When Hailuot entered the hall of the Necromancer Comprehensive Vocational Center and saw the long lines at every service window, he couldn't help marveling at how popular the game "Heroes World" was—and how sought-after the Necromancer class had become.
He took his place at the end of the newcomer registration line. The conversation between the two players ahead of him reached his ears.
"Did you hear? Soul Eater showed up in Scorched Earth City!"
"Hear about it? I saw him myself. He rode past me on that dread dragon-steed of his. The sheer presence scared me so badly that I fell on my backside and lost half a bar of health. I sat on the ground and watched him ride away, and right then I decided to reroll as a Necromancer.
You know what, I've already leveled my Black Warrior to twenty, with decent gear too, two blue-quality pieces."
"Wow, that's a huge loss to walk away from!"
"It's only a detour for me. Didn't you see how empty the Black Warrior Comprehensive Vocational Center was? There wasn't even a line. Nothing like this place... I figure we'll be waiting at least an hour."
"Well, that's because Necromancers are strong! Soul Eater's battle clips are insane, especially when his mount transforms into a Bone Dragon—it's as cool as it gets.
Forget an hour, I'd wait three hours in this line and it'd still be worth it."
"Right! I heard Soul Eater headed toward the Olden Cemetery. Once we learn our Necromancer skills, we should go there too—maybe we'll even run into him."
"Really? He went to the Olden Cemetery?"
"That direction, the only thing that could draw a big shot like him is whatever secret the Olden Cemetery is hiding. It's been four years and there's still no sign of the Second Layer opening. The monsters in the Olden Cemetery are so unique, there's got to be something good down there."
"You're right. Once we're done learning our skills, let's head straight for the Olden Cemetery..."
He eavesdropped on more players, and most of their conversations were about Soul Eater too.
Soul Eater's appearance in Scorched Earth City had caused quite a stir.
Hailuot now had to acknowledge Soul Eater's influence in this Game World. No wonder he was the idol of the masses—the Number-One Player.
It was just that this line was really, truly long.
And on top of that... people were cutting in line!
Hailuot watched several players with standard-issue badges on their chests force more than a dozen newcomers into the front of the line. The players behind them could only seethe in silence, afraid to speak up.
Hailuot tapped the shoulder of the player in front of him. "Hey, who are those people?"
"They're all from the Scorched Earth City Player Guild. They use their strength to bully newcomers like us, who have no one backing us. Once you level up, you'd best find a guild to join. The guild's benefits don't matter; at least you won't be pushed around so easily."
Just then, several more newcomers joined the front of the line.
It pushed Hailuot even further back than when he'd first joined the queue.
That, he could not tolerate.
Hailuot shouted at the line-cutters up front: "Hey! All of you cutting in line, get to the back. Don't waste our time."
In an instant, everyone in the Necromancer Comprehensive Vocational Center hall turned toward Hailuot.
Heroes World had been running for four years. Player guilds had begun by flourishing in great variety, but competition had weeded them out. Those still established in the city districts possessed real strength and almost certainly had powerful backers.
Guild privilege had therefore become an unspoken rule accepted by players.
Today, never mind a few people cutting in line — even if they drove everyone else out of the building entirely, so long as no NPC faction or rival guild intervened, solo players had no choice but to grit their teeth and bear it.
Hailuot wasn't the first reckless newbie to openly defy a guild, but most met a bad end. After all, a guild could send out any high-level Player, and a novice would have no chance against them.
Sure enough, the guild players looked Hailuot over and all wore the same sneer of disdain.
One minor leader told the others to keep pushing the newcomers he had brought into the line. Then he walked over to Hailuot.
He looked Hailuot's outfit up and down, then said with contempt, "Money for a Costume, huh? You must be another cash cow. When you chose Scorched Earth City, didn't you even look up its Player Guild online?"
The player wore a gray guild uniform styled like a trench coat. He wiped the badge on his chest, as if reminding Hailuot to look closely at the guild he belonged to.
Hailuot replied, "I don't know Scorched Earth City's guilds. I only know that your behavior is putting me in a bad mood."
"Well, you're putting me in a very bad mood too... time you learned the rules of Scorched Earth City!"
The leader shoved Hailuot, a ball of pale-green light flaring in his palm.
He expected one skill to blast the other man into white light and send him to the Respawn Point. Instead, the man didn't even flinch.
What was going on?
I'm a level-nineteen Necromancer, yet one Offensive Magic spell couldn't even one-shot a level 1 newbie?
There had to be a bug!
Or had the Magic failed to cast?
The leader reached out to cast another Attack spell at Hailuot. Hailuot gave him no second chance.
Two vines several meters long tore through the ground. Each ended in a massive flower crown with a huge, fang-lined maw at its center. Green poisonous gas poured from between the petals in every direction.
Hailuot was unfamiliar with the controls and had not set an attack-target filter, so the Corpse Poison released by the Corpseflower Poison Vines struck indiscriminately. Most players in the Necromancer Comprehensive Vocational Center hall were low-level.
In an instant, under the spreading cloud of potent Corpse-Poison Smoke released by the Corpseflower Poison Vines, white lights marking player deaths began flickering one after another across the entire hall.
The Corpseflower Poison Vines marked the guild player who had attacked Hailuot as their priority target. The two vines lunged at him, biting and tearing him apart before sending him to the Respawn Point.
Every player who died lost one level.
An alarm began blaring throughout the Necromancer Comprehensive Vocational Center as the Corpse-Poison Smoke released by the Corpseflower Poison Vines started spreading toward the service counters, and the NPCs all rushed to evacuate.
Before long, the packed hall of the Necromancer Comprehensive Vocational Center fell silent. Only the higher-level players remained standing. They cast skills to resist the poison, drank Recovery Potions, and opened their Spellbooks to surround Hailuot.
By then, Hailuot had regained control of the Corpseflower Poison Vines, and the poison in the smoke no longer attacked indiscriminately.
Looking at the emptied Necromancer Comprehensive Vocational Center, Hailuot said innocently, "Sorry, I couldn't control my Summoned Creature."
A player who appeared to be high-level said to Hailuot in a stern voice, "You look like a level-thirty Necromancer. You expect me to believe you can't control your own Summoned Creature? Do I look like an idiot? And you were standing in the newcomer registration line—were you here to start trouble on purpose?"
"He's definitely been sent here by some other city to stir up trouble, trying to scare off all the newcomers joining Scorched Earth City. Kid, who exactly are you backed by?"
The two Corpseflower Poison Vines shielded Hailuot from either side, their flower faces turned toward the hostile players.
Hailuot knew he'd stumbled into trouble without meaning to. To keep things from escalating further, he said, "My elder brother, Spirit Eater!"