World Online 201-250 - Jdbeue

World Online
Jdbeue
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World Online c201-250
1. Volume 3
1. Chapter 2
01 Force Log Out
2. Chapter 2
02 A Week
3. Chapter 2
03 Tier 2 (1)
4. Chapter 2
04 Tier 2 (2)
5. Chapter 2
05 Tier 2 (3)
6. Chapter 2
06 Return Of The Guild Master
7. Chapter 2
07 Sorting Matters
8. Chapter 2
08 Rumors
9. Chapter 2
09 Mother Finds Out
10. Chapter 2
10 Utter Destruction
11. Chapter 2
11 Ending The Argument
12. Chapter 2
12 Expedition
13. Chapter 2
13 Sunday Sermons
14. Chapter 2
14 Expedition (2)
15. Chapter 2
15 Expedition (3)
16. Chapter 2
16 Gathering
17. Chapter 2
17 Doors Open
18. Chapter 2
18 The Expedition Begins
19. Chapter 2
19 Scout
20. Chapter 2
20 Zombies
21. Chapter 2
21 First Attack
22. Chapter 2
22 Cannon Fodder
23. Chapter 2
23 The Wolf King
24. Chapter 2
24 The Wolf King (2)
25. Chapter 2
25 The Wolf King (3)
26. Chapter 2
26 World Giant
27. Chapter 2
27 The Bet
28. Chapter 2
28 Focus On What Is Here
29. Chapter 2
29 Spoils
30. Chapter 230 Spoils (2)
31. Chapter 231 The Dark Side
32. Chapter 232 Company
33. Chapter 233 Pink Mist
34. Chapter 234 Pink Mist(2)
35. Chapter 235 Phoenix
36. Chapter 236 Mysterious Monsters
37. Chapter 237 Drifting Through The Mist
38. Chapter 238 A Strong Monster
39. Chapter 239 Wolves
40. Chapter 240 Army
41. Chapter 241 Army (2)
42. Chapter 242 The Other Half
43. Chapter 243 One Of Yours
44. Chapter 244 Duo
45. Chapter 245 Lair (1)
48. Chapter 248 The Pink Mist Disappears
49. Chapter 249 Information
50. Chapter 250 Problem...
Volume 3
Chapter 201 Force Log Out
Jake looked away instinctively.
Once again, he felt no resistance. He could feel his neck move, his
feet wiggle, and his eyes squint.
He had control of his body once again.
The black glare slowly faded away and he was no longer blind.
What he saw wasn't the forest though.
He was on tile. Tiles neatly laid out on the floor that he was lying on.
"You are finally awake." A male voice came from Jake's left.
He immediately turned to see who it was that spoke. Jake

recognized the voice a little, but couldn't place it.
But when he saw the voice, he remembered. All the small little
details of what had happened the last two days immediately came
together.
"Sword master. You are alive." Jake could barely bring together a
whisper. He was way too tired to speak normally.
"You are weak. You should rest. This is time for you to get a break.
We can talk tomorrow." Ganshin smiled as he snapped his fingers.
[You have been forcibly logged out. You cannot log back until eight
hours passed.]
The next moment, the Jake's eyes went dark. He couldn't see
anything, for the third time that day.
"I was logged out?" Jake muttered as he forcibly moved his hands,
removing the clasp that bound him to the VR pod.
He fluttered his eyes open to glance at his bed.
Home sweet home.
He got out of the VR headset and jumped onto the bed.
Jake slept the day before, within the game itself, but for some
reason, he felt mentally exhausted. Like he had been in the game for
all of a week.
He clutched the sheets and draped them over him, closing his eyes.
"Ah! It feels like forever since I slept." He muttered as he slowly

drifted away.𝗇𝑶𝑣ℯ𝔩𝑢𝗌𝒷.𝓒𝑶𝓜
——x—————
"Where is this guy? He just disappeared for a week!"
An angry man, fuming, was walking around a spacious room.
He was clad in a yellow, leather robe, thin and fitting for a well built
man like this one.
"What is wrong with him? Doesn't he know that he has a whole guild
to run? There are so many people waiting to meet him and he just
disappears. I can't even message him." He cursed.
"Vice Guild Master! There is a problem with the room allocations!

There is a fight among the guild members about who gets the corner
room!"
At this moment, someone ran into this spacious room, panting.
"You have got to be kidding me. I have ninety nine problems going
on, and just so conveniently, you guys have to start fighting among
yourself." the yellow robed man shook his head.
The woman who burst into the room looked down, not saying a word
more.
"And who the hell even told them that they can get their own rooms?
So what if there are hundreds of free rooms? Doesn't mean that you
can just claim one for yourself. Nothing can be confirmed until the
guild master himself comes here." He grunted.
"When is the guild master going to come, vice guild master? There
are a few rumors going on…" the woman bit her lip.
"Rumors. I don't know where the hell he is, but if you are going to
believe those rumors and if you think that he abandoned this guild,
then you guys can go ahead and leave." The yellow robed man
scoffed.
"You are in a mansion, with all the resources that you can ask for.
The guild master disappears for one week and all of you scurry.
Didn't we give you a mission? To get to the second tier? Who is even
preparing for that?" He shouted.
The woman didn't respond. She just bit her lip, staying motionless.
"Nothing is to happen in this guild until the guild master comes back,
or until some of you actually get to the second tier. Got it? Now I
have to prepare to enter my own tier ascension quest. I just have to
wait for the guild master to return so that I can do that." He said.
"I mean, if I leave you guys alone, who knows what kinds of trouble
you will get yourself into? Where is faceless darkness? He is a guild
elder right? He is a good leader. He wouldn't have allowed all of this
to happen." He asked.
"The guild elder also went out to try and complete his tier ascension
quest." The woman said.
"I am the only one left to hold the base?" The yellow robed man
shook his head.
"And that Kierch. He only comes and goes whenever he wishes, or

whenever he wants some custom item made." the yellow robed man
shook his head.
"At the least, he contributes a few materials to the guild though. How
are the grinding sessions going? Is the average level of the guild
staying above the average? We need everyone to get to level thirty
so that everyone can attempt the tier ascension as fast as possible."
He told the woman.
"I will inform everyone to keep grinding." The woman nodded as she
turned around to leave.
"That Shadow King. Once he comes back, he better have a good

reason for the days he missed. A freaking week. Just gone. Not one
message about where he has gone, or what he is up to." He
muttered.
He walked over to the single desk in the room and slumped into the
chair.
"And I have my own tier ascension to prepare for. So many things to

do. I hope I can get to the second tier faster than he got to. Even his
freaking younger brother is leveling up faster than I am, with
grandfather fostering him like that." He muttered.
He glanced at his messages.
The one open tab was the one to Shadow King.
Hundreds of messages went out, but there was not a single

response.
The yellow robed man was about to close the tab, when in the corner
of his eyes, he caught a green light.
At the top of the window, there was a green dot in front of Shadow
King's avatar.
"He's online!"
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Chapter 202 A Week
"Urgh. Why does my head pain so much?" Jake clutched his head
as he looked around.
The first thing he did when 12 hours passed was log on back into the
game without checking anything else.
And as he did, all he could hear were the notifications that one would
get when someone else was bombarding them with messages.
So, he did the obvious thing. He muted messages for an hour before
trying to assess the situation.
One thing he understood was that he didn't die. He didn't lose a

level. But he was forced to log out to 'rest'.
And the person who did that was none other than Ganshin.
But Ganshin was nowhere to be seen in this courtyard that Jake was
in. There was no one in this courtyard, except for a door that led
outside.
Jake checked the map, but it obviously refused to tell him where he
was at the moment.
"Is the mission over or not? I know that we aren't in the evil lands. No
way will the evil god allow the sun to shine so bright there." Jake
thought to himself as he walked to the door.
He took a deep breath as he pulled on it.
The door creaked open, and a musky smell escaped from within.
But so did a few sounds. Sounds of life, people talking, all of which
comforted him.
He stepped inside.
"The entire party is here? Everyone?" Jake was surprised as he took

a quick survey. He knew everyone in this room.
Ganshin was here, and so was Annie. The mages, swordsmen,

every single party member from the day before were all here. And
they were all sitting in a circle.
But the moment Jake entered the room, everyone looked at him.
It was completely silence.
"He is alive! He is awake!" One of them shouted, breaking the

silence.
The moment he said that, every single one of the party members
stood up and rushed to Jake, shouting, cheering.
"What is happening? Why is everyone acting like this? I was just

gone for like a day right? And they do know that I am immortal." Jake
shook his head.
But when he said that, all he got was weird glances from everyone.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" He asked.
Everyone stopped talking and looked back at the one person who
didn't rush up, but that didn't mean that he didn't care.
Ganshin was also standing up, looking at the situation with a smile.
"You were gone for a week. For one week, you were frozen in the
blood of the evil god. Even the god of light couldn't believe that you
held on for one week." Ganshin said.
"Wait, what?!!!!" Jake shouted, staggering back.

"I was gone for one week? I thought that the twelve hours that I slept
was the problem!"
Then, he understood why he was getting all those texts.
He opened his chat window.
As he expected, out of all the messages he was getting, on top was

Myriad Arrows, who was still sending him messages at this very
moment.
[I was gone for a week! I didn't see your messages.] Jake quickly
sent a response.
Finally, the bombardment stopped for a second.
[#$%^&*(]
[What the $%^& were you doing? Where are you?]
Then, another round of questions came him way.
Jake smiled as he shook his head.
[I have to go. Now that I think about it, my work isn't done yet. I still
have a few things to do.] Jake said as he closed his chat window and
looked forward at Ganshin.
"Did you recover the devilish stone?" Jake asked.
"Recover? Why don't you check wherever you put it?" Ganshin said,
chuckling.
"You still didn't take it from my body?" Jake raised his eyebrows as
he checked his clothes. Indeed, the wooden box was in his back
pocket.
He took it out and opened it.

Within was the rock that everyone risked their lives for.
Jake quickly raised it up for Ganshin to take, but he shook his head.
"This is not mine to take. You were the reason the god of light
himself intervened. He decided that you should be the one to offer
the rock, so you shall be the one to do that." Ganshin said.
Jake nodded.
"So where is the church? Where are we?" Jake asked.
"Where are we? Don't you recognize this? Oh, you might not have
been in here ever. We are in the church, but in the area reserved for
the knights and the men of the church. Not for outsiders." One of the
swordsmen said.𝗇𝑶𝑣ℯ𝔩𝑢𝗌𝒷.𝓒𝑶𝓜
"So this is where the church's cavalry stays." Jake understood.
"Which way to the church though? The main church?" Jake asked.
"Follow me." Sister Annie said.
But it wasn't like everyone else wasn't going to follow. This was
something all of them worked so hard for, after all.
"I hate to ask it, but what happened with the beast of Ti'An? What
happened after the evil god attacked me? I don't understand any of
that." Jake glanced at Sister Annie.
"That… it is a long story. I think it is better that it is left untouched."

She shook her head.
"So many mysteries even after the whole thing is over. This entire
quest also has my own class at the center of it. What kind of class
did I land myself in, for there to be an entire story line dedicated to
it?" Jake shook his head and sighed.
They were walking toward the other exit of the room.

The door opened automatically, without needing anyone to touch it,
and Jake could see the giant ceiling that was so high up, even giants
could enter this other room.
This was the church, the church of light.
And Jake didn't need to walk further in to know that there was a
Statue of God within, waiting for his offering.
"Finally, I can finish this thing and get my Tier Ascension done."
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Chapter 203 Tier 2 (1)
Jake stood in front of a giant Statue.
It was much bigger than the one in the rundown church that he was
in two days, or rather, one week ago.
He took out opened wooden box, but didn't dare touch what was
within. He saw what had happened to Ganshin, and even if it was
purified, he didn't want to risk the pain.
"To His Divine Brilliance, I thank you for saving my life." Jake knelt as
he put the box forward.
These were just customs that Jake had to follow, as this was a god
he was dealing with.
The box that he put down on the ground slowly started hovering in
the air, and started approaching the statue of the god, before
disappearing into nothingness.
"So its done?" Jake looked back at Ganshin and the others.
He was expecting something else to happen, but staying there,

kneeling seemed to do nothing.
"It is done. The God is overjoyed by what you have offered. Go to

the Adventurers guild to accept the fruits of your journey." A priest,
one foreign to Jake, who was the head priest of the church here,
said.
Now, knowing how strong head priests were, Jake knew to respect
this one.
Even if this priest wasn't in the sixth tier, he could be in the fifth tier,
which was still very respectable.
"That will definitely be what I am going to do next." Jake nodded.
He looked at Ganshin, as if to ask if there was anything else to be

done.
"You are too weak. You really should go and get that tier ascension.
Without that, I don't know if you can even survive." Ganshin laughed.
Along with him, everyone else roared.
Jake shook his head and sighed. But this was the green light. He
was done with his quest.𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
But it wouldn't be complete without getting to the adventurers guild

itself and accepting the rewards.
Jake couldn't wait.
He was gone long enough, and it was time to claim the true results.
The second tier! Just a month into the game!
He wasn't the first one, he knew that much!
But he sure as hell was going to be one of the strongest. This wasn't
just any normal tier ascension. This was the tier ascension of a
legendary class that had an SS+ difficulty.
He ran out the door into the familiar streets of Diffast.
He knew exactly where to turn so that he could run to the

adventurers guild. The tavern was easy to find, and the wooden sign
even turned a little from the small gust Jake created as he rushed in.
It was full, as expected. There were always going to be NPCs here.

It was a constant that could always be expected.
But to Jake's disappointment, there was a line.

There were a few people, players, in front of him, trying to get a few
quests.
And behind him, slowly, other players were waiting in line.
"What is going on? So many people actually want to accept quests?

Already? Why is it this crowded?" Jake wondered.
Now that he thought about it, there were people in the tavern that
weren't actually NPCs. There were players crowding the quest
board.
They seemed to be fighting over quests, in fact? But that didn't make
sense. The adventurers guild always had enough quests to quench
demand.
He turned to the one behind him.
It was a party, actually.
Five people, together, taking with each other.
"If you don't mind me asking, can I ask you something?" Jake asked.
The person who seemed to be the leader glanced at Jake.
But when he saw that he wasn't looking at a green horn, but rather,
someone in level thirty six no less, wish expression changed.
"Wait. Your name! Isn't it… Shadow King!" The player exclaimed as
he took a step back.
Jake sighed as he shook his head.
"Guess that is the problem coming to a small city. Just doing

something big means that everyone gets star studded." Jake sighed.
"I will just have to ask the bartender. She should have the answers."
Jake knew that he couldn't get anything meaningful out of the party
the moment they started stammering.
It was better to just wait for the line to subside.
And it did move quickly. Most of the people here weren't here to
submit their quests to take the rewards. Instead, they seemed to be
here to take up quests.
In a few minutes, it was finally Jake's turn.
As he looked at the bartender, he smiled. It was the same bartender

that gave him his Tier Ascension a week ago.
"Ah! Baron! It looks like you are back!" The exclaimed with her sweet
voice that was too melodious to be stuck in this noisy tavern.
"The quest did take a long time. But I do hope that I didn't cross the
time penalty. I think it was one week?" Jake asked.
"The time penalty? Don't worry about that, Baron. The moment you
were recovered from the evil lands, every single god rejoiced. After
all, a victory against the evil god was something we have been
waiting for far too long." She said, shaking her head.
"The quest penalty has been removed a long time ago. All you have
to do is collect your reward. And the gods have ordered me to tell
you this." She said as she took a deep breath.
"It has been a long time since the Knights of Sin have disappeared
from the world. And they disappeared for a purpose. Now, here we
see the leader of the knights return. The others will soon return, and
we hope that you will be the right leader for them."
Jake froze for a second, trying to understand what was said.
"Well then, now that is over with, the good part. Please go inside to
get your tier ascension." The woman smiled.
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Jake glanced at the door that she was pointing him toward.
An unassuming door that Jake had been through before. It was just
like the church of the god of light, but a little different.
Just like the God of Light had his church, the Gods of Adventure had
their own little sanctuary.𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
And they were responsible for the Tier Ascension that Jake was
supposed to go through.
He nodded and walked around the counter to the door.
"Remember. This is going to be a weird experience for a first timer

like you, but you should make sure not to resist what is going to
happen. The Gods do not like the ignorant." The bartender said,
smiling.
Jake nodded, gracious for the tip. He knew, of course. Everyone

knew.
For a while, there were posts going up saying that they were given a
penalty during their Tier Ascension because they apparently pissed
off the gods by resisting the experience or something like that?
So Jake knew to prepare for what was to come.
The door opened on its own, once again.
But he still couldn't see what was within. It was completely dark, and
nothing within was visible.
The problem was, Jake knew what it was supposed to look like. No
god of righteousness would embrace the darkness. So the church
itself was supposed to be nice and bright.
"I am just thinking too much." Jake shook his head as he stepped in.
He took a deep breath, but the moment his face crossed the
threshold, all of it just escaped.
Pfft!
What he saw was something different.
This was not what he remembered the church of the adventuring

gods to be.
It was supposed to be simple, unordained. And yet, he was looking

at a purple and green swirl of extravagance.
All around this circular room, statues of the five adventuring gods
were standing tall and proud.
They were one of the most important gods in the entire world, for
without them, no player could ascend their tier.
Jake looked at the five gods carefully.
If the church had changed, then the gods might have changed as
well.
But to Jake relief, the gods were the same.
The same chiseled features, and muscular bodies, these were the
images that men wanted to achieve.
They were all statues of stone, so their true features couldn't be

seen in completion, but this was enough for Jake to sigh with relief.
"Why did the place change so much though? I thought that it was
supposed to be plain." Jake murmured as he approached the priest
of this place.
"That is because you are in the inner sanctuary. You may have heard
the accounts of those who entered the church of the adventuring
gods. Well, this is a place reserved for the greatest and the best
adventurers. In your latest conquest, you have crossed that
threshold." The high priest smiled and explained, as if he could hear
everything that Jake had said.
"The Inner Sanctuary? I have never heard of something like this."

Jake said, shocked.
"That is no surprise. Once you leave this place, after all, you will
forget that you have even been here. The Inner Sanctuary is a secret
that we cannot afford to let others know of. So even if you come
here, once you leave, you will have to regain the qualifications to
enter." The high priest said.
"I have to regain my qualifications? Didn't I do that?" Jake asked.
"All your adventures till now allowed you one entry. Only after you
have done something substantial, like conquering part of the evil
lands, or something like that, can you truly be allowed into the Inner
Sanctuary." The high priest said.
Jake shook his head, his mind returning to the original matter at
hand.
"I am here to-"
"Get your tier ascension. I am well aware." The high priest nodded
as he pointed to a certain pedestal that Jake was supposed to step
on top of.
"It has been quite some time since a knight of sin has entered
through these doors, coming to ascend his tier." The priest clicked
his tongue, shaking his head.
"Oh, those were times of peace. I hope that since you have come
here, those times of peace will return once more." The priest said.
This time, Jake had it.
"If you don't mind, can you please tell me more about these knights
of sin? Who are they? And why does everyone call me the leader of
the knights of sin? I don't even know who they are." Jake asked.
"That is not something that I can tell you. The ones who can give you
that answer, well the two who have guided your path will be the ones
to open your eyes." The priest said.
"The instructor at the training camp? The hollow knight? I can't meet
both of them, goddamn it." Jake cursed.
Once someone left the training camp, they couldn't return. That was
basic knowledge that everyone knew.
"Well then, do you wish to know more about the knights of sin? You
can trade the tier ascension for that information. But to take the
ascension quest again, you will have to wait. A few weeks." The
priest said.
"No thank you. I will find a way to get this information on my own. For
now, the tier ascension is more important. The quest was hard
enough." Jake shook his head almost instantly.
"Well then, please, stand on the pedestal."
Jake nodded and he removed his boots, placing them in his

inventory before standing on the rock pedestal.
"A noble with manners. How very nice and poetic." The priest smiled
as he turned around to face the adventuring god statue that was
behind them.
"God of Farin. Please bless this one and show him the way." The
priest put his hands together and closed his eyes.
A green light emanated from the statue of god, and covered Jake in
an uncomfortable and slimy feeling that Jake did not fight even one
bit.
[You have completed the Tier Ascension Quest.]
[You are now in the Second Tier]
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Jake smiled as he looked at the notification that had just arrived.
The slimy feeling was gone in an instant. It just enveloped him for a
few seconds before releasing him.
"Congratulations. You are no longer a mere mortal. You are now a

true warrior, one of the second tier." The priest smiled.
"Thank you for your help. But now, I have a few things that I must
address." Jake smiled as he got off the pedestal.
The first thing that he checked, of course, were his stats.
Character: Shadow King
Title: None
Job: Knight Of Sin [Class: Legendary]
Level: 36
Tier - 2
HP: 5000/5000
Physical Attack Power: 23
Defense: 28(+30)
Attack Speed: 9
Movement Speed: 10
Strength 76(+30)
Agility 131(+20)
Endurance 10
Intelligence 8
Vitality 12(+20)
Free Attribute Points: 10
Skill Points: 23
Skills:
Chop - Active skill. Requirement: Sword
Whirlwind Slash - Active Skill. Requirement: Sword
Despairing Strike(Class Exclusive) - Active Skill. Requirement:

Sword
Equipment -
Sword of Misery [Level 2] [Legendary] No Level Requirement
+20 Strength +20 Agility +20Vitality
Special Skill 1: Slash of Hunger - Cool down: 3 minutes
Special Skill 2: Slash of Thirst - Cool down: 7 minutes
Special Skill 3: Locked
Armor of Despair [Level 1] [Legendary] No Level Requirement
+30 Defense +20 Strength
Special Skill 1: Reflect - Cool Down: 5 minutes

Boots of Gondor [Level 1] [Epic] No Level Requirement
+10 Agility
Priest's Necklace [Level 1] [Epic] No Level Requirement
+20 Luck
Special Effect: Increases the quality of loot dropped by a monster
"Those stats…." Jake shook his head with disbelief. This was the
first time he saw someone in level thirty seven with stats like this.
Even Epic Classes wouldn't have anywhere close to these increases

for the stats.
"No wonder the quest for this tier ascension was so difficult. To think
that the increase in stats would be so freaking high." Jake muttered.
He was over the moon right now. To think that he would grow so
much stronger in so little time.
[ERROR]
All of a sudden, a red, blaring notification in all caps hit his face.
"What happened? Don't tell me, all of this was an error." Jake was
taken aback. He never remembered a notification like this in ten
years of the game.
[Player has already received all the rewards for Tier Ascension. No
more rewards will be given. To unlock the Armor of Despair, Host
must enter Tier Three.]
Jake saw this and sighed with relief.

"It must mean the unlocking of the sword of misery. I was so afraid
something went wrong with the stats." Jake said, shaking his head.
He then looked at the priest. The priest had already moved on to

another adventurer who had come here to get the Tier Ascension.
But surprisingly, Jake couldn't see the level o this person. This was
someone who was above level eighty!𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"This place really is special. I don't see a single level here. Everyone
here is stronger than the thirty tier." Jake murmured.
Taking a deep breath, he headed to door that led back outside.
The moment he passed the threshold, he could see the tavern once
again.
As he turned back, looking at the black door, he frowned.
"That is interesting. Why is the door black? I thought that the gods of
righteousness despised the darkness. And the church that I just went
through, it looked normal, didn't it?" Jake wondered as he asked
himself.
"Oh well, I am thinking too much. Well then, a month into the game
and I am already in the second tier. This is time for me to party."
Jake smiled as he stretched his hands.
His sword was in his inventory, and his armor draped over him.
Even his boots were in his inventory, as he removed them. At the

moment, he was barefoot. With everything accounted for, he was
ready. Ready to return to the world once more.
Putting his boots back on, as it would be quite shameful to return to

his guild without any boots, he started walking toward the Main
Street.
"Now, I need to understand what the hell happened. According to
Ganshin, a whole seven days had passed.
And a majority of these seven days had passed when he was within
the game, and obviously not while he was sleeping.
But all that he remembered doing that time was open and close his
eyes momentarily, and maybe just forcefully trying to move around.
All that couldn't have possibly been six days in the real world, could
it? Maybe it was all just an elaborate hoax.
He looked up to look at the time.
It was late in the morning, but that wasn't what he was too
concerned about.
He raised his hand and tapped on the clock, to look at the date.
"No, You have got to be kidding me. No wonder Myriad Arrows was
so furious at me." Jake muttered as he opened the chat windows.
He had muted the window once more, as he wanted to focus on the

tier ascension. So Myriad Arrows was muted once again.
And so, messages piled up in that window once more.
[What are you talking about?]
[Where are you?]
[What are you doing right now?]
[Where are you?]
Messages of the same type were repeated again and again.
Myriad Arrows was clearly worried.

"I should hurry back to the guild headquarters. If I don't, then that
Myriad Arrows might just quit with anger." Jake joked as he started
running.
As he started to rush toward the end of the city, he messaged the

vice guild master.
[I am on my way back.]
The moment he sent his message, he heard a ping.
[You finally return the texts? You better have a really good reason for
ghosting me again.]
[Don't worry. I do.] Jake smiled.
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Chapter 206 Return Of The
Guild Master
𝞰𝑶𝗏𝞮𝑙𝐮𝑆𝐁.𝑪𝗈𝑚
Myriad Arrows clenched his fists.
"This guy, acting mysteriously like this. I swear to god, when he

comes here, I will murder him unless he brings me an absolute haul
of epic items or something like that." He murmured.
He laid back by his chair, tapping on the desk in front of him.
If Jake was in the city right now, then it would take him a few minutes
to come to the guild headquarters.
And when he did come, the entire guild would definitely be privy to a
fight. One between the two highest guild officials.
"Vice Guild Master!"
Suddenly, a woman burst into the room.
"Purple Rain. I told you not to run in like that. Whatever it is, it can
wait. I am waiting for someone right now." Myriad Arrows sighed and
said.
The last few days, with so many guests coming in, asking about a
few specifics, Myriad Arrows was forced to assign the role of a
receptionist to someone.
He hired a good looking girl from the applications that he received,

and that was Purple Rain.
"But this person, this person is important, Vice Guild Master! It is the
guild master! I made sure to double check. It was Shadow King, the
guild master!" She exclaimed.
"What? He is here so fast?" Myriad Arrows exclaimed with surprise.
"Here so fast? What do you think, I am a sloth like you?" A haughty

voice came from behind Purple Rain.
"Sorry Vice Guild Master. I couldn't stop him. All of the guards
listened to him and not me. That can only mean that he is the guild
master right?" She said with a worried face.
She was new here, and didn't exactly know Jake, so she was
concerned it could be someone else.
But who else in this world could force the guards to let him in?
"Took you long enough." Myriad Arrows took a deep breath.
"Purple Rain. Can you please close the doors and give us some
privacy. I have a few things I want to discuss with the guild master."
He said as he clenched his fists, cracking his knuckles.
He put a particular emphasis on the word, discuss.
"Ah! It looks like you are a little angry at my late arrival." Jake smiled.
"A little angry?" Myriad Arrows glanced at Jake. There was nothing
different about his attire. He was the exact same person who had
disappeared a week ago.
Nothing about him changed.
"Well? What did you achieve? You were gone for a week without
word. That has to mean something." Myriad Arrows said.
"Come on. Just because I am the guild master, doesn't mean that
everything that I do has to be for the guild." Jake shook his head.
"Sometimes, I can take a vacation or two to see if the guild can
operate without me." He chuckled.
"Not when you have dozens of deals going on, and everyone wants
to speak with you regarding the date when we will all move to start
the expeditions!" Myriad Arrows shouted.
"We are late! The promises that we made were wrong. All the guilds
left for the expeditions. They went to the far lands trying to find new
land, better treasures, and here we are, stuck in the city." He grit his
teeth.
"Everyone is asking us why we are late, when we promised them the

world. They are even questioning me, if Bright Horizon is even the
right leader to this alliance."
Jake clicked his tongue, shaking his head.
"Calm down. Sit down." Jake said as he walked to the window.
Myriad Arrows took a deep breath, shivering with anger. But he

calmed himself.
"Tell me then. What is the guild master planning now?"
"Did any of the guilds return? Did any of them actually come back
with the wonderful rewards that are rumored to exist within the
foreign lands?" Jake asked.
"Well, no. They went out just three days ago. Three guilds, one of
them even Aries, went to the lands outside. They are all huge guilds,
and they are sure to find something that will give them an edge over
us." Myriad Arrows said.
"Three days." Jake frowned.
"I am surprised. The word should have come by now." Jake said.
"Word? Of what?"
"Their utter failure. What else?" Jake chuckled.
"Do you think that going into the unknown lands is some joke? If just
about anyone can go in and collect some treasure, then I would have
gone in instead of performing that raid. Why all this preparations?"
Jake said.
"Why do you think I want everyone to get to the second tier. Because
I need everyone to be strong enough to survive the unknown lands.
The monsters that we are going to face there, well, they are just way
too strong." Jake shook his head.
"You keep telling everyone to get to the second tier. I had to stay
here waiting for you, and I couldn't get my tier ascension request.
The top brass isn't in the second tier and you expect everyone else
to get there?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"Yep. You should get to the second tier. After all, you are a little slow.
Looks like I was right, I did get to the second tier earlier than you."
Jake smiled faintly.
"Of course I should get to the second tier. Now that you are here I
can finally go- wait, what did you say? Did you just tell me you go to
the second tier?" Myriad Arrows froze.
"Why else do you think that I was gone for a whole week? Do you
think that I am the kind of guy to leave the guild alone for no absolute
reason? Now then, you should prepare to enter the second tier, so
that we will have more strong powerhouses."
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Chapter 207 Sorting Matters
"You know what? I am too lazy to even argue with you." Myriad
Arrows shook his head.
"I have been stuck here long enough, taking care of everyone. I have
to go get my tier ascension. You can stay here, taking care of
things." He scoffed.
"Yes. You should try and get to the second tier as fast as possible.
Well then, once you get to the second tier, well then, it will be very
interesting, having two second tier individuals in the guild, won't it?"
Jake smiled.
Myriad Arrows just harrumphed before storming out of the room.
"Sometimes, he just acts like a little girl. It doesn't make any sense."
Jake sighed and wondered, shaking his head.
"Well then, now that this one thing is over, I can concentrate on the
bigger matters at hand." He sighed with relief.
Opening his chats, he glanced at one that was inactive for quite a
while.
[Kierch. Are you in the second tier by now? Or do you need some
help to get there?]
After sending that message, he closed the window. Unlike with

Myriad Arrows, he knew that it was going to take some time to get a
reply out of the mercenary.
Instead, it was better if he could just look at the other things that he
had started before leaving.𝗇𝑶𝑣ℯ𝔩𝑢𝗌𝒷.𝓒𝑶𝓜
He went to another window, with another person that was
surprisingly quiet for a long time.
[Dad? Please tell me that you were able to get that Epic Class. Or
did you fail? Even if you failed, its okay. Can you tell me what
happened though?]
After putting up this message, he stretched his arms.
"And there is also the matter of the secretary that he hired." Jake
mused as he walked out of the room that Myriad Arrows took over.
At the least, Myriad Arrows knew not to touch the one room that
Jake had reserved for himself. The one room that was out of bounds.
There was a desk immediately outside the room, and sitting

nervously behind it was none other than Purple Rain.
Ironically, for a person named Purple Rain, this was a woman who
had green hair and green eyes. Still, there was no denying that she
was eye candy enough for anyone who was coming to meet the vice
guild master.
"Ah! Guild master!" Purple Rain got up, startled.
"Forgive me for my offense. I didn't know that you were the real guild
master. There were so many cases of people trying to trick others,
that I wasn't sure if you were the real deal or not." She hastily said.
"Don't worry too much about it." Jake shook his head.
"I heard Myriad Arrows say something about some people arriving?
That he had to answer to them. Who came here and is there anyone
still in the guild headquarters?" Jake asked.
Purple Rain nodded vigorously.
"Yes to the first question, or to the second?"

"Both, guild master. There was this beautiful woman who said that
she would wait till she could get an answer from the guild master
himself. I told her that no one knew where he was, but she was
adamant. So the Vice Guild master gave her a room to just stay in
until you came." Purple Rain said.
"Ah!" Jake nodded.
"A beautiful woman? It can't possibly be Phoenix. She would not wait
here for more than a few hours. She is too important to spend her
time waiting for me." Jake thought.
"It has to be an attendant of someone else." Jake came to a

conclusion.
"Take me to where she is waiting. I am here, and I have nothing

better to do anyways. Why don't I take care of these things." Jake
said with a faint smile on his face.
"As you wish, Guild Master." Purple Rain stood up and started
guiding Jake through the complicated labyrinth that Jake had created
for himself.
Sure, he knew how to navigate it, but he was quite surprised that
someone got so used to this place in the few days that he was gone.
"You have been through these halls quite a lot, haven't you? I am
surprised. You really are a good addition. Myriad Arrows made a
good hire." Jake nodded with surprise.
"Thank you Guild Master. I will make sure to uphold your

expectations." Purple Rain meekly said as she stopped in front of
one of the doors.
"She is in here." She said.
Jake nodded as he knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" A plain voice came from behind the door.

"Whoever you are waiting for."
As he said this, the door clicked open in a few seconds,
The door opened to reveal a pretty woman indeed.
In front of Jake was a woman in a sundress of all things, calmly

looking at the guild master and owner of her current residence.
"So you have finally decided to surface." She smiled.
"Do I know you?" Jake asked, not losing the faint smile on his face.
"No. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet. Nine Jasmine, at

your service." She put her left hand forward, holding her frock on
bending ever so slightly.
Jake returned the gesture, holding her left hand gently, and bringing
it to his lips for a slight peck.
"But what is so important for you to waste your time waiting for me,
Ms. Jasmine? I am sure that you have better things to do." He
asked.
"I am no owner that is here to be tricked by your deceiving words,

Shadow King. I am not the people you should be convincing." Nine
Jasmine's tone immediately changed.
"You promised us the world, and yet, Aries and two others took the
front step? Can you please tell me what the hold up is? We know
that our guilds combined are much stronger than them. And yet, they
became the front runners in the expedition." She asked, cutting
straight to the chase.
"Yes." Jake nodded.
"Phoenix's camp? No, this is not her style. Maybe Venur sent you?
Phoenix's father does have a reputation of taking things into his own
hands when the young lady disappoints." Jake smiled.
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Chapter 208 Rumors
Nine Jasmine's eyes trembled, but she didn't say anything in
retaliation.
"Do you have an answer to this or not? What is our Blue Star
Alliance going to do about this?" She asked.
"Well, you said that they were front runners, didn't you." Jake
chuckled.
"Why did you say that? Do you have an insider source about what
they are doing?" He asked.
"I don't need to. Word on the street is enough to know that the
alliance that we made is a joke, for someone else to swoop in." She
said, shaking her head.
"Maybe whatever you accomplished was all just a fluke. A ruse to

force our hand, and now, your true colors are being shown." She
said.
Behind them, Purple Rain knew that this was not a conversation that
she was supposed to be a part of. She turned around, about to
leave, when Jake stopped her.
"Why leave, Purple Rain? It has been what? Some three days since
Aries and the other two guild left for the expeditions? I mean,
everyone knows about that, don't they?" Jake asked.
Purple Rain and no choice but to just nod meekly.
"And a socialite like you certainly has one or two friends in those
circles. In these guilds. Why don't you ask them a single question?"
Jake said.
"A question? What do you want me to ask them, Guild Master?"
Now, her fear turned into curiosity.
"I heard that your expedition was a failure. Is that actually true?"
These specific words. Ask them this. Let us see what they say to
that." Jake said.𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
Purple Rain nodded, and she opened her chat window, typing out
this message.
"There is no need to do that." Nine Jasmine shook her head.
Jake smiled.
"Looks like you little bluff to force my hand is all for naught." He said,
clicking his tongue.
"How did you know that the guilds failed utterly though? This matter
was kept under wraps, and every single guild member of those
guilds was told not to leak this information to anyone." Nine Jasmine
asked.
"You can leave now, Purple Rain. Don't tell anyone what you heard
for a while. After that, you can do whatever you want." Jake said.
He then looked back at the guest he was to accommodate.
"I heard that Venur's chairman was ruthless, and always trying to
suck out the life out of everyone that he enters a relationship with
just to salvage what he can out of them. But to think that he would
want to force the hand out of his own ally." Jake shook his head.
"This is something that he had to do. With an unpredictable person

like you at the helm, who knows where this alliance is going?" Nine
Jasmine said.
"You know exactly how fit I am. If any of you were the leaders, your
impatience would have been our ruin. Instead, I am preparing for a
real push to the unknown lands." Jake scoffed.
"Right now, every single guild's focus should be on growing their

power. Not rushing to the unknown lands and dying. With the push
by Aries, certainly a few more guilds will try their luck. They will fail.
And with Aries staying quiet like this, they want to level the playing
field and their own losses by letting everyone go through a round of
defeat." Jake said.
"I am no greenhorn like you. I know more about World Online than
anyone else, for I have studied it more than you. Go back and tell
your guild master, or whoever you answer to that Shadow King will
forgive you just this once. After that, you will feel my wrath for testing
my patience like this." Jake's voice grew in sound and timbre.
Nine Jasmine passed for a second.
"Do you really want to-"
"Maybe you do not remember a small story that happened a few

weeks ago. Someone said these exact words, and I declared war
with that guild. I trust that Venur under Phoenix's leadership will go
nowhere but up, but it seems like she still hasn't taken full control of
the reins. Until then, maybe I will also hesitate to fully trust your
guild." Jake said.
"You can leave now. You got what you came for. Until around ten
precent of our force is of the second tier, we will not be ready for the
expedition. The expeditions are more dangerous than all of you
think." He said.
"Do you think that getting to the second tier is that easy? There are
only three players in the whole world who are in the second tier right
now. And only one of them has a class higher than normal, and that
is a rare class. Nine Jasmine scoffed.
"If you think it is so easy to get to the second tier, then why don't you
do it and show us how it is done." She spat on the ground.
Luckily, this was a game, and that saliva didn't actually stain the
carpet.
Jake smiled, shaking his head.
"I hate being a hypocrite." He said as he snapped his fingers.
All of a sudden, right next to the name that was being displayed
above his head, and right above the health bar, a small line of text
appeared.
[Shadow King. Tier 2
5000/5000 HP]
Nine Jasmine stumbled back.
"Impossible. You are already in the second tier?" She gasped.
"It is just the second tier. Why is everyone such a baby about it." He
shook his head.
"Soon enough, you will see exactly why Bright Horizon is the true
leader of the Blue Star alliance. Now then, scram back to your guild
and tell them that they don't get to say anything until they have at
least ten percent of their force in the second tier."
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Chapter 209 Mother Finds Out
One Month Later,
Star Three District,
"JAKE!"
A shrill scream pierced the house. Probably half the neighborhood

heard this scream. And almost certainly, the person this was directed
to heard it.
Jake's ears perked up, as he turned around.
He was sitting by his computer at the moment, but hearing this

scream, he knew exactly what was wrong.
This was a scream that his mother reserved for when the worst of
the worst happened.
"Don't tell me, did he snitch? No, it can't have been Michael. He
clearly liked what happened over at Horace. It must have been that
teacher." Jake muttered.
All of his past life wasn't enough to prepare him for what was to
come. He stood up, ready to face a hurricane of wrath.
"Get your a$$ here right now, Jake!" Lydia shouted again.
Jake moved. It was automatic. He wasn't thinking.
He was the guild master of Bright Horizon in the game, but outside it,
he was just a normal somebody. And this normal somebody didn't
dare disobey his mother.
Jake went down the stairs to find a full house.

Very rarely did the entire family come together to talk about
something. But now, everyone was in the kitchen.
His father, Michael, and his mom were all waiting for him.
Lydia had her arms crossed, staring at Jake as he came down the
stairs.
"This is not a good sign. It never is." Jake cursed as he took a deep
breath, trying to prepare for what was to come.
"Now then, care to tell me what exactly you are upto in the game?"
She said, as harsh as her voice could get.
Jake glanced at Michael, trying to understand the situation. But even

he was in a daze.
"Alright. Let me be positive. It can't be about Michael's case. If it was,

then he would be in a corner, crying." Jake thought to himself.
"Then what else could it be about?" He thought to himself.
"Explain this. Tell me why my son suddenly became a guild master of

one of the biggest guilds in the game!" She said as she threw a
stack of paper on the table.
Jake's eyes popped as he looked at what was on the table. It was a

newspaper of all things.
The New World's Herald.
The name felt fancy, but it was just a newspaper for the gossipers of
the world. And yet, on the cover of the newspaper was none other
than his face, plastered with giant letters.
Well, his face wasn't that clear, and it could very well be anyone else,
but who was Jake kidding? For those who saw him every single day,
they would know with a single glance that this was Jake.
"WHO IS THE MAN BEHIND BRIGHT HORIZON? A deep dive with
experts."
"You have got to be kidding me. Of all the places that she finds out,
she finds out from a goddamn newspaper?" Jake shook his head,
almost laughing.
"Care to explain this now?" She said, slamming her hand on the
wooden table, which creaked with pain.
"Explain what, mom? What can I say? I happened to create a guild,

and it happened to blow up. What do you want me to do about it?"
Jake shouted back.
He didn't think that this was such a big deal. It was something to be
proud of. Why be angry about it?
"How is it that we are the last people to know that our son is a guild
master." She said, shaking her head.
"They found out my name?" Jake's ears perked up as he reached to

grab the newspaper.
A quick scan told him that the name was anonymous though.
"You are the only ones who saw me every day for so long. No one
else will ever recognize me. They will just brush it off as a
coincidence. Trust me. This is not an issue. We are safe." Jake
sighed and said.
"Do you really think that of all the things that I care about, that is on
the top of my priorities?" Her nostrils flared.
"You are a guild master? Is that how you came up with the money?
What are you into? Some illegal stuff that can bring us all trouble?
Spill it. If you don't, then we can all get into trouble that we don't
even know about." She said, raising her voice again.
"Jake. Understand. It is not like we don't trust you, but after a curve
ball like this, there must be other things that you are hiding from us."
Peter said with a much gentler voice.
Jake glanced at Michael once again. He was quiet, and that eased
Jake's mind.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"There is nothing else to say about this. I am the guild master. That
is all. What kind of illegal things do you think that I can possibly get
into, mom? It's a virtual game. I can't exactly kill for money." Jake
chuckled.
"Shut up! This is not the time for jokes!" She snapped.
"And Peter. You are supposed to be on my side. Why are you so

calm about this? He was hiding such a huge thing from us!" She
shouted.
"Because I didn't want you guys to know. I didn't want to involve you
in this. For the next few months, Bright Horizon is going to be in
turmoil, and I didn't want any of you to worry about it too much." Jake
shouted back.
"Do you really think that this is an excuse to this though? A simple
answer to what are you doing in the game, would be that you were
trying to make your own guild. You could have told us this." Lydia
said.
"This is just-" Jake threw his hands in the air in defeat. There was no
way that he could beat the worry of his mother.
"What do you want me to do now? Say sorry for hiding this from
you?"
"Yes. That is exactly what I expect from you."
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Chapter 210 Utter Destruction
"Damn this." a large, burly man was standing in the middle of a
forest, cursing. His veins bulged as they held a large weapon that
was only fitting for a man of his stature.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
He was bigger than everyone else that was standing next to him.
Surrounding him was not a small group. It was a literal army. An

army of players behind him.
But all of them were not comforted by the presence of their allies.
Instead, they all had eyes of desperation on their faces.
They did not want to be here. They wanted to go home.
This was not going according to plan.
The large man looked to his right. A slender woman dressed in

black, with daggers in both her hands, looked back at him.
"Who was the one who scouted this place? Not one thing is going
according to plan." He grunted.
"Our best were the forefront. We can't even blame Frontier and
Hulhan for this mistake. This was something that no one expected.
We were too weak." The woman shook her head.
"Everyone, including me, lost levels." The large man grit his teeth,
throwing the ax in his hands to the ground.
The sound that it made did not faze him for even a second.
"And here we are. Completely surrounded. We can't even retreat

back. We will have to lose another level before we can have a
chance to even return to the cities." He said.
"We can use return stones, but we only have enough for our core.
Not for everyone." The woman suggested.
"As much as I would love to do that, these idiots will start protesting,
saying that we are supposed to help them as well. Better stay here
and help them retreat. If they lose any more equipment, I will have to
sell a majority stake to stock them back up." the man said.
"The President will not like the report of what he sees here. We
rushed here, but nothing is going according to plan." The woman
said, still calm and frigid.
There was a reason that she was called the frozen queen by the
lower ranks.
"Which bastard convinced me that the unknown lands are full of

opportunity? Who told me that we can find epic items for free?" He
growled, looking around.
Right behind this large man was the core that he and the woman
were just talking about. And all of them immediately looked another
way.
They couldn't face this man's wrath right now. And they certainly
weren't in the mood for this.
Dying so many times, and facing so many losses, they were not
ready to face another in the hands of their own.
"We must retreat. Tell me, is there a way? Can we actually get
through these beasts?" He asked.
"Right now, three of our members have to combine forces to counter

one of these peculiar beasts. I think this place isn't for us. It is for
those in the second tier. We should have ascended our tier before
coming here." She said.
"Damn this. With this expedition, I have to spend another week
grinding so that I can get back to level thirty and try to ascend my
tier." He gripped the ax that was on the ground and yanked it up.
"The beasts still didn't move. Maybe they will let us pass?" The
woman supposed.
"No." The big man shook his head.
"This is all just a joke to them. A joke to them all. They are telling us
that they don't need to start the attack to rip us all apart into shreds."
He grit his teeth.
"We can't afford to let you die. You have too many treasures. The
entire core has too many cores. We lost two Epic Items in this
expedition. The remaining ones are all on you. You will have to
return, guild master." The woman pleaded.
"If I return, will you take care of the alliance?"
"The alliance is gone. If you look to the back, all you will find are
disgruntled members of the other two guilds. The cores of those two
guilds have long returned." She said.
"What? Why didn't you tell me?!" The man barked.
"Because you would go there and kill every man from Frontier and
Hulhan yourself. They are still our allies. But they did the sensible
thing." She said.
"Sensible? I will not go down a coward. We will force ourself out. I

will return a war hero. Not a coward." The man shook his head and
said.
"Who will dare say that? You are the guild master of Aries. Who will
dare say that the guild master is a coward? The entire guild will
make sure that man will never live another day in this game
peacefully." The woman said.
"Red Jade." The man clicked his tongue.
"You return. Take my treasures. Return them to the guild. Losing a

level won't affect me too much. Just one or two more weeks of
grinding. But we cannot lose epic items." He said.
"But the other will get an advantage the longer you have to grind to
get to the second tier!" The woman, Red Jade, said.
"Do you really think that there is anyone in the world who is in the
epic class and in the second tier? I will be the first, definitely. The
other guilds still think that we are here, crushing it. Tell everyone
once again. Not a word of what happened here leaves the place." He
said.
"As you wish, Guild master." She nodded, bending her head slightly.
"Well then, I guess it is time for me to go into battle." He said, raising

his ax.
"Your ax, guild master. You told me to return the epic items to the
guild, after all." Red Jade held her hand forward.
"Ohh, right. This just went from insanely difficult to impossible."
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Chapter 211 Ending The
Argument
The fight lasted an hour. An hour of shouting at each other later,
Lydia finally calmed down.
"Go back to your room. All of you. And if I find out that you have
been doing anything else… I will whoop you so bad, you will forget
what your own name was." She snarled at him before storming
away.
Jake was just frozen still. This was not what he had expected to
happen, at all.
"Shit. If she finds out what happened with Michael and everything,
then she will go nuclear. To behave like this, she really has gone
crazy, hasn't she?" Jake shook his head with disbelief.
"Was this how you got a hold of that thing of me? That Epic Class?"
Peter came up to Jake and asked.
"Well… yeah?" Jake shrugged. Explaining how he came across a

secret realm, and managed to find this all, it was a pain to
corroborate.
Better just blame it all on the guild.
"Wow. What kind of guild is Bright Horizon. I remember hearing

about it last month or something, but I never really checked. Maybe I
should take a look." Peter muttered.
"Dad." Jake called out before Peter left.
"What?" Peter was calm, at the least, and that was to Jake's comfort.
"Can you please not look into Bright Horizon. I was not joking. It is
best that our identities remain private. The guild that I am running, it
might even enter the big leagues soon enough. This is the best time
for me to do that." Jake said.
"And can you talk to mother. Please see what she is really worried
about. I mean, she went absolutely ballistic for no reason." Jake
said.
"You have worse things to worry about than your guild, Jake." Peter
shook his head.
"Your mother might not have found out, but that doesn't mean that I
am an absent father. Did you really think that I would not know you
are making Micheal skip classes?" Peter glanced at Michael, who
was sitting silently on the table's corner.
Jake's and Michael's eyes went wide open.
"I didn't tell him brother! I swear!" Michael immediately said.
"Aizzz" Peter shook his head.
"You better take him back to school. If your mom finds out, then she
will kill you. Definitely." Peter sighed and said.
"Wait. Why are you not to worried about it?" Jake asked, confused.
"Do you really think that kids these days need to know how to factor
polynomials or something? What are they going to do with the
quadratic equation in a world where everything is out to get us?"
Peter said.
"You will have to hope to god that she never finds out though." Peter
shuddered just thinking about it.
Jake paused for a moment.

"By the way, how is the whole class thing going? Are you able to
manage it? Are you able to level up?" Jake asked.
"Calm down, Jake. I think I can handle myself. Do you think that we
would ever face a problem with a game like this? We are from the
generation that made the VRMMORPG great. We are the people
that you should actually be worried about." Peter shook his head and
smiled.
"Don't worry. I will reach Tier 2 very soon. What about you? How is
your game going?" Peter asked.
"I am holding through. And making some money while I'm at it. At
this rate, very soon, I should be able to upgrade to Star One." Jake
smiled and said.
"Do you really need to do that? The place we have right now is fine."
Peter shook his head.
"Trust me father. Just because the game is occupying all of our time,
doesn't mean we are not at war with the forces outside. The entire
world is retaliating against humans right now. We will never be safe.
We have to go to star one." Jake said.
The memories of his past life, and the deaths that he had faced, all
haunted him.
"Fine. Your house, upto you. But Michael, you are going back to
school, and that is final." Peter snarled at Michael and turned around
to leave the room.
"Brother, do I really have to go back to school?" Michael looked at

Jake with eyes so wide that they could melt anyone.
But not Jake.
"You are eleven. You are a big boy now. Stop resorting to that thing
you're doing." Jake said.
"Please brother. Master promised to take me hunting soon enough. I
am already in level twenty, and if I can hunt a little more, I can get to
thirty and get my tier ascension as well!" Michael said.
"You are at level twenty? That is interesting." Jake mused.
But it was still not enough to convince Jake if it was worth getting
into so much trouble.
"You know what? I will go ask your master about this later. But for
the next week or two, you are going to have to go to school
anyways." Jake said, shaking his head.
"There are a few things that is going to make The Roman Empire,
Bright Horizon, Phoenix Dawn, and The Wolf's Den very, very
chaotic." Jake said, smiling.
"Go back to school. I will check on you a little everyday. But this has
taken too much time off of my day. Right now, I have to go back to
the game." Jake said.
"If you force me to go back, I will tell on you. I will tell mom that you
made me go somewhere else instead of school." Michael suddenly
said.
Jake froze, but instead of getting angry, he smiled.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"Interesting, Michael. Are you really going to do that?" He said,

raising his eyebrows.
"Fine then. Do that. I want to see if you are willing to do that. Tell
mom that you haven't been to school in a month, and lets see who is
the one who is going to suffer the most." Jake said.
"You.. This is just not fair!" Michael stomped off, and Jake remained
alone in the kitchen.
"Damn it. Now, I have to rush back to the game. I hope that
everyone has some good news waiting for me though."
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Chapter 212 Expedition
"Get me the stats. Now. I want to take a look at how far in we are."
The entire guild was in a frenzy. The reason? The Guild master
finally said that everyone was ready to head over to the first
expedition.
It was a long and arduous wait.
"I am still surprised that not a single guild has succeeded in getting
to at least one of the unknown lands. I mean, the first checkpoint
hasn't even been cleared!" Myriad Arrows exclaimed.
Right now, he and Jake were in the top most floor, and the corner
office of that floor.
"I told you didn't I? The expedition is made for tier two players. Not
tier one." Jake said.
"But you have to remember. We have only around seventy or eighty

tier two players in our ranks. Even if we count all of the four guilds,
that comes down to maybe four hundred." Myriad Arrows said.
"Those numbers are enough. We aren't going to try and finish the
expeditions all today. It is a gradual process. We don't just rush to
every single checkpoint and clear the expedition." Jake said,
chuckling.
"This will take around six or seven months to finish, in fact. You have
to prepare for that." Jake said.
"But in that time, we should have a few good helpers on our side."
Myriad Arrows smiled.
"Remember to keep that a secret. Not even our guild members
should know about it. It is better to have a trump card like this
hidden." Jake said.
He then walked to the windows and looked down.
From his corner office, he could see the entire training grounds. But
to one side was a compound that was walled off.
No one was allowed in, except for the guild master and the vice guild
master.
No one even knew what it was. But it was supposed to be kept that
way.𝞰𝑶𝗏𝞮𝑙𝐮𝑆𝐁.𝑪𝗈𝑚
These were the stables. A month and seven days had passed since
the time Jake handed the eggs over to the taming master.
One of the eggs had hatched.
Jake was overjoyed. He was hoping for the miracle to take place,
and it did. It happened. He was now the first person to be in
possession of a tamed beast.
The beast was even tamed under the Bright Horizon banner, as it
was raised in a stable. That meant that it was considered a guild
beast.
"When are you going to use the rewards though? Are you sure you
want to let this dinosaur starve?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"We have priorities, Myriad. Would you rather use this once in a
lifetime item on this dinosaur, or are you patient enough to wait a
year, when the true behemoth will awaken?" Jake smiled.
"We have to weigh our choices right. Sometimes, patience is a virtue

like no other."
"You are right. But bigger picture aside, we are burning through
money right now. And the revenue from the store is dipping
considerably. We might have to look at other ways to make money."
Myriad Arrows said.
"The expedition will give us everything we need at the moment."

Jake said.
"You keep saying that, and yet you are the one that delays the
expedition." Myriad Arrows shook his head.
"We are breaking even at the moment. So even if we keep this

growth rate up for the next month, the guild isn't going to capsize.
Better have some good preparation rather than face defeat." Jake
said.
"Our alliance is the last to try their first attempt at the expedition. And
since this is a pretty big alliance, all eyes will be on us. Everyone will
be watching us, and hoping that we will fail."
"The moment we succeed, the entire world will shake. And we will
have to be ready for that. After all, in this expedition, Bright Horizon
will be taking an unsurmountable role, and if we execute it right, we
will become the best guild in the world." Jake smiled.
"Don't you think you exaggerate a little? Among our other alliance
members, we are the weakest in terms of man power. We have the
least number of tier two players, and even counting the normal
players, we have fewer than all of them." Myriad Arrows pointed out.
"Don't worry about numbers. The expedition will test numbers, but it
will also test singular strength. And at times like those, the strongest
players will be the ones to shine." Jake said.
"Whatever you say, whatever you say." Myriad Arrows sighed.
"I will go visit the stables and see if the beast master needs any
more resources. The dinosaur hatchling is growing pretty fast. Faster
than I thought it would." Jake said.
"Do you want to bring it out for this expedition? I don't think it is wise
to do that though. It is not strong enough, and it doesn't live forever
like we do." Myriad Arrows said.
"It doesn't need to come out just yet. There are a few months left
before we will need any external help." Jake said, clicking his
tongue.
"And the smithies. Are they keeping up with orders? I want every
single one of my guild members to be outfitted with a named set.
Rare grade at the least." Jake said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, You told me that before." Myriad Arrows

grumbled.
"That Infinite Pines wanted to kill me when I gave him that order
sheet. Do you want to lose all the blacksmiths that you hired?"
Myriad Arrows asked.
"He is one of the few that has a rare class in the blacksmith category.
Finding an epic class in this category is almost impossible. Someone
like him levels up as he forges. He is only going to benefit from this
order." Jake said.
"Fine. So then, when do you want to start the expedition itself?

Which day?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"Three Days. I will give everyone three more days to get to the
second tier if they haven't yet. And to complete whatever quests or
missions they have lying around. After that, Bright Horizon will
march. Tell the other guilds as well."
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Chapter 213 Sunday Sermons
Jake walked across the dwindling roads of Diffast. A month later,
everyone gave up on the Epic Class.
They knew that it was taken by now. Those who stayed only stayed
here for the city itself, which wasn't that bad, but not interesting
enough to keep all of those people.
Business was falling, and Jake expected it a long time ago, when he
put up the shop in the first place.
"I should probably flip the store for a little cash, maybe start saving
up so that I can get ready to upgrade my location in the real world
and here as well." Jake thought to himself.
"But I should think about all of that later. I need to focus on what I
came here for in the first place." Jake chided himself as he kept
walking.
As he continued walking, he hesitated as he glanced at a crowded

space around one of the streets.
"The Forbidden street still manages to be elusive to so many." Jake

chuckled. He was probably the only player who knew how to get in
guaranteed. But soon enough, people would find out. He knew it.
"It is too bad, I couldn't go to the second auction. Maybe the next
one. Hope I didn't miss out on too much." Jake thought to himself.
He slowly came to a halt.
"It would be so nice if I got a place close to the center of the city. The
store is pretty good, but the center is just too convenient. Everything
is just a stone's throw away from the portal." Jake murmured as he
looked up at the building that towered over him.
It was one made of stone, with a statue of a gentle looking woman
ordaining the front.
It was a simple building, one that didn't make sense. Why would
such a building exist in the city's center, where every thing
happened?
The reason?
It was the church of light itself!
Jake pushed the giant doors forward with ease as he walked in. The
doors creaked open to reveal the bright light that was inside.
Ever since the trip, every time he was inside the church, he felt
different. Like everything around him felt real and alive.
He never dismissed the feeling, but he kept it under the rug for
something to think about later.
Jake walked across the carpet that led him to the front of the empty
church. There was a priest at the front, his back against Jake,
seemingly praying.
Jake stopped in front of the priest and stayed quiet. He knew better
than to interrupt anyone while they were praying. It was considered
bad form, after all.
It didn't take long for the priest to know that there was someone
behind him though.
A few second later, the priest put his hands down, the muttering
stopping, as he turned around.𝑵𝑂𝔳𝐄𝓛𝓊𝓈𝑩.𝒸𝑜𝐌
"Ah! The polite baron!" the old, wrinkled man smiled.
"I thought I told you the last time. Your armor cannot be unlocked just
yet. You are too hasty. This can only be done with the power of true
gods, and the gods have spoken. You are not ready yet." the priest
said.
As he said this, his smile, filled with holes where teeth should be,
beamed at him.
"Do not worry, Father. I am not here for this. I wouldn't disturb you
with a matter such as this." Jake said, shaking his head.
"Then what are you here for, child? My intuition tells me it has
something to do with His Divine Brilliance more than it does to me. It
appears as though there is a quest that he has bestowed upon you."
The priest said.
"You are too wise and all-knowing. That is indeed the reason why I
came here. The quest that the god gave me when he bestowed upon
me a reward that I still find too great for me to aspect, I wish to
complete that soon."
"The God wished for me to spread his embrace across lands that
have not met civilization yet. He wanted me to help expand the
church's influence." Jake said,
"Ah!" The priest nodded.
"So you are finally going to try your hand and try to find new lands,
like all those other defiers who have gone before you?" He smiled.
"It was such a pity, watching and hearing about them throw their lives
away. But when I see you, and how strong you have gotten in such a
short time, I know that you are the one I can bet on to finish this
quest." He said.
"But as you know, to establish a church, even a rudimentary one,

there are a few things that must be had.." Jake paused.
"Do not worry. The priest, the divine stone, and the statue will all be
there at the place the church must be established at." The priest
nodded.
"The unknown lands are vast. It is a pity though, that the god of light
has to do this whole thing once more. When you reach the end, you
shall understand exactly where the church must be raised up." The
priest said.
"What do you mean, the whole thing once more, Father?" Jake did
not miss that small phrase that could mean so much.
"Ah! I have misspoken. That is not something that will concern you
just yet. Maybe once you have completed the quest and conquered
a part of the unknown lands, you will know." The priest said, clicking
his tongue.
Jake clenched his fist, but maintained his smile.
"As you wish, Father. The expedition will start in a few days. We
expect to leave. Will you manage to find your way, or do you want to
tag along?"
"We will go there once you have conquered the land. If you conquer
the land, it will be safe for old men like us to move around, won't it?"
The priest smiled as wide as he could, revealing more gaps in his
smile.
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Chapter 214 Expedition (2)
The Roman Empire
Nolan limped along a corridor, shifting all of his weight onto a cane
that he held with his right hand.
"Where the hell is the Praetorian Guard? Tell them to return back to
camp!" He barked with what voice he had.
"I will go call them, Master. Why waste your energy?" A thieving
voice came from beside him.
"Alright, whatever you want to do, little boy. Just don't waste too
much time looking for them. You know that I sent them a message,
and they are going to look at that message sooner or later." Nolan
chuckled.
"Of course, master." Michael nodded as he started running through

the corridor. This place had become like a second home to him, after
being forced to stay here for the better part of the last month.
"Aizzz, how could he just decide something so big with little to no

time to prepare? He should have told us about his plans much, much
earlier." Nolan shook his head as he muttered.𝑵𝑂𝔳𝐄𝓛𝓊𝓈𝑩.𝒸𝑜𝐌
He slowly turned around as he walked back to where he just came

from.
Suddenly a woman appeared.
"Chairman! What happened? That boy left you alone again?" The
woman suddenly exclaimed as she rushed up to him.
"He is running a few errands for me." Nolan chuckled.

"Now then, how many of our members are still outside? Tell
everyone to return to the headquarters. We need to be in full
capacity to prepare for what is about to happen." Nolan said.
"So it is true? We are finally going to start preparing to go on an

expedition?" The woman's eyes lit up.
"The entire guild has been waiting a long time for this confirmation,
chairman. Everyone is going to be overjoyed with this information."
She said.
"Indeed. It has been hard, waiting for so long. But now, we are
definitely prepared. We can only hope that this time, we do it right.
With this one expedition, we should be able to rise to the top." Nolan
smiled.
"Now then, how many are still outside? Have the summons gone
out? Has everyone been told how important this is?" Nolan asked.
"Indeed, Chairman. Just a few hundred are still returning from their
quests. All of them are prepared. Every single Tier Two player is
already here, waiting for the day to arrive." The woman nodded.
"Good. Two more days and we will all depart. These next two days,
try to start outfitting our best and then look at the others. All of the
tier two players should get the best equipment possible." He said.
As he said this, he started walked past the woman to the

headquarters that lay beyond the walls.
"As you wish, chairman." The woman nodded as she hastily ran
forward, in the same direction that Michael had gone a few minutes
ago.
"Hmmm… It would be good if we had just a few more tier two

members though. From what I hear, the expedition is nothing to scoff
at. And that one hurdle that no one is able to conquer, we need a
really strong anchor to help us pass that trial." Nolan muttered as he
continued walking.
The sound of his cane striking the ground echoed throughout the
corridor.
Phoenix's Dawn
"Damn it!" A shrill voice echoed through the entire guild.
"How are we the second to last in manpower? Both Sirius and

Horace managed to be stronger than we are!" a woman with red hair
flowing all the way to her waist shouted as she turned around.
Her orange eyes had only flames in them.
"What the hell were you all lazy buffoons up to? How is it that we
have only a hundred tier two experts, when everyone else has
almost a hundred and fifty?" She snarled.
The two men who were in the room stuttered, but they didn't have an
answer. How could they answer a question like this? It was simple.
They didn't have that many tier two experts because not everyone
passed their ascension quest.
But this woman was obviously too unreasonable to accept it.
"Fine then. At least we have more cannon fodder. How many peak
tier one players do we have?" She asked.
"Around two hundred, guild master." the man on the left said.
"Out of two hundred, not even fifty could get to the second tier?
What use are they even?" She snarked.
"Fine. How many are outside the guild even after I summoned
them?" She asked.
"No one, guild master. Everyone returned. Everyone is ready for the
expedition day after tomorrow." The man on the right said this time.
"Alright." She grunted as she walked out of the room, flicking her hair
to the side.
"Just how the hell did that Bright Horizon manage to incentivize their
people to level up like that though? To think that out of just a few
thousand, they have seventy tier two experts. That conversion rate is
pretty good." She said with a low voice.
"Well.." One of the men hesitated.
The red haired woman coldly looked at the man who spoke.
"Spit it out."
"He promised them epic items, Guild Master. The first few to get to
the second tier were allowed to buy epic items. And the others got
contribution points that would eventually add to help them obtain
one." The man said.
"An Epic Item? Are they like cabbages? How can one just give them
away like that? Those five thousand coins I gave him, he is splurging
them left and right. How is he even afloat right now?" She said,
shaking her head.
"The other three guilds are all ready, I suppose?" She asked.
"Yes, guild master. Our reports tell us that they have all gathered
their forces to get ready for what is to come." The men nodded.
"Good. I can't wait. That Shadow King made us wait for so long. I
can't wait to see some action." Phoenix said as she licked her lips in
anticipation.
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Chapter 215 Expedition (3)
Diffast,
Bright Horizon Headquarters,
"Thank you all, for coming to this meeting when things are so hectic."
Jake smiled as he walked around a brightly lit conference room.
They were not discussing anything nefarious, so there was no need

for the dark setting usually reserved for meetings like these.
In a round table, a table seemingly built for occasions like this, three
others were seated. One of them was a red haired woman of fiery
beauty, one of them an old man who looked half asleep, while one of
them was a young man with chiseled features.
All of them representatives of some of the strongest guilds in the

world at the moment.
"Let us get to the main course without dallying too much. We have
spent a long time doing nothing but prepare." The young man seated
said.
"Do not worry, Lone Wolf. This wait was worth it, and all of you know
that." Jake smiled as he completed his circle and took his seat.
"You are all aware of what has happened over the last few weeks
within these unknown lands. I know that everyone has a few spies in
each of these guilds, and you have started gathering information on
how to go about things." he said.
"But everyone will always stop before a single point." Jake said as
he clapped his hands.
The moment he did, a holographic screen appeared in the center of
the table, with its blue light reflecting in everyone's eyes.
It was a map. One of Gaia.
The Eastern Continent that they were on was clearly shown, and
then, there was just empty land that had no details within.
No borders, nothing within.
"These are the unknown lands on either side of the eastern

continent." Jake said as a laser pointer pointed to the west and east
sides of the continent.
"Just like the real world, I think that Gaia is spherical. And that can
only mean that going west or east will only give us a single
destination." Jake said.
"All the NPCs have talked about it for a long time. Rumors of a long
lost continent that has treasures that no longer exist in the eastern
continent."
"Sure, we do not lack anything here. But to go to a foreign land and

obtain so much more there, isn't that more thrilling? That is the
whole goal of this expedition in the game." Jake said as the laser
pointer disappeared.
"Now the place where everyone stops. The one checkpoint that no
one can get past." Jake rubbed his hands.
"Single combat against a monster that no one in Gaia could defeat. If

you know of its existence, you will understand why I waited for so
long. This monster is too strong to just go against as a Tier One
player."𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
"We needed strong players in the second tier. Asking for the third tier
is asking for too much after all." He chuckled.
"That one fight, you can all leave to me. I have that covered." Jake
smiled and said.
"That is an arrogant claim, Shadow King." The young man, Lone

Wolf, said.
"Every other guild, guilds which spent millions of dollars on their

assets, couldn't defeat this monster. What makes you so confident?"
He asked.
"The monster. It's properties. I know you are aware of them. A

monster so swift and calculative that no player can even approach
it."
"Well, why approach it in the first place. Why not have an archer who
is strong enough to go against such a monster? I am sure Horace
will agree with what I am talking about." Jake winked at Nolan.
"You want to send him up so early? Interesting. Do you think he can

do it?" Nolan smiled as he asked.
"He reached the second tier a few weeks ago, and spent the last few
weeks grinding as much as he can. He is the right one to go agains
the monster. And if he can't do it, I will step in myself. I am confident
that I can handle a beast like that. But it will cost me a little." Jake
said.
"Fine. When the time comes, if you fail to deliver, then we will have
to think the leadership of this alliance." Lone Wolf grunted.
"Definitely. This will be a good chance to show you how worthy we

are of this duty that you all trusted on us." Jake smiled.
"Good. Good. Now then, let us talk about the expedition itself."
Phoenix nodded.
"All of us know that there are two sets of unknown lands. Both of
them have similar trials, but once you commit to one side, you are
not allowed to go to the other. That is why almost everyone chose
the west." Phoenix said.
"Indeed. All of our competitor guilds chose the west. That is because
once a checkpoint has been cleared, the other guilds can start
working from that checkpoint, to clear the second, maybe the third."
Jake explained.
"And once you start compounding these contributions, if more and

more guilds enter the western path, that will definitely get cleared
faster than the east." Jake nodded.
"But that is where comes the biggest problem. Do we want to face

competition? Or do we want an absolute monopoly?"
He swept his glance across the ones in the room.
"We will take the eastern route. A similar first checkpoint, but we
cannot be sure if it is harder than the western route as the there
checkpoints will become hurdles."
"In doing so, we can also make a statement, A statement that says
that no one will be able to touch us as we go through the eastern
path."
"You make many a bold claim, Shadow King." Lone Wolf stood up.
"But since some things that you said make sense, I will listen to you
this once. We shall all meet at the eastern edge of the world on the
day after tomorrow. I am sure, travel is an expense that all of us are
willing to spend?"
There was not a word of dissent in the room, and with that, the
meeting concluded.
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Chapter 216 Gathering
𝑛𝒐𝚟𝗲𝓵𝔲𝕊𝕓.𝒸𝞸𝓶
Two Days Later,
Edge of the Eastern Continent
Conveniently enough for any guild that wanted to prepare to enter

the unknown lands, the edge of the continent had a large ground that
was completely empty.
There was nothing in this ground. Not a single monster, and not a
single blade of grass.
But at the moment, it was filled. With thousands of players, all

bustling, talking to each other, and all of them looking at the
spectacle that was laid out in front of them.
The edge of the world had one thing that was quite interesting to
look at.
It was a door that opened up to the unknown lands.
Of course, this one door was no ordinary door. It was a door meant
for giants and gods. The manner with which it was built and put up, it
could not have been done by humans.
This door was part of a wall that seemed to extend across the entire
continent! A wall that covered a continent!
Which human force would do something so stupid? And yet, it was

done here.
There were a total of two doors to this wall. One of them was in the
eastern end, and one of them in the western end.
Both of these doors had been opened before. Jake wasn't the first
one to think that the eastern route was a good choice.
Others thought that since the western route was too difficult, the
eastern route was probably easier. And boy were they wrong.
Jake looked up at the door that was going to open very soon.
This door, just like the giant wall, towered above them like a
colossus. It was as tall as a skyscraper, and made of a gray metal.
In fact, the entire wall looked like it was made with metal instead of
brick and mortar.
Jake smiled as he looked at the door. He had been through here

once before, but not exactly through the eastern route.
The Shadow King Guild decided to follow the steps of other guilds
and collect the scraps. They were cowards through and through.
"Maybe I should have realized that sooner. But what good is it,
thinking about the past?" Jake shook it off.
"Now, it is our turn." Jake turned left to look at the three others who
were leading their forces.
Everyone here were leaders off their guilds, except for none other
than the Roman Empire.
Nolan wasn't here, as Jake expected.
For someone who struggled to even speak and walk, why would he
ever try to come to an expedition? That would be stupid!
In his stead was the leader of a guard that Jake was a little familiar
with.
The leader of Praetorian Guard.

Jake wasn't acquainted with him yet, but he recognized him from the
crowd the day that he went to take a look at Horace.
"What do you mean, our turn?" Phoenix laughed as she asked.
"The guild masters of each guild will be the ones to open the doors.
We will have to agree to a few conditions that the wall poses before
we can enter." Jake explained.
"Why else do you think this volume of the game was called the dawn
of guilds? Guilds will play such an important role, starting here." He
laughed.
"Of course I knew that." Phoenix snorted, but she looked back,
giving a death stare to her attendant who was always behind her.
"Follow me." Jake said as he walked up to the giant door.
As they got closer, the enormous size of the wall and the door was
put into perspective even more.
There were small carvings on the wall, but their meaning could never
be understood by anyone, not even after ten years in the game, as
far as Jake remembered.
And all of them stopped as they looked at a box that was at the
center.
A box with carvings that they did understand.
It was English, and it was a message.
[For thousands of years, this wall has stood, trying to keep those
monsters out. For they will only die in the hands of those who defy
the heavens. If the heaven defiers have finally arrived, then it is time
for these doors to finally open.
Only true leaders among these heaven defiers will be able to open
these doors.
This is no place for hesitation, and so, once you go through these
doors, the others will forever remain shut to you.]
The moment Jake looked at this message, he felt a ping.
[Expedition Quest: Clear the Five Checkpoints
Quest Difficulty: A
Time Limit - None
Reward: Unknown
Penalty: None
Accept: Y/N]
"Wait, what?" Jake almost laughed. All those years and he forgot a
few tiny details.
"This is just an 'A' grade quest? And everyone is failing? How the
hell is that possible? Even I am able to clear S grade quests." He
said, shaking his head.
"Did all of you get the quest message?" Lone Wolf asked, bringing
Jake back to the matter at hand.
"Once you accept it, it will recognize the guilds around you, and will
ask you if they are allies, neutral parties, or enemies." Jake said.
"Enemies? What will happen if they are enemies?" Lone Wolf

chuckled as he asked.
"What else? It will help you guys go to war." Jake smiled and said.
"War? Between guilds. Boy, would that be interesting. I should try it

later." Lone Wolf nodded.
Jake went ahead and accepted the quest. As he did, the pop up that
he told Lone Wolf about appeared.
[Is the Guild: Wolf's Den an ally?
Y/N]
[Is the Guild: Phoenix's Dawn an ally?
Y/N]
[Is the Guild: The Roman Empire an ally?
Y/N]
Jake accepted all of the messages.
Then, he looked at the guild masters of these guilds.
"You can accept the requests that I sent over to you. Once you do,
the system will recognize that we are together." Jake said.
"Whatever." Lone Wolf shrugged as he tapped on his notification.
[You have now started the expedition with Wolf's Den, Phoenix's
Dawn, and The Roman Empire. The doors at the end of the world
will open soon.]
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Chapter 217 Doors Open
Jake took a few steps back for he knew what was about to happen.
The whole army behind him slowly started growing silent. This was
not because someone gave a command though.
It was because they could hear the loud clinks of gears turning
behind the doors.
The giant iron doors were opening.
The metallic sound was loud enough to be heard to the end of the
army, with everyone stopping what they were doing.
The other three guild masters also went back to stand in front of their
armies. And as they did, the doors finally moved.
They separated to show a thin slit of purple and red light at first.
Then, the doors moved a little faster. Still, considering how big the
doors were, it was going to take a while for them to open completely.
And considering how big the army was, there was already prior
consensus that everyone was going to be entering side by side.
The arrays that they had made were exactly right to enter the doors,
but no one knew how big the path itself was. If it was different, they
were going to have to change things up.
"I just hope that as we go in, the other guilds will be able to handle
things properly." Jake muttered as he told himself.
When he looked behind, he could see so many unknown faces.

They were not exactly arranged guild wise. Sure, some of Jake's
best were by his side, but the others were tanks and swordsmen of
every guild.
The outer circle was made of tanks, and since each guild had
varying amounts, the two guilds in the middle, Phoenix's Dawn and
The Roman Empire, sent all of their tanks and swordsmen to the
outside.
The mages and the healers were inside, with ample protection from
the others.
"We should be seiged almost instantly." Jake muttered as he thought

to himself.
This was the first time that he was looking at this scene, so he was
looking quite intently.
First row tickets like the one he had were rare. So he could see what
was happening at such close proximity.
He could see the gap between the two doors widen slowly. It was so
slow that the murmurs from the silent army returned once more.
They waited so long, a month and half, and yet they had to wait for a
few more minutes because of this slow animation.
At times like this, the patience that they showed for so long always
disappeared, and Jake knew exactly how the felt.
He couldn't wait for the doors to just open. His blood was boiling in
anticipation to what was to happen.
Again, he never faced this challenge in person.
The guild that he was a part of was never in the front lines. So he
never faced many a beast.
These beasts were nowhere to be found within the continents, and
with the existence of the wall, they could never enter either one.
Also, only players were able to kill them. A feature that Jake never
understood.
Seconds passed into minutes.
Jake was slowly tapping his pocket as he gripped a small coin that
he held in his hand. A simple activity to pass the time.
His eyes were captivated by the beautiful scene that was presented
in front of him.
It was the middle of the day, and yet, as he looked in the horizon
through the gap of the walls, he could see a purple glow.
This was no ordinary glow. It was a glow that came from another
light source.
And the reason? In the unknown lands, one was able to catch a
glitch that was never actually corrected.
A glitch that gave the two continents their own suns.
Once the doors opened in the game in Jake's past life, there was a
lot of rumor that it was a glitch, and Nova even accepted it. They just
left the second there for effect.
The sun shined normally in the western continent. But for some
reason, when someone was in the unknown lands, the purple haze
appeared.
This added to the mysterious flare that the unknown lands had.
"Beautiful." Myriad Arrows muttered from behind Jake.
Jake smiled as he nodded.

"Sometimes, beauty can be deadly, And in this case, that is definitely
the case." Jake reminded him.
"Yeah, I know. But why is it that everything happens in forests these

days? There seems to be no other terrain in here. There's a lot of
forests." Myriad Arrows grumbled.
"You should stop complaining." Jake sighed.
"A forest can be useful sometimes. Once you get used to the terrain,
it is very easy to start running. Being able to evade attacks, that is a
godsend for someone like you." Jake sighed and said.
"Right. Whatever." Myriad Arrows grumbled.
"Well then, Kierch. Are you ready?" Jake turned to his other side. His
left.
The mercenary had his twin swords in his hands, each with a purple
glow to show their epic grade, as he painted a smile on his face.
"Why do the doors take so long to open?" He asked, shaking his

head.
"I've been waiting too long to go in. Because of the contract I signed
with you, I couldn't even go with the guilds that asked me to go with
them." He grunted.
"And if you went, you would only be disappointed. How much can a
single person do in a group event?" Jake chuckled.𝑛𝒐𝚟𝗲𝓵𝔲𝕊𝕓.𝒸𝞸𝓶
But inside, he was sweating.
He knew that Kierch was going to excel in what was to come. He

knew that for a fact.
This was the stage where Kierch was going to make a name for
himself. The mercenary. Singlehandedly carrying someone to almost
the first checkpoint.
This time though, Jake had him on HIS side.
"Alright then. Looks like it finally opened. Time to start moving." Jake
said as he raised his hand and looked left at the other guild masters.
They also locked eyes with him and nodded.
"NOW, WE MOVE FORWARD!!!!!"
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Chapter 218 The Expedition
Begins
The rhythmic beat of the players slowly marching forward was
therapeutic.
But it was slow. Since it was a large crowd, to ensure that everyone
stuck together, they had to move slowly and calmly.
There was absolute silence as everyone peeled their eyes and

looked around them.
The trees here were nothing like the ones within the eastern
continent. They were completely different.
Each tree was its own shade of purple, and whether it was because
of the sky that gave everything a purple haze, or the tree itself, was
not known.
The trees were also pretty tall. Tall, and yet, thick. The covers that
they provided meant that anyone could hide within, giving them
elevation, as well as protection.
It was perfect for ambush archers and snipers, something that Jake
was already wary about.
As they went deeper, Jake looked at the road that he was walking
about.
It was perfectly paved, like it was done only a month ago. He was
walking on a rock that felt like granite, and yet didn't at the same
time.
It was coarse, and yet, also had its own reflections within.
The road was made of this same rock throughout, and it could only
be done by a highly effective species.
When he glanced to his right, he saw Myriad Arrows clenching his

bow.
,m "The road. Did you notice it as well? It is way too weird. How can
something like a road stay perfect after years of endurance? It has to
be the enemy. A civilization." He said.
"Good. You are thinking right. Many people will dismiss it as the
game performing its wonders. But World Online has a reason for
every single animation. And this, well this, means whatever you
said." Jake nodded with satisfaction.
He already knew the answer, and he was happy that at least

someone by his side was able to come to that conclusion as well.
"How long do you think we will have to wait before we will age our
first enemy? I mean, it shouldn't be too long. Monsters won't ever
wait." Myriad Arrows rubbed his hands.
"You should have some patience. This is not your everyday raid.
This is going to be a little different. Like you said. The monsters we
are dealing are intelligent." Jake shook his head.
"Remember the forest goblins that you saw? How ordered they
were, and how much they listened to instructions?" Jake reminded
him.
"If these monsters have a similar leader, then they are definitely
going to do the same."
Myriad Arrows nodded solemnly.
"Alright then. We have to keep moving. Maybe we can pick up the

pace by half a beat. This is going way too slowly." Jake smiled as he
nodded.
As he said this though, his eyes darted to the corner. He felt
movement. He saw a small black shadow move.
"Did you see it too?" A hoarse voice came from Kierch.
"You did too? Good. That only means that I was right." Jake smiled.
He glanced at Myriad Arrows.
"Hold the fort for a few seconds. I will be back."
As Jake said this, he disappeared.
He was so insanely fast, that it felt like he disappeared.
Myriad Arrows raised his eyebrows with shock.
"That was… fast. I didn't think he was this fast. I couldn't even follow
him." He exclaimed with surprise.
"It seems like our guild leader has been investing quite heavily into
agility. I might be concerned about his damage dealing ability. It was
extraordinary in the raid that we were in, so maybe he became a little
overconfident about it." Kierch analyzed.
"We'll see when the time comes." Myriad Arrows said blandly.
Meanwhile, Jake had rushed to the right, where he saw this shadow
rushing past.
As the rightmost flank, this was his responsibility. He had to take

care of everything that happened to the right of him.
And in the trees, Jake was almost certain that what he saw was not
just a normal monster. It had to be a scout.
"Better take care of this and nip it in the bud. If we do, then we will
be able to catch them off guard." Jake thought to himself.
He was going deeper and deeper into the woods, rushing in the
direction that the shadow went.
But after a few seconds, he stopped.
"This can't be right. I was faster than it. I should have caught up with
it by now." Jake thought to himself.
"Unless…"
Jake suddenly moved.
Where he stood, a small light appeared.
The light glinted to reveal what it was. A small, thin blade.
"It was trying to ambush me, that damned thing." Jake cursed as he
looked up in the direction that the blade came from.
The monster that threw the blade didn't even attempt to hide itself.
And Jake could see the look of surprise in its face.
It couldn't believe that its ambush failed.
"Ah! How long it has been since I saw you." Jake smiled as he said.
The monster was definitely weird looking. It was tiny, with the exact
frame of a goblin. But it also had a few problems about it.
The face that it had was always growling, consistent with the goblins
of the raid, and yet, it had none of the green skin.
All of the skin was grey, and the monster was all skin and bone.
"Now that I think about it, this really does seem like a zombie. I was
not sure why everyone was making these comparisons." Jake
nodded.𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
"So Nova really did make these like zombies. Quite symbolic." He
said as his sword appeared.
The sword of misery had a blue tint to it. But he wasn't going to use
a skill.
Not yet.
This monster wasn't strong enough to force Jake to use his cards.
"Come then. Face your fate."
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Chapter 219 Scout
A single strike was all it took.
Jake jumped forward toward the tree, his vertical high enough to
actually reach the weird goblin-esque creature.
A thin line of blood appeared around its head. Even the blood was
different. It wasn't green, red, or even purple.
Instead, it was grey. Not silvery, but a rotten grey.
Jake jumped back, turning away to avoid the pungent smell.
But he saw that he already gained the experience from defeating the
creature.
"Good. This is done." Jake put his sword away and a napkin
appeared in its stead.
Wiping off the little blood that fell on his hands, it threw the napkin to
the side and looked around him.
There was no one else remaining. This was the only shadow that he
saw, and he dealt with it.
Glancing at his messages, he could see that nothing was happening,

yet. The main army didn't face anything yet, and Jake didn't even
expect them to.
It had only been a minute or two since he left, so if they did face
someone, that would be concerning indeed.
"I have to go back to the main base." Jake told himself as he was
about to turn around, but for some reason, he hesitated.
He felt like things weren't done here, like there was something about
to happen, and if he missed it, he would regret it.
"I should stop dallying." Jake said as he looked down.
The corpse of the monster fell down to the ground, but it hadn't
pixelated yet. That was weird. These corpses usually stayed in the
game for a few seconds before they disappeared.
They weren't supposed to stay here.
"Urgh, just for that stupid and nagging thought in my head." Jake
grumbled as he waked forward, his sword appearing once more.
He swung the sword down at the dead corpse, and it dug in.
This time, instead of just leaving it like that, he dragged his sword to
create an upward cut that completely split the head.
Then, he suddenly moved back.
The reason?
The monster's eyes suddenly opened. This was supposed to be

dead! He even got the experience from defeating it. And yet, it
opened its eyes? What did that mean?
It meant that he was not dealing with a normal monster. This was an
undead.
"Undead aren't supposed to look like this. This doesn't look like a
normal undead either." He thought to himself.
The monster slowly started disappearing and this time, Jake

received none of the experience that he was supposed to get.
He clenched his fists.
"You have got to be kidding me. Why the hell is this happening? How
did the game change so much?" Jake cursed.
"This is not how I remember it. Not at the least. The monsters just
looked like zombies. But this one didn't die until I actually punctured
its brains." he muttered.
"Looks like I am going to have to warn everyone about this new

change. No wonder everyone failed already. How is this an A grade
quest? With this change alone, this has to be an S quest." Jake said.
There was no one here to listen to him though.
"I have to rush back and make preparations. The other guild masters
will want to hear this." Jake told himself as he started moving.
He put his sword away as he moved with a speed that he never

knew he even had!
He was putting all of his energy into running. Trying to get back to
the army as fast as he could.
Luckily, Jake was good with directions. If he wasn't, he was definitely

going to be lost.
The problem with the unknown lands, was that one feature of being
a player was gone.
The map never worked once one entered the unknown lands. Once
someone entered, they would have to stick with their main group,
and if they were lost, they would have to fend for themselves until
they died.
If they died though, they had two options. Revive somewhere in the
unknown lands, or revive back in the continent that they entered
from.
Jake didn't have that problem, yet.
He could hear the methodical thump of the players walking slowly.

With so many people walking, the sound was basically a sign to tell
everyone where they were.
There was no way to reduce it though, and eliminating this scout was
only going to stall what was going to happen sooner or later.
But now, this rhythm was only helping Jake right now. It helped him
watch his way. He could easily tell where the army was.
Rushing through the trees, he felt like something was watching him.
Looking up, he could see that of the two suns, one was slowly hitting
the peak, while the other was slowly descending.
"This place is always going to have light. I shouldn't have a problem

with the evil god and his underlings, even if he hates me so much."
Jake noted.
He could see the army itself from where he was already. He could
see the rows of players slowly moving from the bushes that he was
behind.
"Good. I am here." He thought to himself as he rushed out.
As he did, the rustling he caused must have put everyone on alert.
"Halt! Enemy spotted!" Someone shouted.
Jake grabbed his sword from his inventory as he twirled it in a

circular motion.
Clang!
The impact of a few arrows and a few spells hit his sword and
pushed him back.
"Its me!" Jake shouted as he held his ground.
Looking at his health bar go down a few points, he was impressed.

These people acted quite swiftly and efficiently.
Too bad, they used their weapons against the wrong person.
Jake came to the light, showing his face off.
"Its me." He said, straightening his armor and the robes beneath.
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Chapter 220 Zombies
"Forgive me, guild master! I didn't know! I thought it was the enemy!"
The person who called out the enemy had a face filled with fear.
He was the reason their own leader was attacked! Surely, he was
going to be ostracized, wasn't he?
But Jake just shook his head and laughed.
"You were doing your job. If you didn't do this, that would be cause
for concern. All of you should be vigilant like this. We will never know
where the enemy might attack from." Jake said.
He then walked past them all with a brisk pace to reach the front of
the army, where he was supposed to stand.
Where he was supposed to be standing, Myriad Arrows had an erect

posture, leading his side of the army at the right pace.
"He is going to be such an excellent acting chief when I am going to

be busy." Jake smiled.
"I was right to poach him right from the hands of his own
grandfather."
Myriad Arrows noticed what had happened and he looked at Jake

with eyes that seemed to question what had happened.
Jake nodded back, and he slowly got to Myriad Arrows' position, who
moved to give way to Jake.
"Well, I got the guy." Jake said with a long sigh.
"That's good, right? Or was there another? Do the enemies know we

are here? That has to be a scout, right?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"All those questions. All good. And all of them aren't are biggest
problem." Jake said.
"I got the scout. I am not sure if I missed one, but the one I saw, I got
to. But the scout itself was a problem. He didn't die even after I killed
him." Jake said with a solemn voice.
"What do you mean, he didn't die?" Kierch pitched in.
"I mean, when I killed the goddamn thing, it fell on the ground, and I
got the experience. But I think it faked its death, and it was lying
there, acting as if it was dead. It should have dissipated into
nothingness, and it didn't do that."
"So I tried to stab it once again. When I did, it must have understood
that I saw through the trick, and this time, it really died. The way I did
it though, was go through the brain.
"That might mean that only if we can destroy the brains will the
monster die." Jake said.
"Wow. They took the concept of a zombie and just rode with it, didn't
they?" Kierch laughed.
"That might be the thing. As far as intel goes, the monsters here are
all of different shapes and sizes, and they all have different abilities.
But the one thing that they all have in common, is that they all look
like zombies." Jake said.
There was not a hint of calmness left in him. He was reminded of the
chaos that this brought to the world back then.𝞰𝑶𝗏𝞮𝑙𝐮𝑆𝐁.𝑪𝗈𝑚
Who wanted to be reminded of the real and dangerous threat that

they had back home? The online world was a way to evade it.
But Nova refused to make any updates. They never even

acknowledged what had happened. There was not a single response
to what had happened.
"To think that they would make something that was similar to the
zombies of the real world. That is interesting, to say the least."
Myriad Arrows mused.
"The important thing to take a note of, is that the zombies are way
too difficult to get rid of in a single blow. Every single one of them will
have to be cut through the head."
"I have to go tell the other guild masters. Maybe this was the reason
that all the other guilds failed so spectacularly. When they saw all the
corpses on the ground, they must have just left them there after
taking the spoils. But leaving them there must have proven to be
quite costly." Jake murmured.
"You should go tell them first. We will never know when you get
another chance. The enemy might know that we are here already."
Kierch reminded Jake.
"What do you mean? Shadow King already went and dealt with the
scout that came here. We should have some leeway." Myriad Arrows
said.
"That might not be the case. We might have dealt with our side, but
we can never be so sure about the other, can we? The other edge is
a capable guild, but it isn't us. So I am not so sure they have dealt
with any scouts that the enemy has on that side." Kierch said.
"That is plausible. And even if it isn't, an enemy attack is always

imminent. Scouts aren't the only way to tell the enemy that we are
here." Jake said.
"The sound of the army approaching them can be heard almost a

mile away. If they are a mile away, they will have heard us, and they
will prepare for us. Either way, I am pretty sure we can rule out an
ambush from us." Jake chuckled.
"But thank you for reminding me before I forget. I must tell the other
guild leaders." Jake nodded at Kierch as he started walking laterally,
completely disregarding protocol and the array that the army was
following.
The guild leader that was to his left, Phoenix, noticed him coming
toward her, and she frowned.
"What happened, Shadow King? You got tired and bored already?
We have to stay vigilant. Who is going to lead your side now that
their leader has come to the center?" She scowled.
"I have a few things I want to make sure come to your attention. The
enemy will not die unless you completely smash the brains. Not just
behead. The weapon will have to go through the brains." Jake said.
"I can't go all the way there. Get your subordinates to pass this on."
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Chapter 221 First Attack
"ENEMY IN BOUND!!!!"𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
Not even a minute passed before a large cry suddenly shook the
entire landscape.
"The scouts we sent." Jake's expression changed as he gripped his

sword.
Of course they sent scouts forward to make sure they weren't

running into a trap. But to think that they would face the enemy so
early.
"This enemy shouldn't be the whole force though. This is probably

the first wave." He thought to himself, trying to comfort his mind.
Jake looked in the horizon. That was the direction he was faced, and
where the voice came from.
There was a cloud of dust that was slowly rising up. That could only
mean big numbers, and that they were moving fast.
"Which beast will they send toward us for this one? Large numbers,
fast moving, please don't tell me they are sending wolves." Jake
muttered underneath his breath.
But as he said this, he looked back at Kierch and Myriad Arrows.
"You know what? We should make things interesting and spicy." He

said, smiling.
"What do you want to do? A bet?" Myriad Arrows reciprocated the

smile.
"Let's see who gets the most number of kills by the end of the day.
The winner, well, they can ask the losers to do anything they want.
Of course, moral limits exist." Jake said.
"So if I win, I can ask you to buy me a personal epic item?" Kierch
suddenly interjected.
"Yep. But if I win though, I can ask you to spend more time in the
guild, and become more involved." Jake said.
"Are you willing to take the risk?"
"What risk? This is my game. I am obviously going to win the bet."

Kierch said, shaking his head and smiling.
His confidence was beyond bounds, and for good reason.
By now, the enemy was in sight.
"I just had to be right, didn't I?" Jake sighed as he looked at what
was coming toward him.
It wasn't just a pack of wolves. No pack was this big. This was an
army, an army of wolves.
And they couldn't even be considered wolves though.
They were a weird juxtaposition of wolves and their corrupted selves.
The zombiefication that hit them made them look all the more
threatening.
They had green eyes, and a rotten smelling fur coat that looked like
it was about to fall over.
But the one thing that stayed consistent with all of the other
monsters that Jake saw here in his past life, was that these wolf
beasts were all skinny to the point where their bones were protruding
out.
"Get ready guys. Myriad. You might want to get higher ground." Jake
said.
His sword shone with a blue glint as he turned it, ready to strike
whenever he could.
"Don't be ridiculous. If I do that, then you fellows will claim my kills as

your own." He scoffed.
Jake shook his head. But he remembered something and turned

back.
"TARGET THEIR HEADS! ONLY AFTER THEY COMPLETLEY

DISAPPEAR ARE THEY TRULY DEAD!"
But by the time he said this, his voice was drowned by the collective
howl of the wolf pack that stopped just a few feet away from him,
ready to pounce.
"Mages! Ready!" Jake shouted.
"Archers, in position!" A distance shout from his left told him that the
other three sections were also ready to face the army that was in
front of them.
Jake looked at the one wolf that came forward at the center.
It was between Phoenix and the leader of the Praetorian Guard.
This wolf, a wolf king, probably, looked bigger and badder than any
other wolf here.
It's very fur was lustrous instead of rotten, and its eyes shone with a
blue haze,
This didn't seem like a zombie. Instead, it looked majestic.
The purple haze that came from the sun only helped make it look
even stronger than it already was.
"I can't reach it, but they should be able to match that beast. If they
can't, then teaming up with them is going to be quite pointless." Jake
thought to himself.
The wolf king looked down arrogantly at the two leaders toward the
center, before snorting.
It then turned back for a quick moment and howled once more.
"Awooo!"
The howl this time silenced every single wolf and every single player.
A single howl that reverberated in the silent sky slowly dimmed

down.
The moment there was total silence, that was when everyone
moved.
"Now!"
Jake, and all the other guild leaders collectively shouted.
Bursts of wind suddenly flew by Jake's sides.
The sky suddenly dimmed down. The sun didn't go out, and yet
there was a giant shadow that enveloped them.
Every single point of the sky was filled either with an arrow or with a
spell.
With so mich time given to them to prepare, as well as the protection

of the swordsmen and the tanks, the mages had all the time and
concentration in the world to get their best spells ready.
And now, a barrage of them was raining down upon the wolves.
But the wolves were not still. They moved.

It took just a few seconds for the furry beasts that came to maybe a
human's waist to arrive.
And once they did, Jake was ready.
Jake was the first to receive the attacks. His sword shone as he cut it
straight through the charging wolf.
A clean strike through the head was easy, as the wolf was stupid
enough to charge head first without thinking about it.
He saw the experience arrive immediately, and he didn't have the

luxury of looking back.
"Check if it disappears! Make sure that they don't revive. Their

corpses should disappear!" Jake shouted again.
The ones behind him heard him, and Jake could hear their grunts of
understanding.
"Good. By the way, I'm up one." Jake smiled.
"What do you mean? I already killed like ten in the distance while the
wolves were charging. Stop lying."
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Chapter 222 Cannon Fodder
"What the hell is going on over there?" Phoenix twirled her red hair
as she glanced to her right.
"What is wrong with those mad men? They are fighting as if they
have their life on the line!" She exclaimed.
"And they are clearly taking care of a fourth of the beasts on their
side."
"They seem to be the biggest contributors to this fight, guild master.

They are solely responsible for a large number of kills." her attendant
nodded.
"And you think that is a good thing? Most of the people behind me
are from my guild. And yet, we are clearly going through the enemy
much slower than they are. And the biggest problem is, the leader of
the enemy still hasn't moved." She clenched her teeth as she looked
to her left.
In a little distance, the largest wolf was calmly laid, looking at the
army that was going through enemies without much trouble.
"And the corpses are all disappearing right? Not like what Shadow
King said." She confirmed.
"Yes, guild master. But what he says seems to be true. Any wolf that
was struck away from the head does not seem to disappear. Since
all of your strikes were head first, you didn't see any of the corpses."
The attendant explained.
"That is interesting. And the other guild masters, are they pulling
through?" She looked to her left this time, and made sure that the
others weren't being overwhelmed.
"They are not, guild master. The biggest surprise is that Bright
Horizon is having the easiest time despite having the least number of
people and the least number of tier two players." The attendant said.
"That is indeed, surprising. Looking at them, they might actually have

a chance to take care of the hurdle that all the other guilds have
failed at." She nodded.
The sword in her hand, a flaming red one, twirled as she struck
forward, tearing apart another wolf in half.
"All of these monsters are just cannon fodder. They are just draining
stamina and mana. We shouldn't be using too much of our energy on
them. That will only put us at a disadvantage." she frowned.
"As we get deeper, we should be facing much stronger opponents.

Tell the mages to dial the attacks down a little. Don't use the bigger
ones, and expend mana. Mana takes way too much time to reload."
She mused.
The attendant nodded as he retreated to relay the command.
"Most of the mages are with me, so that shouldn't be a problem. I

only hope the other bozos will understand what is happening and
adjust accordingly. The ego of men is so high, if I tell them
something, they will definitely do the opposite." She scowled.
She looked to the right once more.
The entire right flank was moving forward at a frightening pace. In

fact, they had a lot of leeway because they were trying to stick with
the rest of the army.
"Also, guild master, the swordsmen and the tanks in the back are
asking if they should come to the front line to help. Should we tell
them to come here to support?" the attendant returned once more.
"No. Why would they be so impatient? If they stay there, then we can
rotate them on the next attack. And we can never be sure when the
enemy might try to ambush us from the sides and the back."
"We must remain vigilant. The fight has only started, and everyone is
thinking about endgame. This is not the real fight. This is only the
warm up." She said with a raised voice. 𝞰𝑶𝗏𝞮𝑙𝐮𝑆𝐁.𝑪𝗈𝑚
But in this noise of fighting and howling, how could her voice be
heard.
"Send everyone the message. Remain cautious. And the two flanks.
Do they have any sights of an enemy attack from the forest?" She
asked.
"The scouts have no word, Guild master. And the flanks have been
quite restless till now. Especially Wolf's Den. Lone Wolf says that he
has his men under control though." The attendant said.
"I swear to god, if anyone messes up, I will destroy them. I can't
afford to lose this fight. If I do, then father is going to have a field day
with me." Phoenix grit her teeth as she took a step forward, and cut
her sword forward.
"I don't even need a skill to kill this trash. Just why did the other
guilds fall so early? Is the disparity between the second the first tier
that high?" Phoenix frowned.
"It is said that the disparity between ninety nine and a hundred in a
single stat is huge, guild master. A gap that is huge, but doesn't
show in the numbers. Maybe that is what is showing here." The
attendant suggested.
"You should stop staying behind me, listening to everything that I

say. Go to battle and help us out." Phoenix shook her head and said.
"I am a supporting class, guild master. I do not go to the front lines

usually." The attendant gave a crafty smile.
"Whatever."
The cries of battle reverberated in this large space.
With such a wide road for the battle to take place, but with only a
single point of contact, most of the wolves were halted by the tanks
with the swordsmen taking care of them.
The mages and the archers were focused on the wolves behind in
the distance.
"Urgh, The numbers are endless." Myriad Arrows cursed.
"It's like they will never end. We killed thousands already, and that's
just us. I thought that there were a few thousand wolves, but now, it
looks like they are getting reinforcements from somewhere. And I
can't see too far into the stance to know what is happening." He said.
He was not near Jake and Kierch right now.
The three of them split up to avoid clashing for prey.
"Maybe I should take higher ground. I can get a better view of what
is happening." He decided as he looked to the right at the many tall
trees that stood beside him.
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Chapter 223 The Wolf King
"The wolf king still stands. I need to take care of that thing." Jake
looked at the side, at the giant wolf that stood tall among all the
others that rushed past it.
He looked around, at the thousands of carcasses that were slowly

disappearing. But there were more that stayed there, immobile and
unmoving.
"Goddamn them. Can't they understand the importance of what I tell

them?" Jake cursed as he struck down.
His sword pierced through the head of one of the carcasses, and he
saw the eyes go open.
"I can swear to god this wasn't the case the last time. This was so
different in my previous life." Jake thought to himself.
He then looked at Kierch, who was absolutely going berserk on

Jake's left. He was like a death machine, and the way he was going
through the beasts around him, Jake was absolutely sure that he
was going to win if Jake didn't step up his game.
"I don't want to spend too much on an Epic Item right now. And it
would help so much if that guy spends more time as a guild
member." Jake muttered as he rushed forward.
His basic stats were probably the highest in the entire army right
now, and even if he didn't have the same level of attack speed as
Kierch did, he could finish each wolf in one blow.
And quite conveniently, supplies weren't dwindling.
The wolves just kept coming at him, and Jake could see them stretch
across the horizon.
"Its like they are multiplying at the back over there. I should really
take care of the wolf king. Maybe that is the secret to defeating
them." Jake said as he glanced at Phoenix.
This was technically the jurisdiction of Phoenix and the player from
the Roman Empire.
"Screw it. I can explain myself." Jake sighed.
"Kierch! Myriad Arrows seems to have taken higher ground. Hold the
fort and take my place. You can probably get more wolves this way. I
will try try to push in." Jake said.
Before Kierch could even react to that, Jake started running inside.
The wolves were way too weak to stop him, and Jake could easily
carve a path out of the beasts that were around him.
And facing such a terrifying opponent, the wolves were also

cowering a little.
"I should have killed a lot of wolves by now. Maybe the fear aspect is
helping a little?" Jake wondered.
His sword no longer shone. Instead, a gray coat of blood wasted the
sword's beauty. He couldn't care less though, as he dredged closer
to the wolf king.
"What is he doing? Is he trying to take on the wolf king in the middle

of all those wolves? Is he an idiot?" From the distance, Phoenix
could see what Jake was doing.
"And without him, is that side going to fall or something? He was

responsible for a lot of the kills there." She wondered.
And she wasn't wrong.
With so many wolves around him, Jake was finding it quite difficult to
move around. As his swords swept his opponents away, he could
feel scratches across his armor and legs.
After a point, this was going to affect his health bar.
And he could see it slowly start to move.
"Healers! Now!" Jake shouted with a hoarse throat as he locked

eyes with the wolf king that was just a few meters away.
The giant beast was sitting down, and yet it was taller than most
beasts.
So when it's blue, majestic eyes swept Jake as it started to stand up,
Jake staggered back unconsciously.𝑵𝑂𝔳𝐄𝓛𝓊𝓈𝑩.𝒸𝑜𝐌
"Damn. From the distance, it looked so manageable. And yet, now

that I see it up close, it looks so big." He muttered.
Also, Jake noticed that his health bar was not moving anymore. It
was staying constant.
The healing he received was enough to take care of the two or three
attacks that manage to penetrate his defense.
"Damn this." Jake cursed as he twirled his sword again.
Immediately, the wolves around him suddenly dropped down.
"All of these damned ants are trying to take me on. So many and
they actually begin to become a problem. That is why I hate dealing
with higher numbers." He said out loud.
His only audience was the wolf king, which took one step.
The wolves that rushed past the wolf king suddenly started to create
a giant perimeter where they wouldn't disturb the wolf king.
A path was created for the king to move forward.

A circle that extended all the way to Jake.
The moment the wolf king moved, the other wolves knew that Jake
was not prey they could take. They all retreated, and moved toward
the army that they were to fight in the first place.
"Good. Looks like I am facing a real confident opponent in you. Why

would you let go of your advantage like that though?" Jake chuckled
as he looked at the wolf king carefully.
It had none of the features that the zombie like monsters around it
had.
Jake waved his sword in the air so far that the blood on it splattered
around, and he pointed the shining sword at the wolf king.
"Come at me. I'll see what you've got." He smirked.
But the wolf king didn't move.
Instead, it yawned?
Its jaw opened, but it didn't howl. Instead, it made a yawning sound.
"How is it so confident? It has only twenty thousand HP. It is going to

fall so easily, and yet it is so confident." Jake couldn't understand
what was happening.
"Maybe it is just dumb. Maybe it isn't as smart as I thought it would

be." Jake told himself.
But he didn't make the first move. He had no idea what type of
monster he was facing. Making the first move would be stupid.
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Chapter 224 The Wolf King (2)
Jake glanced to the right.
The wolves around him just rushed past, not even sparing a second
glance to Jake.
"These wolves are agility based. The wolf king could be faster. I
might need to prepare for super fast speeds." Jake thought to
himself as he readied himself.
He didn't want to waste too much time in a fight like this, not when
he had a bet going on.
"Come here." Jake growled as his sword started glowing.
Blue sparks flew everywhere as he slowly took it back, shifting his

legs, readying himself for one big leap.
The wolf king recognized that Jake was about to attack, and it
opened its mouth, fangs bared against him.
Then, it moved.
A silver blur suddenly moved past Jake.
[-248 HP]
For a second, Jake didn't understand what happened. He just lost

health somehow. It was so quick that he couldn't even see what
happened.
But after a second more, the pain kicked in. His right shoulder was
bleeding. A deep gash had appeared out of seemingly nowhere.
"How the hell did that happen? How is a beast like this so fast?"
Jake couldn't believe it. He knew he was going to ready himself for a
fast beast, but something so fast that he couldn't even follow it?
This was the king of nothing but cannon fodder. At the best, it was
supposed to be maybe a few times stronger than the wolves around.
But none of the wolves came even close to dealing any damage to
Jake in one on one combat. But this wolf king needed all but one
strike.
"Fine. If you have trump cards, so do I." Jake's competitive spirit was
flared right now. He couldn't take this straight to the face.
He was just attacked out of nowhere! And it wasn't a sneak attack

either. This was a fair attack, and he just couldn't see where it came
from.
"If you have attacks that I can't handle, then so do I." He snorted as
he turned back, where the wolf king was right now.
It just blurred past him and was behind him now.𝑛𝒐𝚟𝗲𝓵𝔲𝕊𝕓.𝒸𝞸𝓶
"Come again. This time, this time I will be ready for you." He snarled.
His sword still had those sparks. It was all charged up, ready to
attack.
The wolf hunched forward, tilting slightly toward the enemy, and its
fore legs started to move slightly.
"Now!"
Jake's right hand darted as he swung down as hard as he could.
"Slash of Hunger!"
An arc of yellow appeared out of nowhere, tracking the sword

wherever it went.
And as it did, the wolf happened to move. It darted toward Jake,
trying to get another attack in.
Jake felt resistance as he tried to cut down. There was a connection!
"The goddamn thing fell right for it."
Jake didn't rejoice just yet. He could feel the sword being pushed
back. That meant that Jake contacted either the teeth or the claws.
He didn't make a flesh wound just yet. But he did manage to stop the
wolf, and he could see its giant figure over him.
Compared to the wolf itself, he was like a small ant. Someone that
couldn't possiblly do anything to a giant monster like the one in front
of him.
"So haughty." Jake smiled faintly as he moved his right leg back,
digging it into the ground to get a little support.
The entire weight of the monster was being forced onto him, and he
couldn't do anything about it.
"Should I put in my stat points into strength now? But the monster
seems to be pretty fast. I might want to be able to move fast as well."
Jake muttered as he thought to himself.
"Who cares. I have enough stat points. Might as well use them now."
Jake finally came to a conclusion.
"A good attack, used up like that." He sighed as he retreated a few

steps, and the wolf staggered back.
Jake took this time to look at his panel for a second.
"Thirty free attribute points. I can put in fifteen for each one and that
should be enough to supplement my needs for a while." Jake
decided.
[Adding stat points]
Jake tapped on the stats page while making sure the wolf wasn't
making any moves.
It was glaring straight at him, waiting for him to make the move. And
that was all that Jake needed right now.
"Good. Stay right there, and you will love what you are going to
experience soon enough." Jake smiled.
Character: Shadow King
Title: None
Job: Knight Of Sin [Class: Legendary]
Level: 40
Tier - 2
HP: 5000/5000
Physical Attack Power: 23
Defense: 28(+30)
Attack Speed: 9
Movement Speed: 10
Strength 91(+30)
Agility 146(+20)
Endurance 10
Intelligence 8
Vitality 12(+20)
Free Attribute Points: 0
Skill Points: 23
Skills:
Chop - Active skill. Requirement: Sword
Whirlwind Slash - Active Skill. Requirement: Sword
Despairing Strike(Class Exclusive) - Active Skill. Requirement:

Sword
Equipment -
Sword of Misery [Level 2] [Legendary] No Level Requirement
+20 Strength +20 Agility +20Vitality
Special Skill 1: Slash of Hunger - Cool down: 3 minutes
Special Skill 2: Slash of Thirst - Cool down: 7 minutes
Armor of Despair [Level 1] [Legendary] No Level Requirement
+30 Defense +20 Strength
Special Skill 1: Reflect - Cool Down: 5 minutes
Boots of Gondor [Level 1] [Epic] No Level Requirement
+10 Agility
Priest's Necklace [Level 1] [Epic] No Level Requirement
+20 Luck
Special Effect: Increases the quality of loot dropped by a monster
"This is just what I need." Jake thought to himself as he added the

stat points. He could feel himself grow in strength.
He locked eyes with the wolf king once again.
"Come at me. Let's see if you can out run me now."
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Chapter 225 The Wolf King (3)
This time, Jake could see the wolf move. He could follow its steps
throughout, and it felt surreal. Like he was just lagging earlier, and
now, everything was clear.
A mere fifteen stat point increase gave him this power. That only told
him that he needed to grind a little more, and level up a little more.
If level forty made him this strong, then what if he was a level fifty
player? What if he was in level sixty, and entered the third tier? That
would make him much, much stronger than any other player in the
world.
As the wolf moved, his sword also moved. It arced with a blue wave,
sparks of blue lightning covering the sword.
The wolf was running straight toward Jake, and it couldn't stop.
"Slash of Thirst"
As Jake called out his attack, his sword buzzed with feedback. It
vibrated, and as it did, it felt like it was trying to escape Jake's hand.
Jake felt it the last time around too, and he dismissed it back then.
But now, he felt courageous enough to try.
He loosened the grip of the sword right when the wolf was about to
reach him.
The sword flew out of his hand, and as it did, every bystander who
was following what was happening sucked in a cold breath.
Things were happening with such pace that to them, it appeared as if

Jake had just lost his sword as a gray blur was approaching Jake.
That could only mean that Jake lost, right?
But Jake knew better. He could see the sword go right where he
wanted it.
It arced beautifully to land right across the wolf's neck, at there

unguarded patch of thin fur that he had taken notice of a few minutes
ago.
The wolf king howled with pain as it rushed past Jake, unable to
attack him, and fell on the ground.
A wave of dust filled the air, delaying the results for everyone to
see.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"Come back." Jake smiled. It was something that his intuition told
him to do, and when he felt something solid reappear in his hands,
he felt like the strongest person in the world for a few moments.
"This sword, it can move on its own!" He realized.
"So this is why legendary weapons are so coveted. Their benefits

are far more than just better stats and better skills." Jake realized.
He then looked forward.
The dust also proved to be a hindrance to him.
He couldn't see what came of the wolf king. Was it going to need
another strike, or was it dead?
But before he could think about it any further, he heard it. The
notification.
[You have leveled up.]
A message that could only pop up if he killed a beast.

"I still can't make sure if I killed the thing. These beasts don't die
unless I split apart its brains. I can't afford to let something like a wolf
king stay alive any further." Jake told himself as he took a step
forward.
The dust threatened to blind him forever, but it was just a game, and
Jake couldn't care less about the stinging sensation his eyes felt as
he walked forward with eyes wide open.
"I can't see anything. Damn this thing. If there was only a way to get
the dust to settle without waiting forever." Jake cursed.
But that was all that he could do. He held his sword hard as he
waited.
The dust around him took a few minutes to settle, and as it did, he
looked forward at the corpse of the wolf king that still stayed in this
world.
The head of the wolf king was just separated, its head just a step
away.
The eyes of the wolf king were wide open, and they followed Jake as
he moved toward it.
Without even a second thought, Jake raised his sword and let it
come raining down, striking the head right between the two eyes.
"Good. Now, the wolf king is dead. I can focus on dealing with the
other wolves. Without a leader, they should fall quite quickly." Jake
thought to himself as he turned to look at his own side.
Allies were looking at him like they were looking at a monster.
A monster that had just defeated the leader of the pack that they had
to deal with.
"Why are they looking at me like that? All I did was defeat the wolf
king. There is no way they are looking at me. They have got to be
looking at something else." Jake thought as he turned around.
As he did, he staggered back with shock.
He understood why everyone had eyes of horror and fear.
They weren't looking at him. Of course not. In fact, they weren't even
looking at the wolves, that had suddenly grown still.
Instead, they were looking at the horizon. The horizon which had a
giant that filled the skies.
Just looking at the giant in the horizon, Jake knew that the monster
was too far away for it to even have an influence at them.
But it sure gave a message.
They would have to deal with that giant if they wanted to clear this
expedition.
"This doesn't make sense. This giant is supposed to appear in the

third expedition. It isn't supposed to be visible from this far out. Did
they buff the giant this time around? What are they thinking?" Jake
shuddered thinking about the last time he had gone against the giant
in question.
A World Giant, one of only two on either end. These giants were far
too strong to go against on one's own, or even with a single guild.
Multiple guilds had to come together to defeat this monstrosity.
"The game is ridiculing us. Just as I thought that we were going to

have a small celebration for clearing the wolf king, this happens."
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Chapter 226 World Giant
Jake looked at the chasm that was created from where he stood and
the army itself.
All of the wolves behind him no longer moved, while all of the beasts
that had gone forward gave up their lives.
And now, everyone was focused on a singular entity in the horizon. A

monster to gigantic, it seemed to be able to touch the very sky.
"This is the hit to morale I was hoping never to face." Jake sighed as
he shook his head.
He knew that he had to move back to his side of the army soon
enough, and focus on taking damage reports.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
The first battle was over, and although it was fairly easy, it wasn't
going to be the end of it. Far more was going to happen very soon.
He glanced at Phoenix, who stared at the beast behind Jake with her
mouth agape.
"If even the freaking guild leader is like this, then how will anyone
expect the others to behave normally. Who is going to raise morale
when the leaders are also down cast?" Jake thought to himself.
He started walking back to where he was supposed to stand, slowly

and calmly.
And he was the only one calm here, because he knew of the
existence of the world giant a long time ago.
He had fought them before. Everyone in the world was expected to

fight the world giant. A weekly endeavor that would eventually down
it into a slumber, before it rose once more.
This was the true gold mine of treasure though. The biggest
contributors were given the best rewards.
Soon enough, people would come to hail the world giants are
resources that were too scarce. They wanted more of them in fact.
"I need to cheer them up. But how the hell can I do that?" Jake
thought to himself once again.
By now, he was almost at the right end of the army, with Myriad
Arrows and Kierch standing by each other, glancing at their guild
leader.
"What the hell were you thinking? In the middle of all those wolves,
why did you think trying to attack the wolf king was a good idea?"
Myriad Arrows scowled.
"What do you think would have happened if you were the first guild
leader to die? And in front of everyone, with a foolish act like that."
He added.
"Calm down. Do you really think that what has already passed is our
biggest problem right now? Right now, the biggest problem is that
giant in the horizon. What do we do now? We have to raise morale."
Jake growled.
"Raise morale? And how exactly do you plan on doing that? Do you
know exactly how delicate the situation is right now? A giant that
shouldn't exist is standing right there, as if telling us that it is our next
opponent. How do you plan on beating that thing?" Kierch said.
"The expeditions exist because we should be able to clear them.

That thing probably isn't something we can defeat right now, so
maybe we won't face it right now." Jake said.
"Maybe that is a beast that we will face much, much later in. And
how the hell are we the first ones to take a look at that thing? I never
heard anything about the giants before. Many guilds came here
before we did." Jake said, frowning.
And as if the game heard him say this, it gave its answer.
[The world giant is watching a worthy opponent coming its way. It will
be waiting for you in fifth checkpoint.]
A giant screen hovered in the middle of the sky.
And it was big enough for the entire army to look at it.
Jake turned around to look at this message. As he saw this, he just

shook his head.
"All these games, I swear to god, one day I might just lose it. A
worthy opponent? Just what the hell is the game rambling on
about?" Jake sighed and said.
The message disappeared soon enough, and as it did, the giant with
two bright, eyes could be seen turning away, slowly disappearing,
walking away.
"Thank god that thing left." Myriad Arrows took a deep breath.
"Thank god? We have to face that thing in the fifth checkpoint? How
will we be able to face something so big? How will we face a
monster like that?" Kierch asked.
To this, Jake smiled.
"The fifth checkpoint is a long time away. You will have to calm down
a little. For now, just focus on what we have to do right now. What we
did right now, wasn't even the first checkpoint. It was maybe the first
step of the first checkpoint." Jake said.
"There is a long way to go. It is because of impatient folk like you

that people get disappointed so easily. Don't go off telling everyone
that we will be able to finish the expedition in a month or something."
"We have a long, long way to go."
Kierch scowled, but he still kept his mouth shut.
"Fine then. Now, it is time to see who won the bet. To see who killed
the most wolves." Myriad Arrows smiled.
"How is this fair? I forcefully stopped the fight, and now I have to pay
for it? I killed the wolf king. That has got to count for something."
Jake shook his head.
"It counts for something alright. But as you two went about on your
killing spree, I took the time to get higher ground, and as I did, I was
able to take on a few hundred more wolves than you both did,
easily." Myriad Arrows cockily smiled.
"All that talk, but I don't trust any of you. That is why, I prepared this
nice gadget." Jake smiled as he snapped his hand, bringing out a
small device.
"A device to take care of every bet that will come our way."
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Chapter 227 The Bet
The two of them looked at Jake with bated breaths.
"So then? Don't leave us in this suspense. Tell us. What the hell is
this thing?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"This? Well, a lot of these bets happen outside World Online as well.
Don't think that this place is the first to have a VRMMORPG format.
This is only the best, not the first." Jake said.
"So you decided to spend some money on one of these things. I

always thought it was a waste of money." Kierch nodded.
"You must have seen others use this thing. Only recently did a World
Online version of it come out. Well, this can tell us who won the bet.
Plain and simple." Jake smiled.
"Artificial intelligence outside got good enough for a simple device to

do a simple task of tracking kills of three different people."
"So you are really taking this seriously, huh? To think that you would
take the time to use one of these." Kierch shook his head and
sighed.
"You've never heard of this? How did you think I got the confidence
of asking you with so much on the stakes? Well, its not like I have a
chance though. The goddamn wolf king set me back." Jake sighed
as he tapped on the device.
[Number 3 .... Shadow King - 1159 Kills
Number 2 - Kierch - 1223 Kills
Number 3 - Myriad Arrows - 2133 Kills]

For a second, Jake froze. He knew the numbers were going to be
crazy, but this, he didn't expect.
"Well, he was going to make a name for himself before the

expedition, so maybe that is why no one talked about Myriad Arrows
that much when he went berserk in the expedition." Jake postulated.
"I lost?" Kierch froze.
"And even with a ten minute gap, I was only fifty more kills than
you?" He muttered
"Looks like you didn't win, and were close to coming third place
almost. Well then, a bet is a bet. You can ask one of us whatever you
want. So then, I guess I am going to have to part with some cash to
get my vice guild master a nice equipment upgrade?" Jake smiled as
he prepared himself for the inevitable.
"Don't worry. I am not going to ask you for something like that yet. I
don't need a better bow. And I owe you enough. The bet's
parameters were simple, weren't they? Kierch should spend more
time with the guild." Myriad Arrows smiled.
Jake hesitated for a moment.
He glanced at Myriad Arrows, to make sure he wasn't joking. But he

wasn't.𝞰𝑶𝗏𝞮𝑙𝐮𝑆𝐁.𝑪𝗈𝑚
"I swear, this feels like a scam to get me." Kierch shook his head.
"But I saw this one fight, and I know that you battling the wolf king
was the reason you lost this bet in the first place, and I was never
supposed to win in the first place."
"You can alter the contract. I will spend more time grinding with the
guild and whatever." Kierch sighed and said.
"Wonderful. We can get all of the particulars sorted out later. For now
though, I am way too focused on what is in our hands right now."
Jake nodded as he glanced back at Myriad Arrows.
His eyes were filled with gratitude. He didn't expect Myriad Arrows to
make a sacrifice like this for the guild. It was his hard fought win, and
he used the bet for the guild itself.
"Trust me, I care more about this guild than you would think." Myriad
Arrows nodded, smiling.
Jake nodded as he looked at the frontlines.
This was where the wolves were supposed to be. But while they
were talking with each other, discussing what was the outcome of
the bet, the wolves had slowly and silently retreated.
Without a leader, it was a wonder how they were able to do it with

such ease and precision.
"I should go discuss out next steps with the other guild masters."
Jake nodded.
"You should. What just happened, well, it was ground breaking. And
even though they said the fifth checkpoint, and it is supposed to be a
long time away, still, a beast like that is way too terrifying to even
think about." Myriad Arrows shuddered.
"We will have to figure out what we will do about the first checkpoint
first. That is what is most important. One checkpoint after the other. If
we go forward without a plan, then forget getting to the fifth
checkpoint to face that giant. We won't even cross this one." Jake
said.
"Whatever. Its not like I am stopping you." Myriad Arrows said as he

turned around, glancing at the players.
Everyone was unsettled, except a few brave ones, and a few stupid
ones.
Jake nodded as he looked at the center of the army.
The other guild leaders already had the vision and the understanding
to go to the center. The only one who wasn't there was Jake.
Smiling, Jake strolled over. As he walked toward the three guild

masters, all of them glared at him with eyes of irritation.
"What are you doing there? We have such an important issue at

hand, and you are talking to your subordinates? What are you even
talking about, for it to be so important to keep this off." Lone Wolf
asked.
"What I talk with my subordinates happens to be none of your

business. Not to mean any offense, of course. But it is just a bit
private." Jake smiled as he responded.
"And as for what you guys are all worried about, you saw the
message in the screen didn't you? It is waiting for us. In the fifth
checkpoint. And last we checked, we aren't in the fifth checkpoint. I
think we are in the first?" Jake mockingly said.
"Do you think this is a joke? And how is it that none of us heard
about the world giant?" Lone Wolf said.
"Because we are the first guilds to meet this world giant. Either we
are truly lucky, or we are in for a hell of a ride."
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Chapter 228 Focus On What Is
Here
The one who spoke wasn't Jake. Surprisingly, it was someone who
was quiet for quite a while. It was the leader of the Roman Empire.
"Looks like he can actually talk." Jake jokingly thought to himself.
But in no way did he belittle the man. For someone to become the
leader of the soon to be feared Praetorian Guard, it was obvious that
he was capable for great things.
If not now, Jake was absolutely certain, that in the future at least, this
man was going to obtain an Epic class for himself.
And quite ironically, his name in the game was Lucius Aelius. One of
the captains of the Praetorian Guard.
"What do you mean, the first guild to get that message?" Lone Wolf
raised his eyebrows as he glanced at Lucius.
"We are a month late. How can we be the first guild to see this? And,
that message. Don't you think it unnerving? A worthy opponent?
Does that mean that it is going to have a vengeance against us or
something?" He asked.
"You are thinking about it too much. Shadow King is right. We

shouldn't focus too much on the things that we cannot control. We
have to focus on what we have going on right now. And that happens
to be the first checkpoint. A checkpoint that we haven't cleared yet."
Lucius said.
"By now, the spies in all of our guilds should have reported to their
superiors that they have seen something truly terrifying. It is going to
be in the news soon enough. They will think enough about it. We
shouldn't worry about it too much." Jake added.
"Instead, we should stop wasting precious time discussing the giant

that we clearly can't beat. Remember what the plaque said? No
retreat? That means that we can't go back through the doors. We
have to use return stones if we want to return to a city. If we die, then
we die. We can't do anything about it anyways." He said.
Lone Wolf and Phoenix stayed silent for a few moments.
"Good. Looks like you guys understand. Then let us get to

business?" Jake smiled as he rubbed his hands.
"What do you want to do now? What is with that look on your face?"
Phoenix was unnerved by Jake's look.
"What? All this fighting and you haven't even looked around you?"
Jake shook his head and sighed.
"Why the hell did we waste all this time coming all the way to an
expedition that doesn't have a clear advantage? We are here for the
loot!" Jake exclaimed.
"And now, we are drowning in so much of it, and yet here I have
three people who are more interested in talking about a giant that
could well be just an animation that means nothing." He clicked his
tongue.
"The drops! I forgot that every monster was going to drop it. When I
faced these weaklings, I dismissed the possibility that they would
drop something useful." Lucius nodded.
"Why do you have that look though?" Phoenix was still not sure why
Jake looked like that.
"You see, it is only fair that all the guilds split the loots equally. After
all, we all contributed, be it the mages inside, or the healers who
healed our members. It only makes sense that everyone gets a fair
bit. Calculating which guild killed more is pointless, especially if one
of the guilds has more supporting players." Jake said.
"We had this discussion before. We were going to distribute it

equally in the first place." Phoenix frowned.
"Well, the thing is, while all of you were frozen still, focusing on the
useless wolves, I happened to risk my life and a bet by going to
defeat a wolf that happens to be a little larger than the others." Jake
smiled sheepishly.
"You want the loot for the wolf king? For yourself? Are you
dreaming? Or are you forgetting that the only reason you were able
to take care of the wolf king was because you were given that
healing by the healers behind me and Phoenix?" Lone Wolf shook
his head, harrumphing.
"Oh, don't get me wrong." Jake smiled.
"I know better than any one else that I wouldn't have been able to
deal with the wolf king without you help. I am obviously not asking to
monopolize all of that loot for myself." Jake smiled.
"This is probably the only loot of any particular interest in the entire
field. Everything else is going to be pretty useless to us. So it makes
sense that we split the loot." He nodded.
"But the thing is, not everyone that drops is the same. And sharing it
won't be easy." Jake said, rubbing his hands.
"What are you asking for?" Phoenix bluntly asked.
"I was the biggest contributor. I want the first pick, and after I get the
first pick, everything else will be distributed fairly among us." Jake
said.
"What? You want the first pick and a share of the items?" Lone Wolf
exclaimed.
"This guy… so irritating." Jake thought to himself.
"The only reason I am in an alliance with Sirius is because of that

wise old man. I completely forgot that this bozo is going to be the
face of the guild for a while. I should have thought about that when I
sighed the alliance." Jake sighed as he thought to himself.
Still, he took a deep breath and smiled.
"I think you are missing something? I was the reason the fight
stopped as early as it did. I took care of the wolf king." Jake said.
"Anyone could have taken the wolf king on. I mean, even you could
do it, we could do it as well. I just didn't intervene because you were
going in." Lone Wolf said, his head tilted with pride.𝑛𝒐𝚟𝗲𝓵𝔲𝕊𝕓.𝒸𝞸𝓶
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Chapter 229 Spoils
𝑵𝑂𝔳𝐄𝓛𝓊𝓈𝑩.𝒸𝑜𝐌
Jake's forehead vein throbbed. He wanted to just drop everything

and hit Lone Wolf hard in the head, and it took all of him to stop
himself from doing that.
Taking a deep breath, Jake gave Lone Wolf a smile.
"Then your reluctance cost you a good and easy victory over a wolf
king that I defeated. If you are going to take my spoils, then I am
going to disagree with that, right?" Jake said.
"Shadow King is right regardless. His kill, he gets first pick. Not too
much to ask." Lucius said.
Jake looked at Phoenix. If she supported Jake, then it was no longer

going to remain on a standstill, and Lone Wolf would be the lone
opposition.
"I don't care what happens to this. Don't look at me to break your
tie." Phoenix snorted.
"Whatever. Just give me the first item, and ill take only one other if
there are more than ten items. How about that? Two items for me,
and so many more for you guys." Jake sighed and said.
"Fine. I can accept that." Lone Wolf said.
"Of course you can. After all, its not like you were the one who
contributed to the kill." Jake snorted and looked ahead.
The wolf king's battle happened ahead of all the other players, so the
spoils of this kill were much ahead of the army behind.
And since the guild leaders all didn't trust each other, they all looked
at each other and came to a consensus that they had to go to the
place of the battle together.
So, all of them walked toward the wolf king's drops, each one
glancing at the other, making sure that none of them were going to
make a wrong move.
Even from a distance, Jake could see that there was a singular
purple light coming from the distance.
A light that would never come from a mere epic material. This one
was going to be an item. An epic item. An epic item would definitely
be a cause of trouble.
The guilds would fight for it, that was for sure.
"I was the one who battled it, and I was the one who worked hard
enough to defeat the wolf king. If anything, I deserve it." Jake
harrumphed and though to himself.
He wasn't going to give up benefits to keep an alliance together.

They had to know that the person who killed the beast had all rights
to its spoils especially when an epic item was taken into
consideration.
Obviously, Jake wasn't the only one who saw this epic item. The
other three also took a look, and they had ugly looks on their face.
They already promised Jake that they were going to give him the first
pick. And which person in their right mind wouldn't pick the epic
item?
As the game currently was, there was absolutely nothing that could
compare to an epic item, which had the power to make even an
average player strong enough to compete in the big leagues.
"Shadow King. We all know that you are the one to take the first pick,
but is there any way the Phoenix' Dawn can purchase the Epic item
that you are about to obtain? Surely, you have no need for it,
considering you have enough epic items to give them away to your
guild members." Phoenix asked.
Jake raised his eyebrows as he looked at Phoenix.
"Are you sure you want to purchase this? Who knows what
exorbitant fee I might charge you." Jake smiled as he walked forward
to get to the place where the wolf king rested.
He didn't take a look at the loot that ws dropped before, so this was
his first time as well, just like the others.
"Ah! I guess I am lucky. There are twelve different items. I get to

have two of them. Good for me." Jake said as he took a sweep
through all of the items.
The first one that he checked was obviously going to be the one that
caught everyone's eye.
It was the epic item.
With a purple hue that simply couldn't be faked, the epic item was at
the very center of the whole drop.
It was a pendant. That meant that it wasn't a weapon. And Jake

didn't expect a weapon. An epic grade weapon was too good to drop
at a mere first round of the first checkpoint.
And the wolf king wasn't nearly strong enough to warrant an epic
weapon to drop. Jake knew to expect an auxiliary weapon.
"Oh! This is interesting. I didn't think that it would be one that can
actually give you a skill." Jake exclaimed as he picked it up.
[Wolf King's Pendant

Special Effect: New Skill: Wolf King's Howl
Debuff all Wolf- monsters around you.
Special Skill: Wolf King's Authority
Temporarily control all wolves around you for a duration of thirty

seconds]
"Now this skill is something that I can get to using." Jake smiled as
he threw the pendant up and caught it with his right hand.
Everyone else also took a look at the skills that it gave out, since it
wasn't equipped yet. And the second skill made everyone tear up
with jealousy.
The ability to control all the wolves around? For a whole thirty
seconds? That was jut way too overpowered, was it not?
It was too good to be true!
"Now, the other items." Jake smiled as he looked at the other ones.
He still didn't lock onto this pendant, although it would take some
legendary item to come out for him not to choose the pendant.
For a brief moment, his eyes stayed stuck on one of the items,
before he shook his head.
"I choose the epic item. I am sure that isn't a surprise. Well then, you
guys can choose what you want next." Jake said.
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Chapter 230 Spoils (2)
Everyone else gnashed their teeth, but what else could be said? This
was obviously the choice he was going to make.
"Fine. Who will take the next item then?" Phoenix asked.
"If no one wants it, then I-"
"Shut it Lone Wolf. You know I was only saying that as a courtesy.
How are we going to split this up? We will have to use the same
method to split up the loot later too." Phoenix snorted.
"Fine. Whatever. Whoever gets the first item will have to take the last
item in the second round of selection." Lone Wolf said.
"That works with me. But who gets to take the selection now?" She
asked.
"How about you guys draw lots?" Jake smiled.
"Who has the time to draw lots right now?" Phoenix glanced at Jake.
She was no smiled anymore, and her eyes showed signs of irritation.
"This." Jake said as he took out a small device. He seemed to have

a device for everything right now.
The device had a screen that had a few blanks.
"Whoever taps on the screen will get a number. Whoever gets

number one gets the first pick. And you can keep going until you get
to number three. That will decide the order." Jake said.
"Obviously, the first one to tap the screen isn't going to get number
one. So its up to your luck." Jake smiled and said.
He then looked at Lone Wolf. Knowing how he acted till now, Jake
knew that Lone Wolf would do this first.
"I know you rigged it somehow. How am I to trust you?" He said as

he jumped forward and tapped on the screen.
The screen lit up, and an animation appeared. A small tiger jumping
up and down, before turning around, to reveal the number that Lone
Wolf got.
"Aha! I knew it! I knew you would trick me somehow. See, I got a-
Wait, I got number one?" Lone Wolf stopped mid way, confused at
the number he had just drawn.
"Who wants to go next?" Jake looked at Lucius and Phoenix.
"Fine, I'll go." Phoenix sighed as she tapped on the screen as

well.𝒏𝚘𝓋𝐞𝓛𝐮𝓈𝑩.𝒞𝑶𝓜
The same animation appeared, and this time, the tiger turned to
reveal the number three.
"And that defaults Lucius to number two. So then, you guys can take
what you have, and I will draw my item at the end of the second
round of picking items." Jake said.
Lone Wolf was still in an embarrassing daze. He was the one

complaining till now, and yet he was the one who got the first pick.
"I will pick the rare sword. I can use a few of these to give away to
my people." Lone Wolf sighed.
It wasn't a bad weapon, one that could actually be of some use. The
quality of the items that dropped here were not bad. They just
weren't good enough for the guild leaders here to spend so much
time discussing.
"I will take the rare material, the gold ore." Lucius said.
"And I will take the rare pendant, as well as the common grade
blueprint." Phoenix said, looking away. The common grade blueprint
was barely worth anything.
Unlike the named sets, the common blue prints gave almost no
income streams, because people stopped caring about common
grade items.
Players wanted rare items, at the least. Who was going to spend
money on cheap common items?
"The shield. That looks a little interesting." Lucius said.
"And I will take the cloak."
It was finally Jake' s turn. One more item that could be his to have,
and that was all for this loot distribution for him.
"I'll take that key." Jake said as he bent down to pick up a rusty
looking key. He pocketed it and nodded at the three guild leaders.
"A pleasure doing business with you. Once you guys are done, and
once everyone else is done picking up the loot, we can proceed
further. Unlike this loot, distributing the loot that everyone just
collected will take some time, so let us do that later." Jake said.
"Alright. That makes sense. Even this loot wasn't that great, for us to
come here and argue about who gets what item." Phoenix nodded.
"Indeed." Jake smiled as he chuckled inside.
With the money that these people had, they could easily stock up on
really good epic items. But the problem remained that epic items
were epic items, and that they were to scarce.
Only Jake knew where they were. Only he knew that just about
anyone could bid on epic items if they went to the forbidden street.
But he wasn't just going to reveal it right away. He decided he was
not going to be the one to give away the cheat to the rest of the
world.
Jake started walking away, back to where he was supposed to go.
Myriad Arrows looked at Jake, rubbing his hands. By the time Jake
got to him, he was salivating.
"So then, what loot did the wolf king drop? Anything of interest?" He
asked.
"Here. See for yourself." Jake threw the pendant that he picked up
toward Myriad Arrows.
"An epic item? I knew it. A beast of that caliber was bound to drop at
least one epic item." Myriad Arrows nodded as he looked at the
item's features.
"This is an interesting skill. We might be able to use it right now,

even. But does it have any restrictions?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"I don't know. Try it for yourself. The pendant's yours." Jake
shrugged.
"Really?" Myriad Arrows' eyes shone.
"Do you want me to take it back? There are so many others that will
get on the ground and beg me for it." Jake said.
"I want it. I want it." Myriad Arrows quickly put the pendant away.
"Good then." Jake chuckled.
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Chapter 231 The Dark Side
In a dark and musty room, one that only the most cliche of villains
could ever live in, three shadows appeared.
"Is it done? What I asked you to do?" The clear leader of the bunch
snarked.
"No, Your Majesty, It failed. This time, the guilds that came have
come prepared. I count five hundred ascended among them." The
second shadow knelt down and said with a raspy voice.
Both of them were men, clear from their voice. And as the second
shadow knelt down, the third one slowly walked up to the leader.
"Your majesty." The third shadow said with a seductive voice that
almost felt like that of a succubus.
"These enemies are too strong for us to leave them like this. We
need to take care of them and make sure they do not advance any
further." She said as a shadow of her hand swept through the
leader's body.
"Do not even try to seduce me now, Marianna. This is not the time,
nor the place." The leader scoffed.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty. That was not my intention. I am just here
to bring to your attention that our territory comes next in line. We are
worried that we might fall just like Bahur and his brethren have." The
woman, Marianna, said with a slithering voice.
"The rest of the dire-wolves have escaped to our territory, and they
demand our resources. We are already swamped dealing with these
wolves. And now, those heaven defiers are coming our way. What do
we do, Your Majesty?" Marianna asked.
"What is the purpose of your tribe, Marianna?" the leader asked with
a deafening voice.
"To- to protect the swamplands. To protect out territory and push

forward when given the chance." Marianna stuttered.
"And do you know why you and your tribe is in the forefront even
though you don't excel in battle? Because I know what you are
capable of. Against men and women, your tactics are too difficult to
go against." He said.
"You know what needs to be done. Even at the cost of your life, I
want you to make sure that this batch also faces the exact same fate
that all the rest have faced. I want them to turn tail and run as fast as
their puny legs can take them." The leader scoffed.
Marianna didn't respond in return. Her shadow slowly retreated from

the leader, and she maintained her distance.
"This time, they have warriors that are too strong for us to go
against, Your Majesty. If we could only have one or maybe two
squadrons from the Imperial Army, we will be able to maintain the
resistance." Marianna said, all the confidence from her voice drained
away.
"You want me to sanction the Imperial Army to help you out?" The
leader had almost a joking voice.
"If the Imperial Army was the answer to everything, then why do you
even exist? I would tell them to take care of every single invader. In
fact, the Imperial Army exists, so all of you are useless, right?" He
bellowed.
"That is not my intention, Your Majesty!" Marianna shouted as she

knelt on the ground.
"You know what your responsibility is. And you also know that if not
for me, you would have no place in this world. Without me, your tribe
would have died a long time ago, in place which the rest of the world
has trapped us in." The leader spat out.
"And we will be forever grateful, Your Majesty." Marianna nodded.
"Belhondir." The leader called out.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the second shadow in the room, the one that
had been subservient all this time, immediately responded.
"Send someone to take command of the wolves. They lost their

battle, and weren't even able to stall them, and yet they ask for food
like they are kings? Either the heaven defiers are pushed back or the
wolves die trying."𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"While Marianna and her women do their job, the wolves will help
them out with a little fire power. Understood?" The leader spat out.
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Belhondir nodded.
"And Marianna. That applies to you. Either those men turn around
and leave, or you die fighting them. You are welcome to kill them as
well, but all of us know that if you were able to kill ascended, then
your tribe would have been able to hold their own ground." The
leader chuckled.
"We will protect the swamplands as our ancestors have promised

you, Your Majesty."
"That was never the discussion. If you dared go back on your word,
your entire tribe would have been massacred before the ones who
came here. Now go back. Make sure that they don't cross the river."
The leader said.
Marianna's alluring and captivating figure slowly slithered back into

the shadows, until she was no longer in the room.
"Belhondir." The leader called out again.

"Yes, Your Majesty."
"She grows impudent. If they are not able to win this battle, then that
means that she and her women are no longer needed. This has
always been a world of the strongest, and I never liked the fact that
they could crawl their way into this world."
"In this fight, if there is even a chance of us losing, I want you to pull
the plug. Sacrifice all of them for the betterment of our lands." The
leader said.
"Do you mean, that forbidden spell, Your Majesty?" Belhondir

stuttered.
"Indeed. It has been sealed for too long, and maybe it is time it
makes its return. After all, even the world giant has come out to
recognize the opponents that have come this time." The leader said.
"About that, Your Majesty. We might have a problem with that. Our
sources say that the World Giant didn't come out for the groups. It
came out for one person. One among the army that has come for us.
One that is strong enough to pass the trial that has been in these
lands for far longer than we have been."
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Chapter 232 Company
"Keep moving!"
Jake shouted as he looked forward. This was something that he had

never seen before.
He was never in the eastern side of the expedition, and in his past
life, he never bothered to look at accounts of what happened here.
So he had to go with his gut on this one. He was almost in the same
stage as the others, with no further knowledge of what could happen.
As he looked around, he had a strong feeling that something was

watching them, but he had no idea what it was.
"Now that the wolves have already attacked us, multiple waves
should come crashing at us soon enough. I don't know how much
longer we might have to keep this up if we want to get to the first
checkpoint." Jake thought to himself.
As he was mumbling, he made sure to take a quick survey of what

was going on behind his back as well.
Player satisfaction was at the forefront of his mind. Sure, he was one
of the first to start paying with coins, but that didn't mean he paid
really well.
The other guilds used their reserves of cash to keep up, and that
meant that Jake had to keep proving to his men that his guild was
the one to be at.
"What are you glancing at all the time? For a guild leader, you seem
really nervous now." Myriad Arrows asked.
"Nervous? What about? I am just curious. About what is happening
behind me. That's all." Jake dismissed what Myriad Arrows said as
he glanced to his left at the other guild leaders.
"Where is Phoenix?" Jake frowned.
"You didn't see her leave? She was tired of walking all this time so
she went to the back, with someone else leading their battalion.
Soon enough, Lone Wolf might do that as well." Myriad Arrows said.
"I can see where they are coming from. I mean, all this walking, it is
kind of tiring. Walking ahead of everyone else is a little irritating as
well, knowing everyone is staring at you." Myriad Arrows said.
"Well, you and her are cut from the same cloth. Not to mean any
offense, but you do have similar backgrounds." Jake shrugged.
"It does make sense why you would understand what she feels." He
chuckled.
"I am not like her. Not one bit." Myriad Arrows growled in return. He
looked away, displeased by what Jake had said.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
Laughing, Jake turned front as he scanned the perimeter once more.

This was his job, one that he couldn't ignore even though the last
hour of walking and scanning yielded him nothing.
"I can't seem to shake this weird feeling." Jake muttered as he

tapped his right leg.
"What did you say?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"Nothing. Just keep your eye out. One hour and nothing from our
opponents means that something is going to happen. Something
interesting. We can't afford to have any losses so early into the
checkpoint." Jake said.
"Yeah, I know. But when I look at this, I wonder, how long is each
checkpoint going to be?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"We won't be here forever. Everytime we find shelter, we will start

rotating log outs, and have some rest. The other guilds took a few
days to get to the place they lost at. So we might also take a day or
two to get there." Jake said.
"But don't take my word for it. We might get there much earlier than
that. After all, compared to the other guilds, we are much more
prepared." Jake smiled.
He stretched his arms slightly as he put his sword away. Holding it

was wearing his right arm slowly.
,m "Well, I just know that the way things are going right now,
everyone is shaken to the core. They seem to think that the giant we
all saw is going to come for them sooner or later." He said
"The giant? You have got to be kidding me. We are in a game. Even
if it does come for us, the worst that could happen is that we die and
we revive back into the game. Don't tell me that all of them have not
died even once?" Jake shook his head.
"That's not it. But after seeing that, who in their right mind would
have the motivation to keep going? I mean, look at that thing? Even
later on, how can we fight that thing?" Myriad Arrows said, raising his
voice.
"Not you as well! I can't believe I have to convince you that this isn't
something you have to worry about. They said the fifth checkpoint!
We are at the first." Jake said, shaking his mind and clicking his
tongue.
"Just keep walking. I will deal with this later. Trust me, we are not
going to face that thing anytime soon. The game has a little sense. It
wouldn't make the expedition impossible. If it were, then why would it
even exist?" Jake asked.
"Just look at it like this. Maybe it is just an Easter egg, one that
means nothing more than a ruse. Focus on what is going on right
now, that is going to reward you."
"The expedition already got you one more epic item than you already
had. Isn't that good?" Jake said.
He turned back slightly at the front line that was a few feet away from
him.
"You guys as well. From my guild, whoever performs really well in

this upcoming fight is going to see the benefits. So instead of
worrying about the giant that you saw, worry about the fight that
might come next." Jake raised his voice.
"There you go, practically promising them another epic item." Myriad
Arrows sighed.
"Shhh!"
"Don't go shushing me. I am the only one with reason in this gu-"
Before Myriad Arrows could say anything else, Jake put his hand on
Myriad Arrows' mouth with his left hand.
As for his right, it was holding the Sword of Misery.
"We have company."
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Chapter 233 Pink Mist
Jake looked to the sides.
There were trees all over, but even this thick cover couldn't hide the
numbers that hid behind. Jake could see the thousands of unknown
names from behind the trees.
They were enemies, waiting to strike.
Jake wasted no time.
"Enemy attack! Behind the trees! Ready yourself!" He shouted as his

sword shone.
"Enemies? How the hell did I not see any of them?" Myriad Arrows
cursed.
"Because you were busy complaining about something you couldn't

control." Kierch chuckled as his twin blades appeared in his hands.
"Come on then. Let us go to the trees and get a killing head start. I
mean, are we going to wait for them to come to us?" Kierch asked.
"We do not know what the enemy is, and what the enemy's powers
are. We can't just rush in. If the leaders disappear, the entire army
will fall into despair." Jake shook his head.
"Where the hell is Phoenix? Myriad Arrows. Go to the center and

take Phoenix' place until she appears." Jake snorted.
"No need. She returned." Myriad Arrows beckoned at Jake's left.
"Really? That was quick. I didn't expect her to get to the front that
quickly. Where did she disappear to in the first place?" Jake was
quite surprised with Phoenix' speed.
"Does it matter? Let us just start preparing for the clear problem in
our hands right now. You said we have enemies here?" Myriad
Arrows said.
"Indeed. How can none of you see them?" Jake said as he beckoned
to the trees.
"What do you mean, see them? All I see are the trees. What
enemies?" Myriad Arrows shouted.
"Don't you see the name bars though? The HP bars and the names
of the enemies? Those are visible even if the monsters we face
aren't. Don't you know that?" Jake said.
"What are you talking about? Are you high? That is no feature any
player has. You just be dreaming. Did you just alert everyone
because of your hallucinations?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"No, you have to be joking. I remember the feature. Everyone had it."
Jake muttered to himself. Shaking his head, he looked forward.
"Doesn't matter. The enemies are here. Trust me on that. When was
I ever wrong?" Jake said.
"Well, you do have a point. But you better get yourself checked after
this. Because I have no idea what feature you are talking about, and
I am pretty sure no one else does either." Myriad Arrows said.
"Alright. I got it. Stop going on about it." Jake chided as he peered
through the trees. He still couldn't see anything. The cover the
bushes and the trees provided was too thick, and if the monsters
didn't want to reveal themselves, there was no way Jake could point
them out.
"We will have to draw them out. Get the mages to start attacking the
trees. Tell them to aim their attacks a little further in and see if they
get any experience after a few attacks." Jake said.
"You mean experience meaning monsters dying?" Myriad Arrows
asked.
"Yes. That." Jake nodded.
"Got it. You better be right on this one." Myriad Arrows said as he
turned around to relay the command.
"What is going on. No one can see the names but me? But I
remember having this feature in the last life, and when I used it
during the class change quest, it helped me so much." Jake thought
to himself.
"I need to take a look at this later. But now, the enemies are here,
and I can't leave them be." Jake gripped his sword tightly.
The mages seemed to have gotten his command, and slowly, a few
spells were flying into the forests.𝒏𝚘𝓋𝐞𝓛𝐮𝓈𝑩.𝒞𝑶𝓜
Then, stillness.
Everyone became as silent as they could be, with the only voice
being the one of the spells hitting the trees, the leaves, and the
ground.
There was not a shriek from within.
"That can't be. There are enemies. I am sure of it." Jake swore.
"We have a problem!" Suddenly, someone from the far end shouted.
Jake heard a few shouted from his left as well. And judging from how
distant they seemed, Jake had no doubt they were coming from the
left flank.
"What happened-"
Before Jake asked, he understood what the problem was.

The trees were changing.
They were slowly morphing, and slowly, a pink mist was coming from
the very depths of the forest on the right.
Jake had no doubt that this pink mist was coming from the left end
as well, and that was what the pink mist was about.
"Mages of the wind attribute! Try to push the pink mist away!" Jake
shouted.
This was Jake's final resort. He didn't know what this mist was, but it
could be something poisonous, and even if he had a few antipodes,
he didn't have nearly enough to give to the rest of the army.
This was not a fight he could win on his own.
"I didn't hear any rumors of this, and Horace's sources didn't tell us
anything about this pink mist. This is a monster that no one has
faced yet." Jake muttered.
"How is this happening to only us? The other guilds didn't see the
world giants and the other guilds clearly didn't face a poison front. So
why are we facing it?" Jake cursed as he swiped his sword.
It cut forward, and the pink mis that was trying to advance toward
him cut slightly, before the void created was filled with more pink
most.
The wind spells by the mages was doing almost nothing. All the
spells did was waste mana.
"This isn't working. Is the mist poisonous. I guess I have to find out
on my own." Jake said as he steeled his nerves.
"I am going in! If you don't hear from me, then make sure to not
inhale the mist!" Jake shouted as he stepped to the right, toward the
forest, slowly letting the pink most engulf him.
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Chapter 234 Pink Mist(2)
The sounds of the army behind Jake slowly started to fade away. It
was like they didn't exist anymore.
Jake cold hear barely anything at all. Even his breathing became
obscure to him, and that was saying something.
"Is the mist numbing my hearing? That doesn't make sense. If it is

poison, I should get a message from the system telling me that I am
poisoned or at least that I have received a debuff." Jake muttered.
Nothing that was going on made sense to him.
"I just need to find the enemy and stop this pink mist." Jake told
himself as he turned around.
The enemy could creep up from anywhere. The mist was dense
enough to completely invalid Jake's sense of sight.
Except his sense of touch, the rest of his senses seemed to be taken
away in this battle.
"At least I am not forced to look at darkness like in the path of saints.
Anything is better than that." Jake smiled as he reminisced about the
past.
But it took all but a second before Jake returned to his calm posture,
his sword perfectly positioned as he tried his best to sense any
changes around him.
"I have to walk forward. Wherever forward is." Jake decided as he

took a step forward.
Although he did turn around, he made sure to remember which way

right was.
As he was walking forward, he could hear the sound of people
talking.
"Are they my men?" Jake thought to himself.
He tried walking toward the sound, but it was becoming more and
more obscure. Like the sounds were moving away from Jake.
"I don't seem to recall those voices. And Phoenix's men shouldn't
come this far out already. Everyone has orders to stay near the army
at times like this. It might be the enemy." Jake suddenly realized.
His legs suddenly propelled him forward as he ran toward the

moving voice.
But then, he skid to a halt as he turned to the left this time.
"Another voice? From the left this time?"
Jake turned around full circle once more, and this time, he had
absolutely no idea where he was in place.
Looking at the edge of his screen though, he could see the map of
absolutely blank space that told him nothing about where he was.
"That means that this cannot obscure my vision of the game panel. I
should be allowed to chat with my members." Jake smiled as he
opened his chat window, quick bursting a few messages.
Then, he looked around.
"At this rate, it could well be something like the path of saints, with
some sort of illusion. I broke out of that one, so I should be able to
break out of this one." Jake told himself.
As he took one step forward, he felt a slight gust blow at his back.
Turning back, he pointed the sword toward where the gust came
from.
There was nothing natural about that feeling. It was warm and moist.
Like someone was breathing on his neck.𝞰𝑶𝗏𝞮𝑙𝐮𝑆𝐁.𝑪𝗈𝑚
"Who is it? Show yourself!" Jake shouted.
"Hehehe."
A seductive voice laughed. The same seductive voice started

traveling around Jake, circling him in a speed that wasn't supposed
to be possible.
"A fast monster, probably a woman." Jake quickly analyzed what

was going on here.
"And it hesitates to attack. What could that mean?" Jake wondered.
He knew that in a situation like this, the enemy had so many ways to
attack Jake, and yet it didn't. The monster that Jake was fighting was
waiting for something. Something strong.
Grrrrr….
Jake heard a growl from his right, and his eyes dilated.
Ssssss
A sharp sound suddenly ensued,
The pink muse around Jake suddenly split for a second, which let
Jake look at what he just pierced.
A wolf. The exact same ones that had fled an hour ago.
"The wolves are not responsible for the pink mist. There is no way.
And the way this one attacked, they are also blind in this pink mist."
Jake understood.
"Is the monster using the wolves? This might be the right time to use
the epic item that I gave Myriad Arrows." Jake chuckled as he
thought to himself.
He didn't try to actively cut the mist around him though. Even though
his curiosity was getting the best of him and he really wanted to
know who was behind the smile, he also knew that it was a better
idea to stay calm and not waste one's energy.
"Shadow King?" From behind Jake, he heard a familiar voice.
Jake turned around, and he could see a vague silhouette among the
pink mist. From the voice and the alluring silhouette, Jake could
recognize who it was in an instant.
"Phoenix?" Jake asked.
The silhouette took one step forward, and Jake could see who it
was.
His initial guess was right. It was Phoenix. Her red hair almost
blended into the pink mist around her, but her armor didn't. It shone,
almost defining her presence.
"Looks like the pink mist doesn't obscure my vision when I see
someone who is right next to me." Jake thought to himself.
"What the hell is happening? I took a few steps forward, and all of a
sudden, here I am, facing you." Phoenix said.
"Wait, what? A few steps? Does that mean I am going in the wrong
direction?" Jake stopped.
But then, he composed himself.
"One second. How do I know I can trust you." Jake asked.
"What are you talking about?" Phoenix asked, a curious look on her
eyes.
"This is a clear illusion of some sorts. How do I know that you are
who you claim to be?" Jake asked.
"Tell me one thing that only both of us know. Tell me about what
happened between us two days ago." Jake declared.
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Chapter 235 Phoenix
"Two days ago? What the hell are you talking about?" Phoenix
looked confused.
"Are you doubting me? Do you really think these monsters are
strong enough to duplicate the armor I have?" She proudly said.
"Yeah, you are right. No matter what the monster, they wouldn't be
able to copy your arrogance." Jake shook his head and smiled.
"What did you say?" Phoenix's nose flared with anger.
"Either way, we might have to stick together. I have no idea what the
monsters are capable of here, but the pink mist is irritating enough."
Jake said.
"Whatever. I don't care." Phoenix pouted as her red sword flared up.
It was a bright contrast even in the pink setting that the sword was in.
The red flares of the sword rose from the tip, trying to burn the pink
mist around it, and yet the mist wouldn't even budge.
"What kind of mission did your guild have to go through, for you to
get such a good epic weapon?" Jake asked.
"I mean, just looking at it, I can see that it is an exceptional one even
among epic weapons. And I am one to know, I have taken a look at
my fair share." He said.
"Why do you want to know?" Phoenix looked away haughtily.
"Just curious. I wonder why you are so cold today. I think the last
time we met, you were very… responsive. Maybe it was just you
trying every trick in the book to get me to allow you in on the
alliance." Jake shrugged.
"Just.. shut up. Because of you, I got into a lot of trouble. Now, father
told me that if I don't finish this expedition in my first attempt, then I
can no longer be the guild leader, and the guild will also leave the
alliance. All because you made fun of his assistant and made her
mad." Phoenix growled.
"Oh! So when she left, she complained to her boss." Jake shook his
head.
"Well, what can I expect from someone like that? She is after all, a
pretty petty person. She tried to get a fight going in my place, even
though I treated her as a guest." Jake sighed.
"Just… focus on the mission right now. I need to make sure father
will not fire me. I am already on my second strike." Phoenix grit her
teeth.
"The second strike? So even the arrogant and haughty Phoenix has
a leash of her own. Who would have thought that she would listened
to her father so strictly." Jake wanted to say this, but he would rather
not offend one of his alliance partners.
Instead, he just smiled.
"If I didn't have the confidence of completing this expedition, then I

wouldn't have asked any of you to come. I am sure that no matter
what will happen right now, victory will be ours." Jake said.
"But one thing does worry me. Everything that is happening right
now, it hasn't happened to any of the other guilds. That means that
we are seeing a different progressing compared to everyone else.
Who knows what that means?"
"If that is the case, then we might also get a longer expedition, and a
harder one. That will be concerning, certainly." Jake said.
"Don't make me regret my choices. Everyone is already scared

shitless because of that world giant that appeared out of nowhere. I
mean, how unlucky do we have to be, for this to happen to us of all
people?" She cursed.
"We aren't unlucky. Why doesn't anyone think of this as a boon

instead? We have been recognized. That means that the world giant
knows that we are strong enough to finish the first checkpoint." Jake
said.𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
"And what about the second? The third? How long are we going to
take to finish those? The other guilds will only benefit from the path
that we are making for them." Phoenix said.
"Again. Stop thinking about the too much. If that is your reasoning,
then we might just say that we should't do anything at all. If we clear
a training ground, it will become easier for other guilds to train there.
If we-"
Before Jake could say anything else, he suddenly stoped talking and
looked to the side.
,m He could swear he saw something dark just dart by. It was quick,
but it was something real. It was something he needed.
Proof that there was some monster here, controlling the pink mist.
"Did you see it too?" Phoenix whispered.
Jake just nodded as he pointed the sword toward the way he wanted
to go. Slowly, step by step, he started walking toward the direction of
the dark shadow.
Swish!
This time, he heard a sound. The sound of the mist parting its way.
Something was moving, and that something was fast.
"A monster that is also fast as well. That is interesting. But what kind
of monster is that? There is now way the wolves became that fast in
just a few hours." Jake thought to himself.
"Face the other side. Cover my twelve." Jake said.
"Don't command me, Shadow King." Phoenix spat out, but even
though she said this, she turned around to face the other side.
In this time, it was best not to bicker at each other.
"Tell me if you see anything on your end. I can't see anything here."
Jake said.
"And do you think I can see anything here? The whole place is
covered in the mist." Phoenix said.
Jake sighed. Phoenix was clearly not accustomed to working with

someone else.
"Ah! How much I miss Myriad Arrows." Jake sighed as he

reminisced.
His sword suddenly moved, and his entire body blurred
Swish!
The path that he took as defined by a parting in the pink mist, for he
was just that fast.
Aargh!
A shrill scream suddenly pierced the sky.
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Chapter 236 Mysterious
Monsters
Phoenix immediately sped toward the direction that Jake had gone
to. The scream had shaken her to the core.
"Looks like he found one of them." She thought to herself as she

tried her best to catch up to him before the thin separation that was
created in the pink mist disappeared.
But as she was going in that direction, she noticed something.
The pink mist around her was slowly thinning out. It was only
thinning out in this particular section. She still couldn't see in a
distance, and the distance was clearly full of this pink mist.
It was just this one section that was thinning a little.
And with that, she could see a silhouette in the pink mist. One of a
tall and sturdy looking man.
"Is that Shadow King? No, it could be an enemy." She muttered as

she raised her sword toward the silhouette.
,m "Put your sword down, Phoenix. I am no enemy. You should take

a look at the actual enemy though. Truly interesting." Jake chuckled
as he said.
Phoenix took a few more steps forward, and as she did, she could
see exactly what had taken place. In front of her, she could see that
Jake was standing over a corpse.
"Why is the monster still here? Why didn't it disintegrate? Shouldn't it

disappear?" Phoenix asked.
"Ah! Have you forgotten what I told you about the monsters here?
They don't die unless you pierce its head. And it would be a pity to
kill this thing just yet, before documenting what it can do." Jake
shook his head.
He used his sword to turn the monster's head around.
That was when he could clearly see the monster in its true form.
It looked like a woman, but in place of feet, this monster had a

snake's tail.
The woman herself was absolutely stunning, with curves that didn't
seem possible.
"Are you done looking at it, you pervert?" Phoenix snorted.
"You can't blame me. I don't think that I know of any monsters that
are supposed to be on land and look like this. They look way too
different than any thing else I know about." Jake said,
"I don't expect you to know about it. I mean, no one has probably
seen something like this. And the skills they have, they ware way too
interesting." Phoenix shook her head and said.
"Indeed. Now then, what do you think this thing can do? I mean,
other than shoot out the pink gas, of course." Jake said.
"I mean, there has to be something else this thing can do other than
just obstruct our view. Or else, it wouldn't have come our way. A
monster that looks so humanoid has to have some intellect." Jake
said.
"I don't know. Why are you asking me? Maybe this monster is just
stupid? But there is no way that this is the only one. Killing it thinned
out the pink mist for this place, so maybe there are a few more that
are surrounding us?" She suggested.
"That must is obvious. They are working with the wolves. And they
are clearly clever enough to play dead." Jake said as he raised his
foot and stepped on the monster's head.
"Aargh!" Another shrill scream came out from the

monster.𝞰𝑶𝗏𝞮𝑙𝐮𝑆𝐁.𝑪𝗈𝑚
Once again, this scream was loud, and pierced Jake's and Phoenix's
eardrums.
"So goddamn irritating." Jake cursed as he kicked to the ground, as

the corpse slowly disappeared.
"The loot is not something we should be worried about now. We can

always collect it later, and take a look at what it holds. For now
though, we need to try and find more and more people." Jake said.
"We do not know if the monsters are capable of some illusions? I

mean, maybe this one just didn't show its true power, because I was
too fast for it." Jake suggested.
"Illusions? I mean, maybe they can disguise themselves as one of

us, and if one of these monsters disguises itself as one of the normal
soldiers, then-"
"Shut up." Jake barked.
"How dare you." Phoenix retorted, but before she could say
anything, Jake moved again.
He moved right this time, creating another thin line that showed his
path.
"Not again. This man, always moving before he warns me. What if
we separate. It is just not safe." Phoenix shook her head and chased
after the line before the thin mist around her filled the gap.
She quickly saw that the mist was getting thicker and thicker, and
she could have potentially lost Jake.
"This is why I should deal with only professionals. That idiot just
singled himself out, and now, he had to fend off against an unknown
enemy all by himself. And he didn't even tell me what he was
chasing." Phoenix cursed.
She turned around once or twice trying to see if there was someone
ready to ambush her.
Clang!
Suddenly, she heard a loud steel clang.
Aargh!
Immediately after that, a shrill and pricing scream shook her for the
third time in as many minutes.
"This guy, how does he keep finding these monsters? I can't see any
of them, and yet he found two of them in such little time. I need to
find out how he does this." She cursed as she chased after the
direction of the sound that just came out.
It was loud and too obvious to miss.
"With a sound this big, many other should also come after this
sound. How did no one respond to my messages though? I will make
sure they will hear it from me after this whole things blows apart."
She muttered to herself as she ran forward.
Soon enough, she could sense the mist thinning. One of these
mysterious monsters had died again.
"What is wrong with you? Any one of these monsters could have
heard what you were about to say. If they didn't have the idea, then
they would have gotten the idea of disguising themselves as normal
players if they heard you." Jake suddenly appeared before her,
chiding her.
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Chapter 237 Drifting Through
The Mist
"Think for a moment before you just blurt things out." He said.
And as he said this, he turned around another time.
"Just pink mist. There are no monsters around me." He told himself.
He then looked back at Phoenix.
"By the way, did you not get the message I sent you? To stay close
to the army? I sent a message to all the guild masters." Jake asked.
"What message?" Phoenix panicked as she checked her message

inbox. Nothing.
"Then it is as I feared. No one can receive any messages here. We

can't communicate with each other unless we are near each other.
The inbox is pretty much useless right now." Jake shook his head
and sighed.
"Useless? Then how are we going to deal with so many monsters?

We need more people." Phoenix said, clearly panicked.
"There is nothing we can do right now. All that we can hope for is
that all the other players are not stupid. For now, try to thin the pink
mist. Kill as many of these monsters as you can." Jake said.
"How do I do that, if I have no idea where I can see them?" Phoenix

said.
"Right. No one can see those names except me. So weird." Jake
realized as he told himself.
"Fine. Just use your intuition, like I am. And keep your eyes and ears
peeled for any small changes around you. But don't immediately
attack. It could well be an ally. Who knows?" Jake reminded her.
"I am not stupid." Phoenix scoffed.
"I can clearly see that." Jake smiled faintly as he shook his head.
Not even looking at her again, he started walking forward. His sword
fell to the ground, scraping it as he walked.
"This is way too weird. Monsters that I have never seen before, or
even heard about. And they are way too weird. It is like they have
absolutely no attack power, and yet they can create this pink mist
that completely blocks our sight." Jake murmured to himself.
As he was talking to himself, he glared to the right. He could see

another name appear.
Once again, it was the same name that he saw again and again.
[??? Level - 23]
"The same question marks. Why can't I see their actual name? And
they are humanoid. Maybe I should try capturing them alive to see if
I can get any information from them." Jake muttered.
"Wait up for me. Why are you walking by yourself?" Phoenix shouted
as she ran after Jake.
"Shhhh." Jake shushed her immediately as he followed the question

marks in the pink mist.
They were slowly moving further away from him,

"Be as silent as you can." Jake said as he slowly started walking
toward the question marks. He felt like the only thing he could do
right now was follow the monsters to see what they were trying to do.
Maybe they could even lead him straight to their lair, or possibly
even other players.
He needed to do something. Anything was better than just sitting and

doing nothing about it.
Phoenix decided not to retort at this point, and she just followed him.
"How is he able to navigate this place? Does he have some artifact

that can let him do this? If he does, then this is too unfair." She
thought to herself.
Her sword blazed as she tapped on it.
"Regardless. He clearly has some terrible equipment. Why would

anyone give away epic items when he himself is only decked in one
good pair of boots, and a terrible armor like that?" She shook her
head.
"I need to try and poach his people. They are clearly the only reason
he is acting so arrogantly." She told herself as she kept walking.
In front of her, Jake shook his head.
"This monster is walking for so long. Maybe it is just trying lead us

astray? Maybe it knows we are following us." He thought to herself.
"Well, that can only be a good thing right? I mean, letting the
monsters come toward us, isn't that what we want at this point? It will
think the pink mist a little." Jake told himself.
He needed the pink mist to disappear, and killing a monster seemed

to dent the concentration at least by a little.
"How much longer? We have been walking for so long? Do you
know where we are going, when I can't even see where we are
going?" Phoenix complained.
"Could it be, are you leading me to an ambush? That would explain

so much. Maybe you are the one who is impersonating Shadow
King." She raised her sword to point at Jake.
"Stop wasting my time. You can always stay alone. I don't care at
this point. I need to find the other monsters, so don't stand in my
way." Jake said, shaking his head.
"And let us say for a moment that I was indeed the monster that is
impersonating Shadow King, the guild leader of Bright Horizon, a
guild name they probably never heard about. Let us say all of this is
true. Are you even strong enough to go against me?" Jake chuckled.
"You saw how fast I was. Can you actually catch up to me if I wanted
to make this a battle oof agility?" He said as he shook his head.
"Just keep walking. It seems like we are almost here." Jake said as
he looked in the distance again. The monster that he was tailing
seemed to be slowing down. It was slowly becoming bigger and
bigger.
"I wonder, both of the monsters I killed had woman figures. Could it
be a woman tribe of some kind?" Jake wondered as he took another
step forward.
Through the pink mist, suddenly he saw a shadow.
"If I saw the shadow, then that shadow also saw me!" Jake suddenly
realized as his sword shot up.
Clang!
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Chapter 238 A Strong Monster
Jake felt his sword get pushed back. This was strong. Stronger than
anything that he had ever faced.
"Damn it. Why is this so powerful? This one strike feels stronger than
any other thing that I have faced in this expedition." Jake cursed.
This felt in no way, similar to when he battled the wolf king, or when
he handily took care of the monsters who had a woman's upper
body.
The shadow that he saw had closed in to attack him in mind

numbing speed.
Slowly, the pink mist parted to reveal who Jake was battling.
"Damn this. Why am I forced to see something so ugly." Jake cursed

as he pushed on the sword to retreat a few steps.
He was looking at a true beast. One that stood up on two feet, like a
human, and stood up like a human. It was holding a rusty sword,
with a humanoid figure.
Except, it certainly wasn't a human. It was a zombie. That much was

absolutely certain.
Its face was completely deformed. It had a grey face, with one
eyeball completely visible while the other was threatening to drop
down.
There was little to no skin holding the important parts of the face
together. It was like someone decided to carve out a human face and
this was the result.
"What kind of graphic artist decided this was the right monster to
show in a game where there are actual children?" Jake shook his
head as his sword shone.
"Despairing strike!" Jake called out as his sword arced beautifully in

the air to try and cut down the zombie's head.
Clang!
The zombie was fast. It reacted almost immediately, and its rusty
sword met Jake's own.
"That is clearly a common sword. Yet, it can clearly block my attacks

with such ease. This really is a pain. To think that it has such strong
reflexes." Jake muttered.
"Do you need my help. You look like you are struggling with that
thing." Phoenix called from behind.𝒏𝒐𝔳𝑬𝓁𝑢𝕊𝗯.𝗰𝒪𝑀
"Watch my back. Who knows what could attack when I am not

ready? We are in enemy territory. Who knows how many of these
things there are?" Jake reminded her.
As he said this, he glared at the opponent's eyes. Like he was about

to tell it something. Then, he moved.
His body seemed to vanish.
The zombie froze for a slight second, trying to turn around. But it was
let back by the slow movement of its rotatory cuffs.
It couldn't turn around in time.
"Slash of Hunger!"
A yellow ochre flash of lightning connected with the zombie before

the zombie could barely react.
Jake's sword looked like the weapon of god at this point, with sparks
flying, and the metal shining. It had none of the old rusty look. It truly
looked divine.
And Phoenix could see this. She was as frozen as the zombie that
faced the attack.
"I am not sure if I can block that attack. And what is with the
weapon? It feels like it is better than even my weapon. How could I
not see the purple glare on it though? Is it a special type of weapon,
not ranked?" She thought.
"Could it be, he has a legendary weapon? No. That is just not

possible. He must have something that is class specific, and that is
why it is so special." She decided.
Meanwhile, Jake twirled the sword and struck it straight through the
zombie's head, which was clearly the weak point of every single
monster in this expedition.
The zombie completed its turn with the sword sticking straight
through its head. Its sword dropped from its hand, and it looked at
Jake with an expression of sorrow.
"Are monsters really capable of such emotions? This is just the

game messing with me. I should stop thinking about this." Jake told
himself as he pulled the sword out before he lost the hilt in the turn.
"Y- y- o"
The zombie opened its mouth, like it was trying to speak. But
whatever it was trying to say, it certainly wasn't legible.
"This thing can speak? The last time I remember a monster being
able to speak… well that thing was the ninth follower I think, and the
ninth is supposed to be a human!" Jake suddenly remembered what
happened a month ago.
Speaking was something that was reserved only to the strongest of
monsters. Not to some random zombie that appeared in the middle
of the expedition. This was a monster that appeared not at the end,
but at the beginning of the expedition.
It was certainly not a big part of the expedition, and yet, it was trying
to speak?
Jake was truly interested in what it had to say.
"Y-o - o - u. You a-r- -a-r-e go-"
Before it could complete the sentence though, the zombie fell to its
knees. A gaping hole was visible through its mouth, where the sword
struck.
Slowly, from the arms up, the zombie started pixelating, disappearing
off the face of earth.
"That was a pity. I really wanted to see what the zombie wanted to
say." Jake paused.
"It was a really interesting monster to battle. It was fast and skilled,
but it was led back by its body, which was too slow. It if could turn
around fast enough, then it would surely block that attack and it
would have taken me a little while to take care of it." Jake muttered.
"Why would a monster this strong appear so early in the fight? None
of this makes any sense to me." He muttered.
"Shadow King? We have a problem." Phoenix suddenly called out.
Jake turned around to see a faint silhouette in the pink mist that was
calling out to him.
"That is weird. The pink mist didn't thin out like it was supposed to."
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Chapter 239 Wolves
"Come on, Ghostly Star. Stop holding up." Lone Assassin called out
as he grudgingly moved forward.
"This pink mist is irritating as it is. And we already separated from the
rest of the group for some reason. I can't see any of them. If we
break this group up, who knows what monsters we will have to face
on our own." He said.
His sword was as normal as it got. After all, he was just a normal
player. As average as one got.
"Come on. Wait up. I am way too tired for some reason. I had to deal
with more wolves than you. You know that." Ghostly Star said,
shaking his head.
"You are an assassin, while I am a tank. You know that I am slower

and have to face more monsters." He said.
"Stop bickering, both of you. Its just the three of us here. Better not
speak and become a target for any monster that might come at us."
The sole woman in this group, Volcanic Python, said, sighing.
"Don't try to play mediator, Python. Star has been slowing us down
for way too long already. If this keeps going on, then we might fall
because of him. We need to find the rest of the army soon." Lone
Assassin said.
"You…" Ghostly Star growled.
"If it isn't for me, you assassins and mages would have died a long
time ago. Just remember that you are alive because of me. And
when a monster attacks, I am going to be the one who takes the
major brunt of the attack." Ghostly Star said.
"That doesn't mean that we can't kill it without you. I mean, who is to
say we need tanks at all?" He said, shaking his head.
"Not now, Lone. You two can fight later. Remember what we need to
do. We are in a foreign setting. How come none of my friends told
me about this?" Volcanic Python frowned as she looked around once
more.
There was no change. It was still pink, completely filling the place.
There was nothing to be seen.
"What kind of monster is even responsible for this pink mist? I mean,
this is something I have never heard a monster be capable of."
Ghostly Star wondered out loud.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"We are in the expedition. Most guilds didn't even get too far. No one
knows about the monsters that exist here. No one knows what lays
further ahead." Lone Assassin said.
"Stop talking. Both of you. We have to be quiet. I think I heard

something." Volcanic Python whispered, but her whisper was as loud
as a shout.
Both of them glared at her, but she had achieved her purpose. They
shut their mouths just enough for Volcanic Python's head to dart to
the side.
She could see a faint shadow that was slowly fading away. And in
that shadow, she could see something that felt so human, and yet
wasn't.
"What the hell is that thing? That is probably one of the monsters
that is responsible for this." She said as she pointed in the direction
she saw the shadow.
"I will take the lead. Stand behind me." Ghostly Star said as his giant
shield, one that was weighing him down considerably, landed on the
floor.
He slowly moved forward, the giant shield pushed forward inch by
inch.
"Do we need to do this? I can just go in and-"
"The moment we split up, we might never meet. We split up with the
rest of the army, and we still haven't met them yet. Who knows what
is to happen if you go off separately?" Volcanic Python reminded
him.
"Whatever. You guys are a bunch of babies." Lone Assassin shook

his head.
But as he was saying this, the hair on his arm suddenly started
tingling. He had a feeling that something was coming.
"Behind us!" He suddenly exclaimed as a small dagger appeared in

his arms.
His entire body turned illusory before he completely disappeared.
Ghostly Star moved as fast as he could. He raised his shield and

rushed forward, taking the place that Lone Assassin once took.
Clang!
Ghostly Star felt a familiar force try to push him back. But this was
not nearly enough tp push him back at all.
It was like a breeze trying to push a mountain. This felt like nothing
to him.
In this close proximity though, he could see what monster was

attacking him.
"That is weird? The monster we are facing. It is a wolf. One of those

wolves that everyone can defeat." Ghostly Star frowned.
Before he could take a closer look at the wolf, he felt a sharp wind.
The wolf that was trying to push forward suddenly slumped down to
the ground, and on top of the corpse, Lone Assassin appeared.
"To think it was just a stupid wolf. All this alertness for nothing." He
shook his head as he walked past Ghostly Star.
"But it was quite quick. How did it get behind us so fast?" He

frowned.
"Because that was not the shadow I saw. That was definitely not the
monster that I saw. It cannot be responsible for the pink mist."
Volcanic Python said, shaking her head.
"How can you be so sure? Maybe the wolves weren't using their full
strength." Lone Assassin shrugged.
"Yeah, that seems like the obvious answer. They just let their leader
die by not using their full strength." Volcanic Python rolled her eyes.
"And who is the one bickering now?" Ghostly Star sighed.
"We should just keep moving. Monsters will come. But we have
faced a lot of them before, haven't we?" He said as he turned
around.
"We should start moving forward. Wherever we can. At the least, if

we encounter monsters, we can do something. The wolves can
barely scratch us anyway." He said as he walked forward.
"Yeah. Let us ke-" Before Lone Assassin could complete what he

said, he froze.
"What happened, Lone Assassin?" Ghostly Star turned around.
"What the hell? We killed the wolf!"
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Chapter 240 Army
Lone Assassin's face drained of blood as he looked down with
shock.
Right through his chest, a large claw could be seen, and blood
seeping out.
"You are losing HP! Way too quickly!" Volcanic Python shrieked.
"I can see that." Lone Assassin nodded as he fell forward. He

staggered for a few seconds, before falling straight on the ground.
His vision slowly blurred, before all he could see was black.
"Sh!t. He died." Ghostly Star cursed as he quickly looked at the wolf

that was responsible for this.
"He didn't die. How did he not die? I thought that we killed the thing?"
Ghostly Star cursed.
"Wait a minute. Did you pierce it through the brains? I thought

everyone got the message to destroy the brains of each of these
monsters at all cost!" Volcanic Python said.
"Destroy the brains? We aren't dealing with zombies here. Who is

going to do that?" Ghostly Star rebuked.
"Don't shout at me. I am not the one who just came back to life."
Volcanic Python shouted back.
As their discussion got heated and louder, the wolf that that no head,
suddenly bent down, and its neck fused with the head, slowly
returning to its prior form.
"Ah! Wind Blade!" Volcanic Python raised the staff that she was
holding till now, and a green blade of wind rushed past Ghostly Star,
slicing through the neck of the wolf, before it could recover
completely.
The wolf's body fell to the ground once again, just like it was before.
"Die, you monster!" Volcanic Python cried as she raised her staff
again. This time, another wind blade targeted the head.
Learning from her mistakes, Volcanic Python made sure to

completely pierce the wolf's head.
"Awo." The wolf whined as its eyes became wide open.
"To think we lost someone to a freaking wolf. One wolf was able to
take one of out, even after we defeated the thing." Ghostly Star
sighed.
"What is wrong with these things we are facing? They are basically
zombies. This is way too frightening." Volcanic Python shuddered.
"We need to move. Take whatever Lone Assassin dropped. We can

give it to him later. First, we need to tell everyone what just
happened. We need to find the rest of the groups. We can't afford to
let this happen to someone else." Ghostly Star said.
Volcanic Python nodded as she bent forward near where Lone

Assassin just died, and took the daggers that dropped. There were a
few silver coins on the ground as well, which she took.
"He really is quite rich. To think that he has a few silver coins lying
around to carry." Volcanic Python said.
"Now is not the time to think about that. Let us get moving. Stay
behind me at all times. At least, even if someone attacks me, I can
take the attack head on." Ghostly Star said.
"Whatever you say. I don't care enough. All I want to do right now is
get the hell out of here. Lone Assassin is lucky. This place is
creeping the hell out of me." Volcanic Python shuddered.
"I thought that girls liked the idea of pink surrounding them? I thought
that you would love this." Ghostly Star chuckled.
"Don't joke about this." Volcanic Python was clearly flustered. She
just shuddered as she looked around once more.
There was no telling where the enemy could come from. She had to
be ready, especially since she was a mage.
"Get atleast once spell ready. I need someone to have the fire power,
and we lost one person already." Ghostly Star reminded her.
They kept walking forward with a snail's pace.
"Do you know where you are going? How are we sure this is the
right way? We could be walking right into a trap." Volcanic Python
said.
"Is this all you know? Thinking of all the worst possible things that
can happen? Let us say that I indeed do not know where I am going.
What can you do about it right now? Do you know the right
direction?" Ghostly Star shook his head.
"At the least, I know that I am doing something. Instead of just

standing there, doing nothing, I am walking around, trying to achieve
at least something." He said.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"Fine. Why do you have to get so defensive?" Volcanic Python said,

shaking her head.
"Sometimes, you act like such a Karen. I don't know why I even grind
with you." Ghostly Star shook his head.
"Let us just move. Don't talk. It is best to stay quiet, or monsters will
know where we are." He said.
"Who knows? Maybe they already know where we are. Maybe they
can even see through the pink mist."
"Shh"
Ghostly Star suddenly looked to the side.
Slowly, he started walking to his right. His shield was ready, and he
was trying to make as little noise as he could.
If he was walking at a snail's pace before, then the pace he was

walking right now was slower than an ant.
Each step he took was met with a glance to the right and the back.
Volcanic Python shook her head, rolling her eyes with disbelief, but
she kept quiet. Her staff was glowing with a green halo, as if telling
her that the spell that she wanted was ready to deploy.
At the first glance of an enemy, she was going to go all berserk.
"The pink mist. It feels like it became thinner." Ghosty Star

whispered.
He kept walking. And as he did, he felt like he could see further into
the mist. Slowly, the world around him was opening up.
"Did someone manage to take care of the enemy? Did someone

defeat the enemy?" Volcanic Python asked, her face brightening up
a little.
"Worse." Ghostly Star's face turned ghostly.
"We came the wrong way, and we are clearly in the wrong place.
Wherever this is, we aren't supposed to be here." Ghostly Star
shuddered as he looked down at the large gorge that stood in front
of him.
Except, he couldn't see any land. All he could see were heads. And
none of them human.
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Chapter 241 Army (2)
𝒏𝚘𝓋𝐞𝓛𝐮𝓈𝑩.𝒞𝑶𝓜
"Shadow King! You might want to see this!" Phoenix called out again.
Jake shook his head and sighed.
"Fine. What is it?" He said as he started walking toward Phoenix,

whose silhouette he could still see.
As he stepped forward, her figure became clearer and clearer, until

he could see her as clear as day, and what she was looking at.
"A good scenery, no doubt. We are actually on some high ground.

Who would have thought?" Jake nodded.
"Not that, you idiot."
But Phoenix didn't have to tell him.
Jake could hear the thump that suddenly arose.
His eyes darted down, toward where the sound was coming from.
The rhythmic thump that came as his heart beat.
All the blood drained from Jake's face as he looked at the scene that
was laid out in front of me.
He could a ravine that was laid out in front of him. It was large
enough to host maybe the army that he brought with him.
But what this ravine didn't have, were any humans. Jake needed to
explanation to what was going on here.
"Looks like we are going to have quite the time preparing for the first
checkpoint. To think that we will have to take care of this thing." Jake
shook his head.
The reason?
Because he recognized every single one of the monsters that were

walking through this ravine, in single file, like a disciplined army.
Just one of these was enough to cause a headache for Jake. Sure,
he was able to take care of it, but to do that, he needed to use one of
his better skills.
They all had cooldowns, so how could he actually hope to use it to

defeat the numbers that he saw before him?
"How the hell is this happening? Just one of these took a little time to
defeat. And they want us to deal with an army worth of them?"
Phoenix whispered.
"Yeah, you should start talking a little slower now. If you are loud
enough, they might be able to hear us, and if they do, we can give
up on surviving." Jake chuckled.
"Well then, we know what we have to prepare for. This is going to be

at least one of the challenges in this checkpoint. I didn't think that the
enemy would be this tough though. I mean, the other two types of
monsters we dealt with were so weak." Jake said.
"And we have another problem. These monsters are not responsible

for the pink mist." He suddenly remembered.
"What do you mean? What else could be responsible for the pink
mist?" Phoenix asked.
"The other monster that you saw. The female one. It is a different
type of monster, clearly. And when I killed one of that, it showed a
difference in the pink mist. But when I dealt with this monster,
nothing happened." Jake said.
"So even if we manage to deal with the soldiers over there, we won't
be able to deal with the pink mist?" Phoenix raised her eyebrows.
"Trust me, those guys are the problem. If we can't see anything, then
those monsters will be able to ambush us at any point. We might
survive. But can we say the same thing about the others? The
normal guild members will collapse." Jake said.
"I know. I am also a guild member, and I have also been in a few
raids. I understand how a guild should work." Phoenix growled.
She looked back at the army that was moving slowly and steadily.
"The problem is, I can't even recognize who the leader of the whole
thing is. Everyone looks the same." She said.
"For the leader, you have to look at the front." Jake pointed to the
very front of the ravine, where the start of the army could still be
seen.
There was a singular monster leading the way. One that looked
exactly like every other monster that was marching down this ravine
to a destination that Jake had no idea about.
Who knew where that led to?
But one thing was certain, when Jake locked his gaze on that
monster, he felt a chill through his body.
"That one. That one is powerful. We might have a problem dealing

with it." He whispered out.
"Oh. That's interesting." Phoenix suddenly mused.
"What is?" Jake looked at where Phoenix was looking.

She was looking to the right. They were surrounded by trees, but on
the same line that they were standing on, there were a few dots.
"People. There are others from the guilds who saw this. They will be
able to notify everyone of the danger that this possesses." Phoenix
sighed.
"Not exactly." Jake shook his head as he tried to peer closer. He

could see that there were two dots to the far right, but he couldn't
make out what they were trying to do.
"They might be calling out to us. They could be separated from the
rest of the troupe." Jake suggested.
"And what do you want to do? Break course to meet with two people,
when we lost track of thousands more? Your priorities as a guild
master really surprise me." Phoenix shook her head.
"Ah! No wonder no one in your guild likes you. You really are a witch.
To not care about anyone. I mean, if someone like you is their guild
master, I can totally understand why many people would think about
switching to my guild, where I actually care about my members."
"Who told you that?" Phoenix snapped.
"Calm down. I never said it was someone from your guild." Jake
chuckled.
"Let us walk toward them. We might meet more in the way. But more
importantly, we know that we have to take care of the monsters on
this side, Did you not notice? The land on the other side of the
Ravine didn't have any pink mist. So the monsters responsible for
the pink mist are all here."
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Chapter 242 The Other Half
"They saw us. I could swear, they saw us." Ghostly Star nodded.
"We should retreat. If any of these monsters see us, we are as good
as dead. Look at how many there are." Volcanic Python reminded
Ghostly Star.
"We should walk toward them. That way, we can meet in the middle."
Ghostly Star suggested.
"Yeah. Whatever works. At this point, I just want to get back to the
rest of the army. Just us, alone in this creepy place, just gives me the
chills." Volcanic Python said.
"Yeah. And those monsters. What were they? I mean, I have never
seen those monsters before. They seem like they are so much
stronger than the wolves that we faced." Ghostly Star said.
"It is a pity Lone Assassin isn't here to enjoy this. He always likes a
challenge." Volcanic Python sighed.
"Don't talk about him like he is dead or something. He is going to

revive in a few minutes anyways, and he will join the attack soon
enough. You can meet him after that." Ghostly Star said.
"For now though, the goal should be rushing through to those two
that we saw." He reminded her.
"But I feel like I saw those two before. A girl and a boy, I think? Who
were they? Which guild do you think they are a part of? Volcanic
Python wondered.
"Definitely not Phoenix's Dawn. I would have recognized them if they

were from our guild." Ghostly Star said.
"I mean, I would have thought that the girl was the guild master, but
we just saw her with someone else. You know that the guild master
doesn't dare let any man near her unless they are bowing their
heads down." Ghostly Star shrugged.
"Some ego, she has." Volcanic Python scoffed.
"Shut it. If any of them hear you speaking, you can get into so much
trouble. Her father owns the guid, basically. There is a reason she is
a guild master." Ghostly Star reminded Volcanic Python.
"Maybe they are from that other guild. The Bright Horizon guild. I
mean, it feels so odd, working with a noob guild like that." Volcanic
Python said.
"They did manage to contribute significantly to the first fight. More

than we did, atleast." Ghostly Star shrugged.
"Those three in the front, you might not have seen them, but I was
assigned to the edge along with you, and I had a clear line of sight. I
could see what was happening." Ghostly Star shuddered.
"I don't care about the rest of the guild. Those three at the front are
reason alone for anyone to fear the guild. The guild master, the vice
guild master, and someone I have never heard of before." He said.
"What do you mean? What did they do?" Volcanic Python asked.
She was too intrigued, with the build up that Ghostly Star had
created.
"They were monsters on the field. The front line behind them was
absolutely useless! They didn't get any monsters to deal with. Barely
one or two passed every few minutes. All the other wolves fell in just
a single blow!" Ghostly Star exclaimed.
"There is no doubt. They are all absolute monsters. And the guild
master. He is definitely a ranker. This is not a corporation guild. This
is an actual guild led by someone who is actually strong enough to
be a guild leader." Ghostly Star said.
"If I weren't bound by contract, maybe I would consider going to

Bright Horizon. I don't know about the players of the guild, but with a
proper and strong leader, they might have a good future." He said.
"But without the support of a large corporation, do you really think

they are able to do anything at all? Sure, for now, they have one
record under their name. But soon enough, they will not be able to
get anywhere. Money is everything in this world." Volcanic Python
shook her head.
"Shhh" Ghostly Star suddenly shushed her as he looked around with

caution.
"We are in enemy territory. We can never be too careful. Talk a little
softly. Why do you have to be so loud?" Ghostly Star shook his head
and sighed.
"This is the second time I have had to say this. There is a literal army
standing next to us. If we manage to piss them off, we go up, and we
will bring that army toward whoever is trying to help us as well."
Ghostly Star said.
"Fine. I was wrong." Volcanic Python sighed and nodded.
Both of them had been walking for a few minutes, and they didn't
notice how much ground they had covered in this time.
𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
"I just want to cross this ravine. The other side is so clear, so we
won't have to deal with this irritating pink mist. I can't see anything.
The only reason we know where we are going is because we are at
the edge over here." Ghostly Star muttered.
"How did we get this deep into the forest anyways? I thought that we
were walking forward but it turns out all our sense of direction is lost
right now." He said.
"Wait! I see two silhouettes in the mist!" Volcanic Python suddenly

exclaimed.
"What?" Ghostly Star suddenly jumped into position.
His shield landed in front of him, making a giant thud, as a large

sword appeared in his right hand.
"Careful. We might have thought they are allies, but we can never be
so sure. Don't drop your guard until we can confirm who they are."
Ghostly Star called out.
"Hahaha!"
From the silhouette on the left, a large laugh came out.
"Interesting. Really interesting. I really like this man. To think he

covered all of his bases like this. You are really lucky, Phoenix. To
have such good guid members."
"Phoenix? Does that mean, the guild leader?" Ghostly Star froze.
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Chapter 243 One Of Yours
"Yup. You really are right. They are one of yours." Jake nodded as
he stepped forward, glancing at the two shadows.
"How were you able to tell who your guild members were from such
a distance? Do you have a marker on them or something?" He
asked, truly curious.
"Trade secret." Phoenix shook her head and said. "Can't just reveal it
to someone, especially to you. For you, you would have to pay for it."
She said.
"Alright. Both of you, what have you seen till now?" Phoenix glared
at the two players in front of her now. They were the reason they
walked for ten minutes aimlessly about.𝒏𝒐𝔳𝑬𝓁𝑢𝕊𝗯.𝗰𝒪𝑀
Ghostly Star and Volcanic Python froze as they looked at the two
stars that stood in front of them.
They had been in the guild for all of a month, and this was the first
time that the guild master even looked at them, let alone talked to
them.
"Are both of you mute? Can't you speak?" She said, her tone as
harsh as the sun that was supposed to shine upon them.
"Give them a break." Jake sighed.
"If you need some time to gather your thoughts, take them. But after
that, it would really help us if we can get some intel from you guys.
What is going around? Where are the other players? I doubt you can
help us with the last question though." Jake asked.
"Y-you are the guild master of the Bright Horizon guild! Shadow
King!" Ghostly Star blurted out.
Jake just nodded faintly.
"I am a big fan! Ever since the raid, I have been following everything
that you did. I was shocked that no one had ranked you in the golden
ranking list that was made a week ago!" He shouted out with respect
and awe.
"The golden rankings? I will not be in there for a while. No one in the
golden rankings is even worth considering. The first few months, it
will be filled with a bunch of idiots who think that staying in the
golden rankings is something to be prideful about." Jake chuckled.
"Now then, tell me. What have you both seen around? Did you meet
any monster that looked like a human, but was not? Maybe of
woman form?" He asked.
"No, Mr. Shadow King. I have not seen anybody like that. We met
only one wolf, and we lost our team mate to him." Ghostly Star said.
"Wait, you lost someone to a wolf? How useless are you two?"
Phoenix spat out. It was embarrassing to be said, especially in front
of Jake of all people.
"The wolf revived! Who would have thought that it would revive, and
then pierce through his chest? He was an assassin, so he died
almost instantly. If it were me, I could have survived." Ghostly Star
sighed.
"Yes. Assassins have too little defense. Let us get going though. This
is why I ave everyone the warning to make sure the corpses
disappear. It looks like word didn't go around." Jake sighed.
"The inboxes aren't working. That means that our communication is

cut." Phoenix shook her head and said.
"Ah! I can't do anything about that, can I? Oh wait. Yes, I can. I can
tell everyone physically that something is afoot. Like I did to most of
the people on my side. How the hell didn't this spread like it should
have?" Jake said, shaking his head.
"Because everyone thinks like me, not like you." Phoenix said,
sighing.
"Alright. Let us just start moving. We have a short clock to work on.
We don't want more casualties like the one we have just seen. I
mean, imagine losing more to the freaking wolves, especially after
what I have seen." Jake shook his head.
"Those monsters, guild masters." Volcanic Python asked, her voice

trembling.
"Will we have to match them after this? Will they be the final fight?"
She asked.
"We cannot say. We cannot guarantee anything. If we knew

everything, then you would have gotten instructions to stick close
and make sure this pink mist wouldn't split us apart like it did." Jake
said, sighing.
"At the end of the day, no one knows what the game will spit out at
us. It is everyone's first run. So let us just see what happens." Jake
almost laughed hearing himself say that out, but he calmed himself
as he let things go on.
"Let us get going. Hopefully, we can find a few monsters on the way."
Jake said.
His eyes darted here and there, trying to test his luck. He was hoping
that he would see one of those monster tags somewhere, and he
would take care of it before it could do anything.
He needed to thin the pink mist a little more. Maybe if a few hundred
were taken care of, the mist would thin enough for it not to matter too
much.
At the point it was right now, it was too thick to see anything that was
happening a few meters away from one another.
And even with each other next to them, Jake could see the pink mist
obstructing his view slightly.
"I wonder what Myriad Arrows and Kierch are doing. They should be
able to take care of this problem relatively easily. What kind of
monster would actually pose a problem to them?" Jake wondered.
"If Kierch is able to find a good concentration of the monsters we

need to kill, that would be perfect. He will be able to give us a break.
He just needs to have the right amount of luck." Jake told himself as
he tapped on his thighs.
He was not holding his sword, because he was so confident that he

was going to see a sneak attack at least ten meters away.
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Chapter 244 Duo
"Let us keep moving. Better not stay in one place at the same time."
A rough voice reverberated.
"One second. I just want to get a lay of the land." A young man
shook his head and said.
"And you want to do that by climbing trees? What is that going to do

to you? How are you going to understand anything at all?" The rough
voice came from a ruggedly handsome man who was holding two
twin swords.
And as for the young man climbing the tree, he just smiled.
"Sometimes it helps a lot if you just look at things from another

perspective, you know? And these trees are pretty tall. Maybe the
pink mist doesn't actually extend all the way up. If it is like that,
maybe we might be able to spot something." He said.
"Whatever. Just make it fast. My hands are way too itchy right now. I
am in an expedition, and the one thing I have done most is walking
around. I really want to start fighting, but there is not a single
monster in sight." The rugged man said.
"Whatever, Kierch. Just wait for a while." Myriad Arrows laughed as

he started climbing up. As he clutched the trees, climbing up, his
eyes darted up.
"Is there a monster up here? That would be quite the surprise,

wouldn't it?" He chuckled as he thought to himself.
Kierch wasn't the only one disappointed with the current situation.
What was the game without some excitement? And all the pink mist
gave them was a boring labyrinth that gave them no choice but to
roam around aimlessly.
There was no real danger, with one or two wolves suddenly popping
out of nowhere. They were not even remotely strong.
After the fight they had before, this was disappointing, even.
Myriad Arrows held the final branch and hoisted himself up as he

stood on the top of the tree.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
The rays of the afternoon sun shone upon him, casting a yellowish
orange halo on the archer.
These rays didn't reach the ground though, because for the pink
layer that swept the whole forest for all Myriad Arrows could see.
"I didn't think this place was so goddamn stretched apart." Myriad
Arrows paused for a few seconds.
He could see other tree tops, tops that spread apart for a while. But
he wasn't exactly looking for trees. Instead, he was looking at the
exact opposite.
He was looking to the left, where there was a giant gap with not a
single tree top visible. To the right, there was a small gap without any
trees, and beyond that, there was a forest visible without any pink
mist within.
That was the boundary of the pink mist.
"We will probably have to go toward the bigger gap. That is probably
the road from which we got separated from the rest of the army. I
wonder if the rest of the army is still there." Myriad Arrows wondered
as he jumped down from the trees, falling straight down, hitting
branches on the way down as he landed on the ground with a giant
thud.
"Ouch, That actually hurt." He exclaimed as he dusted his elbows.
"Well? Was it of any help? Climbing the tree?" Kierch asked.

"Yup, I know where the army should be, and I know where the pink
mist stretches to. I am guessing we don't want to go that way, where
there is a clear gap of trees. No monster would leave themselves
that open." Myriad Arrows said as he pointed to the right.
"We probably should go straight. That way, we might be able to find

a few monsters. That is the goal, after all, isn't it? I mean, the wolves
were so weak, so these new type of monsters can't be that much
harder to beat. Unless you are afraid, of course." He chuckled as he
gripped his bow.
"Me? Afraid? Of what?" Kierch shook his head.
"Afraid that I will show you your place." Myriad Arrows said, laughing
as he started walking forward.
"Good joke. Do you want to see what will happen in this round? Fine.
Let us look for the enemy lair. And then, both of us will go in. Let us
see who will be able to take care of the most monsters. I also want to
see how you will be able to match me, especially when I take things
seriously." Kerch nodded.
"Alright then. Only one thing is left. Let us walk forward, and hope
that we will be able to find this enemy's lair in the first place." Myriad
Arrows said.
"It would be a pity, after I got you to agree to a match with me, that
we won't be able to find the right playing ground." He said.
Kierch just smirked, looking the other way.
Both of the, were fierce competitors, and rightly so.
Both of them walked forward, the walk as silent as it could be.
Every time they walked a few meters, Myriad Arrows just took an
arrow and scraped the trees, making a mark that was a circle, with a
cross within.
"Who is going to come this direction? Everyone else is probably
trying to find the army, scrambling to find whoever they lost. And
then, they are going to be sitting ducks, waiting for the enemy to
come to them." Kierch asked, shaking his head.
"Shadow King ran out. If he wants to join the fun, you wouldn't want
him to miss this, would you? Or would you actually rather that our
guild master not be a part of this match up?" Myriad Arrows raised
his eyebrows.
"Don't try to twist everything to try and blame me on something.

There's no one else over here." Kierch scoffed as he looked away
again.
But this time, he stopped walking.
"Looks like we found something." He said as he pointed toward the

right.
"What? That is just pink mist." Myriad Arrows said.
"Exactly. Why is it thicker than everywhere else?"
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Chapter 245 Lair (1)
"That is…. Actually a good point." Myriad Arrows nodded.
Both of them glared at the thick shroud that was as dense as it could
be around that one area.
With both their weapons out, they took a few steps toward the mist.
With each step, they could barely see anything else.
They were only a few steps away from each other, and yet, they
couldn't even see each other anymore.
"Can you hear me?" Myriad Arrows called out, but he heard no
response.
"This must be why everyone split up in the first place. No one can
hear who they cannot see." Myriad Arrows thought to himself.
Still, he continued walking forward. In his hands, an arrow was

docked onto his bow, as his eyes glinted with expectancy.
He was just waiting for the right time to strike. The moment he saw a
monster, he was ready to go all berserk.
In this pink mist that surrounded him, there was complete silence.
Nothing could be heard. Not even his own breathing.
"What kind of skill does this monster even have? So interesting. But
this might be to our advantage. If this is their main skill, then they
might not be great fighters. I mean, if they are also great fighters,
then how is their creation even justified?" Myriad Arrows chuckled as
he told himself.
With every second that passed, he went even further and further.
As he did, the impossible happened. The mist got even thicker. Even
thicker than before!
Now, he couldn't even see the ground beneath him, or his own
hands. He only knew that he was holding his bow and his arrows
because he could feel them.
"Damn, this is not the best place to be an archer right now. Without
any sight, what good is an archer?" Myriad Arrows cursed.
"You…" suddenly, Myriad Arrows heard a raspy sound, and felt

something hold onto the cloak behind him.
Startled, Myriad Arrows suddenly moved, his bow knocking on

something probably his height.
"It's me, you fool." A muffled sound came from the pink mist. That
something was still trying to hold onto his cloak.
"Kierch?" Myriad Arrows asked. He still couldn't see anything. At this

point, he was basically blind, and probably, so was Kierch.
"Yes. I can't see anything. It is best if we stay silent and walk forward
together. We are certainly going in the right way." Kierch said.
"Yeah. I can't see anything too. Let us just keep moving. This pink
mist is quite irritating." Myriad Arrows nodded as he continued
walking.
The tug of his cloak was also a little weird to him, but what could he
do right now?
He just kept walking, his hands gripping the bow even harder.
"When I see those monsters, I swear to god… Well, I don't know

where I was going with this, did I?" Myriad Arrows shook his head
and took one more step.
Swish!
A gust of wind blew on his face. All his hair was swept back as he
felt all the pink mist in the world trying to push against him, trying to
send him away.
"We are here. This is definitely it." Myriad Arrows nodded as he took
one more step, against the wind, trying to pass by this one obstacle.
And yet, the resistance was getting only harder. The wind was
blowing way too hard, like it had a will of its own.
There was no response from Kierch. Perhaps one reason was that
the sound of the wind was too deafening for anything to be heard by
anyone at all.
The wind cut across Myriad Arrows' ears and Myriad Arrows had to
concede one step to this power.𝒏𝒐𝔳𝑬𝓁𝑢𝕊𝗯.𝗰𝒪𝑀
But before he could move back, he felt a palm behind him, slowly
pushing him forward.
It was Kierch, supporting him as he moved forward.
Myriad Arrows smiled as he took another step forward, instead of

backwards. His arrows were ready and docked, but he didn't want to
fire before he knew exactly what he was facing.
A monster with the ability to control the wind, to make a pink mist
that could block of one's sense of smell and sight? He was truly
interested in seeing what kind of monster was responsible for this.
"How do monsters like this even exist? I played so many games

before this, but this is the only time I have heard of something like
this happen. It is way too weird." Myriad Arrows told himself perhaps
for the fifth time that day.
As he was saying this, he took one more step. With this, the torrent
that forced itself onto him grew even stronger. It was too strong to
even move against.
If Myriad Arrows gave way now, he would fly back not two or three
steps, but all the way back to where he started.
There was no way he would give up this footing.
But as he was thinking this, he could feel the palm behind his back
slowly loosening.
"Is Kierch giving up? That fool! If we give up now, how can we hope
to ever take care of these monsters? If we can't even get to the lair
of the monsters, how can we battle them?" Myriad Arrows cursed.
"Kierch's palm left Myriad Arrows' back entirely, and he was left to
fend for himself.
"Ah. Looks like I was let back by this man that Shadow King loves so
much. Damn it." Myriad Arrows sighed.
He shook his head as he was about to raise his foot, trying one last,
useless, attempt to step froward.
But it was all for nothing. He was getting pushed back already, away
from wherever he needed to go.
"Come here!"
Myriad Arrows suddenly heard a muffled voice, and a hand grabbed

his own.
He was suddenly pulled to the right.
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Myriad Arrows felt the wind suddenly disappear all of a sudden.
There was nothing here.
It was dead quiet, like it was supposed to be.
But that was not the important problem. It was the fact that as he
moved to the side, he suddenly saw no more pink mist.
He could see the green trees, Kierch grabbing onto him, and the
world around him in all of its colors.
"This place, it doesn't have the pink mist. Where are we?" Myriad
Arrows muttered.
"Take a look at that, and maybe you will understand." Kierch pointed
to right behind Myriad Arrows.
Myriad Arrows turned back to look at just what he was pulled away
from.
Then, he saw it.
The pink mist once again.
But now, there was a clear barrier between where the pink mist
existed and where it didn't. The pink mist was moving at such insane
rates right in front of his eyes.
It was trying to move forward, spread into the forest, from one
particular place.
A cave.
"Of course it had to be a cave. What other place would house these
monsters?" Myriad Arrows chuckled, shaking his head."
As he said this, Myriad Arrows stretched his hands, still holding his
bow and arrows.
"Let us go. We know where we need to go. There is a way to enter

the cave without getting pushed back immediately, isn't there?"
Myriad Arrows asked.
"I don't know. The moment I stepped aside to test how powerful the
wind was, I found this place, That was why I yanked you here."
Kierch shrugged.
"Yes. Of course. We need to get as close to the cave entrance from

the side. If we go in from front, we will get swept back immediately."
Myriad Arrows said.
Kierch just nodded.
Myriad Arrows walked forward parallel to the cave entrance and the
gust of wind. This was perhaps the first time he saw the gust of wind
truly, because of the pink mist that the gust was pushing forward.
Within no time, they were standing in front of the cave.
Kierch grazed his hands on the rocky surface of the cave.
"Yeah. There is no way we can feasibly cut apart this one section to
go in like this. We will have to use whatever method you are going to
try right now." Kierch nodded.
"I know. Where did you even get the idea that you can cut rock to
enter a cave?" Myriad Arrows shook his head and asked.
"If we weren't time constrained, that was what I would have

suggested. Sometimes, you don't want to take a few risks." Kierch
shrugged.
"Whatever." Myriad Arrows said as he took one step to the left. Now,
he was dangerously close to the deafening wind. With this, his left
ear went completely deaf, and his right ear was treating to.
He looked at Kierch and nodded.
Grabbing onto the rocks, he inched closer to the cave entrance.

Slowly, he was moving into the wind.
Slowly, he turned slightly, trying to minimize the surface area for the
wind to push him by. He also used this position to try to grab onto the
rocks that were laid on the entrance.
He could reach into the cave with ease, and he grabbed something
soft?
He immediately used that something to yank himself inside the cave.
The wind that was supposed to blow him away also seemed to
weaken a slight bit, and with that, Myriad Arrows went inside.
The moment he did, all the light that he was used to suddenly
disappeared.
Everything just disappeared.
There was nothing in here.
He was looking at absolutely nothing.
"You have got to be kidding me. There is no way this is not a

monsters' lair." Myriad Arrows thought to himself.
"Guess there is only one way to find out." He smiled as he thought to

himself.𝑛𝒐𝚟𝗲𝓵𝔲𝕊𝕓.𝒸𝞸𝓶
Raising his bow, he muttered something.
The arrow in his hands suddenly lit up.

Then, he looked to the left and right, trying to find out what was
happening.
Aaaaagh!
Myriad Arrows jumped up with fright as he looked to the side.
He was looking eye to eye at a gorgeous looking woman, that was in

no way a human. Her face was blushing as she looked away.
"Don- don't tell me. That thing I held onto, was y- you?" Myriad
Arrows couldn't hold onto the arrow anymore, and it went flying out.
But as he tracked the arrow's trajectory, his mouth went wide open.
It kept moving forward and as it did, Myriad Arrows could see where
this pink mist was coming from.
This cave was crawling with hundreds, nay, thousands of monsters

that were spitting out this pink mist like it was their job.
"It was you guys. I just need to take care of you guys, and this whole
thing will be over." Myriad Arrows smiled.
"Forgetting someone?" A panting voice suddenly came from behind

Myriad Arrows,
"Ah! I forgot about you. There was an urgent thing to handle here.
We are in a cave filled with monsters." Myriad Arrows said.
"And why can't I hear a single thing? Monsters usually say a hell of a
lot right?" Kierch asked.
"Well, this is time for that one thing Shadow King always makes me
take with me wherever I go." Myriad Arrows smiled as he raised his
hands.
Sssssss
A red flare suddenly lit up, lighting up all of Myriad Arrows'
surroundings.
Now, Kierch could see exactly what he was dealing with.
"Well then, what the hell are we waiting for. Monsters for the picking.
Don't hesitate." Kierch smiled as his twin swords shone with a red
tint in this flare.
He took one step forward and as he did, he heard what he was

looking for.
"Intruderrrrrrrr" a slithering snake like voice came from deep within

the cave.
"Well, why don't you fight us off?" Kierch smiled.
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Myriad Arrows wasted no time idling.
He threw the flare up. This time, as it rose in the air, he could see
more and more of these monsters.
They all had upper bodies of women, curves that seemed simply
impossible. All of them would be considered perfect models in the
real world.
But in place of feet, they all had snake like tails. Not like mermaids,
but like snakes.
These tails rattled as the monsters glared at the intruders with eyes
that threatened to steal away souls.
"Better not look at them for long. They are way too beautiful." Myriad
Arrows chuckled as he caught the flare with his left hand.
Kierch had already gone past him, his swords already tasting first
blood.
"These monsters are barely putting up a fight. It's like they do not
know how to fight or something. They are not even trying to mount a
resistance." Kierch whined as he continued driving toward the center
of the giant cave.
As for Myriad Arrows, all he did was look around. He couldn't see
anything except for a few meters around him.
The pink mist that blocked the cave entrance was a little irritating,
but one thing that he did realize, was that this mist was slowly
thinning.
"I can't let him have all of the fun." Myriad Arrows said as he put the
flare on the ground.
"Intruder! You dare attack us?" A large bellow came from within the
cave.
"And what of it? Come out and face me, you cowards. Or do you
want to keep watching your kin die?" Kierch roared as he continued
his rampage.
Along with that, suddenly, two blasts shook the entire cave.
"Actually, now that I think about it, my attacks are not exactly suited
in a cave. I might actually bring down the whole cave down with me."
Myriad Arrows chuckled as he said.
"You fool. Do you want to kill me along with yourself?" Kierch

shouted.
"We are immortal, aren't we? I mean, we can afford to die." Myriad
Arrows pointed out.
He then looked around once more. While some corpses were slowly
disappearing, others were not.
"These monsters, they have the same problem as the wolves. Make
sure their heads are completely destroyed. If they are not destroyed,
then they will come back to life. That will be a headache, dealing
with." Myriad Arrows warned Kierch as he started working toward his
own path.
"Spare us, heaven defiers. Please spare us!" One of the monsters
suddenly called out.
She was near Myriad Arrows, certainly, but he couldn't see where
she was exactly.
All he did was point an arrow toward her direction and let go of the
string.
"Merciless! Is this what the heaven defiers do? Mercilessly kill
unarmed women?" Another roar came from farther into the cave.
"Yep. That is exactly what we do. In times like this, what else do you
want us to do?" Kerch nodded as he did not even hesitate in his
killing spree.
"Stop making conversation. All of these are just NPC dialogues that
they will keep dolling out. I mean, what else do you expect them to
do? Why do these monsters even exist? Just making the mist? What
good will come off of bringing this mist?" Myriad Arrows and Kierch
were talking to each other in the middle of the fight, as leisurely as
they could possibly be.
This fight wasn't giving either of them any trouble. They could easily
handle the monsters.
"I don't know. Maybe they are trying to hide something. Too bad, they
are about to sacrifice their life for this though." Kierch shrugged.
"Whatever this something is, Shadow King must be made aware of

what happens." Myriad Arrows reminded.
"Don't worry. If we take care of this cave, we should be able to take

care of the pink mist that is so irritating." Kierch reminded Myriad
Arrows.
"Now that you think about it, can't you feel a little light enter the
cave?" Myriad Arrows said.
Arrows were flying from his bow, but none of them were special
attacks. He didn't want to bring down the ceiling down on him. Each
level that he progressed was too precious to lose. He didn't want to
lose even a little experience.
"Yeah. With every monster we kill, the pink mist seems to be getting
thinner and thinner. Once we are done with most of the monsters, we
will finally be able to see something in this forsakened place." Kierch
said.
"Mercy, travelers! If you let us live, then we will surrender!" Suddenly,

the voice shouted with a shrill scream.
Kierch stopped.
So did Myriad Arrows.
"You want to surrender? How can we believe you?" Kierch asked.
"Stop the pink mist first. Let the light outside enter." Myriad Arrows
said.
"As you wish, travelers. As long as you promise not to kill us." The
voice said.
[The Despairing Siren Queen begs you to show mercy.
Accept : Y/N]
There was barely enough light, but Myriad Arrows still looked at the
faint silhouette of Kierch.
"Should we do it?" He asked.
"If they attack us after this, then we will attack them in return. But be
honest, what kind of damage can they possibly do to us?" Kierch
chuckled.
"Fine. Stop this pink mist." Myriad Arrows clicked on the green
button.
"Thank you, travelers. You are only the second to ever show mercy
in this world where only the strong survive." The voice said.
As she said this, suddenly, a large ray of light surged through the
cave's entrance, shining forward.
"Wait, the cave was this big?" Myriad Arrows froze for a moment,
before he turned back.
The entrance was huge. This cave was not meant for these
monsters. It was meant for something bigger.𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
"Alright. Now that you raised the white flag, it is time we ask you a
few questions." Kierch stretched his arms as he put his twin swords
away.
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Chapter 248 The Pink Mist
Disappears
Jake paused for a moment.
"What are you looking at? it is best if we keep moving. We have to

find the rest of the army." Phoenix called out.
"One second." He said as he raised his hand, looking at the mist

around him.
"The mist. It is slowly thinning out."
Phoenix also stopped and looked around.
"Yes.. that's true. Are the monsters finally making a move or

something?" She wondered out loud.
"No. The monsters that are responsible for the mist, they are way too
weak to try and retaliate or anything. My guess is, this mist was just
a cover for the army there to enter without a problem. And now,
someone took care of those monsters." Jake said.
"Who? Lone Wolf? Or perhaps Lucius? But both of them were on the
other end of the army." She said.
"Well, maybe it is one of mine." Jake smiled.
As he was saying this, the mist got thinner and thinner. He could see
more and more silhouettes around now.
With the thinning, he could actually see people around him.
"The mist is slowly vanishing. Soon enough, it will disappear

completely. We should try walking toward the people. The are
probably out own men." Jake said.
"Yeah. I know." Phoenix nodded.
Jake nodded at Ghostly Star and Volcanic Python and then took the
lead, picking up the pace. Now, with the mist vanishing slightly, he
didn't have to stay so close to each other.
"Wow. I am surprised. Whoever it is, they must have found a

motherlode of these monsters. Killing one will only thin the mist a
little bit. Whoever is responsible for this managed to kill quite a few."
Jake thought to himself.
"Is it Kierch? Or Myriad Arrows? Only these two are capable of this
output. Maybe they are even together? Well, I guess I will have to
ask them what happened after we all convene sooner or later." Jake
wondered.
As he was lost in thought, he could see silhouettes get darker and

closer.
"Looks like everyone is trying to find each other. To think that they
would just walk so aimlessly like thi-"𝓝𝒐𝒱𝖊𝓁𝑢𝑠𝒷.𝒞𝒐𝓂
Clang!
Jake felt a shiver throughout his body, and he raised his sword
immediately. As he did, he was pushed back a few steps.
Looking forward, he could see a humanoid monster very much

similar to the one that Jake faced an hour ago.
It was also the same monster that made up the army that the four
here just saw before.
"This thing." Jake shook his head as he moved to the side. The
monster's strength was nothing to scoff at, and he didn't want to
enter a match of strength with it.
Not now. For now, with the pink mist disappearing, it was better if he
focussed on gathering everyone together.
They were all deep within the forest right now. The best course of
action was to walk toward the road that they all used at the
beginning.
"Damn this. Stop being so irritating." Jake cursed as he slid down,

avoiding the rusty sword that the monster used.
He slid beneath the monster, and his sword cut the tendons of the
monster's legs, forcing it to fall onto its knees.
Now behind the monster, he used a swift motion to try to hack its
head into two pieces.
The sword of misery hit the skull of the monster, but only went in a
foot inside, before it stopped, stuck.
Jake tried yanking the sword out, but it wouldn't budge.
"Sh!t." Jake cursed as he left the sword and retreated a step back
before the monster could hack at him.
The monster turned slowly, trying to stand on its severed legs. It

stumbled, but it acted perfectly like a zombie, walking like a
staggering drunkard, with its face perfectly resembling one.
"Enemy…." It said with a hoarse voice that felt almost monotonous,

like that of a twenty first century robot.
But before it could reach Jake, it fell on its knees again, and slowly,
fell onto the ground.
The body pixelated, and the sword that was stuck on its head was
released, falling onto the ground.
"Wow. It can survive an attack like that? Next time, I should use a
proper skill to wedge the sword in." Jake made a note as he bent
down to pick up the sword.
"We will have to move fast. I don't know if the others will be able to
take care of these monsters. We saw there were thousands of them
in the ravine." Jake reminded them.
"If the others didn't face them, then they will face them soon enough.
We should not rest even if the pink mist is gone." He said as he
picked up the pace.
"These monsters, they have the strength of a tier two player. One
attack is enough to deal significant damage to someone. If one is not
carefully then he will lose his life." Jake said.
His sword glinted as he put it away, trying to pick up his pace even
more. At this point, he was almost jogging.
"Calm down. You are not the only tier two player right now. We have
a lot of them. Don't forget, your guild has the least number of tier two
players." Phoenix said haughtily.
"That is not the problem. The problem is, we are not together. If they
pick off the tier one players, and most importantly, if they take care of
the supporting players, then we are screwed." Jake said.
"We need to get into formation once again. I made a mistake. We

should have maintained formation. I shouldn't have strayed. The
entire army on the right slowly disbanded because of that." Jake
said, shaking his head and sighing.
"You are thinking about it too much." Phoenix said, shaking her
head.
"Let us just hope we did not face any big casualties." Jake said.
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Chapter 249 Information
"I think it is best if you come out first though. I don't think it
appropriatenemy.e that you stay behind the shadows even after you
have surrendered." Myriad Arrows called out first.
"As you wish, kind travelers. After the grace that you have shown us,
it is only right for me to show myself." The voice said.
As it said this, from deep within the cave, Myriad Arrows and Kierch
could see a shadow. It was gigantic, and slowly, creeping in.
Just looking at the shadow, both of them unconsciously took out their
weapons, ready to face the monster that was coming out.
"Do not fret, travelers. I am no enemy. After I have given up, to fight
you will only be a death sentence for my brethren." the voice said.
This time, they could see the monster who was speaking.
Truly, she was bigger than everyone else in the cave. She was
almost double the height of a normal human, and the monster was
utterly stunning.
It was a little interesting, seeing a stunning monster. She was

supposed to be the enemy, but both the players here couldn't help
but be lost in the perfect curves and the stunning face that the
monster presented.
She had all but a rag covering her top, and a necklace that shone
with a purple hint around her neck.
The moment he saw that purple necklace, Kierch's mouth watered.
"Can you see it, Myriad Arrows. That is an epic item." Kierch said.
"We promised to stay our hands. It is better to get some information
out of this monster before we do anything. And we even confirmed
that we were going to let them surrender. If we attack her, we might
lose karma." Myriad Arrows pointed out.
"Yeah, karma is way too important. After what Shadow King did, and
the benefits that he gets, I really want to be a noble as well." Kierch
nodded as he took a step back.𝓃𝚘𝒱𝖾𝑳𝒰𝗌𝑏.𝐜𝔬𝓂
"Alright. So you must be the Siren Queen." Myriad Arrows said.
"I am surprised that people from the main land would actually know
who I was. I thought that information about the sirens had
disappeared a long time ago, along with everything related to the
monsters in these here lands." The siren queen said.
"Indeed. It did. That is why you are all the more important." Myriad
Arrows nodded.
"You see, we have been facing a lot of interesting monsters in the

way here. Some of them just refuse to die. Even after we certainly
killed them. And all of them look way too weird." he said.
"Can you tell me why you are almost immortal, like we are? How do
you get a second chance at life?"
"These are rich remarks coming from someone who has defied the
very heavens by existing. But our existence is not something we can
explain. Only His Majesty knows why we exist." The siren queen
shook her head.
"Wait. His Majesty? You lot have a King? A leader for all of the
monsters here?" Kierch suddenly stopped her and asked.
"Indeed. How else would we have a united opposition to you,

enemies who come here to destroy us?" The siren queen said.
"Wait. This king, what else can you tell us about him? What kind of
powers does he have? Does he have any abilities that we should be
worried about?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"I am sorry, travelers. This is not information that I can divulge. The
moment I tell you anything about him, me and my tribe will have to
make the ultimate sacrifice." The siren queen shook her head, and a
few glistening tears fell across her cheeks.
"Shut it with the whole waterworks. You die here without telling us, or
you probably die later, to some monster who isn't even here. Don't
forget. We might actually defeat him." Kierch said.
"You do not understand, do you? All of you, you are just here
because His Majesty doesn't wish to spend any of his resources on
someone so weak. The moment he actually wishes it, all of you will
not be able to take a step further." The siren queen chuckled.
"Perhaps a few years later, you will be able to mount a resistance.

And by then, my tribe will be doomed for telling you things that we
were never supposed to. I would rather take my chances with you. At
least some of my tribe will escape." The siren queen said.
"Fine then. Atleast, I will get an epic item out of this," Kierch said, his
twin swords appearing in either hand, as he stepped forward toward
the Siren Queen.
"Kierch! Wait. Not yet." Myriad Arrows shook his head.
"Does your surrender mean that you can never lay a hand on us or
our allies?" Myriad Arrows asked.
"That is the case. With this, our tribe is now protection less in these
lands. We have already doomed ourselves the moment you entered
our vicinity." The siren queen sighed.
"All of this. It doesn't make sense. Why would you sacrifice so many
of your people for so reason? And you weren't even able to touch us,
so you would not have been able to take out even one of our
players." Myriad Arrows froze for a few moments.
He was trying to think about what was happening. Something about

the situation here felt off. He knew it. This Siren Queen was hiding
something from them, obviously.
And that something wasn't related to the king. It had to be about

something else.
Ping!
Right at that moment, he heard a sound. A sound he wasn't

supposed to hear.
A message from the inbox.
"We can get messages again?" Kierch said, surprised, as he opened

his inbox.
As did Myriad Arrows.
The moment they did, their expressions changed.
"Looks like we really should have come here sooner. To think such a
big problem arose while we weren't there." Myriad Arrows sighed.
"As for you, the whole lot of you has to die now. Just for lying to us."
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Chapter 250 Problem...
"You have got to be kidding me." Jake's mouth was wide open. So
was Phoenix's. The group of four was utterly flabbergasted as they
looked at what was happening.
"How the hell did I not hear this even a little bit. A fight of this caliber
had started and I didn't even hear a thing?" Jake shook his head.
"Now is not the time to be thinking about that, Shadow King! We

need to run! We need to help them out!" Phoenix shouted at him as
she ran forward.
Jake froze for a few moments, trying to understand what was

happening over here.
In front of his eyes, he could see perhaps three fourth of the army,
and they were not sitting idly.
All of them were battling someone else. All of them were facing a
second army. One that completely surrounded them.
This was the same army that Jake had seen before, in the ravine. It
was a whole army of the monsters that were so irritating to take care
of.
"Just for one of them, I had to take a risk and perform a maneuver I
didn't want to. Now, I have to face thousands of them?" Jake
shuddered.
And it wasn't even that Jake was afraid of the monsters themselves.
If they came after him, one after one, he was so sure he could take
care of them with ease.
He was so much stronger than the monsters individually. But

together, even ants could come together to defeat a wolf.
Similarly, these monsters weren't powerless like the wolves that Jake
had faced before. These monsters had some bite in them, and Jake
hadn't prepared for them to start fighting them so soon.
"I need to warn Myriad Arrows and Kierch. Both of them are not
here. They must be somewhere in the forest." Jake quickly thought
to himself as he typed out a message.
The moment he sent it, he took a deep breath and twirled his sword.
"Alright. Guess it is time for me to go into battle. Hope this all works
for the best. I certainly don't want to look bad in front of so many
people now, do I?" Jake thought to himself.
He took a deep breath as he took one step forward. The moment he

did, his expressions completely disappeared.
The slightly nervous man from before seemed to have disappeared.

Replacing that man, was a seasoned veteran who had been through
hundreds of battles before, of not thousands in this platform.
And the last month, he wasn't exactly idling around either. The one
thing he wasn't afraid of, was a good fight.
He locked eyes with the walking corpses around him. Every single
one of these weird monsters walked around with staggering poses.
They were zombies, for all intents and purposes. And these zombies
were pretty well coordinated.
They all had swords in their hands, and these swords stroke pretty
hard.
There were shouts all around the battle field. These monsters were
putting in a lot of damage with every single hit.
"We need to thin the crowd a little. I will let the guild masters do their
own thing, but in this battle, I might have go separate." Jake made a
note to himself.
As he was saying this, he started picking up the pace. Rushing
forward, he came face to face with his first opponent of this battle.
The zombie locked eyes with him, and its mouth curled up into a
smile.
"Someone powerful. You will make good achievement." The zombie

said as its sword rose up.
The zombie rushed forward. The next moment, it was standing right
next to Jake, the sword about to fall on Jake's head.
But Jake was no slow poke. He could just as easily move, dodging
the sword, and taking a few steps to the right to swing forward.
Clang!
His sword clashed with the rusty sword of the zombie, and sparks
flew.
"This zombie, its different. Faster than the one that I faced, but a little
weaker in power. Every single one of these zombies is a different
combinations!" Jake suddenly realized.
He shook his head as he looked around. Every single player on his

side was matched with an opponent that was different in every single
way.
There was no way to generalize this monster. It seemed like they

were made up of randomized components.
"Just what is wrong with the devs? Can't they just make this game
like every other game they made till now?" Jake shook his head.
He quickly moved. So did his opponent.
Both swords moved too quickly for anyone else to follow what was
going on. Jake was probably one of the fastest on the field right now,
just based on stats.
The legendary class that he had gave him an advantage that no one
else possessed. The Tier two upgrade he got gave him more base
stats than anyone else.
Now, he had better stats than perhaps anyone here. So, this monster
here wasn't a big problem for Jake to catch up with.
He could easily follow the patterns that were slowly unraveling in

front of him.
Now that he was battling the zombie, he couldn't believe how easy it
was, trying to understand the zombie's monotone fighting routine.
It was like it had barely any thinking capacity, and was repeating the
exact same moves again and again.
"I need to tell everyone about this. This could be the difference
between victory and defeat. If everyone knows how to deal with
them, we will be able to take care of them more efficiently." Jake
made a quick note as he moved forward all of a
sudden.𝑛𝒐𝚟𝗲𝓵𝔲𝕊𝕓.𝒸𝞸𝓶
His sword shone, and he thrust it forward straight through the

zombie's head.
"Despairing Strike!"
He called out as the sword slashed forward, completely

dismembering the zombie's brains.
"Alright. One down. A thousand more to go."
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He had control of his body once again.

What he saw wasn't the forest though.

He immediately turned to see who it was that spoke. Jake

He fluttered his eyes open to glance at his bed.

Home sweet home.

He got out of the VR headset and jumped onto the bed.

"Ah! It feels like forever since I slept." He muttered as he slowly

"Where is this guy? He just disappeared for a week!"

An angry man, fuming, was walking around a spacious room.

"Vice Guild Master! There is a problem with the room allocations!

At this moment, someone ran into this spacious room, panting.

"And that Kierch. He only comes and goes whenever he wishes, or

"That Shadow King. Once he comes back, he better have a good

"And I have my own tier ascension to prepare for. So many things to

He glanced at his messages.

The one open tab was the one to Shadow King.

Hundreds of messages went out, but there was not a single

One thing he understood was that he didn't die. He didn't lose a

He took a deep breath as he pulled on it.

"The entire party is here? Everyone?" Jake was surprised as he took

Ganshin was here, and so was Annie. The mages, swordsmen,

It was completely silence.

"He is alive! He is awake!" One of them shouted, breaking the

"What is happening? Why is everyone acting like this? I was just

"What? Did I say something wrong?" He asked.

"Wait, what?!!!!" Jake shouted, staggering back.

Then, he understood why he was getting all those texts.

He opened his chat window.

As he expected, out of all the messages he was getting, on top was

Finally, the bombardment stopped for a second.

[What the $%^& were you doing? Where are you?]

Then, another round of questions came him way.

Jake smiled as he shook his head.

"Did you recover the devilish stone?" Jake asked.

He took it out and opened it.

"So where is the church? Where are we?" Jake asked.

"So this is where the church's cavalry stays." Jake understood.

"Follow me." Sister Annie said.

"That… it is a long story. I think it is better that it is left untouched."

They were walking toward the other exit of the room.

This was the church, the church of light.

He was expecting something else to happen, but staying there,

"It is done. The God is overjoyed by what you have offered. Go to

He looked at Ganshin, as if to ask if there was anything else to be

Along with him, everyone else roared.

But it wouldn't be complete without getting to the adventurers guild

Jake couldn't wait.

The second tier! Just a month into the game!

He wasn't the first one, he knew that much!

He ran out the door into the familiar streets of Diffast.

He knew exactly where to turn so that he could run to the

It was full, as expected. There were always going to be NPCs here.

But to Jake's disappointment, there was a line.

And behind him, slowly, other players were waiting in line.

"What is going on? So many people actually want to accept quests?

He turned to the one behind him.

It was a party, actually.

Five people, together, taking with each other.

The person who seemed to be the leader glanced at Jake.

Jake sighed as he shook his head.

"Guess that is the problem coming to a small city. Just doing