Game’s Dogma

Drako Yau followed the middle-aged man to a room. While not particularly large, it was well-decorated with delicate ancient European style decorations. An exquisite table sat in the centre of the room, with two white chairs next to it. The chairs had red cotton paddings on the backrest and seat that seemed comfortable to rest on.

‘Sir, have a seat.’ The middle-aged man smiled.

Drako Yau took his offer and sat down. The middle-aged man sat on the other chair after making coffee and asked, ‘Sir, what brings you to the Mercenary Guild? Do you require our services?’

‘I’d like to have a look at the guild’s furniture. I can’t catch up on levels for now, so might as well invest in furniture for now.’

The middle-aged man nodded in agreement and served Drako Yau a cup of coffee, filling the room with the aromatic scent. He then took a sip of his cup of coffee and closed his eyes as he savoured the taste. After a while, he opened his eyes with a smile and said, ‘In that case, please have a look at the interface and see if any furniture suits your liking.’

The middle-aged man clicked his fingers and summoned a hologram in front of Drako Yau.

There were so many choices that it made Drako Yau dizzy. After a bit of fiddling around, he finally found the button to sort the furniture by levels. One-star… two-star… three-star… He found it strange that he could pick items that were six-star.

‘Sir…’

‘Just call me “butler”.’

Drako Yau could only do as he wished and said, ‘Butler, is there something wrong with the system?’

To which the butler smiled and replied, ‘There are no issues.’

Drako Yau sent a suspicious look at him and asked, ‘My Mercenary Guild rank is Rank 3, is that right?’

The butler pretended to have only realised what the issue was. He grumbled, ‘Sir, you haven’t been to the Mercenary Guild for too long, so we haven’t been able to update your rank. You are now Rank 6.’

Drako Yau widened his mouth but couldn’t utter a word. I haven’t accepted a single quest from the guild… How did I even rank up!

The butler smiled; he found Drako Yau’s astonished look rather intriguing. After all, the Castellan had always complained to him that this young man was an emotionless human who wasn’t bothered by anything.

‘Completing quests issued by the Mercenary Guild isn’t the only way to rank up. Actions and deeds that make an impact on the city also contribute to one’s Mercenary Rank. Just the fact that you defeated Empyreon in war alone is worthy of Rank 6. This isn’t favouritism; the system has rules in place. Over a thousand players have ranked up to Rank 5 after the war, and as the leader, you naturally gain more experience.’

His confusion cleared, Drako Yau no longer pursued the issue and scrolled through six-star furniture while sipping on his coffee.

There were limitations to how much furniture could be placed in a home. It didn’t make sense to place two beds in a single-person home just because they gave great buffs. As such, players were limited to one item per furniture type for most types, and the total number of furniture was ten. They could still place furniture after the limit, though the system would only apply ten buffs, chosen randomly among all furniture.

Drako Yau had sent Hexen to acquire most furniture for him. Money wasn’t an issue, but there were times when money couldn’t solve every problem. All furniture obtained through the Mercenary Guild was untradeable.

Soon, Drako Yau decided on the piece of furniture he wanted: Rusty Battlesword. It sounded like a weapon, but it was a decorative item.

‘Epic furniture, Rusty Battlesword. A sword retrieved from a battlefield, it is tattered and dyed in blood. The aura of death converging on its blade is so ominous that not everyone can withstand its presence.

Effect: Increases Attack by 10 per cent, increases Strength and Constitution by 15 points.’

Drako Yau was speechless at how powerful it was. Just the attribute buff was worth six levels! Still, he wasn’t foolish enough to think he was the only one with powerful furniture. Only players themselves knew what furniture they had, so it was their trump card in a sense.

Nonetheless, Rusty Battlesword would definitely help him catch up with the first-rate players.

‘I’ll have the Rusty Battlesword.’

‘As you wish,’ the butler responded with a smile. He took out the sword along with its sheath from seemingly nowhere. Both the hilt and sheath were dirty and tattered, but they had an uncanny aura that made it difficult for people to look at. It wasn’t just a sword; an invisible warrior seemed to be howling as he held the rusty sword in his hand.

Drako Yau received it and said, ‘Thank you.’

He then stood up and left after achieving his goal.

The next day, the official forum blew up once again.

Before the uproar caused by the verdict subsided, news of Mask showing up in Yoda’s Mercenary Guild spread throughout the game. Empyreon players protested again: Why did their players have to be imprisoned and beheaded when Mask, who also killed players, could roam freely?

The public outrage this time was even worse than yesterday.

‘It’s unfair!’

‘Dammit, that masked fella is so mysterious. Could he be a GM who snuck his way into the game?’

‘We demand an explanation!’

Before long, the game officials made another announcement. It read, ‘Player ??? rightfully defended himself. There is no need for any punishment.’

Those from Empyreon simply couldn’t accept it. They cursed and yelled at the game officials day and night, but their complaints were ignored. Some of them went overboard with their curses and were banned from commenting on the forum for half a year. Pissed off even more, those players spammed their curses on the global channel in the game, resulting in their accounts getting muted in the game as well.

Such things had nothing to do with Drako Yau.

He was currently dead-set on levelling up quickly. The Level 30 dungeon, John’s Laboratory, was the quickest place to level up from Level 30 to Level 35, so there he was.

However, he only stayed at the starting location of the dungeon. Greenstone, Zephyrwolf, Sasaki, Windstrider, Idyllic Poet, and Danting were taking turns to carry him through the dungeon. He sat there on the ground, receiving experience as his companions fought while he worked on something else.

Pugilist

Description: Powerful martial artists who came to the realisation that their fists were the best weapon after enduring harsh training. In exchange for sacrificing attack range, they are outstanding in close-quarters combat and have lightning-fast attack speed.

Skill type: Exceptional pugilists must fully comprehend their techniques and have quick reflexes. There are demanding conditions to meet before one can become a powerful pugilist, but once they are proficient, pugilists are their enemies’ nightmares in melee combat.

Skill tree: Fist techniques, Leg techniques.

Weapon type: Gloves.

Class progression: ???

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