Rei was in a bad situation right now. She didn't even think about escaping from where she was standing because it was impossible in the first place.

The path from her left and right were both blocked by the two players whose whole body was covered in a dark fur-lined cloak robe. And in the middle, well, it was worse than the one who covered both sides of the way.

The middle was where the black knight is standing while holding the grip of his two-handed sword.

(Dark Sun. He also asked me the same thing earlier before I managed to get inside the bar. Is it some kind of code? Should I lie and act that I know it?)

Rei was hesitating to answer the question of the black knight. If the black knight didn't like her answer, the two-handed sword will go to her head.

In her current situation, she only has two choices at all. One was, to tell the truth to them that she didn't know a single thing about what the black knight is asking about while the other one was escaping by dying.

The second choice was not a very good idea for her as she still didn't know the penalty for dying, but for sure, it was not that simple at all. In a game that was based on reality, dying will surely cost a risk having the same amount in real life.

Rei didn't have the choice in the first place, so she decided to speak the truth that she didn't know a single thing about it.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not following what you're saying. I didn't know a single thing about the dark sun that you're talking about."

The black knight didn't move an inch at Rei's response. His hand was still on the hilt of his two-handed sword while considering Rei's answer, but one of his companions started to speak.

"Don't let your guard down! We still don't know if she's telling the truth. There is a chance that she's lying and that she's a spy from other guilds. We should kill her now as soon as possible."

The one who is speaking has the lovely voice of a girl beneath the robe. Contrary to her lovely voice, she was saying some scary words like killing Rei as soon as possible.

"Don't rush! We don't know what kind of attributes she has. Walking and moving alone in the enemy base means that she's quite strong. If she's a transcendental type, then Kuro was the only one who can stop her."

The last one was a man. From what she heard from their conversation, it looks like they thought Rei was a spy from other guilds, and they were serious when they said that about killing her.

She remembered the warning from the old man broker earlier and wondered if this what he means.

(Wait... wait... wait... I am going to die because of some misunderstanding?!)

"Hold on a second! I'm not lying. I already told you that I really don't know anything about it. You can look at my level and status if you want!"

Showing her level and status is indeed the only way of knowing if Rei was telling the truth. NW2 also protects your own privacy and personal status, and your level is hidden unless you want to set it in the public mode.

"Don't fall for her tricks! Let's go and kill her already!"

The woman was in the act of killing Rei when the black knight stopped her by making a hand signal.

"Wait, I don't see any problem in her statement at all. It this solves the problem without fighting, then I don't mind doing it."

Rei judged the black knight as a reasonable and dangerous person at the same time. Having patience and rational reasoning is much troublesome compared to ones who always rush things.

She concluded that the black knight was a capable one. Rei approached the black knight and opened her status and set it in public mode.

"She's cleared."

They determined that Rei was not a spy from other guilds, and the tense atmosphere in air begun to crumble, but they didn't let their guard down at all.

Rei thought that she was cleared and ready to leave, but it was not over yet. The girl who was saying scary things earlier stopped her and asked one final question.

"Wait. If you're a newbie, then what are you doing here in the slum? Especially in the bar? I don't believe that it was an accident or a coincidence."

This time the girl used her head and hit the jackpot. Rei has a feeling that she shouldn't let them know about her quest, or else it will be a problem.

She didn't have any choice but to lie now.

"Ah, about that, my friend invited me to play this game, and he said that we will meet in the bar."

Rei gave a dry laugh while trying to avoid the topic, but it made the girl more suspicious about it.

"Ho. A friend, huh. That friend of yours invited you here in the slum at all places to meet up. What an interesting friend you got there."

Even Rei knew that the story she made up is not credible at all, as there were many holes in the story itself. Sweat was starting to appear in her smooth and pale forehead as she was getting nervous.

Rei thought that is was over for her when the black knight began to speak.

"Let her go already."

His companion was surprised at the words that the black knight spoke.

"But—"

"Bell, I said, let her go."

"F-fine."

Rei didn't know what happened or what the black knight is thinking as he let her go, but she happily accepts it. After some time, Rei vanished in the slum, and she prays that she will never meet them again.

◆◇◆◇

Bell was feeling dejected and hesitating, but she didn't have any choice as Kuro has a higher authority on the guild, but she couldn't stop herself from questioning Kuro's move.

"Kuro, why did you let her go? It was clear that she was lying at all!"

Kuro, on the other hand, was still standing and not moving from his position. Sometimes Bell couldn't read what in his mind as Kuro always wears a helm and his full plated armor.

Bell knew Kuro for a long time, but she didn't even get a chance to look at what's behind that helm. It was also the same in their guildmates as no one was able to take a look at Kuro's face besides the guild master.

After standing for so long, Kuro finally answered Bell's question.

"She's indeed hiding something, but even you kill her now, you will gain nothing, so for now, we will assign someone to follow and observed her. We're already nearing in completing our plan. I won't let anyone stop it even if it is a high ranker."

"I-I see then who will you send after her? We don't have many capable people in the guild right now as they were busy executing the plan."

"I already planned that. Go and fetched those two people who caused a ruckus in the bar earlier. Those two started this mess, so let them finish it. If I'm correct, they were new recruits in our guild, right? After this mission, dispatched them."

Right now, Bell's face is giving a wicked smile after that the last order that Kuro said. In their guild, failure was not acceptable, and it was normal for them to dispatch those who are incompetent.

"Roger~"

Bell and the other one already left, leaving alone the black knight standing in the area. Kuro was a veteran player for already a long time, and he has little knowledge of how the system works.

The system always balanced the good, evil, power, fame, and everything within the game. It limits the thing that is considered a threat to the game itself.

Doing evil or good things is not wrong, but if it was excessive, the system will make it move and shut it down. Gaining power, fame, and money was not easy as it contains great risk in return.

It was the same to him and his guild. It's not impossible if the system already detects what they are doing, and it's already making its move.

Challenging the system was not easy at all, but if you managed to win against it, the system will not stop you again. It's like the reward and punishment of the system itself.

Only those who have power and transcendental attributes can fight and alter the system itself. And right now, Kuro was not ready yet for the fight, that's why he was careful to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"Just a little more. Soon the war will start—for the Dark Sun"

Melon

So are you guys ready for W A R!!! Well, I'm not~te-hee. Let's take it slowly. I didn't have much time to finalize the chapter so if you found some errors while reading it, feel free to correct me in the comment section. That's all for now. <3 <3