Chapter 47: Trust Issues (Part 3)

‘191 Unread Messages.’

Astrid #1: Alan? Where are you? I hope this isn’t a prank, you idiot!

Astrid #2: No, seriously. Where the hell are you? This isn’t funny!

Astrid #5: Are you there?

Astrid #11: If you’re reading this, please reply!

Astrid #32: Hi, Alan. Today I reached level 20, and I feel pretty powerful right now! Shooting Stars is in good hands. We are now a group of 10 people. Ten people joined our guild, Alan! Can you believe it! Once you return, I’ll introduce you to all of them. Especially this Helen gal, she is very talented and fights like a ninja. I didn’t even know there was a ninja class! And this Oscar guy, he’s super serious-looking, and Helen teases him all the time. It’s so funny to see him get all red-faced. Well, I hope you can read all of this so you can catch up to what I’ve been up to! Buh-bye!’

Astrid #104: Remember Kathleen? Well, guess what? She changed her class to Cryomancer! Ice Magic, Alan! Can you believe that?! I’m sure that she only changed classes so she could have a chance against me. That bitch! But by that time I had already ditched swords and lances, and focused on my fists, so she was in for a surprise when I started punching her ice shield. Ha! I’ve been training with this Theo guy, and he’s teaching me martial arts. He says that using my strength and my magic at the same time is totally possible. But I don’t know what kind of class I would turn into.

Astrid #115: Today, at The Novus’ first Anniversary, we learned that the gold you get inside the system is actually a cryptocurrency. So it’s real money, Alan! I don’t care one bit. Well, maybe a little, but getting rich is not one of my priorities! I just want to have fun and kick everyone’s ass!

Astrid #182: Once you return, we need to talk.

Astrid #185: Tamara said that I should start a new hobby. She says that being busy with all this guild crap is taking a toll on me. If she only knew the true reason I’m feeling like this… Well, I’ve listened to her advice. I’ve met new, nice people. The kind of people I don’t usually hang around. They are not warriors like me, so they have shown me a different perspective of living inside the Novus. Now that The Content Creators Patch has been released, they have gone crazy, producing an experimental reality show and a short series. They’re trying to see the limits on what kind of content we can produce ourselves, as Users. Their top priority: create new music because the tracks curated by the developers suck ass! They have my full endorsement on that one!

Astrid #188: There’s something I never told you. We met a couple of years prior to bumping into each other at Alvearium. Since we only spoke once, it’s obvious that you don’t remember me. You used to work at Kintech, right? Can you recall an incident regarding a Maid Automaton appointed to be turned into scrap? The day after that, you gave the owner a pendant made with a piece of that automaton’s power cell… Yeah…

Astrid #189: Maybe I should stop writing these messages. It’s not healthy. It was at the beginning, but not anymore. You know what I mean?

Astrid #190: I’m still hoping that you’ll come back.

Astrid #191: I bloody miss you.

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Ashley, a few feet behind Alan in her room, also received a system notification. She opened her User Interface and noticed a newly available tab: ‘Inbox’.

’15 Unread Messages.’

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After Marissa Laflamme convinced her Guild Master to come out to the back courtyard, she pulled a Mount Jewel from her inventory and summoned it without prior explanation. Moments later, an enormous phoenix capable of carrying three people on its back appeared, staring back at them. Truly a Legendary Beast, yet not even its magnificent crimson feathers reflecting the sunlight made Astrid Bradford gasp in awe.

“What the hell is this?” Astrid asked, grimacing.

“This is what you asked Marissa to retrieve, right?” Helen interjected. “Or could it be that our little croaky child here acted on her own? Hu-hu-hu.”

“Hey, Helen, ferme ta gueule!” Marissa snapped at the lanky, black-haired woman, who only smirked back.

“And I don’t know what that means! All I heard was: ‘croak, croak’.”

“It means ‘shut the F-up’! I never asked for your help, okay?! This is the best I could get!”

Astrid turned to her, perplexed. “Wait, let me get this straight. Did you steal this from Jason? Is that what this is all about?”

“Well, yes…” Marissa replied, shrugging, unable to meet her gaze. “It was the only way to recover most of the gold he stole…”

“Did you convince him to buy this?” Astrid placed both hands on her hips and gave her a bemused look. “Wow, Marissa, you’ve impressed me! I didn’t know you had it in you. This was a fantastic idea!”

Marissa blushed instantly and raised her chin proudly. “Of course it was! I’m always full of good ideas!”

“Although if I hadn’t been present, your genius plan would have failed miserably,” Helen giggled, leaving Marissa with her mouth agape.

“Terrific job, regardless,” Astrid said, turning back to admire the flying beast. “How much did it cost?”

“Eight million. It was intended as a present for Kathleen.”

Astrid’s eyes widened before a malicious grin formed on her lips. “Oh, I love this even more.”

Helen exhaled loudly, folding her arms. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. That little dose of ‘revenge dopamine’ is invaluable and all, but we still need to recover our money. So the question is, can we sell this, Bradford?”

“I have two people in mind who wouldn’t bat an eye spending that much gold,” Astrid replied while caressing the Mount’s shiny feathers. “But they’d do it as a favor for me, meaning I’d have to kiss some asses. In the meantime, give the Mount to Oscar. He’s in charge of the Guild’s Vault for now. And Marissa…” Astrid got close to her and grabbed her shoulder. “I’m glad that you stayed.”

“Guild Master.” Tamara approached the group and bowed slightly. “The aspirants are here.”

“We’ll talk later,” Astrid said, walking away.

“Sure,” Marissa whispered as a smirking Helen sneaked behind her and hugged her neck.

“Aww! It seems that you’ve regained our boss’ trust! So it was all worth it in the end, huh?” Helen then got closer to her ear. “But I wonder, how much gold did you sacrifice to get this result?”

“I wasn’t holding much,” Marissa shrugged. “Besides, I had fun. I finally fought William!”

“Who kicked your sorry ass.” Helen giggled and spanked her.

“S-Shut up!”

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Astrid sighed in relief and smirked at the sight of a group of close to thirty people waiting in the front yard. It’s a good thing that my fame holds to this day. Not bad for something we announced just yesterday.

“Welcome, everyone, and thank you for coming!” she shouted. “I presume you’re all here wishing to join Shooting Stars. In that case, we’ll hold some preliminary tests where…”

“Excuse me! Sorry to interrupt you, oh, powerful Golden Comet,” a guy wearing mage robes shouted. “But before you continue, maybe you could tell us what the hell happened here?” The man pointed at the half-destroyed building inside the Headquarters’ grounds.

People around Astrid frowned at his audacity, while others looked at her, intrigued.

“What do you mean?” Astrid asked patiently.

“Well, Shooting Stars is the guild that protects this city, isn’t it? But according to the reports, not all of its members helped repel yesterday’s menace. Speaking of the announcement that brought us here, it doesn’t even state how many open positions are available. 10? 20, 50? Should we be worried? Does this speak about your leadership skills?”

Astrid stared at him with a serene expression before snickering. “Guys! You know about me, right? I’m sure you’ve watched my Battle Streams.” She gazed at them, finding nodding heads and looks of approval. “Then you know that I have zero tolerance for bullshit. So! Do you want to join me, or do you want to listen to this arsehole?!” The crowd cheered at her, and those closest to the failed instigator pushed him out of sight. “Very well, then! My First Officer will give you the details for the first test!”

As Tamara stepped forward to announce the selection procedure, Astrid received a message notification.

From Alan Warden. Huh?!

She opened it immediately and read:

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‘Thank you for writing to me almost daily. I’ve read all of your adventures here in The Novus, and I’m glad to know that you’ve enjoyed a very fulfilling life, as a Guild Master, and as a fellow adventurer. Keep living your life to your fullest, and never forget to have fun!’

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W-What do you mean by adventures?! Astrid pondered about it for a couple of seconds before hurriedly opening her Social Tab. All the messages she had sent to him for over a year and a half had the ‘Read’ mark on them.

She half-gasped, almost out of breath, before screaming out loud. “Kyaaaaaaah!”

Everyone present turned to her, some startled or amused.

“Hey.” A man in the crowd elbowed his friend. “I’ve been watching most of her Streams, and I didn’t know she could sound like that… You know what I mean?”

“Girly?” His friend chuckled. “It sounded cute, actually. It makes me want to really join this guild.”

“What is it, Guild Master?” Tamara asked, alarmed.

“He read them all!”

“Who read them all? Wait, read what?”

“I’d forgotten all about those messages! Oh, my—!” As she was finishing her sentence, a late candidate landed her mount a few feet away from the crowd. Astrid stared at the blue pelican for a second before screaming again. “KYAAAAAAAH”

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