While Liam leisurely continued running through the invasion missions, back in the Xion realm… all the players currently online were in an uproar.
Many people were already dissatisfied with how a single player managed to occupy the top spot without letting any other guild or player close to him, so this was just the icing on that cake.
Almost everyone wanted to lodge a complaint against this player and call him out for cheating. It was so painfully blatant and obvious that he was exploiting a loophole.
So they wanted to complain against him and make him pay the price for cheating.
But the only problem was… who were they going to complain to?
They wanted the game company to kick him out and ban him from playing but which company made this game?
Unable to vent out anywhere, people could only bash the cheater in the forums and take out their anger on there.
Some of the wealthier players were so ticked off that they used their own gold to commission his assassination through various networks.
Of course, this was only those who did not know Liam personally.
And the selected few who did know him personally…
Abraki bitterly smiled and sent a message. "Congratulations. How do you want to do the fire resistance potions exchange?" He paused and then sent another message after a sigh.
"I can also buy other things from you. So if you have any leveling shortcuts please let our guild know first."
He knew that he was probably not going to get a reply for this one but it was worth a try.
Apart from Abraki, several other players who had cooperated with Liam one way or the other, all of them sent in their congratulations.
The Korean team whom Liam had partied with longingly looked at the announcement.
"Bro, if we had stayed with him, our name would have been there on this world announcement as well." Kim Hyun lamented over the missed opportunity.
Hearing his remark, Kang Minah as usual quickly shot him down. "Why would he carry a dead weight like you?"
And last but not least, a certain duo also took note of this recent development, but they were already occupied with other things and did not have the mental space to worry about this.
"Alex, I warned you about this exact issue. I knew this would happen. When we were able to find out Liam's identity, why won't those guilds be able to find out your identity?"
"This game is not simple. No one can stay anonymous here."
"And now the cat is out of the bag and everything has backfired. What are we going to do?"
The usually calm and composed Mia looked a bit restless and flustered as she paced back and forth in their room at the local inn.
They had shared the information about Liam being the seller of the alchemy potion with five guilds, that too not weak or third-rate guilds, but top-tier guilds.
They had expected these guilds to act and teach him a lesson and tame him, but now the tables were completely turned.
Apparently, two of the five guilds had already clashed with him head-on, and the party who suffered the loss was not Liam but the guilds instead.
Something this ridiculous was completely unheard of. How could a single person wipe out an entire guild?
Just the level difference alone was not sufficient to explain such a feat because a group of skilled players had different tricks that a single player could never match.
For example, they can continuously stun a player and render them unable to fight back from start to finish while chipping off their health at the same time.
It was not as simple as fighting 1 vs 1.
With every single extra opponent, the battle becomes that much more complicated.
"Just how did he manage to fend off an entire guild?" Alex chewed out her nails. "I am telling you, Mia, that jerk is not that skilled. He definitely did some underhanded things."
Sigh. Mia let out a deep breath, tired of arguing with her sister. "I am not going to say anything anymore. When it comes to that guy, you just don't think clearly."
Mia tried her best to talk sense into the woman. "Just stop hating him so much. He is no longer our concern. We have nothing to do with him. Must you continue to carry this enmity?"
Alex, however, firmly rejected her words. "What the hell are you talking about? That bastard is topping all the rankings. He doesn't have a fucking guild and yet he is setting dungeon records."
"Not to mention he is an entire 10 levels above us. How is this not any of our business? We are one of the top guilds. Of course, this is our business."
Alex stomped her foot loudly on the floor.
Seeing her stubbornness, Mia shook her head helplessly. "It's exactly because of our guild that we should let this go. He is not our headache. And you are the guild leader for god's sake!"
"Now all five guilds whom you contacted and provided information are demanding compensation."
Alex was shocked. She hadn't heard about this. "Why? Why should we compensate them? Hell no. Didn't they get the information that they wanted? How did I cheat them in any way?"
"Hmph. If they are stupid enough to lose out to him, that's not my responsibility."
Seeing that the conversation was not going anywhere, Mia sighed and left the room, only her voice sounding behind her.
"Because of this one move of yours, we have made five powerful enemies. Do you even care?"
Alex wanted to say something but in the end, simply kept her mouth shut. She also regretted her actions but it was too late to change anything now.
She had planned everything carefully. She had selected five top-tier guilds and made sure that they had complete information about that person.
And yet… somehow everything had gone horribly…
Apparently, some of their guild members were starting to get targeted by these five guilds and killed on spot because of this.
The feud between the top player and their guild was also starting to spread and they even had some people resign from the guild.
"Bastard. I will pay you back for all of this. I promise."
Alex sat inside the inn silently and mulled over things. She did not move for a long time. She knew that she had acted a bit hastily.
She had lost a lot of face and for a guild leader to be embroiled in something like this was very embarrassing.
After a few minutes, she put all the thoughts of this failure aside and calmly stood up.
"I will show everyone who I am and I will get our lost name back. I will get everything back."
"After this, no one will ever question our standing as a top guild."
She then walked out of the inn, heading to the new tower that had magically popped up in the middle of Yleka city after the update.
This was the PVP tower. Every player was able to climb this tower by participating in duels.
A set number of wins was required to advance to each floor and moreover, wagers can be placed on the different fights.
At the same time, one can't climb very fast and then not participate in further duels. Even to maintain one's current standing, constant participation was required.
Most importantly, in this tower, there were no loopholes and no shortcuts available. One's standing and rank relied on one's own strength.
The participants' levels would be equalized so one would not even be able to use the level difference to their advantage.
Everything would boil down to their fighting skills.
Alex lowered her cloak, covering her appearance to some extent, and weaved through the crowded city to reach this tower.
"I will climb to the top and show everyone what true strength is! Hmph!"
Gritting her teeth, she also messaged Mia, temporarily handing over all of her duties in the guild, and informed her that she would be focusing on this for a while.
"Tell everyone that you are punishing me for the setback. This should appease some people. If needed, strike my name off as the guild leader." She resolutely declared.
However, after hearing her words, the first thing Mia asked was…
"Are you again trying to pick a fight with him?"
"I slipped up once alright. Give me some credit. Please!" Alex almost shouted out loud. The very mention of that name made her blood boil.
It took her a minute to calm down and she then explained.
"If what I am thinking is correct, then the rewards in these towers should be amazing. From the news of the forum, every kingdom and Empire apparently has these towers."
"When we reach level 50, we will be able to access teleportation gates and go to these different places."
"So before that, I want to practice here and improve my skills or at least gauge the level of our future opponents."
"If we can reach the topmost floor somehow… " Alex tilted her head up to see the top of the tower that was sky-high, higher than the skyscrapers on earth.
"I think we can get amazing rewards. I just know it."
"Ok, do as you please." Mia curtly answered and hung up the call.
Alex did not feel bad because her sister was always like this.
Mia would never be upset with her for such a small screw-up, nevertheless, she was determined to make up for it.
She clenched her fist and walked into the tower.
"Sorry, Mia. I lied a little.. I am not doing this for that bastard, but if he happens to cross paths with me, I will not let him off so easily."