Nothing really special happened the next day before entering the ETHER Link. We are back again in New World after doing the things normal college students should do. Although the same cannot be said when it comes to the activity in the New World Forums.

When we were not inside the game, some guild named Burning Lotus Sect has created a scene inside the game. Supposedly, they are the first one to capture and occupy a small village somewhere outside Solstice City. Not only that, but the guild was also given rewards for being the first guild to occupy a village.

-5000 gold for the Guild's bank,

-5000 points for the Guild's Experience,

-And +2 reputation to every member of the guild except the leader because he or she gets +5 reputation.

These rewards are the real reason why people are making a commotion about this.

When I dig deeper, it is actually not just some random guild who was lucky enough to find a village and occupy it. I should have known this, but because I barely care about guilds, I have not known that Burning Lotus Sect is the number 1 guild in the World Rankings with one of their members also being the number 1 player in the world rankings, Mystic Xiye.

They are also the first guild to turn Level 2 and recruit 1000 members in world record time.

Crazy as it sounds. It is a lot of no.1/first for a single group. You may care about it or you not, they are the most popular name in New World, rivalling many B-tier celebrities in real life of this age already.

"Burning Lotus Sect is already becoming a household name and the month is not yet over."

"Wait till they become as strong as the strongest knights of the Cities. I won't be surprised if soon they will become the overlord of Solstice City. Maybe even you Aria will be lining up for their recruitment."

"What are you talking about, Cherry? All three of us will go!"

"Right~"

Aria did not hesitate in saying her proposal. I guess bearing the guild name of the top 1 guild is what she wants.

"But they are on the other side of the map. Not mentioning, we have not yet seen any sign of the capital which should be located in the centre of the whole New World."

"Seems like you have already decided to join them, Aria."

"Of course! Imagine how much money they're earning right now. Sponsors should also be coming soon."

This is bad. She is already planning to defect to the other side without even having the taste of what our guild has in store. Not like I really care, but I doubt we can even pass their recruitment tests.

With high fame come in high requirements for its members. From some rumours in the forums who tried joining them, a player should at least be level 26 before trying out their tests. That is already out of the park for us.

Quite steep for a requirement making me doubt if I am even an above-average player. These guys are most likely online 24/7 just to reach that high of a level.

[Name: Cherry Winter

Level: 24

Title: None

Reputation: 2

Health: 862/862

Defence: 53

Strength: 44 (+15)

Vitality: 44 (+7)

Stamina: 58 (+5)

Agility: 82 (+25)

Dexterity: 77 (-2)

Stat Points: 0

Money: 3540g]

My stats have not changed that much compared to last time. It was all due to my equipment not really improving for the most part. A big part of it is because I am really unlucky at our last hunt together that the latest item I can equip is still Luna's pendant.

The only improvement I can really see in me is levelling up 4 levels in a single day. Even with that, I am far off rivalling the weakest member of Burning Lotus Sect.

How frustrating now that I think about it. I thought I played this game at the top level. But as more and more things showed me that I was only a frog in a well. I cannot help but feel competitive in playing a game once again.

"There's no point standing here. Let's go to our Guild Base."

"Hm? What's gotten to you, Cherry."

I dragged them to the Guild Base with my newly found motivation for getting stronger. We cannot be idling here if we want to achieve the same goal of becoming one of the best in this game.

It hit me deeply now that I know we are taking this game for granted. Maybe not for Aria because she has a reason for reaching the top, but Michelle and I have been only enjoying the ride for the most part.

The incident between Smiling Hound's group and the news of Burning Lotus Sec gaining all the attention made me realize how little you can do if you are simply an average player in this game. Sooner or later, the land of New World will be ruled not by an NPC, but the strongest players and guilds of the future.

Richest Asian is one of the people I knew who utterly understand this and takes New World seriously like it is one of his big investment. Since we are not someone exceptional players like Mystic Xiye or someone who has all the time of the day to play, the best we can do is put all our effort in our second life with all the resources we currently have.

We are already lucky that we joined a guild with a good Guild Leader. So it will be best if we start there.

"Let's aim for Gold Paradise to be number 1 in Twilight City Guild Rankings."

"Oi~ What's really happening, Cherry. You're scaring us."

"Nothing. I just have my passion for gaming ignite once again."

"Your what now?"

"Never mind that. Look, we're already here in our Guild Base."

Gold Paradise's Guild Base is located on the third street of Traveller's Plaza which was made the same day when Guilds were first introduced.

Unlike every part of Twilight City, the Traveller's Plaza was more modern looking with high towering buildings. Although it seems like there is still game magic involved when it comes to Guild Bases because tens of thousands of rooms for Guild Bases cannot be fit in this place alone.

"Welcome"

When we entered the building where our Guild Base should be, we were immediately transferred to our room when we rode and left the device which looks like an elevator We do not need to look for our room like hotels or apartments because when the elevator opened up, we were greeted with an empty room with Gold Paradise sign on the wall.

"This is just sad."

"Our leader did not even put a wallpaper here. There's only the post-board in here."

"Give him a break. I heard that it cost 20,000 gold to create a guild base or in this case, an empty room. Decorations for the guild base are also expensive to the max, the cheapest being 1000 gold. And all of this without asking his members for their share."

"He can always buy gold real-time, right?"

"We don't know who is he and transforming real money to gold is a tad bit expensive yet. We can't ask much for the moment."

"Hmm~ I hope he still has the 10,000b$ to pay in a few days."

Aria and Michelle have different opinions on the Guild Base. The topics have naturally swayed next after another that I left them talking and went to the guild board.