The Eagle Has Landed!
Goldie became a golden comet that crashed right into the middle of the group of hivies, shaving a huge chunk off their HP and sending them flying. A barrage of crossbow bolts and flashy skills from Mel’s colleagues followed, finishing the last remnants of the contaminated NPCs in the fishing village. As her colleagues collected the pile of loot, Mel looked at her newly leveled armor.
[Human Defender Golden Set] has leveled up!
Mel smiled. After this hunt, her armor was level 5, and she had received one more upgrade to its stats.
Her celebration was interrupted by a message. Her mood instantly soured when she saw who the sender was. It was that stupid Roth. He had prodded precious personal information from her and didn’t even bother to return the favor. When she read the content of the message itself, she was incensed.
“This should whet your appetite.
Roth.
Attachment: The Riches of Antioch.”
“That’s it?!” she exclaimed. “No apologies, no nothing?”
Regardless of how hard she wanted to send a message screaming threats at the brute, she still had a job as a guild elder. She opened the attachment and skimmed through it. The more she read, the more her anger dissipated.
The consumables described were insane, and the suits of armor were very powerful. They would make a fortune if they could monopolize these unique items and recipes and sell them to the common player base.
Additionally there was also this vault thing. Now she understood why Roth had wanted to know her pet grade. The opportunity to customize a pet by using tickets gained from questing would drive the player base mad. Too bad the guide didn't specify what kind of pet it was. But, even if it were a smelly, ugly pet, for Antioch to have pets with an A grade… that place was a gold mine.
A few minutes later, she received a new message.
“Everyone who would like to participate in an auction where free stats and information on Antioch will be available, please come to Hilsford Auction Room #4 at 11 pm.”
"Free stats?!" Mel shouted, drawing curious looks from her teammates. She didn't care about the attention, though. How could Roth promise free stats? Did he think she was born yesterday?
Mel looked at the clock wide-eyed. The auction would be in six hours! Didn't he have good manners? The custom was to inform others of important auctions at least a few weeks in advance. Why make such a forceful move? Who did this brat think he was to order around big shots from the top guilds like this?
Even though the promise of free stats sounded too good to be true, there was too much to pass on. She forwarded the message to her boss, and before he even responded, she was already on her way to Hilsford.
Gigantify!
She jumped onto her giant hawk and took off toward the city.
*
Roth regarded each member of their small crew and their new hideout. After Mario's lab was compromised, they held briefings in a small conference room of a shabby inn in the slums that could be rented for a few silver coins. It wasn't a cheap sum, but money wasn't the biggest worry on their minds right now.
Roth tried to hold the tears in as everyone made the final preparations. To see so many good people trying to save him moved him. If he made it through this, he would ensure he would pay back all these people someday.
“All right, everyone. Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir!” Came the choir from the soldiers. The sudden shift to silence and the strength in their voice caught Roth by surprise. These old soldiers, led by an old mob captain, were an impressive sight.
“We've worked hard on this. Remember. We just don't want to throw one boulder into a lake. We're trying to throw multiple pebbles that will ripple and reverberate with each other, spreading through the player base.” Drake turned to Roth. “Roth, are you ready?”
“Ready. And thank you, everyone, for doing this. I’ll pay you back someday.”
“There’s this really expensive restaurant you could take us all to and treat us,” Benny called out, causing a wave of laughter in the group.
“That’s a deal!” agreed Roth.
“Any news from the guilds yet, Roth?” asked the sergeant.
“Only the Krakens. Mel said she’s coming.”
“It’s time to motivate them a little more, then. Get us started, Sarg.”
“One. Sent,” claimed Sarg.
After several seconds, H spoke. “Two. Sent.”
They sent messages to all the craftsmen they had met over the past few weeks. All of them were unfettered by guilds and wanted to join the Union Collective. They had already been told how the organization would work, but as a surprise, some things were left for until now. Only today did they reveal that it was possible to be awarded free stats in this organization.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
They spaced each message so that they were several seconds apart from each other. They were mindful of focusing on those online who could instantly react to the announcement. The goal was to shake the forums and the player base as much as possible.
Roth stayed behind, biting his fingernails, worried about whether this would work. The better reaction they could get, the more leverage they would have in their auction with the guilds.
After sending messages to their friends, it was time for stage two. Each crew member posted on the forums, showing off the free stats they had received by joining the union. They placed these posts two minutes apart from each other.
The first post got one or two reactions, the second five or six. And by the time the last of the posts had been placed on the internet, there were already hundreds of people asking for more information.
“Good. I can see we’re getting some traction. Time to blow this up. H, go for it.”
REGION ANNOUNCEMENT!
Are you a craftsman? Do you want to be free from guild responsibilities and focus on your craft? Then, join the Union Collective, where craftsmen are the real heroes!
Roth shuddered at how H had blown 50,000 gold to make this announcement. It was all the money they got after selling information from the Pegasus Library. The man hadn’t even flinched. If one sold this much gold for real world credits, they could buy a nice apartment. Roth felt bad for holding back information on the library. After this was over, he would share absolutely everything with these people.
“Roth. Start adding the names now.”
Fox Form!
Congratulations! Your charisma has reached 550.
[Well Spoken] has been upgraded to [Grand Persuader].
[Charm] has been upgraded to [Irresistible].
Your strength is under 50.
You’ve lost [Healthy Bones].
Your wisdom is under 100.
You’ve lost [Strategic Thinking].
Your intelligence is under 50.
You’ve lost [Inner Calm].
Your dexterity is under 50.
You’ve lost [Fast Hands].
Your endurance is under 150.
[Horse’s Gallop] has been downgraded to [Cat’s Sprint].
[Stone Skin] has been downgraded to [Bark Skin].
In [Fox Form], the number of players he could grant stats to rose to 57. Roth started adding the players picked by the 14th as good candidates to receive the bonus stats but didn’t fill all of the slots. He would need some of them later.
“How did you get the list? Are these the best craftsmen?” asked Roth as he filled their names on the Union contract.
“No. We focused on those that seemed more charismatic or socially active,” answered Maggie.
“I see.” That was smart. Right now, what they needed was more social reach.
“Mrs. Bessie just messaged me,” H shared with everyone, excited. “She’s getting multiple messages asking for information on the Union.”
“Any guilds?” asked Drake. Everyone leaned in. Catching the guilds’ interest was the whole reason behind them doing this.
H grinned from ear to ear. “Oh yeah! It’s a huge success!”
Everyone started hugging each other and shouting in celebration.
*
Mrs. Bessie sat in a small coffee shop in Hilsford. If she had known that she could eat whatever she wanted in this gaming world and not put on any weight, she would have joined much, much sooner.
Maggie and Emily had coached her on what she had to do today. She had read her notes on what she had to do many times. This was an important day for her baby, and she would do what she could to help her son.
She felt a tingle of excitement. Before she married Robert, she had worked in many different jobs. She had waitressed, cleaned houses, cared for old people, and worked as a cashier in the supermarket. But after Nathan was born, Robert insisted that he would provide for them and that she could stay home with her children. God bless Robert. He was a good man. A very good man.
After Roth went to jail, she had no choice but to start working again. But it was all menial jobs. She had never worked in a call center like they had her do.
She got the first message. The AI filters the soldiers had installed for her earlier read the message and identified it as a request to join. She didn’t have to do anything. The system automatically sent them a copy of the contract for them to sign.
A counter on her window showed that the union already had 400 members—another message popped up. A representative from a third-tier guild based in Hilsford had tried to make a video call. In these cases, they received an automatic message saying that they would be contacted soon by one union representative and for them to make any queries in writing. Those landed in a different folder, which she would respond to later.
What she was waiting for was the big fish. They were the top 100 teams in the game that had the resources to help her family. She answered the call.
“Hello, this is BessieMamma from the Union Collective. How can I help you?”
“Hello, ma’am. I’m with the Street Rats. I’m sure you’ve heard of us. We have a very talented carpenter in our team. We need you to grant the bonuses that you advertise to them. What do we need to do.”
“Your name, sir?”
“Ratsy.”
“Mr. Ratsy, if your carpenter is interested in becoming a unionized worker, all they have to do is sign the contract and join in. As for guaranteeing they are awarded free stats, the information is there in the contract as well.” She picked up her notes and read this bit directly from the script.
“The Union Collective acknowledges the exceptional dedication and contributions of its members. In recognition of their outstanding commitment to the Union Collective, a limited number of members may be eligible for bonuses in stats and skills. Eligibility for these bonuses will be determined based on the following criteria:
* The number of quests completed.
* Donation of rare materials to the Union Collective.
* Contribution of flags or guild items to the Union Collective.
* Sharing of precious information.
* Referrals of new players who join the Union Collective.”
“We’re willing to pay 1000 gold.”
“I’m sorry, that is impossible, sir. The Union Collective doesn’t care about money. All we care about is crafting. If you are willing to donate rare materials, flags, or guild items to display in our dummy museum or share valuable recipes or insights into crafting, please put together a proposal and send it out. If your offer is generous enough, we’ll consider securing a place for your carpenter.”
“2000 gold.”
Mrs. Bessie got another notification. There was someone else in line. When it was someone else from the top 100 guilds, she was supposed to just keep them waiting, but this was a representative of the Ogre guild, one of the top 10. She grabbed her notes and read the appropriate sentence from the script.
“Mr. Ratsy, I’m sorry, but I must cut this meeting short. Someone from the Ogres’ guild is calling me, and I need to take this. If you have any further inquiries, don’t hesitate to call us. Thank you for calling the Union Collective, where craftsmen are the real heroes.”
She hung up the call and answered the next caller.
“Hello, this is BessieMamma from the Union Collective. How can I help you?”
“Greetings, madam. My name is BlueFire, and I’m from the Ogre guild.”