Zheng Xun wanted to start a guild of his own.
He proposed that Songbird handle the entire process.
Starting a guild was no easy task. Zheng Xun had studied the Newcomer's Guide.
First, registering a guild name required a large sum of money. Second, he had to provide the Players' Association with a series of documents proving that the guild was capable of staying in operation.
There might not have been many requirements, but none of them were easy to meet.
Because the requirements were so difficult, players who wanted to start a guild usually established a studio first. It was essentially a small guild, operated along the lines of an official one, so that it could make a smooth transition once the requirements were met.
But Zheng Xun didn't want to go to all that trouble.
There was a shortcut.
As long as a guild ranked in the top twenty was willing to act as a guarantor, a player could be granted the qualifications to start a guild.
In the most recent point tally, Songbird happened to rank eighteenth.
It met the requirement.
Big guilds usually weren't willing to act as guarantors. It was a thankless task, and if something went wrong, they would find themselves caught up in the mess.
But Songbird now owed Zheng Xun a huge favor. The person he had rescued was the guild leader's younger sister.
Zheng Xun had said he wouldn't make a request that would put Songbird in a difficult position.
Tao Xueji and Xiao Jun exchanged a glance, and the latter spoke.
"That's a condition we never saw coming."
No one would have expected Zheng Xun to start his own guild. A top player like him had no shortage of interest from major guilds.
Moreover, everyone had seen how Zheng Xun performed on his second dungeon run. Many guilds would go to any lengths to recruit him and put contracts on his table.
Zheng Xun didn't have enough points to make the rankings yet, but his strength would clearly put him near the top of the solo rankings.
At first, Xiao Jun thought Zheng Xun had rejected Songbird because he had his sights set higher, perhaps on joining a powerhouse guild directly.
But now, it seemed he would rather start his own than join someone else's.
If it had been anyone else, they might have had lofty ambitions and wanted to make it on their own.
But Xiao Jun guessed that, given Zheng Xun's personality, he simply didn't want anyone telling him what to do.
There were independent players, but many dungeons required participants to enter under a guild's name. Events like the all-star tournaments jointly organized by the major guilds also required players to belong to a guild.
Without joining a guild, an independent player was severely restricted under the current circumstances.
Zheng Xun had considered all those factors, which was why he wanted to start a guild himself.
Xiao Jun had a lot to say, but when the words reached his lips, he didn't know where to begin. As a result, he remained silent for quite a while.
Tao Xueji and Tao Xueqing were both introverted, and faced with this situation, they didn't know what to say either.
That left Cheng Jie as the only one who could speak up.
"What kind of stunt is this? Zheng Xun, if Songbird isn't good enough for you, you can always join another guild. Now you want to start a guild and have our people run around handling the paperwork. Aren't you just putting them through the wringer?"
"If money's the problem, I can earn it myself. I'd just have to run a few more dungeons," Zheng Xun said, his thinking clear. "But I want Songbird's guarantee."
The consultation room fell silent. Zheng Xun had nothing else to say, so he waited for the people from Songbird to reply.
Once again, it was Xiao Jun who answered him.
"Your request is a bit sudden for us, and I'm not very familiar with the procedures for setting up a guild either. We'll need time to prepare everything. How about this? Get some rest first, and I'll give you an answer tomorrow."
Zheng Xun didn't insist that they give him an answer that day.
"All right."
A night passed. Zheng Xun slept with his head under the covers in the consultation room and ate whenever he woke up, spending the time at his leisure.
Tao Xueqing stopped by for a short while and kept him company, chatting about the White Tower, the association, and the guilds. Zheng Xun needed to brush up on those subjects.
Cheng Jie stayed longer, but Zheng Xun got annoyed just looking at him. Unable to drive him away, he could only pull the blanket over himself and pretend he couldn't hear him.
After promising Zheng Xun an answer, Xiao Jun didn't keep him waiting too long.
At eight the next morning, he had just gotten out of bed when someone knocked on the door.
"Come on, our great hero." The visitor was Su Hairong, whom he hadn't seen in days. "Our vice guild leader wants to see you."
Su Hairong led the bleary-eyed Zheng Xun past the players' training room.
As Zheng Xun walked by, yawning, several players on the other side of a transparent glass wall stopped chatting and, as if by agreement, turned to look at him.
Su Hairong noticed them too, and her red lips curved upward.
"You're our guild's big star now."
"Mmh, I expected that."
"Not very modest, are you?"
"Just telling the truth."
Su Hairong walked ahead, her heels clicking crisply against the polished dark floor tiles.
"I heard about your conditions from the vice guild leader. Are you really not going to join our guild? Songbird's a fairly caring place. If you stay here, you won't be treated badly."
Zheng Xun rested a hand on the back of his neck and stretched it a couple of times. His body had stiffened after sleeping for so long.
"More than one group has tried to persuade me. Thanks for the kind offer."
"All right, if you insist you don't want to join, there's nothing to be done. But our vice guild leader is shrewd. He probably won't agree to your conditions so easily."
Zheng Xun's expression remained impassive.
"Yeah, I have a feeling."
Just as Su Hairong had said, Xiao Jun indeed wasn't going to let Zheng Xun go so easily.
They arrived at Xiao Jun's office.
After bringing Zheng Xun there, Su Hairong left, leaving the two of them alone.
Xiao Jun asked Zheng Xun to sit down.
"Songbird has agreed to your conditions, Zheng Xun. We put this proposal together overnight. Take a look."
The new guild needed an operating plan for the association's specialists to review and assess. Xiao Jun, the manager, and the assistant had worked deep into the night to produce the thick stack of papers.
Zheng Xun picked it up and leafed through it as Xiao Jun explained.
"Applying to establish a guild takes time. It should be done in about two weeks. During that period, Zheng Xun, you'd better avoid entering any particularly difficult or time-consuming dungeons, so our people can contact you whenever necessary."
"Okay."
Zheng Xun readily agreed. After two consecutive high-difficulty dungeons, he wanted to give himself a short break too.
"I won't go into the extra details now. As long as we follow the process, there won't be a problem. You'd get annoyed if I said too much." Xiao Jun had already gotten a fairly good read on his personality. "But Zheng Xun, there's one thing I need to remind you. Songbird is only acting as guarantor; we won't help you run the guild. These operating plans only look workable. If you really want the guild to keep running in the long term, you'll need investors and sponsors. Otherwise, you won't even be able to pay your players' salaries."
Zheng Xun nodded repeatedly. He agreed, but he didn't seem to have taken much of it in.
Xiao Jun sighed softly. He thought that Zheng Xun had no background or backer, and that his choice to start a guild on his own was probably just a passing whim, an enthusiasm that wouldn't last.
Once that enthusiasm faded, and he lost money and learned the hard way, he would naturally settle down and choose to join a guild.
Zheng Xun turned to the last page of the proposal and looked up.
"I don't have any objections. Now tell me what you want."
"What?"
"You have conditions of your own, don't you?" Zheng Xun's eyes were clear and bright. "Just say it."
"You really are... nothing gets past you." Xiao Jun felt a little helpless. Outsiders said Zheng Xun was a brute who only knew how to run dungeons and cared about nothing else, but as Xiao Jun saw it, he understood everything perfectly well.
Since both sides were being candid, Xiao Jun spoke plainly.
"I'd like you to sign a loan contract with my guild, and I'd also like to invite you to tomorrow's press conference."