I sat there like I was stargazing.
Sweat slicked my hair flat to my forehead, blood that wasn’t mine dripped from my knuckles, and sap clung to my clothes in sticky streaks.
Splinters from the minions’ bark-flesh littered my arms, stinging every time I moved. Around me was a mountain of corpses... Dozens, maybe hundreds of the Titan’s spawn, all piled like firewood, the evidence of their endless, stupid pathfinding mishap into my little pocket of swordswing distance.
I sat in the middle of it, still balanced on that ridiculous sack of cheesewheels like some kind of throne, panting so hard I thought my lungs might burst through my ribs. My eyes were wide and dry, twitching at shadows, while my fingers flexed uncontrollably as if my body was still swinging, still killing.
The fight was over. At least, this wave was, but the Titan of Ashen Bark still loomed in the distance, alive and waiting, its molten veins pulsing slow and steady like the breath of a god.
I didn’t even notice footsteps until a heavy hand tapped my shoulder, and I flinched, almost ready to punch whoever that was with a crit to the balls. But it was Olga, so no balls, sadly.
"Well done," Her voice rumbled, ragged and warm. "Those bastards had it coming. I don’t understand what you did but I sure as hell owe you one."
It was like a switch flipped.
I blinked hard, forcing my gaze away from the carcass-heap, forcing myself to see again. All around, the chaos of combat had slowed into a messy sort of order.
The New Destiny guild was working with brisk efficiency. Healers patching wounds, supports forcing medicine down the throats of the eight unlucky bastards coughing blood, backline helped tanks don their armor, swapping out broken gear with spares looted from their fallen comrade.
A pair of players knelt by where the fallen tank were, gently sliding the last of her items into storage.
And through all that, Olga stood there like the pillar she was, calm after the storm, hand extended to me.
I reached up and took it, feeling her strong grip, one was like that of steel, hauling me upright in a single jerk.
My knees almost buckled, but I managed to steady myself, snatching up my precious sack of cheesewheels and sliding it back into my inventory before anyone could get too curious.
Our eyes met when I looked up again... She was the kind of woman that didn’t look away after she had already laid her eyes on someone. And for a brief, fragile second, I swore there was something motherly in the way she looked at me... Is it weird to say? Her eyes were... Not quite admiration, not quite affection, but that peculiar pride I’d only ever seen in teachers, mentors, leaders, the kind that said I recognize you, kid, you’re one of mine.
Then the system’s voice cut through the night.
[RAID PHASE 3 COMPLETED]
[RESULTS OF TOP PERFORMANCE WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN 10 HOURS]
The raid area filled with cheers and sighs of relief. I dragged my gaze down to the wristwatch overlay, 1:30 in the morning already. Follow current novᴇls on noveⅼfire.net
Noon, then, around high noon tomorrow, the game would tell the world who had been the strongest, smartest, most efficient in this all day long blood-soaked dance.
"You’ll sure get a big cut," Olga said, her grin crooked and tired but genuine. She jerked her chin at me. "As promised, we would like you to try out for one week in New Destiny, there’s a lot of perks that we’ll get to later, we won’t let good fighters like you down. So what’s your username so we can add you to our guild?"
I hesitated only for a second... Trying to remember if I had any beef with Eolga, but I couldn’t recall much.
So, I took a deep breath before saying it.
"My username is CJS69Real, you might know me as CJS69 but someone stole my username."
The pause that followed was thicker than sap.
Olga froze, brow furrowing, while half her team turned their heads at once, murmurs bubbling up as recognition flickered in their eyes.
My stomach tightened, not knowing their opinion on me.
There’s something I realized after spending too much time in society, is that if you approach a group of 10 people, 9 of them will have the same opinion, that’s just how gossip and society works... So if Olga hates me, I have to fight the 29 people that’s surrounding me.
Then Olga barked out a laugh, sharp and booming. She slapped me on the shoulder, hard enough to sting, then again, and again, each hit like a thunderous thunk thunk thunk.
"It’s you all along, eh, you bastard? Wahahahaha! The nutjob kid no one likes? You ain’t half bad yourself. I still remember that one time you sent a death threat to that Lion’s Parade leader guy, uhh, Jack? For stealing your last hit on the Dark Memento, ain’t that right, Pearl?"
She looked to this "Pearl" guy, and it was the mage with high level gears from earlier, bright blue hair, eyeglasses, cloak, staff, light armor, all that fancy stuff.
"Sure." He said half-assedly
"Hey, he got 10 people trying to steal my last hit while I’m alone, of course I’m mad."
Her laughter carried, and the tension broke. The others smirked, some chuckled, and just like that, I sighed, realizing that no one here I got beef with.
A notification blinked into existence before me.
[Eolga has invited you to join the guild: New Destiny]
I hovered for a second, then tapped Accept.
Warmth spread through the team around me, like an unspoken welcome, and Olga clapped my back once more before stomping off to yell at her mages.
But inside, behind the grin I wore, I was already plotting. Deep down, I knew exactly what I’d do with this. I’d drain this guild for all it was worth.