Gamers of the Underworld

There were about 30 fully armed Orcs whose armor was damaged, unlike the gamers who polished their armor like mirrors. The gamers even used animal oils to protect the equipment. Arthur, who was a serious gamer, prepared whetstones to sharpen his blade so that his weapon could do more damage.

After the Orc shouted, he surveyed the puzzled gamers. Looking at the Houndhead Men, Gnomes, and Goblins, he spat at the entrance of the Guild and muttered to his companions, “Who are these worthless pieces of trash? Are we able to recruit brave and fearless warriors?”

“I don’t know, Captain. They look weak and thin. Can Houndhead Men and Goblins be warriors? Those Gnomes don’t look like Magicians.”

An Orc adjutant who was full of dissatisfaction walked beside the strong Orc Captain.

“Apologies, do you require any services?” Evelynn asked.

The fierce-looking Orc spoke only two sentences before he turned and got ready to leave.

Evelynn thought that there was a large order, but when she saw the Orc warriors leaving, she caught up with them timidly.

“Give way. We’re looking for real warriors. Let these weak chickens play with their eggs.” The Captain didn’t become a gentleman even though Evelynn looked gentle and cute.

Evelynn panicked when the Orcs started leaving. Sherlock had planned for the Adventurer’s Guild three days in advance. After several seconds of consideration, he handed the business over to Evelynn solemnly. No matter what, Evelynn had to spruce up the business!

Evelynn inhaled deeply and wanted to stop the leaving customers. She saw tens of creatures walking towards the Guild entrance.

They had superior equipment and firm gazes. With their walking posture, one could sense that they were good fighters with rich combat experience.

The Orcs were blocked by a group of Gnomes and Houndhead Men.

The Gnomes and Houndhead Men had green words above their heads. Below their names was the Guild name, which was Pioneer Alliance.

They were the veteran gamers from the First Beta Testing.

The leaders were four of the richest gamers, Arthur, NotWearingPants, Sylvanas, and BurningChestHair. Peasant wasn’t a rich gamer, but he was on close terms with the rich gamers, so he was always with them.

The two groups met each other. The 30 strong Orcs looked warily at the 100 Houndhead Men and Gnomes while the Orc leader looked at Arthur.

While the two leaders gazed at each other, the gamers started their discussion.

“What’s up with these Orcs? Are they blocking our way?”

“Are they here to create trouble?”

“Gosh, create trouble? Is that for real?”

“It’s highly possible. We have to develop the Plots, such as a group of Orc gangsters appearing and we, the righteous incarnations, destroying them.”

“Can I hack them into pieces now?”

“They don’t have health points. We can’t attack them.”

“I don’t care. Let me try hacking them.”

The Orc Captain laughed heartily. Before Arthur and his group had a chance to react, he turned to the Succubus behind him and said, “I’m here to seek help. Where is the Guest Hall? Can you bring us to the Guest Hall?”

…

One hour later.

“Thank you.”

Brainiac placed a cup of brewed bloody chrysanthemum tea in front of the Orc, who nodded gratefully. Then the Orc asked, “Is there red tea?”

“Apologies, we only have bloody chrysanthemum tea.”

Brainiac sat opposite the Orc.

Thirty Orcs were crammed into the small room. They were brought in by the Orc Captain.

“So…” Sherlock sat opposite the Orcs and said, “You are from the same village and aren’t an organized mercenary group. What is this about?”

Sherlock was playing computer games with Eggface in the Dungeon Lord Main Hall when Brainiac came to ask him to settle a matter personally.

When Sherlock arrived, he saw the Orcs waiting in the Guest Hall.

“That’s correct,” the Orc Captain said as he nodded.

“Then, your armor…” Sherlock pointed at the Orcs’ armor.

“Ah, it was painted on our clothes. The armor isn’t real. As for the weapons…” The Orc Captain placed his Axe on the table and said in a crisp voice, “This is a fake Axe. We create it using baked clay.”

“I see. Why did you disguise yourselves and come to the Adventurer’s Guild?” Sherlock frowned and asked. As they were entrusting missions, he had to clarify things so that he could provide services and earn their Magic Stones.

While they were talking, a feather pen floated in the air and started writing on a blank sheet of paper.

“We don’t mean to deceive you, Lord Sherlock.”

The Orc Captain said earnestly, “We use all of this to scare off our would-be invaders. Though we don’t stay in Winterfell and won’t have to pay taxes, we have to take care of our safety. Hence, our elders organize fights to scare off the wild beasts. For recent generations, there has been a dwindling number of wild beasts. The real armor and weapons were unusable after long periods of neglect, so we had to create imitations. We feel safer with our disguises since it’s our first time coming to Winterfell.”

“Yes, yes.”

The group of Orcs nodded in agreement.

“Ah, why did you leave in the first place?” Evelynn couldn’t help asking.

“Because we saw a lot of creatures with superior equipment and because there was a lot of wooden furniture. It must be worth a fortune. We were afraid we couldn’t afford the charges, so we decided to look for another Guild,” the Orc Captain said in embarrassment.

“Why did you return?”

The Orc Captain hesitated as they looked at each other. Brainiac said, “They were probably intimidated by the Gnomes and Houndhead Men as they were about to attack.”

“That’s correct! They were terrifying, saying they wanted to hack us directly in our face. I thought they had misunderstood our intention, so we quickly returned.”

The Orc Captain was still feeling the fear. Then he asked, “Are they only jesting? Will they attack us?”

“No, according to my research, they’ll attack,” Brainiac replied confidently.

“Are you sure? Aren’t there Garrison Guards in Winterfell?”

The Orc Captain was shocked. Sherlock interrupted their conversation to prevent further deviation. He said, “Wait a moment, I don’t know what mission you’re entrusting us? Are you requesting training or the purchase of equipment?”

“No, no, Lord Sherlock.” The Orc Captain was worried, and he said, “We were threatened by a bunch of Ogres. We hope to find warriors who don’t want money to protect us!”

“What’s that again?”

“Don’t want money!”