Bor had tried to get Susanne's message out of his head for quite some time now, but he just couldn't. Not to be mistaken, he was still very pissed off at her. However, given how she'd reached out, he had to admit, he was mildly curious. Perhaps even more than just mildly curious.
Yet, he still had his reservations. What if it was a trap, another trap that she had set for him. He could not discount that fact, especially since she had already tried it once before.
Moreover, even if he wanted to go visit, one could not visit the prison physically. Bor did not know the status of his Polaris account. He had almost been caught by a lawful organization. Logically, he should have been under arrest, and if they couldn't find him, they would trace the user's account.
This was the main reason he did not think the new guys and his training instructor would allow then to continue using their Polaris accounts, let alone their Morendat accounts. Yet they were still at it.
Not for the first time, Bor wondered what kind of connections the higher ups had, or who exactly he was working for, but there were no available answers. If this had been a few weeks earlier, he would have marked them as invincible.
However, after the events of the past few weeks, Bor had realized that they too had enemies. These enemies were just as powerful as his backers. He had been caught in the fight, and he knew, when push came to shove, his backers wouldn't bat an eyelid when making him a sacrificial lamb.
He did not have the connection or the reach to matter, just a random cannon fodder at the very bottom. Bor did not want to rise up the ranks, but to escape this trap he had unknowingly walked into.
Even now, he still had not logged into Morendat. Morendat was too immersive. You had to pay attention to what you were doing. Even some solarbeds came with DND (Do not Disturb) option, protecting its user from interruptions precisely due to how immersive it was.
While in other games such as Pugilist, Bor would remain aware of his surroundings, ready to defend himself. He was well aware that there was nothing he could do really, but he was never one to lay down and wait for his death. If I'm going to die, I will take as many as I can with me.
That being said, one can only remain vigilant for so long. After more than a week of hiding out and wasting time in Polaris, he eventually logged in to Morendat. His thinking was, if they were going to do something, they would have done it by now.
"Finally, you're back online!" A very agitated Ayram was staring at Bor with murder in her eyes. "Did you forget we had a massive project we needed to get done?" The moment he had come online in Morendat, she had contacted him.
Bor had actually forgotten all about that mystery build they'd been doing with Ayram. While he did earn real world money from it's construction, it was hard to handle a virtual item with the manner of seriousness she needed.
Some part of Bor had always seen Morendat as still just a game. Luckily, it was a game he excelled in. From the look Ayram gave him, it was clearly much more to her.
"Sorry, been caught up with something. I couldn't get the time."
"Whatever! Where are you right now, I come over." Ayram rolled her eyes. Classic guy excuse.
"I'm in my shop, in the office."
"Well then hurry up and open, I am waiting in the lobby." Bor was shocked. The way Morendat worked was that one could hire players with sufficient salaries to assist in the day to day.
If one was affluent enough, they could also hire NPCs. Only, NPCs were not only costly, but they required a certain amount of reputation and recognition. Bor was an Intermediate Forger. This was not something to look down on. With some little gold and a lot of effort, he had even set up a 2-Star Forging Shop in one of the more affluent guild cities.
NPCs could put up some effort, and therefore freeing the player and still generating income even with the player not logging in. It also made the shop more reliable since there was always someone to serve the customers.
Therefore, Bor had hired a few Basic Forger NPCs and players, making his shop very desirable. He was also a Marquis in the Kingdom, which meant that he had more influence with NPCs when negotiating.
If Bor could get promoted to Advanced Forger, he could attract Intermediate NPC forgers. That was all part of future plans, which he wasn't sure he still had. However, he was always happy to see Ayram, after all, who didn't like looking at pretty stuff.
Walking down the stairs from his office in the shop to the lobby, Bor could see a few players with mesmerized looks staring outside his shop.
"Who is that Beauty? What I wouldn't give to get a piece of that!"
"Forget the beauty, did you see who she was with? That's a Level 470 Guardian Knight. I couldn't believe it."
"And the equipment he's wearing! Damn, I wish I could get some of that."
"You guys must be new here? You don't know Ironside Sword? He's one of the Elites of Crown Love Guild!" A newcomer interjected the few gossiping players.
"Woah! We actually met an expert! Damn!"
"I heard he got promoted to the Royal Legion Brigade, one of the most powerful legions in Crown Love." The newcomer continued. "What I wouldn't give to be part of Crown Love's elite."
"Dream on Buster, you still have a long way to even consider such honor." The newcomers companion laughed, "See how babes flock around him."
Bor was not sure what to think, for even he was staring at the Guardian Knight. This man had such a presence about him, yet little girl Ayram was chatting with him. Rather, she seemed to be pouting, no doubt complaining about him to this guy. Oh boy, this will be a tricky one.