While a commotion ensued on the outside, Carl rampaged in the center of the woods. The thrifty type that he was, he had now encountered an unforeseen complication …

He had too much mana!

The black prowlers were no different from common dire wolves to him, and he was totally comfortable being surrounded by those at this point. It was fine in the first half, but then the stamina potion run out and he felt spent. Not to mention the massacre he carried was so devastating that the wolves had long lost their will to fight. Yet there was still more than 10k mana income ahead of him, so …

… just how many cuts would he have to make to let Arrest Bleeding absorb it all? He couldn't possibly lose 1 liter of blood per second!

Unwilling to let it go to waste, Carl chased down all the injured prowlers, careful not to use the gladiatorial buffs too often, or he wouldn't last a few hours. He decided to stabilize his foundations instead, chaining Ripping Claw along the wolves' torsos for brutal executions. The skill now provided a maximum of 4x the momentum, but it had to be mastered before this value could become a constant.

“Maybe I should learn some ranged magical attacks? Something paralyzing would be sweet … like a lightning bolt!”

Having completely routed the opposition, Carl unwillingly activated Last Hurrah and threw some punches in the air to minimize the buff's mana consumption.

“Toothy, come on down, there's plenty of work for you!”

“Master Lionheart, that was epic! What carnage! And you still don't have enough! Haha!”

“Heh, I'll join you in a minute.”

“But there's just too many! We can't carry them all!” Theodore didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

“No matter, the prowlers are pocket change. We don't have the time to skin them all anyway.”

Mere 25 minutes after embarking, Carl emerged form within the turquoise event horizon once again bloodied from head to toe, a huge, intensely black pelt draped over his shoulder. The rowdy crowd seemed different than before. Since Blood Oath was no longer around, Carl could only deduce that Blood Brothers tucked their tails and fled the scene to avoid further humiliation, while other groups and individual players congregated to witness the hero's return. Within seconds, the clamor gradually died down, as everyone became aware of his presence. There was easily tens of thousands of gawkers on the temple plaza at the bottom of the cream marble steps to the Expedition Association, many of them NPCs.

“Wow …”

The hubbub he previously caused by speedrunning the gray wolves' den was already tremendous, but this … it was a sensation. The Blood Brothers really shot themselves in the foot by fanning the fires. What made them so confident Carl would fail? Did they not understand he was fully prepared to face Cybercore's updated challenge? Did they think he cheated on the haunted battlefield? Were titles this easy to earn?

The timing felt right, so Carl approached the edge of the platform on which the magnificent edifice stood, and his gaze swept over the masses.

“Spread the word!”

His mighty voice resounded powerfully, despite the open space.

“Soon, there will be an auction for party slots to accompany me to the black wolves' den! To this end, a dedicated thread will be opened on the official forum! There, you will be able to familiarize yourselves with a quest that is unlocked by conquering the dungeon! It offers bounties for recovering documents from a wolf-infested outpost, ranging from 10 silver to 10 gold! It is a place where skilled gatherers with nerves of steel can make a living! Activate your contacts and search for Scrolls of Danger of base quality! I will need a lot of them, and those who bring me one will receive both priority buyout and a discount! After every successful run, 4 slots will be auctioned off for the next one, while I go for a trip with the locals! Winner's funds will be held in an escrow account, so have them on hand during the bidding! The first round will begin within two hours! May it be a fair competition!”

And there it was …

… the bomb had gone off!

Subsequently, all the forums exploded.

“Hahaha! Oh, it feels so good to say 'I told you so'! :D”

“Holy moly! Just how much money is he going to make now??? :O”

“And he's even squeezing runs with NPCs in between … how long until he gains enough reputation to unlock the two mysterious portals?”

“Sayonara Blood Brothers, it was nice knowing you … NOT! :D”

“What is this quest he's talking about? 10 gold for a document?! Is this a gold mine or what?!”

“No info yet, have to wait. Kinda sounds too good to be true …”

“Guys, an announcement from Radiant Bulwark, vice guild leader of Skyborne Lions! He's leaving the guild with a bunch of his people!”

“Haha! They must be dying with regret! Good for them! :P”

“Maybe the rest of them, but I think Bulwark and his entourage have already been working for Lionheart since before. They'll probably be handling his auctions and supply lines now.”

“What an upheaval! Took just one man to tear an established guild asunder!”

“Looks like it's going to be a real war, after all.”

“Can't wait! (^.^)”

…

*Ring* *Ring*

Martin sighed with frustration.

“Hello Tom.”

“Dad! Are you in the game yet?”

“No … I promised your mom to take her shopping today, we're still in the city …”

“Tell her to hurry it up! Do you have any idea what's going on?!”

“I do, I read on the lens …”

“Should I come home early?”

“… Why?”

“Listen, dad, I was thinking … we could have Di learn how to track bosses, and you would switch to full realism … we could handle the gray wolves' den if we had better gear, couldn't we?”

“Heh, Tommy … it's not that easy …”

“Dad, the man is going to become a millionaire within days! He could lend us a starting capital, right? You're on good terms with him! Come on! Don't you want to be a pro again?”

Martin exhaled, the weight of his years suddenly bearing down on him.

“I'm an old man, Tommy, I don't–”

“Then I'll do it!”

“Haha! Tommy, what got into you, son?”

“Hmm? What does he want?” A female voice could be heard.

“Is mom next to you? Give her the phone! I'll tell her to stop dawdling!”

…

Xielong conglomerate headquarters, Beijing-Tianjin megalopolis.

“Good morning, Senior Li,” a middle-aged man in a formal suit greeted cordially after entering a regal, sumptuous office, half of it full of ancient relics, the other half of modern furnishings and machinery, some gold-encrusted, some covered with luxurious veneer, the rest enrapturing with their detailed artistic finish.

“Ah, Chairman Liu, what an honor!” the grand elder sitting in a throne-like armchair behind an interactive workstation welcomed back with a smile and stood up to meet the distinguished visitor.

“I hear the weekend had been very good for you, and even the greatly successful Shanghai is looking at you enviously. I've made room in my schedule just to talk to you personally today. Tell me some excellent news!” the man named Liu pressed kindly.

“Haha, picking an interest in games as we advance in years, aren't we all?” the elegant elder joked, but his guest was in no mood for banter at this time. He began on a grievous note.

“The general secretary has already voiced his wish to squash the westerners in the virtual domain, once and for all ending their era of hegemony, and we unanimously agreed. Their naive ideals are too dangerous to our unity, endlessly plaguing our beautiful nation like rats, and they've proven impossible to uproot with benevolent cultural reeducation, like weeds that will never stop regenerating. But this is the perfect opportunity to eradicate them with force! Once they are silenced in the mainstream media, they will die out for good!”

Ending emphatically with theatrically creased brows, the man made a meaningful pause, then continued solemnly.

“We're counting on you, Senior Li. A great responsibility bears on your old shoulders. If there's anything you need help with, just say a word, and we will see what we can do.”

The recipient of these bold demands merely chuckled.

“Do not worry, Chairman Liu. The entire crafting system of the game will soon be ours, and even India won't stop us. Instead, we will make them work for us. Our experimentation with the Buxiu helmets is also progressing smoothly. The backdoor you've so graciously helped us implement will soon allow us to churn out full-realism players by the thousands. We only need your protection from Cybercore, for they will surely find it suspicious.”

“Oh, this should not concern you much longer, Senior Li.” The official smirked confidently. “Everyone has a price …”

Right after the visitor left, a beautiful young lady entered with a barely mature youngster.

“Grandpa, did you read the priority report I've sent you yet? The management is impatiently awaiting your orders.”

“Mhm, I just did, Chang-chang.” The elder smiled with contentment. “So it was possible, after all? What does it say about us, that one westerner could do what millions of us couldn't? Hmm?”

Both the newcomers got startled and flustered by this admonishment.

“Senior Li, we–” the shamed boy tried to defend himself, but got interrupted by a jovial laugh.

“Haha, it is all good, it is all good! The face of gold farming will soon evolve, and we will reap the most benefits. Little Guang, you will take his method and perfect it, then teach it to the Chihong Legion.”

“… All of it?”

“All of it. We don't really need the assassins now, they'll only truly come into play in the full version. Tell me, though, what do you think about his margins? How much is he spending on consumables?”

“Senior Li, we … really don't know …”

“Investigate him properly, then, Chang-chang. He seems like a pauper, just buy the necessary information from him if you must. Heh, the poor sod even thinks reputation can help him gain access to the two mysterious portals. Help him earn more of it if he resists, it won't do him any good anyway.”

“Yes, grandfather!” the girl resolutely agreed, eager to redeem herself. “So … will we also be auctioning party slots? Should I organize it?”

“Haha! My dear, sweet little Chang-chang, would it be wise to kill the geese that lay golden eggs? Hmm? No? Then what about selling them to your competition?”

The young woman lowered her head, thoroughly humiliated. If only she could turn back time just a few seconds …

“No. We will raise a whole new legion of elite gatherers. Camp Redmont can't be the only dungeon of this nature, so we must push forward with our conquests as well. With this gold, the crafting industry will be ours for the taking, and then nobody will be able to compete with our supremely geared forces. Before the tutorial ends, we will seize large cities and pluck all the secrets from the NPCs, so that we will instantly overtake everyone once the full version goes live, and dictate the terms from then on. The whole world will become a vassal to Great China!”

The grandiose proclamation carried such weight, that both youths felt reinvigorated and ready to act. After their return to the game, the colossal Xielong mega-guild moved at once …

…

Shiva's Hand mega-guild headquarters, Mumbai.

“This is wonderful! Just wonderful!”

“Boss Rudra, what should we do?”

“Raj, you will take the Jagannatha Legion and convert them all into full realism right away.”

“The Juggernauts?! Boss, I … !”

“Fret not, my friend. The new inhibitor drug formula makes it nearly undetectable, and we've covertly acquired another lab. Soon, the pain will no longer be an issue. Gian, you will contact Cybercore, make them aware China is desperate to acquire more of their stock and install puppet board members. Warn them of kidnappings and blackmail, share our intel with them, promise sustained assistance, and gain as much good will with them as possible, so they don't investigate us too deeply once we start producing full-realism players in the thousands. Bhanumati, you will go to the ingame Geneva and run interference. Don't let them anywhere near that man, and if they do, warn him as well and make counteroffers. Ranbir, my dear Ranbir, can you handle the black wolves' den yet?”

“With enough consumables, I can boss. There's a trick to it, and I think I'll be able to teach the Jagannathas.”

“You have never failed me, valiant Ranbir, and the fate of our people depends on you. We've been preparing for this for years, we cannot let these communists overtake the virtual battlefield now! We will show the corruptors the power of our pure spirit! We shall prevail!”

To this, all the upper echelon shouted as one.

“Yes, boss!”

…

Dragon Dominion super-guild residence, Immortal Frontier, Seoul.

“Ha! What a fortuitous event!” a mighty warrior in glittering full plate mail exclaimed enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. “It is time we demonstrate our prowess to the world! Quantity of mob can indeed overwhelm …

… but quality is the one true king!”