Chapter 62: Surely No One Would Actually...

The disciple stood there in a daze, eyes fixed on Wen Nan’s resolute departing figure, unable to collect his thoughts for a long while.

Wen Nan left the teahouse, threading his way through the bustling crowd outside, and headed toward the southeast corner.

He had just finished meticulously reading through the invitation, including the guild’s introduction and the rights and obligations of its members. To have become one of the Six Great Guilds, the terms set by Feng Shui Huan must surely be fair—at least, in the minds of the vast majority of players here, they were fair.

Indeed, the section introducing members’ rights was particularly enticing—

[Members are entitled to use all 3,172 private spaces in Feng Shui Huan’s offices: within these private domains, members retain full use of their skills, talents, and equipped items, unhindered by the main hall’s restrictions; all public facilities within the private spaces, such as tea rooms, pools, and gyms, are free to use, and all food and beverages in restaurants and cafés are complimentary for members.]

[Members may travel freely among 2,088 game halls, enjoying convenient passage and the freedom to choose their desired game instances. The guild has unlocked three thousand instances; provided their level meets the requirements, members may select any theme to enter at will, according to their interest and needs.]

[The guild has established a mature and diverse equipment library, with over thirty thousand items available for all members to borrow as they wish.]

[Members can use their electronic membership card to shop at any public store and enjoy a 90% discount.]

The invitation listed dozens of such rights, but just these four were already more than enough to tempt Wen Nan.

Members could use their equipment and skills at will in their private domains? So that blond guy’s sudden disappearance earlier was because he’d fallen prey to one of that disciple’s abilities or items?

A 90% discount at public stores? Is that why the prices there are so steep—because so many elite guild members enjoy massive discounts? So it’s not just a trap for the poor?

And over thirty thousand pieces of equipment, all available for free borrowing?

But the most alluring benefit for Wen Nan was the one about instances—joining one of these major guilds meant he could freely choose the theme of his next instance. In other words, he could pick one with more girls, more variety, and a larger area, and savor the experience as he pleased?

That sounded downright decadent.

However, these temptations were not enough to persuade Wen Nan to join.

Exceptional benefits are always accompanied by steep costs.

Sure enough, when Wen Nan flipped further and read the section on members’ obligations, his desire to join evaporated at once—

[All members must pay a fixed monthly fee, calculated according to their income: for monthly income not exceeding 5,000 gold coins, the fee is 3%; for 5,000 to 10,000 coins, 10%; …; for 660,000 to 960,000 coins, 45%; and for more than 960,000 coins, 55%.]

[Each member must, in addition to their freely scheduled game time, complete at least one guild-assigned task per month. Task difficulty and duration will be adjusted according to the member’s level and seniority.]

[At all times and places, members must unconditionally obey the guildmaster’s arrangements, and respect and remember every decision made by the guildmaster.]

Just these three clauses were enough to drive Wen Nan away.

According to the first, Wen Nan had just obtained 680,000 gold coins in the trial instance—meaning that if he joined, he’d immediately owe over 300,000 coins in fees. Given his performance, his monthly income could easily exceed 960,000, in which case the majority of his earnings would be forfeited.

Was he a fool to be so exploited?

As for the other two, they were even less acceptable. Wen Nan was easygoing by nature, accustomed to laziness, with little competitive drive but a profound dislike of constraints.

He had come here to fall in love and enjoy life at a leisurely pace. If he had to complete assigned tasks every month and be on call for every whim of the guildmaster, he would never be able to accept it.

The more he thought about it, the more Wen Nan realized that rather than working for others, it would be preferable to have others work for him.

After reviewing the invitation, he quickly determined one thing—

To establish a guild of his own, he first needed a private domain to call his own.

Thus, he found himself standing before the black building at the public center.

The main doors were shut, but a small side entrance, barely wide enough for one person, stood open.

Wen Nan stepped inside and immediately spotted the NPC receptionist behind the counter.

Like the staff in the clothing and accessories store, the receptionist wore a sharp suit and sported a slicked-back hairstyle. Seeing Wen Nan, he asked in a flat, emotionless voice, “What do you want?”

Wen Nan stated his purpose directly: “I want to buy a private domain.”

The receptionist was momentarily stunned—

This was a game hall exclusively for newcomers; anyone teleported here had usually only cleared a few instances and had little money. The public center here was almost never visited, and he had never encountered anyone who declared they wanted to buy a private domain straight out.

“What’s your level? How many instances have you cleared?”

Wen Nan paused. “I just finished the trial instance.” Then asked, “Is there a level or experience requirement to buy a private domain?”

“No, just money,” the receptionist replied, growing impatient at the mention of the trial instance.

“That’s good.” Wen Nan nodded. “Show me what private domains are for sale?”

The receptionist rolled his eyes and turned to fetch the display samples from the back counter.

Wen Nan watched him go, thinking that NPCs in public shops were always so stubbornly unfriendly.

With that thought, he couldn’t resist glancing back at Yu Shujun, who stood there stiff as a board, before turning his eyes forward again.

The receptionist returned with a row of samples, placing them one by one before Wen Nan.

Each was a microwave-sized box, set side by side, with a holographic projection inside faithfully displaying every detail of the domain for sale.

At the base of each box, the price was written in gold:

58.88 million gold coins, 18.88 million, 6.88 million, 1.88 million, 880,000, and 680,000.

Wen Nan scanned the row and finally spotted one he could afford at the end. Pointing to it, he asked, “This one for 680,000—does it include the right to establish a guild?”

“Of course,” the receptionist replied coldly, “Any private domain purchased at the public center comes with one guild establishment right.”

Wen Nan nodded and made his decision. “Good. I’ll take it!”

The receptionist stared at him in disbelief—

No way, was this really a player who, just after clearing the trial instance, had enough money to buy a private domain?