The Immortal Player

"Is it really alright for us to even offer Transformation Skills to Team Fuji Organization, just for an alliance?" Arvedar asked with a frown on his face.

Mathew could only scratch the back of his head before adding, asking, "What do we get with forming an alliance with them in the first place?"

Pedro simply chuckled in response before saying, "Why you ask? Isn't it obvious?! To lessen our enemies in the future!"

Arvedar couldn't help but sigh in response and say, "It's not like I am against what you did—offering, and revealing the information about the Transformation Skill, to them, but… Don't you think that it was a risky move—especially that we do not hold any form of assurance that would ensure that they won't leak the information to everyone else?"

"Relax, Arvee!" Pedro said. "Whether they leak the information about the transformation skill or not… won't be a problem! We have complete control in its supply—even its price, in the first place! So… It's not like the skill's value would be affected!"

"Well… I just don't want our group to gain more trouble!" Arvedar leaned his back to his chair. Then, he added, saying, "Our hands are also 'full' as of now!"

Pedro rubbed his chin in response—pondering for a few seconds, before saying, "I understand your concern. But… I have great trust with the Japanese Players! They won't betray us that easily!"

"Up to you, Cap!" Arvee said. Then, he shifted the topic by saying, "Moving forward… What's do you plan to do with the Anti-Adventurer's Guild Faction in the South?"

"Hmm… Erafir reported that the remnants of the United Asian Force were taking advantage of the chaos in the south!" Pedro said. "The non-stop waves of monster attacks were already overpowering the combined forces of the Players—under the adventurer's guild and the NPCs! And… Those b@st@rds are probably using that opportunity to 'stain' the reputation of the Adventurer's Guild!"

"It's not like we can go there, nor do we have any force that we can deploy in that area!" Mathew added in response. "The members of Oran Gutan Guild have their hands full with the management of the Adventurer's Guild Branches alone! And… It's not like we can send the fleet to the South! Our progress in the Western Side of the Continent would be wasted!"

At this moment, Pedro could not help but glance at Faunia and ask, "Do we really have no other choice but to end the calamity?"

Faunia kept her eyes closed and simply crossed her arms before saying, "It's up to you, human! But… If I were you… I would focus on 'capitalizing' on this opportunity to strengthen my men! After all… In order to obtain power… Some 'sacrifices' are often needed to be made!"

"Giving up the South, huh?" Pedro murmured in response. Then, he added, saying, "Things won't end well between us and the NPCs from the south—if we do that!"

"You can't please everyone, human!" Faunia said in response.

Pedro could only sigh heavily in response—hesitant to give up their control at the southern part of the Aquari Continent.

Truth be told, the number of monsters—specifically wild mountain wolves, was increasing exponentially throughout the Aquari Continent at this moment. It was seemingly in proportion with the increasing population of players in the continent.

That said, despite the 'developmental' aid provided by the Adventurer's Guild, players are unable to match the tenacity of the monsters. Thus, humans are slowly being cornered by the monsters brought by the calamity [also known as the Continental Quest].

Obviously, this was a good opportunity to strike for those who have ill intentions or those who desire to replace the Adventurer's Guild.

In fact, spreading rumors around could even work and help them slowly overthrow the Adventurer's Guild with its control over the players in the southern part of the Aquari Continent.

Sadly, Pedro lacks the manpower to retain a firm grasp over the whole Aquari Continent as of the moment. Their men, mostly from Oran Gutan Guild, were scattered everywhere and are busy leading and managing branches of Adventurer's Guild in different strongholds in the continent.

On the other hand…

He may be trying to establish an alliance with the other gaming organizations and players, but… It does not necessarily mean that he would give them any information nor authority with regards to the management of the Adventurer's Guild.

Besides… Such things—like alliance, were never 'set in stone' in the first place. Even in the presence of contracts, Betrayal amongst allies is still bound to happen.

That is why… Pedro didn't want to depend upon 'alliances' to solve the current manpower problem, even if he can consider the loyalty of the Japanese Players.

"Why don't we just leave things as it is?" Aldo asked—surprising everyone else in response except Faunia. Then, he added, saying, "I mean… Even if our branches in the south falls apart, we could at least make the NPCs realize that the Adventurer's Guild did its best to help them 'till the very end!"

"And… It's not like we can destroy them once again!" Arvedar added. "It took us weeks to 'find' them and infiltrate their group! Destroying the hostile faction would just make things more difficult for us since we need to look for them again—if such cases happened!"

"You guys have a point…" Pedro said. Then, he sighed heavily before saying, "It seems like we need to establish another sub-guild!"

Pedro paused for a second—glancing to everyone else, before saying, "We have several days before our next match in the competition. Contact anyone you guys deem trustworthy, hardworking, and reliable—both in VR Games and in real life! Bring them here, and we'll see if they'd be good enough to be part of our organization!"

"Bro… To be clear… We would bring people for some kind of Job Interview, right?" Aldo asked.

Pedro simply nodded in response before saying, "Trustworthy People, Bro!"

"Got it!" Aldo said whilst giving Pedro a thumbs up.

"But… How are you planning to use the sub-guild that we are going to establish?" Mathew interjected with a frown on his face.

Pedro simply chuckled in response and said, "Hmm… I don't know how should I explain it, but… This sub-guild that we're going to establish… would act as our substitutes or support, in case the need arises!"

"Even in professional competitions?" Mathew asked.

Pedro simply nodded in response before saying, "Think of this as a 'contingency plan' on our side! In-Game and Real-life events could happen at the same time, right?"

"Like… The previous war at the western side of the continent, for example!" Pedro explained. "What if such cases were to occur in the game, whilst a Real Life event—like competitions, were ongoing… We would be forced to choose to abandon one of those two cases! Obviously… We would prioritize "In-Game Events" over the Real Life ones! So… The third sub-guild would not only act as our supports here in the game but also… They could act as substitutes for us in pro-leagues!"

Pedro paused for a second before adding, saying, "On top of that… This would be a good chance to 'take advantage' of the results of our experiment with the wolf transformation skill! Building an army of Werewolf Transforming Humans would not hurt for us, right?"

"As for Lony… It's up to him if he would like to keep his Werewolf Transformation Skill, or if he would want to take his chances to obtain a randomly generated one!" Pedro said as he glanced towards Lony. Then, he added, saying, "Well… If we win this competition… Considering that he is the player that we deliberately advertised as our Ace… There's a huge probability that he'd be targeted by our enemies in the game—and he could die because of that…"

"In any case… If the Oran Gutan Guild is our 'Source of Money'… Then, this new sub-guild would be our 'Main Army'!" Pedro said before his face wore a mischievous smirk.

Mathew could only scratch the back of his head, whilst his forehead weaved a few lines—indicating that he was slightly troubled with Pedro's plan. That said, he can't deny the fact that Pedro was right. There was a chance that events both in real life and in the game could overlap and happen at the same time.

In fact, in reality, Professional Gaming Organizations are often composed of two major groups of players.

One is their 'Flag ship' Group—or their Main Team consisting of their "Best" Professional Players, while the other group is their 'Developmental' Group—where players with potential to be in the Main Team were being trained and developed.

That way, in cases that a spot was needed to be immediately filled in the Main Team, the Gaming Organizations would have players who could, at the least, decently fill the said vacant roles or spots in the Main Team.

As for the 'Gold Farming Teams'… Only the Giant Gaming Organizations in the VR Games Industry have their own Gold Farming Teams.

The reason behind this is simple.

Independent Gold Farming Focused Gaming Organizations also exist.

And… Small Professional Gaming Organizations could just simply conduct trade with them, at the 'exact' amount they needed.

That way, the Small Professional Gaming Organizations would not need to worry about the management and the compensation of the players just for Gold Farming purposes.

Besides… It's not like players could not earn coins for themselves. It's just that there would be cases that they would suddenly need a lot of coins for some specific reasons—be it a quest, for weapon or item upgrades, and such.

Of course… Mathew knows about this fact since he previously worked in a Different Professional Gaming Organization himself.

In fact, he was confused as to why Pedro made the Oran Gutan Guild a Gold Farming Team, instead of their "Developmental Team". It's not like the ARES Electronics Inc., a newly established Gaming Organization, could be considered as a "Giant" in the VR Gaming Industry in the first place.

That said… Knowing their current circumstance… He knew that they had no choice but to establish a "Developmental Team" of their own.

"Who would lead the sub-guild, Captain?" Mathew asked. Then, he added, asking, "Do you have someone in mind?"

"I want Weyron to take that role, but… I doubt that he would be able to let go of the Oran Gutan Guild at this point!" Pedro said in a slightly dismayed tone. Then, he sighed heavily before saying, "Anyway… I am still undecided, but I have a few people in mind!"

"In case you guys have anyone you want to recommend to lead the new sub-guild to be established… Don't hesitate to tell me about it. The more the candidates for the leader position, the more choices we have, the better!" Pedro said.