Gamers of the Underworld

“Tsk, it looks like Dungeon Lord Onionhead is really vacating his post. I wonder what the Merchant Alliance is going to do to him. I have quite a good impression of this Gnome. Without him, we wouldn’t have obtained the logging rights of Underground Forest No. 3 so easily,” Bru said thoughtfully,

“Who is Lord Sherlock going to invite as your Ball partner? You’re a famous person in the Northern Underworld. The news of you saving the Northern Underworld must have already been spread like wildfire. If you don’t have an impressive dance partner, it’ll be a disappointment.”

Sherlock put down the letter and pondered.

…

Dungeon Lord Onionhead inhaled deeply. With the help of the elderly Orc, Onionhead put on his Onionhead wig.

Just like his heavy heart.

“Dungeon Lord, the guests have arrived.”

The elderly Orc stood by Onionhead and invited him to leave the room.

Onionhead inhaled deeply and nodded before walking out.

Gnomes and Slimes were pushing their delicacies carts everywhere.

The Orc guards were in full body armor and wielding Halberds. There was a sentry placed every 20 meters.

At the end of the tunnel, the guests were socializing. They were the Dungeon Lords, nobles of the Merchant Alliance, and other socialites.

Onionhead smiled and walked out. At the end of the tunnel was a speaker’s platform with protective railings. Everyone kept quiet when he appeared, then they applauded him.

Sherlock was in the crowd, and behind him was the emotionless Brainiac.

“Lord Sherlock, why did you bring me to such an event?”

“I saw that you were unhappy with the loss of the Yellow Rubber Ducky, so I brought you out to relax.”

Sherlock also applauded as he explained to Brainiac.

“Why do I have to attend this event?” Yoda, who was standing beside Brainiac, asked bewilderedly.

“If you didn’t fly the Airship, we couldn’t have arrived on time,” Eggface said to Yoda.

“Why are you here?” Sherlock looked at Eggface.

“I’m Lord Sherlock’s loyal secretary!”

Eggface looked earnestly at Sherlock and said, “Lord Sherlock, can you share with me your code for being so loyal to you?”

“What code? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Sherlock was bewildered. At his right-hand side, the shy Succubus Evelynn was hiding herself behind Sherlock while she held the back of her skirt with her hand.

Evelynn wore a normal and not very luxurious gown. It was her best dress.

As a Succubus, she had a perfectly endowed body that was the envy of everyone.

The length of her gown was bolder than her normal dressing style. The gown reached her calf and almost touched her knees. Evelynn was extremely nervous. Even when she wore office lady clothing, her skirt was never that short.

She had no choice but to bring out her best clothes in order to be compatible with Lord Sherlock.

“Winterfell is inviting me to attend a Ball to bid farewell to Dungeon Lord Onionhead. I need a dance partner. If you’re free, can you join me tomorrow?”

Evelynn was unable to decline Sherlock’s request. She wasn’t good at declining requests.

Besides Brainiac, Eggface, Yoda, and Evelynn, standing behind Sherlock were NotWearingPants, Sylvanas, Peasant, Arthur, BurningChestHair, TakeASpearHit, Dragonborn, SealHeadLingChong, and 30 other Goblins, Gnomes, and Houndhead Men.

They were chatting enthusiastically.

“Gosh, it’s an awesome Ball!”

“Why didn’t we see this manor the last time? If only I could salvage the items here!”

“Can we do that? When can we start moving?”

The gamers liked this manor that was located outside Winterfell.

As the Dungeon Core was missing in Winterfell, the Ball was arranged in a manor outside Winterfell.

The reason why these gamers were here was because of what NPC Yoda said:

“Tomorrow, I can’t teach Mana Engineering as Lord Sherlock is attending the Winterfell Ball. I’m in charge of flying the Airship to Winterfell.”

“What? You’re thinking of going to the Ball too? That’s going to be difficult. I didn’t hear Sherlock mention that you’re going.”

“What? You’ve looked for Lord Sherlock? Complain on the discussion forum? What’s a discussion forum? What? Hey, the few of you over there, don’t sleep at my place!”

Then Sherlock saw a discussion forum filled with posts of people requesting to join this hidden mission.

They said that they were willing to do anything if they could attend the Ball!

Sherlock thought for a while and let Bru choose tens of gamers with excellent performances, long durations of online presence, and high construction-related work points.

[Mission Title: Winterfell’s Ball invitation

Mission Description: Lord Sherlock received the invitation for Winterfell’s Ball. He will choose 40 citizens of Eternal Kingdom with excellent performance to be his bodyguards and entourage when he attends the Ball.

Mission Objective: Attend Winterfell’s Ball with Lord Sherlock.]

Though Bru was wary of bringing the gamers to the Ball, Sherlock was indifferent. If the gamers were able to have more varied gameplay and promote his Dungeon game, then there would be more applicants for the Third Beta Testing. Sherlock would have more choices.

Sherlock filtered out the wild chattering of the gamers behind him.

When Dungeon Lord Onionhead appeared, the crowd gradually became silent. Even the gamers became quiet.

The gamers had learned to be obedient. After numerous incidents, they realized that they had to be immersive in the game.

The gamers’ words and their actions would have corresponding reactions, which were good and bad. They had to behave like an Underworld inhabitant or an NPC!

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Winterfell’s Ball. I’m Onionhead. This is my last time organizing a public Winterfell event because I’ll be vacating my Dungeon Lord post.”

Onionhead looked depressed and regretful. Then he said loudly, “I will become one of the judges of the Merchant Alliance Northern Area!”

Everyone applauded loudly.

“Eh? I remember that Dungeon Lord Onionhead told Lord Sherlock that he was going to vacate his post soon.”

Bru was surprised and said, “So he was being promoted? Why did he send Beast to our Dungeon and make it like he was going to be dismissed?”

“It’s not hard to understand. If you were a father and your son-in-law was a believer of the Sacred Light, and there was a reasonable chance to send him away, what would you do?” Sherlock said.

“Of course, I would chase the scumbag away! Ah… I see. Did Lord Sherlock know about this already? Why is Onionhead that sure that Lord Sherlock would retain Beast?”

“Because he helped me to do things. Tens of thousands of rewards and sets of armor, one hundred Beetlemon, and half a year of logging rights. Onionhead helped me apply for them. After he helped me, how could I not help him by keeping his son-in-law?”

Sherlock applauded as he said, “This isn’t a bad thing, I need a talent such as Beast.”

“This is really…” Bru didn’t know how to describe Dungeon Lord Onionhead.

After announcing his news, Onionhead clinked his glass to have everyone quiet down. Then he said, “I have another important announcement.”