(A/N: So actually, I'll do that make up chapter tomorrow. I just took an SAT today, and I'm too tired to write 3k words today. Sorry about that, but I will get 7 chaps in this week.)
'Mirage... why did I choose this name you ask?'
Well, it was all due to my ideals, my vision of the perfect guild.
The name even held a double meaning, making it a perfect eponym for the guild.
My guild was going to be a guild that was ever getting farther away from the rest, and, as hard as they tried to reach us, we would always be getting further and further away.
My guild was also a guild that was just an illusion. You thought we were there, but we were never there in the first place. We would be a guild that hid behind smoke and mirrors, never showing our true form until the finale of our performance.
These were the ideals that I would build my guild on, and was my own philosophy on the best way to survive in this game.
'Now, I just have to recruit like minded people that have enough strength to back it up.'
The first member of my guild was a no brainer. Immediately after reaching the setting of the 11th floor, I sent the invitation to Lili immediately, and watched as it was accepted a second later.
The second player that I was inviting was also a no brainer. Sending the message to Little Hope, who knew that it could only be me under the name, "Anonymous", she accepted it 30 seconds after I sent the invitation. (A/N: A reminder for those old peeps that have been reading since the time this novel was named "Solo Tower Ranker" and had forgotten, Worthy is now Little Hope.)
Then, I waited for Lili/Verminus to clear the 10th floor.
You see, if a player joined a guild, then they would automatically be able to move on to the 11th floor without having to fight Jerminus on the 10th floor, because, well, what need would you have for clearing the 10th floor if you were already in a guild, and the reward was the chance to create a guild?
But, of course, I didn't want me guild members to be weaklings, so, I had made completing the 10th floor trial a requirement for joining my guild.
And, because I had set the other requirements to be in my guild as having to be either an assassin or a sniper, it would weed out all the players that weren't exceptional, as only the exceptional assassins and snipers would even have a shot at defeating Jerminus.
Well putting that to the side, I just waited until Lili appeared right in front of me.
Looking around worriedly, as soon as she saw me, she ran towards me, droplets of water flying, as she embraced my leg, hugging it tightly whilst shedding some tears.
'Oh yeah, I forgot, the appearance of Jerminus isn't exactly kid friendly... She must have been super scared.'
"Are you okay? You did you follow the plan, right?"
"Y-yeah..."
Hearing the second word that she had ever said to me, I was elated, like a parent hearing their child speak their first words.
Picking her up in a hug, I enveloped her with my body for a few seconds, whilst patting her back, before putting her in her spot on top of my shoulders.
I just stood there for an hour or so, until Lili fell asleep and Vermi appeared.
"Are the preparations complete?"
"Yes."
"How much did you spend?"
"Zero TC actually, I was able to acquire the bases without having to spend a single TC!" She said, proudly.
"How?"
"Well, being the god of what I am, I just took over the NPC building owners and had them give over the building permits to us."
"Oh, that's smart."
She smiled brightly after hearing this, again, acting like a kid despite her old, old age.
'Sigh, even some gods never grow up, and I thought childish adults were annoying.' (A/N: Hmm... sounds a lot like Aki, hahaha!)
Well, to explain the conversation above, I had tasked Verminus with securing a guild property on each floor that we had passed, and each floor that we would pass, as I planned on making guild bases on each and every floor in this tower.
I checked the map of guild bases, and was satisfied.
All the bases were completely random buildings on each floor, not following any pattern or conforming to any rule, perfect for my setup.
Well, not all the bases, the ones on the 1st, 5th, and 10th floors were buildings, that, although didn't stand out much, still looked important to players.
'Everything seems to be proceeding smoothly.'
"How about Players? Have you found anybody worthy enough to be in the guild?"
"Yes, I have 5 candidates, bet we've yet to see if they can pass the 10th floor trial by themselves."
"And none of them were in the top 10 right?"
"Yes, I let the strongest assassin below you and Little Hope go. All is going according to your plan, don't worry."
"And, have you spread yourself all over first floor?"
"Yes! I just said that I've already completed all the preparations."
"How about the forum post?"
"Yes! I've done... Oh shit!"
"Yeah, go do that. In anonymous mode of course."
I watched as she quickly pulled up her status window, which I guess was a special feature for Lili/Verminus as they were now something like a pseudo-player.
"Done!"
"Alright, well, you ready for this next test?"
"Yeah, your knowledge is extremely helpful! I don't see how we could ever fail to become the greatest Tower Rankers!"
"Shush, shush, people are listening." I said pointing up to the sky.
You see, I had finally let Verminus access my memories, as I had finally confirmed with the creator that she couldn't betray me.
After learning all the information that I had, she started to actually serve me, like a real pet.
But, she was making a huge misconception.
Even though I knew all these things, there were always unexpected variables.
And with these unexpected variables always in play, nothing I predicted would ever by definite.
That was why, I was the one that wasn't in shock as the trial for the 11th floor was shown to us.
[Trial: Trust 1
Objective: Get out!
Difficulty: Hard
Rewards: ???
Punishment for Failure: Death]
'The death games are back...'