Second World

”New Country?”

”Canʼt you tell Iʼm a human player?” Jack asked.

Florence scrutinized Jack. ”Are you telling me you came from another country? A country with the players being humans?”

”Exactly, itʼs a country called Themisphere. If you can access the cities there, you can reunite more people. Maybe some of the missing persons you are looking for are in that country.”

Florence gave the matter some thoughts, before he asked Jack, ”Whatʼs in it for you?”

”I am truly sympathetic to your cause. I think it is incredible for someone to be willing to spend the time to arrange such an endeavor to help others. I would like to speak to the leader about this, do you mind introducing me? Is the leader here?”

”You are talking to the leader,” Florence said.

”You are? Well, then let me express my admiration. To show you my sincerity, here is my donation,” Jack handed 80 gold coins to her. That was roughly the number he had collected after raiding the two hideouts and one tiny monster settlement on his way to this city. He was never too hung up on these coins. He might have been able to apply the third upgrade on Ellieʼs Restaurant or Amyʼs Bakery if he had saved more, but he would prefer to use them on something he thought was right, like giving them to the guild or donating them to this socialist lady in front of him.

Florenceʼs eyebrows lifted. ”That was generous of you. Few people gave this amount in one go,” Florence said as she accepted Jackʼs coins.

”Now that you see that I have no hidden motive, shall we talk about you helping the players in Themisphere country as well?”

”Sure, but the biggest problem is how we send people over. From what I heard from others who had often ventured out into the wilderness, the border in between countries was not something traversable at the moment. Only the border between this country and the dwarfʼs enjoyed the luxury of safe travel due to the train system. How do you propose we cross through?”

”Thatʼs easy. You just join my guild. Then you can travel to Themisphere using the Zone Portal,” Jack said.

”Oh? That is even more generous of you. All the guilds I know only care about increasing their power and being the best. If my people and I join your guild, we will be deadweights. We wonʼt do anything for your guild. We only care about helping others find out about their missing relatives.”

”No worry, you can just quit the guild once you arrive in Themisphere,” Jack said.

”Arenʼt you forgetting that those who quit the guild will lose access to the teleportation links they registered during their time as members?” Peniel asked.

”That system you described is good to prevent people trying to take advantage in getting multiple teleportation links during their time as guild members,” Jack explained. ”But if it is only one link, that system is not too useful. I can teleport to one city, quit the guild. Even though I lost the link to that city, but since I am already in the city, it is easy for me to re-established the link again.”

”I see… Thatʼs why you asked Jeanny to set so only trusted members to be allowed access to this foreign city,” Peniel said.

”Yes,” Jack returned his attention to Florence. ”So, what say you? You can just quit our guild after. But, of course, we canʼt keep on letting you use this service continuously. It is only for your starting members to set up your operation and communication between the two countries, I will say ten people. If you find out any missing relatives between Themisphere and this country, you can only ask your clients to hurry level up so they can cross through the countries in the future. At least they already know where they should be heading.”

”Hm… This can work,” Florence said.

”Arenʼt you supposed to discuss this with the other two leaders first?” Peniel said to Jack.

”It is just temporarily borrowing ten guild slot members, whatʼs to discuss?” Jack said.

”Suit yourself.”

Hearing Penielʼs tone, he decided to still talk with Jeanny and John. Jack said to Florence to wait as he discussed things with his colleagues. Jeanny had no problem. John, of course, being him, had something to say about it.

”Do you think we are a charity?”

”Dude, where is your sense of goodness? Arenʼt you afraid you will go to hell when your time is up?” Jack said.

”Friend, If I believe there is a hell, I will be terrified, because I know I will head straight there. But luckily for me, I donʼt. So please donʼt use superstition on me.”

”So, you are objecting?”

”I never say so. We can help, but we have to squeeze some use out of them as well.”

”Man… Iʼm sure you are going to hell. And since I believe in one, it makes me feel better that you will get what you deserve. So, what do you propose?”

”Do like what you originally intended. Have ten, only ten, to cross over here, and soon. Our member capacity is almost filled up, we are reviewing several potential candidates to fill up these remaining spaces, canʼt let them wait too long.”

”Donʼt you want to free up some space to see if we can get any Vampire race players to join?”

”I think it will need some time for the players in that country to notice us. Anyway, our guild is not too far from level 3, the new members have been diligently doing guild quests. We should have more spaces by then. The two hideout bosses you sent to the jail are certainly helping. With the coalitionʼs reduced activity, we are free to do what we need to do. Your threat on them is certainly long-lasting, longer than I expect.”

Little did they know, although it was true the three leaders of the coalition were still wary of Jackʼs threat. The real reason why they had yet not returned their main activities to Thereath was because, in the past couple of weeks, some natives in masks had been hunting their teams who were focusing on doing the second princeʼs kingdom faction quests. They had pulled back the majority of their forces again to review the situation.

”So, how do you want to squeeze some use from these kind-hearted socialists?” Jack asked.

”Ask their leader, Florence you said her name is? To stay as a member of our guild. The others you can have them quit once they cross over,” John said.

”What for?”

”Publicity. Itʼs time we spread our influence and make sure that Thereath is our turf. They are to do their work under our banner. Make everyone think as if our guild is the one sponsoring this socialist work. If we have as many players feel indebted to us due to this, we will have the backing of the mass. At that time, we donʼt need to worry about the coalitionʼs superior number. Any independent player will gladly come to our aid if we need help. We will put a large plaque with our guild name on it and hang it at the entrance of their workplace. For that, not only will we help them cross over, we will provide them with a plot of land.”

”We will? Do you have the fund for that? If you say I will be the one to pay for that, you have another thing coming.”

Jeanny was the one who responded, ”I have a property deed. It is an extra reward I received from performing my kingdom faction quest excellently. The site is not the best, it is nearby the slum district, but the size of the land should be enough for your friendʼs usage.”

”I originally want her to use it to build commercial structures to support our guildʼs fundings,” John said. ”But the poor site might just end up being a bad business place, wonʼt be able to scrounge up much profit. Your proposal has come at a perfect time for us to use this property deed. Another thing I want you to convey to Florence. Not only do they have to admit us as their backings, but they also have to share all the playersʼ information with us. If we see any potential players from their data, we can recruit these players. Especially if Florence has succeeded in finding their loved ones. They will feel indebted to us for providing the services, it will make the recruitment easier. Itʼs time for us to only pick the cream of the crop as our members.”

”Well, as I said. I will leave all this scheming and whatnot to you. Iʼm not good at this anyway. I will convey your message to her. I canʼt guarantee she will agree though.”

”If she doesnʼt, then no cooperation. Ask her to find her own way here.”

”Man… You are truly harsh. I hope you get burned badly in hell.”

Jack then told Florence of Johnʼs intention.

”I should have guessed, you guild people always have an angle,” Florence commented.

Jack gave her a wry smile. ”Iʼm sorry. If it is only me, I will gladly help you no condition required, but the guild does not belong to only me.”

”I guess I can accept the condition. I donʼt care about your guildʼs power play, as long as my people and I are allowed to do as we wish. I donʼt mind letting people see your guild name around our workplace.”

”What about the information?”

”You only need the data of level, class, skills, and their profession and affiliation before they were pulled into this world, right? I donʼt see why that is a problem.”

”Great, then we have a deal!” Jack declared.

😉