Faced with such harsh recruitment requirements, many newbies could only back off and look for other teams that were easier to join.
The veteran Second Beta Test players, seeing that they could not join the top players' guild, also began forming groups of their own.
Several Second Beta Test players who were friends banded together, shouting bizarre names like "Lone Players Mutual Aid Society" and "Wasteland Demolition Crew" as they frantically recruited newbies.
There were even a few unsociable "Lone Wolf Players."
After collecting their starting gift of 20 Ash Coins, they bought the cheapest Stone Spear in the shop, crossed the defensive line without looking back, and set off alone to explore the unknown depths of the Wasteland.
Recruiting, forming teams, buying equipment, swearing to become the ultimate villain...
The grounds before the dilapidated Ash Church now resembled a massive Wasteland job fair, brimming with the vigorous energy of countless lives freely pursuing their own paths.
Atop the high stone steps before the church.
Sivir stood quietly in the morning breeze, dressed in a dark gray Priest's Robe.
The breeze stirred her silky, flaxen hair.
She watched the players below, who were dressed in rags yet filled with vitality and hope.
She looked at the abandoned church, once lifeless and liable to be swallowed by the black fog at any moment, now so lively and full of life.
A gentle smile involuntarily bloomed on Sivir's delicate, fair face.
"This is wonderful..."
Sivir folded her hands over her chest and murmured, "The great deity didn't lie to me. These apostles might act a little strangely, but they really do seem to have brought hope to this Wasteland."
They cheered over building a little wooden cabin, embraced after defeating monsters, and laughed freely in the sunlight.
This place no longer seemed