The agent that had returned came from a particularly influential island that was to the northwest of Simon’s island. This island was level 12, with over 10,000 residents, and was at an altitude of almost 170,000 meters. As a result, the information known within that island was naturally quite abundant.

From what his agent learned, the lowest zone was actually split up into hundreds of regions which certain organizations resided in; the particular region where Simon’s island resided in was called the Monotonous Badlands.

Within this region which spanned several thousand kilometers in every direction, there were actually four organizations which had a major presence: The Flamelight Organization, the Luminant Mercenary Guild, the Flitting Shadow Organization, and the Empyrean Merchant Guild.

Of these organizations, the Flamelight Organization could be considered the weakest of the four, as a trash tier organization in the lowest zone. The Flitting Shadow Organization on the other hand, was somewhat stronger, as a bronze tier organization with a presence in the Lowest zone as well as the Low zone.

Meanwhile, the Luminant Mercenary Guild and the Empyrean Merchant Guild were practically on another level when compared to local organizations such as Flamelight and Flitting Shadow!

After all, the Luminant Mercenary Guild and the Empyrean Merchant Guilds were actually Gold tier organizations which had a strong presence within the Lowest zone to the Higher zone... Such organizations were practically omnipresent giants which could be found throughout all of Island Ascension Online!

In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that these massive organizations were split up and rife with internal disputes, they would definitely be considered as Divine Tier organizations.

Thankfully, these organizations which spanned all of Island Ascension Online were like sleeping behemoths. They did not deign to interfere in affairs within the lowest zones, and only were there to facilitate trade and to poach talents. Only if sufficiently provoked, would they pounce.

As suggested by their name, the Mercenary Guild was a guild in which one could hire mercenaries. These mercenaries could do anything, from raiding ruins, to defending islands, or even raiding other islands - so long as a certain price was paid...

On the other hand, the Merchant guild was, of course, a guild of merchants. They held monthly auctions and had many connections, as well as the capability of buying and selling almost anything. Only, their services were quite expensive when compared to local merchants and businesses.

Meanwhile, the region of the Monotonous Badlands was relatively typical in the grand scheme of things. There were indeed a few locations of interest, but generally, there was nothing exceedingly special here.

‘Interesting,’ Simon smiled lightly as he pondered over the situation in this region. ‘It seems that it won’t be too difficult to take this region over.’

Then, he made some final preparations before logging off.

After all, by now, he had unlocked the option to have his island run whilst he was offline, which was named ‘Real Time Island’. If no preparations were in place when he left the island by itself, he was just asking for it to collapse.

...

By now, the sun was high in the sky, and a light layer of snow was blanketing the city, reflecting the dazzling rays of sunlight.

When Simon pulled his helmet off, he found that his body in the real world was somewhat tired, and a layer of dust had even formed on top of him. But that was the extent of what he faced.

‘Haha, that was a nice session. I imagine that not many people will be close to me in terms of progression!’ He thought with a grin.

Simon had no doubts that he was one of the most active gamers. After all, as a mage, the repercussions for playing for a day or two straight would only be a slight odor and a sense of tiredness. Comparatively speaking, it really wasn’t too troublesome for him to play 23/7, while even no-life gamers would only be able to maintain at most twenty hours a day.

After taking a quick shower and tidying himself up, he ate a monstrous quantity of cup noodles before putting on a nice suit and promptly heading out.

...

After leaving his condo, Simon first went to Kenny’s office and offered him guidance in magic for a period of time.

Whenever he went outside, he also took the chance to teach Kenny magic. After all, he was simply too much of a shut in gamer to miss such opportunities to provide guidance to his bro... If he missed this chance, who knew when he would next go out?

Along the way, he had also noticed that people were more reluctant to interact with strangers, and the environment was rather tense within the city. However, it made sense as the situation in the outside world was simply changing too rapidly; just the other day, an accident within the city had killed hundreds of people, causing an uproar among the residents of the city!

After leaving the compound, he then booked a flight to a distant city that went by the name of Veracy City, and headed to the closest airport.

Indeed, he was finally going to join the Research School.

It has to be known that the city in which the Veracity School was located was actually one of the main headquarters for the Gamer’s Truth organization. Such grandeur and extravagance was not uncommon among research teams; they were backed by the strongest powers on this planet, after all.

The Veracity team and the Gamer’s Organization had a somewhat unique relationship. Though the Veracity team was not subordinated to Gamer’s Truth, they still received support from the company. As a result, they gained the privilege to have a headquarters built for them.

Veracity City in particular, is regarded as one of the most impressive cities out there! Naturally, the cost of living and quality of life in such a city are both extremely high.

Even Kenny, who was considerably wealthy, would only be able to barely reside at the lowest level of the city... where the least important figures of the entire city gathered.

Considering the fact that most of the benefits in the city were exclusively available in the city's core zone and middle zone, not many like Kenny would dare to spend their fortunes on merely staying at the outer zone - at least whilst still in their prime money making age.

But after they retired, it was another story altogether. After all, even the outer zone had excessively impressive benefits! Therefore for retirees, such a location was perfect for living out the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, it was said that the middle zone only held truly influential figures, and the core zone held figures that were of paramount importance! After all, only with an exceedingly absurd amount of wealth, or powerful connections, would one be able to enter such zones.

Of course, there were also exceptions - one could immediately join the middle zone of the city by joining the Research School or by being a high level employee of the gamer’s truth company. Similarly, upon joining the official team or becoming an executive of the company, one even could gain access to the core zone!

Moreover, the inner reaches of the city were notoriously hard to enter and easy to get kicked out of. One had to compete with many experts for the limited spots, after all.

Such an illustrious and competitive place was exactly what Simon was looking for!

He patiently sat in the spacious, yet crowded terminal, with a relaxed grin on his face.

‘Haha, I think it's time that I truly reveal myself to the world. Though my scientific abilities aren’t so dazzling as to shock the world, my magic capabilities should be.’