Chapter Forty-Three: The Founding of the Guild

Those still alive read the prompt to return to town, and those lying on the ground simply revived back in town. Luckily, death in the dungeon didn’t cost any experience, so there was no real loss.

Back in the city, Zhang Shan realized just how lively things had become.

“The Stormcloud Guild is really impressive. They actually completed the first dungeon run. Amazing.”

“Amazing? Please! They’re just like us—they haven’t even established their guild yet.”

“Maybe they got the Order of Heroes in the dungeon and can set up the guild right away.”

“How could they be so lucky? Normal difficulty dungeons drop trash loot. The Order of Heroes is out of reach.”

“You never know. I heard the dungeon’s gatekeeper boss had a red name. It shouldn’t drop junk.”

“Even if they did get the guild item, so what? Establishing a guild isn’t that easy. There might be other founding quests. With only a handful in Stormcloud Guild, could they handle a massive quest like that?”

“Do you really need to do quests to found a guild in New World? Didn’t the civil affairs officer say you only need prestige, gold coins, and the Order of Heroes?”

“That was just the requirements, not the process. Which game doesn’t require quests to set up a guild? Especially a big game like New World—there’ll definitely be quests, and tough ones at that.”

“Even if the quest is tough, Stormcloud Guild won’t care. They have a divine artifact.”

“A single weapon doesn’t mean much.”

With Stormcloud Guild repeatedly appearing in system announcements, their reputation as one of the top ten guilds grew ever stronger. No longer were they seen as just rich spenders tossing money around; they had built a real name for themselves.

Naturally, fame bred fans, envy, and resentment. Negative voices became louder.

Zhang Shan paid no mind to any of it. He was just a bystander, indifferent to others’ opinions—he wasn’t the guild leader, after all.

Even if he were, he wouldn’t bother with those trivial people. There were plenty in the game with poor attitudes, always itching for a fight. The more you cared, the more arrogant they became.

Zhang Shan only wanted to quietly grind. Even though he no longer worried about his livelihood, he still cherished his dream of grinding.

After leaving the dungeon, he still hadn’t heard any news about the guild being founded.

What was going on? It had been a while; why wasn’t the guild established yet? He needed to log off and sleep—it had been nearly thirty hours without rest.

“What’s the situation? The guild isn’t up yet? Is there another quest?”

“No idea. The boss is still running around, and there are quite a few steps. Every major NPC needs to be visited.”

“Why is that?”

“No clue. All the life profession NPCs, military officers, gatekeepers—basically anyone with a name seems to require a greeting.”

“Wow, is this some kind of ritual?”

“Probably. Once the guild is established, you’re a faction in the city; paying respects everywhere makes sense. Still, the game’s realism is something else.”

“Hehe, that’s what makes it fun.”

“Hope it finishes soon. Please, no more dungeon-clearing quests. I need sleep—it’s been a day and a night already.”

“Man, if I could solo a red boss, I’d happily go a week without sleep.”

Zhang Shan…

“Everyone gather at the civil affairs officer. Founding a guild needs fifty initial members. Luckily, everyone is online now,” Stormcloud World announced in the team channel.

“Boohoo, I’m not happy. Just because I woke up a bit late, you all ran the dungeon without me,” lamented a guild bigwig who missed the run.

“Wasn’t much fun anyway—just grinding mobs and watching the artifact wielder demolish the boss.”

“Hmph, complaining after getting the loot.”

“All right, everyone’s here. I’m submitting the guild founding now—it’ll be done soon,” Stormcloud World said, clearly excited.

Moments later, the system announcement rang out.

System Announcement: “Congratulations to player Stormcloud World for founding the first guild in New World. You are awarded a guild base, a guild skill, and a randomly selected guild facility.”

Finally, it was done.

World Channel

War God Li Jing: “Stormcloud, such luck! You got the Order of Heroes in one dungeon run?”

Apart from guild members, no one else knew that Zhang Shan had obtained the Order of Heroes while defeating the priest in the Bo Wang Wasteland, and thought it dropped from the dungeon.

Stormcloud World: “No, we got the Order of Heroes earlier. Clearing the dungeon was a prerequisite for founding the guild.”

Rogue Without Restraint: “That’s harsh! The Order of Heroes is already hard to come by, and you need to clear a dungeon first? That’s too much.”

Free King: “I just want to know how you cleared the dungeon. That gatekeeper boss was fierce—anyone who tried ended up dead. How did you manage?”

Mighty Monarch: “Come on, their guild’s artifact guy can solo the boss. Grouping up makes it even easier.”

Free King: “Artifact guy used an item the first time. There’s no way they have a second one, right?”

Dragon of the Nine Provinces: “Did artifact guy really use an item to kill the boss? No one knows for sure. Hey, artifact guy, where’s your video? I’ve been watching the forum for ages.”

Zhang Shan felt a bit dizzy. He had almost forgotten—he’d promised to upload the video after logging off, but had been dragged into the dungeon and forgot all about it.

Now, he barely had time to handle the video.

Six-Bar Buddha: “Sorry, everyone, the boss called me for the dungeon just now, so I didn’t get to upload the video. I’ll do it right away.”

In the World Channel, speaking costs one gold for the first message, ten for the second, and one hundred for the third within an hour.

With the game already running for a while, this amount of gold was trivial for the big shots.

Chattering two or three times was nothing.

“The guild is finally up. Which direction should we choose for the guild base? East, south, west, or north?” Stormcloud World asked for opinions.

“East! Purple rises in the east—a good omen.”

“Let’s go east, then.”

“Wow, have you seen the guild skill? It’s powerful—attack increases by five percent, and all guild members automatically receive it.”

“No way, that’s like an extra talent.”

“Haha, awesome.”

Zhang Shan glanced at himself and indeed, he had a new skill.

Mastery of Arts (Guild Skill): Mastery in your profession. Attack power increased by five percent. Guild members automatically obtain this skill. Leaving the guild causes the skill to disappear.

“Boss, let’s check out our guild base—see how the location and layout turned out.”

“No need to ask, it’s surely a prime spot,” someone replied with a chuckle.

“I’ll head over first. The rest of you can follow,” Stormcloud World said, then teleported away.

By checking the team’s location info, the others followed by teleporting as well.