The world of Dark Descent is divided into 4 continents, each representing a game server.
Perina Continent is the very first server that the game incurred.
Currently, the max level cap for players in this continent is LV 1000; although only 1% of its population—which is around 400 players— has ever reached that number. In any case, those 400 or so players couldn't be considered the best in the game. Some players of around LV 800 or so had far better encounters regarding drops and skill sets, which as always, would offset the balance of power in any game—
Dark Descent is no exemption.
As years went by, Dark Descent grew to be a juggernaut VR game, and sooner than later, new servers were opened. Melinus Continent followed the steps of the Perina Continent, and in less than a year, another server— Aryujin Continent— was born. With the game's popularity skyrocketing, it was a logical move to open the fourth server, and here came—
The Altrius Continent, the very server where the Priyan Kingdom, a brand new S-rank area, exists. The news of a D-rank area turning into an S-rank became too big that even Priyan Continent players heard about the odd occurrence.
Although it was possible to hop from a server to another, the requirements needed for one to be able to do so is simply outrageous, Perina players would never think of hopping to Altrius, the same goes with Melinus players. However, Aryujin players, being a rather new server, had a lot less requirement for server-hopping. Scarlet, or more popularly known as Mistress Death of the Third Server, hopped from Aryujin to Altrius for the sake of her sister.
…
Barracuda Guild Headquarters, Silver Heaven City. Aryujin Continent.
A long table with thirteen seats adjacent to each other could be seen at a spacious room of the guild. This very room acts as their meeting room. Today, important players of the Barracuda Guild gathered for a simple, yet still important, agenda.
"Guildmaster Leo, don't you think it's too much of a coincidence for the Megalodon Guild to send Mistress Death to the Altrius Continent just before the appearance of that mysterious S-rank area?" Jenn, a young ranger of the Barracuda Guild, inquired Leo Stratenheim.
Even though Jenn holds no high position within the guild, he still has a say at things due to his incredible skill as a bow-wielding ranger. He was an asset with opinions that hold as much water as the higher-ups. Leo Stratenheim, on the other hand, is quite a docile guildmaster; he listens to his subordinates a bit too much in comparison to other leaders. It really was a huge contrast to his domineering appearance.
"That is the very reason why I gathered all of you here today. It would seem like not only the Megalodon Guild, but various top guilds as well, have been sending their elites the past couple of days to the fourth server. The prospect of self-spawning high-rank areas attracted the attention of these people. And we are not the type to just sit down and let them have it all." Leo said with a rather determined tone. Although he was indeed docile, the decisions he makes are rather absolute, that was why he was appointed as the guildmaster.
The other twelve, including Jenn, nodded in unanimous approval.
"It would be too troublesome if I, myself, leave the third server. Some smaller guilds might think that we'd become vulnerable just because of that. So I am planning to send only a third of our elites to the fourth server. That would not just make everything smoother, but the total cost of hopping would be much cheaper as well." Leo added. It would seem like he prepared everything he was going to say in this meeting beforehand.
As if the others became as submissive as their guild leader, they unanimously nodded.
…
Cilius City, Altrius Continent
"Pweh, what a trashy city this is. Wait… This isn't the even city that we intended to teleport into, tsk… Fuck, who inputted the wrong coordinates!? I'll choke you to death." A man with a rather slim and slender avatar angrily spoke. His bright red hair paired with his dark red colored face tattoo made him a tad bit intimidating— even with his skinny build.
A member of the group silently following behind him shakily raised his hand, "I… I am the one who inputted the wrong spawn point, sir Lang… I— I apologize! The two cities sounded very similar! I am sorry… I— ack!" The man couldn't even continue his explanation when a slender hand suddenly grabbed his neck.
"One more question, how many respawns do you have left?" Lang, the thin man leading the elites of the Dark Mane Guild, mockingly inquired. " — Ah, nevermind, don't even answer that. I really don't need stupid trash in this group. Tsk, fuckin' hell, how are you even LV 75 while being a total idiot? Just spawn back to the third server..."
With Lang tightening his grip, the struggling man gradually grew motionless…
…
[Player kill detected!]
[Infamy increased by 100 points for Player Kill!]
[Infamy increased by 500 points for Guild Member Kill!]
[Infamy: 28,750 points]
…
In Dark Descent, with the exception of Jin— who's still technically a monster rather than a real player, only having the S.P.C.— Players don't garner experience points killing other players. Instead, they gain Infamy points; a rather useful meter for players aiming to be Evil in alignment. The opposite— doing good and moral quests— would reward players with Reputation points for Good alignment. Either would give players things such as armor sets, unlock secret shops, or craft weapons exclusive only to an alignment.
It had not been this way, however, during the first phase of the game. When only the Perina Continent existed; the player kills rewarded experience points. But higher level players started abusing the system. Greedy players started camping outside beginner towns and went killing newbies as soon as they go out. Although the respawn limit for newbies weren't capped, it was still an awful experience.
New players were discouraged to even continue playing.
As soon as this trend caught up, mods immediately patched the game—
Rewards for assisting newbies became a thing, A.I.'s with a purpose of issuing good-aligned quests were added, and player-killing experience points were removed. Overall, being somehow "friendly" in-game became a rewardful experience.
Lang, as a high-rank player of the third server, didn't care about all this.
He made a path for himself, as he believes that the Evil alignment was a lot better than any other alignments in-game. Most of the members of the Dark Mane Guild follows the same thinking. Although they were obviously in the minority, this did not stop them from climbing up the ranks of the Aryujin Continent.
"You there… yeah, you. You're now assigned for navigation. Go ahead, move!" Lang ordered. The remaining 18 players of the group scurried to the new navigator's assistance.
It would be a shame if they lose their lives before they could even reach the raid area.