"..."
"..."
HinoKun cleared his throat.
"Can we talk now, Antares?"
"Fine," I said.
pαndα noνɐ1,сoМ I, unfortunately, could not refute the fact that DragonTalon was the one who started attacking first. After suffering through a lot of unwanted intervention, we somehow became accustomed to seeing the players as Dominion as enemies that needed to be purged. That was indeed wrong of us.
A ding on my user interface screen cut into our conversation. I took a look. There was a message from DragonTalon.
"Antares? We found an empty training spot, 'Wolf Field VI'. Are you coming over? Where are you anyway?"
I looked up from the message.
"Can I get my friends back here for a discussion? I promise they won't attack."
HinoKun agreed.
"That would be great."
I quickly sent my friends a message in the party chat. None of them responded. I imagined that they must be stunned to hear that I did not die and was actually still in the same spot, surrounded by the Dominion players.
All five of them entered the map not long afterward, their faces a mix of astonishment and curiosity.
There was a safe platform on the map where wolves did not spawn. It was a little crowded with almost twenty people present on the map, so some decided to go kill the mobs casually on the side.
HinoKun and SakuraChan stood together and spoke to the six of us. My friends showed them the same initial reaction when they heard that Dominion wanted to reconcile with Twelve after they had done so many atrocious things. They were also similarly stunned when they heard the reasoning behind Dominion's actions.
I could see that DragonTalon was a little ashamed of initiating the attack as soon as he saw the group of Dominion players enter the map. He huffed and said nothing, just folding his arms together in front of his chest and glaring at both HinoKun and SakuraChan.
"So again, I am asking all of you to please talk to your guild leaders. Right now is not the time to quarrel. We don't need to merge again. I have seen that the two guilds indeed have clashing ideas and different playing styles. All I want is the same cooperation that we once had when BlackPuma was still here."
Upon mentioning BlackPuma, a layer of sadness covered HinoKun's eyes. All of us understood that although the two guilds were technically rivals, BlackPuma and HinoKun were also good friends who supported each other. After BlackPuma disappeared, HinoKun was not able to strike the same quality of friendship with the remaining Twelve members.
"I am ready to negotiate and will accept anything except telling Ninja to drop the cloak. I think it is contra-productive, that's why. For all I care Ninja can be banned from the future raids until every player in Twelve gets their end-game equipment. Then if he still steals anything, he will be stealing from Dominion players and not Twelve players."
My friends and I exchanged acknowledging glances. It was not bad, really. HinoKun seemed to have thought deeply about a solution to mend the ties between the two guilds.
"If you guys agree... Please come to my level-up celebration, alright?" HinoKun said with a smile. "I am going to level up at the Dark Pegasus' spawning spot in Frozen Tundra Land. We will use a megaphone to inform everyone of the exact time."
HinoKun grabbed SakuraChan's hand for support.
"I hope that all of you can make it. Everyone from Twelve."
After HinoKun said what he had to say, they all left the map. The six of us were left dumbfounded at the unexpected turn of events.
"Maybe don't attack them first next time, DragonTalon," ZhaoYun broke the silence with a joke.
DragonTalon scoffed.
"I know already."
HellWitch rubbed at her temple.
"So... who is going to tell them the good news?"
HellWitch posed the question, but all of them simultaneously look in my direction. I stared at every each of them.
"Seriously guys? Not even decided by voting?"
HellWitch shrugged.
"Antares is right. All in favor of having Antares speak to Ingenious and friends, please raise your hands."
All but me raised their hands. I pulled my lips into a straight line. The voting was not rigged, but I was still largely dissatisfied with the outcome.
We continued grinding for several hours until noon, then we went to do our own stuff until the time for the Queen Spider raid arrived.
I went into my home to attend to my farm and make some potions. The mysterious plant seed that I got from Kitty's wedding grew up into a sturdy tree, and it finally bore some fruits. Peaches.
I grinned to myself and went to check its item info.
[Peaches are precious ingredients for desserts, drinks, and baked goods.]
Hmm. Well, I had some time to kill. I thus rolled up my imaginary sleeves and went to harvest the ripe peaches from the tree. And then I made my way to the Global Market to find out how much money I can make with them.
I wandered from shop to shop, going through players casually until my eyes caught sight of a familiar figure who I had not seen for quite some time and thought I would never see again.
"KITTY!" I shouted in amazement.
The girl's head immediately shot up in my direction.
"ANTARES!" she cried.
We ran toward each other and hugged like a pair of lovers that had been separated for a long time. Cough. Sorry, Wolfhound.
"Anty, oh my God..."
Kitty wiped at the tears that started to roll down her cheeks.
"I can't believe that I get to meet you again. In market section to boot..."
I completely forgot that the Global Market connected all the safe zones within the Afterlife Dream.
"How are you? How is everything...?"
Kitty laughed while she was busy wiping her tears away.
"I am okay. We are okay. Well, some players got a little depressed..."
After Wolfhound told everyone in Marsh City that Fairy Forest was no longer accessible, those who intended to level up and play the game properly were extremely distraught. They were the players who tried their best to move on despite the unexpected development, but they ended up meeting with a roadblock that they could not overcome. It was heartbreaking. A lot of them questioned their existence within the game, whether or not they had been "scammed" because the information that they received during avatar creation did not include the recent development. Then again there was no other choice. They had been reincarnated into the Afterlife Dream. If they had stayed put inside the farmhouse, they might be stuck there forever. There was no other option other than moving forward. The sudden appearance of the Dimensional Master could be referred to as force majeure. A natural disaster. Something unprecedented.
Greenwood reported the same news to the players in Dai City. Most players in Dai City were enraged at first, but then they slowly calmed down and decided to wait for better things to come. Compared to the players in Marsh City, those in Dai City had yet to invest too much time and energy in the game, so they were not too disappointed.
After reaching level 20, Greenwood came to Marsh City regularly to visit Kitty and Wolfhound to share updates between the two cities.
According to Greenwood, new players kept coming to Dai City so the current inhabitants of Dai City had to keep explaining to new players about the prevalent situation. When these players had no place to stay in Dai City, they went back to Daisyville. Daisyville was a personal beginner's map that a player did not have to share with anyone.
"Anty, everyone is harboring great hope for all of you to restore Afterlife Dream to its previous state. It must be hard on you guys. How is everything going?"
I swallowed hard, trying my best to curb the rising anxiety in my throat.
The players in Dai City and Marsh City had not heard about BlackPuma's disappearance. They were unable to join the meeting the morning it was announced in Paradise Island, and other people simply did not think about informing them. Using a megaphone to inform everyone was also rather tactless. I was not sure if I should tell them or just keep quiet.
Just as I was contemplating the merits and demerits of spreading more bad news to Kitty and Wolfhound, a huge colorful banner shot into the sky. Huge letters spread above our heads and flower petals fell on the players underneath. Not long after, SakuraChan's calm voice was heard throughout the Afterlife Dream realm, announcing the content of the banner.
"Hello Everyone in Afterlife Dream world. HinoKun from guild Dominion is going to level to 150 tomorrow morning at 8 AM in Frozen Tundra Land at the spawn spot of Dark Pegasus. We would like to welcome everyone to come and celebrate with us. The celebration will be continued at the Dominion guild's base camp, the Red Lantern Tea House in Chinatown. We hope to see you there."
"Oh," Kitty looked up at the announcement, then she shifted her eyes to beam at me. "It looks like everything is going according to the plan. HinoKun is the second player to reach 150. Soon there will be a third, a fourth... The Dimensional Master will be defeated in no time. Right, Anty?"
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