The morning light in Mythlorien, even brighter and more pleasant than in the real world, filtered through the colossal leaves of the ancient tree, creating patterns of shadows and golden light that danced across the revitalized wooden floor of the Astralis Requiem headquarters.
The air inside the main hall was pleasantly saturated with natural Mana, making the atmosphere even more pleasant.
For Lohan, who practically "fed" on the nutrients in the air, the guild headquarters grew more pleasant for him with each passing day.
In the center of the main hall, gathered around a circular table carved directly from a thick root, Lohan, Lisa, Alice, and Dylan were assembled for their first official post-dungeon debriefing.
The atmosphere was very satisfying, with everyone wearing smiles, though it was far more professional than Lohan was used to; he was still learning to process it all.
He, in the form of a vibrant blue Slime, was perched on a padded stand next to Lisa, who maintained her noble bearing even in her fox form, her white fur glistening gracefully in the light.
Alice, with her usual enthusiasm, held a sheet of paper with a detailed list of items, while Dylan leaned back in his chair with a confident smile.
"All right, darlings, let’s get to the numbers that really matter," Dylan began, gesturing for Alice to start the report.
Alice cleared her throat, adopting a serious expression that contrasted with her usually lively nature. "The processing of the materials collected in the Cave of Whispers was completed early this morning. From the total haul of the raid, we eliminated 38 monsters that yielded high-quality loot. We had 11 level 14 monsters, 20 level 15 monsters, 6 level 15 Elites, and, of course, the Arboral Sovereign, the final boss."
She paused dramatically, holding up the rough hand-drawn charts so everyone could see the final results of the sale of the materials to contacts in Thalendor, such as Intervar and Kora. "After selling all the shells, sap essences, tendons, and minor cores, Astralis Requiem’s gross revenue for this operation was exactly 10 Gold Coins and 26 Silver Coins."
The silence that followed was one of sheer surprise.
Lohan felt his gelatin pulse slightly. He knew the amount was high, but hearing the exact number in gold coins carried a different weight.
In the world of Elysium, where most Players were still struggling to accumulate a few dozen silver coins after days of grueling grinding, earning ten gold coins in a single day was a feat that placed them in a financial league entirely above the rest.
"Ten golds..." Dylan murmured, his eyes glinting with the reflection of the hologram. "That makes perfect sense, to be honest. The more powerful the monster, the more magically rich its material is. That final boss’s sap had a mana density that Intervar classified as Grade C+, and that ’+’ in his rating was practically all thanks to Halon’s precise extraction."
Lohan vibrated his membrane in agreement. He remembered the biological complexity of that monster and how hard his digestive system had to work to isolate the valuable components without damaging its structure.
Obviously, for him at this point, that kind of work wasn’t so complicated anymore.
Dylan then straightened his posture, assuming the role of strategic manager that he played so well. "Considering that Astralis Requiem is now set to expand in size and truly professionalize, I suggest a change to our loot distribution model. Until now, Lisa has been buying coins directly from the players, but to keep the guild healthy in the long term, we need a hierarchy of earnings that reflects each person’s responsibility."
Lohan looked at Dylan curiously. He hadn’t expected this topic to come up now.
"My proposal is as follows," Dylan continued. "Raid earnings will be divided into weight tiers. Regular members, who act as the shock troops, will receive a 1x Weight share of the total amount. Managers and team leaders, such as myself, Alice, and future leaders, would receive an amount equivalent to a 2x Weight, for our coordination and logistical work. As for the raid leader and deputy leader, who take on the greatest risk and have the greatest impact on victory, they should receive a 4x Weight of that amount."
Lohan was surprised by the suggestion. For him, coming from a reality where every penny was a struggle for survival, the idea of receiving four times as much as the others seemed a bit unfair, even though he was the group’s tactical and power pillar.
He remembered seeing in the other world that similar structures also existed in the guilds of the games he watched, but he had never quite understood the reason behind them.
He looked at Lisa and Alice, hoping to see some sign of hesitation or disagreement, but found nothing but calm, professional acceptance on their faces. Lisa didn’t even blink, as if she had already expected Dylan to make this proposal.
Noticing Lohan’s surprise, even if it was manifested only by a slight fluctuation in the transparency of his gelatin, Lisa turned her fox-like head toward him, her telepathic voice sounding soft and instructive.
"Halon, I know what you’re thinking, but try to understand the perspective of those who manage large organizations," Lisa explained, keeping her golden gaze fixed on his "eyes." "We don’t necessarily need this extra money for ourselves, after all, I’m the one paying for it, but the prestige and standards for this must be established now. In the future, we’ll have dozens of leaders and hundreds of members. If we don’t establish a clear distinction in compensation based on responsibility, we’ll create discord. Members won’t feel motivated to take on more responsibilities and risks if the reward is exactly the same as for those who merely follow basic orders. It’s a matter of sustainability for the project."
Lohan carefully considered her words and realized she was right.
In the real world, the difference between an intern and a CEO wasn’t just the salary, but the value of the decisions they made and the weight of their failures. If Astralis wanted to be the elite, it needed to reward its elite accordingly. He finally understood the logic behind the structure and nodded with a small, bluish hand he’d formed at his side, agreeing with their point of view.
Mentally, Lohan began converting those values to the real world.
10 gold coins and 26 silver coins totaled 1,026 silver coins. At the standard conversion rate that players used to sell coins to the system, this equaled just over 102,000 credits. However, Lisa paid guild members a rate three times higher than market value to maintain loyalty and keep the guild’s funds robust.
"Considering the conversion rate that Astralis uses internally..." Dylan announced, doing some quick calculations on a piece of paper. "The total earnings from yesterday’s dungeon are worth 307,800 real-world credits. Since there were 12 members directly participating in the raid, the split has already been processed according to the weightings I proposed."
Dylan looked at Lohan with a twinkle of amusement. "Halon, as our Vice President and defensive pillar, your share of this loot was 205 silver coins. Converting that to real-world currency at Lisa’s rate, you’ll receive a bonus of 61,500 credits deposited into your account today."
Lohan was pleasantly satisfied and, to be honest, a little stunned. Sixty-one thousand credits for a single afternoon of combat?! That was more than the accumulated wages of several years’ worth of workers in the Lower Zone’s slave-labor factories.
He realized that paying Lisa’s high rent and maintaining a more comfortable lifestyle would become easier and easier as his level rose. The snowball effect of his evolution wasn’t just in physical power and Biomass, but also in financial power!
After wrapping up the discussion about finances, the mood at the table shifted to something different.
Dylan cleared the loot charts and pulled out new sheets of paper containing data he had transcribed earlier.
These were statistics from Astralis Requiem’s page on Syn; the number of followers continued to rise extremely rapidly, to the point where the data he’d copied an hour ago was likely already a few thousand followers behind, but what mattered now was the outcome of the recruitment announcement.
"The public’s reaction to our post yesterday was overwhelming," Dylan remarked, his effeminate tone brimming with obvious pride. "We crashed the internet across several sectors throughout the federation. In less than twenty hours, over 6,000 people have already filled out the application form to join Astralis, even with our already high standards."
Alice whistled, impressed by the volume. "Six thousand?! We don’t even have room to accommodate that many people in the tree yet."
"Exactly, darling," Dylan agreed. "Of those 6,000, we did a quick screening based on their Base information. Over 98% are Players with Common and Uncommon Bases, people desperate to escape mediocrity. But even among this sea of people, we found a few seedlings with interesting potential, people with production classes or administrative skills who could manage our future expansions. However, the remaining 2% is where the gold is hidden."
Dylan zoomed in on three specific profiles in the center of the table. "Virtually everyone in that 2% has Rare Bases, which would already be excellent. But, surprisingly, three players who applied have Epic Bases. They saw our ad stating that we don’t care about appearance or race and felt they’d finally found a place that would value them beyond traditional corporate culture."
Dylan smiled, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Alice and I will still be conducting in-depth interviews to assess these candidates’ character, but Syn’s technical estimate is that the number of applications will increase at least tenfold in the coming days as the news spreads through the Zones and independent sectors. We could reach 60,000 candidates by the end of the week."
Lohan noticed the gleam in Lisa’s, Alice’s, and Dylan’s eyes.
They were witnessing the birth of a global power, the beginning of an army that could challenge any corporation. But as they celebrated this quantitative growth, an uncomfortable memory surfaced in Lohan’s mind.