MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

At the training camp, a crowd was intently staring at the one they called Demon King. Jack made sure he had their undivided attention before he spoke slowly and audibly:

“All of you, I have exciting news!” He paused to raise the tension. “I have just decided to establish a faction that will support new players.”

The players began gasping in shock. The Demon King was making a move, and they were the first to hear about it. This was fucking huge! They perked their ears, captive to the man’s words.

“This new player guidance will be 100% free and available to all without exception. But, seeing you all playing on day 2, I’m guessing many of you aren’t or soon won’t be Newbies, am I right?”

They all nodded. Of course, they weren’t Newbies! They were the pioneers of Infinite. They were the ones that would storm the game and create legends— or so they all hoped. Did this mean this wouldn’t be for them?

“For any experienced player, we will offer a membership option for further guidance and various benefits.” There it was! How could they join?! This is what they needed.

“Joining will be as simple as paying the membership fee, and then one will be able to benefit from all the advantages. It will cost….” Jack took his time to finish his sentence.

The players held their breath as their hearts thumped. Had anyone else been speaking, they would have thought him a scammer, but this was the Demon King! They could only hope they’d be able to afford it.

“….40 silvers or 40 fox corpses or 20 wolf corpses.” He announced.

What?! That was all?! They had expected some incredibly high price, but this was surprisingly manageable. The village chief charged 100 fox corpses for a single armor piece and the other NPCs 70 (required affinity).

“The funds will finance the operation of the faction as well as all the services it will provide. This will include protection against PK, butchering services, party finder, training and—….”

The players all assumed that Jack was raising tension once again, but there was actually a window that had popped in front of his eyes.

[Disturbance detected IRL, would you like to log out?]

“Ah, I have to do something IRL real quick. Talk to you all later and take care!” Jack quickly waved them goodbye before disappearing in a flash of purple light.

The players were left standing there shellshocked. What the hell?! What sort of anticlimactic exit was that? They wanted to fucking know more! If he weren’t the Demon King, they would have felt like beating him!

Instead, they began to analyze all that had happened:

“I was expecting this all to be super expensive, but nope! It’s manageable.”

“Yeah, it’s 100% worth it to delay an armor piece and join.”

“Just the training from the demon King is worth it!”

“Then there are all the other services included.”

“I can’t wait to join and get my emblem!”

“Guys, it’s cool and all, but WTF was that?!”

“Establishing a faction? We’re lucky he did!”

“No, no! He logged out…with purple light?!”

That’s when all the players jerked up in shock. That guy was right! They had been so focused on the news that they hadn’t even realized! Then again, could they expect anything ordinary from the Demon King? Hell no!

But that’s when one suddenly pointed to the nearby training instructor.

Igor was deep in reflection. He was wordlessly staring at the spot Jack had disappeared, in shock. There seemed to be a thousand thoughts flashing on his solemn face. In the sudden silence, the players heard him mumble to himself:

“Is he really a brave?” But then Igor returned to his usual self, shrugging it off. He was better off not trying to understand that crazy guy.

The bystanders were left utterly stunned.

Was he really a brave?! What was that even supposed to mean?! That’s how the NPC called the players, right? What the hell was he if he wasn’t a player?! Was this all because of the purple log-out aura?!

The players suddenly became deathly quiet, picturing so many possibilities. They felt like they had just stumbled upon a huge Infinite secret! Yet they didn’t fucking know how to react to this!

They stared shellshocked as they felt their brain about to overload. That’s when the training instructor turned toward them.

“Do you guys want to see the faction emblems? They’re adorable! Actually, what’s up with you all? It’s almost like you’ve seen a ghost.” Igor chuckled.

The players couldn’t help but twitch. Whose fault was it! For now, they would soothe their fast-beating heart by gazing at the cute design…but holy shit!

They would film their friends’ reactions when they told them about the faction and the brave thingy. This would be memorable…

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Jack awoke to the screams of an old man— not the most peaceful of rousing for sure.

“Hey, can you hear me?! How does this thing work?! Do I just pry it off his head?!… Wait, no, this is his job. What if he gets yelled at by his boss?” It ended as mumbles of a confused man.

Jack slowly rose, removing the VR helmet.

“Hey, I’m back. For future reference, there is a button on the side that you can press gently to send a message inside the game.” Jack patiently explained.

“Ah, I’ll remember it. Anyway, I got your message. What was that about? What do you need help with? Whatever it is, I’ll do my best. If it’s about the debt, let’s—”

“Nope. I need you to draft me a legally binding contract. I want one that is airtight, and I don’t really want to spend on a lawyer right now.” Jack shrugged.

The old man instantly frowned.

“You know that I’ve been disbarred centuries ago.” He sighed deeply.

“Who cares? Anyone can write a contract. You just happen to know how and I trust you. Plus, it’s not like you lost your license from a fault of your own.”

“This does not matter one bit. In this world, credibility is everything, and I’ve long lost that. Plus, the ban won’t ever be revoked due to some special circumstances involved….” He profoundly said.

“Meh, whatever. Anyway, you know how I’ve been gaming professionally. They just added the option to export videos from the game. I want to make money off this by uploading it to sites like MeTube.”

“Good idea, even a dinosaur like me knows about videos. Still, I sense a but coming.”

“But, I heard rumors that Infinite will launch its own video platform shortly. So I really don’t feel like going through the hassle of setting up an account only to ditch it later on.”

“Wouldn’t Infinite try to poach creators from whatever other platforms there are? There should be a way to transfer, no?”

“Transfer? Yes. Except, I’d have to revamp it no matter what. This new platform will be like the new generation ones that are watched in VR.”

“Eh, you should be careful. Many people are not familiar with VR. Take me, for example. I’ll always use a phone since it’s also a work tool.” The old man wisely advised.

“Don’t worry about that. It will be compatible with phones too. Anyway, I want to slowly build a name for myself without actually publishing. I’ll be looking for a temporary partner.”

“I see. So that’s why you want to cover all the bases. I’ll do it for you but on one condition. You cannot ever tell anyone that I had any part to do in it.” He solemnly said.

“Sure, thanks a lot! I’ll text you a few requirements.” Jack knew he could count on him.

The old man left the room, grumbling about now having so much studying to do. This was how much he cared. He would research until he was 100% certain that the contract he drafted was perfect.

Knowing him, it wouldn’t take too long. Even if he was rusty from the lack of practice, he remained one of the best, at least in Jack’s heart.

To the rulers of this world, he was a potential danger, even if innocent. He would never be allowed to be in a position of power. His crime was to have shown kindness to the wrong man, one who had turned out to destroy a country.

He freaking had to pull strings to be able to work as a janitor in a hospital!

Jack had actually learned of this in his past life through complete coincidence. It had felt so damn surreal that he had felt like his whole life had been a lie. Hell, he didn’t know the details either.

Anyway, this was all in the past. As long as he focused on protecting them right now, everything would be fine.

Jack quickly began browsing MeTube and Twitching in search of the perfect partner. He was akin to a fashionista deciding what to wear or a single-player gamer picking what to play.

Not this one, not this one either, definitely not this one! There were so many VR games and content creators out there!

Now, what should he use as criteria?

Jack quickly realized one huge issue: the lack of footage. This meant that he would have to find a potential partner based on their previous videos yet had to make sure they had a deep interest in Infinite.

There were so many to sort through! He diligently kept browsing, classifying them into various categories.

The competitive ones: They would showcase PVP, PVE and do whatever it took to become stronger in-game. They were the pro-gamers.

The informative ones: They tended to publish more guides than gameplay and were the ones that leaned more toward an analyst job.

The variety streamers: They were all about having fun and making sure their fans had a good time. They were professional entertainers.

The noobs: They published videos with high motivation, little planning, and barely had views. Jack wasn’t especially looking for a diamond in the rough right now.

The thots: They had quality content that gave viewers two really big reasons for watching— especially when there was bouncing involved.

But Jack was slightly worried that the focus would be on something other than his gameplay. He couldn’t help but raise a brow as he noticed a trend. Why the hell was there so many of them in an inflatable kiddie pool?!

Ah, whatever. He was now confronted with a critical dilemma. What kind of streamer would he partner with?

A competitive one? They could do a pro-gamer partner stream eventually. This was bound to be popular. ??

An informative one? Someone like that could explain his incredible feat to the masses step by step. It would increase the awe they had for his well-thought gameplay style. ??

A variety streamer? There was bound to be lots of fun to be had from his adventures. Should he collaborate with a professional entertainer? ??

It was now time to decide…

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[A/N] This chapter is sponsored by Imarques18 with a spacecraft! ?????? Also, surprise event! ^_^v

What kind of streamer should Jack partner with?

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Creator’s Thought

I’m not even sure how the old man got himself in trouble. All I know is that he helped the wrong person and suffered from it. Honestly, I believe his career was ruined by someone influential offhandedly showing displeasure about him. At least he hadn’t been imprisoned or killed, only banned.