Chapter 118: You Thought Building a Clan Was the End of Spending?
As the two conversed,
Soulmount Ridge and the Blood Wasteland were already swarming with players.
Even the Four Great Ninja Villages, which were still busy digesting the spoils of Konoha in reality, had hurried to log into the game.
The rivalry between Dawn and Kirigakure had reached a boiling point.
In the warehouses, all kinds of materials and gear were being sold off to accumulate reward points and buy silver-tier materials from solo players.
Although most elite players were ninjas,
there were also civilian players who had reached the top ranks through skill and effort.
They hadn't joined any faction, but banded together to hunt the hell-difficulty Soulcamp.
While their clear rate was low, they occasionally obtained silver-tier [Sarina's Hearts].
"Lady Paper Flower,"
said a Dawn player in a Level 15 green mage robe, "We've sold almost everything in the warehouse. We can't touch the remaining points—they're needed to keep the faction running."
Purple hair flowing and expression cold, Konan nodded. "Twenty-seven silver hearts. That's likely the most players could gather in this time frame. Even if Kirigakure is hiding some materials, they can't outpace us now."
In months of gameplay, even ignoring newer players,
the number of elite players who could clear hell-difficulty dungeons barely exceeded a thousand.
And the silver materials they dropped were pitifully rare.
It was unlikely the entire server had even fifty pieces.
"Lady Paper Flower, we spent all our saved reward points… couldn't we wait until Kirigakure or Sunagakure builds their clans and the price of silver hearts drops?"
A wrinkled, pale Dawn player asked in confusion.
Like many Rain Country civilians, he had that same unhealthy complexion. Years of hard labor and no sunlight had aged him prematurely.
He was one of the first players recruited—his early access and desperate desire to change his life had earned him a spot in Dawn's leadership. He managed the warehouse.
Konan shook her head slightly. "According to Samsara Game rules, the first faction to hunt a boss-tier Corrupted Creature gets a first-kill reward. So it stands to reason that the first clan to be founded will also be given a bonus."
"But if that was all, the Game Merchant wouldn't leave a five-hour window for expanding clan territory."
Her always-calm face flickered with emotion—displeasure. "Clearly, it's to force competition between players—to drain our reward point stockpiles."
And it had worked.
The option to expand clan territory had utterly drained both major factions of every last point they had.
And yet, they had no choice but to pay.
One silver heart after another was fed into the clan token. The area of white light grew steadily.
Boom.
As white light cascaded down, a massive stone tablet descended from the sky.
Around it, a ring of walls sprang up, quickly enclosing the designated territory and barring all players except Konan from entering.
Clan territory was restricted—no one could enter without an officer's permission.
[Clan territory selection complete. Please name your clan.]
[Dawn.]
As Konan entered the name, the stone tablet began shedding stone dust, as if master artisans were carving the word "Dawn" into it.
A new window popped open:
[Dawn Clan]
Clan Level: 1
Clan Emblem: None
Clan Buildings: Clan Monument (if destroyed, the clan is disbanded), Level 1 Walls
Clan Leader: Paper Flower
Clan Officers: None
Clan Members: 1/200
...
The server chat lit up with a new system announcement.
[Game Merchant]: Congratulations to player [Paper Flower] for founding the Dawn Clan. Because Dawn is the first clan established in the Ninja Newbie Village, a special reward [Clan Emblem (Permanent)] will be awarded if the clan maintains the top rank for three days.
"There really is a reward!"
Konan smiled in satisfaction.
Reading further, the rules stated the reward would only be granted if the clan stayed on top for a full three days.
The implication: if another new clan surpassed them, Dawn would lose the bonus.
But how was "surpassing" determined?
Curious, Konan opened the expanded section.
[Clan rankings are currently unavailable. For now, rank is determined by clan territory size.]
"Good. No one has more silver materials than we do. No one should be able to beat Dawn's territory size."
She finally breathed a small sigh of relief.
All the reward points spent buying up silver hearts hadn't been wasted.
If nothing major happened, the special reward was as good as theirs.
"All eligible Dawn players, enter the clan now!"
"Once we level up, we'll open recruitment for new members."
A Level 1 clan could only hold a limited number of members. To expand, the clan had to level up and build more residences.
Even though the territory consisted of nothing but a stone tablet and a ring of walls, everyone was excited.
This was the first clan in the Samsara Game.
Server chat was ablaze with conversation:
"I knew the Dawn players would be the first to form a clan. Paper Flower's wealth is bottomless. Of course it'd be her."
"Did you see the special reward? Kirigakure's buying up silver hearts like crazy. You think they'll back down quietly?"
Sure enough, not long after that message, another announcement appeared.
[Game Merchant]: Congratulations to player [Light of the Mist] for founding the Kirigakure Clan. Due to an increase in the number of clans, the special reward [Clan Emblem (Permanent)] will be awarded to the top-ranking clan in three days.
"No more silver hearts?"
Mei Terumi's smile remained gentle, but her eyes were hard.
Kirigakure scouts had just reported back.
Dawn had used twenty-seven silver-tier materials. Their territory exceeded Kirigakure's by a large margin.
She wanted that special reward too.
"All the silver hearts from solo players have been sold. We were too slow. Dawn snatched more than half."
"The Merchant Alliance still has five left—but they're asking for 90,000 points each."
The Kirigakure warehouse chief fumed.
The Merchant Alliance were vampires—price-gouging parasites.
"Forget it."
Mei waved her hand. "Any idea what the special reward actually does?"
She excelled at leadership and battle strategy. But others in the clan were better at detailed analysis.
Ao stepped forward and bowed slightly. "I just finished reading the clan introduction. The [Clan Emblem] is a special item that provides buffs to the entire clan."
"Each week, the clan leader gets one chance to purchase a random emblem. After activation, it grants a random clan-wide buff. Cost: 100,000 reward points."
Mei's elegant eyes widened. "How much?!"
"One hundred thousand."
Ao repeated the figure, resigned to his leader's shock.
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 20 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Frank10