Mark stared at Damon, dazed and confused. His friend had just placed the gaming helmet on his sisterâs head, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Like this wasnât the same girl whoâd been comatose hours ago, the same sister heâd almost lost.
"Youâre seriously doing this right now?" Markâs voice cracked, caught somewhere between disbelief and fear. "Sheâs barely breathing on her own, and you want to throw her into a video game?"
"Just trust me for one more minute. I know I am asking you a lot." Damon said calmly.
Mark let out a sigh and sat down. He was frustrated with everything that was going on.
Damon didnât take offense. He couldnât. Not when Mark had every right to feel like the world had flipped upside down. His sister was barely out of a coma, and now his best friend was strapping her into a VR game like it was the cure to everything.
But Damon knew what he was doing. Or at least, he hoped he did.
He moved quickly, grabbing the second helmet and passing it to Mark. "This isnât just about playing a game. Itâs about meeting her halfway. If I am correct, we will be able to talk to her and see her."
Mark did not understand. He only weakly nodded before putting the helmet on. Damon switched it on for him, put on his own helmet, and switched it on.
When Damon opened his eyes again, he found himself in the same spot, at the top of the trees on the outskirts of the Garth city. His gaze instantly darted to the many players waiting for him. Clearly, Arcane Dawn did not plan to take their humiliation lying down.
Dozens of high-level Arcane Dawn players had set up a perimeter, all trained on this single spawn zone just outside Garth City. It wasnât just a manhunt, it was an ambush.
Arvanâs voice rang out from below, laced with venom. "That bastard thinks he can log in late and escape from us? Weâll teach him a lesson today!"
"I am using my divine sense every 10 seconds. That bastard will not get out of here alive under my watch." Lirael declared, her eyes burning with rightful vengeance.
The same type of look could be found on all the playersâ eyes. Everyone here definitely wanted to kill him. Unfortunately, he did not have the time to deal with them right now.
Before anyone could notice his reappearance, Damon silently slipped into the shadows and activated ShadowStep, Stalk, and Stealth.
Within a single heartbeat, he vanished from sight.
Arvan kept barking orders, unaware that the very man he wanted dead was already out of his grasp. "Fan out! Circle formation! Donât let him pass the red marker! That guy definitely has a good item. If we kill him, our guild can acquire the item and we will immediately grab the top rank!"
"I am ready for that bastard!" Lirael said coldly, spinning her staff once. "If he even breathes within ten meters, Iâll know."
And so the Arcane Dawn guild continued waiting for the notorious Blood God.
Meanwhile, Damon arrived at the city gates. Blood Wraith and his sister were already waiting for him inside. "My bad. I did not mean to keep you guys waiting." He apologized honestly. They had paid good money for a service and he did delay from his end.
"Big bro, what are you talking about? We just logged in. Donât worry about it."
Damon nodded. "What level are you guys now?" He opened the party details to check out. Blood Wraith was currently at Level 22 and Phoenix was at Level 25.
Damon raised a brow when Blood Wraith hurriedly explained. "My sis was doing some random quests in the city a few minutes back. She-" He clearly wanted to explain more when the woman next to him gave him a stern glare.
"Blood God, here is 10,000 gold coins. This is the payment for helping us both reach level 20 and get to the top of the rank leaderboard." Phoenix calmly said. "You can consider the extra gold coins as bonus reward for doing it so quickly."
Damon accepted the trade request without hesitation, the faint chime of coins transferring echoing in his ears. Ten thousand gold was no small amountâespecially not for early-game players.
With each gold coin currently going for 50 USD, 10,000 gold coins was a whopping 500,000 USD, an astronomical amount for a middle class family.
Blood Wraith was a whale who could casually toss out such a big amount for something simple as leveling. Of course, Damon knew these two were not just paying for the carry. And right on time, the proposal arrived.
"I have a proposal for you." Phoenix cooly said. "We just gave you 10,000 gold coins just like that. You should now know the kind of means and abilities under our disposal. We can easily bring you up to the top 1% of the world. Everything you would ever want or ever dream of will be within your reach. You will live like a King and your family will be treated like royalty."
Damon smiled. He didnât interrupt. He let her continue.
"This is my proposal. We want to form a private team," Phoenix said, her gaze steady. "Just us three and a couple of other players. Weâll fund everythingâgear, potions, access keys, crafting, support players, even intel. In return, we get protection, power-leveling, and strategic access to exclusive content that only you can reach. Starting with what class and race you are and how you managed to obtain it."
Blood Wraith nodded eagerly beside her, his eyes shining. "Big bro, trust me. You wonât lose out. Everyone in our team will be top players. Big sis just now got an SSS-"
"I am still speaking." Phoenix cut in, stopping her blabermouth brother.
"As I was saying," she resumed, "youâll have access to every resource this game can offerâsome legal, some not. Weâre not interested in playing fair. Weâre interested in winning. Dominating. And we believe you are the key to doing that."
Damon smiled. "So you know?"