***

Conquest Server Announcement

Sovereign Kis'Shtiengbrah, also known as Player Death Stroke, has officially claimed the Eastern Kingdom as his own.

All players who wish to go to the Eastern Kingdom can use the Teleportation Gate of the city Nora to begin their conquest.

Teleportation cost has been designated to his kingdom at 50 gold.

The tax for trading in items has been fixed at 10% of the item value.

All hostile activities within the New Eastern kingdom shall be dealt with severely.

The Undead have taken part in civil security. All illegal fights are prohibited. Black Markets, gambling, and aggression toward NPCs, especially the Undead, is unforgivable and is punished by execution and the permanent ban from the Kingdom.

The King of the Eastern Kingdom has established the following NPC hosted guilds: The Adventurer's Guild, Merchant Guild, Alchemist Guild, Forger's Guild.

The King has invited all players with the aforementioned professions to join his guilds and receive great benefits. All Master and Grandmaster Cla.s.ses of crafting-oriented professions are welcome. The Adventurer's Guild has certain conditions that must be fulfilled before becoming a member. For further information contact the Vice Guild Master who can be found in Nora.

Kis'Shtiengbrah welcomes all those with good intentions to the Eastern Kingdom and promises a grim end to all those who will dare defy his rules.

***

"Who the f.u.c.k does he think he is?!" one of the players spoke up after reading the announcement.

"Oh geez, I dunno, probably the King of the frigging East! This is only natural or do you seriously want me to believe if you had a kingdom of your own, you wouldn't do the same," another player nearby answered sarcastically.

"Fine. Still, I wouldn't do it by this much. Just look at it, the tax is too high for a starting kingdom. That's daylight robbery" The first player replied.

"Not really. The tax in the Devastators thiefdom may be 7%, but that only applies to the guild members, for all others, it's 14%."

"Then what about the Teleportation Gates. He is charging 10x the price for a teleportation scroll or to use one of the other Super Guild's Gates."

"Well, that much is a fact. But consider this, the East is the newest and most intriguing kingdom. No one had managed to really explore it because of the monsters of the Wilds and now you can just teleport in to avoid those. High prices are pretty usual to jumpstart an economy, especially since they just finished a prolonged war. I, for one, think it's pretty fair. The high price might make it seem more exclusive, but there are bound to be those who come. And once they do and share on the forums what they found it will encourage more players to go and see it for themselves. Whoever comes fast will also benefit from new recipes, new dungeons and explore new things. Everyone can have a piece of the cake. Skelly wasn't greedy, he's actually very generous in allowing others from opposing guilds to enter his kingdom as long as they don't cause trouble."

"You may be right, but I still don't like it. It would have been much better if it was owned by us."

"You can't really blame Warlord, he did his best, but Skelly got the better hand. h.e.l.l, he even beat the c.r.a.p out of the other two guilds. I bet in no time Skelly will establish his own guild that will be able to rival that of any Super Guild."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, Skelly never created a guild nor has he joined one. Do you know the reason?"

"Nope, don't even have the slightest clue as to why. My best guess is that he is more into small parties, more solo playing oriented. Guilds can sort of exhaust one mentally if you know what I mean."

"But wait, hasn't he partnered up with that Demetri guy who is the Guild Master of the European Might? Maybe he will let Skelly take control of that guild if so I'd love to join them as well," the first player said. He quickly covered his mouth as he realized that his statement was pretty much the textbook example of treason.

"Sigh, I will act as if I didn't hear you say that. In your own interest don't be so dumb in front of others. Not that I can't understand your sentiment. Right now we're in deep trouble. The Devastator's shareholders are pulling out, and the guild's financial stability is crumbling. All due to the consecutive setbacks, courtesy of Skelly. We're lucky we're still in the guild. Who knows how long we'll be receiving our monthly pay if this continues. I bet they'll start laying off weak players and only keep the strong ones."

"Man, that would suck, I'm not level 400 yet."

"Then you better level up fast before someone else takes your spot! Times are changing fast. Conquest is about to enter a new era!"

***

"I guess that should be good enough for a start," Dave looked at Demetri who was busy coordinating the influx of his guild members.

"It went better than I expected," the player in blue robes replied. "My family members are all here and they'll start manning the guilds. Let me be straight forward here. They aren't too thrilled about you appointing NPCs as the Guild Master for the Merchant's Guild and the Forger's Guild. I get that you have trust in them, but not everyone is like you. I have good men for the job who think of them as 0s and 1s. It will take time for them to be convinced otherwise. Right now they tolerate it since you claim your personal are better than they are. Speaking of, I haven't seen them yet, are they your friends?"

"Sorta. Not sure I could call the one for the Merchant Guild my friend. He's more like an acquaintance." Dave grinned, "Isn't that right, Dikenz?"

"Ay, lord Kis'Stiengbrah, that be right. I be Dikenz, and I'm humbly in ya service," Spoke a Zombie that showed up right behind Demetri.

The Zombie's face was rotten as much as his toothy smile. Although the two might not share the best relations.h.i.+p, Dave knew that if anyone were to secure him any profit, it would be none other than the biggest scammer of the game he ever had the (mis-)fortune of meeting.

"You'll be the highest authority figure of the Merchant's Guild. You know what that means, right?" Dave asked.

"Ay, not a single dime'll be spent without me avin a piece of it. Ain't that be right, Master Grim Lord?" Dikenz answered while rubbing his hands greedily.

"What about Andre? Didn't he receive my invitation to man the Forger's Guild?" Dave asked.

"Not yet sir. The big smith's gotten pretty busy wit'forgn, ya know. That kingly set of armor he be making for ye, sir. That needs like half of em concentrating n'hammering. He asked humbl' o' me to pa.s.s on to ya he be here when he done, sir."

"Well if you trust them. I bet the armor they'll make and sell will be great for the players."

"No doubt, although they won't be selling Death Knight and Doom Knight armors," Dave pointed out.

"Huh? Why not? That's a powerful set of gears you have. Just by advertising it as 'the same armor as Mr. Skeletal wore on his adventures' the marketing will take care of itself. Besides, it would be great if we have more players with those items. Or are you afraid that people might use them to go against you?" Demetri questioned. "I can understand your wishes not to share them, but one day people will get their hands on Legion issued armors and weapons anyway, you know."

"Nah, it's not me wis.h.i.+ng to hog the armors. Even if other players have them, I'll still kick anyone's a.s.s. It's because of the requirement. All Legion issued arms and armor are not just level, but more importantly rank and race-specific. You have to be an Undead and a Death Knight or else you won't be able to equip the Death Knight set."

"Ah, that's a b.u.mmer. We could have sold a s.h.i.+tload of them for a good deal of money," Demetri sighed.

"Pardon me sir, but I fail ta see the problem," Dikenz interjected. "A great merchant be abl' ta sell anything to anyone!"

"They still won't be able to use them though," Dave argued.

"That won't be our problem though, sir. We can sell 'em the armors and they'll just keep em in hope that they'll join the great Legion one day. They'll be better off with hoping that they turn to Legionnaires and have armors to match em, than turn to undead and have none to wear, hope is a good tool to use for selling, sir. Can't hurt ta spread a rumor or two as well."

"That's plain ol scamming, it's like selling fish in the sea."

"If they buy em, that will be worth it! It's gonna be trash in their hands for now, but money in ours. Best we sell em trash while they still think it's worth it. And believe me sir, once his Great Majesty the Undead King, may his reign forever last, take part in this world, they'll be glad they will have the weapons and armor to prove their allegiance to him." Dikenz spoke.

It was surprising to Dave that when Dikenz was paying homage to the King, all of his strange and ever changing accents suddenly disappeared.

"Fine, do whatever you want, just don't sell too many of them. Also, I'd rather you don't sell any Doom Knight armor. In case anyone finds a way to equip them or even worse reverse engineer them, it might be bad for us. They are too powerful," Dave advised. He was currently wearing the Doom Knight set, and thanks to it, he had been able to survive the most powerful of attacks including those from S-Cla.s.s Legacy holders.

"That be the obvious, sir. The Doom Knight armor be hard to craft, an' Andre can't go around creating them for anyone. Only those that achieve Doom Rank cla.s.s got right ta wear one. And I say, you sir, was' very lucky in taking down Du'Rhaza. That was a fight worth paying for." Dikenz praised.

Dave shook his head, the Zombie was an SSS-grade bootlicker and if it went on, he'd probably scam Dave of some of his CP.

"Right. I believe the workers have finished all construction in my estate," Dave questioned.

"Aye, they be ready for new tasks," Dikenz nodded.

"Then have them come here, and hire ten times the number. I also want all the Undead who were working on Urburg to come here. Have them spread and start rebuilding the cities and towns that were lost in the war." Dave gave the order.

"As you wish, sir."

"Bud, come here," Dave called.

The Shadow Ghoul appeared right next to Dave and knelt on one knee.

"Your Highness," the Ghoul greeted him.

"I'm not 'Your Highness' Bud. I'm your comrade. Don't ever kneel to me. A salute is all I require." Dave corrected him. While flattering to hear, it was strange coming from one of his own Boyz.

"Yes, Lord," Bud quickliy stood back up and stomped a foot on the ground while smas.h.i.+ng a fist into his chest.

"Good. Now I've called you, because I want you to lead every single Undead Captain. You will be patrolling the kingdom with their brigade. I want the roads secure. If you find any refugees, escort them to the nearest city. Don't harm them, no matter the cost. If they are farmers, help them resuscitate their crops. I want the people to feel safe with Undead amongst them."

"As you command!" Bud disappeared to relay Dave's orders.

"I think you took care of all the preliminary necessities to handle the kingdom. If you don't need me anymore I still have a lot of things to take care of. Feel free to just call me if something turns up. Also how about you take an actual rest?" Demetri asked. "You've been fighting all day now. Your motto might include Never Tire, but don't forget outside the game you are still a human like the rest of us, David Ruster."

"Yeah, you might be right. Didn't take you for the considerate type. I'll be back later. " Dave flexed his shoulders. It had been a while since he started playing and a good night's sleep was long overdue.

Once Dave logged out, he found that he had a new message on his phone. It was from Zoe.

-

Hey sweety. Some guy contacted me in-game and asked me to pa.s.s you a message.

He said he's still waiting for you at the gym, and you'd better hurry. His IGN was Swingem, if that helps you.

Daddy also wants you to come over more often. He said he wants to see you again to hang out. I bet he just wants you to power level him in the East or the Underworld. Man, he's been playing way more than I have now that he has a gun.

See ya later hun

XOXO

-

Dave smiled at the cheezy text.

'I should probably hit the gym, I've been slacking off a lot, heck I even gained a few pounds, the life of the rich isn't good for ones health.'

He grinned and went directly for a shower, to prepare himself for the comfort of his bed.

***

Somewhere around the suburbs of New York, a certain player logged out of the game. His room was all messy, opened beer bottles thrown all over the place along with cigarette b.u.t.ts burnt to the filter.

He wore a grease-stained tank top along with shorts and had a messy stubbed beard that cried for a good shave.

"All of it should have been mine," the player smashed his fist onto his table. Causing the beer bottles on it to topple on the floor, spilling whatever remained inside them onto the carpet.

"Everything should have been mine. And that f.u.c.ker is now enjoying all of my hard work. If only that Albert was fair, I'd be the king of the f.u.c.king world by now. But some d.i.c.kless f.u.c.k is now enjoying my glory."

The man's rage was calmed as soon as he laid his eyes on a rusty pocket knife that he used to open beers with.

"Yes, if I can't have it… no one will," he decided after downing one of the unopened beer bottles. He grabbed the knife, and wore a hoodie over a tracksuit and left the house.

"I'm coming for you, f.u.c.ker…"