The Immortal Player

The Village Soldier felt relieved that Aldo had agreed to his proposition to call the Village Chief instead of creating a commotion or conflict against the two parties. Of course, as the village soldier had proposed, a villager was asked to call the Village Chief in his office. Thus, leaving Aldo and the rest of Advance Force 2 waiting outside the village.

At this moment, the players—mostly new, were at a loss on what to do next. The villagers—who were processing the village pass together with the men of Xoran, could only stare at them and did not dare to move recklessly nor continue their work, out of fear from Aldo and his group.

This, in turn, had given up a piece of important information to Aldo that the player named Xoran, and his men, somehow have a huge impact on the management of the players in this place. That said, it does not matter much to Aldo.

After all, the Tarala Kingdom has higher influence, authority, and power in the territory where the Axutar Village was located. So, it was only evident that the Adventurer's Guild would hold the upper hand in obtaining authority in managing the players, or so-called adventurers—regardless of whether they like it or not.

With all that said, some of the confused players gathered all their remaining courage and approached Aldo and his group, asking, "E-Excuse me… M-Mister… Can we ask what to do now? W-We are just new p-players and just wants to know if there are some quests we can get to safely level up?"

Aldo glanced towards the man with a frown on his face. He seemed troubled about what to answer at the man's questions. So, he could only stare at them—at loss for words. That said, other players who approached him asked follow-up questions—eventually hindering Aldo from being able to respond.

"Yeah, Mister… We mean no harm! We just want to play and level up!"

"Yeah! Yeah! We just want to become strong like you to fight those monsters!"

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! We're ready to follow any instructions you give us! We'll even pay you Bronze Coins if you want!"

"Can I be your dog girl's pet???"

"Shameless Nerd!"

"Shameless Nerd! +1"

"Shameless Nerd! +2"

…

After hearing the player's concerns, Aldo could not help but smile in response and chuckle. This, in turn, had attracted the attention of all the players—consequently making them quiet in response. Then, Aldo scratched the back of his head and asked, "Are you guys familiar with the Adventurer's Guild?"

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! Of course! Who would not be familiar with the Adventurer's Guild?! Almost all of us aim to become strong enough to travel to the so-called Tarala Kingdom to join the Adventurer's Guild!"

"So, why would we not know about the Adventurer's Guild!"

"They are right!"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah! +1"

"Yeah! +2"

…

The players become noisy just by mentioning the words, "Adventurer's Guild". Thus, Aldo could not help but be filled with excitement deep inside. In fact, he was even barely able to hide it as his face wore a smile that almost reached his ears.

That said, he knew that there were some 'minor' things that he needed to take care of—especially the investigation of what the player named Xoran was doing. So, he can't help but suppress the excitement that he had deep inside and act rationally because he knew that there is a huge possibility that 'enemy' players could be around.

"Well… I don't know if you would believe me but… I am from the Adventurer's Guild!" Aldo said as he smiled towards the players.

On the other hand, the players could not help but gasp in response as some of them started to discuss among themselves what Aldo has just said. And before anyone else could even ask him, Aldo continued speaking, saying, "We are here to set up an Adventurer's Guild Branch as ordered by the Higher Ups! We know that you, adventurers, would have a hard time believing our words, so, we are going to talk to the village chief first. That said… I know—from earlier, that you are all lining up to obtain a badge and enter the village. But… Can I ask why those adventurers were also participating in the management and distribution of such badges? Did they get such simple quests like that?"

The players erupted once again. After all, if what Aldo said was true, then it would truly be a blessing to them. They won't need to trouble themselves in finding a way to get to the Tarala Kingdom to join the Adventurer's Guild.

Despite everyone else being busy discussing the Adventurer's Guild and the possibility of a branch being established in their starting village, a player near Aldo spoke—answering his questions. He said, "Uhm… Mister! Regarding the adventurers who are helping the NPCs… I won't call it a quest, but more of a collaboration with the village! They wanted to unify the players and move together as one—heading towards the Tarala Kingdom, while the NPCs desperately needed help in managing us players. So, in the end, it is a win-win situation. That is why we are simply following as they instructed."

"Yeah, Yeah! The young man's right, Mister!" Another player added. "They said that they were even amongst closed beta players. So… We thought that it would just simply be best to follow their lead. After all, they got more experiences than us."

At this moment, all the players could only glance towards Aks—who killed Xoran without mercy. Aldo could not help but force out a smile in response. He, as a player like them, knew what was running in their minds. Most of the players in that area are probably asking in their head, 'If they are from the Adventurer's Guild—that aims to develop and increase the survivability of players, then why did that big man mercilessly killed the expert?'.

So, knowing the question he needed to answer behind the players' gazes, and as the leader of that group, Aldo could only sigh in response and said, "Not all expert has good intentions! Please keep that in mind!"

Aldo smiled afterward as he shifted his attention towards the entrance that was guarded by the two village soldiers. At that moment, the village chief of the Axutar Village, Meerak Axutar, together with a villager, hurriedly approached them.

"Sir Aks! Young adventurers! It's been a few days since we first saw each other! What business do you have with me and where's my son and Captain Aron?" Meerak Axutar said in a hospitable manner.

However, they were interrupted by the villager with him—who can't help but vomit after seeing the headless body of Xoran. Of course, Meerak Axutar glared at the villager with a frown but only to be responded by pointing towards the corpse—which sight was covered by several players and could only be noticed by focusing in that direction.

"This…" Meerak Axutar could not help but force out a smile in response. Then, he reactively glanced at the village soldiers as if he was asking who killed that man. However, the village soldiers could only shift their glance towards Aldo and his group—indicating that they were the ones responsible for the death of that person.

Aldo simply forced out a smile in response. And as if he had predicted what was running in Village Chief Meerak's mind, he said, "I'll explain what happened later on! All you need to know is that Captain Aron had sent us here for an important reason! Something that we need to discuss in private! That is why… I hope that the respected village chief has some time to spare at the moment!"

"O-Of course!" Village Chief Meerak said before forcing out a smile. Then, he pointed towards the direction of the entrance that was guarded by the two village soldiers and said, "Luckily, I have some free time at the moment! Please come in! Let's talk in my office!"

"That's great!" Aldo said with a relieved tone. Then, he scratched the back of his head while saying, "Then, I would be troubling you to hear Captain's message… Oh! And he ordered me to give this back to you—saying that it would be somehow useful to you in the next few days!"

Aldo handed over the Axutar Village's Village Chief's Badge to Meerak Axutar. At first, Meerak Axutar was hesitant in getting it back from Aldo. But knowing Pedro's title of being an officer from BHO, Meerak Axutar knew that there is definitely a good reason why Pedro returned the badge that he gave to him himself.

So, in the end, Meerak Axutar took the Village Chief's Badge from Aldo and said, "If that's what Captain Aron said himself, then I'd be taking this back. Now… Please follow me into my office. I can't waste that much of your time—especially that you are amongst Captain Aron's men!"

Aldo simply nodded in response and said, "I appreciate your concern, Village Chief!"