Desolate World

Troy just got up from the capsule with an ugly expression. He didn't feel great these days as many things didn't go well in the game. However, today he was really angry.

"Damn it! Sunny Gulf Guild, you did too far this time," Troy cursed.

After his initial success as a speculant, he invested all of his wealth in the game. He had gained a good reputation among the craftsmen in the Ivy Cape. The majority of them became his regulars after they enjoyed the benefit of buying the materials from him. 

Some of them even asked him to sell their products in the auction. However, with a bitter smile, Troy had to decline. Not like materials, the equipment and potions were more difficult to profit. 

After all, no one bought equipment in bulk. The players usually only bought whatever they needed to replace their broken or lower-level ones. So no one could predict the fluctuation of their prices, as every player had their circumstances.

As for potions, They were hotter than materials, but because of that, their prices were always stable. Although expensive, no players would hesitate to buy them, before they went on an adventure. As potions were like their safety ropes, they could save their lives in an emergency.

Despite that, Troy could build a firm foundation of his business by renting a small shop not far from the auction house. At least, that what he had thought in the beginning. Until a variable popped up disturbing his good days.

Troy had expected he would get competitors as his reputation among the NPC raised. And it indeed happened. A few days after he opened his stand, a few players tried to do the same. However, as Troy expected, no one could duplicate his success. 

The reasons were basically two. Either they didn't have what was needed to be a speculant or they didn't have enough capital. 

As a speculant, you needed to be able to read the price fluctuations of the commodities. And then you needed to comprehend the trend of up and down of each commodity's price.

Besides that, Troy had the advantage of the forerunner of the business, so with his reputation alone, he had left behind all of his competitors by miles.

However, everything changed when a big guild was founded by a player with name Gilbert. He founded the Sunny Gulf Guild quite late, But with money approachment, he could recruit many players. Almost half of the top rankers of Evy Cape joined the guild. 

He also approached Troy to become his right-hand man. He promised Troy to give him one of the executive positions in the emerging guild. He just had to hand over his shop and he would get 3% of the guild's monthly profit.

He also promised to protect his security in the game and have him an authority to move some member of the guild if he wanted.

Actually, it was a good offer. However, for Troy that had just tasted the sweetness of success, he refused it flatly.

"If I accepted his offer…," Troy really regretted his decision back then. 

Had been living in the stable environment of a sanctuary where every people was living under the law of the union, made him forget the ugly sides of people when rule and law couldn't reach them.

Few days after his rejection, Gilbert didn't do anything to disturb Troy. The Sunny Gulf Guild just continued to recruit many players. Just that, its target was no longer the elite players of Ivy Cape. They started to approach common players.

Gilbert no longer used money when approaching these players. He offered protection of the guild and some 'benefits' to them. One of the benefits was they could sell their harvest to the guild at a lower price but they would get some guild points that they could use to get some special products of the guild in the future.

Many people were just like Troy. They refused to join the guild. After all, they didn't need such protection or future benefits. They just were content with their new way to earn credits. Furthermore, the atmosphere of Ivy Cape was quite stable and peaceful until that point.

However, the Sunny Gulf Guild could still convince more than a hundred common players to join it. Without everyone realizing it, a giant was growing in their village.

It just needed two weeks for Sunny Gulf Guild to consolidate its organization. Then on a certain peaceful day, Troy realized that he was targeted by the guild.

Yes, he was the one that the guild dealt with first. On that day, a shop just beside his shop changed hands. Surprisingly, he got an invitation to the opening of the shop.

He felt strange about that invitation. After all, it was just a small shop. It was just too extravagant to hold an opening ceremony for the shop.

Nevertheless, he still came. To his surprise, many NPCs that became his regulars also came. He greeted all of them. Some polite female players that acted as maids gave them snacks and drinks. 

However, his mood going worse when Gilbert entered the shop with some elites from Sunny Gulf Guild. Although, there was no provocation was done that day. Troy felt his days wouldn't be peaceful like before.

In the beginning, the shop of Sunny Gulf Guild that was named 'Sunny Gulf' didn't compete with him. They became the first official shop of the guild. It sold equipment and potions. Many of its products were the products of the craftsmen of the village either NPCs or players. 

In a short time, Sunny Gulf Guild and its shop gained quite a reputation in the village, because many discounts and promotion events were held by the shop. The prices of many commodities in the shop were also somewhat similar to the things that were sold in the auction.

It was actually normal, because the auction charged the buyer 10% of the value of the transaction. So for the craftsmen and players, it was actually the same to do transactions either in the shop or in the auction. Except, for the craftsmen. Seeing their products were worn by the guardians of the village, gave them a sense of accomplishment.

The members of the guild even could exchange their guild points with commodities in the shop. Many more players then decided to join the guild.

Troy's premonition was proved to be true, as one by one of his regulars began to stop coming to his shop. After he asked a few of his loyal customers, he knew that the Versatile guild offered them materials at the same price as his shop. Many craftsmen that sold their products to the guild then accepted that offer.

Troy realized that he got a formidable competitor. However, he was helpless. Their services to the craftsmen were really good. If he was a craftsman himself, he surely would do the same.

Despite the decrease in his profits, he wasn't discouraged. He even learned some things from them.

However, it seemed the Sunny Gulf Guild wasn't satisfied with just pressuring his business. They started to do nasty things. 

One day, one of his employees resigned from his shop. He frankly said that he got better pay from the shop next door. As a note, he was an NPC. So Troy could only accept it while gritting his teeth. 

Imagine! It was not easy to train an employee to do his job properly. Especially to teach an NPC that had low education. 

He didn't trust players very much, because they could delete their account. If a player stole his commodities and then sold them in the auction, after that deleting his account, Troy couldn't do anything besides cry.

The next day, he knew that the situation became serious. His two remaining employees also resigned for the same reason. 

With almost erupted emotion, he sent them out of the shop. What he hated the most was the fact that he couldn't do anything to them. He didn't want to be a black player by killing both of the traitors.

But, it seemed the Sunny Gulf Guild wouldn't be satisfied until he was out of the game. Just now, after buying some materials from the auction, some players killed him on his way to his shop. 

He lost some of his belongings because of it. He had counted, the value of the materials that were lost was more than 600 dirac. Although all of the robbers that had killed him were sent to their deaths by the guards afterward, no one of his belongings returned.

He could only go offline with a defeated feeling. He knew it was surely Sunny Gulf Guild that did it. But, what could he do?

He was just alone, and there were hundreds of them in the village.

After calming himself by having showers, he made a meal for having early breakfast.

As usual, he sat in his dining room and turned on the television. The show was quite normal, only an old comedy-drama that was produced a few years ago. 

He laughed at some scenes of it. It made his mood better by much. However, the breaking news made him completely forgot his problem.

"A series of powerful earthquakes occurred in the Pacific ring of fire regions. The magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck Japan Archipelago, 8.1 earthquake in the Easternmost of Philippines Archipelago, and 8.3 earthquake in the West Coast of North America at almost the same time. 

According to the Union, this series of earthquakes were caused by the sudden movement of Pacific plate. 

The Union's scientists still can not specify why such a sudden and pretty large movement occurred.

The earthquakes caused two tsunamis that struck the Western coast of North America and Japanese Archipelago.

Based on the press release from the Union, the damages that were caused by the earthquakes and tsunamis are very serious. more than 34 sanctuaries along the western coast of America and Japanese archipelago were impacted. And until now we can not contact Pacific Offshore City. 

The Union refused to give a further statement about this situation, but they have promised to hold a press conference about it immediately."

"Is it a lie right?" Troy tried to deny the news.

However, the continuous bad news from the web and television about the disaster that day, made him realized that the Earth that he was inhabiting was never in okay conditions. He just forgot about the fact, because it had been peaceful these few years. 

Like millions of Union citizens, that day Troy realized that once again, nature punished them for the past sin that their ancestors had done.

At least that was the common belief of the people.

***