Game’s Dogma

‘Guild master, what should we do?’

Chau Yu set his sights afar and asked out of the blue, ‘Did Mister Unfettered create a guild recently?’

Clairaudiencer was startled for a moment, but he quickly nodded and answered, ‘Yes, The Unfettered. It’s been developing rapidly in the last few days, and it’s clear that Mister Unfettered isn’t short on money. With his strength and money, plenty of players have joined his guild. It has already become one of the best second-line guilds and very close to overtaking the bottom first-rate guild.’

‘Leak the information to Mister Unfettered in secret. I’m sure things will get interesting.’

Chau Yu smiled; he was getting Mister Unfettered to do the dirty work for him. Mister Unfettered simply couldn’t resist the temptation because he hated Mask down to his bones. If the chance to strike a heavy blow to Yoda arose, he definitely wouldn’t let it slide.

Meanwhile, the four major guilds that represented Yoda all gathered in the conference room of Howl of the Tempest Wolves.

Goemon and Judge Chui.

King-Hit and three of his underlings.

Hexen and his two subordinates.

Lastly, Zephyrwolf, Idyllic Poet, and Dogsnout. The others? They all left the meeting to the three and went off to level up.

Goemon shrugged and asked, ‘Brother Wolf, where’s Brother Mask?’

Zephyrwolf twitched his lips and said, ‘You all know what my boss’ like. He just leaves everything to us. Has any one of you seen him since the update?’

Everyone went silent since what Zephyrwolf said sounded rather reasonable. Back when the update had gone live, Drako Yau immediately gathered everyone for a meeting. The next day, Yoda stormed the world and became the top commercial city.

While Drako Yau only made his appearance for a day, his suggestion granted all four guilds a massive boost to their income and cash flow. Players would always think of Yoda whenever they wanted to purchase something.

And that was all Drako Yau did. Apart from the first day, he never involved himself in the plan. Even so, his personal account was steadily receiving payments because the guilds in Yoda paid him for his ‘services’, and he was well-qualified to receive such funds. It’d take at least six to twelve months to forge the commercial centre it was today from scratch, but all it took was one day thanks to him.

The time they saved made them top the charts in terms of income among the three cities, not to mention the reputation they had been building up. Even if Evergrand and Empyreon became commercial cities in the future, players would still instinctively go to Yoda out of habit.

‘I’ll cut right to the chase. That’s how Assassination Coalition work. Even if we’re going to damn someone to death, we’ll go ahead and say, “We want you dead.” before we do anything.’ Goemon had a strange expression as he continued, ‘We received news that Brother Mask is currently trapped in a cursed place and is unable to escape. Is that true?’

Hexen and King-Hit glanced at one another, clearly stunned.

Judge Chui then said in his usual stern tone, ‘Everyone knows this already. I’m a member of Heavenly Handlers, and from what I know, this intel about Mask is very likely to be true. We, Assassination Coalition, do not intend to seize Mask’s place. We are all here for a friendly discussion about our coalition because we all respect and admire Mask. No one can replace him.

This is why we, as part of the same coalition, shouldn’t hide things and instead put everything on the table. That way, we can all come up with a solution and buy time for Brother Mask to return from his peril.’

Judge Chui made his point loud and clear, and everyone couldn’t refute what he said. What Mask did wasn’t anything unprecedented; Hades had done the same in War of the Daemons through his charisma and strength, but it took him four whole years to complete the deed. What about Mask? Just mere months, and here he was.

Zephyrwolf and Idyllic Poet stayed silent. Moments later, Idyllic Poet said, ‘It’s true. I was with Mask in an encounter quest when he fell down a bridge into the unknown. We haven’t heard anything from him since.’

Judge Chui and Goemon remained calm. They were confident that the information was authentic from the get-go. Hexen and King-Hit, however, gasped. Rumours were just rumours, but things were different when the involved party admitted that it was true.

‘We should come up with a plan to handle our enemies. If I can get my hands on this piece of intel, so can the others. There aren’t a lot of members in Heavenly Handlers, but they are by no means few.’

Everyone regained their composure quickly. King-Hit snickered and said, ‘Ha! Does it look like anyone can just walk in and take over Yoda?’

King-Hit was a forthright person who spoke bluntly, which was why many players swore unswerving loyalty to him. He was sincere towards all his guild members and very much protected them. If one of his members was attacked, he’d definitely pay back the favour.

Hexen also chuckled slyly. ‘I quit my job so I can focus on Real World. If anyone tries to break the coalition apart… Ehehe…’

Now that Real World’s gold coin was directly pegged to the actual world’s currency, players who played the game as a full-time job was rising exponentially, especially after the implementation of the Store and Home systems. It was quickly becoming an alternate world.

Goemon then said, ‘Our thoughts align then. Before we decide on our countermeasures, we have to set a deadline. A time limit.

‘We all have our pride. I won’t speak on behalf of others, but Assassination Coalition only joined the Yoda Coalition because of Brother Mask. If Brother Mask is no longer around, I, Goemon, will serve under no one.’

Hexen and King-Hit looked into one another’s eyes—they both felt the same way.

‘Two weeks.’ Goemon pointed two fingers. ‘We can hold on for two weeks. However, if we hear nothing from Brother Mask by then… Yoda will be up for grabs.’

‘What?’ Mister Unfettered suddenly stood up in ecstasy.

His guild members had no clue what was going on as they looked at him.

Mister Unfettered gave the order, ‘Quit the dungeon. Gather everyone and head to Yoda!’

Mask! The kingdom you’ve built, this one shall gratefully seize it from your very hands!

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