Winter: The Pie He Promised Wasn't Big Enough, So I Doubled It

After talking with Winter, Su Yi walked out of the room with her.

Enns tried to persuade them to stay for a meal, even saying he had invited a famous local actress to keep them company.

Under the intensely eager gazes of Alton and the other two—especially Rijia—Su Yi still declined his hospitality and quickly left with the money.

After seeing Su Yi off, Enns sighed admiringly. "He can keep his urges in check and his men in line. That Mr. Gheros is no ordinary man!"

Then Enns turned to Winter and the others. He and the dozen or so key workers beside him bowed.

"Thank you, three heroes, for your help!"

"I, Ense Marr, will never forget what you've done for us!"

The other workers around them raised their voices too.

"Thank you, three heroes! The revolutionary army will always remember your kindness!"

[Revolutionary Army faction reputation +300!]

[Your reputation has risen from "Grateful" to "Respected"]

Faction reputation in the game had eight levels.

Blood Feud, Hostile, Stranger, Friendly, Grateful, Respected, Revered, and Worshipped.

Raising their reputation would unlock powerful equipment for sale, along with services from elite NPCs unique to each faction.

They had worked themselves to the bone for days. Even with Su Yi's help, they had barely reached "Grateful" after fighting to eliminate six tyrants and Mad Dog.

Yet this time, a few words had taken them straight to "Respected"!

All three of them went blank.

They had never imagined that this favor would be worth so much!

While the three politely spoke with the grateful NPCs, the Players' private chat kept buzzing.

108 messaged excitedly: "Sis! We're rich! Haha! We're rich!"

"Respected! Now I can ask that gorgeous mechanic Kelly to modify my jet thruster!"

Evil God was just as excited. "Hahaha! Does that mean I can start a church here?"

Mountain Dog, who had just finished his mission, exclaimed, "Huh? What happened? My reputation just jumped by 300!"

108: "Scroll up and read it yourself!"

Winter remained fairly calm. "All right, stop acting like you've never seen anything before."

"Next—"

Before Winter could finish, Mountain Dog, having caught up on the chat, roared, "Holy shit! Godfather showed up? And he gave Winter that much pull?"

"Fuck! I was only away on a scouting mission, and I missed out on a million!"

108 and Evil God burst out laughing.

They loved watching Mountain Dog lose it.

Winter coughed. "All right, calm down. Listen to what I'm about to say, and don't get too excited."

108: "???"

Evil God: "There's more!??"

Mountain Dog: "!!!"

Winter told them what she and Su Yi had just agreed on.

The three of them fell into stunned silence.

Mountain Dog spoke first. "Wait for me! Wait for me! I'm crawling through every dog hole between here and there!"

"Holy fuck! As expected of Godfather! We're going to make it big in the future!"

Evil God and 108 forced themselves to keep straight faces until they had finished exchanging pleasantries with Enns and the others, then hurried away.

Once they were alone with Winter, their excitement and shock spilled out.

Evil God: "Holy shit! An arms business, and Godfather's willing to give us a cut of a deal that lucrative?"

Winter said, "It won't be easy to get our hands on it. First, we have to take down the Wolf Fang Gang."

108 was as fired up and restless as Mountain Dog. "The Wolf Fang Gang can kiss my ass! They dare touch Godfather's business, I'll fucking wipe them out!"

"An arms business! We get a bite of something this juicy already?"

"Sis! I can already see myself lying in a pile of purple banknotes!"

Mountain Dog finally came running back, panting, his face flushed and his whole body drenched in sweat.

He dropped onto the ground. "Quick! Tell me everything! What exactly happened?"

Winter was only halfway through explaining when Mountain Dog sprang to his feet.

"Can you change your name in this game?"

"I'm changing mine to Gheros's Dog!"

Evil God grinned and argued for the sake of it. "Then I'll call myself Yog-Sothoth's Dad. That outranks you!"

108: "Then I'm Azathoth's Grandpa. I outrank you both."

"Get lost!" Mountain Dog snapped. "You two ungrateful turncoats!"

"Godfather could've settled this with us just by paying us, but he's willing to give us a share of the business. Aren't you grateful?"

"Think about it. If Godfather offered us 500 right now to kill the Wolf Fang Gang's top officers, would you do it?"

"Hell yes!" both of them said at once.

Then they blinked and broke into sheepish grins. "Mountain Dog's right! Mountain Dog's right!"

Evil God took a deep breath. "I've really decided. I'm not joking."

"I'm going to erect a statue of Godfather. His surname is already the name of the Eye of Judgment, so it's perfect."

Mountain Dog immediately declared, "Then I'm the high priest!"

108: "And I'm the head of the Heresy Tribunal!"

Evil God turned to Winter. "Then you can be the holy maiden?"

Winter glared. All three men shrank back and said nothing more.

After all, Winter was the one maintaining their connection with Su Yi.

It was thanks to her that they had received such a promising hidden quest.

Winter went on, "Don't get too excited yet. This won't be easy."

"First, we need to find out more about the Wolf Fang Gang."

"I'll assign everyone a task."

All three answered at once. "Yes, boss!"

Winter smiled, then said, "108, you're distinctive, and the people at the bottom remember you."

"Tomorrow, you'll help Gheros put on an act and find suitable helpers."

108 immediately replied, "Yes, ma'am!"

Winter turned to Evil God. "You really can start preparing to establish the church."

"It'll be an important base and way station for us. A church exemption order will let us avoid police searches and make doing business much easier later."

Evil God nodded. "Got it! I'll go to the Religious Affairs Office in a bit."

Winter turned to Mountain Dog. "You and I will investigate the Wolf Fang Gang."

"I'll need your stealth and tracking skills."

Mountain Dog thumped his chest. "No problem."

After giving out her orders, Winter took a deep breath.

"If we really can help Gheros take down the Wolf Fang Gang and secure the arms business, we'll have an overwhelming advantage over the other Players."

"This game is bound to be a hit. If we become professional Players, we can break free of our company's exploitation and achieve financial freedom."

"This isn't just about enjoying the game. It's about building a better life for ourselves!"

The others rubbed their hands together, their faces full of anticipation.

"Then let's get moving. We have work to do."

The four of them quickly set to work.

Winter had faithfully repeated the grand promise Su Yi had made to her—and then doubled it.

She had extended it beyond the game to their real lives and financial freedom.

The four were so motivated that, if someone put them to work turning a millstone, they wouldn't stop at grinding sparks out of it.

They'd grind the whole stone flat before they stopped!