine was gone.
"It's fine," she replied calmly. "Doesn't feel much different from when I was alive."
As she spoke, she stood up and methodically began putting her clothes and armor back on.
Akira snuck a few more glances before continuing, "Now that your memories are restored, you should understand Roxia's curse, right? There are only four days left before the monster tide."
"The cause of the monster tide isn't entirely Roxia's curse," Loserine explained while fastening her armor. "No curse, no matter how severe, could attract monsters from a hundred kilometers away. There are still traces of a witch's handiwork left within Sunset City."
"You're saying the monster tide has another cause, and Roxia's curse is just the trigger?" Akira narrowed his eyes.
"Yes." Loserine nodded lightly, a cold gleam flashing through her eyes. "We once crossed the sea in search of a cure for the curse. We learned that while this curse is dangerous, even at its worst it can only influence monsters within a few kilometers."
"But on our return journey—just as we were bringing that answer back—we were attacked by the Witch of the Night. Our entire force was wiped out in the open sea."
"There was a traitor who leaked our route."
Loserine clenched her fists, fury flashing across her face.
She knew it—someone had informed the Witch of the Night of their course. That betrayal was what caused the maritime disaster.
There was a traitor inside Sunset City.
"Was it Mero?" Akira asked. "I heard he's currently imprisoned in the Yerman Family's underground dungeon."
"No. It wasn't him," Loserine shook her head. "We never told Mero our departure time or route. At the time, only the Yerman Family's core members and a few sailors from Sunset City were on board."
"Those sailors had no magical fluctuations, and it would've been impossible for them to transmit information in the middle of the ocean. Also—" She paused briefly. "Roxia's mother could never be the traitor. She never had access to the route map, and there were no witch marks on her body."
Her words cut cleanly through every known lead like a sharp blade, severing all existing clues.
"No matter what," Loserine said firmly, "we must return to Sunset City and conduct a thorough investigation. There are still secrets hidden in its darkest corners."
"Alright."
Akira then asked, "By the way… the golden-eyed witch you mentioned earlier—are you referring to Princess Vivian?"
If his guess was correct, then Princess Vivian was almost certainly the Witch of the Night.
"Vivian…?"
Loserine found the name somewhat unfamiliar.
After all, that had been ten years ago.
Back then, Princess Vivian had only been five or six years old.
"I can't give you a definitive answer," Loserine said after some thought. "Too much time has passed. But what I do know is this—the witch was being hunted by the Witch Church, and she wore a pale yellow gemstone ring on her ring finger."
"Being hunted by the Witch Church… and a pale yellow gemstone ring…"
Akira repeated the words softly.
He couldn't be certain that Princess Vivian was the witch who brought disaster to Sunset City—but there was undoubtedly a deep, tangled connection between them.
As for why that witch was hunted by the Witch Church…
Well. She was called a traitor witch, after all~
"Let's deal with Sunset City's crisis first," Akira said. "Then we'll figure out how to handle that witch. But before that, we need to raise our combat levels."
Even though Loserine had reached level 20 after absorbing all the memory fragments, she was still weaker than she'd been in life.
And even at her peak, there had been enemies she couldn't defeat.
Let alone now.
"You're right," Loserine nodded in agreement.
"Get ready," Akira said. "Once I finish handling my current business, we'll head out immediately."
As for what that business was?
Obviously—
Picking the most suitable trait for Loserine.
"…Mm."
Loserine narrowed her eyes slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke softly, "Thank you."
"Huh?" Akira blinked, surprised.
"It's nothing."
She immediately turned and walked toward the guild's training room.
She seemed interested in the sword techniques she'd just reawakened—but more than that, she was clearly trying to avoid any further conversation. She wasn't good with words.
"…Weird."
Akira didn't think much of it.
He opened Loserine's trait panel, ready to assign her a new trait.
[Please choose one of the following three traits!][Likes Working Out][Ember Breath][Whale-Level Spender]
Staring at the options, Akira couldn't help but complain,
"What kind of nonsense traits are these?!"