Second World

Jack left the group as he took a little walk around the ruins under the night sky. He didnʼt go too far and stayed within the perimeter the army had set up. The army had combed the surroundings and they found no sign of Gridhacker or the cultʼs presence but it was still better to stay vigilant.

As he decided to sit on a small slab of a broken-down structure to rest and enjoyed the quiet night sky, he heard a womanʼs voice, ”how are you doing?”

Jack turned and saw Jeanny came by and sat next to him. ”Itʼs not every day someone goes up against a God and survived. How are you holding?”

”Iʼm fine. Thank you for the concern,” Jack replied. ”It was pretty dangerous though.”

”Yes, John described what he saw through his binoculars.”

”It was rather unsettling, knowing there is such a powerful creature targeting you.”

”But you are protected by the other Gods and Goddess, so you shouldnʼt worry too much about it.”

”There is still the matter of that mysterious organization, they called their guild World Maker. That name was not any of the previous famous game guilds, but I think they know the reason why we are sent to this world.”

”Really? Why do you say that? Arenʼt they simply a group of players who stumbled upon a rare quest that involved themselves with the cult?” It was John who asked, suddenly appeared as well. He came and took the liberty to sit on Jackʼs other side.

When John saw the two staring at him, he said, ”what? I am not disturbing anything, right? You people arenʼt dating or anything like that, are you?”

Jack ignored the tease, he related the full story about what had happened to him since the world first turned. Including how he got his second class and how he stumbled upon Goddess Serenity. How he later encountered the fragments of maps that later brought all of them to this place. And about who Sunset originally is, how he had infiltrated this expedition with full knowledge of what awaited here. Then came this mysterious group who was after the Divine Treasure he had acquired from the dungeon boss, till their confrontation earlier today.

Jeanny and John were quiet as they digested Jackʼs story.

”That was quite a lot to digest on,” Jeanny commented. ”But from your story, that group indeed seemed to have more knowledge about this world than the average players.”

”So that thing on your left eyes is the one that allowed you to detect othersʼ positions?” John asked.

”Yes, it is called God-eye monocle. Some from that mysterious group also possessed it. This was also originally Sunsetʼs, uh, I mean Sunriseʼs.”

”From your story, I reckon all alien entity items have a 100% chance to drop when the owner was killed. The next time you encounter that group again, target the one that wears the monocle. Once you get an extra one, please remember I reserve one first.”

Jack gave him a side-eye. This was the issue he prioritized on?

”That mysterious group said they wanted to bring you somewhere alive, does that mean they have a way to take away that Divine Treasure you have merged with? Are they really capable of something like that? Arenʼt your second class also gained after fusing with a legendary item? Can they take that away as well?” Jeanny asked.

Now this woman was more serious and reasonable to talk with, Jack thought. He said, ”Honestly, I have no idea what this group can and cannot do. I donʼt even know how many people they have.”

”It was indeed unsettling dealing with people whose existence is still concealed.”

”It is,” Jack lamented.

”You are vulnerable being alone like this. You better go and join a guild. At least with more people, you should have more protection. They can also provide aid and backup when that group comes at you again.”

”Nah, I hate being in a guild. No freedom. Too many restrictions.”

”Then make your own guild,” John suggested. ”As a leader, you will be free to do what you want.”

”Hahaha, very funny. What kind of members do you think want a guild where the leader goes off on his own doing whatever he likes? I am only good at fighting, Iʼm not really a leader material or a people person. I have no problem leading a small team, but asking me to organize a guild with hundreds of members is a long shot.”

”I get you, friend. Iʼm good at planning, but it will be a miracle to find people willing to follow all my plans. Mostly it was by manipulation that they do what I ask. And I am also not the type that likes to be ordered around, thatʼs why Iʼm not in any guild all this time.”

”Well, if it is me, I had been in a guild before, as Storm here is aware. Itʼs difficult to be in a guild if their ideology is too different than yours,” Jeanny told them. ”I have no problem leading, people naturally follow me and I kinda enjoy that actually. But in a fighting game, I am only of average skill, so not many I can inspire. I am also not much of a thinker, and I think a leader who canʼt think ahead of the future is not a complete leader.”

She then sighed, but after a few seconds, she thought of something. She turned and saw the two were also looking at her. They then looked at each other silently before Jack asked, ”are you two thinking what I am thinking?”

”I think Iʼm thinking what you are thinking,” Jeanny said.

John said, ”if you are thinking about the sexy waitress from the Ravenʼs Den, then I guess we are thinking the same thing.”

Jack and Jeanny gave him a weird look.

”Iʼm kidding!” John chuckled. ”It was obvious what the three of us are thinking. We want to pool our expertise together and formed a guild, donʼt we? A guild with us three as the leaders.”

”Yeah, with the three of us covering each otherʼs strength and weakness, we should be able to provide decent leadership to the guild,” Jeanny said.

”As long as we donʼt disagree on the general direction the guild is heading,” John said. ”Problem with multiple leaders arrangement is that there might be a chance where we disagree, and that usually takes time to smooth over and will cause inefficiency during decision-making.”

”I think we work pretty well together, so that shouldnʼt be a problem,” Jeanny said.

”I donʼt care how you organize the guild as long as Iʼm given free rein,” Jack commented.

John and Jeanny looked at Jack. John then said to Jeanny, ”if we are going with this, I have a feeling it will just be the two of us doing most of the leadership works.”

”I think that should not be a problem,” Jeanny said. ”If we have a difficult dungeon to conquer, or need some other guilds whacked, we can send him.”

John nodded, ”that sounds like a good arrangement.”

”Hey, why did it sound like I am more of a lackey than a leader?” Jack protested.

”In that way, you will be more free, ainʼt that what you like?” John asked.

”Well, yes, but…”

”Then itʼs settled. You will be our executioner!” John proclaimed. ”Any monster or player we need vanquishing, we will call for you.”

Jeanny giggled, ”sound like we are really doing this.”

”Of course, first thing first. We need to agree on a general direction for this planned guild first,” John said. ”As I said, it will be a problem later if we have a disagreement. We need to set a common understanding of what we are trying to achieve by building this guild, a framework we can all adhere to.”

”Like a tenet,” Jeanny said.

”A tenet, a creed, a dogma, or whatever you call it. We will then revolved the guildʼs principles around this groundwork. I have seen many guilds failed halfway or veered too far away from what the founders had envisioned when the guild was started. If we are doing this, I donʼt want us to fall into the same blunder. If we do this, we do this right!”

”All right. Then, what is our vision? What are we building this guild for? What do we wish to achieve?”

”Thatʼs easy,” Jack stood up, he took out his new Storm Breaker and pointed it to the sky. ”Our guildʼs tenet will be what we all gamers strife for. Itʼs for FUN…!!!”

John and Jeanny gazed at him with that silly pose of his for a bit before turning away and said to each other.

”Forget about him. What do you propose?”

”I think we should take some time to think about this. It will be the most important thing for our guild after all.”

”Hey, hey, you two, Iʼm being serious,” Jack interrupted their discussion. ”Whatʼs wrong with having fun as a purpose?

”Your head is the wrong one,” Jeanny chided. ”How can fun be a purpose?”

😉