Seeing Alex and Liam having a conversation, Rey hurriedly rushed over. "Bro! I am sorry! This was my mistake. I screwed up by calling over everyone."
"Hmmm?" Liam shook his head. "What are you talking about? This was very close to the guild residence. Even if you didn't call eventually everyone would have noticed."
"Ah… that is true."
"Alright. Enough about that. The boss is down so that's all that matters. Now we have bigger fish to fry." Liam looked at Alex who was also waiting to hear his next move.
"Give me a few minutes. Let me log out and check things first. We can meet back in an hour." Liam nodded and then quickly logged off.
He then hurriedly got out of the capsule and switched on the TV.
BINGO!
Just like Alex said, the headlines were…
"The game that kills!"
"Beware of the new videogame 'Evolution Online'! Players playing this game are affected by strong electric currents and are dying due to various health issues!"
"Recent unexplained deaths all linked to the mysterious video game 'Evolution Online!'"
"At this time, the government requests everyone to stop playing this game!"
"WHO strongly recommends everyone to stop using any kind of virtual reality game capsules!"
"Anyone found playing the game would be strongly fined and game capsules would be confiscated!"
"The game 'Evolution Online' is banned for the foreseeable future!"
Liam continued watching the news for a while, changing different channels. It looked like Alex was right. The news had indeed broken.
Each channel was reporting news more outrageous than the previous one but all were basically saying the same thing.
Players playing the game had mysteriously died. However, they did not elaborate on anything further. There were no solid details.
And just like his last timeline, in this one as well the government was going all out in a futile attempt to completely ban the game.
Thinking about this now, Liam could only chuckle.
In reality, while the government appeared to strongly recommend several things on TV and online, behind the scenes they were actually doing something else.
They didn't reveal all the details about the deaths associated with the game and kept the real facts to themselves. This led to people believing that simply logging into the game itself was dangerous.
So everyone stopped playing the game altogether, well at least most of the population. The gold exchange prices also dropped.
Not just that but both the military and the government started entering the game in full force. They also allowed various corporations and big families to enter the game.
While the rest of the country obediently listened to their so-called rules they went behind everyone's back and used this chance to get a strong foothold.
This was all done in the name of the investigation.
They also poached several strong players from the various guilds by threatening them with imprisonment and their real-life assets.
This was why it was very important to not let one's identity leak.
"Rat bastards!" Liam shook his head and spat at them. He then continued watching the news for a few more minutes before ordering some food and freshening up.
After an hour he promptly logged back into the game. It was time to implement some things.
"Bro! We are here!" Rey waved at him. Alex, Mia, and Rey were all standing at the same spot.
"Let's go to the guild residence and talk. We are very close anyway." Liam waved back at them and the group moved their meeting to the guild base.
"Liam, did something change?" Mia asked as soon as she saw him up close.
"What do you mean? The news?"
"No, you. You are stronger. A lot stronger. I mean after reaching level 50, did something happen?" She asked again.
Liam grinned in amusement. This girl's eyes were as sharp as ever!
"Yes. Something did change." He took out the mana core that the field boss dropped and showed it to Mia. "This is a mana core."
"Oh?"
"Not just beasts but humans are also capable of forming these mana cores. When you reach Level 50, the divine temple priestess should be able to help you out."
"Raise your reputation as much as possible before that. She might even give you special techniques or special quest for the core itself."
"But whatever it is, make sure to talk to me first. I can tell you if there is a better alternative."
"Ok, thank you." Mia nodded. She was at Level 44 right now and there was still a long way to go for her to actually reach Level 50.
But sensing just how strong Liam's mere presence was, she couldn't wait to reach that stage as well.
The four of them walked back to the guild residence silently, all engrossed in their own thoughts and finally, after the group settled down in one of the conference rooms, Liam broke the silence.
"It's time to implement our special guild ranks."
Everyone looked up at him, gulping nervously and Liam continued. "Send out the contract offer to everyone. They can now be inner members of the guild or outer members of the guild."
"Penalty for the inner members for any sort of betrayal is permanent soul death. This should be very clear."
"SUPER BRO!" Rey shouted loudly!
Both Alex and Mia gave him a hard glance but they also nodded in agreement. Just seeing the fight against the field boss unfold it was clear that they needed more organization and less chaos.
And if just a Level 55 field boss was like this, then what about all the dungeon bosses, Level 60 and above field bosses, and other high-leveled elites?
Teamwork was going to be more and more important and they needed to remove all the leeches from their guild. So it was the perfect time to implement this.
"Liam, there is definitely going to be a huge uproar," Alex spoke.
"That's alright. I have a plan for that." Liam smiled. "We are going to start doing some dungeon runs and power leveling."
"When they see the gains they can get for being an inner member, they will gradually settle down and begin to think of the guild as their home."
"So we will be working together a lot for the next couple of days."
"What! Seriously!" Rey stood up in shock.
Seeing this Alex quickly pulled him back, "Why the hell are you getting excited for? You can't raid with us anyway. You need to catch up first."
Ah… Rey realized this point and he immediately became sad, but it didn't last long. He once again grinned and smugly lifted his nose up.
"That's fine. Bro gave me a special mission so I will be off doing that."
"What special mission?" Alex asked but the guy did not answer her and mysteriously ran away after giving Liam a wink.
"This brat!" Alex wanted to pummel him.
***
Mass Release Part 1 Chapter 1~
Please thank Matthias_Schmidt for sponsoring this mass release!
