Chapter 104 - 101 The Scroll That Shakes the Guild
Chapter 104: Chapter 101: The Scroll That Shakes the Guild Titans
Chapter 104 -101: The Scroll That Shakes the Guild Titans
China had three massive offline gaming guilds: Star, Dragon Slayer, and Ninth Heaven. Each of these guilds had its website and corporate presence, with hundreds of thousands of registered player members covering all the popular games on the market. Players who played well and brought revenue to the guilds received certain subsidies, which, while not substantial, made earning some extra cash while gaming a joyful thing.
Ordinary players registered their in-game names on the guilds’ websites, and once approved, they became regular members. Membership allowed them to join a chat group or forum, where the group leader or moderator acted as the team leader.
How did members bring in revenue for the guilds? It’s simple. When there was a large in-game event, the group leader would announce it in the chat group. On the day of the event, members would check in by showing up, and at the leader’s command in the game, they’d charge! Members might not know exactly what they were doing, but as long as they followed orders, they earned points.
Points could be used to upgrade membership levels, and they were universal across any game the guild was present in. So if a member decided to switch games, they could still earn points and upgrade their membership level.
The pinnacle of membership was, of course, the legendary high-income professional player, a dream for many internet cafe youth. And at the top of the professional player hierarchy was the guild leader of a large guild! To internet cafe youths, this was akin to being royalty in online gaming, commanding thousands to engage in city and national battles at their bidding!
This offline operating and management model of player guilds forced any game to adapt; every game had to have straightforward player check-in features, and functions to tally player merit. Games lacking these would not attract guilds, and the market would eliminate them.
The management model of China’s massive guilds has spread worldwide. Even a world-class online game like “Heroic Creation Era” submitted to these massive guilds. Such was their power!
But now, the leaders of China’s three massive guilds were astounded by a post from an anonymous user on the forums!
Indeed, it was a post by Da Fei. Within minutes of being posted, it stirred up waves, skyrocketing to immense popularity!
While many players didn’t initially know what the Heroic Inheritance was, they certainly knew now! All players understood what this inheritance implied: an ordinary Beastman hero suddenly ascending to become a God-level Hero, a God-level Beastman hero becoming a God above God!
Many posters hailed the arrival of the Beastman era! Why was this? Because globally, Beastmen weren’t popular, lacking major guild backing. It wasn’t that Beastmen weren’t strong; they were. However, Beastmen’s scope was limited. Beastman heroes could only fully utilize the racial skill Blood Rage and anti-Magic abilities with Beastman troops. Unlike the Human Race’s Knight Priest heroes, capable of leading troops from any race. In critical national wars where every soldier mattered, Knights could gather a mixed army, achieving unexpected effects. But Beastman heroes couldn’t, acting merely as attack and defense buffers.
To the leaders of the three massive guilds, this wasn’t merely about nurturing a God-level hero, but potentially the future of their guilds and the China Region’s landscape.
Star Guild focused on the Elf Clan, although they had an internationally renowned Human Race Griffin Breeder hero, Little Pig Run. This dual approach meant the guild’s main force developed the Elf Clan, addressing their troop shortage, while Little Pig Run carved out space within the Human Race.
Ninth Heaven focused on the Human Race, characterized by its balance, with no standout strengths or fatal weaknesses. The stable nature of the Human Race made them the only ones standing to the end during decisive battles. As the most user-friendly race, Humans boasted the most players, providing Ninth Heaven with abundant human resources.
Dragon Slayer focused on the Undead Race, renowned for its bone-chilling presence of Corpse Mountain and Bone Sea, capable of crashing entire servers. Unlike other races troubled by ineffectively managing newly acquired territory troops, the Undead simply threw them into mass graves to convert them into Undead.
Discussing the landscape of these three guilds had initially frightened Ma Yinglong. If the two Bright Alliance guilds united, Dragon Slayer Guild would have a tough time. At a minimum, players would lose confidence in the Dark Alliance, flocking to the Bright Alliance, leading to a vicious cycle where Dragon Slayer Guild would progressively decline. Ma Yinglong’s first move was dispatching the most skilled writing team to sow discord between the two guilds through posts. Additionally, he sought outside assistance and established cooperation with the Japanese.
As Ma Yinglong expected, Star Guild and Ninth Heaven indeed undercut each other, somewhat relieving his anxiety. However, creating discord and reaching out for external help were not long-term solutions; true strength was the ultimate truth.
Facing this sudden rise of the Beastman Inheritance, both Star and Ninth Heaven saw it as a formidable foe.
But Ma Yinglong of Dragon Slayer Guild found his breath taken away, staring at the image for minutes! This was precisely the powerful opportunity he’d been yearning for!
With Star and Ninth Heaven being part of the Bright Alliance, Dragon Slayer Guild naturally took the lead in raising the Dark Alliance’s banner in the China Region. The Beastman Race was undoubtedly Dragon Slayer Guild’s “territory.” As long as they obtained this Beastman Inheritance and nurtured a God-level Beastman hero of global influence, Dragon Slayer Guild would truly unify the Dark Alliance! They could effectively organize the vast numbers of independent Beastman players within Dragon Slayer Guild. Internally, they could suppress Star and Ninth Heaven, who seemed united but were mutually restrictive; externally, they could represent the China Region’s image.
Ma Yinglong made up his mind, “Find a way to contact this seller and buy the scroll!”
Chang Liang, his assistant, was surprised, “But Star and Ninth Heaven will definitely interfere and inflate the price, right?”
Ma Yinglong shook his head, “Then we’ll just follow along. As long as we win, we’ll be the overlord of the China Region! Those two guilds dragging each other down can’t compare to us. Only a unified guild can represent the China Region and gain international recognition; the benefits from this far outweigh such a small price.”
Chang Liang was bewildered, “But this…”
Ma Yinglong chuckled, “No worries. If they do inflate the price too much, we’ll just give up and disgust them. After all, the Bright Alliance having this account is useless; it’s a waste of money and only divides their focus and funds to develop the Beastman forces. Then we’ll make sure they can’t hold their head high, yes, that’s our strategy. We can openly declare that whoever buys this scroll, we’ll make their account fail to develop so they realize the threat.”
Chang Liang gave a bitter smile, “Once they buy the scroll, they’ll certainly develop it secretly; how will we know which account they are using to advance it?”
Ma Yinglong laughed heartily, “Gold always shines, let alone gold that sucks blood? Even if they secretly grind levels without appearing, there will be a day when they emerge, thinking they’ve gained such strength that we can’t touch them anymore? Great! We’ll drown the skilled, and fight the stubborn. We’ll target their laboriously and secretly developed forces. When our Dark Alliance players have internal conflicts, their Bright Alliance will be powerless outside their borders! I’ll ensure the higher they climb, the harder they fall!”
Chang Liang suddenly realized, “This is called raising fat to slaughter!”
Ma Yinglong laughed heartily, “Envy what Dragon Slayer Guild set its sights on, and no one else should think of taking it!”
Chang Liang smiled, “Boss, so domineering! Even if we can’t have it, neither should anyone else have a good time!”
…
Meanwhile, Star Guild’s leader, Eternal Star, was chatting with Ninth Heaven’s leader, Divine Emperor.
“Boss Long, do you think Brother Ma’s eyes are popping out at the sight of this scroll?”
“I’m anxious too. If he gets the scroll, it’ll truly be the rise of the Beastmen, and you and I won’t have it easy.”
“Boss Long, what should we do? Frankly, I don’t plan to buy this foolish item.”
“Nonsense! Contact Hero News journalists! Hype it up! Claim the scroll is worth tens of millions! I mean in US dollars! Make the seller hesitate to sell!”
“It seems like that’s the only way. Hopefully, the seller is a fool who truly believes it’s worth millions and lets it sit until it’s too late!”
(Asking for all kinds of votes! Regarding the readers mentioning attribute setting taking up content space and such, I understand. But writing about online games can be frustrating: if you include details, readers might dislike it, but if omitted, it doesn’t feel like a game. In short, while these chapters are still free to the public, I’ll try to lay out all the settings.)