Early Development

Things were progressing smoothly. Lize, however, was taken aback upon her return by the completely transformed base. The poor girl hovered at the entrance, clutching the supplies and items she had purchased, looking suspicious and hesitant, and simply didn't dare to enter. Had Rhode not discovered her, she might have stood outside until dark.

As for why such changes had occurred, Lize naturally had her doubts. After all, although Rhode had said he would tidy up the mess before she left, common sense dictated that the most he could do was clean up the clutter; it was impossible for him to have done such a thorough job. But since Rhode didn't want to elaborate, Lize didn't press the issue. After experiencing so much, the girl had developed an almost unconditional trust in Rhode. Although such a bizarre situation was indeed strange, Rhode himself was a very mysterious person, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

Moreover, Lize believed that one day, Rhode would tell her these secrets.

Through Lize, Rhode also learned about the situation at the Mercenary Association. It was clear that the old man was quite shocked that they had managed to handle this haunted house, as he clearly didn't believe they had the ability to deal with such a well-known Sairiel Haunted House in Deepstone City. Sereck, however, stood on their side. Not only that, but he also hinted through Lize that Rhode should be mindful of his limits and his status to avoid attracting unnecessary trouble.

Rhode understood Sereck's hint perfectly. He was well aware that although the Sairiel Haunted House had a notorious reputation, there was no shortage of experts in Deepstone City. Someone like the master swordsman Sereck could easily clear the place out, even without knowing the true nature of the things inside. The fact that they hadn't taken action confirmed that this wasn't a matter of a power gap between monsters, but rather some more external factors.

After all, this place was located in the upper district, belonging to the nobility, so there would definitely be trouble. Now that Rhode and his group had just moved in, the name of the haunted house still held sway, so it was unlikely anyone would come looking for trouble for the time being. However, once time passed and people discovered that the haunted house was no longer "haunted," things would become difficult. Buying such a large house for six hundred gold coins—even if the paperwork was in order—would likely make people suspicious. After all, as the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Rhode was naturally well aware of this, but he was curious why Sereck would warn him about such a thing. He knew they had no prior relationship... Could it be that Sereck had developed a sense of appreciation for his talent after that previous battle?

But these were matters for the future. The most practical thing before Rhode was the actual development of the Starlight mercenary group.

The first hurdle was manpower.

A two-person mercenary group definitely wouldn't cut it. It was true that, relying on Rhode's familiarity with this region, completing tasks back and forth wasn't difficult. However, a lack of manpower meant there was no way to flexibly adjust formations. With Rhode's current personnel configuration, they could only fight undead creatures; encountering living beings would be very troublesome. As for those ordinary mercenary tasks, such as escorting or transport, no one would be willing to entrust them to his current team.

But if he were to hire, what kind of people should he hire? At the very least, the cost-performance ratio had to be worth it... Judging by the assets currently in Rhode's hands, he could afford to hire at most one or two more people. Good steel must be used on the blade; if he chose the wrong person, it would be too late to cry.

Sitting in the study, Rhode frowned in thought. The large room appeared somewhat empty, containing nothing but a desk, a few chairs, and a bookshelf. Although it was a bit shabby, it would have to do for now.

Closing the book in his hands, Rhode fell into deep recollection.

August of the Year of Radiance—that is, a year and a half later—the Kingdom of Light, through an investigation, declared that the Kingdom of Night had attacked its border merchant ships. They then quickly dispatched troops, occupied the Solagan Mountains, and controlled the residents there, claiming these people were the culprits behind the attack on the Kingdom of Light's merchant ships, subsequently arresting and executing them.

Two months later, the Kingdom of Night responded with its army. They recaptured the Solagan Mountains, and the Kingdom of Light's garrison there was completely wiped out.

Then, total war broke out.

The Moon Principality, where Rhode was located, bore the brunt of the Kingdom of Night's attack. In fact, this could have been avoided, but the Kingdom of Light's parliament issued an order that forced the Moon Principality to stand up and face the blades and swords of the night.

That was the time in Rhode's memory when players suffered the heaviest casualties. The Kingdom of Night dispatched a powerful army, including blood-kin and bone mages with an average level of nearly eighty, to launch a devastating strike on the Moon Principality. For players who were at most level forty or fifty at the time, this was simply catastrophic. Although many players spontaneously organized themselves in an attempt to defend their land, their weak resistance was so powerless before the Kingdom of Night's formidable army. They died again and again, and resurrected again and again, but even so, they could not stop the unstoppable pace of the Kingdom of Night's army. Just then, the Kingdom of Light's parliament made a decision that shocked all players—they declared that the Moon Principality was colluding with the enemy and dispatched troops to attack the Moon Principality.

This became the final straw that broke the back of the Moon Principality, which was already tottering in the storm. Under the attacks from both sides, the Moon Principality began to retreat steadily. Just then, the ruler of the Moon Principality, Lize Paffield Mira Franlica, finally made a decision: she dispatched her elite legion, the "Purple Lily," to escort the players and her people to Trisphia Port for evacuation.

Rhode still remembered the scene at that time. They stood beside the long line of refugees, almost every player gritting their teeth, staring at the land behind them. It wasn't just the insult of being expelled by NPCs as players, but also the anger toward that group of idiots in the Kingdom of Light's parliament.

The residents of the Moon Principality left. They wore tattered clothes, their faces ashen, leaving in a hurry.

The players of the Moon Principality left. Their faces flushed red, roaring, "Dev team, you're playing us!" "Go to hell, game company!" "I'm going to kill those xx in the parliament!", leaving in frustration.

Only one person stayed behind.

With the power of an Archangel, the girl blocked the Kingdom of Night's army of one hundred thousand all by herself, closing her eyes only after the last ship had left Trisphia Port. Until the very last moment, she continued to carry out her vow—"A king must always stand behind their people, shielding them from the wind and rain, regardless of whether they are willing."

Subsequently, the players' anger erupted.

Rhode clearly remembered that this was the largest outbreak in the history of the Dragon Soul Continent. In less than a week, hundreds of thousands of players almost crashed the game's official forums. Many claimed this was a violation of player will. And more players expressed their resentment through their own actions; one player guild after another appeared, and then they raised their blades of vengeance against their compatriots in the Kingdom of Light faction and the NPCs. It was also after this that Rhode finally gave up his attitude of just playing the game for fun and began to take it seriously. After gathering several players who also held deep grudges against the Kingdom of Light, he founded Starlight. It was for their dignity as players, a rebellion against the game system, and even more so, out of raw venting and revenge.

They succeeded.

Under Rhode's leadership, Starlight grew day by day. Then, they swept through the Kingdom of Light, completely destroying the Kingdom of Light's parliament. Afterward, they sharpened their blades and launched an attack on their other mortal enemy, the Kingdom of Night. In the end, they succeeded as well, even personally eliminating the Dragon of Night, known as one of the Five Dragons of Creation. It was also after this battle that Starlight leaped to become the most powerful guild in the entire game, bar none.

It could be said that they succeeded and were glorious. But in Rhode's heart, there was always a small voice.

When they destroyed the parliament, when they defeated the Dragon of Night, Rhode had once had such thoughts: If I had possessed this power back then, would things have taken a turn? Would everything have changed?

Rhode didn't know, but he was also very clear that it was just a dream. The game would not roll back, nor could it be started over. He had once thought so, until he came to this world... Rhode realized that he had another chance to start over and change his destiny.

He did not want to taste that feeling again; the humiliation he had suffered as a refugee or a player was absolutely not allowed to happen to him again.

Before that, Rhode had once thought about whether to try his luck in the Golden City after leaving the Dusk Forest, but upon learning of Lize's encounter, Rhode changed his mind. Since he had once been able to build a powerful guild capable of completely destroying the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Night, even capable of contending with hell's demons and eventually killing the Void Dragon, why couldn't he do it again?

There was still a year and a half left—not too long, but not too short.

And now, having gained the recognition of the Mercenary Association and obtained a base, Rhode finally intended to start a big undertaking. He wanted to recreate his former glory here, and this time, he would not let that kind of humiliation befall him again. This was something Rhode absolutely could not tolerate.

Everything was on the right track; it was time for him to start preparing.

Looking at the beautiful scenery of Deepstone City outside the window, Rhode began to recall the attributes and skills of those recruitable NPCs in the game in his mind, and soon, Rhode made up his mind.

"Lize."

He stood up and tapped the table. Soon, the girl who had been reading by the window heard Rhode's call and stood up immediately.

"We're going to the Mercenary Association."

The Mercenary Association was as bustling as ever, no different from the past few days. Bored mercenaries sat at the tables beside the hall drinking and chatting, while more people crowded in front to accept or turn in tasks.

Rhode soon found their name on the stone tablet marking the rankings of all mercenary groups in the Paffield region at the front of the hall. There were thirty-two mercenary groups on the tablet, among which Starlight was ranked last, with a very eye-catching zero for its points.

Seeing this, Lize's expression was somewhat helpless. Although she had already seen it yesterday, the thought that their mercenary group had fallen from the middle of the pack to the very bottom made her feel truly uncomfortable. However, she still took a deep breath, barely calming her mood, before speaking to Rhode.

"Sir, we are ranked last now, and have no points... The other mercenary groups have at least five points. We must find a way."

"I am well aware."

Rhode nodded slightly in response. He looked up, and soon saw another name—Red Eagle. If Rhode remembered correctly, Red Eagle should be the team led by the female mercenary captain Lize knew before. It seemed they were doing quite well, ranked twenty-first, belonging to that mediocre, middle-of-the-road level of neither seeking merit nor making mistakes.

However, Rhode wasn't here for such trivial matters today. He just glanced at it and then walked toward the other side of the hall.

The layout of the Mercenary Association was very clear: the left hall was occupied by people from various mercenary groups, while the right side was where those freelance, unorganized mercenaries stayed. These people, for various reasons, had not joined a mercenary group and could only wait here, either taking some ordinary tasks or waiting for mercenary groups to recruit personnel. Because of this, it was much quieter than the main hall. The mercenaries sitting at the tables were either chatting in a leisurely manner or sitting coldly in the corners, motionless, as if someone owed them money.

The appearance of Rhode and Lize attracted the attention of many. They whistled loudly and greeted the two with smiles. However, Rhode clearly had no intention of paying attention to these idiots who couldn't even tell a person's gender. Lize, on the other hand, was already accustomed to this chaos; she simply kept her distance with a polite and reserved smile and had no intention of responding. Because she also knew very well that these mercenaries were just bored and looking for some fun; whether she was angry or happy, their goal would be achieved, and it would be even more troublesome then. It was better to pretend she hadn't encountered anything; that way, they would feel bored and stop pestering her.

Casting those annoying noises aside, Rhode turned his head and looked toward the corner nearby, and then, he walked over...

The fine wine in the glass remained as sweet as ever.

The old man set down his glass, pressed his trembling right hand firmly against the table, and leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the floor. He had once been a member of the Wind of Light Mercenary Group. Back then, he was confident, brave, and full of hope and vitality. He had believed countless times that he would eventually become the leader of the mercenary group, commanding his subordinates on expeditions and adventures. That had been his hope, and his goal.

But after he was injured, everything changed.

He no longer possessed his former strength, and those who once admired him had abandoned him. And now? That once infinitely glorious young man had turned into a pathetic old geezer who could do nothing but drown his sorrows in alcohol. Thinking of this, a wave of sorrow welled up within him. He raised his head and cast a look of contempt at the group of brats nearby. They were too young, still dreaming their sweet dreams—adventure, beauties, money, fame. What did any of that amount to? It was all meaningless. Once they lost everything they relied on, what would be left for these little ones?

The old man reached out to touch his right eye, which was covered by an eyepatch, and then raised his glass, attempting to signal the bartender for another round.

Just then, he noticed two people approach and sit down beside him.

"Walker? Mr. Walker Didar?"