Ronnie grabbed his head and started calling himself an idiot, his hand instinctively reached for SYL. When his nerves calmed down, he opened an in-game notebook in the HUD and wrote to several guild leaders in the PM, but no one answered him, although they were online. Nika, as expected, sent him to the blacklist. It was possible to spend the last money on some simple rifle, but in a solo game, there will be practically no benefit from it. There was also the option to hire a killer from the Assassins guild who would find and kill her and retrieve the broken Barrett, but now there were too many swindlers in their ranks. Ronnie opened the stats table:

Strength 5 (+0.1 gain to the next level) - first modification.

Dexterity 15 (+0.2 gain to the next level) - third modification.

Reaction 3 (+0 increment to the next level) - no modification.

Magic 0 (+0 increment to the next level) - no modification.

Amount of experience 0%

It was physically painful to watch. He understood that if a miracle did not happen now, then he would have no chance of getting to the first place. Counting on other "wins" was not an option, as they were mostly for guilds. Military-minded players get more and more experience every day. Ronnie opened the rating and saw that WildDron, which leads it, has already climbed up to the 27th level and 2.34% experience. Besides killing monsters and people, nothing else gives experience. There’s no other way, he has to take risks, go to the north of the desert in hopes of discovering a different passage through the mountains.

Suddenly, an alert was displayed in the HUD, someone with the nickname Latludious sent him a private message:

Hey. I read on the forum about what happened in the desert. If you are interested, then come to the Top Secret guild headquarters, we'll help you solve your problem.

What problem?

The one that costs 20m and on which it says "made by Ronnie".

Ronnie opened a virtual auction, sorted the weapons by value, and saw his broken Barrett M107A1 seller Nika, at the very top.

Hey! Are you still there?

...

Well, come if you want to. I'll be in town for another 10 days.

Ronnie looked at the CP count: 3.618.261, opened the friends’ list. One acquainted blacksmith with the nickname Doffersnoah was online. Location: Otron capital.

Are you in the workshop? Ronnie texted him.

Yeah, boy. What happened?

I was killed, and the rifle was stolen, now it is been auctioned for 20m, can you lend me 17m in debt? I'll buy it back, and I'll return the money asap.

Ronnie, my workshop costs half as much as your rifle, and you can build a small fort for 20m and rent it out. No player will have that much money on hand.

Yes, you're right. Shit.

If you need a good assault rifle, I can give you a gift.

I'll tell you a little later, thanks.

Ronnie went to the only wooden chair in his room, sat down on it, propped his chin on his hand, bent over, and began to think.

"AI, tell me about the Top secret guild."

"Fetching information... The guild is in third place in the list for the "Domination" win. It has twenty-three members, the average level is eighteen. Guild leader - Vvy, level 23, 95%, 5th place in the ranking, is currently the first deputy of the alliance of players at the foot of Orodrim Eoul. His deputy and chief strategist is Latludious, but many call him "Bishop". 18 level 17%, ranking 7843."

"How is the guild list formed in the "Dominance" rating?"

"Guild leaders receive special quests that require a lot of people to complete. They gather a group and go to clear the dungeons, capture and explore dangerous lands and protect the walls of the city from monster raids, and so on. For completing a guild quest, points are awarded. Their number forms the rating."

"I see. Thanks."

"At your service."

Ronnie wrote a PM to Latludious and asked why the issue could not be discussed through messages.

You'll come; you'll understand.

Ok.

Ronnie went down to the basement of the workshop, equipped as a warehouse, took some potions to restore stamina, cartridges for the pistol, scanners – who knows, they can come in handy at any moment - left the last tent with a protective field lying in the corner, nothing valuable on hands, who knows, maybe it's a trap. Then he threw a military backpack on his shoulder and set off.

An hour later, Ronnie passed through the main gate of the capital. At the exit, he saw a wooden sign that says "Guild Headquarters one mile north." He headed down the gravel road leading into the coniferous forest. There were spherical birds sitting in the trees, no head, no legs, no wings to be seen, only bright blue eyes moving in the direction of his movement. Little monsters ran along the tree trunks like rabid squirrels. Their crocodile body was covered with crystal scales, their eyes glowed red. They rushed past as if no one was near them, jumped from one branch to another, and crackled with sounds similar to that of a flock of cicadas.

When Ronnie came out of the forest, he saw a lot of castles and fortresses of different shapes and architecture in front of him. The first building on the way was made in Gothic style, with spear-like spires, a huge set of buttresses connected to the main wall by arc-boutants, observation towers, balconies, and dome-shaped glass in the form of a blooming flower shone on both facades of the transept. The third castle, surrounded by fortress walls, was the headquarters of the Top secret guild. A moat has been dug around it, and muddy brownish water is poured into it as if they were preparing for a defensive war. A long bridge led to red brick walls and wooden gates. Guild craftsmen installed remote-controlled explosives on the support pillars. Instead of towers at the entrance, there was a stone house with four small windows that served as a bunker. There was no light at all. The territory of the headquarters seemed to be entirely a beautiful place to Ronnie, from a distance, or from close. The only drawback is the locks on the right and left of white and pink flowers and graffiti on the walls with half-naked anime girls.

Ronnie wrote a PM to Latludious that he had arrived. Portcullis immediately climbed up the metal grooves, and the gate opened after it. The territory inside was small. In the very center, there was a tower similar to a lighthouse and several two-story houses, the castle was located at the very end of the yard. It's a pity there were no signs where to go. Ronnie wanted to write one more message, but while he was gathering his thoughts, Latludious himself approached him and asked him to follow him into the conference room.

The Bishop looked completely different from what Ronnie imagined him to look like. He was a little guy of twenty-seven years old in a raincoat, short-cropped hair, narrow eyes, with wrinkles on his forehead and a dissatisfied expression on his face. It seems to be nothing special, except for one thing - his stats:

Strength 1 - no modification.

Dexterity 1 - no modification.

Reaction 15 - third modification.

Magic 4 - no modification.

People on the forum beat their heads against the wall, just to figure out how to become a magician, but all in vain, and Latludious's parameter approached the first level of modification. The sly man found out how to use spells and did not tell anyone about it. Although who would have done otherwise in his shoes? Most likely no one.