Second World

”So you really have enemies already this early? Youʼve been busy, eh? Weʼve just arrived in this world five days ago,” John commented.

”We made enemies with them during our tutorial period in Bay city,” Jack said.

”Bay city? Donʼt you mean Windmill city?” The Man said.

”Hm? What do you mean? You didnʼt come to this world from Bay city?” Jack asked.

The Man shook his head.

”I was from Star city,” John said. ”It appears that not all players that were transported here came from the same city. But we can talk about this later, letʼs resolve our current issue first. Who are these enemies of yours?”

”One is Weary Wolf gang, but it shouldnʼt be them. They should still be in detention by the guards,” Jack answered. ”So the ones in front should be Death Associates people.”

”Death Associates?” The Man blurted out. ”Isnʼt that one of the famous guilds with many experts?”

”You made an enemy with Death Associates?” John asked with a frown.

John nodded. ”If you guys donʼt want to get dragged in the confrontation, I will understand.”

The Man laughed, ”hahaha! Only a real man dares to go against stronger opponents. I know our boss is not simple. What Death Associates, we are not afraid of them! Count us in!”

John looked at him with disdain, ”there is bliss for being simple-minded people.”

”Are you looking for a fight?!” The Man hissed at him, ”if you are afraid, then get the hell out of here!”

”Your daddy here is never afraid of anyone,” John replied.

”Can we stop fighting before the actual fighting starts?” Jack told them. ”So who will join? And who will leave? I donʼt mind either way, we will still be friends. I donʼt like involving you guys in my fight anyway.”

”Heh, donʼt say that. The enemy of our boss is our enemy too. Right, guys?” He looked at his teammates.

”Of course!” His men shouted without hesitation.

Jack was surprised, he knew The Man was the type that value relationship, but he didnʼt expect all his men to also have the same resolution. There was probably a reason why they called themselves Men of Solidarity.

Jack turned to John and Pointy Tip, ”you are in?”

”Heh, I donʼt like to get into unnecessary trouble. But itʼs not like I get any better thing to do. Messing with Death Associates seemed like fun. What about you?” He said to Tip.

Pointy Tip looked at him with a helpless expression, ”only you can say itʼs fun to mess with a big guild with a straight face… I would rather not get involved, but I also donʼt think itʼs safe for me to go back to the city by myself, so I would just tag along.”

”Thatʼs ok, you can just stay at the back,” Jack said. ”It is still not certain that they are Death Associates people and are targeting us anyway. If it is and a fight breaks out, you can retreat and stay out of the conflict.”

”Grow a pair, will you?” John said to Tip, ”with so many people in action and you being insignificant, I doubt the enemies will even remember you after the fight is over. So there is no need for you to be afraid of that large guildʼs retaliation.”

”When you say it like that, I do feel safer and feel bad about myself at the same time…”

Jack ignored them and looked at the others, ”so you all ready?”

Men of Solidarities, Bowler, and Flame nodded. John on the other hand looked at him with consternation, he said, ”donʼt tell me you are going to just waltz in like that?”

”Why? Do you have a plan?” Jack asked.

”Of course I have a plan! You already know their position. It will be a waste not to take advantage of that. We hit them first while they are not yet aware.”

”I donʼt think that is good? What if our assumption is wrong and they are not Death Associates and they are not even targeting us?”

”It is always better to make a wrong kill rather than get killed ourselves,” John said.

”What kind of depraved saying is that?” Bowler protested.

”Yeah, itʼs not good to act so imperiously, it will just make us look like a bunch of bullying bandits,” The Man agreed.

”You talked as if you have never bullied anyone,” John said to The Man with disdain.

”Only if the person deserved it,” The Man retorted.

”What plan do you propose exactly?” Jack asked John.

John looked at the upslope in front, he then squatted down at the place where Jack made his drawing. He took out his wand to make some additional markings. He said, ”Looking at the landscape and their positions, they wonʼt be able to see us until we come up that upslope, which is strange actually. If I was the one that planned the ambush, I will at least post one person before the upslope to notify the others of our arrival.”

”Maybe they are afraid we will notice them if they do it that way?” Bowler mentioned.

”Maybe, or the planner is simply dumber than me. Anyway, from the positions they are at, I will say they are hiding around the rocks and trees at the sides of the main road to the capital.” John drew further markings to indicate the rocks and trees.

”You still remember the positions of rocks and trees beside the main road?” Bowler asked.

”I walked past this road when I was headed to Siren Hill. Why? Are you using a different road?”

”No, but I donʼt remember every tree and rock along the way.”

”Well, of course. How can you compare my brilliant brain with that junk you have inside your head?”

Bowler was about to cast Mana Bullet on the guy before Jack stopped him.

”I told you I got photographic memory already, right?” John said, then he drew a few more additional markings. ”Back to the plan. Now we can separate into two teams and circle around to both their flanks, then we can then take them by surprise. There were fifteen of them if Jackʼs detecting tool is accurate. If we follow this plan, we can ambush them first and take out ten of them in our first strike, cutting their numbers by more than half. The rest of the fight will then be us outnumbering them. Should be piece of cake by then.”

Jack thought for a bit, then he said, ”all right, we will do that, except for me. I will stay and walk on the main road.”

”Why?” Bowler asked.

”To make sure that they really have ill intention against us. If they donʼt, then we can just walk past, no need for conflicts. If they really plan to ambush, then their intention will be onto me on the road. That will give you all easier time to strike them from the back.”

”You are a bit too cautious, why worry about killing one or two innocents,” John said. ”But that distraction part works also, letʼs do it as you say then.”

”Ok, you guys go to the positions indicated by John,” Jack said. ”Wait for my signals in Party chat. Once I give it, you all make the ambush at the same time. No need to worry about those that come towards me. I will hold out until you all finished your opponents.”

No one doubted Jackʼs ability to hold out, so everyone nodded and parted away to go to their positions.

”Let me know when you all had arrived at positions,” Jack said in chat. ”Proceed slowly to avoid alerting those people in front. I will start walking towards them after you all had reached your places.”

Jack waited as he observed his radar. The nine green dots that were by his sides a moment ago separated to five to the right, which were the remaining members of Men of Solidarity, and four to the left, which comprised of Flame, Bowler, John, and Tip. They slowly made their way forward, they then separated again with each green dot approaching the scattered blue dots closest to the outer perimeter.

Jack figured they should have arrived in their positions before long, so he started to walk slowly along the main road to the capital.

”Iʼm in place.”

”Iʼm ready.”

”Good to go here.”

Not long after, messages upon messages arrived as his allies reached the positions marked by John. And as Jack continued to monitor his radar, the blue dots didnʼt make any movement. The unknown players hiding in the front seemed none the wiser that someone else had stalked them.

”Waiting for your cue,” John was the last to send a message as he arrived at his position.

😉