A massive banyan tree stood with a trunk nearly 20 meters thick, soaring over a hundred meters tall, its branches and leaves forming a dense canopy.

  Leah, the Elf Matriarch of the tribe, lived here.

  A slender elf in black stealth gear slipped to the door, knocked softly, and whispered nervously, “Mother, it’s me.”

  “Cassana? Come in.”

  A woman’s voice came from inside, very mature and gentle.

  Pushing open the door, she saw a mature woman gently cradling a baby in her arms, a soft and nurturing scene.

  The woman had golden hair, an elegant, fair oval face, golden eyes, and pointed ears.

  Her eyes brimmed with tenderness and warmth.

  An aura of motherhood surrounded her.

  Her figure embodied graceful maturity.

  Cassana, slender and youthful, felt she couldn’t compare at all.

  Cassana’s cheeks burned as she quickly looked away, the sight stirring something unfamiliar within her.

  Seeing Cassana, the Elf Matriarch smiled gently, her eyes doting. “This little one is hungry again. No matter how many times I feed him each day, it’s never enough.”

  The baby was suckling greedily, milk even overflowing from his little mouth.

  Anyone else would have run dry nursing this often.

  But for the Elf Matriarch, her milk seemed endless.

  Cassana looked shy, lowering her head and stammering, “M-Mother, I have something to report.”

  “Speak, child.”

  Leah said calmly.

  “In the forest near the east, I found a dead Black-Maned Giant Bear, but it’s almost been completely devoured by monsters.”

  Cassana reported.

  This was serious—a single Black-Maned Giant Bear could wipe out half the tribe if it attacked.

  Yet the Black-Maned Giant Bear had been hunted down. Whatever killed it must be terrifying.

  “Such a thing happened? As far as I know, in this Enchanted Forest, there’s only one type of monster stronger than the Black-Maned Giant Bear, but that monster should be living in the west. Do you have any specific clues?”

  Leah’s expression turned serious as she asked.

  Cassana thought for a moment. “Um, judging from the scene, there was a battle, but we didn’t find any trace of the winner. There were lots of Tier 2 and Tier 1 monsters feeding on the corpse, and we also found a lot of goblin footprints. Could it have been them...?”

  “Goblins? That’s impossible. Those lowly creatures could never kill a Black-Maned Giant Bear, not even if a hero-class goblin appeared.

  Besides, the goblins in this Monster Forest are so weak, they’re hardly worth noticing.”

  At the mention of “goblins,” Matriarch Leah’s eyes filled with contempt and disgust.

  Still, the lack of any sign from the victor was strange.

  In the end, Leah said, “It’s most likely the work of humans. Only those cunning, evil creatures could kill a Black-Maned Giant Bear without leaving a trace.”

  “Perhaps. Mother, I’ll be going now. I’ll come report again if there’s any situation.”

  Cassana smiled sweetly as she replied.

  Leah gently reached out and patted her head. “Go on, you’ve worked hard, child.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  ...

  The next day

  Cassana appeared again in a hurry, “Mother, I found a goblin!”

  Pushing open the door, she saw Leah wasn’t alone—two male elves were also in the room.

  Cassana yelped in surprise and backed out, her face turning bright red.

  The two male elves quickly straightened up and slipped out the window.

  “C-come in.”

  Inside, Leah’s voice sounded a little hoarse.

  Cassana peeked inside; only when she saw the Matriarch alone did she finally enter.

  Leah’s mature face was still tinged with a deep blush.

  The bed was a mess, with intimate clothing scattered everywhere.

  Cassana greeted her awkwardly, “Matriarch, your bed...”

  “Cassana, my dear child, don’t worry about that for now. First tell me what you discovered.”

  Leah, a bit embarrassed, quickly covered things with some clothes.

  Cassana quickly composed herself. “I found a goblin sneaking around the Myriad Forest, acting suspiciously.”

  “It dared show itself here? Didn’t you kill that filthy thing?”

  Leah said, slightly surprised.

  She knew goblins were obsessed with elves. At the mining outpost, goblins often came to peep—it happened every day, nothing unusual.

  But not a single goblin had ever dared to approach the Myriad Forest.

  This was the first time.

  Leah shook her head, sounding a bit frustrated. “I don’t know how I missed. I let that goblin escape.”

  The archery of the elf race was extremely accurate, with a very low chance of missing.

  But it wasn’t impossible.

  Leah pulled Cassana into a gentle embrace. “Child, this isn’t your fault. It’s just a little goblin. It’s fine, let it go.”

  “Oh, okay, Mother.”

  Cassana felt much better and prepared to leave.

  Leah called her back, a bit of shyness on her face. “But child, next time you come in, knock first.”

  “I—I understand, Mother!”

  Cassana’s face flushed as she hurried out.

  ...

  Goblin tribe.

  “Boss, there are around thirty elf tree houses in the Myriad Forest, and they’re all really tall!”

  A goblin reported to Tian, borrowing other goblins’ fingers to help him count.

  Tian grunted in acknowledgment. “Good work. When the time comes, I’ll reward you with two elves.”

  “Two elves? Gahahaha! Thank you, Boss! Long live the Boss!”

  The scout goblin shouted in excitement, his face twisted with laughter.

  He was the same goblin Cassana had spotted earlier.

  In fact, the arrow hadn’t missed—it struck his plate armor and failed to pierce through.

  Tian began to think.

  Thirty elf tree houses. Figuring an average of two elves per house, since some lived alone.

  That meant at least sixty elves. Adding the dozen or so at the mining outpost, there were at least seventy in total.

  Each elf’s overall combat power was about 200. Tian had already confirmed this at the mining outpost.

  That was lower than his goblin subordinates.

  But the elves’ homes were easy to defend and hard to attack, and they moved quickly. Normally, taking them down would be impossible.

  However, after hunting many Tier 1 magical beasts—Ghost-Faced Monkeys—all the goblins had learned the ‘Climbing’ skill.

  Now, they could easily climb trees.

  All they needed was a late-night raid—they could take down every elf!

  Just then, Moon asked, “Boss, are we really about to attack the elf tribe?”

  “That’s right. Tonight, we attack the elves and breed even stronger goblins!”

  Tian shouted, rallying the tribe’s spirits.

  At his words, the response was instant.

  The whole tribe erupted in fierce shouts.

  Everyone started sharpening blades and preparing armor for the night’s raid.

  At the same time, Tian decided to use Life Simulation again to see if anything unexpected would happen tonight.

  “System, start Life Simulation.”

  [Life Simulation System initializing. Scenario: The Night Before the Raid]

  After killing the Goblin Shaman, you took control of this small tribe and greatly increased the strength of all the goblins.

  The time is right, and you’re eager to attack the elf tribe, build a stronger force, and get revenge on Stubble Man and his group.

  Late at night, you lead your army quietly toward the Myriad Forest. For convenience, you equip everyone with daggers instead of iron spears.

  You’re completely confident. In terms of overall strength, you’re superior to the elves, and you’re launching a sneak attack.

  When the goblins reach the Myriad Forest, they climb up to the tree houses, but when the doors swing open—not a single elf is inside!

  Turning around, they realize the elves had hidden in the treetops ahead of time. Bows drawn, the elves rain arrows down and wipe out the goblins.

  You don’t escape either. Captured by the Elf Matriarch, you’re hanged in the Myriad Forest as a warning to all goblins.

  Summary: You thought your plan was perfect, but it turned out you were being watched from the start.

  Rating: 0 out of 100 points

  Reward: None

  Life Simulation complete. Time elapsed: 0 days.]

  “What?!”

  Tian snapped back to reality. He hadn’t expected complete failure—total annihilation!

  What just happened?

  He thought his plan was flawless, but he’d been outmaneuvered from the start?

  Suddenly, Tian realized—he was being watched!

  He carefully scanned the area around the tribe, eyes cold and focused.

  Finally, he spotted a humanoid figure in black stealth gear hiding in a treetop. He was certain—it was an elf sentinel.

  They’d been set up!

  “I have to catch her now—if she gets away, we’re in trouble!”

  Tian’s mind raced. He absolutely couldn’t let her escape to report back.

  But elves were agile, able to leap between treetops. The goblins’ small frames made it impossible to catch her in a chase.

  His only option was a sneak attack with an arrow.

  Elves had sharp senses. Tian ordered the goblins to dance around the campfire as a distraction, drawing the elf’s attention.

  Tian grabbed his homemade bow and arrow, coated the tip with his own paralyzing toxin, and crept silently beneath the elf.

  A direct attack would be easy to dodge, but a hidden arrow was much harder to avoid.

  He drew the bow with all his strength and fired an arrow straight at her!

  “Aah!”