Game’s Dogma

Chau Yu heaved a long sigh of disappointment. He had no intention of hiding his emotion as he stared at Hibiscus; nothing came out of the negotiations that lasted for over half a day.

“I might fall short of you in battle, but intellect-wise, I’m ten times better than you are.”

The prideful Hibiscus didn’t rebut Chau Yu surprisingly. Indeed, Chau Yu had shown everyone how wise a tactician he was during The Siege.

“There’s a simple reason behind why I’m in such an urge to form the coalition. Player levels are reaching a bottleneck now. If I’m not wrong, a new map will come out in half a year, or even a few months. New maps mean new resources, and that will overhaul the current equilibrium. Do you think our meagre forces that operate on our own accords will be able to resist the gigantic coalition of Dragon Alliance and Evergrand?

“It takes time to build up chemistry even if we join hands, and this peaceful period is the perfect time to do so. Dragon Alliance and Evergrand must be doing the same. Once we’re a step behind, we’ll always be a step behind. Well, nevermind, you haughty bastards won’t understand a thing. Continue to blind yourself in your pointless ego.”

Chau Yu ended with a snicker, his previous fury nowhere to be found, then turned to leave the conference room. Hibiscus sat silently on his chair without replying.

“Oh right,” Chau Yu said as he came to a pause with his back towards Hibiscus. “Your sister has told you about that quest, right? Your sister Florate, Tigeroar, Pulchriture, Wai Kiu, Godmage, and A Man Like Wind. Even the six of them together were defeated by Mask. I honestly do not understand how you can afford to be so confident as to underestimate the man whom even I am fearful of.”

Chau Yu really left this time, leaving behind Hibiscus pondering in his seat. The guild master had a lot on his mind.

Just as Chau Yu had envisioned, Bloodless Bladester and Hexen were already discussing the details of their coalition. The final decision was that both alliances would keep their current structures and continue to operate independently. When matters that required the coalition’s actions arose, the leaders of each party, namely Hades and Drako Yau, would meet and discuss them directly.

That said, both alliances needed time to get used to cooperating. Both forces rarely had any direct confrontations, but squabbles between players were unavoidable and happened once in a while. These seemingly minor issues could spiral into unmendable conflicts if left unattended and would give others a chance to drive a wedge between them.

Hexen and Bloodless Bladester both knew this so they were already working on it, starting with having squads from both alliances that had past disputes working together in dungeons or the wilderness. Hopefully, having them cooperate could help them reconcile.

Bloodless Bladester had recently made a name for himself, not to mention he wielded the legendary Crimson Bladed Curved Jade. However, he had no intention of dropping his title of friendly ambassador of Underworld; he was all the more enthusiastic about his work. He preferred handling miscellaneous tasks for Hades the Diabolos rather than slaying his foes.

Time seemed to have fallen into an awkward standstill as all major forces suddenly retracted their arms of ambition. As if they had all come to an agreement, all parties came to a cease-fire and tended to their respective businesses. Such a peaceful era was just an illusion though—the major forces were simply too occupied with their internal affairs to expand outwards.

Evergrand and Dragon Alliance had their hands full training their members in joint operations. On the other hand, Empyreal Alliance and Myriad Blooms didn’t make any major moves either.

Chau Yu knew he couldn’t afford to get on the bad side of Dragon Alliance and Evergrand, so all he could do was to reinforce his alliance and focus on nurturing new players with great potential, like Ching Wah the cow girl. Handsome Scholar had grown a lot more powerful since he received the inheritance, and he could now help deal with Tripurity’s endless pile of work. With Tripurity on the offence and Handsome Scholar on the defence, Chau Yu now had two trusty right-hand men he could rely on when managing the alliance.

Lastly, no one ever knew what Myriad Blooms were up to. The situation appeared calm on the surface, but that was the calm before the storm. A tiny spark could easily ignite the flames of war.

“How’s the situation?”

A silhouette appeared in the small room out of the blue. The azure circuits flowed through him like rivers, and his face was as vague and blurred as always.

“Master,” the teenage man and girl said respectfully.

The young man was the first to speak up. “There is not much to report about the West. Zeus has forged Olympus into a sturdy regime, and they’re more than well-prepared. But the East… They’re barely making it.”

“Mhm,” the formless silhouette muttered, then continued, “I’ve already given them the Tea Party of Swords. They’re behind on levels, but with the Divine Tea’s aid, they should be able to fight barely on par with the other side even though the early stage will be tough. It’s down to the elite players after all.”

“Master, we believe that the disparity in overall strength between the East and the West is too great. Sir Duen’s five inheritances are certainly powerful, but the players fall behind on levels. Meanwhile, the West has top-tier inheritances and the advantage in levels…”

“The decision has been made,” their master interrupted. “Zeus and Dragonspear are both my ideal candidates. Although that guy chose Dragonspear, I can still choose Zeus without any issues if Dragonspear fails his trial. Rather, I should thank those six bastards for letting them encounter one another by accident. Zeus’ growth has been very satisfying to watch. In the end, I still have many other interesting peeps to choose from even though they’re the top two choices.

“But before that, we need to throw enough challenges at them to bring out their brilliance, or else they won’t be able to handle the upcoming story quests. Any activities from the demon race?” 

The girl immediately replied, “The demon race has mobilised. As the Master has surmised, they can no longer hold back. It is apparent that they have sensed it as well.”

“Hmm…” Their master pondered his words. “They’re not an idiotic bunch. There’s also the Violet brothers, Daemon Violet the leader and Phantasma Violet the mastermind. They’re not a force to be underestimated when the brothers work together. Now that the demon race still has a sliver of patience left, it’s time to open up the wastelands. If we delay this any further, they might go all-out and ignore the story quests.” The master sounded a bit despondent at the end.

“Understood,” the two acknowledged their master’s command.

A breeze blew through the closed-off space, signalling that their master had left. They both let out a sigh.

“We have no choice but to do it.”

“Right.”

The short dialogue in the unknown room had a huge impact on the game’s future path.

“Ding! Player Barefooty Worldrunner has reached Level 45.”

“New map released: Warring Wastelands. The Warring Wastelands has been a battleground between countless countries throughout history. As the dwelling of ancient souls and forgotten inheritances, it is a place of danger and opportunity.”

“Return-to-City Scrolls are disabled in the Warring Wastelands. Players are respawned at their city’s resurrection altar and cannot enter the Warring Wastelands for twenty-four hours.”

“Recommended level: Level 40 or above.”

“After a countdown of three hours, a teleportation array to the Warring Wastelands will appear in front of the resurrection altar of each major city.”

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