Ethan felt Lyla slip her arm through his. A subtle warmth spread through him, and a knowing, almost imperceptible smile touched the corners of his lips.
"Uh... Boss? Did you forget sothing?"
They had taken barely two steps before the figure of Mad Engineer reappeared in front of them. Ethan frowned. It seed the guy had already reverted to his usual, irreverent self.
"Forget what? Don’t waste my ti! Go copy and break down those schematics, then get back to your research. I’ll find you once all the components are processed."
"Boss, I can’t do shit—er, I can’t get anything started without cash!" Mad Engineer whined, his face a picture of misery. The twenty-thousand-plus gold Ethan had given him earlier? He’d dumped it all on the floor back in the hall. His pockets were now completely empty.
"Oh..."
Ethan felt a flicker of embarrassnt. Without another word, he waved his hand, and a heavy coin purse materialized, which he tossed to Lyla. It was a silent understanding between them; she would complete the transaction. Ethan was still wary of direct trades with Mad Engineer, wanting to avoid any potential system arbitration triggers.
Mad Engineer took the money, his deanor instantly shifting to one of gleeful excitent.
"Thanks, Boss! Thanks, Boss Lady!" he chirped before scampering off like his tail was on fire.
...
"Ethan, where are we going?"
Lyla followed Ethan out of the Guild Hall, noticing he wasn’t heading for the city’s central Teleportation Circle. Instead, he was making his way toward Harmony City’s administrative district.
"Going to the Club Registry office."
They moved at a brisk pace, and as they walked, Ethan explained about the Druids he’d seen earlier and the strange club they ntioned. Lyla listened, her curiosity visibly piqued.
Entering the Club Registry hall, Ethan went straight to the main interface panel. As expected, the vast display listed only a single club.
Its na... [Hungry Moonkin]!
"Seriously? That na makes hungry just looking at it," Ethan muttered under his breath.
"Ethan... Ethan, look! This club has so many mbers! Over five million!" Lyla suddenly exclaid, her voice hushed with shock.
Hearing the number, Ethan’s eyes snapped to the mber count.
mbers: 5,684,685
"Holy..." Ethan was dumbstruck by the sheer size.
"Ethan, I can’t apply. It’s restricted by class. Only Druids can join." Lyla had tried to send an application but was imdiately blocked by the system. It wouldn’t even let her try.
Ethan hesitated for a mont after hearing this. Finally, he clicked the ’Apply to Join’ button.
[Ding... System Notification: Congratulations! You have joined the club [Hungry Moonkin]!]
"Hide character na!" Ethan commanded the system the instant he was in. It was his first action.
"Hey... did I just see things? I thought I saw the Druid God join for a second."
"I saw it too, I think! But the na in the system alert is hidden now."
"Was it really him?"
In the few seconds it took Ethan to join and hide his na, a handful of sharp-eyed players had still caught a glimpse. The chatter was already starting.
Ethan opened the club roster. Sure enough, it was populated entirely by Druids. No wonder the club was nad ’Hungry Moonkin’...
In the few minutes after Ethan joined, a steady trickle of new Druids continued to enter. This massive collective was still growing. And then, he saw the ssage pinned to the club’s main announcent board:
"If the day cos when the Druid God calls, we will follow for a thousand miles."
That single sentence sent a jolt straight through Ethan’s heart. He never imagined he had such a vast, dedicated following.
Looking at the club’s internal quest board, he saw it was segnted by server regions and national boundaries. Seeing this confird it: this club was cross-server, a global community. In that context, five million mbers suddenly didn’t seem so large, considering the imnse total player base of Ethereal.
Scanning the posted tasks, they were almost all courier runs, with a few for gathering and collecting resources. It seed Druids really were struggling to get by.
Ethereal didn’t allow second characters or class changes. In his previous life, even after four years, the ga had never introduced that feature. He imagined Druids back then had it even worse than they did now. After all, in this life, he was the one who completed that quest, reached Dreamwood Grove and activated the Druids’ primordial birthplace. He was the reason the Ancestral blessing had flowed into Ethereal, upgrading all Druid players’ stat growth to 12 stars from the original 10. It was only because of that, that Druids now had stat growth on par with other classes.
But Druids were still the only class in Ethereal with four distinct specializations. Four completely different roles: Tank, Healer, lee Damage, Ranged Damage. And because of that, they were the ultimate jack-of-all-trades. Many other classes had multiple specializations, but none were as comprehensively spread as the Druid. Mages had three specializations, all purely offensive. Warriors had Shield Tank, Weapon Master, and Berserker. The Paladin was sowhat similar, but its healing capabilities were exceptionally strong, while its Retribution and Protection specs, though slightly less dominant, at least had one clearly powerful path.
Druids, however, were true generalists. No single specialization was top-tier, but none were entirely unviable either. On the contrary, they could be played in a huge variety of ways. They just weren’t the first choice for most optimized PvE raid groups.
The minor stir caused by his joining the club quickly died down. With so many mbers, most of the chat was focused on finding work and making a living.
Looking out at this sea of players, an idea began to form in Ethan’s mind. He checked the Northern Frontier Region subgroup; it alone had over a hundred and twenty thousand Druids. That was an enormous potential network. This massive group was already engaged in courier and delivery services. So, why not partner with them?
Opening the quest publishing system, he thought for a mont, then posted a notice to the entire Hungry Moonkin club under the banner of his All-You-Need Chain Stores. It was less of a quest and more of a proposed partnership agreent.
The contents were as follows:
The [All-You-Need Chain Stores] hereby extends a reseller program to all Druid players within the [Hungry Moonkin] club.
Reseller Range: All items available for purchase at [All-You-Need Potions] and [All-You-Need Engineering].
Discount: A flat 5% discount from the current shelf price.
Priority Access: All Hungry Moonkin club Druids will have access to a dedicated, express service window. No waiting in line.
Terms & Conditions:
1. Upon accepting this agreent, the reseller may not purchase goods for resale from any other in-ga store.
2. This agreent can only be accepted once. It has an indefinite duration. If abandoned, it cannot be reacquired.
3. When purchasing goods from an All-You-Need store, the reseller must present a verified purchase order from another player.
4. All goods must be sold to the end custor at the standard shelf price. No kickbacks, undercutting, or price manipulation is permitted.
This agreent, its stipulations, and enforcent are hereby placed under the binding supervision of the Ethereal World Contract System.
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