The independent players who had spawned in the Covan Hamlet were unlucky. They just wanted to play the game, but that wasn't even being allowed to them! Why?

"Sorry. Entry to this establishment is for Shock Collar players only."

"We're blocking all entry to this building if you're not part of the Ravaging Crows."

"Omni Industrial is taking over this area. Off-limits to all else!"

...

More than a couple of groups had already taken control of the buildings that would be useful to players who were just starting the game. The frontier shop, material shop, and even the food services were hotly contested among the organization players. Those who wanted to play for fun were simply wasting away...

Of course, it wasn't as if none of them had tried. However, for some odd reason, the number of independent players in this hamlet was unusually low.

In Synergy, or any game for that matter, independent players took up the vast majority of the player population. There was over a 99% chance that any given player was not part of an organization. And this made sense; most players were in the game to have a good time, and being part of an organization meant you most likely had to work.

In Covan, however, only around 50% of the player population was unaffiliated. Why was this the case? Well...

"Hurry and find that quest!"

"It should have been in here... It's not anymore!"

"What? Look over there, then! It's gotta be somewhere! Did someone already take it?"

"... Once we have enough money..."

"... We can buy that item!"

It was discovered in the beta phase of the game that the Covan Hamlet had an auction house with a supposedly uncommon item. When beta testers reported this fact to their respective organizations, news traveled quickly. The result? Organizations' players flooded Covan upon release.

Auction houses' purpose was self explanatory: they were hotspots for all sorts of items that anyone could bid on. And it wasn't unlikely to see at least one rare item in the mix.

The independent players had already attempted to break the orgs' grip on the essentials-selling shops, but their lack of unity was their downfall. Similarly to how the group of 20+ players failed to cooperate to take out Fae Sol, the independent players of Covan struggled to take out the orgs. With this everyone was dejected. Until...

"Is that player part of a group? What are they doing?"

"Actually, is that even a player? Their name is invisible."

"No, it's definitely a player. I don't know what it is, but something tells me for a fact that it's a player."

The independent players watched as they shook their heads. Though they didn't recognize this player, if they weren't part of the org that was guarding the building, there was no chance they could enter.

"Excuse me, handsome guy. Would you be so kind as to make way for me?"

When everyone heard this, they were shocked! It was an incredibly cute girl's voice!

"Um... We cannot. Sorry."

When everyone heard the guards' response, they were shocked once again!

"Whaaat? You're saying those rude guards are weak to a cute girl? Hey, you!" A young boy said as pointed at the first girl he saw.

"Eek! Me?"

"Go convince him to let us in!"

"Wha... What? No, there's no way! Didn't you see that player was also rejected?"

"So what? You saw how they treated us earlier. There's a chance!"

When the girl heard this, she frowned.

"Don't wanna."

"Whaaaat?"

----------------------------------------

After leaving Brookie and Dharr at the edge of the hamlet, Jisha was practicing using her avatar's cuteness to convince the guards to let her in. She knew she had good looks both in and out of the game, so why couldn't she use them to her advantage? She also knew how to strike optimal poses to try and break into mens' hearts. However, no matter what she said, they wouldn't budge.

*Though one of them is looking a bit bashful... Hehehe...*

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Jisha mischievously smiled as figured she'd just have to go with her main plan. The door to the materials shop in front of her was small enough to be completely blocked off by two players, so she couldn't simply slip by them like she did with the four Asunder clowns. Instead...

"I'm sorry for calling you handsome, then... Maybe you are just old. If you can't react to this, I'll have to call you old men instead!"

Jisha caught both of the men off guard with a quick leg sweep which knocked them off balance. This resulted in an opening, and Jisha was able to easily dash inside.

When everyone saw this, they were dumbstruck!

"What?? Don't Safe Zones prevent all damaging moves like that? How did she do that?"

Jisha, hearing this, didn't want to explain it. But she obviously knew why. First of all, simply by observing the two guards, it was clear that they were more skilled at guarding doors than the Asunder clowns. Their method of blocking the door was similar to professional bouncers that she had seen in her past life.

*Skilled bouncers wouldn't be too distracted by my charades, though. At the end of the day, it worked, and that's all that matters.*

Since the guards were clearly distracted, a quick leg sweep was all it took to knock one of them off balance. A proper leg sweep wouldn't damage another player, therefore it was permitted in a Safe Zone. If she had opted for a more violent option like a roundhouse or circle kick, the system would not register the attack; it would be like kicking an invisible wall. Even the front kick Jisha had performed in Uval was more of a push than a true kick.

"Hey, what? Who are you? Brusse, Declan, what the hell are you guys doing?"

An unaffiliated player entered, so a lone player that was probably part of some org barked at all three of them.

Once she was inside, though, it was impossible for players to start conflict with her. Because...

"Welcome to Leyla's Wares! What business do you have with us today?"

*>Name: Leyla*

*>Level: ???*

The level of this NPC was too high to appraise without an appraisal tool! This meant that the level difference between Jisha and the NPC was too great. NPCs usually wouldn't permit horseplay within their businesses, but in a strange loophole, tussles directly outside the door were allowed...

Though thoroughly annoyed, the three players could only watch as she walked around freely.

"I'd like to sell some loot," Jisha said as she pulled the random garbage from her inventory.

"Alright, here's 23 Copper for 14 Slimeballs, 7 Lesser Insect Wings, and 1 Clay." Leyla nonchalantly said.

As they heard this, the three players became intrigued.

"Thank you!"

*>Inventory*

*>Adroit Ranged Pellet: 68*

*>Cinnamon Bun: 2*

*>Golden Slingshot: 1*

*>Melee Starter Stick: 26*

*>Ranged Starter Pellet: 797*

*>Shard of Corruption: 1*

*>Small Wooden Dagger: 1*

*>Wooden Slingshot: 1*

*>Coin Pouch*

*>Silverium: 2*

*>Copper: 435*

With her inventory slightly emptier and her coin pouch slightly bulkier, Jisha left to exit the shop. Unfortunately, though she looked around, there weren't any items in this particular shop that caught her eye.

As she was about to leave...

"Young lass, how about you work with us Ravaging Crows? Looks like you've already gone outside to hunt. You seem capable," the player whose name read "Jiel" said.

*Oh? They're perceptive.*

Jisha was pleased when she heard this offer. Not because it was a good one, but because they recognized what she had done based on the loot she sold.

"Unfortunately, I'll have to decline the offer... Oh. Do you have any business in this upcoming auction or with Shock Collar?"

"..."

When they heard that name, there was a pin-drop silence.

The three Ravaging Crows players looked at each other hesitantly.

"Let's talk about this somewhere else," Jiel said.

"Sure," Jisha agreed. "I've got some allies waiting on the border of the hamlet. Hopefully we can discuss it with them as well."

"... If they're your allies, it should be fine. Brusse, Declan, let's go."

---

"... Who are they?" Dharr skeptically asked.

"New friends!" Jisha enthusiastically said.

The Ravaging Crows' faces clearly said that wasn't the case.

"They seem quite suspicious of us," Brookie noted.

*Obviously.*

Jisha instantly pinpointed the issue.

"Relax, guys. We're not affiliated with Shock Collar or any powerful organization here," she said.

When he heard this, Jiel let out a resigned sigh.

"That's a relief... Shock Collar has monopolized almost everything in this starter hamlet. All the quests that give money have been taken by them. It's impossible for us to gain any ground. Right now, Omni Industrial is putting up a small fight, but anyone with half a brain can understand they don't have enough manpower to do anything significant... At this rate, we'll have to give up on the auction that's coming up soon."

*Well... Doesn't look like these guys are *that* smart. I could have easily been lying about my affiliation.*

Though she was internally chastising them, Jisha knew this man could be trusted a bit since he was talking so much.

"We might not have to," Brookie said. "We can work something out."

*He's got blind faith in me. I haven't even told him anything yet...*

"... What org are you affiliated with?" Jiel asked.

"None," Jisha responded before Brookie or Dharr could. She looked at the two of them and continued. "We're *independent* and not affiliated at the moment."

Brookie and Dharr looked at each other for a moment before silently agreeing to play along.

This answer left Jiel flabbergasted, but after a bit more discussion, the two parties agreed that they could trust each other.

"It's kind of crazy that you guys are trying to take on Shock Collar as independent players. What's your plan?"

"Plan, huh..."

There was one thing that had bothered Jisha since she arrived in Covan.

Independent players still formed at least 50% of the hamlet's population.

*If someone was competent, they would have been able to take the lead, form a truce, and work together to take out Shock Collar. Especially if the situation's mutually terrible for everyone.*

A truce and/or alliance would be much more effective if all parties had a specific goal in mind. The primary reason why the group of individual players failed so badly when attacking Jisha in the War Zone was because their goal wasn't a strong one.

In that example, sure, the goal was to kill Fae Sol. But why was that necessary? That's why Jisha had been surprised that someone had managed to rally that group in the first place. Killing Fae Sol wouldn't really benefit anyone.

*Commando12... I'd have invited him to the Sun Dragons, but I've never heard of him. I'll keep his name in mind, though.*

However, in Covan, the situation was the same for everyone. Shock Collar was limiting everyone's rights to essential starting materials and items. With a strong enough commanding voice, it would have been simple to rally them together for a single cause. Jisha could easily assume the role of this commander if she wanted. But there wouldn't be much in it for her. Instead, she had another idea.

"Yeah, I've got a plan, but I haven't told my friends here about it yet. When's the auction start, exactly?"

"It's at the top of the next hour, so that would be in 30 minutes."

"Perfect. So here's what we'll do..."

----------------------------------------

Brookie was dumbfounded when he heard what Jisha said. The reactions of Dharr and the Ravaging Crows weren't much different.

*>Dharr: What the f*ck? This is highway robbery!*

*>Brookie: Yeah... But we want items from that auction, don't we?*

*>Dharr: ...*

The player called Jiel visibly gritted his teeth.

"Fine!" he said. "But you better promise your end of the deal!"

"You should worry about what would happen if you were to betray me instead," Jisha said with an evil glint in her eyes.

Jiel shuddered when he saw that expression, and Brookie was reminded once again why he was following this angel of death.

*>Brookie: Let's do it. You said Copper isn't even worth that much after a while, right?*

*>Dharr: Well... That's true...*

Once they accepted the plan, there was no backing out. Otherwise, it would be suicide!

"Yep, count us in too," Brookie said.

After everyone agreed, all of the money from all 5 players' accounts vanished.

"By the way, I'm Fae Sol. It's good to be working with you," the angel said.

Jiel smiled bitterly as the two shook hands.

"Likewise."

----------------------------------------

*>+12 Copper*

*>+13 Copper*

*>+12 Copper*

*>+10 Copper*

*>+10 Copper*

Jisha smiled as she witnessed 5 deposits into her Coin Pouch.

"Alright, let's begin the show, shall we?"