Building The First Adventurer Guild In Another World

The moment Sage’s question left his mouth, the entire treasury seemed to hold its breath.

For a few heartbeats, nobody answered him. Gregor simply stared at him with a face that seemed torn between disbelief and the urge to strangle him.

Vanthrice simply stared at him with a cold gaze that looks like it would freeze him at any moment.

Brutus, who had only just managed to sit up from the pile of shields beneath him, slowly lowered his head into one hand as if he had expected this nonsense from the very beginning.

Caelis closed his eyes and let out a long tired breath, the kind of breath a man released when he realized his leader was about to drag him back into danger for reasons that were both stupid and painfully understandable.

Lyana looked between Sage and the hundreds of untouched bubbles still floating above them, her pale face showing exhaustion, concern, and the faintest trace of helplessness, because even she could understand the temptation despite knowing how dangerous it was.

Mina, still half-buried in gold coins with several slipping from her sleeves, slowly tilted her head upward and looked at the countless treasures drifting high above them like stars waiting to be stolen, and even her little golden eyes began to shine again despite how tired everyone else looked.

Only Valeria remained calm, standing among broken golem bodies and golden scrap metal with her crimson broadsword resting on her shoulder, her eyes moving briefly from Sage to the floating bubbles above before settling back on him with a look that somehow said she had already expected him to ask something this shameless.

Gregor was the first to speak, and his voice carried the rough disbelief of a man who had nearly died, fought illusions, dodged traps, climbed through exploding bubbles, and still found himself facing the greatest enemy of all: Sage’s greed.

"Guildmaster, I need you to listen to me very carefully. If you say we should continue after everything we just went through, I might personally throw you into one of those bubbles and leave you there until your brain starts working properly." Gregor said through gritted teeth, his eyes full of resentment as he glared at Sage.

Sage placed a hand on his chest, looking deeply wounded. "Gregor, how could you say such cruel words to the man trying to secure your glorious future?"

Brutus groaned from the treasure pile.

"Our glorious future is going to be buried under our dead bodies if we keep following your shining eyes."

Boren, who had been sleeping peacefully on the ancient silk pile, stirred slightly at the sound of voices and lifted his head with a confused expression, a line of drool still hanging from his mouth.

He looked around at the mountains of treasure, then at Sage’s glowing eyes, then at the bubbles above, and the sleepy confusion on his face slowly turned into pure horror as his mind caught up to the situation.

"Boss... please tell me you are not thinking what I think you are thinking."

Sage smiled. "I am thinking wisely."

Boren immediately collapsed back onto the silk pile. "We are finished."

A few adventurers laughed weakly, though their laughter carried more exhaustion than amusement. The comedy of the moment should have softened the pressure in the air, yet something beneath the hall shifted before anyone could answer Sage properly.

It was subtle at first, so faint that only Sage, Valeria, and perhaps Vanthrice noticed it. The runes carved into the golden pillars flickered once, not with the dying rhythm they had shown after the final sentinel fell, but with a sudden pulse that looked far too deliberate.

The polished marble beneath their feet released a low vibration, barely enough to disturb a few loose coins scattered across the floor.

One gold coin rolled down the side of the treasure mountain, struck another, and created a tiny clink that seemed strangely loud in the silence that followed.

Sage’s smile slowly faded as his gaze dropped from the untouched bubbles overhead to the floor beneath his boots.

The vibration came again..This time, everyone felt it.

The marble floor trembled beneath them, not violently enough to throw anyone off balance yet, but deeply enough that the sensation traveled up their legs and into their bones. The broken golem parts scattered across the hall began to rattle.

Shattered golden fingers twitched against the floor. Cracked cores released faint sparks. The destroyed bubbles hanging in the air flickered like dying lanterns, and the untouched ones above them shifted in place as though an unseen hand had disturbed their peaceful drifting.

Sage’s eyes narrowed sharply. His earlier greed vanished from his expression, replaced by the cold focus of a man whose instincts had just screamed that something had gone terribly wrong.

Lyana pushed herself up despite the tremble in her legs. "Guildmaster... what is happening?"

Sage did not answer immediately. The treasury answered for him.

ROARRRR!

A roar rose from somewhere far beneath them.

It was not the roar of a beast in the ordinary sense. It did not sound like a wolf, a dragon, a lion, or any magical creature Sage had ever heard before.

It was deeper than that, heavier than that, older than that. The sound rolled through the entire treasury like the groan of the earth itself being torn open, carrying a weight that crushed the air and made every treasure pile tremble.

The sound passed through the white marble floor, climbed the golden pillars, shook the floating bubbles, and struck everyone in the chest like an invisible hammer. Several adventurers instantly fell to one knee, hands pressing against their ears even though the sound was not merely something heard. It was felt.

It vibrated through blood, bones, mana veins, and soul, making even the strongest among them feel as if the treasury itself had finally awakened and noticed the thieves standing inside its heart.

Boren shot upright, all sleep vanishing from his face. "That was not my stomach."

Nobody laughed.

The roar came again, longer this time, and the entire treasury responded. The golden runes across the pillars flared violently, the broken gates groaned, and the enormous ceiling far above them released trails of dust that drifted downward through the amber light like the beginning of a funeral snowfall.

The mountains of treasure they had collected shifted as the floor trembled harder. Gold coins slid down in glittering waves. Ancient tomes toppled from neat stacks.

Weapons clattered together. Skill Stones rolled across the marble before Caelis quickly reached out and caught several with his remaining hand.

Lyana instinctively summoned vines from the floor, wrapping them around the treasure piles to keep them from spilling everywhere, but the strain on her already exhausted mana made her face turn even paler.

Sage looked toward Valeria. For the first time since the final sentinel fell, her expression had changed.

It was not fear, but it was close enough to caution that Sage’s heart sank.

"What is it?" Gregor asked, his voice lower now, all teasing gone.

Valeria slowly turned her gaze toward the far end of the treasury, where the darkness beyond the broken gates seemed to deepen unnaturally.

"Something is waking up."

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