18. Kingsfall

"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." — George S. Patton

Shortly after, Claire had signed out, and the members of the Eagle Imperium were making their way out of the desolate ruins of Sturg village, their footsteps echoing in the silence.

In the front of the group were Eagle's Might, the leader of their group and a high-ranking member of their guild who was constantly communicating with others and looking at streams to find out as much information about the game as she could, eager to find what the optimal strategy to progress quickly would be.

Beside her was her daughter, Eagle's Light, who was talking with a man in his early twenties, Eagle's Bright.

"It is so annoying how that Holly girl stole first place on the contribution list; who knows what kind of rewards she has gotten and will be wasted on her, then she is invited to join us? I don't understand."

Looking at him with a scornful smile, Eagle's Light looked at him like he was not very smart.

"What is there to be mad about? Being clever like that is not something you could think of, even if she is low-level and seems pretty new to gaming, that can have its own advantages. We can also use any skillful or clever players we can get when the Kingsfall region opens up in two weeks. Fodder will always be useful, and if she is better, won't that be for both of our benefits?"

The young man seemed to calm down, taking a deep breath and calming down.

"You're right; it's not like she would have gotten any gilded achievements anyways; it's not the first event to be cleared."

"See, now you also understand why you are still a Legionarie after more than five years, and I am already about to be promoted after 2."

"Shut the hell up Ms. My mOm Is A pRaEtOrIaN gUaRd; not only do you shamelessly use your mom's name, but you even designed your character to be a slutty elf. I cannot imagine what you will look like in the game once we get good quality crafted gear or transmog. Are you planning to be a streamer if this doesn't work out?" 

Laughing jollily, she looked at him straight in the eyes and spoke seductively.

"Why would you want to be a subscriber to my FF? Use code Light for 10% off."

Seeing his flustered appearance, she looked extremely pleased with herself.

"Anyways, after the game calms down in a few months, being a streamer doesn't sound so bad; I can probably make more money doing that than any organization would pay me, let alone ours."

Finally paying some attention to them, Eagle's Might looked over and spoke to her daughter plainly.

"It is not a good idea to get into a business solely dependent on what others think of you; selling a body that isn't even yours to strangers will never give you any fulfillment. I have seen many "streamers" become people entirely dependent on outside validation. Views down this month? Now, they spire into depression and self-doubt. It is better to do something that relies on your skills and experience. As someone with a head start, it will not be challenging to become upper management in Eagles Imperium or a larger guild in the near future; those kinds of people look down on people that act like whores for attention."

Hearing her mother's reprimand, she lowered her head.

"I understand, Mother. Thank you for the advice."

Narrowing her eyes at her daughter, she seemed somewhat numb.

"I have laid a safe and prosperous path out before you; if you don't want to go down it, that's fine, but if you decide to go down a different road, you better think carefully about it before you do something you regret."

After an awkward silence, Bright spoke in a voice clear that he was trying to break the silence.

"Well, Light, if you ever need anyone to film "content" with, I am always available."

Seeing the mother and daughter look at him disdainfully, he laughed heartily, feeling that having friends made playing games much more fun.

He also could not wait for the Kingsfall region to open up, feeling like it would be much more fun than the classic dungeon-crawling that was a majority of other games of a similar genre.