Infinite Realm

Taking a look at the system notification, Sato was a bit surprised at first but after thinking it true, he realized that he really deserved it. It wasn't him being narcissistic or anything but rather the facts that added up.

Before Sato and Fudo had went looking for the boss, they had dealt with at least 10 goblins of which Sato had ended the life of at least 7 of them. They had also kill-stealed[1] some goblins in the process of helping the players close by. Add that to the minority goblins they faced underground alongside the troll kills, which had more kill- points than regular trolls, and also the boss kill(since Sato was the one to land the last hit on the boss), his kill-points should be logically far ahead of the other players.

"It's a good thing your name was censored since we need to keep a low profile for now. But, that dude should still remember your name right? " Fudo looked at Sato and whispered to him.

"He should. We have to worry and increase our power or else we would experience trouble from all sides." Sato sighed bitterly.

If anyone would hear him right now, some of them would be annoyed. They would be yelling 'Its indeed true that trouble comes with fame but what trouble could possibly come from gaining fame like this? More like riches and more fame!!!' As a matter of fact, they are quite right.

Once a player gains fame, as a result of their performance of course, they would be scouted by a bunch of guilds. The rank of guilds that scout them is usually directly proportional to the difficulty and degree of their achievement. Strictly speaking with an an achievement such as Sato's, ranking 1st in a kill quest, on would expect 2nd tier guilds to even pick them up. Like a carp leaping through a dragon gate, they would experience a qualitative change under the training of a 2nd tier guild. Even if they didn't want to join a guild, they could easily sell all their loot to other guilds for better prices than they would get in NPC stores. Sato however, did the opposite all for staying low-key. If those players who always wanted fame and fortune they would surely yell to the heavens for being unfair.

Sato's decision for staying low-key was because being popular would set people's eyes on him making it so that his movements would be seen in the open. Considering the fact that Sato doesn't plan on joining any guild but rather wanted to found a club, having his moves visible for all to monitor wouldn't make him feel safe.

The power structure of guilds was an intricate system that these very guilds have been trying to preserve. Starting from the top to the bottom, each of the Guilds in each category teamed up to stop the rising of another. Super guilds kept each other in check while preventing peak 1st tier guilds from reaching their ranks, 1st tier guilds kept each other in check while holding down the 2nd tier guilds. This continuous act of keeping each other in check while collectively hindering their weaker counterparts from reaching their ranks, went on till the 4th tier guild rank. This was to reduce the amount of competitors in the struggle for resources.

If Sato were to create a guild, logically it would be below the 4th tier guild rank. If the other 4th tier guilds or even some 3rd tier guilds were to know of this, they would inhibit the progress and development of the guild. Luckily for Sato, what he wanted was a club, which was far more loose than a guild and was smaller than an association. Nonetheless, these guilds would be spying on the progress of his club and once they discover that it can potentially harm their interest, they wouldn't hesitate to strike him down. Some 4th tier guilds wouldn't even bother whether it was a guild or a club he was making and would directly thwart his plans without a care for their dignity. As such it was better to stay low-key than to take the risk.

"When do we even recruit members?" Fudo asked.

"Once we're level 10, we can figure that out. We need to hurry and level up quickly so that we can be among the first batch to the city." Sato clarified.

"Ok."

While they were talking, the other NPCs had gathered together with the players leading to all of them being in the same area.

"Alright. Let's go."

Arman looked at the crowd before him and lifted his arms up. An intense mana surge burst out from him as the void showed signs of collapsing.

'Tch. It seems like I got injured far more than I thought.' Arman bitterly smiled.

*Clap*

He suddenly clasped his hands together and stared at the crowd before taking in a deep breath.

"[Great Void movement]"

A brilliant flash suddenly burst forth beneath the players as the players themselves were swallowed by a myriad of colours.

"Beautiful."

This was the very thought that passed through everyone's mind.

In the midst of the myriad of colours, the players felt that they were inside a rainbow experiencing the scenario of being caught in such. They were surrounded by a wall of colourful lights. Rather than a wall, it was more accurate to say that they had entered a world of bright light. They saw streaking flashes of scintillating lights darting through the dazzling world of colours. It was truly a mystical and captivating sight to behold.

In short while, they had arrived back right outside of Riverdale Town. The journey was, howbeit, a bit longer than the prior one. Considering the fact that they did get a nice view on the way back and it didn't exceed a minute, this small dilation in time span wasn't much of a loss to the players.

*Puack*

Arman suddenly squatted down and puked out blood.

The initial [Great Void movement] which Arman had used before was aided by a formation earlier prepared at the spot. Because of that, the spell progressed too quickly that the players couldn't sense it and so they never encountered the world of myriad colours. This time however, Arman had performed the spell by himself, taking on the toll of spell. As such, the spell was lacking when compared to the initial one supported by a formation. Adding up with the injuries he had sustained in his battle against Yan's projection, Arman's injuries had worsened with the activation of the spell.

"Damn. Recovering from this would be quite difficult."

"Are you alright?" Bishop Enzo hurriedly asked.

"Yeah. At least better than Deval." Arman smirked. "I will be recuperating for who knows how long. If you need to deal with any issue during this time, Alice-chan would be acting as my proxy."

Without waiting for Bishop Enzo to reply, Arman quickly teleported away.

"It seems he still doesn't fully trust us." Bishop Enzo awkwardly laughed.

[[System : Incoming Audio call from the outside world

Caller ID : Yato

Accept/Decline ]]

"Yato is calling?" Sato was surprised.

Since most players, specifically the pro players, tend to play all day long, it would be a problem if they end up missing an event all because they couldn't answer calls from the outside world. So, the Infinite Realm capsule and headgear had in-built connective features that linked an individual's quantum watch with the system interface. In other words, once someone has a call on their quantum watch or communicator, they can receive it with the headgear or capsule while still in the game. Also, they can communicate with someone in the outside world as long as the person triple knocks on their device. This act was a kind of code to send a communication request to the gamer. These two features were really handy to players and it was one of the appeals that lead to Infinite Realm being a huge hit. Of course, their game details are still kept hidden from the other end of the call. This was in line with Infinite Realm's privacy protocols.

"What's up?" Sato answered the call.

"...I have thought about what you said." After a short period of silence, a weary voice sounded out.

"And? Don't keep me waiting cause I'm already online." Sato with a harsh tone.

"I thought about what you said and I decided that I can't just waste my life over one failure or brood over it. I have resolved myself to follow you in pursuing a gaming career." Yato, who was still in Room 2B13 lying on abed, spoke through the communicator he held with his right hand.

"You sure about it?" Sato felt surprised.

"Yeah. I figured that Mia wouldn't have left me if I had money and also I can't get enough money with my part-time job. My grades are low so I doubt there's any business or company that would accept me. I might as well give this a shot." Yato sighed.

"If it's about giving it a shot then don't bother me. All I need are men with determination and devotion who would put in the required effort at the required time. If you can do that then I can help you." Sato seriously stated.

"...I will." After a brief hesitation, Yato replied with a nod.

"Ok. I will send you some money. Complete the money yourself and go get an official VR headset. Once you've logged in, select Riverdale Town and give me a call. My ID is Sky Blade. Later."

"Ok."

[[System : Audio call terminated]]

"Who was it?" Fudo curiously asked.

"Yato."

"Does he want to join us?" Fudo pleasantly asked with wide eyes.

"You should have already predicted this am I right?" Sato looked at him.

"Oh no please. You jest." Though it looked like Fudo was humbling himself with his words, his expression was anything but humble.

"So where to now? Grynx Merchandise or another store?" Fudo questioned. While he was waiting for Sato to be done with the call, most of the other players had already began to scatter. Only a few remained behind, either waiting for someone else or calculating their rewards.

"Anywhere is fine. Let's go." Sato began to work towards the town.

As the two were walking, they didn't notice two players behind them that looked their way.

"Hey, isn't that the player boss Blood Sword is looking for?" One of them pointed at Sato.

"Now that you mention it, he is. No wonder I felt he was familiar. Quick, alert boss Blood Sword about his location." The other player replied.

"Got it. But we still need to keep an eye out on their location." The player, who spoke first, responded.

"No worries. I might not be an expert class player but I'm still a legit assassin. Spying on them shouldn't be a problem." The second player smirked.

"What are you waiting for then?! Go!"

"Oh! That's true.." The second player, the assassin, chuckled awkwardly before chasing after Sato but still kept his distance from the two.