Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game

Chapter 38: Ch36. [World Quest]

"You're a disgrace to The Glitch!" Sarissa's tone was poignant and sharp like a blade, and her eyes never broke eye contact with Miles's.

In his mind, the circumstances of New Year's Eve played like a movie as the crowd fell deathly silent, shocked and dumbfounded by the Union Guild leader's words.

The first time she saved him, the explosion. A shockwave of heat and dust.

By the time he could think straight, she was already there, standing between him and the monsters, a blazing inferno still dying out at her fingertips. Her green eyes barely spared him a dejected glance before she turned away, walking off as if the chaos around her was nothing but a mild inconvenience.

She hadn't even acknowledged him. But that was just the beginning.

Time and time again, their paths crossed. And every single time, she was stronger, faster, more in control. She tore through creatures with the ease of a seasoned warrior, her fiery magic leaving nothing but charred remains in her wake. The world bent around her presence as if she belonged to it in a way Miles never could.

But what bothered him most wasn't her power. It was the way she looked at him when she even bothered to look at him at all. She did it like was insignificant, just another weakling barely scraping by.

If she ever stepped in, it wasn't because she cared. She just happened to be there, and if she had to burn through him to kill a few monsters in the process of earning more experience points, so be it.

She never offered a hand. Never asked if he was okay. And she sure as hell never acted like she even recognized him.

Arrogant. That was the only word Miles could think of to describe her. Arrogant, but the problem was that she was powerful enough to back it up. She had no need for gratitude, alliances, or anything of the sorts. She was a force of nature, carving her way through the city as she owned it. And soon enough, she did.

The rumors spread faster than her blade or the fires she conjured. Players were gathering, banding together under a single banner. And at the head of it all, the first Guild Leader of the city – the Union Guild – was born, Sarissa.

It made sense because she was stronger than anyone else, more ruthless, more capable. People flocked to power, and she had it in spades.

But Miles wasn't one of them.

He had no delusions. He was weak and remained so even after the [Hidden Quest]. He wasn't some chosen hero, nor did he have the raw strength to force his way to the top. And she? She didn't care about weak players. If he died tomorrow, she wouldn't blink. She would keep moving forward, unbothered, untouchable.

And that pissed him off.

"What do you mean by that?" A male player in the crowd shouted, breaking the silence like shattered glass as his armored fist hit the side of his plate armor.

"It's not our fault you guys monopolize every single farming spot in town, and we have to rely on quests to level up!" A female player – a mage – roared in acknowledgement. Soon enough, everyone in the crowd was roaring protests, even giving her the finger, shouting like she was some kind of tyrant who could not care less about their lives.

There was a sharp sound, and everyone fell silent once more as Sarissa tapped the tip of her sheath on the cracked marble floor.

"How about you stop giving excuses and start leveling up like you should?" Her words pierced through the silence like an arrow. "You know the city isn't the only place with monsters, right? So, stop being that bunch of weaklings, and go! We're not going to be able to protect you all for much lo-"

"Did you gather us all here today to kick us when we're down, or do you have something more important to say?" Miles' voice broke through the silence like a rock thrown against a mirror. "Because if that's why you summoned us, I'm heading back home..." @@novelbin@@

Everyone looked at Miles with a startled expression, their faces full of shock and disbelief, but Miles himself did not notice it, because he had now decided to glare back at Sarissa with all his resentment.

Immediately, however, everybody in the crowd heard the clinking sound of something hitting the cracked marble floor, and Miles felt a pressure weigh down on his shoulders like a mountain, making his knees almost buckle under the weight of Sarissa's killing intent, his breathing getting difficult.

'Ah... Ah... Ah... So that's how it is, then...?' Miles panted heavily as Sarissa hit the tip of her sheath on the floor, her eyes exuding killing intent. The other players, however, did not seem to react the same way he did, making him bite his lower lip so hard that it almost drew blood. 'Damn it... If I wasn't back to level one...'

"You, of all people, should keep your mouth shut." She rebuked, but her voice dripped indifference as she added, seemingly having ignored his words completely. "That's just a statement to urge you all to grow stronger... Because the game has kicked up a notch in the last few weeks."

As she spoke, everybody seemed to calm down, even though just on the surface, the crowd's eyes still shooting daggers toward her.

"... I gather that everyone has seen a new monster as of lately, yes?" A few players nodded, and Miles immediately recalled his encounter with the [Fallen Puppets]. "So, we from the Union Guild have decided to unite efforts with the Sakura Guild, and have been gathering as much data as possible on all the monsters currently existing in the city's area, along with information about farming spots outside the city's borders, and assembled it into what we decided to call Monster Manual, which will be given to you for free, as soon as I'm done talking about the main issue."

Miles looked around to see if he was the only one exasperated at the fact that they now would have to resort to leaving the city to farm experience points, and he was not wrong.

Many players glared at the guild leader with murder in their eyes, others gritted their teeth, while others even dared to mutter curses under their breaths. But none of it seemed to faze Sarissa, who simply stared at the crowd with nonchalance.

For a moment, however, as soon as she spoke her last few words, her tone betrayed an emotion that Miles was sure the Union Guild leader was not capable of feeling.

'Anticipation...? Excitement?' He chewed his lower lip, the sense of uneasiness only growing stronger as she took a brief pause, and in a single breath after that, spoke words that made the players in the crowd whisper to one another if what she was telling was true.

"... I gathered you all here to talk about the [World Quest]."