Second World

”Well, the entire idea of a game is to have fun. We have ended in a game world. Whatʼs wrong with having fun? If you compare our…”

”I just canʼt agree with such a shallow purpose,” Jeanny objected.

”No, no, no, let him finish. I think he is onto something here,” John said.

”Why, thank you! As I said, if you compare our life with the one before this world. How do you see these two separate lives? Canʼt you remember how boring it is before? We are getting confined by all those rules and routines, and thatʼs all we know about how to live. We need to do a lot of stuff that most of the time we donʼt like to, just to get by. We might be doing one work at a time and thinking that things might get better, but we are still doing the same things five years later. Or different job but basically the same thing. In that old world, the rules were pretty much decided, and the force in power was pretty much established. Those forces will pretty much remain in power while those powerless toiled endlessly just to manage. In this world, however, we are all new slates. Everyone is still learning the ropes here. Everyone has the same chance to make something of themselves. Even commoners like us have the chance to write our own rule in this new world. There are adventures everywhere. A lot of unknowns to be explored, and we are given the means, the power, to do these adventures and write these new rules. What else if it is not fun?”

”Okay, we can ignore him now,” John told Jeanny.

Jack rolled his eyes at him, the fellow was still as annoying as ever. He said, ”come on, you two. There is no need to think too much about a purpose. The most simple thing is usually the best because it comes from our hearts. If we try to think up a complicated purpose, it will just end up making it difficult for everybody.”

”It is very like you, giving advice to not think about something too much,” John criticized.

”I like that saying that it comes from our hearts, though,” Jeanny commented. ”Cheesy, but nice!”

”Come on, too much thinking is not always good,” Jack insisted. ”Now, letʼs try this. The two of you say the first thing that comes to your mind for our guild purpose. No need for something grand, no need to be afraid that it sounds stupid as well. Just a simple thought, at this moment, now! Start with you first, John. You have three seconds, go!”

John touched his chin with a thought, while Jack made a gesture as if he was counting.

”Well, if you insist. Okay, well, then the first thing that comes to me is to make the guild the best ever in this world!”

”Heh, always peg you for an ambitious one,” Jeanny commented.

”Most thinkers are, my lady,” John responded.

”Now, you, Jeanny. You have three seconds as well. Go!” Jack said.

”Uh… you are becoming rather pushy with this now, arenʼt you?” Jeanny said. Jack did not respond to her words, he continued to give her his hand-sign of counting to three.

”Er, um… Friendship then! I want our guild to become the most harmonious and loyal community ever,” Jeanny said quickly as Jackʼs fingers counted to three.

”Okay, then thatʼs our guildʼs tenet!” Jack proclaimed.

”Huh?” John and Jeanny were muddled by his words.

”A fun guild composed of a collection of close-knit friends that was aiming for the top!” Jack declared.

”What the hell, you just go and combine all our thoughts together?” John commented.

”Hehe, why not? We will be the three leaders, right? Then the guildʼs purpose should come equally from the three of us.”

”I actually kind of like that,” Jeanny said with a giggle.

”See, two against one. Itʼs settled then!” Jack exclaimed.

”What two against one. I never say I object it,” John said.

”Great! Then we have reached a unanimous decision in our first guildʼs meeting. I would say thatʼs not bad for a start,” Jack uttered.

”Leave it to Storm to speed things along,” Jeanny said.

”Yeah, he is the embodiment of that sportswear commercial, just do it,” John added. ”Now we just need to find enough members to register. The rule said we will need at least thirty members to form a guild.”

They heard some footsteps. They turned and saw Peniel leading the others coming to them. ”So, the three of you are here,” Bowler said as he approached them with the others. ”I was worried if something had happened. We are not in a safe zone, shouldnʼt wander around too much.”

Jack, John, and Jeanny looked at each other and laughed. ”Ask and you shall receive,” Jeanny commented.

”What are you laughing about,” Bowler asked.

”Yeah, donʼt keep us out, man? Did something good happen?” The Man added.

Jack then informed them about their plan to build a guild. He asked them if they were interested to join. All of them did. The Man was in doubt for a bit, Jack told him he could still lead his own Men of Solidarities gang within the guild. They would just be a bigger family, thatʼs all. He agreed then.

There were only nine of them there. Another two had not survived the dungeon, Weird Trap and the last of The Manʼs underlings. They had been killed by a trap when they failed to solve the puzzle in their private room during the last part of the dungeon. There were twenty-four of them at the start, if not counting Sunrise. So they only need six more to reach the required number to form a guild.

Easily solved, The Man had said. He had more members that would follow his lead to join. It was only because they had not passed their advanced class test that they had not joined this expedition. But from his messaging with the rest of his members, all of them had managed to pass at this moment. Not that it mattered, Jack would accept them even if they were still basic class as long as The Man trusted them.

There were also more of Jeannyʼs friends. Some Jack had met, some were unfamiliar to him. She was currently in the process of recruiting them via messages.

The most worthless was John. The people who agreed to join on his behalf were only Weird Trap and Pointy Tip. The guy had no other friends, or at least no other friends that were willing to follow him. Talk about asocial.

”So, let us go back and register the guild right away,” Jeanny said.

”Now?” Jack asked.

”Yeah, we all have the Town Return scrolls, right? Why wait?” She asked.

”Now who is being hasty? You are getting influenced by him too much,” John said to her while pointing at Jack. ”Letʼs spend the night here first. We will say goodbye to the duke and the rest before we leave. Otherwise, it will be rude if we just disappear without a word.”

”You are right. Okay, letʼs have a pre-celebration of the forming of our guild!” Jeanny said.

”Good idea! Bowler, go to the army supply station and buy some wine to celebrate,” John said.

”Why me?!” Bowler protested.

Jack followed them back to the bonfire to do a second round of partying. He was actually not so into the idea of leaving immediately, because he was still expecting to exploit the massive experience gains from using the vanguard troops of the army. He still had one and a half million exp points to feed his greedy new inherent skill, Lightning God Blessing, after all.

But he understood the expression of striking while itʼs hot. Everyone was so fired up to establish this guild. He was not going to kill the mood, so he followed along. Peniel did say he knew a way to level up fast, he would just depend on her method later after the guildʼs business was done.

The next morning, they did just as they planned. They came to Duke Alfredo and Commander Quintus to let them know of their leavings. Since the expedition was completed, the duke had no problem letting them leave as well.

Jack went and said his goodbye to Prince Alonzo as well. The prince asked Jack to come to visit him again when he was back in the capital. Jack promised that he would. Regarding the quest of Escorting Prince Alonzo, he surmised that the questʼs objective should have been achieved now that Prince Therribusʼ lackey, Ronnie, had been taken care of. The prince should be safe with the duke on their way home.

Once everyone was ready, they took out the Town Return scroll at the same time and activated it.

They appeared one by one on the teleport portal of Thereath.

”Ah, we are finally back!” Bowler announced.

😉