He knocked on the door. After a brief silence, he heard the creak of the floor. The occupant was apparently tiptoeing over. Lorn was sure that if the door had an eyehole, he would be being ogled thoroughly. But since there was no such thing, he heard a soft voice coming from the inside.
"Who is it?"
Lorn made sure to wait a bit before speaking. "Um, I'm a new recruit… no, uh, new Undying recruit. The Guildmaster wanted me to meet the other Undying…" He thought of stammering a few of the words, but maybe that was too much.
"Uh, come in…" the door opened.
A skinny blonde appeared before Lorn. He had a slightly oval, egg-like shape to his head. It would've been fine if it was like that just from the front, but even from the side, he looked like an egg. Lorn couldn't help but make the comparison with the wyvern egg he ate just now.
Lorn showed none of his thoughts outside, though, keeping his eyes drooped and lips frowning slightly. He hesitated a bit before entering. He sometimes stole a glance at the boy, but pulled it away immediately after. He also noticed that the other side was doing something similar, but his vigilance seemed to have dropped.
'Good. Now I just need to make a connection.'
"Uh, what's your name?" Lorn asked quietly.
"Mark. Just Mark here. You?"
"Lorn. I guess, just Lorn here." He tried a chuckle.
"…"
"Where are you from?" Lorn continued. "In Earth I mean."
"The One Country."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense, ah-hah… but were you somewhere else before that?"
"The States."
"Oh, me too."
"Where from?"
"East Coast."
"I'm from the West Coast."
"I see…"
"…"
'This isn't getting anywhere…' Lorn decided. 'I'll shoot at random, then.'
"How did you end up here? If you don't mind me asking."
"I… uh."
"You don't have to say it," Lorn shook his hand furiously. "I just asked randomly."
"Thanks."
"..."
"..."
"Me personally, I got into debt… Never would've imagined I'd end up here. A completely different world."
"Yeah… testing a virtual world, that's gonna be a game someday."
"Do you play games?"
"Yeah."
"Falling Earth?" Lorn added some enthusiasm to his voice.
"Yes!" Mark too, replied with sudden enthusiasm.
Lorn finally struck the same chord with the boy.
"What level are you on there?"
"121. You?"
"Ah, I'm only 99. I'm really looking forward to my 100 class change."
"What class are you on there?"
"A mage. Ha-ha, I guess you're a High-mage? Considering the guild we're in."
"Yes. But nowadays, I'm regretting my choice. I really wish I went for a shaman later on."
"Really? Can you tell me more about the class changes?"
"Sure!"
"Oh but we can talk about it later. What do you think so far of the One World?" Lorn asked.
"They said this world was gonna be a game, but it's a pretty shit game, isn't it?" Mark spoke quickly. "I mean, it's revolutionary technology-wise, but from a game design perspective, it's kinda too out there, you know? Do you know how confusing it was for me when I first appeared here? And when I asked the researcher who was in charge of me, he just told me to experience everything by myself. Sure, I'd love to do that, but I don't even know what I'm supposed to experiencing."
"But isn't it kinda similar to Falling Earth? At first, no one really knew what was going on there, no?"
"But even so, shouldn't there be some guideline to help us at first? And in Falling Earth, there was at least a quote on the logo, telling you to conquer the world."
"Haven't you heard, though? About the One Emperor's grand order?"
The conversation hit off from there and went on for another 30 minutes. They talked in-depth about Falling Earth, then they compared the two games the One Leader created, before talking the One World.
The realism and shock were the first things they talked about. They especially felt impressed by the NPCs, Mark even throwing out a theory that the NPCs are actually death row criminals who are forced to act like this inside the game. Lorn really wasn't sure what the truth was, but he strongly agreed. There was no reason to argue about that, and he could also use that later on.
They soon talked about gameplay.
"I'm trying so damn hard to make these skills work, but I just can't get the hang of it," Mark eventually said. "I think I can feel my spirit somehow… but even still, it's so hard to make it do anything."
'Finally…'
"I actually have a secret to share with you," Lorn said softly. "I learned how to use skills. I even know three more. I'll show you."
Lorn pulled a small piece of cloth towards himself.
"How?"
"I got lucky," Lorn sniffed. "There's this thing you can do called Spirit Bonds. If a stronger Hunter uses your spirit for you and you allow it, a bond appears between you and you get three of their skills. That makes it so much easier to use skills and work your spirit, coz you can just imitate what your Spirit partner does."
"What?"
"And the Guildmaster wanted me to convince you to make a spirit bond with one of her Hunters," Lorn added. "And do you know what she said afterwards? She told me I should only reveal the knowledge about Spirit bonds to Undying in the guild. And also that I can't reveal the knowledge publicly on Earth!"
Mark looked kind of lost, so Lorn had to say it outright.
"I think she knows about the forum for beta-testers we can access. I think your theory of them being death-row prisoners is right. How else would she know that, right?"
Mark's eyes went wide.
"Oh! I fucking knew it!"
"Wait, wait. Shut up. You're too loud," Lorn said. "We can use this to our advantage. There must be a reason she's saying those things. Maybe if the 'NPCs' do good in the One World, they get some kind of benefit on Earth. So she wants to use us, the players, to get more influence here."
"I think so too."
"So I think we should play along for now," Lorn said. "Since we're gonna be on the winning side, there's no reason to act stupid and lose our advantage. You should accept the Spirit Bond and keep it a secret from the forums. We'll become stronger in this guild before we can get our independence somehow. Eventually, we'll go kill the One Emperor and take over this world."
Mark looked fully convinced.
Lorn sighed. "It's sad, but I'll have to head to the capital after I log out tomorrow and come back. I need to convince more people of this plan there. Well, I just need to be there on display. Till I come back, you need to learn more about this guild here and maybe try to get in a position of power?"
Mark looked scared at the concept, but he still nodded.
'What a cute kid.'
"Don't worry about it if you're too busy. Carry me in Falling Earth and I'll carry you in the One World."
Mark nodded.
"Alright, I'll see you later, then," Lorn smiled. "I'll be back as soon as possible. Oh, and don't antagonize the NPCs here too much. If you get to know them better, you'll get more of their skills and become stronger even faster."
"Okay! Good luck!"
Lorn walked out of the room before Mark could think of asking for his contact details on Earth.
'Great… he'll keep quiet and I won't have to meet him for the rest of my life. Now, onto the girl.'
Lorn went to the washroom to clean up. He wiped the soot off his eyes and tied his hair up neatly. He stretched a bit to refresh himself and headed to the second room.
He knocked on the door and almost immediately after, he heard someone walking to the door. It opened immediately, and Lorn saw a somewhat short redhead curiously looking upward at him. She had short, curly hair that wrapped around her cheeks. She was also wearing a long-neck sweater that had reindeers sewn on them. And like the Guildmaster said, she definitely looked young.
They looked at each other briefly before she noticed the jewel on Lorn's head.
"You're a newbie in the guild?" she asked, a hint of Russian in her accent.