CHAPTER 47
047 – Ipril

When the Contribution from the picture book came in, Jinwoo couldn't wipe the dumbfounded look off his face.

'One picture book is worth 20,000 points?'

The apples were 200 points, and the nutrient was 400 points. But a picture book was 20,000?

He couldn't figure out the standard. Was Contribution always this easy to raise?

If that were the case, the #1 ranker for the Moonlight Forest wouldn't be under 50 million. By simple calculation, Jinwoo would take the top spot just by offering 2,500 picture books.

Of course, he hadn't brought that many, but it meant it wasn't a difficult task.

Picture books were something you could buy by the thousands if you had the money.

'Could it be?'

Jinwoo tried offering another picture book he had brought.

[You have made a profound contribution to the Moonlight Forest.]
・Kang Jinwoo - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 38,128 (↑12,966)

[You have made a profound contribution to the Moonlight Forest.]
・Kang Jinwoo - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 57,162 (↑19,034)

When he offered similar picture books, the points still skyrocketed.

This time, he tried completely different books. Dense things full of text, like novels, self-help books, dictionaries, and workbooks.

[You have made a minor contribution to the Moonlight Forest.]
・Kang Jinwoo - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 57,163 (↑1)

"One? It only went up by 1 point? Just one?"

He had offered about six books in total—a novel, a self-help book, a dictionary, and a workbook—but the points had only gone up once. And only by 1 point at that.

Anyone could tell it absolutely detested them. He was lucky it didn't go into the negatives.

'This feeling...'

It didn't seem like the fact that it was a book was what mattered.

If he had to establish a standard, maybe he should focus on the fact that they were children's picture books.

'Let's test the toys and balls, too.'

[You have made a profound contribution to the Moonlight Forest.]
・Kang Jinwoo - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 88,375 (↑31,212)

[You have made a profound contribution to the Moonlight Forest.]
・Kang Jinwoo - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 110,827 (↑22,452)

'This is it.'

This was it. Now he knew for sure.

The bottom line was, this God of the Moonlight Forest...

'Has the tastes of a child...'

Whether it was actually a child or just had the mental age of one, it had the tastes of a child.

It preferred colorful picture books with lots of images over difficult books, and it liked a toy carrot knife more than a sharp dagger. Toys, dolls, and balls were also well-received.

Let's think for a moment.

If this thing is the World Tree...

That means it's the same as those roots he saw in Belen Village. Were those roots a young tree? Young enough to like picture books and toys?

'How would I know?'

He wasn't some kind of tree appraiser.

And even if he had that knowledge, his opponent was the World Tree; there was no way he could measure it with human eyes.

Still, it was good that he had learned various things about the God of the Moonlight Forest's preferences.

More importantly...

'This is an insane gold mine.'

Being able to gain this much Contribution, which was normally accumulated by clearing difficult trials, was a huge harvest.

On the 3rd Floor, Contribution was equivalent to power. It could grant you more powerful blessings or allow you to borrow outstanding items.

'I'm glad I raided that department store.'

He had gone through every floor of the department store and bought all sorts of things. Not just picture books and toys, but also cute ornaments and souvenirs.

He had plenty of things a child would like, so it seemed he wouldn't have to worry about Contribution.

A giant serpent was writhing in agony. The thrashing of its tail shattered the ground and split cliffs.

Despite this, the Elf choking it did not loosen her grip.

"Hrrrrrrngh!"

Instead, she squeezed even harder. She knew this was the serpent's final struggle.

A few minutes later, the serpent finally suffocated and collapsed.

Even then, the Elf didn't let her guard down, continuing to choke it for another ten minutes.

CRUUUNCH!

Only after the serpent's neck finally crumpled with a crunching sound did the Elf release her arms.

"Hoo."

She was an Elf with abnormally developed muscles.

Normally, even with significant training, Elves didn't become brawny. This was true even for powerful Elves at the level of 5th Floor knights.

But the Elf who killed the serpent was different. She had the bulky muscles and physique of a bear, and her strength looked extraordinary.

She possessed the qualitatively superior muscles unique to Elves, yet her muscle mass was also immense. She was an Elf several times, no, several tens of times stronger than a typical Elf.

"With this, another trial is complete. Did it take a week?"

The muscle Elf, Ipril, muttered with a frown.

It wasn't supposed to take this long. She had thought it would be over in about three days, but the serpent was faster than expected.

Thanks to that, it had taken a whole week to chase it down and corner it.

'If one trial takes this long, it'll be hard to build up Contribution quickly.'

Ipril lifted the serpent's head and grabbed a fang. Then, with just her grip strength, she snapped the tooth out. CRACK!

With the fang as proof of the trial, Ipril headed back toward Pandemonium.

'Just a little, just a little more, and I feel like I'll attain enlightenment.'

She was an Elf who originally operated mainly on the 4th Floor. But no matter how much she trained there, she couldn't find any clues to ascend to the 5th Floor.

Getting there itself was possible anytime by crossing a red portal. The problem was her skill.

To adapt safely on the 5th Floor, one needed strength at least on par with the royal knights—no, among the upper echelons of the knights.

In her own assessment, she wasn't at that level yet. That was why she had been seeking enlightenment for a long time.

As one of her methods, she was currently building Contribution on the 3rd Floor and analyzing the god's blessings.

'Third place, huh.'

Even with all this effort, her Contribution was only ranked third.

If it were just third place, she might have tried harder, but there was a gap of more than double between her and first place. She was at 48 million, while the one in first, Lin Shenlin, was at 120 million.

'Dammit, why is a human who's already at the 5th Floor level staying on the 3rd Floor?'

She couldn't understand what that Lin Shenlin guy was thinking. She at least had the goal of gaining a clue for enlightenment to ascend to the 5th Floor, but what about him?

She didn't know why he was playing king on the 3rd Floor when he was already skilled enough to be active on the 5th.

'No. Instead of being jealous of someone better than me, I should find a way to catch up.'

She chided herself for grumbling and arrived at the city.

Her entire body was a mess with the serpent's fluids and venom, but even taking the time to wash felt like a waste. She headed straight for the Temple of the Moonlight Forest.

'What's that human doing here? Why is a human in the Moonlight Forest?'

Inside the temple was a human male.

Anyone who wasn't an Elf wouldn't gain any Contribution in the Moonlight Forest no matter how many trials they undertook, so why?

'Hmph, fools who waste their efforts are everywhere.'

If he was determined to do something pointless, it was none of her business.

Ipril ignored him and offered the serpent's fang, the proof of her trial, at the altar.

[You have made a profound contribution to the Moonlight Forest.]
・Ipril - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 48,789,062 (↑34,824)

'30,000? A little disappointing.'

She had made a profound contribution and gained 34,000 points.

Anyone else would have been amazed and envious of the number, but it wasn't enough to satisfy her.

More than anything, the fact that the trial took a whole week weighed on her. 30,000 in a week. At this rate, it was too slow to overtake Vertus in second place and catch up to Lin Shenlin...

'I have to earn at least three times this much on the next trial.'

She needed to gain at least 100,000 at a time to even begin to close the gap.

Just then, she saw the human male next to her offer something at the altar. She couldn't see the item clearly because it vanished in a flash of light as it was placed on the altar.

That meant the god had accepted the human male's offering.

'It accepted a human's offering?'

Ipril was startled and checked the Moonlight Forest's Contribution list.

Excluding the names of the Elves she knew, she looked for a name she had never seen before.

・Kang Jinwoo - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 2,015,823 (↑51,701)

"T-Two million!?"

She was so shocked that she shouted out loud.

Two million!? Did he say two million?

'Has he been on the 3rd Floor for at least three months? No, just a week ago, the name Kang Jinwoo wasn't on the Moonlight Forest's list.'

She had been staying in Pandemonium on the 3rd Floor for a long time. During that time, she had been constantly performing trials and always checking the Contribution.

If this Kang Jinwoo person had been accumulating Contribution for months, there was no way she would have missed him.

A name she'd never seen before meant he was a newcomer.

'A newcomer has two million? No, more importantly...'

That wasn't all. What was that number that just went up from the offering?

50,000 points from a single item?

"Hmm, this series really gets a good reaction. Let's wait a bit... This time, let's go with the casual version with glasses."

Jinwoo placed another version of the same character he had just offered on the altar.

It was a doll with a holiday fashion concept, wearing a flat cap and glasses in a comfortable outfit.

・Kang Jinwoo - God of the Moonlight Forest's Contribution: 2,085,949 (↑70,126)

"Yes!"

Focusing his attack on the ones that got a good reaction was clearly effective. The last one was 50,000 and this one was 70,000, meaning he had gained 120,000 Contribution points from just two dolls.

'What!?'

Ipril watched from the side, a look of pure shock on her face.

It was unbelievable. She had chased that massive serpent for a week to finally obtain the proof of her trial.

With that, she got a mere 30,000 points. It was a high number, but for her, ranked third in Pandemonium, it was far from satisfying.

But this human male had offered two toys and gained four times that amount!

'What is this guy!?'

Clutching her dizzy head, she barely managed to steady her staggering body.

After a few days of making offerings, he had gotten the hang of it.

First, giving everything at once was ineffective. Offering things one by one with a moderate interval yielded the highest Contribution per offering.

'There's a limit to the items I brought.'

He had swept up a ton from the department store, but the quantity was still finite.

Besides, the God of the Moonlight Forest didn't like every single item he brought, so Jinwoo decided to be as strategic as possible with his offerings.

Leaving a moderate interval was a given, but the most important thing was the series.

'If there's a character that gets a good reaction, I'll push all the related series for a while, and when it starts to get old, I'll switch to a different series.'

Even with dolls of the same character, the variations were incredibly diverse.

There were different outfits, cases where they were paired with companions or rivals, and even series that continued with parts 1, 2, and 3.

Toys like these were the real gems. By carefully testing the waters and pushing a series, there were times he could get over 100,000 points from a single offering.

'But if I wait too long, the effect diminishes. I guess it forgets the previous one.'

Kids' interests and trends were known to be fickle.

If he waited too long trying to test the waters, the effect would sometimes drop, likely because it forgot the previous item.

The key was to find the right timing in between.

And so, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, Jinwoo accumulated Contribution.

'The sales strategies of toy companies are really amazing. If you're not careful, even adults can get hooked, so kids don't stand a chance.'

Elites who had studied professionally spent all day researching ways to captivate children; of course it would be effective.

All he had to do was imitate that strategy. Could there be an easier job?

'I need to confirm if the God of the Moonlight Forest is the World Tree...'

That had been his original goal, but somewhere along the line, he had become completely engrossed in accumulating Contribution.

Well, it didn't matter. He could investigate its identity anytime. In contrast, it was better to raise as much Contribution as possible while he could.

The God of the Moonlight Forest had the tastes of a complete child. And since there was no telling how long a child's whims would last, he had to earn while the earning was good.

Just then, a hand grabbed Jinwoo's shoulder.

"E-Excuse me!"

It was a brawny Elf. The Elves Jinwoo had seen, regardless of gender, all had moderately slender bodies. This was the first time he had seen an Elf built like a bear. Her muscles reminded him of Ma Doo-sik.

"H-How did you do it? What method did you use! Did you receive a special trial? Wait, can you even understand me?"

Jinwoo furrowed his brow at the barrage of questions. Her voice was so loud, like she had a megaphone in her mouth, that his eardrums ached.

"I understand you just fine. But ask one question at a time, just one."

The muscle Elf mumbled, her lips moving. Before speaking, she organized her thoughts.

Finally, she shouted so loudly the temple rang.

"I want to know the secret to gaining Contribution! Please take me as your disciple!"

It seemed she had misunderstood "one at a time" as "only one."