Chapter 62: Chapter 62
Chapter 62: Creating the First Guild
“Ding! [Hundredfold Reward] triggered. Loot acquired: Wrought-Iron Battleaxe (Silver-grade).”
Jiang Chen smacked his lips. He had killed so many waves of mutated ogres, and only now did one finally drop a silver-grade item.
These days, more and more people were entering Hope World, but the drop rates for equipment remained pathetically low—enough to make anyone anxious.
In the beginning, many poor folks couldn’t even afford food, let alone dream of mixing it up in the gaming world. But now that major guilds had started offering salaries to recruit players, lots of them were coming into Hope World just to earn a meal.
This was a strategy that large guilds had no choice but to adopt—since the drop rates were low, they had to make up for it with sheer numbers. That’s also why the gear of elite guild players wasn’t too far behind Jiang Chen’s.
Jiang Chen had read some stats: the number of players in Hope World had already exceeded 19.1 billion. That was an absolutely staggering figure.
In other words, two-thirds of the world’s population were active in the virtual realm—and that number was still rising. It wouldn’t be long before people started calling it a world of universal hope.
Of course, that was just a joke.
The real world’s situation wasn’t exactly optimistic. It still required many people to maintain order. If it weren’t for the widespread support of mechanical security forces, it would’ve been impossible for so many to be immersed in Hope World.
After more than an hour in Falling Rock Valley, Jiang Chen still hadn’t leveled up. Now, even he was starting to feel the difficulty of leveling.
Killing monsters was easy for Jiang Chen, but finding them was time-consuming. That’s why, even after all this time, his experience was only at 85%.
[Level: Lv23 (1.78M/2.10M EXP)]
While the ogre-hunting quest had long since been completed, the Ogre Chieftain had yet to appear. That guy must be holed up somewhere in seclusion. Without a quest marker, it was hard to track down.
The other ogres were all thick-headed. Even when facing death, they refused to reveal their boss’s location—so Jiang Chen had no choice but to send them off permanently.
During this time, Jiang Chen’s pet Xiao Rongyan had already caught up to his level.
[Lava King — Xiao Rongyan]
Rarity: Gold-tier BOSS
Skills: [Body of Lava], [Lava Armor]
Skill: [Lava King’s Taunt]: Provokes all enemies within 50 yards (5 meters), increases physical damage resistance by 20%, lasts 5 seconds, 30-second cooldown.
Description: Born from a rare spiritual stone known as the Heart of Lava, this creature developed sentience within molten rock, becoming a being of immense power—the Lava King.
With 23,000 HP and 575 DEF, honestly, no one would want to go up against this thing. Plus, all three of its skills were defense-focused—it was hard to get excited about it offensively.
Jiang Chen continued his slaughter spree against the mutated ogres. At that moment, a global system announcement echoed across the server.
“Ding! Server Announcement (World): Player Huaxia Junhun has used a Guild Founding Token to establish the first ever player guild, [Chinese Dragon Soul]. A historic feat to be forever etched into the annals of legend!”
“As the first guild founder, Player Huaxia Junhun is rewarded with: Reputation +20,000, Luck +3, Gold +100, EXP +70,000, Guild EXP +1,000,000.”
“So the Wei Clan moved fast,” Jiang Chen chuckled. But he didn’t feel any envy—after all, he was the one who sold them the Guild Founding Token.
The server-wide announcement boomed like thunder, and since it was a world announcement, players across the globe could see it.
Instantly, the player base exploded in discussion.
Of course, the happiest were the China players. Forums and chat channels were in a frenzy.
“Huaxia Junhun is badass!”
“Glory to China, long live the Dragon Soul!”
“I’m proud to be China! I’m proud to be a descendant of the dragon!”
“Xiong Songtao, Class 2-3, China No. 2 High School, saluting!”
“China is the dragon of the East—and always will be!”
“I live outside the protected zones, but every time I see the Five-Star Red Flag flying, I salute it. I’ve always believed that Mother China hasn’t abandoned us—it’s just that she has too many children to protect them all.”
“China, your children have grown up. This time, let us protect you! Chinese Dragon Soul, please let me join!”
“Saluting with tears in my eyes…”
For the first time ever, all 7 billion China players were unified in spirit. The entire forum was filled with tributes to Mother China.
In this apocalyptic era, such a scene was incredibly rare. At the very least, nothing like it had happened in the past 20 years.
“What’s this ‘Chinese Dragon Soul’ nonsense? Dragons originally symbolized our culture. China people are so shameless.”
“That Lone Ranger guy stole our First Kill with dirty tricks. Utterly shameless.”
“Exactly. We Koreans are the true dragon’s descendants.”
Korean players were still spouting nonsense—until they saw the reactions in China.
There, everyone was saluting their homeland, as if the glory days from 50 years ago had returned.
“Ugh… I don’t know why, but I… can’t stop crying.”
“Maybe the China players aren’t so bad after all. Aish… what am I even saying…”
“Sniff… Come on China, and come on Korea. Let’s all be safe.”
Players across the globe chimed in:
“Stay strong! We all need to survive!”
“Go China! America won’t fall behind either!”
“Wada-shi wa… A real man doesn’t cry…sniff.”
“Go China, go world!”
“May you be safe. May the world be safe. Amen.”
“Let’s all do our part. No one gets left behind. The world… will get better.”
No doubt about it—Huaxia Junhun’s move was masterful.
Exiting the forums, Jiang Chen turned his attention back to the monsters in Falling Rock Valley.
He found a massive cave hidden in a fault-line deep in the valley. As he stepped in a few paces, a putrid stench hit his nose, and he began to hear layers upon layers of chaotic noise.
Pressing forward, Jiang Chen soon spotted a large number of mutated ogres—or rather, they were no longer simply mutated.
They were completely demonized.