Virtual Reality : Dystopian Tales Online

006.2 | The Cassaianne Guild

The portal that was left in silence suddenly emitted a vibrant glow. The event lasted for a few seconds before the light dimmed a bit. It is accompanied by a sound of static electricity buzzing then a crackle of something fizzing. A figure emerged from the condensed energy from the middle of the portal.

The moment the person's footstep on the ground, the bare platform of polished gravel is suddenly disturbed by vines of sturdy plants slowly growing from the crook and cracks of the floor. The growth of the vines gradually hastened as they motioned towards the person.

The growth of the plants is not limited to the ground. The portal that is bare of any accessories has then been plundered with vines and creeping plants. Wildflowers extended to the ends of the metal circumference, blooming with an exceptional glow. The moment Rios-72 crossed the teleportation portal, the area has been covered with greeneries.

Such occurrence is expected under the presence of the Elven Guild Leader. Even though the surrounding environment is barren due to the characteristics of a desert, it is still an area where mana is abundant. As long as there existed the ground to grow and the sun to give light, plants could persist for a bit. In addition, the guild is above an oasis, so plants could still thrive on living.

Rios-72 - Disboard name: ZEN - came out, and so the other guild members followed behind him. The huge presence of the Elven race made the plants grow further that extended up to the three-lane connection towards the guild's door. Rios-72 fanned himself lazily, walking towards the guild's entrance leisurely.

The players behind him looked around in amazement. Non-members could not cross the portal, so this chance of visiting the Cassaianne Guild is an excellent opportunity to scout. The former guild members reminisced while the others chatted happily. Rios-72 let his members roam around while reminding them about the dangers of falling to the sand.

"The last time I came here was eight years ago," the vice guild leader named Bert-80 commented. He has the appearance of a strict scholar with pointed ears and wears square-rimmed eyeglasses. He pushed his eyeglasses up and added, "I suddenly wanted to revise a few decorations in our guild."

Rios-72 chuckled. He fanned himself lightly. "Then, good luck. I'm looking forward to your design."

"I will try my best," Bert-80 nodded. He made a quick scan around and found thirty-six pillars surrounding the guild. One can easily identify its use that made his respect towards the guild's leader increase.

The two of them chatted about inconsequential things when they heard some roars and mewls. They could also feel the ground lightly shaking. Looking ahead, they found people coming from a different guild crowding around the reception desk. They quickly recognized the Beast Race and their guild Thunder Beast.

"Where is your leader?" A loud roaring voice asked. The owner is none other than the Guild Leader, Jung-55: Disboard name: Nyanko. 

The beast race, a race forming the hybrid of humans and animals, is known for its strength to topple mountains and dry rivers. A strong beast race player could make the ground shake just by walking around, and their jumps could easily trigger earthquakes. They represent dominance and courage - they are one of the bravest warriors.

However, aside from that, the beast race is also known for its exotic beauty. If the Elven race has the ethereal beauty of paradise, the beast race is of the wilderness, with men and women bursting with muscles. The guild leader Jung-55 that shows more fury than a savage beast, has the most stunning packs of abdominal muscles that men and women of other races would openly pursue him.

Jung-55 is from the Lion hybrid. A golden-brown mane covered his crown with a pair of ears attached on either side of the head. He wears no shirt, openly showing his muscle-able body. The only cover he has is the long fur coat around his shoulders.

The lethality of his appearance made him famous, just only second to the game's most sought guy. Well, after all, the first guy is entirely unattainable, so people would always go to the second-best. If not from his erupting temperament, surely Jung-55 will snatch the top place.

Anyways, Jung-55 never recognized this ridiculous ranking of the most handsome men and women since his mission has always been under a plan. He might look callous and savage, but Jung-55 has the most thorough and well-defined plan amongst the Guild Leaders. Every activity in their guild has schedules, and he is very strict in implementing them.

So, different from the race's description, the entirety of the Thunder Beast Guild perform like trained soldiers. They have the highest form of discipline and propriety. This is the reason why they have higher chances of conquering floors in the dungeon. An organized group with high-performing members could only get the best.

Jung-55 arrived a minute before the Arcana Guild. They are trying to enter the guild, but they see no doors, and the NPC stationed on the reception desk does not respond to any of their questions. The NPC only looked at them with a straight face of a dead mechanical engine.

"It's not answering," Ton-96, a stag deer and his subordinate, concluded.

"Maybe we have to click on an icon or something?" Teal-32, a wolf hybrid, probes closer.

The lion that has everything under control dislikes the inattentiveness of the Cassaianne Guild officers. He punched the counter that immediately earned the attention of the incoming guild. The table issued a 0 exp value and fuzzy warning tone. It means no damage is done.

"Where is your guild master? Hey, I am asking you!"

The NPC remained still, looking straight ahead, but the hollow sight meant that they were not part of its eyes. In a typical game, NPCs are to respond if players approach them. The responses differ and are often associated with the case of the player. If a player is undergoing a quest, the NPCs related to the quest are the ones that could give definite answers, while the non-participating NPC will answer them with default responses.

Only under certain conditions will NPC respond meaningfully.

However, the creation of DTO allowed the customization of the NPCs. This customization falls into two kinds: the default NPC and the Smart NPC.

Default NPCs are the models with default commands inlaid. These commands are the usual - greeting guests, throwing garbage, cleaning rooms, etc. - with adjustable time frames and range of activity. Default NPCs are somewhat expensive but considered cheap against the Smart NPCs.

Smart NPCs are mostly just hollow models. It is a blank slate puppet. To make it work, the buyer must do all the coding by themselves. They have to manually write the commands that have no definite results, which means that the model could become a high-functioning servant or a useless puppet.

However, the advantages offset its possible adverse effects. Consider that NPCs are the real people of the world, so having them means a rise in status. They could also become human-like to the point where they are indistinguishable from the players. The Cassaianne guild has the most number of these Smart NPCs. The NPCs on the reception are one of them. 

They are set to only respond to guild members, and in the case of attack, they will take the vanguard position. 

Ton-96 knows the temper of their leader well, so he quickly suggested. "How about we contact someone from the inside?"

The Arcana arrive just in time. Rios-72 waved his hand as if greeting them and joined the fun. He gave the Thunder Beast's leader a good glance before facing Ton-96. The two look amiable and cordial, but the guild members know that something dangerous is brewing within. 

After all, the Thunder Beast got the floor the Arcana Guild wants to clear. 

"What's with those looks? It's still so early. Why are you already getting pumped," Rios-72 asked. 

"We have been here for a while," Ton-96 responded. "The NPC is not responding to our call."

"It's just for a while. I heard the Artisan's just got in," Rios-72 fanned himself twice, then closed the fan with a snap. He taunted Jung-55 with a worried look. "We all know how strict Clover is when it comes to his properties. Xavier will come to accept the guests."

Right just after he said that, a zap happens to flash beside them. A player of the same race appeared from that zap. The player looks a bit gloomy with lowered head and seems to be murmuring something. If not from Rios-72 tapping the player's shoulder with his closed fan gently, the player won't know that they are here. 

Xav-11 looked up and saw the crowd. The mixture of animals and plants growing made a harmonious picture. His frown changed to a wonderful smile as his body emitted some happy rays. He welcomed the people with enthusiasm. 

"Welcome, Welcome! I'm glad you all came!" The elf exclaimed, his arms raising as if wanting a group hug. 

But nobody dared to hug him. Well, some are ready to pounce and embrace the peaceful-advocate elf, but they controlled themselves. Especially the female beast members that like cute things. They just want to cuddle the cute elf but could not with their Guild Leader around. 

Xav-11 is then reciprocated with cold looks and cried. He went over to Rios-72 for comfort. 

"It's all right; It's all right. Everything will be fine," The elven guild leader smoothened Xav's messy hair, like a mother comforting their child. "That guy is unfortunately born with those looks. You don't have to be scared."

Jung-55 is not covert in showcasing his wrath-filled glare. "When will you let us in?"

Xav-11 ended his Oscar's acting and proceeded on guiding the group. As he is adjusting the condition of permission for the entrance, another group arrived. The plant-covered lane towards the reception suddenly met some cold black smoke that made the living things curl and quickly decay. Vines of plants and blooming flowers suddenly become withered, facing death as soon as they came alive. 

Black spots and colorful mushrooms replaced the flowers accompanied with creepy plants and one-eyed blob monsters. Due to the desert's unending day cycle, the bright area suddenly becomes dark as the light got suck into something hollow. It appears very dim light in the night but has a more profound sense, like falling into the abyss. The people-watching could not help but shiver out of fear. 

Other than the Elven Race, one race whose affinity for magic is also high - The Undead race.

"Hello, am I late?" Melon-45, named as MelonPan in Disboard, asked.

"Oh, you just came on ti-" Xav-11 saw the black spots and miasma covering the whole area. "Wha-what are you doing? Stop spreading your miasma! It took me hours to polish the floor."

"Oh, sorry," Melon-45 chuckled. "It's not that we can stop it from leaking."

Following Melon-45 are his guild members - the undead race. They have the least number of members amongst the Asterisks. However, nobody dared to look at them simply. The undead race has an extensive HP and ghost's HP that ables them to extend their existence even after dying in a quest. 

Most of the people are all skin or bones, flesh dangling, or no flesh at all. Players with a relatively normal have mixed archetypes and are either witches or necromancers. Melon-45's primary archetype is a necromancer and bears the appearance of an eighteenth-century vampire. His small canine teeth shone brightly under the dark environment. 

Xav-11 is not the least scared of the undead; instead, he reprimanded the person. "Control it! You can control it!" 

On the front hall, one can easily see the mixture of races mingling together. It is easy to see their differences, but it didn't matter between them. The change of time also changed the thinking of people. Skin color, gender, and status had become unimportant but still used for identification and not for categorization. This resulted in people consciously ignoring the visual aspects. 

Thus, if they see a person with three eyes, the people in this generation will first doubt. Even though it is unusual to have three eyes, it isn't impossible to have it. Diplomacy and good interrelationship were advocated by the federation for many years, resulting in lesser hostility against less beautiful things.  

Xav-11 finished adjusting the guild's system. A large door appeared once again that leaked muffled noises coming from the inside. He pushed the large door with one hand, and the bare-looking reception desk is suddenly filled with joyful noises. They also witness the crowd inside happily doing whatever they are doing. 

The guild leaders know that their members are waiting for their commands, so they simply disperse them. The crowd quickly decreased, leaving the guild leaders and their direct subordinates. The big bosses are long past the period of naive happiness in a gathering and just wanted to have peace and silence. They followed Xav-11 to the solemn side of the mess hall. 

They saw the guild leader of the Artisan's guild already sipping his drink in one of the stools in front of Ari-05 bar. He even turned around, raising the spirit of soda on his hand, and greeted his brothers.

"Gentlemen! What took you so long?" Allen-38 asked enthusiastically. "You're late for the fun!"

"You're just too early," Melon-45 replied.

He dashed towards the carefree drinker with the intent of the attack. The Artisan quickly moved, faster than light that Melon-45 could only see his after image. They both raised their arms and slapped each other, then firmly having a handshake, then a high-five. The succession of such action is too fast; the only thing they managed to catch is the two already giving each other some high-five.

"Brother!" Allen-38 called out. "Long time no see!"

"Brother!" Melon-45 responded with the same tone. "We've just seen each other earlier!"

Everyone ignored the two. It's already known among the VR players that Melon-45 and Allen-38 are close friends in real life. Both of them are cousins who live in the same house and had been together since young. Whatever the Artisan's Guild does, the Merlin's Box will agree - the living and the dead made an alliance. 

They also like to tease Jung-55 and occasionally pulls Rios-72 to join in. 

"It looks like all of the important people of the game are all here," Melon-45 retorted.

"Not all," the Beast King commented. "That four-leaf guy is not here."

Among the players, only these guys and some people met Clover personally. The King Beast turned his attention to Xav-11, who flinched upon catching his attention.

"W-what?" The elven trembled.

"Where is your guild master?"

Jung-55 locked the tiny creature and towered him. Both Melon-45 and Allen-38 cheered the beast with some fan props on their hands while yelling. Rios-72 stayed out of trouble and ordered a drink from Ari-05, who just watched his companion be dominated.