144 Influence (1/2)

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In the nearest safe zone, Winter Fog and Void Android led Autumn Mist and her party as they wondered what he was going to do. It was not that the members with them didn't have any faith in their guild leader, it was just that these members were not the pioneer guild members that really knew how Winter Fog was.

Though they were aware that their guild had somewhat some kind of reputation, they didn't really look up to their guild leader who hardly showed himself before them. They were afraid that this headstrong guild leader of theirs was being hotblooded and impulsive and might cause their guild to lose some of their reputation.

”[Winter Fog: It's good to see you again SummerBreeze. How long has it been since we last talked? 3 years?]”

”[SummerBreeze: More or less. I heard from Autumn-san that though you were interested in recruiting me at that time, you felt that it hasn't been the time to do so. That certainly piqued my interest because I think that I never showed much interest in what I do now back then.]”

Kazuya looked over at Autumn Mist's character. He felt that this person had changed too much. She was very tight lipped about secrets or sensitive information but she was a whole lot more social and trusting in this life compared to the past.

”[Winter Fog: Would you believe me if I said that it was a hunch?]”

”[SummerBreeze: I would have if we had met face to face. As for looking over our avatars over the screen…]”

”[Winter Fog: Though I would like to have had this conversation in a more controlled environment, it looks like I have to take care of a nuisance first.]”

Kazuya glanced over the server chat that was going crazy. The members of the Yamata no Orichi guild were fanning the flames and invited people to come and watch the duel that was going to happen soon. Kazuya gave a dry laugh and fixed the camera that had a stand and placed it to face the keyboard that was in front of him.

”[SumerBreeze: With your reputation, I don't believe that these people would pose that much of a threat to you. I shall stay online longer so that we can have a chat about a possible collaboration between us.]”

”[Winter Fog: Thanks. I'll be sure to make it quick.]”

Kazuya didn't care much about the people challenging him nor their motivations. Their mistake was picking his guild and his people to mess around with and that was enough reason for Kazuya to make sure that they would regret it. This would also serve as a lesson to those who were thinking about the same thing against their guild that was no longer in the center of the spotlight.

Meanwhile, the guild leader of the infamous Yamata no Orochi guild was stuck in a predicament. Nyan-E, or the person behind the character himself was cursing at the screen as he saw his own guild members fanning the flames. He wanted to back out of the challenge as soon as Winter Fog had mentioned that they needed to stream themselves.

Nyan-E liked being the center of attention. This was the reason why he had developed a troublesome persona online. He would often call himself a 'rebel' and made trouble for those who acted with manners online. To him, being online had offered him a sense of freedom that made him say or do whatever he liked.

He had some decent progress in game and found like-minded people over on the course of playing his game. This led to the formation of his guild. While he gained a reputation for himself, he decided to paint himself as a skilled genius of games and told everyone that he was still just a young person in his adolescence and he had yet to reach his full potential.

In reality, he was man who had been laid off of work and was currently living in his parent's house in the countryside. This was why he had been so mad at his guild members because now that they have fanned the flames to this point, there wouldn't be anything left for him if he backed out now.

What Nyan-E didn't know that Kazuya was already aware of his secret because it was one of the scandals that even a regular player like him in his past life had heard of. In one of the offline meetings of the Yamata no Orochi guild, one of their former members who was bullied actually released a video of him getting drunk that immediately made him unable to log onto his character due to the shame of being discovered.

”Let's see what choice you will make.” Kazuya grinned over his screen as he placed his character inside the arena and began typing out a message in the server's chat.

”[Winter Fog: My streaming preparations are complete. I will begin the stream as soon as my opponent arrives and activates his. I will be waiting in arena #0869. The password will be the word that completes this sentence; The Yamata no Orochi guild is a guild made up of a bunch of _ _ _ _ s]”

”fufu… your father is just too mean and funny!” the person behind the screen of Autumn Mist patted the stuffed animal on her desk and giggled.

As Kazuya expected, the one who showed up in the arena was not Nyan-E but rather, NaTuRaL Muscle. Kazuya had already begun streaming his gameplay except for the bottom right that had been blackened out because he had yet to turn on his camera.

”[Winter Fog: Don't tell me that you showed up to say some kind of excuse that your guild master can't fight right now. Is he hiding some sort of lie that he didn't want discovered?]”

Nyan-E cursed from behind his screen. Winter Fog had beaten NaTuRaL Muscle to the punch so anything that he said would have been deemed an excuse. He wasn't in the game so he had to pay Winter Fog's fee to be able to see his stream. This way, once he hunted him down to get back at him, he would be able to catch a glimpse of how this former legendary player played the game.

”[NaTuRaL Muscle: Our guild leader doesn't need to deal with you himself. Though it is true that he suddenly had an emergency, my skills aren't inferior to his. He is just the one that gathered us into one group after all.]”

Though Nyan-E was cursing at this arrogant guild member of his, NaTuRaL Muscle's statement wasn't exactly false. If people were asked if who among the upper echelons of the guild was the strongest, most of them would most likely lean towards NaTuRaL Muscle because of this person's relentless efforts in flexing not only his equipment but whatever he has over other players would be used to make them feel inferior.

”[NaTuRaL Muscle: If I win, I want that armor set of yours.]”

Without regard of what Winter Fog was thinking, he immediately showed his greed over the armor set that Winter Fog was wearing. None have seen this set before so he immediately wanted it for himself. NaTuRaL Muscle already started imagining himself wearing the set while he paraded down busy streets.

”[Winter Fog: You have no right to speak to me you inferior reptile. You do not have the title of guild master. As this is battle between guild masters to resolve the trouble your guild has caused mine, a mere senior member has no place in this discussion.]”

Winter Fog, being the owner of the arena room activated the mute function. Kazuya already knew the importance of information so he had already briefly looked up information about these peculiar individuals. This person specifically had a loud mouth so taking it away from him made his empty pride take a hit.

Of course, NaTuRaL Muscle was enraged. As it was an arena, he could only spam the challenge button so that the duel could be initiated. He even went as far as activated the conditions for beginning the duel which let the people who were watching to see the person behind the braggart of a character.