MMORPG: Crowd Control

"What kind of beneficial rewards?" Lei Zhen asked in a deadpan tone. The last time he heard that he was backstabbed and killed by Robert Knightman.

If it weren't for the fact that he was in a game and not real life, then he would have been dead already.

Not to mention, the stab he received from Robert still traumatized him a bit. After all, one can feel pain in this game that was overly realistic.

Albert coughed for a moment.

He then said, "I might be a bartender in public, but I'm secretly an informant. That means I can give you a lot of intel that no one else knows about and that you would have a headstart in things."

"Hmm, are you sure your intel is one of a kind?"

"Of course, I wouldn't dare to lie to someone entrusted by my idol. Not to mention, the citizens of Yors would decimate me if they ever learned about it."

Lei Zhen rubbed his chin slightly.

Although Albert looked believable at first sight, he knew better than to blindly trust him completely. He had no prior information regarding Albert Freedman and the only claim was provided by him.

Thus, Lei Zhen was unwilling to be a greenhorn and believe in whatever Albert had said.

"I see… then do you know where the adventure guild is? I still haven't registered myself as an adventurer." Lei Zhen asked.

"Oh, the adventure guild is at the center plaza. It should be easy to spot because it's the only large building there considering the traffic amount of people entering and leaving there."

"Alright, then I'll see you later."

"Huh? Don't you want to rent an inn here? The Town of Wales gets pretty spooky during the nighttime so I think it's best that you rent an inn first before anything else. Magical beasts usually roam around the perimeter of the town." Albert warned him, thinking that it was better to listen to his advice.

Lei Zhen pondered for a moment and tried to recall the wording from Shan Lin.

'Hmm, Shan Lin did remind me that it was essential to rent an inn once I logged into Magnolia. The inn would be like a safehouse for the player and could not be infiltrated.'

"Alright then, please register an inn for me," Lei Zhen calmly said.

"Very well, I'll get all the procedure done for you while you make your way toward the adventure guild."

"Un, later," Lei Zhen waved his hand and bid farewell.

By the time he exited the inn, he could tell some people were still curious about him and were following behind. It didn't surprise him much that some would be overly curious and would try their best to unravel their doubts.

'Even though many years have passed, people are still curious no matter what.' Lei Zhen sighed inwardly. There was nothing he could do about the situation.

The group of people followed Lei Zhen for some minutes and finally realized he was heading toward the adventure guild.

"Wait a minute, doesn't his gear look like a new player?"

"Yeah, his outfit seemed to be from the Novice Set which we all got when we first started Magnolia."

"..."

The group was no longer interested in Lei Zhen when they realized he was just a newbie and that they might have been mistaken regarding the bartender's expression.

After all, they did have a few alcoholic drinks, and considering how Magnolia is a 100% immersive VRMMORPG, the feeling of getting drunk can be felt in the game as well.

Lei Zhen could finally breathe a sigh of relief when he felt their presence disappear.

'Phew, thank god these people have finally left. It was suffocating to be getting trailed on when I'm not even special or famous.' He thanked silently.

Sometime later, Lei Zhen finally saw the gigantic building with the label adventure guild sign clad in golden ink.

It didn't surprise him when there were multiple adventures entering and leaving, with some even having some silver armor and high-quality equipment.

Occasionally, he would see two or three people camping outside and recruiting some adventurers to join their team. This didn't baffle Lei Zhen since he had seen teams before when he was being chased by a horde of Goblin Mob.

Ignoring the shouting from the recruiters, Lei Zhen entered the adventure guild and was instantly embroiled in a different kind of atmosphere.

Unlike the gloomy atmosphere that he always thought about, the adventure guild was dazzling and filled with many joyful people. The lighting on the ceiling was so bright that it created a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

In addition, there are no brazen men roaming around the guild, and everyone seemed to be well-dressed and chatting casually with their members.

'Now this is what I call never believe in something until you see it with your own eyes.' Lei Zhen thought, feeling completely deceived by all those novels and manga's portrayal of a guild being a disorientated place.

Everything was so lawful here with even some guards being dispatched around to maintain the order, meaning no one would be dumb enough to cause a ruckus and land themselves troubles.

Meanwhile, thanks to the unnatural movement of Lei Zhen, he was quickly recognized by one of the staff behind the counter.

"Hello, have you just gotten to the Town of Wales and are trying to register as an adventurer?"

Lei Zhen raised an eyebrow. He tilted his head left and right before spotting who was the speaker.

It was a mature woman clad in a shamrock green dress and was smiling brightly at Lei Zhen while waving her hand to echo him forward.

Lei Zhen slowly walked toward the woman and asked, "Yes, are you the person responsible for registering new people?"

"Indeed, I'm Thalia Frost, but you can just call me Thalia. I'm a contracted guild worker assigned to this branch and my responsibility is to guide new people on how a guild works." The matured woman, Thalia said smilingly.