Infinite Realm

"Hahaha. No one has dared to be that haughty in front of me. Who am I? Who am I?!" Dream Tiger bellowed madly.

Swift Blade, who stood beside him, but shook his head in disappointment. Back in the boss' chamber, Swift Blade had requested Dream Tiger to let go of his pointless hatred and let bygones be bygones. However, Dream Tiger refused to acknowledge his agreement.

As a matter of fact, Swift Blade was actually higher in rank when compared to Dream Tiger. Due to their difference in strength however, Dream Tiger had thrown away all esteem for him and tried to hunt down Sato. In VR games and even more so in gaming guilds, strength talks best. Even if Swift Blade was higher ranked than Dream Tiger, Dream Tiger had both the role as the guild's secret weapon and also the title as the guild's 3rd best, one rank above Swift Blade. Unless it was a matter of extreme urgency and related to the guild's future, Swift Blade wouldn't forcibly interrupt in Dream Tiger's matters as this was the least level of respect experts are given.

'I just hope all this ends quickly...'Swift Blade inwardly sighed.

"You really are mad." Sato's face right now was a mixture of the different emotions of confusion, surprise and bewilderment. He couldn't get why Dream Tiger was crazily reacting to his question.

"That's it little man. Let's settle this. Me and you, one-on-one. If you lose them you hand over all your earnings today." Dream Tiger pointed at Sato before pointing at himself.

"I refuse."

"Huh?" Dream Tiger was temporarily stunned. Even Swift Blade too wasn't left out of the equation.

"Don't tell me that you are afraid."

"Of who precisely? you? Please. You want to fight me but I'm not interested. I lose and you get all the loot I got but what is in it for me?" Sato stared at him.

"Oh? Fine." Dream Tiger replied before pulling out a piece of armor. Specifically, the very same Low Tier Rare-steel rank armour they just won.

"Dream Tiger are you stupid?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Drop that back!" Swift Blade frantically yelled. He was full of disbelief at Dream Tiger's actions.

"Uncle[1], don't worry about it. Don't you trust me?"

"Trust your shithead! Drop that back and don't gamble with the guild's resources otherwise I will make sure your days in East Crow would be as terrible as hell." Swift Blade scowled.

Dream Tiger frowned. He had hardly ever seen Swift Blade this angry apart from when he went to rescue a good friend of his that was surrounded by enemies.

"Fine." Dream Tiger tossed to the chest plate over to Swift Blade.

Even though Dream Tiger was aware that he was stronger, he knew better than to really provoke Swift Blade as he still had a higher authority than he did in the guild and could truly make things difficult for him. East Crow might be a springboard for him but Dream Tiger wasn't yet ready to lose this springboard. With that in mind, it was obviously better to take a step back than to irk his superior.

'It looks like they aren't genuinely in the same boat.' Looking at Dream Tiger's dissatisfied expression and Swift Blade's displeased face, Sato guessed tat this confrontation must have been a plot of Dream Tiger and not the two individuals.

"It seems you don't have anything to interest me so there's no need for a fight." Sato turned around and was about to walk away.

Dream Tiger sneered, "Who the hell says so?"

Putting his hand in the pouch hung by his waist, Dream Tiger brought out an exquisite looking bow. The bow was engraved with a few markings here and there and a couple of emerald gems embedded on it.

Fudo sucked in cold air once a saw the bow.

"That's..."

"An Upper tier Mortal rank bow."

Even though Swift Blade had managed to retrieve the Low tier Rare-steel rank chest plate, he still frowned at Dream Tiger's actions. However, as the weapon he had taken out belonged to him individually, Swift Blade didn't interrupt Dream Tiger's actions.

'His current weapon is also an Upper tier. So that weapon should be his reward huh?'

[[ System Notification :

Emergency mission

Mission Rank : B

Description : Prevent the descent of a dark force.

System comment : Either he goes boom or you go boom. Choose. Wait a sec, this mission doesn't even need your permission. To war!!!

Basic reward : Special Title [Savior of Races]. Others; 50 silver coins and one Upper tier Mortal rank weapon or equipment of choice.

Mission status : Completed. ]]

The reward for the emergency mission had entailed an Upper tier Mortal rank weapon. While Sato had yet to cash out his rewards, Dream Tiger had already taken a step forward and was placing it for a bet.

"Do you still dare?" Dream Tiger taunted.

"Alright. Let's sign a contract then." Sato nodded. 'Only a fool would refuse free gifts.'

In order to ensure fairness of deals and promises, players could make bets and deals under the system. By making bets with the deals, the players can be sure that the deal would go through and in the case that one party decides to renege, the system will not only deal punishment on them, but would still reward the winning party. The punishment can either be set by the player or the system itself depending on the choice of the parties involved. In the case where it is set by the system, the reneging party would be suspended for a period of time from logging into the game. Even if they were to get a new set, the suspension would still roll over or even worse, increase. This is because the Infinite Realm has a DNA record of every player once they log in newly plus it reads and records their Brainwave Pattern and Consciousness Form(BPAC)[2]. So no matter what, one can't evade the tracks of the game's governing system.

"We are using system default rules." Sato smiled.

Dream Tiger hesitated a bit before nodding. Dream Tiger didn't become an expert player by being a blockhead; he was smart. He had been drowning in anger because Sato disrespected his crush. But as time went by, Dream tiger regained his cool but still persisted as his pride as on the line. The cause of his hesitation was that he had recalled that Sato might not be his match. Sato had easily handled Devis and Rock at the same time and also killed one of them. This was a feat that Dream Tiger doubted he could pull off.

'It doesn't matter. I have already come this far, might as well finish it. Hmph. I doubt he could handle me that easily even.'

A system clock counting down from 10 seconds appeared above the space in between them. Fudo and Swift Blade retreated a couple of steps away, giving the two combatants enough space for mobility.

"Hey scarf guy! This kid has always been so full of himself. Do your best and whoop his ass ok?" Swift Blade suddenly yelled when the timer had only 5 seconds left.

"What's up with this guy?" Fudo murmured with disbelief.

"Tch. Mind your business old man." Dream Tiger scowled at Swift Blade.

"Oh? From Uncle to Old man eh?" Swift Blade chuckled strangely. "Better focus on your fight."

*Beep*

The countdown clocked zero.