Rudra untied the hostages one by one, the girls hugged each other and cried their hearts out. They thanked Rudra profusely for saving them all . They were all hostages kidnapped by the merchant to be part of his entourage.... They were forced to act a part as the Merchant's Subordinates and play amicable to the villager's to fool them. They were poisoned, with the antidote only given if they fooled everyone in Thol village.
The merchant wanted to poison everyone in Thol village as an experiment. Would the Church be able to cure the infection? Or would the People die and with the spread of this incident people would start questioning the power of the Church Of Light.
If the Church cured it, they would at max gain the belief of a small village like Thol, if they failed he could poison people at the capital creating a crisis for the Church! It was a sinister plot well thought out by the merchant.
When Rudra questioned them about the organisation behind The Merchant they said they didn't know much, however one day after leaving Thol village they were all given the antidote to the poison but also a heavy sedative after which they woke up yesterday tied up to this pole. And the merchant seemed to be performing a ritual.
It seemed like a demon summoning ritual!
Whichever organisation was behind this incident, it was extremely difficult to deal with if they had information over such ancient rituals as well as a page from the Demon's Diary.
Well the main quest line can be solved by those who care, I only did the quest for the rewards with the Church, thought Rudra. He genuinely did not wish to care about the bigger picture. All that mattered to him were his ambitions and that's that.
Well time to go back to the capital.
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( Meanwhile, Nakatomi Corporation )
Mr. Nakatomi was the Billionaire CEO of the Nakatomi Corporation and he was the father of Yua Nakatomi a.k.a PinkLotus the Guild leader of Azure Lotus.
"Greetings papa, you summoned me?"
Mr. Nakatomi was a stone cold businessman but towards his daughter he was soft, so soft that he only wanted her happiness and nothing more, not money not power, only his daughter to be happy.
He never mentioned it but the only reason he kept working and earning billions was for him to fulfill his daughter's every wish. He wasn't always like this but ever since his wife died in a car crash his daughter had become the focal point of his life.
From the Ruthless businessman he became a sole father and that changed him a lot. He helped her create the Azure Lotus hiring professional gamers believing that she would be happy with her passion of playing games.
He said "I have inside news about the game. 4 days from now The auction house will open in the 'Omega' game and the UN have approved of the in game currency of gold coins to be approved as a global currency, it will by all means and purposes be a real currency. Meaning that the in game gold can be converted to any global currency at the stable exchange rate, It will rise and fall like real currency depending on the player base demand and supply."
"Omega will attract a lot of new players now that money can be earned from the game, plus the fact that you can play the game when you are asleep. It is certain that at least 90% of the world population will now enter the game in the coming 6 months."
"This is the largest market created yet... worth Trillions of dollars... much more than any social media or platform... It is a second reality, every big corporation will enter it for publicity or control or to farm money, the game you played for fun will no longer be just for fun, you need to be prepared."
Yua was stunned silent for a while, she was both impressed by her father's far sightedness and information gathering capabilities and excited about the future possibilities.
"This is a huge sector where lots of money can be made. Naturally the Nakatomi Corporation also wants a piece of this pie. I have decided to inject 500 million dollars into the game for now. It is your time to shine my daughter. If you can run your guild well and build a sturdy foundation, we may lose money for a year or two but we will reap a lot of benefits later on."
"I know you started this game for fun, so I wont force it on you, but what do you think?"
Yua was naturally extremely happy... she had wanted to join the company and help her father since forever, however her father had never let her, saying the business world was not for his cute little lotus... yep PinkLotus was the nickname her father gave her. And she was embarrassed yet she had adopted it whole heartedly.
Now having the opportunity to do something for the company and her father she naturally agreed. Determined to not let her father down.
Mr. Nakatomi smiled. Seeing his daughter so determined reminded him of himself and his wife, her determination was just like him in his youth while her cute looks were definitely from her mother.
Sigh, he wished she was here today to see their daughter.
"Okay then, here are some potential players and guilds you can start cooperating with.... There is information on the back about their backings and internal structure's.... meet those you need to meet in real life at our office to discuss collaboration, Meet those who want to talk at their office in game."
"The essence of cooperation is suppression, supress them with home ground advantage to make them concede more, that way the worst you will do is going neutral.. and suppressing them with your aura and disposition".
"A business is professional and it needs you to be courteous but cold, you understand?"
"Yes father" Replied Yua, she was so happy her father was teaching her the ins and outs of business.
She carefully looked through the information files prepared by her father.... there were so many files.
It was astounding as although the game had been running for almost 4 weeks now the first guild had yet to emerge officially... even she herself needed a day more for the guild token to fall into her hands and yet her father had all the information about all the potential guilds.
It is because although Guilds had not Formed in 'Omega' Most well established e-sports players already had sponsors and Guilds... The half immersive game Royal Road also had a huge fan following back in the 2090's with many guilds and organizations.
File full of third rate guilds ( Players to poach) as third rate guilds were not worth working with.
A file full of second rate guilds ( To subordinate) as they were not their equals yet useful enough to keep under a thumb.
A file full of first rate guilds ( Possible collaboration) it depended as they could be allies or could be rivals, it not only depended about in game mechanics but also real world backers. If their backers were business rivals or at odds so would their guilds.
Then there was a file for the super Guilds ( Backed by the six trillionaires)
There were six super guilds... backed by the six trillionaires in the world, they were absolutely massive and legit.... If they competed for something it was understood to be theirs. No questions asked.
Yet even the Super Guilds needed support and would rely on first and second rate guilds for information manpower and resources. First Rate guilds demanded respect even from Super Guilds... of course they were no match for them but that did not mean they were looked down on.
And lastly there was a file of special entities.
Who were decided to be random variables.
There were 25 people on that list including Neatwit but topping the list was none other than Rudra as 'Shakuni'.
" Huh?, Dad I know this guy... he is a friend in game!"
Mr. Nakatomi's eyes widened....Although there were 25 people on the list... Shakuni's accolades put him in a league of his own, Mr. Nakatomi was both surprised and happy that his daughter was so competent as to befriend the mysterious Shakuni. As far as he knew no one knew properly who he was or his origins.
He asked "Can you recruit him?... make him the vice guild master if you have to."
Yua sighed, how badly did she want to but no she knew he was a man of his own "No, he has his own plans "
Mr. Nakatomi frowned but then he said "He is quite capable... His friendship will be valuable... invest in him... He is suspected of being from common origins.... if that is the case then provide him with help and security, Being genuine is the only way to win over such guys."
Yua agreed, she did have a date with him tomorrow... What she did not tell her father was that she had a slight crush on Rudra... hence why she asked him out... never before had she done something like that.
Well even if he was from a common background it was nothing to look down on anymore... with 'Omega' opening the auction house it was only a matter of time after which someone of his calibre would rise from the masses.
Lets have a nice chat tomorrow Mr. Shakuni.
Yua blushed, excited.