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Chapter 21: Hardcore Gold Farming

"Alan Warden..."

Isabella\'s electronic voice echoed through his mind.

"It is time you know what happened to the Santa María\'s crew..."

His mind tricked him into seeing the lively Londorus in flames, the lake beneath it bathed in a deathly orange light. Such a vision made him feel nauseous. He placed a hand against his face, catching her attention.

"Are you okay?"

Dammit... Not now!

"What did you say about a dungeon?" he asked, meeting her wide grin.

"I bought one, just for you to train."

That she what?!

"But, how would that...?"

"Don\'t worry. I have it all planned! I hired a group of Power-Levelers, who are all nice people, and will help you reach max-level as soon as possible. It took me two years to reach level 100, but thanks to these professionals and my weaponsmith, who\'ll constantly provide you with new gear, I\'m sure you\'ll do it in eight months."

Eight months... huh? The period I spent outside... He glanced at his sleeve over the table. These clothes, this dungeon she\'s mentioning...

Astrid\'s NPC picked up Alan\'s dishes and replaced them with a cup of wine and a juicy steak with salad. "Enjoy," the servant said, while Alan glanced at his koala ears.

What\'s with those fluffy teddy-like ears? They don\'t suit him at all. Female NPCs are way cuter.

"...In the meantime, Tamara will instruct you about your first tasks as a First Officer, and..."

"First Officer?!"

"You promised you wouldn\'t zone out anymore. Or are you daydreaming about what your new gear will look like?" She giggled. "You\'ll look cool, I promise! As I was saying, Tamara will teach you all about the First Officer\'s job until you can do it in your sleep."

"But, Astrid... What if the rest of the guild doesn\'t want me in that position?"

"What do you mean?"

"W-well! Only a day after my arrival, a third of the guild has quit! And the rest will surely think that a more experienced guilder should take the spot! I shouldn\'t be entitled to become the second in command just because I came up with the guild\'s name three years ago..."

Astrid studied Alan\'s distressed face for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "Alan..." she said, turning her voice deeper, giving him another instance of what beautiful but dangerous eyes looked like. "Whoever blames you for what happened, will have to deal with me."

"That would only make more people leave."

"Good! It\'s better that they leave now than later."

Alan felt dizzy. Was it caused by the wine? No, I haven\'t taken a sip yet!

"Alan Warden, this information is classified..."

This threat, lurking who knows where, this whole guild drama, and this new Astrid... This All-Business Astrid... Everything is so...!

"I\'m just trying to provide you with everything that has been taken away from you," Astrid said, placing a hand near his. "After all, you had to go outside. So it\'s not your fault that the power gap grew so much between us..."

Something she said made him shiver. "O-outside?"

"You were in the real world, weren\'t you? It\'s okay, you can trust me. Did your cryo-pod fail? Did someone force you to log out? Did something happen to the ship?"

"It was hiding in the ship, Alan, it followed us from Earth..."

"I was in a coma, just as you said..."

Astrid stood in silence while reaching out to hold his right hand. Alan admired her smooth skin and blue nail polish until noticing that she was observing the marks on his palm.

Scars I didn\'t have before...

He pulled his hand away, startling her.

"Alan?" she called as if her face reflected physical pain. "Do you think I haven\'t noticed that you look older? More tired? Even your hair looks different."

Those statements inevitably made him sneer.

"Come on, Astrid, how could you remember how I looked back then? We only knew each other for what, two weeks? And for you, it\'s been three years since then."

"What are you saying? Seven days in the real world, and a week here. I remember every single thing we did together back then!" She looked away while playing with her braid. "I even remember that, technically, we never broke up."

"Are you talking about our little week as an \'almost couple\'?"

She lost the color in her cheeks. "\'A-al-most-cou\'—Is that how you see it?!"

Something inside him broke.

"IF IT REALLY MEANT THAT MUCH TO YOU, WHY DID YOU KEEP THAT GUY AROUND FOR SO LONG, HUH?! EVEN THOUGH YOU KNEW ABOUT HIS INTENTIONS, YOU NEVER LET HIM GO!"

Seeing the surprise in her eyes, Alan felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him and quickly hid his face with both hands. What\'s wrong with me?! Just a minute ago, I said I shouldn\'t be entitled to anything, just to contradict myself shortly after!

"Are you stupid or just acting dumb?" another inner voice taunted him, a feminine one. His mind shaped it into the form of the demoness from that morning\'s nightmare, as if she had returned to whisper venom in his ear. "What you\'re feeling right now is perfectly natural, silly boy." He heard her giggle. "What\'s taking control of you is called jealousy... That means you\'ve grown up. Hu-hu."

After a moment of true silence, as if the world itself had held its breath, she called him softly, "Alan... I wasn\'t trying to hide anything from you. It\'s true that Marco tried to court me for a while," she said, biting her lower lip before jumping from her seat and clutching at the fabric over her chest. "But I swear, I never gave him the chance to—!"

"There\'s no need to explain, Astrid. I trust you," he interrupted, feeling his throat suddenly go dry. "And... sorry for that."

"No, you have every right to feel that way," she said, maintaining a stiff posture, though her gaze was lowered. "You\'re right to think I\'m at fault here. I\'ll... understand if you can\'t forgive this. But before there\'s another misunderstanding, let me assure you." They made eye contact, and Alan caught it again—Astrid\'s new businesslike intensity. "I only saw him as a pawn, nothing more."

It somehow pains me to see her like that.

"Stop being so formal, Astrid," he whispered.

Meanwhile, the metallic spy beetle that Amelia Laflamme had created hours ago fervently clung to Alan\'s clothes, listening to everything.

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Having accomplished its purpose, Amelia snapped her fingers, and the black speaker in the middle of the room got consumed by flames that dissipated quickly, not leaving a single trace of ash.

"Glad that was over," Faiza Khalil said, yawning, hiding her face inside her panda hoodie.

"Did you find that conversation boring, my dear?" Kathleen Maher asked from behind her desk, in a sweet tone of voice. "To me, this was truly fascinating and very revealing." She crossed her eyes with Marco. "I didn\'t believe the Golden Bitch could feel attached to someone else besides her huge ass—I mean ego." She giggled.

Fascinating? I\'d use another word, but it\'s true, Amelia Laflamme thought, as Marco placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You did a great job," he whispered in her ear.

"Glad to be of help..." Amelia replied quietly.

Yeah, even though I omitted the part that I also heard your conversation with Ghost from hours ago. His cryptic: \'After using that nightmare spell on me, how much did you see?\' Followed by Marco\'s: \'I saw everything\'...

ARGH! That just fuels my imagination! And now this... Astrid sold us that \'coma\' story, just to throw it out of the window?

This is so intriguing. Until this day, I hadn\'t thought about the outside world... We\'re plugged into a machine, right? How could I forget that this is nothing but a well-constructed illusion?

She looked around Kathleen\'s office, which could easily be mistaken for a pre-teen\'s dorm room. The color pink covered the walls, as well as the couches they were sitting on, and the soft pillows with lace embellishments.

In a corner, a shrine dedicated to the Novus\' most popular idol, featuring a poster of her, a figurine, and a mannequin displaying one of her outfits.

Yes, this is all fake... All—Wait, is that an official Miss Cosmica outfit?! Something she actually wore at a concert or event?!

From her desk, Kathleen caught her admiring the mannequin.

"Yes, it\'s genuine," Kathleen said, giggling. Behind her, the only serious-looking part of the room: The Death Bringers\' emblem on the wall, with a menacing skull inside a diamond.

"Sorry for staring," Amelia mumbled.

"It\'s okay. It warms my heart to see a new fellow Cosmic fan entering my guild. Tee-hee."

"Good job getting on the new boss\' good side," Faiza whispered to Amelia. "Unlike that poor thing. Look at her. She\'s still traumatized."

Amelia glanced at Karen, sitting in an armchair next to them. Her fractures caused by fighting Astrid had magically healed, but he had remained unnervingly quiet since then.

One of Kathleen\'s guilders had to heal her since Matthew is dead. He won\'t respawn in a day and no one knows how it happened. Kathleen blames Tamara, but I\'m sure it was Marissa\'s doing.

"So, after hearing this... pantomime..." Marco interjected, standing up. "Was it worth it?"

He\'s upset. I know him too well not to notice it. That conversation revolved around his embarrassing brief crush on that bitch after all.

"What should we do with this info?" Kathleen asked, humming and doing a pondering expression. She then clapped, beaming as a child would. "My sweet prince, I think that\'s obvious! Let\'s go for the finishing blow now that we know the Golden Bitch\'s weakness!"

Seeing her grin made Amelia shiver. Only Kathleen Maher could say something that terrible and look seemingly pure at the same time.

"Sweetheart?" Kathleen turned to Karen. "Show your friends what you got, so they can see that you didn\'t kiss the ground in vain. Hu-hu."

Karen took her sweet time opening her User Interface and pulling something out of her Inventory. She showed it aloft, smirking.

Amelia could not see it until it gleamed goldenly. "I-is that...?"

"A strand of hair," Karen said, returning to her usual prideful self.

"No way!" Faiza gasped. "Did you get it that time? When she threw you down?"

Amelia\'s heart raced and felt her stomach twisting. There is only a spell that requires something like that.

"You\'re not planning on using it, do you?" she asked him, but Kathleen replied, giggling.

"The opportunity presented itself, dear! We\'ll end this with a grand finale. Alan Warden doesn\'t have the skills to see through illusions, so it must be done far from any nearby Shooting Fart—I mean Star."

"Can I leave then?" Faiza jumped out of her seat and walked to the door, hands inside her pockets. "Marco knows I\'m not good at that shit in the slightest."

Kathleen glanced at Marco, who nodded.

"Sure, sweetie! Thanks for coming anyway."

After the door closed, Marco spoke softly. "If that\'s your wish, my snow princess, you can count on them." He pointed at the two remaining girls. "They\'re my most reliable partners."

He crossed eyes with Amelia first, as she felt her hands getting sweaty.

Wait... hold on... I...

"I\'ll do it!" Karen raised her hand. "It won\'t be a problem at all."

"Thirsty for vengeance, eh?" Kathleen nodded. "We\'ll leave Londorus tomorrow, so remain here while you wait for the perfect opportunity."

"Can\'t wait!" Karen beamed. "I won\'t disappoint you, Guild Mas--!"

"Are you being serious?" Amelia interrupted, locking eyes with Kathleen.

"What do you mean?" she asked, smiling.

"We\'ve already disrupted the Shooting Stars\' progress. Their rank is so low now that they might never reach the top fifties again. Astrid\'s credibility? In the gutter! Word that she\'s a terrible leader is already spreading out through the Navinet."

"Amelia..." Marco whispered, grabbing her by the shoulder, but she stood up.

"And speaking of Alan Warden, we have already given him a lesson, especially me! I humiliated him so many times that the guy might have developed pyrophobia by now! But this? What you\'re suggesting comes out as plain petty!"

Kathleen squinted as she rose from her seat. "What was your name again?"

"Amelia Laflamme..."

"Tell me, Amelia. Were you present when the Golden Bitch showed up?" Kathleen asked, circling her desk to stand in front of her.

"Yes. I watched it all from a window."

"Let me ask you this, then. Who do you think won that fight? And I\'m not talking about the ass-whooping your friend got," Kathleen said, stepping forward.

"You mean when you confronted her?" Amelia cleared her throat. "You, of course. The whole place was filled with your allies. Besides Tamara and Karen, Astrid was alone."

"Why didn\'t I give the order to attack her, then?"

"Well--" Amelia could not continue talking, for Kathleen grabbed her by the cheeks. Those fingers, although delicate, were as cold as ice sticks.

"Because I was the one that lost that fight." Kathleen hissed. "She was in a Safe Zone, so my guild could overpower her easily, right? But you\'re forgetting I was repressed too. Without being able to cast my defenses, that mad dog could have gone for my throat as soon as I gave a signal. Do you have any idea how much gold I\'m holding? I\'ll give you a hint... Enough to prevent any deathmatch against my dreaded sworn enemy if I can!"

Kathleen let go to examine Amelia\'s face, which had turned blue and displayed frostbitten finger marks on her cheeks.

"So, let\'s recapitulate, shall we, dear?" Kathleen continued. "Not only did she come to the welcoming party I prepared for all of you, uninvited, but she also attacked three of my guilders and threatened to waste half my gold... And why was that? Because that level-five cockroach decided to show up here. So yeah... Pardon me if you see me doing this out of spite."

"Amelia\'s bug is still planted and active," Marco said from his place. "She\'ll keep helping us with this quest. Isn\'t that right, Amelia?"

"Yes." She half-smiled, without taking her eyes off Kathleen\'s. "I\'ll keep monitoring the cockroach and tell Karen when the best opportunity to approach him arrives."

"I\'ll count on you then." Kathleen smiled at her.

"Amelia," Marco called. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Of course. Excuse me, ma\'am." Amelia did a curtsy in front of Kathleen and caught Karen snickering at her.

Outside, Marco led the way through the corridor, and just as they took a corner, he grabbed her by the arm. "What the hell is your problem? We\'re just starting and you\'re already questioning her?"

"I used to question Astrid all the time! And just before you say she\'s not--"

"Why are you doing this then?" he asked with clenched teeth, making Amelia drop her shoulders.

"Marco, what are we doing here? I thought your dream was to start your own guild. What changed?"

"A lot, actually," he replied softly, stepping back and readjusting his tie. "If half a year ago I said that I intended to lead a new guild, it was before I knew better. Just look at what happened to Shooting Stars. We just quit, and they quickly dropped from the top 100. It didn\'t matter if Astrid is in the top individual ranking. This proved my theory. This late in the endgame, merging guilds, it\'s the only viable option."

"But at the cost of doing whatever we want!" Amelia looked around and whispered: "Even though I can\'t stand her, Astrid would never do something like this... Are you really okay with this plan?"

"The way I see it, it\'s all strategic. These are no longer quarrels between rival groups, but fierce competitions between private companies. So if you aspire to be a professional, I suggest you... No. I ask you to chill."

"Chill?" she chuckled. "Seriously?"

"What, too soon?"

"Alright then," she sighed. "Go. I\'ll apologize to Kathleen tomorrow. In the meantime, I have a date with the bar." She half-smiled.

"Don\'t lose sight of our mission," he said, turning back. "Good night."

As he walked away, Amelia\'s grin turned upside down. First the \'he stole my gold and position\', and now this...

"What a load of merde..." she said to herself while two women passed her by, rushing towards the women\'s restroom. "Hmm? Something they ate? Wait... That\'s not possible."