Second World

Manager Steelhand held out his hand to signal everybody to quiet down. He then continued, ”There is much we donʼt know about this world. Unlike traditional games, the dangers in this world are more palpable considering that we will lose all our levels and inventories if we die in the wilderness. With such danger, it is imperative that we work together in order to survive in this world. This meeting that we have organized serves none other than to bolster the cooperation between our guilds, to make sure that we can survive in this world, and if luck would have it, to allow us to become a prominent existence in this world. An existence that is not governed by the NPCs of this world!”

Jack must admit that the man knew how to speak. His demeanor was like those politicians he usually saw in the news on TVs. He even suspected that Manager Steelhandʼs real-life job might probably be one that dabbled in politics. After all, most of Corporate United players were known as high-profile or wealthy individuals who were mostly pay-to-win players.

Their pay-to-win method was useless in this world, as there was no method to transfer their real-life resources into this world. Nevertheless, their experiences and connections were not to be underestimated. Their experts were the real deal, who used to be professional players that were paid with real-life money to join their guild.

Of course, now there was no such payment, but considering they had been with the guild for so long, their loyalty would most likely still with the guild. For example, one such player was Supervisor Killmonger, who stood not far behind Manager Steelhand, the man was a level 18 Warrior and a well-known martial expert.

After a few more speeches, Manager Steelhand gave over his place to Scarface. Scarface came forward and gave a signal to his people, who brought out a peculiar device. It was a large octagonal thick plate with engraved runes around it. The thing looked heavy as it needed two Fighters to carry it. Jack wondered why one of the players didnʼt just store the bloody thing inside their inventory space.

”Not everything can be stored inside your bag,” He heard Penielʼs voice chimed in upon hearing his thought.

ʼreally?ʼ Jack asked.

”Yes, some things existed that you would need to carry with your hand. This kind of thing usually carries great significance, making it harder to move around.”

ʼAlso meaning that it can be stolen,ʼ Jack added, and was reminded by the Second Soul Remnant which was also an item that couldnʼt be stored.

They placed the device on the ground next to Scarface, which had a similar octagonal indentation. Everyone only noticed the indentation at this time, there were too many engravings on the floor of this ruin. Most part of the flooring also had cracks with vegetation growing on them, making it hard to notice anything special. The inserted device started to give out a low hum. The runes around it glowed alight.

Three Magicians from Death Associates approached and stood around the device. A soft glow came out of the device and enveloped the three Magicians. Jack could see traces of mana seeped out from their bodies and entered the device. The runes on it glowed brighter.

”Our guild found this device when we were exploring this ruin,” Scarface announced. ”At first, we have no idea what it was for, but after further exploration, we found a record at one locked room within this ruin, depicting this ruinʼs function on its glory day. It was a gathering hub for people in the wilderness, with support facilities. One of these facilities was a long-range communication device.”

Scarface took his place close to the three Magicians next to the device, ”Before, we informed you about proof on players at other cities. We are going to show you now.”

He turned to the device and uttered some strange syllables, and dropped what looked like a magic stone onto the device. The device consumed the magic stone while the glowing runes on the device started to float upward. They then spun around above the device. The spinning was slow at first, but quickly turning up in speed. It was soon difficult to see the runes as they became blur due to high-speed spinning.

The top of the device then released a bright beam upward. The beam soon coalesced into a vague shape before slowly formed a noticeable human body. The feature of the body gradually became distinct until it formed a clear holographic image of a man.

The man wore a white robe with lavish etching. His blonde hair was long and straight, if not for his masculine body and a strong face with a square jaw and thick eyebrows, people might have mistaken him for a woman. His expression and bearing showed a confident temperament.

While the players watching were still absorbed by the spectacle, the man in the image produced by the device made a sound, ”greetings, fellow players.”

”Wait, isnʼt that White Death?” One of the spectators shouted out.

Others who heard started to acknowledge as they too recognized the person in the image.

White Death? Jack had also heard this name before, although he never saw the man before. If he really was White Death, then he was one of the top echelons of Death Associates. In fact, his position outranked Scarface who was a High Elder. White Death was the co-leader of Death Associates. He was only second to the leader.

The crowdʼs buzz turned louder before Scarface lifted his hand, giving a signal to ask them to settle down.

After silence returned, White Death continued, ”I bring this greeting from a city called Theneward. It is another city within the country of Themisphere, which is the country you are also residing in. In this city, we have many other players that had come from our world. Several who might be members from your guilds as well.”

Another murmur from the crowd.

”The exact positions between our cities are still being worked out,” White Death continued. ”We have found this communication device in a similar ruin to yours, close to our city here. There are records of other towns and settlements in the library of our city. Once we worked out our position, we will send out an expedition to link our cities together. One thing to note, from our findings, we know that if one managed to get to another city, we can place a mark on that city and establish a teleportation point. This means we no longer have to travel back and forth between the cities, we can use the teleportation function and be transported directly to the city we have been to before. Unfortunately, this right to teleport only applies to the individual that has made the connection point.”

Jack could see the visible excitements from the faces of the spectators.

”Another information that we would like to share with you, fellow guild players, is that from our research, we have found records about guild facility. After a guild built its guild base, it can be upgraded to allow more facilities to be built on it. One of which is the teleportation room, which allowed the guild members of a particular guild to travel to cities with which any of their guild members had established a connection point. Thatʼs mean only one guild member is required to travel to a city, and the other members of the same guild can benefit from it and teleport to this city via this guild facility. In this way, our fractured guilds will finally be one again, with all our members complete.”

Some players in the audience were already having a heated discussion amongst themselves. Jack could see some that which still had no guild tag under their names were having a regretful look. Most likely they had spent their coins elsewhere instead of saving them to establish their guild formally. After hearing White Deathʼs information, the importance of a guild base and its facilities had been highlighted. But to build a guild base, they first need to establish their guilds formally.

During this time, the specter of White Death floating above the communication device turned dim. Many of the audiences noticed this development and turned their attention back to the hologram image.

”I guess we can only have a short conversation, it required a large energy to operate this communication device,” White Death explained. Everyone could see that the three Magicians standing by beside the device had turned pale, their mana was likely almost exhausted. ”Iʼll return your attention back to brother Scarface here. I hope we can form mutually beneficial cooperation and I hope we can physically meet soon.”

White Death continued to wear his confident smile as his image slowly dissolved. The device soon died down. The three Magicians returned back with a weak stride.

😉