Gamers of the Underworld

The carriage, which was pulled by four Hades Horses, left rapidly.

Lilo sat in the carriage and glanced at the receding Eternal Kingdom, Goblins, Gnomes, Houndhead Men, and Sherlock.

“Farewell! Farewell!”

The gamers clapped their hands rhythmically under the command of Blackhand. They bade farewell to Lilo.

The training of Blackhand was very effective. The increased capability of the gamers could be seen. At least they had learned the basic skills such as cheering, marching, and military martial arts.

After sending off Lilo, who came suddenly and left abruptly, they gathered to chat enthusiastically.

“Oh ho!”

Bru said in a direct tone beside Sherlock’s ear, “We’re in deep soup. Our tour de force was too convincing, and the Fallen Angel wants to counterattack the Heavenly Kingdom! Why don’t we go all in and conquer the entire world? We’ll occupy Winterfell as our stepping board, then we conquer the Underworld, followed by the Surface World. After that, we invade the Heavenly Kingdom and trample on the Holy Lord. Isn’t that perfect?”

Sherlock examined the “Plan of Counterattacking the Heavenly Kingdom”, which consisted of tens of pages that were arranged in logical order:

1. Recruitment of 10,000,000 servants.

2. Find a safe way to ascend to the Heavenly Kingdom.

3. Find a reliable replenishment of supplies.

4. Find a way to defeat the Angel Vanguard.

5. Find a method to make the Great Archangel lose his combat power.

6. Find the method to disable the power of Grand Priests.

7. Find…

The battle plan of Lilo was comprehensive. Normal creatures only thought three moves ahead, but she did more than that. She wasn’t simple.

Could there be too much consideration?

Sherlock started to ponder after reading the plan.

“What shall we do, Lord Sherlock? Let’s exploit the gamers more and repay our debt. This Lilo is a nutcase. She may not be able to think properly. It’s better if we stay as far away from her as possible,” Bru suggested earnestly.

Sherlock shook his head and said firmly, “Impossible. It’s impossible to repay the money.”

“What shall we do, Lord Sherlock? Are we to recruit the insane number of servants and invade the Heavenly Kingdom?”

“No, I have a better plan.” Sherlock thought for a while. He seemed to have made a decision.

…

[Character Name: Marco Polo]

[Race: Gnome]

[Eternal Kingdom Reputation Level: Level 4]

[Log in] [Exit]

[Confirmed logging in, connecting…]

…

Marco Polo opened his eyes. In front of him was a roof full of holes, and a little Gnome who was biting his clay lollipop and gazing at him.

When Marco Polo awoke, the little Gnome shouted, “He’s awake! He’s awake!”

A group of creatures rushed in noisily. All of them looked at Marco Polo with a curious and learning attitude.

Marco Polo panicked since he had been killed during a Plot. To be precise, he was knocked unconscious in a Plot Animation.

He didn’t know how to proceed with the Plot. When the creatures rushed in, he sat up warily. Then, he touched his sides and shouted in shock, “Gosh! My Winterfell Standard Short Sword with Level 5 improvement is gone! That’s my life savings!”

“Are you referring to this sword? Ah…”

That was the familiar sound of a deflating balloon. The elderly Gnome that gave the order to kill him appeared once again.

He held Marco Polo’s precious Short Sword.

“What do you want? Let’s have a good talk. Can you return my equipment to me? If you’re worried I may resist, I can break my arms.”

Marco Polo almost knelt down to plead. He was fearless except for losing his precious equipment.

“What an extraordinary warrior, ah…” the elderly Gnome exclaimed, then he returned the Short Sword to Marco Polo. Though the creatures at the sides hesitated, the elderly Gnome placed the sword in Marco Polo’s hand.

“Let me extend our sincerest apologies.” The elderly Gnome walked to Marco Polo and said, “I thought you were like the creatures outside who look down upon us as decadent creatures. They can lodge complaints against us anytime. We didn’t expect you to be such a knowledgeable warrior.”

“Know… knowledgeable?”

Marco Polo was dumbstruck. The elderly Gnome trembled as he said, “That’s correct. You knew about the advanced formulas. That is awesome. Ah…”

“That isn’t much. My Math teacher is good.”

Marco Polo was eating humble pie. The elderly Gnome said excitedly, “Ah… Do you know of other arithmetic rhymes or formulas?”

“Let me see. Yes, with a known unknown, it’s important to separate. The separation method is shifting. Addition and subtraction will change the sign after shifting. Multiplication and division will be inverted once they are shifted.”

Fortunately, Marco Polo studied Mathematics while his account was frozen. After revising, he was able to recite an advanced arithmetic rhyme.

“I know! I know! That’s a single variable linear equation arithmetic rhyme. I saw it in the ancient books once!” a creature shouted abruptly.

“Shhh.”

The creatures at the side looked warily outside. Then they signaled for the blabbermouth to keep quiet.

“Don’t let the Garrison Guards hear that.”

Marco Polo had never been in such a situation before. He recited a few formulas and arithmetic rhymes, and the slum inhabitants were pleasantly surprised by his severe decadence. It was simply awesome. If they were to compare their knowledge level, Marco Polo was the most knowledgeable!

With his professional knowledge, Marco Polo gained the trust of the inhabitants of the slums.

They were initially distrustful and showed animosity towards him, but now they were worshiping him.

Marco Polo couldn’t understand the current Plot, but the result was good. He pondered for a while before he understood.

The game was directing the gamers to learn passionately. Only by learning would the gamers gain valuable equipment, obtain the Power of Sacred Light, and advance the Plot!

Marco Polo felt regretful that he didn’t study hard. If he could master nuclear fission and create a nuclear bomb in the game, the NPCs would definitely crown him as their King. That was awesome.

After gaining their trust, Marco Polo remembered his Strange Encounter Mission. He said to the inhabitants of the old district, “I am thinking of renting a shop.”

Everyone looked at each other before the elderly Gnome said, “Ah… there’s no problem. We’re still in control of the old district, but we don’t need Magic Stones. We hope you can teach us knowledge, brand new knowledge!”

Such a simple request? Marco Polo said, “No problem!”

…

“It seems like the plan was successful. Next is setting up the gamers’ Guild in Winterfell. Then we will trade and accept various kinds of missions.”

Sherlock browsed the discussion forum and read Marco Polo’s latest post—[Final Stage of the Hidden Series Mission: Creating the Guild! Everyone, we are establishing ourselves big time in Winterfell!]

The content was about how Marco Polo obtained various hidden missions from Sherlock after he was discovered and how he had successfully rented a shop in Winterfell’s old district. The rent was to transfer knowledge to the inhabitants on a monthly basis.

After making an agreement, Marco Polo followed the Mission guidance and completed the final stage of the shop establishment with the help of the inhabitants—the application for a business license.

That was easily solved with Magic Stones. Marco Polo didn’t have Magic Stones, but the inhabitants accumulated some money and helped him register his business. The name was—Eternal Kingdom Adventurer’s Guild.

Business Scope: Anything can be done with Magic Stones!