[NunuNote: Sorry for releasing the wrong Chapter yesterday, I’ve fixed it now, so you can go back and read it before reading this one. As a compensation, I’m gonna release 2 Bonus Chapters later today! <3]
"Yes, the situation just keeps getting worse in the Open World..." Devon continued. "We spawned near a human city called Aethelgard. The city is dominated by three major guilds linked to certain corporations. They’ve established an exploitative tax system for any player who doesn’t use their emblem. Now, if we want to sell bear hide or Mana Stones to local merchants, they demand a 30% commission as a ’zone protection fee.’ If we try to hunt in the best spots, we’re ambushed by groups of their players who kick us out for ’trespassing.’"
Skye clenched her fist tightly, the skin on her knuckles turning white. "Even together, it’s hard to make progress. Most of the money we earn in the game is being burned on healing potions and these increasingly abusive fees that these groups come up with, just so we don’t lose the levels we’ve worked so hard to earn. It’s become clear to us that groups like those see us, even in Elysium, as slaves, just like in the real world."
Lohan listened to the account with surprise.
He recalled how he’d heard people discussing the big corporations in the college cafeteria, and how more and more reports were appearing online from players about the abuses these corporations were also committing in Elysium, not to mention the various other cases of abuse being perpetrated by guilds.
At that point, he realized that the Silver Lotus was suffering precisely because of the lack of an infrastructure to protect them.
Unlike Thalendor, where the Elves were supreme and had already established clear rules of safety and justice for the city’s residents, and where anyone who wanted to change something or take advantage of the weak would have to deal with the Elves, in smaller human cities, where human greed was just as corruptible as that of humans in the real world, it was really only a matter of time before things got even worse.
Players might seem glorious when described to the people of that world, being essentially immortal, with tremendous potential for growth, but at the end of the day, potential couldn’t fill stomachs or guarantee safety. And both the guilds and the human nobles of that world had already realized this in some cities, leading to new Players being exploited to the fullest extent possible.
And since Elysium apparently wasn’t really a "real" game, the Players’ enjoyment wasn’t the main focus there; even if people suffered because of it, they either endured and dealt with it, or they simply gave up and abandoned that world they’d spent so many credits to access.
"They’re limiting your potential because they know that an independent elite is extremely dangerous to their dominance..." Lohan remarked, looking at Isabella, who merely nodded subtly. "Are you still willing to consider the proposal I made to Devon, to join our organization?"
Skye looked at Lohan doubtfully. Zach and Jenny also drew closer, listening intently, but the mistrust they felt was palpable.
Suffering at the hands of major guilds, only to agree to join one that committed the same atrocities, was not what they had planned.
Seeing Lohan return to their base in a luxury car, accompanied by a beautiful girl, made them worry that he had already been corrupted by power and that he, too, intended to exploit them like the others.
But since Lohan seemed to be friends with Devon, and since he had shown them during their first meeting that he really wasn’t a bad guy, they still gave him the benefit of the doubt.
"Hayes, even though we value freedom just as much as strength..." Skye began, choosing her words carefully. "You defeated a large part of our group with frightening ease, showing that you’re achieving results in Elysium on multiple fronts." She said this while subtly gesturing toward the car he’d arrived in. "But we’re a small group that values freedom above all else. If we join you, what guarantees do we have that you aren’t just a talent scout working for some big shot in the Upper Zone who wants to use us as cannon fodder? And another thing, is your guild strong enough to stand up to the major guilds under management, like the Hogue Group, for example? After all, even if we have freedom, it won’t do us any good if we have to bow down to the big players again."
Lohan took a step forward, his aura expanding slightly, causing the mana in the hangar’s air to vibrate with a low-frequency resonance. He looked into Skye’s eyes with a seriousness that silenced the entire place.
"I understand your doubts. It really is hard to believe that a group that isn’t entirely controlled by big corporations, as you imagine, could handle the major guilds today. To be perfectly honest, not even we are free from the influence of large groups; since our president also comes from a prominent family, we, too, enjoy various benefits that come from that."
"Obviously, we aren’t just puppets of large corporations. In our guild, every member does have a say and the freedom to grow more powerful on their own and earn their own money, but with the guild’s benefits come obligations, to participate and fight alongside us for global achievements," Lohan explained.
"Global Achievements?" This caught the attention and raised questions among the people around him, who were listening intently to Lohan. Kai even asked cynically, "What do you mean by ’Global Achievements’? Have you guys actually achieved any yet?"
They had already realized that the way guilds distinguished themselves and demonstrated their excellence was through Global Achievements. But since they knew almost nothing about Lohan and his guild, no one brought it up, assuming that a new guild like that wouldn’t have any Global Achievements to speak of yet.
But to their surprise, Lohan smiled even wider upon hearing that question. "Our guild isn’t just ’good enough’ to have Global Achievements... We aren’t players just trying to survive, we’re the best."
Lohan’s confident statement piqued people’s curiosity even more; at that point, they didn’t know if he actually had anything to back up his confidence, or if he was just a lunatic who couldn’t gauge his own potential.
"Dude, you’re really confident... huh? Who doesn’t know these days that the best guild, at least for now, is Astralis? Are you really confident enough to go head-to-head with those monsters?!" Zach couldn’t take it anymore and said scornfully.
Skye also raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued even more by Lohan’s confidence. "The First? Are you sure you’re not talking shit? What’s the name of this magnificent organization you’ve formed?"
Lohan took a deep breath, feeling the energy of his mythical core pulsing steadily in his chest with great satisfaction, knowing that what he was about to say would be a huge shock to everyone.
He looked at each member of the Silver Lotus, making sure he had everyone’s full attention, and spoke with a smile.
"Didn’t I tell you my name in Elysium is Halon? We are Astralis Requiem."
The silence that fell over the hangar was unlike anything Lohan had ever witnessed. It was practically an absolute vacuum of sound after those words left his mouth.
Skye froze in place, her mouth opening slightly as her brain tried to process the magnitude of that information.
Devon’s eyes widened, the strength draining from his hands for a second, while Zach let the wheel wrench drop to the floor with a metallic clang that sounded like a cannon shot in that silence.
"Astralis... Requiem?" Devon murmured, his voice coming out as a terrified whisper. "The first official guild... the Players who conquered not only the game’s first Dungeon, but a Level 15 Dungeon last Saturday... the ones who appeared in the global announcements three times in less than a week..."
Jenny and Kai stared at each other, their shock transforming their hostility into an instinctive reverence they’d never felt toward any gang leader.
They looked at the man in front of them and the silent girl beside him, finally realizing why their aura had been so oppressive from the moment they entered.
If that information is true, it makes perfect sense that the aura of the two seemingly most powerful Players in the game would exude something like that!
Skye didn’t know what to say for a full ten seconds.
She looked at Lohan, searching for any sign of a lie or bravado, but found only absolute certainty on his face.
The leader of the Silver Lotus felt the weight of the name Lohan had uttered, a name that on the Syn forum was treated as either an urban legend or the birth of a new digital deity.
"You... you’re serious?" Skye finally managed to ask, her voice now completely devoid of arrogance, filled only with respect.
Lohan didn’t answer verbally. He simply kept his gaze fixed on hers, letting the answer shine through the sparkle in his blue eyes.