Chapter 25 -25-Progress Far Ahead, Real-World Guilds Stunned

[World Channel]

"?????"

"The portal network across the nine main cities?? Does that mean he built the portals??"

"No way... we’re still struggling in Starter Village, and he’s already doing infrastructure?"

"Faustus is the project manager of this game, right?"

"Project manager? Does he have that authority? He’s basically the boss!"

"I give up... I seriously give up. Is this guy a GM? If so, can he drop some perks?"

"Hey, Faustus, need any trinkets? The clingy kind..."

"I suspect he’s an alien vacationing on Earth."

"Alien: Not our fault, we’re not this insane."

Crimson Soul stood beside the Luminara portal, staring at the dreamlike main city before her, her expression complicated.

She had just reached level 15 and arrived via portal with the crowd.

She hadn’t even gotten a proper look at the city’s grandeur before this server-wide announcement hit.

"Established a portal network across all nine main cities..."

She muttered to herself, looking up at the sky.

This is absurd.

How far has this game god gone?

She clenched her fists.

No, she had to level up fast!

She had a strong premonition—a massive wave of new players would soon flood the game.

And that man was already far ahead of everyone.

"I must convince my family to focus on Stellar as soon as possible. This is definitely more than just a game!"

...

[Rhine Guild · Core Meeting Room]

In the encrypted channel, projections of a dozen figures sat around a round table.

Guildmaster Rhine Watcher sat at the head, a screen in front of him repeatedly playing recordings of Daniel building portals.

The footage had been captured by other players in the main city.

"Let’s hear your thoughts," his voice low and serious.

Vice President North Wind spoke first:

"Without a doubt, all 37 portals in Luminara were built by him."

"Today he completed the remaining eight main cities, at least 30 portals in each. This efficiency... no normal player could achieve it."

"So you’re saying he’s a GM?" someone asked.

"GMs don’t trigger server-wide announcements."

Rhine Watcher shook his head.

"We’ve checked the forums. No internal accounts or staff records. All posts analyzing him are from regular players."

After a few seconds of silence, Prospector, sitting in the corner, spoke slowly.

"Have you considered another possibility?"

Everyone turned to him.

Compared to the Watcher, Prospector was the true mastermind of Rhine Guild, one of the top-tier figures of Blue Star.

He rarely spoke, but when he did, his words often determined the final decision.

"This game..." he paused, eyes deep, "might be a real-world environment."

"Could it be?"

Everyone exchanged glances, recalling recent heated forum discussions.

Some players had reportedly contacted players from other worlds—their Starter Village IDs didn’t match theirs.

"Yes, the reports about contacting other-world players are true!"

"I’ve also had people check—the IP addresses of those posts are untraceable, and the timestamps are strange."

The meeting room fell silent.

After a long moment, Rhine Watcher asked solemnly:

"What do you think Faustus... has to do with this?"

Prospector shook his head, then nodded slightly.

"I don’t know."

"But his leveling speed and understanding of this game far exceed normal boundaries. Either he has insider information we don’t know, or..."

He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood.

Either he’s not a normal player.

"Keep engaging him," Prospector concluded.

"On favorable terms. You can’t afford to offend someone like this—at least superficially, keep appearances!"

...

[Ragnarok Guild · Voice Channel]

Compared to Rhine Guild’s seriousness, Ragnarok was far more chaotic.

"Hahaha! Did you guys see World Channel? Someone said Faustus is his dad!"

"Pfft, just a player, yet people worship him now. He’s only completed a few hidden tasks we haven’t found yet. Wait, I’ll surpass him in no time!"

"You? You haven’t even left Starter Village."

"Shut up!"

Guildmaster Duskfang cleared his throat to suppress the chatter.

"Let’s get serious. What do you think about Faustus?"

"Pervert."

Someone summed up succinctly.

"Cut the nonsense, give me useful info."

An analyst handed over a report:

"We analyzed all public data on Faustus. His leveling speed is over 100 times that of a normal player."

"His gear is at least two tiers above current players. His accumulated wealth is preliminarily estimated at over a million gold coins."

Duskfang narrowed his eyes.

"You’re saying he’s cheating?"

"Not necessarily," another analyst said.

"This game has no traceable network endpoints; we don’t know where the servers are. Even if he wanted to cheat, he couldn’t do it."

"So how is he achieving this?"

No one had an answer.

Duskfang fell silent for a moment, then smiled.

"Interesting... just like this game world, mysterious as hell!"

He stood, pacing in the virtual meeting room.

"Keep observing him."

"Also, prepare an invitation—invite him to join our guild."

"Anything money can solve... is nothing!"

He paused, a glint of coldness in his eyes.

"If money can’t solve it... then we’ll use other means."

...

[Stormbound Guild · Encrypted Channel]

Compared to other guilds’ caution, Stormbound Guild’s discussion was far more direct.

Guildmaster Vantheon, gold rings on his fingers, a chain of gold around his neck, exuded a nouveau-riche arrogance.

A subordinate spoke cautiously:

"Guildmaster, this person is not ordinary..."

"Not ordinary?" Vantheon interrupted, disdainful.

"I’ve seen plenty of ’not ordinary’ people. And the outcome?"

"They either became our servants or disappeared. A lone wolf, lucky enough to pick up some gear, thinking he’s special?"

Vantheon stood, a sharp gleam in his eyes.

"Send him a message—demand he transfer portal profits to us. We, Stormbound Guild, will ensure his safety in the main cities. Otherwise..."

"Guildmaster, isn’t that too direct? Other guilds are trying to court him."

"Direct? Do we, in the Ganges server, need to be polite to a solo player?"

Vantheon sneered.

His subordinate didn’t dare speak further, sending the message silently.

Seconds later, Vantheon’s expression changed.

"Guildmaster... he blocked me."

Vantheon froze, then erupted in fury.

"Good! Excellent!"

He sent another message in the guild channel:

[Attention all Stormbound Guild members: From today, Faustus is our enemy! Share coordinates immediately if encountered in the field! Whoever kills him will receive a 1,000,000 dollar reward!]

The channel erupted in cheers, though some muttered privately:

"Guild master’s lost it? That’s a god-level player who can solo Blackgold-grade BOSSes. Even sending all of Stormbound after him, they might not win..."