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“I…”

Qiyu thought for a moment and said, “Let me get my thoughts in order. I’ll start from the beginning.” It seemed this wasn’t something he could explain in a few words.

Dan Xingyu could tell his mind wasn’t quite in the right place right now, so she said gently, “There’s no rush. Take your time recalling it. Maybe you could listen to my story first?”

Qiyu nodded.

Figuring it wouldn’t be long before they left the resource zone, and seeing that the young mage still looked a bit dazed, Dan Xingyu decided to sit down with him in the pile of fallen leaves.

The two sat facing each other, as if they were on an autumn outing.

Dan Xingyu began recounting his experiences, explaining that he’d encountered a very aloof elf dressed as a ranger and had accepted a quest from him. He said the evil spider looked truly sinister—true to its name—and that he was so repulsed by it, he probably wouldn’t even have an appetite for his next meal.

He also mentioned that out of the 50 people who entered, 42 had successfully turned in the quest. He took a flower out of his backpack.

It was a silver, five-petaled flower; strangely, its stamens were very long, hanging down like ribbons, giving it an ethereal, otherworldly appearance.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asked, showing it to Qiyu as if presenting a treasure. 

Qiyu said, “This is called the Spirit Blossom.”

Dan Xingyu knew he liked to read, and she also knew he had a copy of *The Magical Plant Encyclopedia*. Hearing this, she asked admiringly, “Did you see this in your book, too?”

Qiyu shook his head. “No.”

It was a flower cultivated by the Elven tribe, mentioned in the knowledge he’d received in a dream not long ago.

His next words were, “When we get back, pick some watercress to eat at my place—you shouldn’t feel nauseous after eating it.”

Dan Xingyu hadn’t expected him to be concerned about something like that, but when he thought about the little mage’s personality, it actually made perfect sense. The world may be vast, but food comes first.

He fiddled with the flower in his hand. “That elf said that once we get back, this flower will turn into a treasure.”

His narrative was concise yet well-paced; he spoke smoothly, and by the time he finished, he’d covered all the key points—without actually taking much time at all. As Qiyu listened, his mood gradually calmed down.

“I’m different from you,” he said. “When I jumped into that mysterious well, I landed on a beautiful, soft patch of grass.” 

“There, I met a golden-haired elf who led me to a tree.”

Just as Qiyu finished speaking, two beams of light suddenly appeared. The 24 hours were up, and the two were teleported out of the resource zone.

Dan Xingyu said sweetly, “It looks like I’ll have to go home and listen to you tell this story at length.”

Dan Xingyu was a very interesting person.

After the two of them were teleported back to the Star Forest, he brewed a pot of floral tea, sliced a plate of watermelon, and set out two plates of snacks and pastries they’d brought back from the mages association in Gold Hole City last time.

The table was piled high with food.

“All right, now we can tell the story!”

Perhaps it was because they were back in familiar territory, or perhaps it was Dan Xingyu’s laid-back demeanor that put him at ease, but Qiyu suddenly felt that being mistaken for an elf didn’t seem like such a big deal after all.

He casually opened his Survival Panel, intending to check if any of his friends had contacted him during the past 24 hours while he’d been in the resource zone.

But as soon as he opened his personal panel: “……”

The little mage suddenly stared intently at a certain spot in the void; Dan Xingyu guessed he was looking at the survival panel.

Something didn’t feel quite right—had something happened in Server 01?

Qiyu stared in utter shock at his new panel: Survival ID: I Love Survival Game

Race: Human/Elf (Awakening) 

Talent: Gardening·Exotic (Intermediate) 

Skills:

Health: *

Attack: * 

Defense: * 

Agility: *

Mental Power: *

He stared in disbelief at the newly added “Race” column, reading it over and over again.

Just for going to the resource zone, am I not even human anymore? What on earth does “Elf (Awakening)” even mean?

It’s one thing for the elves to have made a mistake, but why on earth did Survival Game get involved in too?

In the face of this bombshell about race, even the fact that all my stats have turned into asterisks doesn’t seem that noticeable anymore.

“Qiyu?”

Qiyu snapped back to reality and met Dan Xingyu’s concerned gaze.

He took a deep breath and said, “Dan Xingyu, do I look like an elf to you?”

Uncertain why he’d suddenly asked this, Dan Xingyu nodded. “You look just like one!”

Good-looking, with a Plant-type ability, wielding the Bow of Idelan, living in a treehouse, with a garden as his territory, and the Star Forest as his region.

In other words, he looks like an elf, has an elf’s natural talents, uses an elf’s weapon, lives in an elf’s house, and resides in an elf’s territory. The only thing missing for this young mage to be an elf is a pair of pointed ears!

Qiyu:“……”

“What’s wrong?” Seeing he wasn’t speaking, Dan Xingyu asked sweetly, “You didn’t suddenly realize that you really are an elf, did you?” 

“……”

Qiyu still didn’t say a word. Dan Xingyu’s heart skipped a beat.

He let his teasing expression fade and asked cautiously, “Did I hit the nail on the head?”

Others couldn’t see his Survival Panel, but Qiyu could take a screenshot: “Look at the message.”

【I Love Survival Game: (Image)】

Dan Xingyu nervously opened it and saw the “Race” field: “……” 

“Damn it,” he blurted out, unable to hold back a curse.

Then, he fixed his piercing gaze on Qiyu, his eyes burning with intensity as they kept returning to his ears.

“You really are an elf!” he exclaimed, astonished and awestruck. “So will your ears get pointy later on?” He couldn’t help but let his imagination run wild: Not only pointy ears—weren’t black-haired elves also quite rare? Would he get to see a little mage with long hair and pointy ears?

Qiyu couldn’t take it anymore: “No matter how much you stare, my ears aren’t going to turn pointy.” 

“But the Survival Game has verified that you’re an elf.”

Qiyu felt this was the real problem: “Something’s definitely off here.”

If others didn’t know his background, surely he knew it best of all?

He came from the Post-Apocalyptic World—a realm entirely separate from Earth, and even further removed from the Survival Game’s world.

He asked Dan Xingyu, “Suppose you’ve lived as a human for over a decade, but one day, someone tells you that you’re an elf.” He paused, then tried another example: “Suppose someone told you that you’re actually a dragon. Would you believe it? Could you accept it?”

Dan Xingyu’s eyes sparkled. “If I were a dragon, I’d be so happy!”

“Come on, that’s a dragon, for crying out loud!”

Qiyu: …I have a generation gap with you Earth people.

The issue right now isn’t whether I’m happy or not, but how on earth did things turn out this way?

He was just a perfectly normal post-apocalyptic survivor—how on earth did he end up becoming an elf?

Seeing how confused he was, Dan Xingyu handed him a cup of tea and said gently, “Maybe there’s some hidden story behind it. Who knows—maybe this is some kind of reward in the survival game—a reward that grants the bloodline of an immortal being?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to tell me about your experiences in the resource zone?”

Qiyu: “Mm-hmm.”

Actually, his experience was, in fact, simpler than that of Dan Xingyu and the others. Because, after seeing that huge tree, he simply fell asleep.

“In my sleep, I had a very, very long dream. In it, I was imbued with a great deal of knowledge—the origins of the elves, their civilization, and the elven gifts…”

Dan Xingyu had genuinely believed that the young mage had obtained the elven legacy in the resource zone. He thought that because he’d received this legacy, his race had been displayed as an awakening elf.

But the more Qiyu spoke, the more something didn’t add up. No!

It was completely off.

He couldn’t help but interject, “As far as I know, this thing is sort of like inherited memories.” 

“Inherited memories?”

“I’ve read some novels like that,” said Dan Xingyu. “It usually appears among mythical races or immortal races. The young of these races inherit their racial talents and memories through their bloodline while still in their mother’s womb or even when they’re still just an egg.”

That raises the question: does the racial bloodline obtained from the survival game also come with inherited memories? He began staring at Qiyu again.

Qiyu couldn’t be bothered with him; he held out his right hand to show Dan Xingyu the new ring that had appeared. The first thing Dan Xingyu noticed was Qiyu’s hand.

The green really complemented his complexion; the young mage’s hands were just like a piece of white jade. So beautiful!

“After I woke up, I felt that my body had undergone many changes.”

“My mental power, my five senses, my physical condition—every aspect has grown stronger.”

While he was in the resource zone, he hadn’t been able to access his interface. But as soon as he returned and opened it, he discovered that all his attribute values had turned into “*”. His innate skill, “Farming,” had also advanced from Beginner to Intermediate.

“And then, this storage ring appeared on my finger.”

Compared to everything else, the contents of the ring were what puzzled him the most.

He wore an expression that was a mix of complexity and confusion: “It’s all food and daily necessities in here.” If he took them out, people on the outside would most likely not recognize a single item.

But because he happened to gain a great deal of knowledge and memories in his sleep, he knew all of this. 

Fountain of Life: Consuming it strengthens the body and purifies the flesh.

In his storage ring was a glass bottle—a storage item—filled with an unknown quantity of the Water of Life, enough for him to drink as water for at least a year.

Linglong Jade Elixir: An essential nutritional supplement for elven infants, which they generally consume from birth until the end of their childhood. 

Crown Leaf Pillow: Made by drying the leaves of the Crown Tree and processing them using a special method to form a pillow.

Sleeping on it over the long term can nurture one’s spiritual energy and enhance one’s innate talents.

……

There’s even a unicorn egg inside!

Because unicorns are the Elf cubs’ favorite companions.

Qiyu read the list item by item to Dan Xingyu, his tone filled with mixed emotions. The listener’s expression, too, grew increasingly complex.

He looked at Qiyu with a strange expression: “My Lord, you aren’t really…” an elf cub, are you?

Then what about me???

Qiyu furrowed his brow: “Impossible.”

“Look at me,” he said, pointing to himself. “I’m a fully grown human, already 19 years old. If I were really an elf, based on the memories I’ve received, a 19-year-old elf would still be a little one, a long, long way from adulthood.”

Thank goodness I’m not a pervert. Dan Xingyu let out a long sigh of relief.

“But I don’t think an immortal race with a complete lineage would mistake the identity of one of its own,” Dan Xingyu pointed out.

Besides, there was another point: “Even if that elf in the resource zone made a mistake, the Survival Game can’t just go along with it, can it?” He was actually quite accepting of Qiyu’s elf identity.

After all, he had known for a long time that the little mage wasn’t from Earth—he was a local.

It makes perfect sense that the little local is an elf.

“Also, didn’t you just say that after absorbing those memories, all your physical attributes improved significantly?”

Dan Xingyu analyzed what he’d just said: “Exceptional eyesight, light as a swallow—all of these match the characteristics of elves as I understand them.”

He pondered, “Is it possible that you really are an elf? Perhaps for some special reason, your bloodline was sealed. It wasn’t until you entered the survival game and came into contact with the elf tribe that you finally began to awaken.”