In moments like this, you can’t panic.
It’s a bit too trivial to freak out over.
I’ve been living in Neon City for a long time.
I thought calmly.
It was clear that the other party didn’t know my identity.
They probably just assumed I was some ordinary rookie mercenary A.
Well, the reason for that was obvious.
To that person, I was just a rookie mercenary who had asked a question about the bulletin board.
And to me, that person was merely a newbie recommended to be a warrior.
If it turns out that recommending a warrior was a mistake, I could decisively prove that it wasn’t.
Warrior (WarCraft).
It’s a really good profession.
In fact, it has always been the case in any RPG game.
When people ask what professions are preferred and important, it’s usually divided into healer, tank, and dealer in that order.
I had no ulterior motives.
I simply recommended the noble ‘warrior’ to him.
Of course.
There was the tiny issue that the player count was not high enough for party play.
And there were no serious party contents like raids.
But that was just a minor problem.
When wizards or archers were using area skills to take down multiple monsters, warriors had to take them down one by one with single-target skills.
…
Hmm.
Thinking about it, that could have been a little bit of a bad deed.
Anyway, I decided to wait for the other party’s reaction.
I placed my hand on the forced exit shortcut key, ready to close the game if things went sideways.
His character approached mine.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Thanks to you, I’ve transitioned to a warrior well! Playing this game on such an old device isn’t so bad, either!]
His response was better than I had expected.
Looks like he still hadn’t noticed the truth.
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Hahaha, I’m glad to hear that it helped!]
I acted like an ordinary rookie mercenary A.
I pretended not to know anything.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like I needed to run away.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Yeah, as you said, being a warrior is indeed good.]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ?]
I typed a question mark with lightning speed.
What the heck does that mean?
That profession can’t possibly be that good.
That sounded like a chat from someone who might have downed a hefty mental care drug, like a true underworld inhabitant.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Compared to being jobless, the hunting speed is no joke.]
Oh.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Now I can hunt 1:1 with the same-level monsters!]
I see.
Just a tiny bit.
Guilt twisted in my heart.
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Right, it’s strong. There’s a reason I recommended it, you know?]
But it couldn’t be helped.
At the point he had transitioned to a warrior, there was no more advice I could give him.
Submit to fate…
By the way.
Other dealer professions could start area hunting right after transitioning.
That was the info Julia had told me.
…But I didn’t need to share that truth.
Sometimes, not knowing is better.
After all, it’s not exactly a normal game.
There weren’t many opportunities to encounter different professions.
I didn’t bother trying to lead him toward forbidden knowledge.
There’s no need to open Pandora’s box.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): It’s also fun to equip gear and level up, you know!]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Well, I’m glad to hear that.]
I let out a short sigh.
But then.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): So I told a few of my surrounding folks how to play this game, you know? They all said it was more fun than they expected.]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ?]
I typed another question mark.
Other… people?
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Look who’s coming over! Hey guys! This is the friend I told you about, who taught me how to play the game!]
A bunch of similarly dressed characters came running from outside the screen.
Above their heads was the same name tag attached.
IiiIiiIilIlill1l (Warrior).
InfoSeller7 (Warrior).
P77648 (Warrior).
…What have I done?
Guilt crept up from beneath my disguise.
I couldn’t look at the monitor properly.
—
8. Unexpected Ties (2)
But it couldn’t be helped.
It had already come to this.
I tried to steady my mind.
[InfoSeller7 (Warrior): Is this the person you mentioned back then???]
[IiiIiiIilIlill1l (Warrior): Oh, I’ve heard a lot about you. This game is quite addictive, you know? Thanks!]
[P77648 (Warrior): It’s a great way to kill time!]
Just then, the last warrior continued the chat.
[P77648 (Warrior): Wait, now that I see it, we’re all five members, right?]
Five?
I suddenly felt a bad premonition.
[P77648 (Warrior): With five members, we can form a guild in the game! We could actually create a guild!]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ???]
I never thought about that.
A guild…?
Does this game even have such a feature?
No, it wasn’t a game to begin with.
Did we really need to form a guild?
I typed that out, but managed to erase it calmly without hitting enter.
I was at a loss now.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): That’s a really good idea!]
[P77648 (Warrior): Since it’s in-game, we could use the name ‘Warrior Craftsman Union’.]
[P2034871140 (Warrior): And since we’re the highest level, this friend can be the guild master!]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ?????]
The first person I’d met here.
Warrior Craftsman 2 started jumping around my character.
For reference, I was Warrior Craftsman 1.
…Is this destiny?
In the end, if you commit sins…
You’ll have to pay for them.
I typed no chat aside from question marks. But no one noticed my pathetic rebellion.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): This way!]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ]
I wanted to say something bad.
But there was nothing I could do anymore.
《Would you like to create a guild?》
I had become the blind king of the blind.
…I never imagined I would create a guild while playing this game.
As someone mentioned before, the guild name was decided to be ‘Warrior Craftsman Union’.
Shortened to ‘WarCraft Union’.
“…”
For some reason, that name brought back memories from my time in Korea.
It was unintended, but now that I formed a guild,
I decided to ask them why I had logged into this game.
Of course, it was about ‘Smile John’.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Smile John, huh. I heard he’s become quite famous lately.]
Warrior Craftsman 2 replied.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): That guy is everywhere—terrorist activities, support, arms imports, theft, he shows no moral compass.]
[IiiIiiIilIlill1l (Warrior): Hmm, is that so?]
It was all good, but.
Listening to the warrior’s chat one after another made me feel a bit dizzy.
I pressed enter while trying to shake off the dizziness.
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Is there any information about that guy’s identity or anything like that?]
[P2034871140 (Warrior): I’m not sure. There are many searching for him, it seems.]
Many are searching for him, huh.
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): He must’ve done a lot of things to make enemies; you’re saying there are many searching for him.]
Thinking about Smile John’s speech and actions, he definitely had a way of making enemies everywhere.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): I don’t know about that, but if you check the bulletin board, there are plenty of bounty posts on that guy.]
Warrior Craftsman 2 continued chatting.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): If you’re curious, you could check it out.]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Isn’t that bulletin board for illegal bounties only?]
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Hah, not at all. The bulletin board manager also posts legal bounty routes for us.]
So they say.
Taking the opportunity, I decided to move my character to the bulletin board.
Four warriors lined up behind my character as I moved.
It was incredibly disorienting.
As I moved, my fellow warriors typed in the chat.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Are you done with what you needed?]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): Well… I was trying to gather some info, but I guess it’s not necessary. I’ll be fine without it… ]
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Right? Nowadays, there are so many people looking for Smile John. You shouldn’t aim too high at that guy.]
There were others working hard besides me.
They hadn’t gone into detail, and when I received the messages, they merely explained things roughly, but I hadn’t expected my surroundings to move so quickly.
At this point, I really didn’t need to do anything.
And then.
One of the warriors, whose number I didn’t even know, typed a chat message.
[InfoSeller7 (Warrior): Heh heh, actually, I have some information about that terrorist too.]
To that, Warrior Craftsman 2 replied.
[P2034871140 (Warrior): Right, you’ve always been part of the information organization, haven’t you?]
[InfoSeller7 (Warrior): Exactly. But this is information that I haven’t even shared with the organization; it’s just mine.]
[P2034871140 (Warrior): What is it then?]
[InfoSeller7 (Warrior): Come on, even among us, I can’t just spill it out of nowhere.]
The two continued chatting.
In my experience, those who are overly eager to talk like that rarely have important information.
So I tried to ignore his chat.
If only Eve hadn’t spoken up.
[Could you deliver to entity ‘InfoSeller7’ the desired account or coin wallet address? I request this.]
“Huh?”
Well, if it’s just a request, that’s not hard.
I conveyed what Eve had said to that warrior.
[InfoSeller7 (Warrior): Will you give me credits? The address is (wallet link). Even if you’re the guild master, it should match the market price!]
Suddenly, his chat abruptly cut off.
A brief silence followed.
Then that warrior quickly typed again.
[InfoSeller7 (Warrior): Thank you for your patronage, dear customer! It’s truly an honor to meet you in such a humble place!]
[ImARealWizard (Warrior): ?]
I was taken aback by his sudden change of attitude.
Eve, Eve…
How much did you give him to elicit that response?
[By determining importance and priority, I conclude that it’s not a large amount.]
Here was an information organization employee from the underworld, typing with practically a bow.
What could possibly have been given to provoke that kind of reaction?
I had no clue.
How much support were they receiving on broadcasts for this to happen?
If that’s the case…
I wish they’d lift my stock ban too.
I waited for the information warrior’s next chat.
…
But.
“What if he just takes the credits and runs? Isn’t that just too straightforward?”
[Though the account is untraceable, I disagree with the assertion that it can be traced.]
“……”
Isn’t there something off with that statement?
Apparently, there’s nothing impossible for high-performance artificial intelligence.
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