***
"All done! Our guild is now officially registered. Our pixies will now have a full access to the Guild Window Panel, where we can browse the guild forum, mission hall, and trading market. Come on, let's check it out!" Priscilla announced excitedly, completely forgetting about the cool and composed persona she tried so hard to maintain.
Rouya stopped paying attention to everyone else and looked straight at Blues with obvious expectation. Without her needing to say a word, Blues brought up the newly unlocked interface: the Guild Window Panel.
"So it really does exist," Blues murmured, looking surprised, while Rouya grew increasingly impatient.
"Hurry up and let me see!" Rouya sighed. This was yet another of many times she felt dissatisfied with the game's design. Why force players to rely on pixie guides for everything instead of connecting them directly to the system? It was such an unnecessary hassle.
"Here you go." Seeing how eager she was, Blues displayed the panel clearly, revealing its three main functions.
The first section was the Guild Mission Hall, which listed every kind of quest issued by the system. These missions were divided into six ranks, corresponding directly to a guild's insignia colors. Intern Missions: Covering Red, Orange, and Yellow-tier quests, available only to Intern-level guilds. Intermediate Missions: Covering Green, Blue, and Indigo-tier quests, for Intermediate-level guilds. Advanced Missions: Covering Violet-tier quests, reserved for Advanced-level guilds. Elite Missions: Covering Silver-tier quests, for Elite-level guilds. Supreme Missions: Covering Gold-tier quests, for Supreme-level guilds. Legendary Missions: Covering Black-tier quests, exclusive to Legendary-level guilds.
The second feature was the Guild Trading Market, an open space where all guilds could list their items for trade or sale. The last section was the Guild Forum, which not only displayed the overall guild rankings but also functioned like a social platform. It supported both public discussions and private messaging. While this feature was quite useful, it shared the same flaw as the rest, players couldn't access it directly. The interface existed solely within the pixies' domain, effectively turning every pixie guide into a stand-in personal secretary.
This time, it wasn't just Rouya who found the system really have some screw loose, even Blues thought it was absurd. Players could receive notifications, yes, but they couldn't interact with the interface themselves — only their pixies could. She felt a strong urge to file a complaint with the game developers about this design feature.
"Has everyone familiarized themselves with the new panel? Let's connect to each other's message inboxes," Priscilla said, then corrected herself with an awkward smile. "I mean… let's have our pixies connect to each other."
The five of them exchanged glances and couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of their situation.
"I guess we'll just have to get used to having pixie-secretaries by our side," Aislinn said with an amused smile. "It's a bit troublesome, but at least having them around means we'll never really be alone."
"I still don't understand it," Noir mused. "This feature is so strange and unlike anything I've ever seen. None of the other virtual games I've played worked like this. Do you think there's a deeper reason behind this design?"
"A deeper reason? Hmph! They're just doing this to make our lives even harder!" Ginger huffed crossly. "Don't you all remember the Side Quests we have to finish before we can even compete for the main quest? You can tell right away how difficult they are. It's almost as if this game was designed so no one can ever actually beat it."
"Even if we can't meet the requirements right now, there have to be powerful players out there—like those beta testers—who can manage it," Rouya said, stretching her arms. "For now, the best thing we can do is get strong enough just to survive."
"Rouya's right. The only way forward is to get stronger, so we don't end up as just cannon fodder later on," Priscilla added seriously.
"So now that we're officially registered, what do we do next?" Aislinn asked earnestly. "According to the Guild interface, we need to upgrade our guild rank to unlock a higher-level Trading Market. Right now, it's mostly just players trading among themselves, but once upgraded, the system itself will put items up for sale. Some of those listed goods are resources that are impossible for us to obtain at our current level."
"That's exactly it," Noir chimed in. "At the Interm level, the market is limited to players around the same level as us, and the premium guild shops are locked. We need to reach the Advanced rank to get access to those."
"Hmm..." Priscilla thought for a moment before speaking slowly. "I think we should focus on taking on missions first. That way, we can raise our guild's rank while also earning experience to level ourselves up. It's a win-win situation."
"Are you saying we should travel outside the town to complete these guild missions?" Aislinn asked to clarify.
"Yes. That way, we can level up quickly, and at the same time, get more familiar with how the game works—especially when it comes to combat," Priscilla replied firmly.
"You're absolutely right — we still need to practice working together when we fight," Aislinn said, leaning against Rouya who was sitting on her right. "By the way, what kind of weapon do you use?"
"Um… a light sword? But I've never actually used one in battle," Rouya replied awkwardly. She'd traveled from End Village to the town without any problems, and the journey had been so uneventful that she'd almost forgotten she even had a basic sword kept in Blues's storage space.
"Really? Then how did you manage to level up without fighting monsters?" Priscilla asked, sounding surprised.
"I just did all kinds of small jobs — like helping villagers with their farming work. Isn't that how games are supposed to work? They shouldn't only be about fighting and killing creatures, right? Doing these tasks is much better than just going into pointless battles," she explained, still feeling a bit embarrassed.
"But Rouya, fighting monsters isn't just how you earn experience to get stronger — it's also how you learn how to handle combat properly. You can't build up your skills just by doing simple tasks. This is a game where we have to stay alive, after all," Aislinn pointed out, shaking her head in disbelief. She couldn't help wondering why every member of their guild seemed to have something unusual about them.
Having a guild leader who was always acting silly was exhausting enough. Then there was Ginger, who was easily annoyed and in a bad mood most of the time, and Noir who seems normal and easily converse with was actually a ome-track mind person which is hardero deal with. And now here was Rouya — so innocent and simple-minded. Their guild really needed her to be the one who kept things sensible, because everyone else seemed to be thinking in strange ways.
***