100 POV D.L Is a Goddamn Cult! 1/2

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Yet another commotion was happening in New leaf Village as the players gasped in awe. 

[ 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! ] 

"Jack'O cleared yet another one!" 

"Oh yeah, that's his daily training by now, lol. " 

"100 situps, 100 pushups, 10 Km run, and a new dungeon!" 

"Wait, the chicken dungeon is higher level than the wolf one?!" 

"How the fuck is he even doing it? Think he'll give us a few tips?" 

"That's literally the #1 rule of D.L: don't bother the faction leader over trivial stuff." 

"You gotta respect the rules. Getting blacklisted from D.L. is literally the end of your account." 

They shook their head at the now shivering newbie who had talked about tips. The poor guy was new to the game and easy to identify from the lack of Demon King/unholy beast emblem. 

"Ah, whatever. It requires level 7 anyway. What do you guys want to do? More grinding or more D.L. training?" 

"Training." 

"Grinding!"

"Cutting wood!" 

"Wait…what?! Why would you do that?"

"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 recoup from the loss of buying an axe from that money-grubber Steven!" 

His friends patted his back sympathetically. They knew how expensive the NPC things could be. They were all so dedicated to bleeding them of their hard-earned coins.

An optimistic guy decided to cheer him up: 

"At least you got to use that D.L. 5% shop discount. I'm still not sure how the faction leader managed to negotiate that." 

"Yeah, thank god I joined the faction, haha. It totally changed my life!" 

"You're not the only one. I can't even picture myself not being in D.L.!" 

But the warm atmosphere was suddenly broken by a scoff: 

"What a bunch of brainless fanboys! Demonic Legion? More like Sheep Legion! Look, guys, you should get out while you still can. They're just trying to exploit you." a man chimed in, one that seemed like a cocky Newbie to them. 

By now, it was an accepted fact that game progression required a D.L. membership. Not a member? You're 100% trolling! Well, a few snowflakes still disagreed, and this man was one: 

"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!" 

As the man saw the sheeps' faces harden in anger, he shook his head with disappointment. 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. bullshit 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. He had been gaming since the launch three days ago, taking a few breaks in between, and had just reached level 4. 

By now, he had already successfully completed all the chicken slaughtering quests from the village chief and 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 magic, 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 so you can also become a wannabe mage like him. It lets you throw cool mana arrows at your target… until you run out of mana. Then you're about as useful as the rock in your hand." He chuckled as 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. That's what the instructors told us. So you probably should—"

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 shitty 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...