"What do you think Vow?"
Seven Vows flipped a coin in his hand, "Something interesting is happening. How goes the dispute in that territory?"
"It's not going well, we're losing significantly."
"Even after all the resources we have been spending?"
"Yes. . ."
"Tsk, it's hard to move in large numbers thanks to Dot's handiwork. Reinforcements is a bad idea. I'll go myself."
"Guild Leader?!"
"I need a better look at what's happening anyways. Prepare-"
A figure appeared behind Seven Vows and stabbed towards their back. The attacks bounced off a sudden magic shield, making the figure rapidly retreat.
Seven Vows casually looked back, "I figured someone would assassinate me. Tell me, who do you work for? I'll be certain to wipe you out thoroughly."
The figure failed to respond as they launched forward, their two daggers gleaming viciously. Seven Vows lifted a shield and blocked the attack, "Easy, you aren't much at all. They sent some third-rate after me?"
"Guild Leader! That's the one the reports have been mentioning! The one that's been interfering with our progress! It's the White Phantom!"
"So you're the bastard who's been messing with our plans. Taking care of you should fix quite a bit of issues!"
The White Phantom flipped over Seven Vows and stabbed into his back. Flipping the dagger in their other hand the White Phantom delivered a flurry of stabs.
Seven Vows grunted and released a burst of golden energy, "Your attacks are useless!"
The White Phantom sheathed their daggers, "You're already dead."
"Hmph! What nonsense are you on about-"
Seven Vows' words cut off as his body lost strength. His vision greyed out as his body fell.
"G-Guild Leader?!"
A golden energy burst from Seven Vows body and he stood back up, "Some sort of instant death status effect. Impressive, but the Guild Leader of Raven Thread doesn't fall that easily!"
The White Phantom pulled out their daggers again, "Your knowledge of games may be vast, but that's where your skill lies. When faced with a real opponent you fall short."
"Without enough game knowledge you can't succeed here. I know for a fact I have succeeded!"
"Not in this battle."
His daggers blurred and the White Phantom flourished them before sheathing the blades. Stepping away he murmured, "One down, moving to next target."
"Guild leader! Guild leader's been assassinated!!"
. . .
Quake placed a cup down, "I figured you'd be here."
Lifting a Guandao he asked, "What's your goal?"
The figure did not respond. Instead they pulled out two daggers. Quake shook his head disappointingly, "Fine, don't expect me to just stand around!"
Quake dashed forward and spun his Guandao. Swinging it vertically he taunted, "You're simply too open!"
The figure moved, a dagger hitting the Guandao causing it to move off target. Flipping their dagger into a reverse grip they aimed towards Quake's neck.
The dagger pierced through flesh and Quake grunted, "Got you!"
He had used his hand to block the dagger, a blade poking through it. Yet he gripped the figure's hand and headbutted forward.
Letting go of the dagger the figure turned and stabbed Quake's side. Following through with the movement he grabbed Quake' wrist and twisted his arm. With just a bit of movement he pinned Quake to the ground.
Quake struggled to lift himself, "You get nothing for doing this! Why even bother targeting us?"
"Truly I overestimated you. The top two Guilds and their leaders only amount to this much? This is what happens when you spend your time learning about games rather than actual combat."
"The hell are you on about?! This is a game! Without significant knowledge you can't do anything!"
"This long surpassed something as basic as a game. We actually considered you all as threats, but you're truthfully worthless!"
"A Guild's power never relies on one person! We don't have a habit of doing things one on one."
"Excuses."
"Don't test your luck White Phantom! Push too far and you'll regret it!"
"You failed to do that against Dot, how would I be any different?"
Quake's vision turned grey as his body slumped. The White Phantom retrieved his dagger and adjusted his clothes.
He then stared at the body for a moment, "That item worked wonders."
Sheathing the daggers they jumped through the window, their figure escaping into the night.
Someone walked through the door, "Guild Leader! I-"
Upon seeing the body they exclaimed, "The Guild Leader has been assassinated!"
~ ~ ~
"This whole situation is spiraling out of control."
Desk Guy sipped a bit of tea, he had given up carbonated drinks a while ago, "What's going on?"
"There's player outrage sparking like crazy. Have you not been paying attention?"
"I am a good employee who does his job."
"Okay sure. The main point is: if we don't calm down this outrage then it's going to hinder the plans for the future."
"What seems to be the main problem?"
"It's mainly centered around Two Tries! His actions against the Guild emboldened other players to strike back. Yet he decides to do nothing afterwards."
"What does this have to do with Two Tries? That guy just does what he wants."
"It's precisely because of that! Now everyone is pointing fingers at each other and the main cause is his actions!"
Desk Guy placed his tea down, "And what exactly do they want us to do about it? We cannot forcefully stop the players."
"They want us to take him down a notch. Show the players that he isn't so mighty after all, and the rest should fall into place."
"So this poor guy is to take the fall for everything?"
"That's what they want."
"Harsh, but we can't exactly do anything."
"There must be something."
"He must be compensated for this as well, these are the set rules that we cannot break. Anything we can do has to be around the players. Being honest here, no player can fight against him."
"Coming from you?"
"Those guys left to another continent a while ago. Look I can't even access their location-"
Desk Guy paused, "They're back?! And I wasn't notified?! Which bastard muted my noti-"
"So with this card at play, what do you say?", the employee interrupted.
Desk Guy rapidly scrolled through their information before grinning, "This changes things drastically. But we can't get these guys to act anyway."
"So you say we need to entice them?"
"Precisely."
"The higher ups trust your judgement. State what needs to happen."
Desk Guy hummed a merrily tune as he brought up several applications, "You need an event of sorts. It's the only thing I have seen that makes them act. They usually don't care about rewards, so we won't be able to bribe them directly."
"An event, that can be arranged. What will it contain?"
"That's simple.", he pulled up a page of information, "Two Tries has remained as the top PKer for months. With no successful attacks against him, we can state that the foundation is pulling out their last card to stop them. An event to hunt him down. The rewards will be great, and it will entice those that are angry."
"What about Two Tries, you said there had to be a form of compensation."
"We alter the event for him alone. A survival kind of one. The more time he spends, and the more people he kills, he will gain points accordingly. He will also be rewarded according to his score at the end of it all."
"So an event to hunt down Two Tries."
"I could name it The Hunt of Dot."
"What if they don't react to this?"
"I have that form of direct communication. If they will allow me, I could chat with them directly and convince them to take action."
"That will have to be discussed. But the event is well within the range they're willing to accept."
"So this is the solution you're looking for?", Desk Guy spun in his chair to face the employee.
"Only if Two Tries loses."
"Au contraire, if he wins then it'll reunite his fans. At that point any further drama could warrant a direct response from us, we could claim that it's due to the event that he's gaining so much drama. With a little underlying threat, or perhaps a boost of confidence, everything should be smooth sailing. Except for the Guilds, they're used to handling drama though."
"Get to work on that. Let's hope for some good results."
"Roger boss! I'll be heading right on that."