Infinite Realm

With the Goblin battle that had just ended a few hours ago, none of the players were expecting any startling or daunting changes to occur. They all believed that the next few days would be uneventful , with all the various guilds and players engaging in combat in various resource maps all in a bid to be the first to reach level 10. As such with the release of a awe-inducing news, a lot of players were surprised and you could even say that they were joyous. The reason? It was obviously because of the news that had been released.

The first ever world class boss of Infinite Realm had been discovered with its location being at 10th floor Middle Region, Black Grill's Cave. 

The news originally came off as a rumor spread by an unknown figure but after having confirmed this with a few facts and postulations, more and more people believed it. They say that when one person embarks on a journey, 3 can kill a tiger[1]. As the rumor kept spreading more and more, most people began to take it as the truth. Say it was intuition or something else, but some players believed that since they could go into cities at level 10, the number 10 had to have a special meaning in Infinite Realm or to be specific, the neighboring towns of Black Grill's Cave. The reason why was because at the Outer region of Black Grill's Cave, the 10th floor was the end and it lead to the next region. Also, despite the Inner region not having been explored by players, the maps and notes gotten from monster kills and NPC stores recorded that the Inner region had at least 10 floors. Call it stupidity or intuition but using that logic of the number 10, most players began to feel that the Middle Region's 10th floor might not be so simple. Added with the rumor of there being a world class boss, most players hurriedly set off in order to verify this news. Even if it was a lie, what would they lose? They were already exploring Black Grill's Cave. The addition of the rumor to the equation only helped to increase the allure of the map and nothing more. As for the gains, there were a lot.

It was a well known that the usual world class boss monsters were a one-of-a-kind existence that could not be found elsewhere hence they were usually absurdly strong. The rewards one would gain from was more than enough to make an average player skyrocket to the ranks of an Expert[3]. It would vary from having their name broadcast worldwide on the IR server, earning them fame beyond comprehension, to the profits they would reap in the form of loot. But that wasn't all.

Following the release of the news with a few 'experts' and 'scholars' of IR's history[2] postulating several theories that seemed to confirm this, a lot of forces began to pay attention to this. Some of them began offering rewards and bounties for any information pertaining to this event. Even the Super guild, Hermes guild, began paying attention to this. 

Unlike most super guilds, Hermes guild had a special status among Super guilds. The reason wasn't because they were absurdly powerful or anything; on the contrary, they were one of the weaker Super guilds. The reason for this special status was because the Super guild, Hermes, was an information guild. With the popularity of VR games taking an all new high, most people began to focus their attention in this sector, however most of this figures lacked the strength to be able to rise above the others and stand tall. Hence a few of this figures took a different approach in VR gaming. Rather than battling for resources with other guilds, they acted in a different fashion, either trading in-game, thereby amassing a massive fortune, or hired out their services. The Hermes guild happens to be one such figure. Unlike most guilds, their forte wasn't in battles but trade and what they traded in the most was information. They were compilers of most of the player rankings and lists, with the 'Gamer Expert List', 'Newcomer List' and the 'Greatest Of All time' being the most popular of their numerous compilations. Even though they mostly dealt in selling gaming information and merchandise, their strength as a Super guild was more than confirmed ad shouldn't be taken light of.

The Hermes guild wasn't stationed in Riverdale town but Black Mountain Town, hence they couldn't participate in the goblin warfare event. But this time was different as Black Grill's Cave was located in the level 0 map, Stone Creek Forest, which happened to bother a few towns.

When the news came out, not only did they Hermes guild gather their forces to prepare for the exploration, but they also released news that if anyone happens to find the world class boss before them, they can video their battle with the monster and sell it to the guild at a considerably satisfying price. Not only that, the guild made known that if anyone had special information as regards to Black grill's Cave or the Middle region's 10th floor, they can sell this information to the guild and even become a member of the guild right away. With such ludicrous and impressive rewards, most of the players felt that the rumor was indeed true and so set their sights on Black Grill's Cave. Not only were there impressive rewards and fame in it but they could also gain the attention of the behemoth existence known as Hermes. What more could this be but an opportunity to turn their gaming careers around?

. . . . .

*Bang*

"Damn." 

Black Tempest cursed right after he banged his hand on the table.

"What use is there in making noise? What's done is done. The only thing we can do is hurry up before they catch up." Azure Dragon sighed. Despite being within Black Grill's Cave for the past two days, how could he not about the news that managed to stir the entire neighboring towns to unrest? They were previously battling a few golems alongside some kobolds they encountered before he was informed of this. Right after the fight, Azure Dragon told the others to take a break while he informed Black tempest and Chesces of the news.

"Despite having kept the information on a tight lock, it still managed to be known. How come?" Black Tempest was frustrated and this was evident in his voice.

"A spy?"

"There will surely be a spy, the inconceivable point is that it is an upper echelon." Chesces answered him. The upper echelons were trustworthy individuals nurtured by the guild or those who had happened to stick with it thick-and-thin. So it was inconceivable that such a trustworthy individual, who also benefits a lot from the guild, would stab it in the back for extra profits, at the risk of being found out and receiving a heavy punishment.

"Then how else will you explain this? Our moves have been revealed and the other guilds would be rushing down here soon." Black Tempest retorted.

"If our moves have really been revealed then they would know where exactly we are. We were able to get this information at a very great cost but that doesn't mean that we're the only ones." Azure dragon replied with a glint in his eyes.

"That should be impossible right? We only managed to do so since one of the developers happened to owe us a favor." Black Tempest exclaimed. If news of what he said were to be known, it would lead to massive outrage. To think that Emperor's Might had a few ties with one of the developers of Infinite Realm. This alone was an inconceivable motion as most game developers would not reveal any information on the game as not only will this incur the public's outrage, thereby reducing the popularity of the game, but it would also lead to the developer being tried in court by the Studio in-charge for giving out private information.

"Oh please. Do you actually believe that?" Chesces suddenly said with a tone of schadenfreude.

"What do you mean?" Black tempest stared at him angrily. It was a well known fact in Emperor's Might that the two were like fire and water. With Chesces mocking him, how could he obviously stand it?

"Hmph. Infinite Realm hides a very secret; one which the Alliance government is tied to. You think information regarding the game could just be revealed so easily?" Chesces said. They were inside a tent that isolated noise so he didn't have any problem saying this. The Alliance government was the most powerful body in the world, ruling it with an iron fist. No matter the entity, be they the ISJ, the French Republic, the German Königreich, the South African Empire or the other nations, they all had to abide by the Alliance's codes and doctrines. To think that a game had ties with such a power was unthinkable.

"...true." Black Tempest unwittingly sighed. The information Chesces had revealed didn't stun him as it was revealed to some of the Upper echelons which he was a part of. In fact, not just Emperor's Might but also all the other super guilds possibly knew this. That was why they all began migrating over to Infinite Realm.

"It's most likely that the producers set this scenario themselves. I warned those old fogies in the guild about this being a set-up by Dreamland but they refused to agree. They didn't even care if it was one. All they care about is profit." Chesces cursed. As the Sly Devil, it was already publicized that Chesces was a genius of tactics and manipulation so why won't he be able to tell one once he got a whiff of it.

The game was obviously monitored by an AI created by Dreamland Studios themselves. It would obviously notice any strange happenings so how wouldn't it notice that their goal was the Middle region's 10th floor? If the studio were to investigate a bit, they would realize that things were fishy and investigate their workers. AT that time, they would surely discover the developer that released the news. As one of the hands behind Infinite Realm, no developer would then dare to sell such vital information unless it was instigated by the studio themselves. This was the conclusion Chesces had arrived at when the headquarters ordered them to head to Black Grill's Cave.

"They must have gotten the news somehow but it doesn't matter. We just need to be faster than them and on this notice, we have the upper hand." Azure Dragon said.

Chesces shook his head. "I'm not too sure about that. If this was really instigated by the Studio then I guess we aren't the only ones who knew of it earlier on." 

Azure Dragon and Black Tempest immediately frowned upon such a revelation but there was nothing they could do about it.

*sighs* " We just have to do what we can do. Let's go. Every second counts. Our target should be the 10th floor, we'll only rest at the 9th floor." Azure Dragon said. In this expedition, he was the leader. If they happened to fail for whatever reason, it was inevitable that the blame would fall on him hence he wanted to hurry over to the 10th floor as soon as possible. Having reached the 7th floor of the Middle region in two days, Azure Dragon wanted to blitzkrieg his way to reach the 10th floor within a day. 

"Captain, I think it's best we call for reinforcements." Chesces suddenly said. 

"Hmm. You do know we would then have to wait for them, so why did you suggest such?" Azure Dragon stared at him in surprise.

"We don't need quantity but quality. The world class boss wouldn't be so easy to defeat. It's best we hope to do so in one try. Previously, we left Snow together with a few of our other experts behind so as to mislead the others. Now such an endeavor is pointless. They might as well hurry over and meet up with us. With them our chances of victory would increase by a lot. 

"As for the other guilds catching up to us? Impossible. Unless they do as I've suggested and send only their expert forces, they won't reach as far as we did. But such a force would only number 7 players at best.Such an act might end up the same as striking themselves in the foot as the world class boss won't be easily defeated like that. Also, we can give Snow's team a summary of our entire journey and routes hence she would like reach us quickly; at least with in a day. With them in our team, we can easily reach the lower floors quicker." Chesces said.

"True." Azure Dragon said as he eyes glistened in joy at Chesces' suggestion.

"Haha. You braniac finally used your brain for something good, proving yourself useful." Black Tempest guffawed.

"Better than a muscle-brain like yourself anyway." Chesces countered.

"You…!" Black Tempest gritted his teeth.

"Enough. We follow Chesces' suggestion and wait for Yukino. They only have a day to reach us after which we move. Whether or not they make it in time doesn't matter." 

. . . . .

At the same time as the majority of guilds and players set their sights on Black Grill's Cave together with Emperor's Might planning their next actions, Sato's team had finally concluded their seclusion training and had set their sights on the 10th floor.