Chapter 7

‘This is the kind of place you get mugged, or worse, murdered in.’ That was the thought running through my head as I walked through the downtown area of Loathrun, the town neighbouring Aldon, the beginner village. Now that this system had been in place for a month or so, people, especially the adventurers new to the profession were finding it difficult to find boarding and residence in Aldon.

The result of such a dilemma was the large scale migration of the not-quite-beginners from Aldon to the neighbouring cities. Aldon didn’t hold anything of significance for the somewhat experienced players, especially now that the beginner dungeon had been defeated around a dozen or more times after the initial raid by the top ten adventurers.

Truly experienced players still hung around Aldon though, in search of promising and talented recruits for their guilds that seemed to be sprouting up every day. Every adventurer worth their salt had tried to establish their own guild, either venturing out on their own or doing it under someone else’s umbrella.

I was looking for such a guild myself. A new guild that had just been formed in this very town, Loathrun. I heard that they were tentatively named ‘Dragon’s Demise’, although they were open to better suggestions. Or at least that’s what it said on the recruitment notice.

It took some searching for me to find the restaurant I was looking for. The ‘poshest’ restaurant in the surrounding area, an article on the forums had suggested, going so far as to say that this was the closest thing they could find to a five-star hotel of the previous world. Players with a bit of coin to spend had graced this restaurant with their presence as soon as they could.

What these people hadn’t figured out yet was that the restaurant was a front for all the illegal activities that had started happening now that the system had firmly taken hold in everybody’s lives. The crime rate was bound to go up with people becoming acclimatized to the system. The system didn’t replace anyone’s moral compass, after all.

This locality had become popular, serving to attract people from all facets of society. Thus, this hotel had begun to attract the less favorable elements of the society, resulting in a neighborhood that had become the hub of criminal activity in the area. People fashioning themselves as crime bosses or even guild leaders usually invited recruits and employers to this hotel, hoping to gain a good impression.

I reached the restaurant within the specified time. I had to ask a few people for directions along the way but all in all, I had arrived with little to no difficulty. The flashy lights at the entrance of the restaurant proudly announced that I had arrived at my destination, ‘The Plaza’!

The line in front of the restaurant covered the expanse of the street lengthwise. I went to the entrance directly, where I informed the guard at the door that I was here for the meeting in the private lounge. A quick confirmation of that fact through my watch made me the recipient of quite a few envious gazes as I made my way inside the restaurant.

The man in charge of the reception had already received the news of my arrival here, as he led me to the private lounge without my asking. To say the lounge was impressive would be an understatement. I felt out of place, after having lived in a one-bedroom apartment and eating noodles for most of my meals since the dawn of the system.

I was greeted by a chorus of ‘Hi’s from the three people currently occupying the lounge. I returned their greeting without much fervour and took a seat near them, waiting for them to speak up.

“We are waiting for just one more potential. We are usually only trying to talk to two people at once, so as to make sure that no one feels ignored. I hope you don’t mind waiting.” I just nodded at the words which had been spoken by the blonde guy, mentally assessing him but did not bother using ‘Observe’ on him.

All three of the guys were wearing blue jackets with black pants. I wondered if that was some sort of uniform or dress code. All of them had some sort of short sword strapped to their backs. They were too engrossed in their own conversation to be paying too much attention to me.

I had been sitting there for twenty minutes or so when the other guest for the night turned up. It turned out well for him that he did turn up when he did because the others were getting quite irritated by all the waiting and form what I could catch from the bits and pieces of their conversation, they would have rejected the latecomer outright if they had shown up any later.

The latecomer removed the hood covering their face to reveal a female. She greeted everyone with a smile before plopping down on a cushion near her. She was dressed in a standard adventurer jacket and shorts and her bubbly personality served to lighten the mood around the room.

The guy who had addressed me before stood up to take charge of the meeting.

“Now that we are all here, let me introduce ourselves. We are the co-founders of the guild, ‘Dragon’s Demise’. We can do names later, if and when you sign up to be a part of this guild.”

“This guild was created with a sole purpose. To bring about the downfall of one of the ‘Ten Swords’, JadedDragon. The man responsible for bringing the ‘Ten Swords’ together.”

The wall behind him suddenly turned into a screen, displaying the picture of the ‘Ten Swords’ after they had exited the dungeon. The image soon shifted to concentrate on the face of JadedDragon, the supposed target of this guild.

The girl who had been cheerful up to that point looked unnerved after that revelation of the purpose of this guild. She voiced her concerns, her tone displaying her discomfort with the whole thing, “But why? Didn’t he do us a service, assembling that team to clear the dungeon?”

That question led to a dry chuckle out of our host as he replied, “You would think so, wouldn’t you? But don’t be fooled by the fake saintly image he portrays. He’s no hero.”

The image on the screen shifted again. This time displaying a picture of a man who seemed to be of a similar age as that of the three co-founders of the guild.