Invitation (1)

Dear Five,

I am writing on behalf of the Hurricane Alliance. We spectated your battle against the dungeon master named Farsight from the Storm Alliance. We greatly value the talents you displayed during the talent. It is quite remarkable to successfully fight against one of the seeded dungeon masters of an alliance.

We would like to officially offer an invitation to join the Hurricane Alliance. We believe that with our help and resources, it will only be a matter of time before you soar into prominence. The Hurricane Alliance has the most dungeon masters in the Sylvester Empire and the barbarian territory.

We are aware of the conflict you have with the dungeon master named Kroff and are fully willing to protect you from the Cyclone Alliance. At the same time, many of our dungeon masters are currently applying pressure on the Storm Alliance, preventing them from deploying any troop in the barbarian territory.

If you are interested and would like more detail, then please accept the friend request of the dungeon master named 'Merlin' and release the Black Raven. If you aren't, we fully understand and hope you will treat the Black Raven as a token of our goodwill.

Yours Faithfully,

Despond, First Elder of the Hurricane Alliance

Five skimmed through the letter a second time with a serious expression. He then let out a sigh and passed it to Dreidus.

"So the location of the dungeon has really been revealed to all the other alliances. I thought only the Storm Alliance would know about it but I guess I should have expected it since the Hurricane Alliance dominates the area."

Five clicked his tongue as he waited for Dreidus to finish reading. He briefly glanced at the level 20 Black Raven nonchalantly walking around the entrance. It did not seem bothered by the presence of two individuals who could decide its fate on a whim.

Dreidus lowered the piece of paper and turned toward Five. "What are you planning to do? You said you were interested in joining an alliance. Will you accept their offer?"

Five maintained a straight face. "I don't know. I first thought I could join any alliance and benefit from them as much as possible. As soon as they would become too demanding, I would then just use the [Void Contract] and leave. However, after thinking for a little while, I realized; do the alliances really not know that I have the [Void Contract]?"

Dreidus fell silent. He was unable to retort.

"I am certain they do. The players should have already reported who obtained which item. And if the Hurricane Alliance is willing to extend an invitation despite knowing that, I believe they should already have measures in place. I don't want to blindly walk into a trap," explained Five.

He paused for a moment before continuing. "But, at the same time, based letter, they are really invested in having me join their rank. They claim to be the reason why the Storm Alliance has yet to make a move against us despite the conflict. If that is true and if I refuse to join them, our dungeon is going to be attacked in a few days which can be really bad."

"On another note, the letter also highlights my conflict with the Storm Alliance and the Cyclone Alliance. They are setting themselves as the only reliable alliance I can join."

"I wonder what are the measures they took to counter the [Void Contract]... Is it just writing it down in a contract? If so, which one comes first; the clause of the contract or the [Void Contract]? So confusing..."

Five turned to Dreidus to hear his opinion.

"It is up to you, Master. However, I believe we should give an answer quickly. At the very least, accepting the friend request of that player should not be too bad, right? We can stall for some time and ask for details," said Dreidus.

Five paused for a moment before nodding. "Alright. I'll see their conditions first."

He then turned toward the Black Raven. "What do I do with you then? The letter says they are offering you to me?"

The raven cocked its head and cawed.

[System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the unnamed Black Raven has agreed to serve you.]

"Huh?" Five was taken by surprise. "Did it not belong to any dungeon? It is impossible for monsters to swear allegiance to another dungeon master. The Hurricane Alliance has monsters belonging to no one?"

...

[System prompt: You have accepted "Merlin" as a friend. Send him a message now.]

Five leaned against the wall of his room as he browsed through the player interface. It took him a while to find Merlin's friend request buried among the others.

Five was curious about the exact offer of the Hurricane Alliance. He wrote, "Hey, I received a letter from the first elder of the Hurricane Alliance, prompting me to accept your friend request. I would like to get a few details about the contract required to join the alliance."

It was a simple short message. He pressed the 'send' button and waited. For once, there was no late-night meeting with the Shamans. He wanted to give the monsters some time to adapt to the new system and gradually forget about the defeat they experienced.

To Five's surprise, Merlin answered a few minutes later as Five was staring at the ceiling.

Merlin: "Hello. The elders have already informed me about it but before we discuss this, may I ask something? Are you the one who purchased the [Void Contract] at the auction?

Five narrowed his eyes. 'Looks like I was not wrong. They already know I bought it.'

Five: "I did. Why?"

Merlin: "I would like to purchase it. Name a price."

Five: "Why are you looking for the [Void Contract]? I thought the alliance would not allow you to purchase it?"

Merlin: "We were not allowed to do so at the auction but trading with another dungeon master who does not belong to a competing alliance is allowed. Although the time at the alliance is great, I need to leave an exit for myself. I believe you already understand what I mean since you purchased it in the first place.

Five: "I do and therefore, you should understand that the value of the item is not small. What can you give that would make myself willing to get rid of the only possible exit to the contract with the alliance?"

As he wrote the message, Five let out a faint smile. The other dungeon masters were also actively looking for ways to break out of their contract and they did not bother to hide it to him. Although the players were all lowering their head to the NPCs, it was clear they were preparing their rebellion. He remembered his last meeting with Gaia; the dungeon masters who managed to escape from their contract would all receive achievements points that would be useful for when the game would end.

Merlin: "Name a price. Even if it is signing another contract with you, I am willing to do it; it cannot be much worse than the one with the alliance.

Five: "Are the terms that bad?"

He felt some good vibes coming from the player called Merlin. The latter was being rather casual and honest; he did not try to praise the alliance or hide its dark side.

Merlin: "The resources are not bad. We obtained a lot of help at the beginning but in exchange, if the alliance declares the emergency protocol, we will have to dispatch all our Boss Monsters accompanied by 50% of our monsters wherever they want. Even without the emergency protocol, we'll have to dispatch at least 30% of our monsters. Don't worry, since you've proved yourself to some extent, your terms are much better."

Five was stunned as he read Merlin's response. Sending all the Boss Monsters away was equivalent to leaving a dungeon completely defenseless!

Five: "Sorry but I cannot let go of the [Void Contract]. Can you send me the details of the contract first?"

Merlin: "Too bad then. I'll send you the document. Take your time to read through it well. If there are any changes you want to make, just message me. If you agree to the terms, we will have to meet to sign an official contract. The virtual copy does not amount to anything."

Following his message, Merlin sent a long document. Long was an understatement, the document consisted of at least a hundred pages of writings.

'Tssk. I thought I finally got away from this sort of contract. Reminds me of the days I worked at the company. Those thick contracts still give me PTSD. With how treacherous they can be, I will even have to read through everything to make sure they did not put tiny clauses...'

Five stared at the virtual document. He knew he had a long night in front of him.

'At least that Merlin guy does not sound too bad. Or maybe this is just a front...'

Before starting his reading, Five briefly checked the other conversation tab. The only other friend he had in the game was Iris. They did not chat with each other much. They only sent one message every day, looking more like emails than actual conversation. They used the excuses of being busy but they both know they wanted to keep their distance without actually completely burning the bridges between them.

'Another one who I don't know if she is just putting up a front. If she does, she must be an excellent actress...'

He checked the last message she sent him. It was about the development of her dungeon. Whenever Five asked, Iris did not hesitate to reveal the information of the dungeon. It showed that she trusted him fully and even Five did not know how to react to her actions.

The facts were laid are in front of him; she was showing him all the confidential information without any valid reasons. If this information landed in the wrong hands, it could lead to her destruction. And yet, he could not bring himself to fully believe her. He could not bring up the topic that caused them to move apart. But the more he spoke to her, the more he was convinced that she was really innocent.

Five looked at the message and frowned. 'She is already encountering humans holding the E26 Carrier title... Although she can deal with a few, if it continues to spread, soon the entire region where her dungeon is will be devoid of any human that can generate DP. Plus, with the style of dungeon she went with, she cannot just get rid of all the humans that enter her town.'

'Whoever was the one to buy that monster must be making big right now and his profit will continue to increase. The items available at the auction are truly incomparable to those we can buy at the dungeon shop. I'll have to save up for the next auction. I cannot go there completely broke again.'

'Now that I think about it, with the Hurricane Alliance being the most active in the Sylvester Empire, they should be quite affected by the E26. Should I ask how they are planning to deal with it?'