[World Rankings (Overall Assessment):
1, Su Ming’an (Combat Power: 550) (Number One Player) (Perfect Pass*2) / Occupation: White Audit
2, Noel (Combat Power: 650) (Perfect Pass*1) / Occupation: Puppet Master
3, Mizushima Kawa Sora (Combat Power: 580) (Perfect Pass*2) / Occupation: Illusionism
4, Lv Shu (Combat Power: 600) (Perfect Pass*1) / Occupation: Beast Tamer
5, Adolf (Combat Power: 520) (Perfect Pass*1) / Occupation: Boxing Master
6, Emma (Combat Power: 480) (Perfect Pass*2) / Occupation: Kongming
7, Jin Minhao (Combat Power: 520) (Perfect Pass*1) / Occupation: Magic Breaker
8, Andre (Combat Power: 500) / Occupation: Master Craftsman
9, Iris (Combat Power: 500) (Perfect Pass*2) / Occupation: Charm Sound
10, Alger (Combat Power: 480) / Occupation: Crazy Sword
11, Flora (Combat Power: 510) / Occupation: Elementalism
Su Ming’an looked at the rankings and had just walked downstairs when Lv Shu hurriedly followed him.
"Wait up, wait up," he said with rapid strides, grabbing Su Ming’an’s shoulder. "You’re a good person, Su Ming’an."
"I don’t remember confessing to you, and here comes the friend zone card," Su Ming’an joked.
"No," Lv Shu said earnestly. "My grandfather once taught me to read people’s eyes, and you’re much better than that Mizushima Kawa jerk. You’re rightfully the Number One Player—"
"Enough," Su Ming’an interrupted his forthcoming praise. "Let’s go. Wasn’t the Guild Headquarters about to open? I don’t have enough Points for the auction house, and I’m not interested in the Arena, so let’s get ready for the Headquarters. After all, as the First Guild, we need a bit of display..."
But suddenly, he saw an announcement in the [World Chat] column.
[Player (Mizushima Kawa Sora) has issued a Challenge Letter to player (Su Ming’an). The two will duel (1 on 1) in two hours, with viewing permissions set to (all players), and the duel location at (Guild Headquarters), with no rewards, this announcement will repeat three times.]
"As I expected?" He probably guessed the purpose of this woman’s visit.
"...What’s the situation, our First Guild infighting?"
In the brightly lit cafe, a white plush cat was taking a nap on a blanket, basked in sunlight.
A hand petted its soft fur, eliciting a cozy purring sound.
The blond youth on the couch, yawning as he looked at the players furiously spamming the world chat, suddenly noticed the announcement.
"Hey, Noel, you ought to be fed up with this guy in the Second World too, right? Think about how his attitude towards you has changed front and back; such a guy is also pretty scary," the blond youth said while playing with the cat.
He looked towards the window, where Noel was standing, holding a glass of strawberry juice, somewhat absentmindedly gazing outside.
"Two hours later... That’s exactly when the Guild Headquarters are scheduled to open. Isn’t Mizushima Kawa Sora also the vice president of Lighthouse Guild? How come she’s challenging her own people? Those Challenge Letters cost 100 Points in the shop, ridiculously expensive, but they do broadcast throughout the server. It would go beyond petty squabbles to do something ..."
"It’s not just petty squabbles," Noel turned around, sunlight casting a golden edge on his face. He showed the forum post page to the blond youth.
It was a denunciation post by Mizushima Kawa Sora on the forums, pinned and highlighted by the world forum. Despite being posted just five minutes ago, the views soared like a rocket, already in the hundreds of millions.
The content was unequivocally clear.
[Mizushima Kawa Sora: I once thought he was an omnipotent Savior, a naturally Strongest Player.
But I later realized he’s also a terrifying dictator, a crazy believer.
He won’t become a beacon for humanity, nor is he a fearless martyr. He’s unstable and uncontrollable.
I dare not claim I am the most suited Ruler, but I wouldn’t hand over the world’s initiative to him. He’s not fit, at least not more than I am. He climbed to his position over the corpses of his comrades; he’s definitely not the bright future of humanity’s hope...]
Mizushima Kawa Sora explained in her post about the rewards possibly obtained from a Perfect Pass on all levels, combined with the suddenly escalated accusations she hurled in the teahouse from recordings people had, the truth quickly became clear.
"Ah, I didn’t expect Mizushima Kawa to actually dare to say such things... She’s likely going to get shredded by those Lighthouse Series fanatics..." the blond youth murmured to himself. "But honestly, not considering Mizushima Kawa’s seemingly righteous words, I also feel Su Ming’an isn’t the right fit to be the Number One Player. He doesn’t suit the role of humanity’s spiritual Faith, nor is he fit to lead people. Although he does have the strength, his behavior in the game is too detached from society..."
"Deviance is not an inherent characteristic of the deviant, but rather a set of rules manufactured by a specific ruling group that they impose on certain individuals, branding them as outsiders," Noel faced him. "Can we really generalize the society after the World game ends the same as before it began?"
"Eni, I know you’re not convinced because you lost to him," Noel sighed lightly. "But have you carefully watched his actions? He saved the right people and took the initiative to clear the obstacles around the Sanctuary, disregarding White City’s pleas, choosing to continue on a brutal and hopeless adventure... Could such a presence really be so narrow-minded?"
"Are you implying we’re still on the Third Layer, and he’s on the Fifth? How could that be? Is he so great that he’d want us to criticize him?"
The blond youth was indeed Eni.
He looked much better now than when he lost to Su Ming’an on the World chessboard, clear-eyed and open-minded, as if he had truly started anew.
"I don’t know; it’s just speculation," Noel set down the strawberry juice and lowered his eyes. "...Just take it as my babbling."
Two hours passed quickly.
Shortly after the system notification of the Guild Headquarters opening, players from various Guilds flocked into their respective Headquarters.
The initial setup of each Headquarters was quite primitive, with only basic facilities like the Guild hall and the speaking platform. Some empty storefronts lined up in the compound, along with some vacant residential buildings – it was a space combining elements of a neighborhood and a school. As thirteen thousand members of the First Guild poured into the plaza at once, it was somewhat crowded, everyone was bustling about, curiously surveying their surroundings.
Yu Ruohuo squeezed in among the crowd, craning his neck to look up.
Up above was a large, empty speaking platform with several people already standing on it, all well-known powerful individuals among the players.