"And that's how I failed the archdruid test..." sighed the green-furred wolfman with a nostalgic grin on his face.

They sat in the inn located in Moomglade.

Out the window, they could see tall trees and the giant lake that glistened in the unknown source of light located somewhere in the sky.

"Damn... must be a pretty tough test," Crown remarked thinking back to the story she just heard.

He took a sip of the beer she bought.

"Yeah, it's designed to make you fail, you need to be the ideal druid to pass, that's the point!" exclaimed the wolfman.

"But it's fun to watch people fail," he added with a shrug.

"I see..." Crown said dismissing any plans to join the competition.

"Anyway, how's the outside world?" asked the wolfman a few people at the surrounding tables listened in.

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked Crown.

The floors were made from a pale wood, the rings in it seemed to flow and curl unlike those of a real tree.

"None of us left this place yet, it's isolated, filled with respawning booze and food and it looks pretty nice," explained the wolfman.

"Besides, it's been fun interacting with the stuff here! Training alchemy, herbalism and whatnot," he added.

"There are these pillars located in the south, they can give you extra druid skills if you touch them, though most of us lack the affinity for any of the six animals on the pillars," explained the wolfman.

"Back when this was a game we had to do a daily quest here, collect a dozen items for a pillar of our choice and in return, we'd get a twenty-four-hour buff relevant to the animal on the pillar, plus it made some of your spells look different," he explained.

"Why did I never hear about this!?" Crown asked, an entire zone and quests she never saw.

"The spell to teleport here was given to the druids during the beta day of his game, years back."

"But a while later they were removed and could only be gotten by buying a scroll from here,"

"So a bunch of druids at the time decided to make this their little private base," laughed the wolfman.

He drank from the large pint he had in his hand.

"Anyway, the booze here is good!" he added.

"The people here seem so... carefree..." Crown thought.

She glanced at the dozen other people sitting around and enjoying their drinks.

Crown got off the seat she sat on.

"Alright, guess I'll go pay these pillars an overdue visit..." she said.

"If I could get some OP magic I could finally get some healing done! Or at least some decent DPS!"

"I'll tag along if you don't mind, I've been trying to get one of them for a while," laughed the wolfman.

Crown nodded.

"Sure, why not."

"Wait, didn't you say you don't have the affinity for any of them?" she asked.

"Yeah, well - I figure if I sit around here for long enough I'll be able to"

The wolfman stood up from his chair and announced to the entire in,

"ALRIGHT GUYS! I'M GOING TO TRY THE ROCK AGAIN!"

The inn cheered,

"Good luck, Larry!" called out one of the people.

"Hope you get it!" said another.

The two left the inn and walked through the town, the buildings were made entirely of wood.

"This place looks nice," Crown remarked.

"Yeah, back when this was a game it was meant to look all majestic, but now you can really see and touch everything..." remarked the wolfman.

Every person they walked past waved to them.

The green-furred wolfman always waved back.

"This place feels too nice... what's going on? Druid mushrooms controlling their brains?! Parasites?! Blackmail?!" Crown couldn't comprehend the niceness of these people.

After a lengthy journey, the eventually made it.

A small overhang of rock stood above them, below it stood six statues,

Around the small overhand stood dozens of trees that were more reasonably sized.

The snake, the bird, the lion, the fish, the bug and the goose.

The wolfman placed his hand on the lion statue.

"..."

"..."

"Well, looks like nothing happened!" he laughed.

"So you're going for the lion?" she asked.

"Yeah, this other guy got it already and I thought it'd be cool! Though it looked like for whatever reason it's not resonating with me..."

The wolfman stretched a bit and let out a sigh.

"Well, what can you do - it's not like I need the powers, haha!" he laughed.

Crown looked at the statues.

"Well, I do!" she said as she stomped over to the first one, she placed her hand on the snake statue.

Nothing happened.

She placed her hand on the bird statue and again nothing happened.

She placed her hand on the lion to the same result.

She looked to the remaining statues.

She placed her hand on the fish and nothing happened.

"I'm not sure which is worse, bugs or geese..." she thought placing a hand on the bug statue.

"...nothing..." she let out a sigh and placed her hand on the last statue.

"The goose..."

Suddenly, the goose statue cracked revealing a normal goose, Crown tried to pull back her hand but it felt as if it was glued to the rock.

The goose looked at Crown with an uncertain look, using its long, snake-like neck to get a good look at her before letting out an earth-shattering honk and biting down on her hand leaving a red mark.

Moments later the goose began to honk over and over again until it took on its previous pose and became a statue once more.

Suddenly, Crown's entire body began to glow as she felt her spells being rearranged.

A dozen new spells appeared, some spells were overwritten and one or two were removed.

She gasped for air as the glow around her disappeared.

"...what..."

Larry the green-furred wolfman looked at Crown, then the goose and then at the lion statue.

"On second thought... I don't think I need the extra skills at all..." she said shakily.

Many years in the past...

Long before the players were isekaid'd and long before the demon kings were enslaved within items.

The massive silhouette of one of the demon kings looked down at the mortals, their form almost ethereal.

A group of druids were building the shrine in Moomglade.

The archdruid pulled the cloth of the first statue.

"The snake represents the need for escape, the wish for freedom..."

The archdruid pulled the cloth of the second statue.

"The bird represents the need to ascend and improve..."

The archdruid pulled the cloth of the third statue.

"The lion represents pride... yet I know it's not original but those were the orders from the gods..."

"Demons..." mumbled one of the druids.

The druids shot him a few terrified stares as they awaited some form of divine punishment which has not yet come.

The archdruid pulled the cloth of the fourth statue.

"The fish represents the want for comfort and peace, the peace we find in uncertainty,"

The archdruid pulled the cloth of the fifth statue.

"And lastly, the insect, represents our desire to work together to achieve greatness under the eyes of our immortal and benevolent gods..."

Suddenly, the druid who called the god a demon fell to the ground as his form turned to stone as was shaped into that of a long-necked goose.

"And this is the statue of the goose..." bellowed the demon king.

"That is the statue of betrayal and hatred... a baseless fury that burns in the hearts of all mortals..." he added.

"That is the word of I, Oscar, the god-king of order..."

The druids scrambled to carry the bird statue to the cavern and quickly retreated back to the small settlement in north Moomglade.

Oscar looked across the world to the demon king of despair and destruction.

"Their settlement must die of plague in one-hundred and twenty-five years, six months, five weeks and two days..."

The massive, ethereal form of Thal replied with a colossal grin and a nod.

"And their souls will be used for the coral reef in Diasole..." Darby said looking at Nekraxx who nodded with an irritated sigh.

"And here I was looking forward to adding them to my collection..." he lamented.

"Your collection is not part of the plan for this world... you must dispose of it!" Oscar exclaimed.

"It's alright... once the contract runs out I'll head into the void with my... project..." grinned Nekraxx.

All the other demon kings look at Nekraxx, each wearing a different expression.