Truth Society

That night.

Linton lay in the dilapidated thatched hut he had rented from the village chief, gazing up at the starry sky through the window.

The night sky of the Calvi Continent was breathtakingly beautiful.

An immense number of planets formed a dreamlike stellar vortex, its colors shifting from deep green at the edges to pale blue within. Seen from the continent below, it appeared faint and ethereal. The occasional meteor streaked through it, trailing a brilliant white tail before vanishing in an instant, becoming part of the mystery endlessly spilling forth.

"The only sight on Blue Star that could compare might be the aurora in the polar regions."

Linton murmured to himself.

Necromancers required very little rest. He had already dozed off for a while that afternoon when he had been bored out of his mind waiting for the players, so he was now full of energy.

But the night was long, and spending it solely watching the stars was rather difficult. Thus, whenever Linton rested at night, he usually immersed himself in thought.

"Unfortunately, too few players were assigned to Blackwater Village, and players were too poor at the beginning. Even if I squeezed them dry, there wouldn't be much to gain."

He let out a long sigh. "When will I ever save enough money to leave the Truth Society?"

He could not help feeling somewhat resentful toward the body's former owner.

Before his body had been taken over, Linton had been an infamous necromancer in the Kingdom of Blossoms, taking pleasure in collecting corpses and pride in digging up people's ancestral graves.

Not only that, but because he had immersed himself in pursuing the concept of "death," the necromancer had also joined an organization.

—The Truth Society.

Linton knew this organization extremely well.

Because it was a genuine villain faction in the story.

A game needed opposing sides of black and white.

In the early storyline, the Kingdom of Blossoms, which guided players onto their journey, was unquestionably portrayed as the righteous side, while the Truth Society was the absolute villain representing darkness.

It was like a medieval Western inquisition; everyone within it was a brainwashed fanatic.

Every member of the Truth Society was fanatically devoted to the so-called True Lord, like the most "loyal" papal knights. So long as it was "in the name of the True Lord," there was nothing they would not dare do.

And the leaders of the Truth Society all seemed rather ambitious.

In the game's story, they incited the public and stirred up riots in cities and towns throughout the Kingdom of Blossoms. When the Knights Order of Blossoms guarding the imperial capital, Falasong, left the city to suppress the rebellion, they infiltrated Falasong in force and even openly attacked the palace, nearly overthrowing an entire nation's regime.

Their purpose was actually to force the Lord of Blossoms to descend into the mortal world and seize His divine throne!

To ordinary NPCs in the game, the nobles of their towns were already beings as lofty as the heavens. Yet the Truth Society sought to lay its hands on an existence beyond anything they could imagine.

Of course, because of the players, their goal could never be achieved. But as villains who ran throughout the game, they would not simply disappear. They remained buried deep within the roots of every subsequent nation, until one day they would be uprooted entirely.

Before Linton had transmigrated, the story had only progressed through three chapters. Only three or four major figures of the Truth Society had appeared, and the developers had released no further information about the organization beyond a simple background introduction. So no matter how wildly players speculated, they could not guess its true purpose.

Why did they want to seize a divine throne? Did the Truth Society's "True Lord" truly exist?

And if they succeeded in seizing that divine throne, what would they do afterward?

As a former player, Linton did not have the slightest favorable impression of the Truth Society. Yet as a player, he was also filled with curiosity toward the mysterious organization.

Because it was the only faction in Kingdom of Heavenly Principles that players could not join.

Of course, the premise of uncovering the truth was that he could not be a member of the Truth Society.

After the attack on the imperial capital of the Kingdom of Blossoms, all Truth Society members would be wanted across the nation. By then, forget fleecing the players—whenever Linton encountered them, he would probably have to look up to see whether his health bar was still lit. Even appearing openly on the streets would be difficult—though it was difficult now as well.

As for how to leave the Truth Society, that was simple enough.

He had already spoken with a minor leader. As long as he handed over one million gold coins to purchase a "ticket of atonement," the True Lord would forgive his faith for no longer being loyal.

One million gold coins—if this were the late game, Linton would toss that amount out without a second thought. He might even throw in another million just because the weather was nice that day.

But now, he was a genuine pauper.

"What should I do?"

Just as Linton's thoughts drifted through space, he opened his eyes as if sensing something.

—Under the starlight, a yellowed sheet of parchment floated eerily in the air, emitting a faint glow.

This was one of the Truth Society's methods of contact, and a technique only higher-ups could master.

The reason was that every Truth Society believer underwent an initiation ritual upon joining, having their name inscribed in the Book of True Names.

According to them, this ritual allowed one's soul to receive the True Lord's care, so that no matter where one was, the True Lord's radiance could shine upon the road ahead.

Translated, that meant they had installed a tracker on you that could detect whether your heart was still beating.

It was said that every national branch of the Truth Society possessed one such book. It was generally held by the branch's highest-ranking figures, and ordinary members could not come into contact with it except during initiation. Therefore, only they could send parchment messages to contact others.

"What the hell? Why are they looking for me at this hour?"

Linton sat up with great reluctance and caught the parchment.

The writing on the parchment differed greatly from the Xia script, yet he could clearly understand the meaning of every line.

"Mr. Linton Crewechill, the great True Lord has bestowed His reward in Frazer Town. After consulting the Book of True Names, I discovered that only you are closest to Frel Town. Please go to Viscount Lizer's residence before midnight tonight to collect the reward granted by the True Lord, then deliver it to Mr. Fred, a blacksmith in Leibu City.

May the True Lord bless you.

Signed: 'Passas'"

"It was actually him?"

Linton's expression changed slightly.

Passas, one of the Truth Society's Twelve Stars, ranked last among them and was also one of the heads of the Truth Society's Kingdom of Blossoms branch.

In the storyline, he and another member of the Twelve Stars had been the masterminds behind the unrest in the Kingdom of Blossoms.

And a figure like that had contacted him in the middle of the night just to collect a "reward bestowed by the gods?"

To others, that reward might have been a forbidden spell or some sacred relic. But Linton, who possessed the necromancer's memories, knew that it was merely members' offering money.

"What Truth Society? It's just a money-grabbing society."

"Damn it, they're making me run around collecting money in the middle of the night instead of letting me sleep? Who has time to play along with this?"

Daily Quest: Go to Viscount Lizer before midnight, collect the "offering money," then proceed to Leibu City and hand it to the blacksmith Fred

Reward: 100 EXP, 10,000 gold coins

Trackable quest available

Accept?

"Accept!"