The Main Event Area

A few hours earlier...

When the players came up to each gate like a swarm, they were immediately stopped in their tracks. Not only the city guards and local military occupied the gates, but the personal forces of the super or regular big shot factions controlled the walls and gates from the shadows and in the open.

It might seem like the local power still had some control, but in truth, they lost authority over the entire city the moment the big shots moved in.

Currently, only people with special exceptions were allowed inside. Either an acceptable amount of influence and power in the Empire or an invitation from Maya would be the only sure-fire tickets in. Any of those that already had proof of connections to the city were also let in.

The players on the other hand had none of that so they were barred from entry. They also had no chance of making it through using force or stealth due to the massive disparity in every field. They were now stuck on what to do.

If none of them could get in, they could only work together, temporarily, to brainstorm some ideas.

The first plan was to send some of their own to negotiate with high charisma attributes or special social-type jobs such as hagglers, entertainers, orator, and many more.

Bribery didn't work, even when they pooled their money, not that they expected it to. Their faction loyalty was considerably strong and not flexible enough for them to squeeze their way through any cracks.

Most of the female players were total babes because of the limited character customization so some volunteered to attempt seduction with the male guards. This plan would've worked if there weren't so many guards and all of them were male. In this game, the art of seduction was a viable tactic in almost all situations, just not this situation.

Some players suggested attempting an "Immortal Siege" tactic, which was commonly used on stationary dungeons such as bandit camps. Using their immortality to their advantage, they could consistently swarm the target. This idea was immediately discarded though, mainly because the power difference was just too vast. Moreover, this was a full-fledged fortress city they were talking about, so this plan could only exist in dreams.

After a deep and collective contemplation with some anxious analysis, some players smacked their heads at their stupidity. The only way to get in and without Maya's invitation was through connections or influence, and they foolishly forgot of this fact.

A very small selection of players who realized this went rogue from the rest and approached the gate with confident strides and smug expressions. Each of them presented some form of evidence that suggested they had connections to the ruling power or the city. Whether it be the identification of enlistment to guard or military duty or some form of proof of residence within the city like papers, it was all valid.

They weren't denied entry this time and they were welcomed inside.

The other players were flabbergasted as they looked at each other with conflicted emotions. They finally found a way in and they were ecstatic, but they had no previous connections to the city because they came from other regions. They were all now stuck yet again and they could only depressingly watch as their privileged rivals get a massive head start on them.

Once a few moments of dismay and panic surged through the millions of players at once, a single man stepped forward and addressed the crowd.

He had an air of extreme intelligence around him that innately made the other disdain him the moment they laid eyes on him.

They got an enraging feeling that he was a profound scholar surrounded by monkeys and meatheads, almost as if he looked down on them. All of them could already tell he was going to be annoying to some degree.

Perfectly tailored white scholarly robes with dark blue rims that were obviously meant for job-type players and certainly not combat-type players wrapped around him. It seemed exceedingly expensive if one took into account that players haven't been playing long. Paired with his short blonde hair were sharp and icy blue eyes with a pair of glasses that seemed to be a special magical item from the physical aura they radiated.

His index finger adjusted the center of his modern-looking glasses as if he were posing in a manga while he quietly chuckled, "Haha, so simple-minded... Truly beyond saving. All of you should think for a moment about the purpose of the event objectives!

The objectives are hinting to us about the way to get inside the city. I theorize that the main event is within those walls so it needs to be possible for *******(players) to participate. The ******(system) wants us to raise our favorability with certain factions capable of entering so that we may enter the main event area..."

His attitude and tone infuriated them, but his reasoning made sense so they kept their bloodthirsty weapons and cursing outbursts sheathed. Once his words sank in fully, they all immediately sprang into action.

The man acted super smart, but he was a bit of a dumbass in their opinion for sharing this crucial information and therefore increasing his competition in the event.

What they didn't know was that he was acutely aware of what he just did. He silently snickered as he watched his plan to dominate and monopolize this event unfold perfectly. These players with rocks for brains were now his indirect minions.

'The domination difficulty of this event isn't within the Mortal Realm, but that doesn't matter one bit if you're as clever as me... Hehehe, I'll become the biggest winner of this event while playing all the others for absolute fools that shall inevitably do my bidding...'

While the man executed a villainous internal monologue, he gave the signal to some of his nearby party members in the mob of players who also knew of the plan a quick nod. They immediately dispersed to fulfill their tasks. He also swept his gaze over the mob and then reintegrated himself into them.

Because there were millions of players present, not all of them heard him. However, that didn't stop word of what he said from spreading fast.

The factions closest to Kassio's outer walls were the bigger and more influential ones. They first needed to identify which of them had the power to get them inside because not all of them could. If they were to have enough time to farm favorability, they needed every second they could get so they were forced to choose wisely.

The party members recalled their other members who were farming participation scores with the small fry factions because they needed all the help they could get. Furthermore, when the time came for all of them to enter the city for the supposed main event, they all needed to have an appropriate amount of reputation otherwise not all of them could get in when the time came.

They were a little bummed that their ingenious multitasking plan wasn't viable at the moment, but they soon got over it.

They could still execute it, it just would take an incredibly long time to reimplement it. As a faction got bigger, it would be more difficult to gain their favorability or reputation with them. This was the reason why city reputation was far easier to gain than country reputation. So it would take considerable time before things went back to normal.

These factions were absolute behemoths with most of them being high nobility or organizations like the forger and alchemist guilds.

The players that focused on jobs and not the barbaric combat classes were thrilled because they had it much easier compared to the others. It was much more easygoing for them to farm favorability from their respective job-related guilds so they could probably enter Kassio much faster than the rest.

A new and more vigorous flame of passion and excitement appeared deep in their hearts as they began to intermingle with the factions' forces.

.....

Numerous hours have passed since the player's desire to enter the main event area sparked and it still hasn't run out. Due to the aftermath of the mysterious bodyguard's aura, there was an immense abundance of missions and opportunities to get close to the factions.

By now, some of the proactive and efficient job-type players gained enough favorability and favors to enter the city.

At first, the factions were wary of the player's motives so they were indifferent or even threatening. But after they expressed their desire to enter the city and their willingness to help around, the factions were a little more welcoming. Beating around the bush would not help in these situations for the players with honesty coming out on top.

All of the players now in the city, which were few in number, were combing the entire main event area in search of clues. Some asked around but they found little to no information on movements from any hidden organizations.

Only two pieces of evidence were discovered by the players that were related to the hidden faction since they entered the city.

Some NPCs said that they noticed one of the medium-sized arenas getting rented out for an entire day by some rich and powerful, but secretive people. They said it was a private event that no one could enter or ask about which raised some suspicion but it was overlooked.

Secondly, some players reported to their party members, who were ignorant of the legend known as Blackmarket Blue, where a super special NPC that goes by Cerulean Dragon periodically sold items and consumables at low prices but of amazing quality. The items specifically targeted those who were adventurers so they were a big hit when this NPC was active.

Apparently, her subordinates who were doing the onsite sales stopped randomly appearing about a week or two ago and they were overly secretive and cautious so no one could get any information out of them.

Other than those two clues, absolutely nothing else appeared. This organization was just too ghost-like for the players to investigate with their current strength.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Inside a decent quality hotel somewhere in the common district, that was somehow not occupied despite the surplus of factions looking for shelter, a party of players lounged around lazily as they browsed the forums. They weren't in the least concerned about falling behind in this event so they bided their time by searching the forums for any additional information they could find.

"Gah, those fools are simply useless! Not being able to find any more clues concerning the event..."

The one who talked in that annoyed tone was none other than the player that instigated the other players to befriend factions to get inside the walls. His complexion perfectly showed his sour mood as his gaze seemingly stared off into space.

If one looked closely, they would notice that his chic glasses were magically glowing with an incredibly faint blue physical aura. The aura's boundaries were wavy but smooth like water floating space. Through the crystal clear lenses, his irises were magically glowing and amplifying the color of his eyes.

Since the room was darker with dimmed lights, these glowing eyes of his were quite apparent for the rest and it would usually look creepy and sinister, but they knew he was using the item's special ability.

This player went by "TheUltimateAcheiver" but was called Ver by his party members, and he was using the glasses most overpowered active ability to monitor all the players. He heard their conversations and he could see through their eyes, making it impossible to hide anything from him.

By "helping" his fellow players in surpassing the entry restriction from the big factions so they could investigate the hidden organization, he gained a massive network of dumb monkeys to do his bidding.

Although the clues the players discovered for him were small in number, they gave him just enough to make some theories about the event so he indifferently explained his logic to the other party members.

"The first clue is extremely vague, but I think I can discern specifically where the main event will take place... If this faction previously used an arena, there's a possibility they will do it again. So many factions have come, so a medium-sized arena might not cut it. Therefore, the main event area should occur in the largest arena in the city."

The party members glanced at him and nodded in understanding.

A burly woman that looked to be the only warrior type in the party, which consisted mainly of job players, rubbed her chin and looked at him quizzically, "Can you also guess when this will go down?"

"Hard to say. It shouldn't take more than a week but it also can't be too soon, such as two to three days. Otherwise, players would get far too little time to complete objectives. My guess would be four to six days from now, with five days being my best guess.

About the second clue, it's nice to know and all, but it doesn't give us much to work on. It does, however, mention the existence of a possible upper echelon within the faction."

"This world is super realistic, so the hidden faction must have a motive by doing this. It can't be money because they seem extremely powerful and wealthy. They were also selling them below market price according to that information."

"Hmmm... I find it strange as to why they did this in secrecy while only selling to players. There are too many unpredictable variables behind the reason for their secrecy, but selling to players in this way is somewhat understandable."

"Eh? Why?"

"They were probably trying to gain some fame and recognition from players. Again, there are too many unknown variables to know for sure. I can only assume that they have plans in the future for players— Oh?!"

Surprise has never been one of his known reactions to anything. He's usually always one step ahead so anything related to surprise was a myth to the other party members.

The other members all focused their confused stares on his half-amused and half-stunned expression.

"What happened?"

"Yeah, what did you see? Another clue?"

"It's got to be good if even Ver is surprised."

Ver chuckled as he intently stared off into blank space, "No, nothing of the sort... It seems that some smart, but brainless monkeys are going to attempt to find another clue. Even I'm impressed with their bravery and cleverness. This method of getting information never even crossed my mind."

They were all now thoroughly intrigued now. This was the first time since the moment they met him, that he actually acknowledged someone else's wit.

"It seems like some fools are going piss off a god for us like good monkeys..."