Josiah Li lives in a flooded world, where global warming has taken its toll and technology is intertwined in every aspect of daily life. To pass the time in between virtual classes, he finally takes the leap to sign up for a popular game, Starlia. H...
"So, we're gathered here today to discuss something very important." Nathan's voice cuts through the chatter of the guild house.
All twenty-five of us are here. I'm kind of overwhelmed. I don't know anyone's name besides the guild leaders and Aileen. Aileen sits next to me with a radiance I can only describe as someone being in their element.
"Oh, cut it out with the cryptic shit," someone says across the table.
Olivia shoots him a look. Nathan doesn't do anything, and if anything he looks more amused than usual.
Nathan takes a deep breath. Then he launches into an explanation that summarizes our discussion with Samuel Nakamura and the rest of the executive development team. He skips no details, starting with the story of Mars and the weathering fragment being found from the witch boss. He ends it by saying how Mysteriously's the right guild for the job, that the whole world is depending on our victory.
Silence suspends for a good thirty seconds or so. Then—some nervous laughter. And the same guy who called out Nathan's "cryptic shit" scoffs, unconvinced. "This sounds way too good to be true," he says.
"Marko," Mags says, drawing out the "o." "You need to learn to be more optimistic. This is something that could make Mysteriously live in the history books."
"Really?" A girl with two twin braids and freckled cheeks looks doubtful.
"Really, Julia," Olivia answers, no-nonsense. "And Mags, you forgot the most important part. Saving the world."
"Think of it this way," Nathan says. "We're going to die in the next few years if we don't do anything. If we pursue these weathering fragments, we could at least say that we tried."
Cody, even though he was one of the doubters before, chimes in. "I'm with Nathan. We need to do something. Even if the fragments end up to be nothing, we need to find that out."
Mags hums in agreement. "And don't forget all the prizes. Samuel Nakamura said that those who find a lot of fragments will be treated like royalty. We could all strike it rich by finding these things."
Discussion continues for another half hour. At first, there are some protests. Naturally, people aren't convinced that a weathering machine that can save the world is hidden in a video game. But Nathan's convincing. I can see why he's a good leader. He's excellent at making people see his points. He manages to quiet the room and give everyone a pep talk on why Mysteriously is the guild that can change the state of the world. Nathan equals inspiring.
"I'm in," I say—once the atmosphere mostly settles.
"Me too," Aileen says. I reach over and squeeze her hand. Count on her to back me up every time.
One by one, the members of Mysteriously give their acceptance of the challenge before us. Some are more hesitant, but still, we all agree that collecting the weathering fragments is a worthy goal.
"That settles it then," Nathan says. "We'll go in groups to face the bosses. We'll start with the Gloria continent, then we'll travel with the airships to the more difficult regions."
"How are we splitting up the groups?" Cody asks.
Nathan rubs his jaw with his thumb, clearly in deep thought. He seems to come to a conclusion when his eyes spark as he faces the light. "We'll go in groups of six. One group will have seven. We'll try to keep the classes as spread out as possible. So let's try not to have more than two of the same class in each group."
As the only bard in the room, I attract some stares as Nathan's directions get registered. Nathan begins to read out names, separating us into four groups. Somehow, like Nathan reads my mind and confirms my desires, I get paired with Aileen. The next name in our group is Cody. He immediately daggers me with his leering. Mags, Olivia, and Nathan are also in our group.
I can't help but wonder what Nathan sees in me and Aileen. There's obviously some favoritism being thrown around here. Aileen and I are the lowest levels in the guild, but we're paired with the strongest members in the team. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
"It's natural that the captains are paired with the lowest level people," Nathan says, answering my silent question. "Aileen and Josiah are the newcomers, so we want to balance out the distribution of power."
Some clamor erupts as the groups move around the room to meet up in each corner. As we do so, excitement rushes through my veins. I can't help but feel that we're doing something very important here. One of the biggest companies counts on our success, and Mysteriously might go down in history as a guild that saved the world—or at least improved humanity's chance of survival with this mystery machine made by Mars Nakamura.
Cody scowls at me. "I don't understand why we've got to be paired with these two."
Nathan shoots him a look, one that says he's in charge. "Don't be a dick, Cody. These two are stronger than you realize. Remember? The hog king?"
Cody rolls his eyes. I wonder what I've done to anger him. Maybe he just dislikes people who are weaker than him, and my being a low level makes me a perfect target.
Aileen butts in, and I'm more than grateful for her excited tone. It makes me forget that I have a note on my back telling Cody to hate me. "I'm super pumped," she says. "I can't believe I get to fight with some of the strongest characters in Starlia. Unreal."
Mags grins. "First things first, if you're going to roll with us, we need to get you two up to speed."
I give a sheepish smile. "So no more brushes with the hog king?"
Olivia tsks. "Definitely not. We need you both at level fifty ASAP." She pronounces ASAP as one word, moving on with her brainstorming. "There are several options we can pursue. One is going to the higher-level monsters and 'leeching' you two. Which means you do minimal work while we kill them. Kind of like the piranhas with me and Josiah. The other option is that we can kill a bunch of monsters at Josiah and Aileen's level. That would probably be safer. No need to deal with a bunch of uncalled deaths."
Nathan gives a grin that says a thousand words.
Mags rolls her eyes. "Don't say it...."
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Hey! Thanks for reading as always.
(Note from the first posting): I'm currently in the post-Christmas laze that hopefully won't last too long, haha. Are you enjoying this week? I saw somewhere that at this time (post-Christmas and before New Year's), you shouldn't feel guilty about doing nothing.
Do you have any guesses about what Nathan's going to suggest?
