Reborned Top Gamer: Spell-Swordman Rule the World

42 Stela Camp

“You fool!” Heather’s voice rang through his office. He just received a call from one of the members of his newly assembled team who apparently had two members of that cursed Green Light team in his grasp and had let them go.

“I challenged them and they won. I am a man of my words,” Lennon argued over the phone. Heather held a pencil in one hand and squeezed it so hard that it snapped. He wished that Lennon had come to his office to tell him this instead, he would have loved to snap his neck instead.

“You challenged them to cards. A game of chance! You could have challenged them to a battle and killed them both! Why a card game? You’re an i***t!”

“I really don’t appreciate that tone, sir,”

“I don’t care what you appreciate your the blubbering excuse of a worker! Now, I want you to go back and destroy them!”

“I really can’t do that sir, they won fair and square,”

“You…” Heather started, then groaned and sighed “fine,” he said cut off the line. He slammed the phone down on the receiver and leaned back into his seat. He should have known better than to send the most arrogant players in the club, much less put them in a team. Threatening lesser players was easy, but the three he put together were as untouchable in real life as they were in the game. This little fluke should not matter too much, he trusted them to get the job done.

The rest of the team were still making their way to Mythical Beast Peak. Just like Jenny had thought, the inns on the way refused to give them accommodation and they had to camp outside but they took careful measures to disguise their presence in the forest and tried to stay off the road in the night time. Now that they knew that Heather was intent on hunting them down, it made sense for them to hide themselves a bit. Miranda complained about feeling like a fugitive but Walt explained to her that it made no sense for them to dispense all their strength into fighting everyone that came their way.

“If Man is already gaining access to the game and influencing things, shouldn’t the creators of the game be aware?” Scott asked once they settled down around their campfire. Jenny had set up defenses along the perimeters of the camp and Ailsa had created a forest illusion which prevents most players except for magicians and elves like herself from seeing them.

“Yeah, I guess they should be,” Walt replied and ran his hand through his hair “there definitely has to be some kind of traitor among them,”

“Not necessarily,” Miranda said and they all glanced at her “Minan’s hacking and software system is pretty good too, so the people controlling Fantasy might actually have nothing to do with it,” she shrugged and Walt sighed.

“Either way,” Scott quickly added “if the creators are aware, shouldn’t they have put some kind of security measure in place? Also, they might not know who it is, don’t you think we should tell them about it?”

“And say what exactly? Your biggest competitors are behind the attacks on your game? Even if we did, what proof do we have?” Miranda countered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Scott pursed his lips and continued stubbornly.

“They could launch an investigation-”

“That would not happen because there’s no proof. Plus, the public will bash them and just assume they’re doing it to get rid of competition,” she interrupted him. He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it back and slouched his shoulder. Miranda licked the fur on the back of her hand and cleaned her face, then she purred and curled her arms around her body. On the soothing crackling of the wood in the fire filled the air

“I think we should focus on where we’re going right now and discuss Minan’s treacherous behavior in real life,” Walt finally broke the silence. No one said anything and they fell back into silence. They stared at the orange dancers in the fire until they started to feel drowsy. This time, they assigned lookouts and Walt took the first watch.

The next day marked the third day they had been on the road. Walt suddenly wished Michael was still with them, they would have used his teleportation to get to their destination quicker even if it would take two jumps. It was better than all the walking they had to do. He smiled to himself, when he had first started playing as a lone player, he would walk far and wide and would not feel it. Being part of a team had made him a bit lazy and dependent.

“I think I see something up ahead,” Ailsa said. Walt looked up and saw that their path had cleared. Up ahead was a cluttered assortment of short buildings that seemed to double as residential and commercial which Walt recognized as Stela Camp which could not be called a village because people came and went. It was a dwelling right before the Mythical beast peak which was a volcano, it had smoke coming out of the top and it had not changed since the last time Walt had been there. The forest they came from had completely disappeared and the air grew hotter and thinner. The area where they were headed was a desert, winds blew sand all around them, getting into their hair and eyes. Something that was akin to ash was also falling all around them.

“Did you know it’s a desert here?” Jenny asked, spluttering between her words to try and get sand out of her mouth. Walt nodded and she puffed up her cheeks and flared her nose “well why didn’t you say something?”

“I…I forgot, I’m sorry…it’s just that I…well I’ve just been preoccupied. My head is buzzing just thinking and it skipped my mind. I’m sorry,” he said in an incredibly tired voice that Jenny had never heard, it made her feel immensely sad and guilty. Ailsa wrapped her arms around Walt’s waist and pulled him in for a hug. Jenny smiled at him. The bulk of the problem was placed on him because he was expected to find a solution no matter what. She could understand how tiring it must be.

“It’s okay,” Jenny said, “everyone’s heads are buzzing.”

They said nothing more until they reached the settlement. They were garbed completely differently from the people there. They all wore turbans and wore scarves around their faces. Their clothes were layered despite the heat and resembled multiple bandages woven all over their bodies with the ends left flapping around. The residents gave them inquisitive looks as they went about their business. The stalls set up there displayed a lot of junk that looked cheap and stolen. The worst art was ash. It was everywhere, settling on things like snow. Walt was suddenly reminded of how desolate the place was. Most players did not bother venturing this far in the game and were more content with the other parts.

“Talk about a fixer-upper,” Miranda muttered as they walked around from one low building to the next.

“Hello, adventurers!” an incredibly loud voice came from behind them. They turned around sharply to see a tall man clad in the same bandage-like clothes as everyone else. He also had a turban, and scarf around his face, so they could only see his eyes which were brown. Walt wondered if the bias showed against him and his teammates would apply there too.

“My name is Jhoggo, I handle things around here. Might I interest you in a cool glass of water?” he asked, then his eyes swept over them “or appropriate clothes?” Walt chuckled and extended his hand forward.

“I’m Walt,” he said and Jhoggo shook him “and these are my teammates. Appropriate clothes would be perfect, thank you,” Jhoggo nodded and Walt saw what looked like a smile behind his tightly wound scarf.

“Follow me then, Walt and his teammates,” he said and Walt almost sighed with relief that the man had not asked for their team name or did not recognize them and if he did, he did not seem to care. Maybe he was just glad that his camp finally got real players. Jhoggo led them to a stall where the bandage outfits were on full display. There were only neutral colors of the material available but the scarves were of a different variety; texture, color, pattern and size-wise. For three bronze pieces each, they were able to purchase the bandage outfit with scarves. Walt could almost jump with ecstasy about how cheap it was.

“Will you have that water now?” jhoggo asked them once they all emerged from the dressing room provided, now dressed in clothing that suited the environment. Walt was surprised by how comfortable it felt. He had thought he would feel hot but he seemed to feel cool inside the clothes, although he was a little uncomfortable with the scarf, so he refused to wear that. Scott did the same.

“Yes please,” Ailsa answered and they were led to another low building where Jhoggo ushered them in. It turned out to be a bar and she had to look around to see if there was some sort of air-conditioning around because the inside of the building was cool and refreshing. Once inside, Jhoggo pulled down his scarf to reveal his face. Then he smiled at them, he was handsome. He had a slight stubble, a sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and thin pink lips that were still curled into a smile.

“Welcome to Stela Camp, Green Light team.”