Chương 103: Chapter 101 - Interlude 9

"So, how have you been?" Lucy looked over at her friend, lounging on her sofa and sipping some kind of soft drink that she had found in her fridge. With the amount of time the game took up, plus her original job, every grocery run was a mad dash of grabbing random things that seemed good on the surface, so Lucy had no real idea what was actually in her fridge.

'I really need to make a decision about the job…' she mused while smiling at her friend.

"Busy, I suppose…" Her friend nodded.

"Yeah, I heard the NPCs gossip about you," Sarah said with a mischievous look on her face.

"Apparently, when you're not in your office planning world domination, you're out there charming nobles out of their money or more …" Lucy could only blush, while Sarah cackled on her sofa.

"I don't do that!" she protested.

"I just had a few… interesting quests. That's all…" Sarah just grinned.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say, honey…" Lucy glared at her friend while taking a calming sip of her own drink. Then she spoke up in an attempt to change the topic of the conversation.

"How is the project going in Brightgarden?" Sarah made a so-so gesture with her free hand.

"The mayor is annoying as he wants to know where every bronze coin is going, and there are too many animals but otherwise going well," she explained with an annoyed look on her face.

"And the guilds?"

"No open fights, but there is definitely a fight going for people, as well as about who has the better pets slash summons."

"Any winners?"

"Ehh, Fauna Ark was the first so they had a good headstart, but there are some others who are doing good work. Though, mostly it's people setting up guilds to scam people with chickens or rabbits painted gold. So, you know… Same old, same old." Lucy only snorted. Painting rabbits gold to sell for some quick money was nothing compared to what the players in Ironwood were doing.

There have been at least half a dozen shops that popped up with the name Heavenly Forest or some very minor variation, like Heaven Forest or Heavenly Forests just to capitalize on the name that hers and Sam's creation made for itself among the elite. She mostly left them alone, as their failures to live up to the expectations of the rich people would only increase the worth of Heavenly Forest where people got exactly what they paid for. After all bad marketing can also be turned into good marketing.

The only people she went after were those who used the same name. And with the help of her connections and Sam's with the nobility, plus added to it the respect earned from the city guards, it was laughably easy to shut down those enterprising criminals.

"Good to know. Anything interesting?"

"Yeah," her friend said, perking up.

"I was thinking about getting a pet. I'm so jealous of your ravens. Plus your friend has that giant cuddly wolf. I want something like that!" she declared.

"Any idea what you're looking for?" she asked, curious. Sarah leaned back on Lucy's sofa, looked up at the ceiling, and began listing animals she could possibly get as a pet, while Lucy listened with a soft smile.

'It's nice to have time to myself…' Staring at the paperwork left by Sam, Lucy had to pinch herself.

'That is a lot of money…' She knew that the weapons would be auctioned and expected some amount of money to come in but the end result threw her for a small loop. Plus the fact, before the auction they liquidated a lot of their gold reserves as the price of the gold coin shot up thanks to the auction and now most of that reserve was back in their bank vault.

'How the hell does he do this?' she wondered, still a little shocked. So, the company account was full of credits, and even in-game their bank vault was overflowing with gold. She couldn't even imagine what face the bank manager would make when she made her somewhat regular trips to the bank. They were already very accommodating thanks to their connections and rather large amount of money but with this… She began drumming her fingers on the table as she thought about the next step.

There were the usual expenses, but those were handled by the regular income from any of their businesses. The same was true for the current expansions. Deepanchor was waiting for Sam to go there and do whatever he did.

'I really hope he is not cheating or hacking because then we are fucked as hell…' Some part of the giant influx of gold coins was marked for the crafters employed by the company but at the shopping center and the company itself. Soon, she would need to look for a trustworthy assistant as handling the crafters was becoming an increasingly complicated process. The next part went into hiring people to survey the cities and towns around Ironwood, and some locations between it and the capital for further expansion.

Viability studies were expensive but worth the price. Most of them would probably only get a small warehouse and shopping center business, but that was alright with Lucy. The main money was in the capital. And based on everything she heard, and was told by good friends, nobody had managed to get permission to buy property in the capital yet. And based on the whispers from other countries, the people there were also still trying.

After all, everyone knew that in every game, businesses in the Capital earned the most, just like in real life. Lucy really hoped that Sam could do his usual voodoo magic and acquire a permit without a fuss because even with her connection to the nobility and after countless quests to raise her reputation, the nobles she talked with could only shrug and wish her the best of luck. Lucy grinned and pumped her arms up and down.

"I got this! We're going to be filthy rich!" she yelled, trying to psych herself up.

"…did you say something, ma'am?" came the calm question from the secretary who was listening through the barely open door.

"Just talking to myself!" she called out, somewhat embarrassed. Then Lucy turned back to the documents, lists, and plans on her desk, and with a renewed determination, returned to her work. Outside of the building, if people were observing the headquarters of the AFK company, they could see a small cloud of ravens circling the building excitedly, until finally settling down on random locations, preening their feathers and watching the world go by with their intelligent eyes. Life as a streamer was exhausting.

But she was always somewhat of an extrovert so while she was physically exhausted after the longer streams, mentally she was always buzzing after finishing one. New ideas and new plans were flying through her head as she cleaned up the workshop after a nice and sedate crafting stream. Liz mostly focused on crafting vehicles and golems during her streams, no matter how many times her viewers demanded that she show them how to make crystal weapons.

Thanks to the contract, AFK company has monopolized all of her weapon manufacturing quotas so she couldn't really show it off. She could use them during hunting, or recently, when delving into fractures, but otherwise, they stayed a business secret. Not that she minded much, as even with the golem crafting streams she was pulling in decent numbers. Though the requests for life-like golems that looked like certain celebrities were eww, she still had fun.

Granted, Liz wasn't as popular as the truly big streamers, but they were either wearing as little clothing as the guidelines allowed or were supported by a giant team that handled everything else. They just needed to sit or work in front of the camera. She was in a much better space than before her move, but she still couldn't afford that kind of luxury.

The contract with the company promised a support staff for her, but she was well aware that it takes time to hire people as well as to arrange a place where they could work. With her cleaning up finished, and her adorable drones flying around aimlessly, she picked up the list of jobs that the company had sent over and began browsing it. Building the holdout pistols was a fun project and Liz made sure to make one for herself, but she wanted something different.

Going down on the list, she finally spotted something interesting, a rebreather. Requirements were to have it fit all sizes and to be able to work underwater and in an environment where there wasn't breathable air. Altogether a rather normal request. So, without further ado, she pulled out her planning tools and began working.

'I really should've gone to engineering university…' she mused as she began drawing the first line with the assistance of the system.

"Welcome everybody! This is your girl, SummerRose! Today we are going to delve into a small fracture!" she declared cheerfully, standing in front of the swirling portal. When Liz was looking for fractures that she could solo, the first thing she did was to contact the company. Surprisingly, she immediately received a small list of fractures that she could check out, but with no guarantee that she would be the first to do it.

The first two were busts, surrounded by guards from guilds while several players attempted to complete them. But the third one, deep into the woods, almost hidden under a cliff, was unoccupied. She did a cursory check with her own senses and skills as well as having her adorable drones go around and scout out the area. Thankfully, it seemed she was alone. Then came the preparation for the stream, sending out notifications and such. But finally, she was ready and the people were showing up to the stream.

She said hello to a few regulars, thanked the new and returning subscribers, then began explaining the program.

"Alright, as you can see behind me is a fracture. And we have already done a few fracture delves, but something is different about today's!" She waited a few seconds for the chat to guess her intentions before continuing.

"Nope! You're all wrong! But don't worry, I'm a generous woman and I'm going to tell you." She did a little shimmy while the drones swirled around her in the preprogrammed number three swirl pattern, then she continued.

"As you know, I mainly use these adorable drones to make sure I can solo the fractures," Liz explained while patting one of the drones as it flew under her hand. The drone, as programmed, let out an adorable coo sound. Predictably, the chat liked it. She couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.

"But for a long time, I wanted something… let's say stronger." She prepared herself to make sure the timing was correct then raised her voice.

"So, my loyal watchers! Allow me to introduce you to the BIG BOY!" And the moment she said that there was a brief flash of blue light and another drone appeared next to her. While aesthetically it looked just like the previous ones, it was much bigger. While the first drones she crafted were the size of a volleyball, this was the size of a giant inflatable ball that people used in gymnastics classes. And thanks to how it hovered, people could feel, even through the screen how heavy it was. Plus the voice.

Instead of squeaks or coos, that the previous drones used to communicate, it growled. Liz watched with elation as the chat went nuts over Big Boy then nodded.

"Alright, let's see what Big Boy can do!" She turned to the heavy drone.

"Big Boy! Weapons out!" There was a deep growl, and the top of the drone opened and two weapons, eerily looking like Gatling guns emerged, made from silvery metals and crystals shining blue. It also raised its stubby hands, and the end of those hands transformed into holes which slowly began to shine with very dangerous-looking light with a small blue tint. Satisfied that the drone was working and that the chat was melting down, she turned to the fracture. [You entered a new fracture!] [Fracture: Shadow of the Cliffs] [A small half cavern, hidden under the shadows of a gigantic cliff. Nobody knows this exists. Go through and discover a new world!] [Time Limit: No limit] [Charges: 1/1] With a determined step and followed by a chunky drone armed to the crystal teeth she entered the swirling portal ready to test her new creations as well as wow her viewers. So, operation 'Oh deer' worked. Somehow.

They set up giant stables and grazing fields for the four-legged menaces and had some of the people who had taming skills working on taming the deer twenty-four-seven. Seeing as they received a lot of money from the city, the city representative, hounded by the mayor, was breathing down on their neck so Stephen was a little grumpy about the entire thing.

Thankfully, AzureTiger had managed to recruit a few people to work in administration, and she always had someone babysit the representative when they wanted to 'inspect' the operation. Otherwise, Stephen was pretty sure he would have had Slathy tear the man apart. Otherwise, the guild, Fauna Ark was doing well. They managed to protect the city from the rampaging horde of monsters, though they couldn't find the big fracture in time, so somebody else got the rewards from it.

Still, their reputation got a very nice boost with the city officials, and with the mayor perpetually in a mood, that was worth more than some exotic weapon. Plus, since they fought with their pets and summons, weapons meant little to their group. As long as their companions were with them they were good.

Looking up at the almost hill-sized Slathy as he dozed off in the middle of their garden, next to several other giant rabbits as well as several other types of animals, he suspected they would be alright without magical weapons. Suddenly, one of his skills went off and he whirled around, weapon ready to strike. However, what greeted him was a shifty-looking fox with two solid-looking tails and one illusionary as it crept toward him, with a suspicious-looking balloon-like thing in its mouth.

Stephen clicked his tongue and sheathed his weapon.

"How many times have I told you to not do that?" The shifty fox immediately pivoted, sitting up on its haunches and looking at Stephen with baby-doll eyes.

"Stop it. It won't work on me!" The eyes began to water.

"Go away!" He said while pointing away from the garden. The fox tried to sway him for a few seconds, then it also clicked its tongue, grabbed the balloon, and high-tailed out of there accompanied by the laugh of a fox. He looked after the fox dubiously, then he jumped a little as his notifications went off. [Danger Sense is now Level 74!] Stephen plunged his head into the sinfully thick and silky fur of Slathy and just screamed.

"The other guilds are getting annoying boss…"

"Yeah, there have been two sales of 'golden' rabbits just this week…"

"People are starting to paint us with the same paint…"

"Yeah, boss, what should we do?" Stephen looked around the meeting room, where the leaders of their guild sat, Kim next to him, and were currently complaining about unscrupulous guilds that were scamming the populace at large. He studiously ignored the snake that was once again staring at him without blinking.

"Do we have a list?"

"List of what?"

"List of guilds, groups, and people who scammed or cheated people?" People looked at each other until AzureTiger spoke up.

"Yes, I have the list. Why?" Stephen just shrugged.

"We should publicize that list on the forums and wherever we can. That way people can know who to do business with!" AzureTiger nodded at him and made a small but precise note on the notepad in front of her. There was a quiet murmur around the room as people discussed the idea, but in the end, everyone agreed with it.

"Anything else to discuss?"

"Yeah, boss!" called out one of his friends.

"What about the AFK company?"

"What about them?"

"They have been building all sorts of stuff. Warehouses, shopping centers, hotels, and even theaters and art galleries…"

"And?" Stephen asked, not seeing the issue. His friend scowled.

"If they continue to build stuff, sooner or later they are going to own the entire city!" Before Stephen could answer, AzureTiger spoke up.

"Not happening. Already talked with the mayor. They love money, but they love their position even more. AFK cannot buy more property."

"So, they are building on the plots they managed to acquire?"

"Yes."

"How many do we have?"

"Around twenty percent."

"Is that a lot?"

"More than any other guild," came the confident answer from the small girl. Stephen eyed the young woman for a moment then nodded.

"Guys, AFK is not our enemy. They are a merchant guild, we are a pet guild. Instead of fighting we should work with them to kill off all those scammers…" There was a brief moment of confusion then the people in the meeting room looked at him with smiles that reminded him of a shark. Kim patted his hand and gave him an encouraging smile. He returned the smile and then spoke up.

"Azu, can you contact the AFK and ask to cooperate?" Stephen's only response was a thumbs up from the poker-faced girl. The spy ring was coming along well. She managed to place her people in all major shopping centers, taverns, inns, and bigger shops. She even had an entire group of girls who were working as waitresses forwarding information to her. Lucrecia looked up from her desk, out of the window, and sighed. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Once again, she missed meeting her hero while he was at the manor meeting with her father. Sadly, at the time she was meeting with one of her contacts who worked at the mayor's office. Granted, to an outside observer it may have looked like a tea party with one of her friends, but the topics they discussed didn't belong to a tea party. When she heard that her beloved wouldn't get a proper reward ceremony, she was incensed, but her friend managed to get enough information to soothe her rage.

Apparently, there were so many adventurers aside from her hero, that the mayor couldn't have them attend the same time due to lack of space, and deciding who to invite first was just a major political headache. So, they instead put together reward packets and sent out invitations for the adventurers. Much easier on the administrators and had less chance of hurting their egos.

She tried to exert her influence to get her beloved some more rewards, but according to her friend, Lucrecia's father already made sure he got what he deserved. Satisfied, she made sure that her friend was well taken care of, as she came from a lesser family, so the support from her family, even if that support looked like friendship, meant that her position was secure. Plus Lucrecia rather liked the girl. She got the best stories about work in an office.

After all, Lucrecia would never work in an office, so she had to hear about it from others. Banishing the memories, she returned to her desk and continued to read the documents.

'A spy mistress' job never ends…' She watched as the latest official left after delivering their report and made a few elegant notes. Sylvia, being the Lady of the Silvercrest family, was in charge of handling the administrative tasks for exploiting the fractures while her husband looked after the safety of their people, plus made sure that other nobles didn't sabotage the efforts. Thankfully, with the resources that the AFK company brought to bear, things were looking good.

The affected mining shafts were currently being widened with support beams being placed, while a few earth mages made sure that there were places for rest stops, guard garrisons, a few taverns, and workshops. Plus, with her darling daughter's spy ring, they could stay ahead of any of their enemies. Thinking about that, she couldn't help but smile. While Lucrecia's drive was rather questionable, she couldn't fault her for it.

The adventurer was rather handsome in a scruffy-looking way, though he had nothing on her husband. The zeal that she used to approach it was rather admirable. And with a few pokes and prods from her, those who wanted to sabotage her daughter's effort were squashed in its infancy. She wouldn't actively help Lucrecia, but she still wanted to make sure she got a good start. As a good mother should… Dan was rather exasperated.

Everybody from the freshmen to the teachers (even some of the professors) were talking about the game. Which in itself wouldn't have been an issue, but every grade had that one person who decided to make a guild with their classmates. Then came the recruitment frenzy, and as the days went by, and the number of unaffiliated students dwindled, the recruitment efforts increased. Some of the richer guild leaders tried using money to entice people but that was quickly shot down by the teachers.

Dan had heard whispers of a few teachers tempting people with better grades or bonus points, but that was also slapped down, hard, by the dean. And seeing as he kept his membership in Sam's small group a secret, his friends and classmates assumed he was still guildless. Which was a pain in the ass…

"Hey, Dan-man! Wanna join our guild? We are the Storm Hawks, the best mages in…"

"No, thank you," he interrupted the person he had never seen before.

"I'm not looking to join any guilds." The guy opened his mouth to probably convince him, but he beat a hasty retreat before that could happen. On the way back to his dormitory he was stopped by at least half a dozen strangers, but he shook all of them off. Minutes later, finally back in his room, behind closed doors, he let out a shaky breath.

'This is just too much…' He sat down in front of his computer, logged in, and then after the old thing booted up, he sent a message to Sam. For now, he kept his membership a secret, but he had enough of the annoying people. A minute later he received his reply. [Solar]: Sure, go ahead and tell them. It's not a big secret. Dan let out a relieved breath that he didn't know he was holding and smiled. Finally, maybe he could get rid of the annoyances and concentrate on what was important.

His dissertation and fire magic. After all, plasma doesn't wait for no man! He logged into the university forums, navigated to the personal information section, and added the guild/group information to it. Thankfully, when the Magic Unbound frenzy began, the people taking care of the forums added a few fields that could be used to display information about the game. Dan added the company logo, plus he added that he was already in a group and sat back in his old chair with a grin.

'Finally, freedom!' Before he could properly celebrate, there was a knock on his door. He stood up and cautiously opened it a little. On the other side, stood a woman, dressed in a rather tight and revealing clothing that showcased a rather sizeable tract of land, with the woman smiling at him, clearly knowing where his eyes wandered.

"H-how can I help you, err, miss?" She giggled. Giggled! He never had a girl giggle at him.

"I was wondering if you're playing Magic Unbound?" she began playing with her hair, twirling around her finger as she talked.

"Because, like, we are recruiting and I heard…" Dan didn't even listen he just silently began banging his head into the wall next to the door as the girl stared at him perplexed. Well, that showed her. She came in suspicious of them, and all they provided her was friendship and kindness. And chaos and good-looking men shirtless. Clarissa shook her head and smiled. Her room in the inn she rented was starting to look rather bland.

She knew that Katie and Dan both stayed at the headquarters with Sam popping in when he was in the area. And she knew that it was much more comfortable than her inn. But she also knew that if she moved in, that meant she was accepting being part of the group for good. And she was afraid of that.

Her experience with the group so far told her that she had nothing to fear, but something deep inside her was still whispering that the moment she committed they would do an about-face and exploit her until the kingdom comes. It wasn't a baseless fear, as it happened to her several times in different games before she wisened up and only healed when paid. Although, the company and the group paid well, so she could think of it that way…

'Ugh, this is so hard…' Clarissa looked around her room and decided that she needed some fresh game air. Currently, Sam was off somewhere doing something hush-hush, and the others had their own quests, she was between two class quests so she had nothing important to do. Perfect time for some musings… Walking out of her room and down the stairs she got a respectful nod from the innkeeper, and a few greetings from the regular NPCs while the players simply ignored her.

Based on the glare the innkeeper sent the nearest players to her, the NPCs didn't appreciate it.

'Have fun, with the increased prices…' She left the building with quiet but steady steps heading nowhere, intending to just roam the city of Ironwood. For half an hour she was alone with her thoughts as she moved from street to street, thinking about the situation and what she should do. She would have gone to somebody for advice, but neither her parents who only tolerated her 'work' because of the money, nor her sister who never cared for games would be able to provide any usable advice.

Aside from them, she didn't really have anybody close to her. It was rather sad, but the closest friend she currently had was Katie and the rest of the group. She was mulling over her barely existent friend group when she was stopped by a rather crude yell.

"Hey, bitch!" Despite not being alone on the street, it was quite clear the yell was aimed at her. She turned around and beheld a guy she had never seen charging toward her with an angry look on his face.

"Can I help you?" she asked with as little inflection as possible, while she eyed the guards walking behind the guy. One of them caught her eye and elbowed his partner. They eyed the aggressive guy and began purposely walking toward them.

"Yes, you can! Where the fuck have you been? My team needed a healer and you were nowhere to be found, bitch! We wiped like three times!" he yelled directly at her, spittle flying everywhere. Clarissa had to blink.

"I don't even know who you are," she stated while racking her brain to figure out what was happening.

"Because you didn't accept our contract!" he yelled.

'Ahh, one of those…'

"And because of that we had to go with those shitty healers, so now you owe us!"

"What?"

"That's right, bitch! You made us lose out on the big prize, so you're coming with me and healing until we are satisfied!" As the guy said it, Clarissa saw the look on his face that showed that he thought that his logic was foolproof.

"No."

"What?"

"I'm not going with you anywhere. I don't owe you anything."

"Bitch, do you know who I am?" he exclaimed angrily, raising one hand to no doubt strike her. Not that it would get through her shields. But before he could move, a gloved hand clamped on the guy's raised hand.

"Excuse me, could we have a moment of your time?"

"Who the fu–" Then the guy paled as he beheld the stone-faced visage of the guards. The one that wasn't holding onto the aggressive idiot turned to Clarissa with a kind smile.

"Good healer, we shall take over from here, please continue on your way…" She bowed a little and turned around to walk away. And as she walked away, listening to the idiot argue with the guards, she made a decision. She was going to move to the headquarters. They had better beds and service, and most importantly more guards.

She removed her helmet with one smooth motion, placed it in its resting place, stood up from the recliner, smoothed down her dress, and with determined, but still elegant steps, stalked out of her room. Katie didn't acknowledge the servants who jumped out of her way as she headed for her brother's room, straight on the opposite side of the manor. Another one of her father's idiotic ideas.

It took several minutes to reach the room, and when she opened the door (she definitely didn't slam it open as ladies don't do something like that) Katie found her brother standing in front of one of the giant windows, in a perfect brooding position.

"David, what the hell?" He turned around and thanks to her long experience Katie could see the annoyance and anger on his face.

"Hello, Katie. Nice to see you too," he said with a deadpan tone. Katie crossed her arms under her breasts and began tapping her foot on the floor. Elegantly of course.

"What. Happened. David?" He sighed.

"What do you think? Dad…"

"I thought it was your guild?"

"Yes, but after Dad realized that there is money in the game, he had some of his security start playing the game and made me accept them in the guild," he explained with exasperation.

"I didn't see any problem with it as they are professional soldiers, so their battle instincts are excellent and with a small crash course in gaming they become rather potent players."

"That was rather shortsighted of you. Father never does anything just to be nice."

"Yeah, I know that. But I thought he just wanted to make sure we get enough manpower to stay afloat…" her brother answered while shaking his head.

"In retrospect, a bad guess."

"Why did they attack?"

"Apparently, Dad wanted to punish you and see what your boss was made of…" There was nothing much she could say to that, after a minute of thinking she had only one question.

"And?"

"And what?"

"What does he make of my boss?" her entire sentence was dripping with disgust at the thought of her father being anywhere near her friends. David just shrugged.

"I have no idea. It's not like he shares his thoughts with me…" Katie snorted in disgust. That was just like their father. Doesn't even trust his own son…

"And what about your guild?" David grimaced.

"They were disciplined, but my father countermanded my orders."

"He plays?" Katie asked, surprised.

"Nah," David waved his hand.

"One of his assistants was helping with the finances of the guild." Then he blinked.

"In retrospect, another bad idea."

"Wow, you're really showing your genius brother…" she remarked with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

"You don't have to be mean, Katie," came the pouting answer. She just sighed.

"What are you going to do?" David sighed again.

"Probably step down from the guild leader position seeing as father is the one in charge. I can't really leave it as father would make my life a living hell, so I'll make a small raid team and concentrate on the game while leaving politics and economics to father. He clearly understands them better than me…" Katie nodded.

"I would say you could join my guild, but I doubt father would go for that…" That caused David to blink in surprise.

"Your boss would allow it?" Katie smiled at him.

"I explained to him what happened. He was very understanding."

"Well, sister, it seems you found a good one…"

"Yes, I did." A few hours later, the discussion concluded Katie was back in her room, laying on the bed, mindlessly doom-scrolling her holographic screen and thinking about her situation. No doubt, her father was already planning to use her membership in Sam's group to his own ends. But how to get out of it? She had known for a long time that there were only two ways she would get out from under her father's thumb. Either by death or by marrying someone.

Her first instinct was to ask Sam if she could fake marry him, but then she threw away the thought. Those kinda things only worked in TV dramas and comic books. In real life, her father would throw a hissyfit and no government official would sign the documents. They could leave the country but that came with its own set of issues… For now, she was stuck in her gilded cage. But that didn't mean she was powerless.

All she had to do was to figure out what her father planned to do, and work with Sam to counter it in a way that would be devastating to her father, but leave her and her brother smelling like roses.

'Though, based on Sam's past behavior, I'm pretty sure he is already ten steps ahead of my father,' she mused with internal glee. She knew he was heading to Deepanchor where her brother's – or rather father's – guild was and she couldn't wait to see the results. Until then, however, she had a few cooking classes to attend after having decided to take up cooking as crafting. It was a rather easy decision. She liked good food and Puffball liked good food.

And now, with the crafting skills she could make good food whenever she wanted. As she lay on the bed, stretching indulgently, she looked around and had a thought.

'I wish real life could be as easy as a game…' The tavern, as always was covered in fog and filled with people hidden by dark hoods sipping their drinks and waitresses fluttering about in enticingly short skirts. A perfect place to plan a rebellion or just have a dramatic discussion.

"How is the city?"

"The business side is starting to stabilize. Naturally, AFK is the biggest fish in the city. And I don't see anyone changing it soon…"

"How are our businesses?"

"So-so. They make money is the best thing I can say."

"Ugh… Do we have any better idea for a business aside from aping what AFK is doing?"

"Nothing that hasn't been done yet…"

"Stripper restaurant?"

"Against the guidelines, I'm afraid, boss."

"Stripper armor wash?"

"Still against the guidelines, boss…"

"Stripper sword sharpener?"

"Anything with a stripper in it is against the guidelines…"

"Well, fuck… I don't have any other ideas."

"Bummer."

"Indeed." For a while they just sat there, enjoying the ambiance – that is staring at the waitresses – before the first guy spoke up.

"What did you find out about the auction?"

"Lots of money in from a lot of big names. All out of town."

"Where did the money go?"

"No idea. The bank isn't talking, and the company is silent as a fart in a library."

"Bummer."

"Yep."

"Out of curiosity, who got the weapons?"

"The shield was sold for around sixty thousand to the Black Chimera guild down south. The spear was bought by that fanatic Spearmaster from the Eternal Spear guild. Guess why…" The first guy snorted at the sarcasm.

"And the dagger?"

"We think it's Silent Step, but thanks to their secretive nature we won't know for sure until they use it…"

"Once again, can't help but say it: bummer."

"As you say, boss!" Another pause, another look at the waitress walking by before they continued with the discussion while sipping their delicious cocktails. With the increase of crafters, a lot of real-life cocktails found their way into taverns allowing people like them to plot in the shadows with their favorite drinks.

"How are our fracture delvers? Profitable?"

"So- so. So far every unlimited fracture was captured by the NPCs or one of the other guilds. It seems we are rather unlucky in this area. Our scouts have been looking for them but so far the result is nada." The first guy grumbled a little.

"Then go on Shadowland and buy a location. We need that source of income!" he exclaimed smashing his fist on the table.

"Yes, sir!" Walking in the city, now that winter was over was rather nice. It also helped that he was walking with his excitable and rather cute sister. Apparently, she wanted to check out some kind of game. And seeing as he had some time because he was on holiday, he volunteered to escort her to the shop. They walked along the street, sometimes talking, sometimes just in silence. Well he walked, his sister insisted on skipping. Not that he minded. It was nice to see her so happy.

It was worth working so much so that he could provide his sister with anything that he went without. Soon, they reached the plaza that held the shop his sister wanted to visit.

"Look, brother, there!" she called out pointing high up in the air. He looked up and saw a giant billboard showcasing some kind of fantasy scene.

He watched as a fire mage unleashed a torrent of fire at a giant bear covered in stone, as a beautiful archer turned a big snake into a pincushion, as a guy cleaved a giant spider of all things into two, as a very menacing-looking black wolf pranced around on a cobblestone street as children ran around it, grinning ear to ear, a group of knights clashing with a differently dressed group of knights, monsters devouring a small town, and a woman leaning over a bubbling cauldron then the cauldron began to froth and a giant bubble emerged that covered the screen and as it popped there was a small flash of light and the scene was replaced by a simple text.

MAGIC UNBOUND PLAY NOW It took him a few seconds to turn back to his sister who was staring up at the billboard that was now advertising some kind of sports drink.

"Was that the game you wanted to play?"

"Yeah!" came the enthusiastic reply from his little sister.

"Isn't it great?" He couldn't help but frown.

"Isn't it a little too bloody?"

"Pffsh, don't worry, brother. They have a filter for that!" she explained with a grin, then grabbed his hand and began dragging him toward the store. He saw several other people in a similar situation as he was.

"You promised that you would buy it for me!"

"How are we on merchandising?"

"Very well, sir. Shirts and other apparel are flying off the shelf. 3D-printed guild symbol stickers and pins are also big with people. We are currently monitoring the meme situation to see if we could turn any of them into merchandise."

"Huh, that's great. What about the plushies?" The person standing before the desk nodded and swiped right on their tablet.

"We made plushies from the common cute pets, as well as the not-cute monsters that the research team indicated would do well. They were right."

"Glad to see the money we invested in them was worth it. Any issues?"

"People are clamoring to have unique plushies made of their own pets. We already had to slap down several companies that were making 'copies'." The man behind the desk looked at the first person and nodded thoughtfully.

"Makes sense. Hmm…" The man doing the reporting did nothing, staying silent as he waited for his superiors decision. After a few minutes, the man behind the desk spoke up.

"Alright, let's do this. Go on the forums and select the ten most popular pets and make plushies of them. While you're doing that, have the research team come up with a process for people to order unique plushies from our stores."

"Right away, sir."

"What the hell do you mean we lost the auction?"

"We-we didn't have enough money to bid for the weapons, sir."

"What the fuck? We prepared over forty thousand gold coins…"

"The cheapest was sold for more than fifty, sir!" came the report from Dave's underling. He had wanted to personally attend the auction but he had some meetings in his real life that he couldn't postpone. Those people weren't the type that allowed things like rescheduling. So, he sent his subordinates.

"What the hell?" The underling wisely stayed silent. After some grumbling, he finally calmed down a little.

"Where is the money?"

"In the vault, sir."

"I will be checking that!"

"Yes, sir."

"What about the businesses we started?" His assistant, staying in the back stepped forward and the underling bowed and hastily left the room. Dave was pretty sure he stole some of the coins, but it would be a nice exercise to hunt him down. Plus, he knew the guy in real life, so he couldn't really run…

"The seedy taverns are doing well, but all of the counterfeit hotels we started have been shot down by the government," his assistant began explaining.

"Did they track it back to us?"

"To my knowledge no."

"Excellent, keep up the pressure. I want to cause as much trouble for those idiots as possible."

"Yes, sir," came the calm answer as his loyal assistant made a note.

"How about the fractures? Did we manage to figure out what the NPCs were planning?" This time the poker face of his assistant broke as he grimaced while taking a subtle step back.

"Yes, sir. Apparently, the Silvercrest family decided to set up a basic dungeon system with tickets, lines, and quotas. And lots of tax. The other noble families are doing the same with the fractures on their properties. It seems the Silvercrest family is supported by the AFK company." For a moment there was silence, not entirely unlike the silence before the storm before an unarticulate yell ripped through the building. Damien almost gave up. Almost.

The dream of being a stupidly strong death knight seemed so far away after he died for the third time after successfully getting rid of the second Calon's Curse. However, it seemed luck was on his side. Because he got a motherfucking curse resistance skill! [Curse Resistance: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Thanks to suffering under several curses for a long time, your body naturally adapted to them. This skill will make it easier to deal with curses. Each level decreases the curse's effect by 0, 5%.] It was not full immunity, but it was better than nothing. So, naturally, he did what every consummate gamer would do. He girded his loins and started grinding the skill. One of his friends with a dark magician build, so he approached him for help as he had several curses in his arsenal. However, his friend had a better idea. He simply took Damien and dragged him back to the mage guild where he was made to stand in the middle of a training hall, and prospective mages stood in line to cast curses on him.

For the first hour, it was rather funny, and he made a few funny videos for his socials with the help of his friends that all came by to laugh at him, and maybe threw curse-like things at him. But after an hour he and his friends got bored so they told him to have fun and walked away to do their own practice. So, he sat down and began to meditate, intending on making use of the time he had to stay cursed. Then after an uncomfortable time, a notification pinged, awakening him from his meditation.

[Curse Resistance is now Level 100!] [Thanks to your tireless effort to stay cursed your Curse Resistance has evolved into Greater Curse Resistance!] [Greater Curse Resistance: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Thanks to suffering under a multitude of curses your body became even more resistant to them. The curses from now on will have even less effect on you. Each level shortens the duration of the curse affecting you by 0, 5% for each skill level.] [Your body has experienced so many curses that they became part of it, gaining the Cursed Blood skill!] [Cursed Blood: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) Curses flow in your veins. Your body is even more resistant to curses, increasing the Curse Resistance skill bonus by 10%. When affected by a curse your magic damage is increased depending on the strength of the curse. When not affected by a curse, all of your stats decrease by 10%.] Damien just stared at the notifications, not knowing whether to cry or laugh…

Finally, they were finished. Countless quests, heaps of materials, and gold in amounts that were hard to think about, but they were finally ready to enact their plan. Somebody had found an old book that had described a pact made with a shadowy being that granted its users the unparalleled ability to vanish into darkness, as well as control shadows. And Tim's boss decided that it was exactly what they needed to make sure that Silent Step stayed ahead of everyone.

They found an out-of-the-way location, and with painstaking effort built up a solid, yet simple temple for the being mentioned in the book. However, Tim had reservations. Magic Unbound wasn't a simple game. They could just simply roleplay as evil cultists as in other games. Here, pledging oneself to a mysterious being that lived in the shadows had consequences. Consequences he wasn't sure he was ready to deal with.

He liked being an assassin, but he liked being a normal assassin, not some cultist dancing to the tune of an Old One. Sadly, he signed a rather comprehensive contract with Silent Step, and he didn't really have the money to buy out the contract. And anybody who had the money to lend him fast wasn't somebody he wanted to be indebted to. So for now, he was helping out with the ritual. With some finagling, he managed to get himself positioned as a guard, on the account that he was one of the strongest.

But this also meant that he was on the outskirts of the ritual and the temple, giving him the chance to flee if it came to it. Granted, there was a chance that the shadowy Old One turned out to be a perfectly reasonable extra-dimensional being, but Tim wasn't ready to bet on it. Soon, the entire Silent Step was standing in the ritual room, the floor painted with the blood of several creatures that were light-natured or something similar. Everybody was wearing their customary hoods, and Tim was getting nervous.

His boss wanted him at the center of the ritual at the place of honor, but he insisted on being the guard until the very end. His boss seemed to appreciate his dedication, as well as giving up the chance of getting better rewards. As for Tim, he was gripping his weapons, his knuckles turning white, and he was ready to activate all of his escape skills at a moment's notice.

A few minutes later, he watched as the crowd began to chant, with his boss leading, and slowly but surely the blood on the floor, in the shape of unknown runes began to light up, radiating pure black light. How that worked, Tim had no idea, but it glowed pure black and it was properly sinister. He could even see the shadows stir in the corners and feel the mana churn around them.

Then after exactly seven minutes of chanting, the mana began rushing toward the simple altar set up at the wall, until it was visible, then between two blinks the mana turned the same black color as the runes and began swirling in an oval shape just like the fractures. The chanting stopped, and everybody was silent, eagerly anticipating the arrival of their new patron. And it naturally came, unable to resist the siren song that had been sung.

The being that came through the portal had no shape, no recognizable appendages. It was simply a mass of twisting shadows, with two blood-red eyes shining maliciously. Tim watched, somewhat horrified, as the being seeped through the portal, then as its tentacles of solid shadows seeped in turn into the altar, turning it from stone into some kind of black material with unknown runes on them. Tim took a small step back and glanced around. Thankfully, everybody else was staring, mesmerized at the being.

Then his boss took a step forward and exclaimed.

"Oh, Great One! We greet you among us! Be welcome to this world!" Tim had to admit, his boss was pretty good at playing the cultist maniac. There was a terse silence, then the being spoke.

"That one didn't chant," it growled in an unearthly voice as one of its many tentacles rose and pointed directly at Tim.

"Kill him!"

'Oh shit!' Then Tim was off, running for his life as his former comrades chased after him.

'At least, that means they broke the contract first…'