Chapter 78: Player Conflict
After exiting the dungeon again Ezekiel was about to immediately enter as before but he was forced away by a large player.
"You the mage we been looking for eh? You don't look to special, wonder what you did."
Ezekiel got annoyed by the sudden blockade and tried to pull away.
"Look I don't know who you are or what you want but I'm trying to play the game?"
The player seemed as if he was about to say something but Ezekiel quickly got within range of the dungeon and selected the difficulty once again.
Inside of the cave he took a small breather but had to start killing the undead once again.
'What the hell did I do to make so many players come after me? All I did was accidentally destroy the wolf.'
~
Outside of the dungeon an orc warrior was laughing in a booming voice while he watched the human warrior who had grabbed Belial throwing a tantrum.
"That bastard ignored me!? ME?!"
Different players were moving away from the dungeon now, although they were there for their own reasons they would rather avoid the threat of this specific clan.
"I am THE REAPER!"
The orc player only laughed louder.
"Yeah yeah reaper we get it you're a super important guy even though you're just a lieutenant in the clan, come on you can't go losing your shit everytime someone doesn't recognize you."
The orc opened his bag to get a sheet of paper out and once he had it in hand he began to read out loud.
"Bring the mage in to the clan, do whatever it takes and try to beat the dungeon."
"Those were our instructions Reaper so stop acting like an idiot over your non existent reputation."
Reaper walked over and looked up at the orc with an expression of disgust.
"That's why you won't get anywhere in this world Bruno, you have no ambition... fine you stay here while I go get some xp."
Reaper left and chose to enter the dungeon.
Bruno shook his head and looked at the people waiting around, most of them were waiting to see the War God but many were there for selfish reasons.
He knew that they were there hoping to be recruited but most would be ignored, others would be there hoping to get a team to go into a dungeon crawl as well.
He also knew that some were there with hostile intentions by order of their leaders or their benefactors.
One player caught his eye often, an elf in a dark robe. Continue your adventure at m|v-l'e m,p| y r
The system indicated that he was a lv198 assassin class player who wore silver quality gear but on his belt he wore a gold quality dagger, since the hard mode dungeon was the only place he knew that gave gold quality gear then this assassin had to be one of those who had been trying to beat the nightmare mode after conquering hard mode.
He assumed the assassin just wanted to get information about the nightmare mode but he still had a suspicion of foul intentions nonetheless.
It was almost the end of the eighth day of the gameplay but those who had been working tirelessly seemed ready to go even further.
When he saw Belial again he waved at the guy and tried to approach.
"Hey! Belial! I'm not here to fight I just want to-"
He stopped mid sentence as the mage entered the dungeon again.
It was disheartening to see his attempt fail but he simply sat down to wait, he knew that Reaper would be back eventually and he could go get experience as well as they swapped shifts.
~
'Eventually he has to go to an inn to get some sleep, although players are protected in these rooms it's possible to slay them before they even reach it.'
The elven assassin was watching his target enter and exit the dungeon endlessly, he would need more effort to kill a higher level mage but it would be no big problem for him.
He had crafted a perfect plan to take advantage of a weak willed mage and force them to respawn.
Hemlock was a player killer for hire, he made a living off of exploiting the anger of rich bastards and slaying the poor players that caught their eye.
He knew that making money in this way made him a terrible person but he lived by a simple motto he had found from the past generations.
"I wouldn't but... twenty dollars is twenty dollars."
The original meaning had been lost in the endless usage that the internet had but even if he found the origin he wouldn't care, it was a good motto.
He was a blade for hire and when he inevitably found the assassins guild in this game he would work his way to the number one spot... after ensuring his name was well known amongst players.
He had taken a hit job from some angry second generation brat who had apparently been disrespected by the mage that had been topping the dungeon leaderboards of this city.
'I don't care what you did to that little shit stain but he paid a large amount to have you sent back to lv1, don't blame me for this too much. Ha.'
He was always blamed, the ones who paid were never blamed for their petty actions in hiring an assassin to punish those they were to pathetic to harm.
The players he would kill always took their anger out on him in the forums even though they knew he had been hired by someone who wanted them gone so badly they paid for it.
No matter what the cost he would finish this job, sell the poor bastards gear and then go on to the next mark.
~
At the top of a floating island an angellic man was holding up a glowing sword while addressing the crowd.
"Listen up! I have been given a message from the goddess of the celestial race because they cannot act on her desires."
Claiming to have spoken with a god would normally be blasphemy and even amongst the celestial race the punishments were severe for this criminal act.
But no NPCs moved against him.
They were to busy staring at the blade he held and the armor he wore.
"The goddess Luminous wishes for the celestial race otherworlders to declare war on the church of light!"
As he spoke he saw the NPCs getting something ready, he got excited the moment he could see the glow opening from the center.
'They opened a gate! I won't have to fly to that city oh thank the gods.'
"For to long the church has killed in her name, for to long they have used her own name as some kind of free pass to commit atrocities that Lady Luminous has been disgusted by!"
The more he spoke the more natural it felt to call his fellow players to arms.
"She says that she swore her people to an oath of non acknowledgement against the church, when they are in the cities of the world they are never to act as if the church exists!"
He put his sword into the sheath and raised both of his arms high to call them all to look at the gate.
"Luminous has kept her native celestials from interfering but we dont have such an oath!"
He pointed directly at the gate.
"Through that gate we will find our enemies forces spread all across the land, cities corrupted by them and forced into giving their leaders equal authority in their government."
He said this part with disgust as he had seen what the church was like in the past.
They took advantage of the ignorant and they manipulated events to suit their desires.
They were known to be behind many events that transpired in the world, from the fall of Raylock to the entire race war between the allied nations and the infernal nation.
The church of light had spent over a century trying to kill the devil queen but none of their attempts had worked, they had infiltrated many kingdoms and given themselves significant power.
It was so significant that it reached the point where even if the leaders of these kingdoms knew about the fact that the church was not even remotely connected to the goddess of light nothing could be done.
In the capital cities of the allied nations there was a branch of the church with their own head priests who all answered to the pope.
In these kingdoms the church had a hand in not only the government but also the economic side of the nations.
They could destroy a cities economy simply by leaving and taking the businesses they owned, they could use this threat to hold sway over leaders.
What made the church even more disgusting to him was the fact that they could affect how the poor and desperate citizens felt about their lives.
They would never be removed without force because a large portion of the population viewed them as saviors.
He might not have liked being forced to take a quest with such significance but he didn't oppose the destruction of the church.