Guild Residence

After teaming up with the players led by Apple Feather, they soon arrived before Novas Aetir.

All he could see were thick thunderclouds and raging storms. The entrance to the dungeon was nowhere in sight.

Seemingly noticing Higashino Makoto's confusion, Apple Feather promptly offered an explanation.

"To see Novas Aetir, you have to enter through the eye of the storm below! It took us a lot of effort to discover it!"

Following the main group with flight magic, he entered and was immediately met with a much more open view.

Seven floating islands were almost entirely concealed within the massive thunderclouds. He could vaguely make out that they were arranged like stairs. Aside from a tiny, faintly visible entrance on the lowest island, there were no other entrances.

Based on the memories in his mind, these thunderclouds were likely part of the dungeon itself, meant to prevent players who had learned its secrets from bypassing it.

Furthermore, the fact that Novas Aetir had taken so long to be discovered suggested that it was probably the sort of dungeon that could only be found under specific conditions.

"So this is Novas Aetir? It looks pretty good."

He had originally been somewhat worried that the guild base would simply be floating in the sky, making it troublesome to defend.

He then used his "money power" in the group chat to stir up everyone's enthusiasm while issuing a warning—

"Oh, and cash-shop items are relatively cheap right now, so please bring plenty. Let's try to clear the dungeon in one go. If we take it down in a single attempt, I'll send everyone another cash bonus."

"If we can't clear it within two attempts, I'll have no choice but to give up. After all, the servers shut down at midnight. Don't blame me if you don't get paid."

Higashino Makoto could not accept spending too much time here. At worst, he could choose a guild base with fewer NPC points. Novas Aetir was great, but a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush.

In fact, Higashino Makoto already had a Guild Base Ownership scroll prepared. It only had 1,950 NPC points, so he had not used it yet.

Guild Base Ownership scrolls were generally rewards for being the first to clear a dungeon instance. Other than certain places with excellent resources that players chose to keep, those who already owned a base would sell off any extra ownership rights.

However, bases with high NPC point values were highly sought after. Higashino Makoto had spent one hundred thousand to buy this 1,950-point Guild Base Ownership scroll as a fallback.

"Don't worry, boss. This isn't our first time clearing this dungeon. Now that we know the mechanics, we even brought all the cash-shop items we had left over. Nothing will go wrong!"

"That's right, just relax. We're professionals."

"Exactly. We memorized the boss's move list ages ago. There's absolutely no way anything can go wrong."

"Isn't memorizing move lists basic training? Why are you even bringing that up? You're embarrassing our guild."

Seeing their confident replies, Higashino Makoto calmed down as well.

The closer they got to the end, the more worried he became. But after thinking it over carefully, there should not be any problems.

Looking at the Ring of the Eternal Serpent on his hand and the large number of world-class items in his inventory, he finally felt reassured.

—At worst, I'll just flip the table!

"That's good. I believe in you."

After saying that, everyone used either Flight or items with flight effects and flew toward the entrance.

Including Higashino Makoto, there were thirty of them in total. Five fully armed parties all used magic to fly toward the entrance.

After crossing the entrance surrounded by storms and thunderclouds, the five parties were completely separated. The five players grouped with Higashino Makoto flew forward in perfect coordination, while Higashino Makoto had no intention of making a move at all.

The ones who had chosen to team up with Higashino Makoto were undoubtedly the five strongest members of the guild. They did not need damage from a player who had not even reached max level.

Furthermore, he kept Dove Carrying an Olive Branch equipped at all times in case anything unexpected happened.

Although it was YGGDRASIL's final day before shutdown, and there was no benefit for anyone to attack him, the chances of that happening were not high.

But humans were not creatures who refrained from doing something simply because there was "nothing to gain." There were plenty of people willing to hurt others even at their own expense.

Better safe than sorry. With a bright future right before his eyes, Higashino Makoto naturally chose to play it safe. Whenever he teamed up with others, he never took off Dove Carrying an Olive Branch.

Moreover, he had not taken down the forum post about buying a guild base. Unless Apple Feather and the others were the sort of idiots who went looking for trouble, no one should know that he had already made his choice.

Evil-Slaying Slash

Dragon Lightning

Greater Heal

Hellfire

Vermilion Nova

Super-Tier Magic: Descent of the Heavenly Host

As they spoke, the five players had already cleared out all the monsters in the first room with seamless coordination.

"Boss, keep up!"

Higashino Makoto followed without hesitation. They had already begun dealing with the room's mini-boss, and their efficiency was astonishing.

"As expected of professional gold-farming players!"

Their coordinated teamwork made Higashino Makoto sigh in admiration. Most of their equipment might not have been as good as that of the players who had helped him level up before, but their cooperation was far beyond anything those temporarily assembled teams could match.

Aside from the long hours spent building teamwork, the effort gold-farming players put into the game was also beyond what ordinary players could compare to.

Perhaps this was what people meant by, "Don't use your hobby to challenge my livelihood."

If he had known earlier, he should have chosen professional gold-farming players instead of those highly ranked players on the leaderboards.

After barely an hour, the final bosses—"Lv95. Fallen Valkyrie Jieluoluer," "Lv90. Severely Wounded Valkyrie Xilude," and "Lv92. Bewitched Valkyrie Gelei"—had all fallen.

The drops consisted of one scroll and three items.

The items did not matter; the important thing was the scroll symbolizing ownership of the base.

He reached out and caught the scroll in midair.

A notification announcing the successful dungeon conquest also rang out beside Higashino Makoto's ear.

"CONGRATULATIONS! As you have conquered the floating city of Novas Aetir, you have obtained ownership of the guild stronghold: Novas Aetir."

He opened the scroll, saw the same 2,450 points as in his memories, and let out a long breath.

Good. All he needed to do next was spend money to develop the guild and guild weapons. At eight tonight, he would see how much money was left and use it all for a massive shopping spree.

He would try to finish everything before ten, then shut down the information channel to keep as many players as possible from staying until midnight.

If too many players were still around at midnight and a whole crowd got transported over, that would be troublesome.

There would definitely still be an impact if he shut it down at ten, but closing the purchase channel earlier would certainly lessen it.

Sigh, he could only hope cyberpunk's high-pressure environment made those people go to bed early.

In this world that ruthlessly exploited workers, staying up late was no good—it really could lead to sudden death!

If there were more people like the "Six Great Gods," it would be somewhat better. Higashino Makoto did not really mind.

But if they were all like the "Eight Greed Kings" and the Bone King, then he would have to constantly guard against being wiped out for no reason.

All things considered, fewer transmigrators would be better.