━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━

A man was navigating New Leaf village while sighing.

He was similar to all the players one could see scurrying about, but there was one key difference between him and them. He wasn’t one of Demonic Legion’s brain-dead fans.

He had actually done his due diligence and researched them, but his conclusion had been that they were a horrible organization.

Their model was simple:

1. Recruiting Newbies that didn’t know better.

2. Making them believe in D.L and its incredible generosity.

3. Brainwash their members under the guise of training.

No one could do anything about it either because of how powerful they already were and thanks to their incredible but selfish leader. Hell, he was ordering people without a hint of shame!

Just as he was thinking about that, a commotion arose, along with a red beam. This was another dungeon reveal, wasn’t it?

Chicken Trial Palace has been revealed by player Jack’O!

Special opening event: bonus loot for one week!

Chicken Trial Palace requires level 7 to enter!

He couldn’t help but frown heard the players’ conversations:

“The chicken dungeon is level 7?!”

“Jack’O cleared yet another one!”

“Oh yeah, that’s his daily training by now, lol. ”

“Jack’O: 100 situps, 100 pushups, 10 Km run, and beating a dungeon!”

“Wow! I really want to ask how he did it! Do you think he’d agree to—”

“Don’t! That’s literally the #1 rule of D.L: don’t bother the faction leader over trivial stuff.”

“If you anger Jack’O, your account might as well be trash. Hell, you could be in deep **!”

Hearing them, the man frowned. This guy was actually an incredible bully. He alone could decide someone’s fate? Screw someone’s account for asking questions? Ludicrous!

“Thank you for telling me. I don’t want to be blacklisted from D.L. That would be horrible! How would I even play the game then?!” The Newbie shuddered in fright.

He was already convinced that D.L was synonymous with succeeding in Infinite. How perverse were their teachings?! They even acted as if all this was natural.

“So, what do you guys want to do? More grinding, or do you want to go back for some more D.L. training?”

“Training!”

“Grinding!”

“Cutting Wood!”

“Wait, what?! Woodcutting? Why?!”

“Don’t you guys know? The instructors at D.L. told me about that one blacksmith weapon forging quest. Apparently, it’s the only way to get level 10 weapons around here.”

“Oh yeah, I heard about that. Isn’t it almost impossible to get one? It takes some ore from the wolf king and wood from the Fox’s Nest to— Wait! Wood!?”

“Hell yeah, brother. I’m gonna be rich soon! Well, as soon as I repay D.L. They helped me buy the axe from Steven.”

“They let you borrow?!”

“Hehe, yes. I just have to give them a % of my profits for a while, haha.”

“Nice!”

“Totally worth it!”

“Let me ask for that too!”

His friends chuckled as they gave him thumbs up. So what if he was indebted? They were all one big family at D.L., right?

“Thank god I joined D.L.. It totally changed my gaming life!”

“You’re not the only one. I can’t even picture not being in it anymore!”

The man couldn’t help but interject to this, scoffing. Were they that oblivious?!

“Demonic Legion? More like Sheep Legion! You should get out while you still can. Can’t you hear yourselves? You guys are obeying all their rules and even racking debt already!”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s an investment, an investment!” One of them rebuked.

“Look, right now, it seems like the best faction ever, but that’s how they all start. Before long, you’ll be forced to work for free. They’ll be exploiting you guys before long— no, they already are!”

“What are you talking about! One needs to be in D.L. to progress efficiently. We’re lucky to have spawned in this village!” A youngster vehemently defended.

Was he serious?! Become a member of D.L. or be considered a troll? Were these really the only two options? It made no sense!

“Tchh— wake up already. This whole D.L. Thing is a scam! You guys all pay, and for what? For instructors to tell you what to do? It’s not worth it at all! What will you do when they add a monthly membership fee? They’ll slowly bleed you dry!”

He shook his head with disappointment as he saw the sheeps’ faces harden in anger. They almost seemed about to attack him. As this was a safe zone, they could only bottle up all that fury.

He would have found it amusing had he not known how dangerous such organizations could be. Sometimes the line between VR and reality could get blurry and create crazy fanatics.

They left while helplessly stomping their feet. Part of him found it fun to trigger them, but the pity he felt was stronger. He couldn’t help but sigh as he glanced all around. This D.L. bull** was a calamity for sure.

Then again, it wasn’t his task to save the world. He would simply ignore them and play at his pace. Since the launch three days ago, he had been gaming, taking a few breaks in between, and had just reached level 4.

By now, he had already completed all the chicken slaughtering quests. He had even obtained a bit of food and a few potions. It was time to start killing foxes!

“Let’s find a party, shall we?” the man happily walked toward the forest. Mighty shouts and the sounds of weapons striking flesh were heard.

The once peaceful forest was now a playground for the humans as they slaughtered foxes diligently. The — Smack! — of sticks mixed with the — Clang! — of bladed weapons and even the occasional —Whoosh!— of a basic magic spell.

He went deeper as he watched it all happen. As he saw a mage summon a glowing blue magic arrow, he felt his heart flutter in excitement. This was so damn cool! It was also enough to finish the enemy fox.

He couldn’t help but stare as he gave a thumb up to the guy. “This looks impressive as hell. What’s this spell called?!”

“That’s a mana arrow. If you speak to the florist, he can hook you up with a magic casting stone.” The friendly mage (?) answered. But then, one of his friends chimed in playfully.

“Yes, you should get a magic pebble too. Being a wannabe mage lets you throw spells at your target… until you run out of mana. Then you’re about as useful as the rock in your hand.”

Another guy added:

“All jokes aside, D.L doesn’t recommend it for beginners. It can be high burst damage, but it’s useless if one doesn’t know how to capitalize on it. The instructors recommend—”

Hearing the man became incredibly annoyed. These guys were also getting brainwashed by D.L.?! Was there anyone who wasn’t!? Why should they dictate how others should play?!

He wasn’t in the mood to listen anymore as he promptly excused himself.

Heading deeper into the forest, he finally managed to find himself a temporary party. They were eight to hunt one fox, meaning that the rewards were low but very safe.

At first, everything was tense and stressful, but they quickly got used to it. Even then, farming the creatures required high focus, and every victory was damn satisfying. With every new pelt obtained, he felt accomplished.

But with things becoming easier, they began talking. This made things worse:

“I can’t wait to get 40 pelts to join D.L! It will be so helpful!”

“You want to join it too! What a coincidence!”

“Obviously, only idiots wouldn’t.”

“I know, right!”

The man wouldn’t let this go:

“Everyone, you should be careful about D.L. They target new players, and their goal is to indoctrinate them. I’ve seen it happen before.” He advised.

“You’re just saying that because you can’t afford to join them, right?!”

“You’re obviously jealous! You shouldn’t be so petty!”

“Don’t be too hard on him. He’s just ignorant!”

At that point, the man couldn’t take it anymore. This whole D.L. talk brought back too many bad memories. Memories of his parents leaving him to join a cult, with them even stealing his money to gift it to their **ty sect.

“I don’t feel well. I gotta go.”

He hurriedly left, seven fox corpses neatly tucked inside his inventory. It was far from what he needed for his quest, but he couldn’t tolerate staying anymore. He’d just return to the village and log out.

Just as he was daydreaming, remembering the past, he suddenly bumped into a party. He only realized their existence as he directly collided with them.

“Brother, watch where you’re going!” the shout brought him back to his senses.

“Sorry about—” he softly apologized.

But the victim wasn’t angry in the least. Not only did he not erupt in anger, but he even seemed happy? That’s when he pointed at his chest.

“Brother, I couldn’t help but notice that you aren’t wearing a D.L. emblem.”

Oh god, not another one…

Creator’s Thought

The training plan I left for the new D.L. members was pretty sweet. The instructors would first make them understand how lucky they were to be in the faction, then teach them some pretty cool stuff. Of course, one of the core teaching points was to never piss me off.