Conspiracies

"You shouldn't joke about it! It's not even funny." Nicole said in disbelief.

"Mrs, you can look at it yourself. The forum becomes wild because of it," Frank said.

"Forum? What forum?" Nicole asked.

"What's else? Of course, desolate world forum," Frank said in an 'obvious' tone.

"...," Everyone's expression became blank.

"Frank! Let's have a sparing again. I really want to kick your ass," Alex said in an irritated tone.

"What did I do wrong? You are unreasonable. Turn on the TV, I will show you the news about it," Frank scoffed at Alex.

Alex took a deep breath to cool down his irritation. He then reached the TV remote in front of him and turned it on. He then turned on the bluetooth and the screen went blue, "Here it is!"

Frank then operated his smartphone and the screen of the TV was starting to display a video.

***

The background of the video was in a medieval-looking house. A woman in beginner getup was standing with a man whose face was blurred. It could be seen a red name that was also blurred on top of his head. Under his torso, the name Mr. X was displayed with 'A player of Desolate World' information was also displayed

"So Mr. X, were you the one that killed a player in front of the auction house?" The woman who seemed to be a reporter asked.

"Please call me Sam. How can anyone be called Mr. X? That was ridiculous. And yes! But I have a right to defend myself. Even if not me who killed him. I'm sure someone else will do it," The man answered.

The name under his torso then was changed to 'Sam (a disguised name)'.

The woman then said with an apologetic tone, "I'm really sorry about the name. However, you said someone else will kill him. Can you elaborate on your previous statement?"

"Okay. It's like this. A few hours ago, when I was browsing the forum, I saw a very popular post. Its writer said that he just got information from someone, that a conspiracy had been happening. As for the post content, you can browse yourself. 

The point is, he said some treasure troves are loitering in front of the auction house. If you saw players that were loitering in front of it, he or she is possibly an agent that has wealth in his or her inventory. 

I have to admit, deciding to kill someone in the game was a hard choice to take. But, it is just a game, right? The people that I killed wouldn't die for real, maybe he was just annoyed when offline.

I lost some initial village reputation too by doing that, so I got my punishment. And my name became red for 24 hours. It means I will be offline after this interview, to avoid being killed.

Btw, I want to remind my fellow players, PK is fine. But don't kill NPCs without justified reason. Your name will become black and you will lose your right to resurrect inside a village. That is the bottom line we players should not cross." Then said with a righteous tone.

"...," The woman was speechless for a moment seeing such a shameless man.

"How did you know if he was the right person?" The woman asked.

The man scratched his head, "Well, I-I guessed it. But, my guess was true, right? That's the point."

"A-Alright, I understand. So, what do you get after killing the player?" The woman asked again.

"Hohoho, I got 2 pieces of equipment, some dirac, and some items. It was a good harvest. So, If nothing else you want to ask, please excuse me!" The man seemed to start feeling uncomfortable in answering.

"One more question, please. Don't you feel anxious to become a target of revenge after this?" The woman asked.

"No! thousands of players are like me right now. If they want to get revenge, they can come. But, they have to be careful, becoming the goons of the rich is a reasonable choice in real life. But, this is the game world. The game world has its own rules. The strong ones rule. I can kill him because I have the ability to do it. And now, I have more capital with the equipment. I will become stronger and stronger.

And many people hate the rich and even more hate the goons of rich people. Ok, I have to leave. Good day miss!"

The woman seemed to agree with his statement. She then nodded to him, "Thank you for your time, Sam. I wish you good luck."

She then looked at the camera and said, "That's all the interview. Zara reported."

***

Everyone except George was nodding. Alex could somewhat understand what had happened. He then saw his brother, who was smiling. As if something was funny.

"What is it, Frank? Why did you smile?" Ace asked.

"I just asked my friend on Mars. He then gave me some intel. I will read it for you," Frank said.

Everyone seemed to be interested in the information.

Frank then explained, "Some rich people hired thousands of white citizens by giving them some credits to buy the packs in the beginner shop. They were also asked not to equip the equipment and sell them in the auction house in the village. 

The equipment then should be bought by those rich people. As the white citizens would sell them at cheap prices. But their conspiracy was obstructed by the price they must pay. The items that were sold in the global auction can be sold in two ways. 

First, by selling them at fixed prices. However, the prices were determined by the system at market prices. So the current price for equipment was outrageously expensive, as the demand for equipment was really high right now, as nobody got equipment that was dropped after killing a monster.

The military guesses that the equipment could only be created by artisan jobs or dropped by specific enemies.

The second way is by selling it at auction. The seller could sell an item with a base price at 75% of the market price. Like standard auctions in mobile games, the duration of the auction can be set for a day to a month. The bidder that bid at the highest bid will get the item.

The conspiracy would be successful and the rich men would get thousands of rare equipment despite that price, even though they would be bleeding heavily. 

But the problem is the currency exchange isn't fully open yet. The system only buys dirac at a fixed price, a credit for 5 dirac. A very generous price. The official website of the desolate world just announced that they will start selling dirac on the seventh day.

The conspirators' plan was falling apart at this point. What do they depend on right now when the game just launched? Of course credits. So, when the channel for them to get dirac is closed, they were suffering huge losses, especially in momentum. 

My friend praised the Union for blocking the dirac transaction at this moment. It will give time for everyone to develop normally, at least for seven days. We have to admit, killing monsters is pretty hard right now, as they have a normal animal's instinct and intelligence. Even the soldiers are still adapting to the game right now."

"Th-That was mind-boggling. Thousands of people?! They paid thousands of people to buy packs in the shop. Just how much they had to spend. Dozens of millions of credits? That was sick!" Ace said.

Everyone nodded.

"Not so. You just don't understand how significant this game is for many people, including us. Although, I still don't know the right way to play it. By the way, you still haven't explained why you smiled," Nicole looked at Frank.

"Okay. I will tell you something interesting. However, you must not be loose lips. it's a secret. The majority of people who PKed those goons were from the army. You know what I meant, right?" Frank said in an amused tone.

"No, but the world is getting insane! That is what I know," Ace said while shaking his head.

***