Inside the spacious, exquisite European-style manor's living room, soft light streamed through carved window frames, casting an extraordinarily elegant glow over the solid wood sofas and oak floors.
Nan Cheng leaned lazily against a sofa, a virtual game interface floating in front of him. He had just finished reading the latest version update announcement for Glorious Era, and before he even had time to process it, an excited shout that sounded ready to leap off the ground erupted in his ear.
“Brother Cheng! Did you see it?! The system just dropped the version update announcement! It's a massive update!”
Bruce came jogging over, his face flushed with excitement, clutching two squishy slimes firmly in his arms.
His hands continuously kneaded the soft bodies of the slimes. Every now and then, he lowered his head to nuzzle them and kiss their little heads, doting on them to an absurd degree.
Nan Cheng pressed a palm to his forehead in helpless exasperation. “I saw it. Read through the whole thing already.”
His gaze then fell upon the two squishy blobs in Bruce's arms, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Yes, those two slimes were still alive.
After completing the main quest, Bruce hadn't refined them into EXP bags on the spot, nor... well, nor had he eaten them. Instead, he had happily dragged them back to the player town.
Every day, he fed them, washed them, and cuddled them, even placing them beside his pillow when he slept, acting entirely like a doting father raising two clingy pets.
Nan Cheng still remembered the expressions on the rest of the team's faces the day Bruce came back carrying those two slimes—
Little Star: “???”
Energetic Foxfox: “Are you serious?”
Momozi: “I suggest stabbing yourself with a sword to wake up.”
Hao Bai said nothing, but quietly took three steps backward.
Only Bruce looked completely justified:
“What do you guys know?! These are strategic partners! They'll be immensely useful in the future! Plus, my Slime Restaurant plan hasn't even started yet!”
As for whether those slimes would actually be useful later on... Nan Cheng had yet to see it.
However, they certainly looked noticeably rounder than before, proving that Bruce's feeding efforts were quite effective—at least he hadn't starved them to death.
“Five thousand people is quite a lot.” Nan Cheng withdrew his gaze, dragging his thoughts away from the 'Slime Care Manual'.
“Our guild only has around fifty members right now. In a manor this huge, you barely bump into anyone even after walking a full circle. We definitely need to recruit more.”
As he spoke, he looked around his surroundings.
The manor was truly grand.
A spacious living room, vaulted high ceilings, and even a wrap-around gallery corridor on the second floor.
The floors were laid with dark oak, and decorative floral arrangements hung along the walls.
That's right!
This was one of the top luxury player strongholds currently in Glorious Era—the Dawn Covenant guild headquarters.
Naturally, the Guild Master was Nan Cheng, and the Vice Guild Master was Bruce.
The player settlement was no longer that crude beginner town from before.
After a full month of hard-grinding infrastructure work by all two hundred closed-beta players, dirt roads had been replaced with stone streets, while wooden huts, residences, and perimeter fences were fully constructed. It had thoroughly transformed into a small town with a solid foundation.
Still, manpower was ultimately far too scarce.
Splitting two hundred people between city construction and completing quests left everyone stretched thin. Even though the entire player base pulled all-nighters grinding day and night, large areas of the town remained vacant plots, and half-finished buildings stood everywhere.
As for the manor Nan Cheng and his group occupied, they had spent Merit Points to hire players to build it.
It had cost a whopping 10,000 Merit Points!
Though split among every guild member, it still came to around 200 points per person.
At the thought of this, memories of that painful expenditure flashed through his mind, causing the corner of his mouth to twitch uncontrollably as a wave of intense heartache washed over him.
“Though seriously, those Rose Heart folks are real scammers,”
he couldn't help complaining, his tone brimming with resentment. “Back when they helped us design and build this manor, they demanded ten thousand Merit Points right off the bat!”
Ten thousand Merit Points was an absolute fortune in the early phase of the closed beta!
Fortunately, every member of the Rose Heart guild was a professional construction master; their 3D modeling, planning, and construction details were top-notch, leaving no flaw to be found in the finished manor.
Ever since the game introduced the Guild System, Nan Cheng and Bruce had spearheaded the creation of the 【Dawn Covenant】 guild.
Although the guild's name sounded a bit chunibyo and melodramatic, it fit this Western fantasy theme perfectly, achieving maximum compatibility.
As for Rose Heart, their Guild Master was Tao-chan, and the Vice Guild Master was Bing Lin.
Bruce nodded in deep agreement, frantically rubbing the slimes in his arms as he chimed in indignantly:
“Scammers indeed! I didn't have many Merit Points left after buying my purple gear anyway, and this bled me dry completely!”
Complaints aside, business could not be delayed.
Bruce's eyes lit up as he immediately set his sights on the five thousand newcomers, a sly, mischievous expression gracing his face.
“Brother Cheng, what's our move next? When the new players log in, do we mobilize everyone to camp on-site and snatch them up?”
“Sounds good. Bruce, keep an eye on things the whole time. Organize all guild members to spread out and camp the spawn areas. The moment newcomers enter the game, initiate contact directly and pull in as many as you can—aim for precise coaxing and aggressive recruitment.”
“I'll post on the player forums. Using my identity as a veteran closed-beta player and Guild Master, I'll write detailed guide experiences, guild benefits, and guild perks to generate hype in advance and lock high-quality newcomers into our guild before they even start.”
Bruce instantly perked up, clutching the two slimes as he nodded vigorously, eager to jump into action:
“Rest assured, Brother Cheng! I guarantee we'll poach every single rookie into our guild! We won't let a single top-tier hard-grinder slip away!”
Rate on N.U.
