“Uh… I heard what they said,” Jack tried to speak of something to break the depressing situation. “So the Six Rings of Prosperity is giving you trouble because you rejected them?”
“Yes… Their leader in this city seemed to know my alias from the past,” George replied. “When he invited me, I turned him down. It appears that he is not the type to be refused. If only he knew how useless a player I have become.”
‘Ugh, it is getting more depressing instead,’ Jack said in his mind. He couldn’t stand seeing his past rival becoming such an insecure person. He slapped Paytowin’s back. “Come on! It’s not like all your past games solely depend on pay-to-win. All those gamings we did together, you have the experiences and spirit you need to become great in this world. Believe in yourself!”
“Easy for you to say. I can say this world is practically made for you.. As for me, I’m not used to working on it slowly.”
“Then just adapt. I know you can. If you are not, you wouldn’t have become a level 31 while most others were still level 30 and 29.”
Paytowin made a weak laugh, “after the incident with Six Rings of Prosperity? I doubt I will have peaceful days of leveling now.”
“Oh… Hey! How about you join my guild then?” Jack asked.
“Your guild? Since when did you join a guild? Aren’t you loathe for your free spirit to be tied down by something like a guild?”
“I am still free because I am one of the leaders. I am free to do what I like. Well, I do have to help the guild one time or another. Also, as you can see, this world is not a game where we can log off and changed to different games to play. We are stuck with this one. We need some form of security. Being in a community provided some sense of it. Just like your problem with the Six Rings of Prosperity. If you join my guild, you don’t have to go against them alone.”
Paytowin seemed to be having some thoughts.
“No need to rush it. Here, let me send you a Friend invite. If you want to join, just give me a holler. Or you can go to the guild associations and apply from there. Our guild is called Everlasting Heavenly Legends.”
“What?! That is your guild?” Paytowin uttered with surprise. “That guild was placed number one on the chart. You are one of the leaders of that guild?”
“Hehe, impressed, aren’t you? Just apply. I will put in words for you to be amongst the core members. You don’t need to worry about being tied down. As long as you didn’t do anything that harms the guild, you are free to do as you please.”
“I will think about it. By the way, why do you change your alias?” Paytowin asked. He just accepted Jack’s Friend invite and noticed again his new alias.”
Jack shrugged, “I want a clean slate.”
“Why want a clean slate?”
“Why not? I just want to feel fresh in this fresh new world.”
“Whatever, man. By the way, have you met Grace? Considering we all got pulled into this world. She should be as well.”
“No… By the way, can you do me a favor? If you happened to chance upon her. Please don’t tell her that I’m me. She didn’t know my real identity like you. So, she didn’t know what I look like.”
“Why not? We are pretty tight together… Wait a minute… Is it because of what she said during our last get-together? Hold on… Don’t tell me, you are changing your alias because of that!?”
“Uh, um… I have no idea what you are talking about.”
The Grace that they were talking about was a girl who was also an independent expert like the two of them. After some coincidental encounters, the three started to team up regularly for quests, becoming close. Yet, unlike Paytowin, Jack had no idea of Grace’s real identity in the real world, and vice versa.
“Dude, a girl expressed her feeling to you and you ran? Some man you are. No wonder we didn’t see you anymore after that. If a beautiful girl told me that she likes me, I will be over the moon, not run and hide.”
“Yo, man, enough with the condescending words. How do you even know she was actually beautiful? The past games allowed us to create our own avatar, we could make whatever appearance we wanted. Hell, there is not even a guarantee that she is a girl. For all I know, Grace can be a fat old dude living off a basement somewhere.”
“Come on, man. I don’t believe that. I think you don’t either. Not after we spent so much time together. I think you are just having a panic attack for having a girl expressing her feelings to you. Tell me, it was your first time experiencing that, wasn’t it?”
Jack was having trouble keeping a straight face. He quickly said, “Don’t lump me in like a billionaire playboy such as you. Look at you, suddenly not so glum anymore after finding someone to ridicule. Well, I actually don’t have that much time to chat with you. I need to take my elite class trial first then get back to the guild. We have a big fight coming up tomorrow.”
“You are trying for the elite trial? Well, if it’s you, you probably can pass,” Paytowin said.
“Did you try it already?” Jack asked.
“I tried it when I hit level 30, but failed. In fact, I haven’t heard anyone that had succeeded yet.”
“Well, I know for sure one of my guild’s members had already managed to succeed. I will be the next.”
“Really? Your guild has such an outstanding member? By the way, what is this big fight your guild will be having?”
“We are going to fight the coalition. I don’t know if you are aware of them. They were an alliance of eleven large guilds. That Six Rings of Prosperity that was giving you trouble is one of them.”
“The coalition? Of course, I know of it,” Paytowin uttered with wide eyes. “Your guild is fighting against them? The hell! And you asked me to join your guild? One Six Rings of Prosperity has already made my life miserable. Do you think I can still use my wealth to bully others?”
“Don’t worry about them. I will take care of them, no problem. Well, I will leave the guild-joining to your decision. If you join, that will be great. If not, we will still be friends. I got to go now. Stay safe!”
“No problem, he said,” Paytowin grumbled quietly as he watched Jack went away into the building that housed the Blade Dancer academy. He was contemplating his options. What Jack said did make some sense. It will be difficult if he continued to do everything by himself in this new world. He didn’t have the edge he used to have anymore. He might need to join a group sooner or later, but did he have to risk losing his freedom?
Jack did say that he would let him be free, but it was not as simple as that. Once you joined a group, there would always be some expectation. He was not thick-faced enough to ignore all the cold looks and silent treatment if he didn’t get in with the program. It would have been different if he already knew most of the people in the group, but Jack was the only one he knew there, and he was not exactly that easy to warm up with strangers.
Jack was not aware of all the ponderings Paytowin was having due to his offer. He believed that this old friend of his would come around to love the people in his guild if he joined. But if he decided not to join, Jack won’t force him as well.
As Jack entered the entrance to the Blade Dancer academy, instead of a foyer, he found himself in a long hallway. Along both sides of the hallway were innumerous sword replicas. Each sword replica looked different. Jack continued walking along the hallway until he found a double door that was guarded by a man in armor with two swords hanging on his belt.
“What is your purpose here?” The man asked.
“I wish to take the trial to become a Blade Dancer,” Jack said respectfully.
“Stay still,” the man uttered as he extended an arm out.
Jack didn’t move. The man’s hand came over and touched his forehead. If it was before, Jack would not have felt anything. He would simply be puzzled by the man’s action. But at the moment, he knew exactly what was happening. The man’s aura, chi, or mana, was enveloping his own, probing his.
“Warrior level 30. You are qualified to take the trial,” the man said. He then stood aside. The double doors behind him started to open by themselves. The stoned doors opened very slowly and revealed only darkness behind them. Jack couldn’t see anything past the door opening.
‘What’s the deal with the darkness?’ Jack wondered as he waited if any light would be turned on in the room beyond. However, the man who now stood beside the opened door gestured for Jack to go in. Apparently, there would be no light getting turned on.
“Is there anything I need to pay attention to? Is there any rule? What should I do to pass the trial?”
“To pass, you only need to win,” the man replied.
“Any time limit?”
“No time limit. You fight until you passed, or you die and fail.”
‘All right then,’ Jack said in his mind as he walked forward.
