Night Empire, Night City.
The bustling commercial avenue was packed with people coming and going, the vibrant spectacle leaving visiting players speechless with wonder. On the streets, players at level 55 and above clad in level 50 Mythril equipment were a common sight, and one could even spot second-tier Class experts among the crowd.
At the heart of this thriving city, the Star Ring Guild's headquarters stood out with particular brilliance.
Virtually at all hours, players from other cities across the Night Empire converged here, forming long lines as they participated in the Star Ring Guild's entrance examination.
"It feels like more and more players have been showing up for the Star Ring Guild's exams lately. I heard it's not just players from the Night Empire—even people from the surrounding kingdoms have been coming, all trying to join the Star Ring Guild."
"Of course. Word is the Star Ring Guild got hold of a magic crystal vein. Now they've got plenty of magic crystal resources, and on top of that, they've opened a passage to the Sea Forest. You can actually go there."
"The Sea Forest? You mean the legendary dream city of the Night Empire, the Sea Forest?"
"That's the one, what else? I've heard the Sea Forest is an incredible place. It's protected by the Six Great Ancient Elf Kings and has a special advancement channel for second-tier Classes. You don't even need to pass the second-tier Class Advancement Quest—you can advance straight into a second-tier Class, and the difficulty is relatively easy. The only catch is that it's not any of the existing second-tier Classes. It's a specific one."
"A specific second-tier Class?"
"Right. Apparently it's the Bard—something between melee and magic, a support Class. Not a damage dealer like a Berserker or Elementalist, and not a healer like a Priest or Oracle. It falls somewhere in the middle."
"That's still awesome! It's a second-tier Class no matter how you look at it. Advancing to second tier is so hard right now—even top guilds pouring everything into training can only get a tiny fraction through. I wonder when we'll be able to enter the Sea Forest. If I can't advance into a regular second-tier Class, becoming a second-tier Bard wouldn't be bad at all. A second-tier Class is way better than my first-tier Berserker."
"You're dreaming. That's the legendary Sea Forest—getting in isn't so easy. Only the Star Ring Guild, which opened the passage, can bring extra people in. Why do you think all these expert players rushed over from other kingdoms? It's to join the Star Ring Guild and get a chance to enter the Sea Forest."
……
The free players on the main street murmured among themselves as they watched the massive queues outside the Star Ring Guild's entrance.
They wanted to join too, of course, but the Star Ring Guild was a superpower—a force that could stand toe-to-toe with the top-tier guilds. Their recruitment standards were anything but ordinary. You couldn't just waltz in and expect to be accepted.
Meanwhile, in the president's office on the top floor of the Star Ring Guild's headquarters, more than a dozen second-tier Class experts stood in silence.
"That damned Unyielding War Soul—they actually beat us to the Hell Difficulty dungeon First Clear and upgraded their guild to three-star!" Lu Xingluo's brow furrowed as he glared at everyone in the room, his anger barely contained. "How did this happen? We were leading in the dungeon the entire time. How did Unyielding War Soul end up getting the First Clear?"
"Guild Master, according to the information I've received, the Unyielding War Soul suddenly obtained a batch of powerful weapons and auxiliary items that boosted their team's combat strength by a huge margin. That's how they beat us to the First Clear," explained Su Luo, a level 57 second-tier Elementalist.
"They obtained a batch of powerful weapons? How is that possible?" Lu Xingluo couldn't hide his surprise.
The Unyielding War Soul was a top-tier guild, after all. Their main raid team's equipment was absolutely at the pinnacle of the Divine Realm. Even if they borrowed gear from other guilds, there was no way their combat power would jump by that much.
"It's true. According to our infiltrated spies, every one of those weapons is a Dark Gold weapon usable up to level 55." Su Luo then sent the weapon details to Lu Xingluo. "While these level 55 Dark Gold weapons are inferior to true level 55 Dark Gold gear in terms of stats, they still far outclass anything at the current level 50 Dark Gold rank. That's what gave the Unyielding War Soul's main team such a massive boost in damage output."
"Level 55 Dark Gold weapons? How did they get them? Even for super guilds, those should be incredibly scarce. How could they just be sold off?" Lu Xingluo asked in disbelief.
"After our spies made extensive inquiries, we confirmed that these weapons came from the Zero Wing Guild. It seems the Zero Wing Guild has some special channel for obtaining them," Su Luo said slowly. "I've already had people look into the Zero Wing Guild, but their security on this matter is too tight. We still haven't figured out where these weapons actually come from. However, based on my guess, they were most likely forged by the Zero Wing Guild's blacksmiths."