Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

Somehow, Ark found himself sitting in the vice commander’s office, with a steaming cup of tea on the table in front of him.

Of course, he could not exactly drink tea, but Olivia and Thalia seemed to be enjoying theirs.

As their representative, Eva had also been invited into the office. She was sitting right next to Lady Freude, a woman who she would have not otherwise spoken to if not for today... It was no wonder she was a nervous wreck.

Still, she tried to compose herself as best as she could.

Ark casually glanced around the room, and sucked in a sharp breath. ’Damn...’

Now he knew why she had called him back. It was as though he was seated in the center of a dragon’s horde.

There were stacks of gold coins littering the place, some of them rising as high as the ceiling. Gold vases, gemstones, and diamonds were arranged neatly on the tables.

’Just how rich is this woman?’ She had so much money, and yet the mere thought of him selling at the black market had made her flinch?

Ark had heard that Fae-folk were in love with shiny objects, but this seemed to be taking things a little too far.

"An impressive horde you have here, Miss dragon." He teased.

Freude’s ears twitched. "Impressive? Tch, my entire stock is not even up to a quarter of what Rigel has! That old fool shows me up every time."

"I swear, one day I will surpass his horde!"

Thalia blinked. "Lady Freude, by Rigel, do you mean the Fire Dragon Rigel?"

"Hmm?" She frowned slightly. "Who else will I be talking about?"

"Oh... I see..." Thalia gave Ark a stare, warning him to behave, before she picked up her cup of tea and took a long sip to calm herself.

Even Ark was taken aback. Rigel, otherwise known as Hell’s Incarnate, was one of the most popular first generation players.

Not only was he the first to awaken a divine race, he solo cleared floor ten of the central tower after many guilds had tried and failed countless times.

He was an anomaly even among anomalies. And his strength was so great that they had to create a whole new tier for him and four others...

The Five Divinities. The strongest players in all of Eden.

And yet, Lady Freude had spoken of him so casually as though they were bosom friends....

’Just how old is this woman?’ Ark mused.

"What?" Lady Freude cocked her head to the side. "Why do I get the feeling you are thinking something offensive?"

"It’s nothing."

She eyed him for a few seconds before she sighed. "Let’s get to business, what is it you wish to sell?"

Ark summoned Jenna, and she appeared holding a note pad and a pen. She handed the note to Ark and he began reading through it..

"We have fifty rock bear hides, wyvern eggs, around seventy five golem cores, including rare golem cores, and three mana crystals..."

"I see..."

Freude did her best to control the smile that was about to appear on her lips.

It was not that his haul was particularly large. The Adventurer’s Guild, in association with her merchantry, the Freude Group, dealt with far more items on a daily basis.

But she would be a fool to dismiss him because of that...

In the short time they had taken to get here, she had gone through his record, and it was for that reason that she was very impressed.

This was his first official mission in Eden, and yet he had managed to bring back such a haul?

There was nothing normal about it...

But that didn’t mean he was anything special.

There was still a good chance it was luck. And although luck was essential in business, Freude would be hard pressed to make a decision solely based on it.

"I see. Not bad, that should earn you a decent price—" Freude said in a flat tone. "Eva will handle your payment after the goods have been appraised."

Ark nodded.

"If that is all..." Freude’s gaze sharpened as it met his own.

There were two things that separated the average joe from the cutting edge investor. Two things that separated the poor from the rich.

One was the opportunistic mindset, the ability to capitalize on every given scenario, and the second... was a dragon’s greed!

The will to accumulate and keep accumulating till your stores overflowed, only to borrow a store to accumulate more!

Rich people didn’t need all the money they had, they became financially free ages ago, and yet they kept accumulating.

Without this maddening greed, this thirst for money that never seemed to end, you would be destined to remain poor, or worse, average.

’So what are you, Ark? Are you an average Joe? Or are you going to be my golden goose?’ She mused.

"Actually, I have a business deal I would like to propose..."

The only reason Ark had not thought about this earlier was because he never thought he would have such an opportunity.

If he was to bring the deal he was about to propose to any merchant or bank, he would likely be thrown out. But things were different now, he was right in front of one of the most influential women in the business world.

It was an opportunity he could not afford to pass up on.

A small smile appeared on Freude’s face, but it quickly vanished.

"Is that so?"

Ark sat up straight, resting his chin on his hand.

"As you already know, I have decided to start my own guild. And a guild started by me is sure to become one of the fastest growing guilds Eden has ever seen."

"How boastful." Freude frowned. "Is this so-called guild even registered?"

"Do you really think a piece of paper can stop me?" Ark asked.

"I am already building my forces and gathering allies. Very soon, we will begin our dungeon dives, and someone of your status surely knows what that means..."

Freude took a sip from her cup before settling it down.

Of course she knew what it meant, dungeons were a treasure trove of resources...

"We are the adventurer’s guild." She said calmly. "We already have dozens of suppliers from all over Eden, including the major guilds."

Ark laughed. He had known she would say that, a good business woman knew how to downplay others to get what she needed.

"I never deemed you to be someone so small minded, Vice guildmaster, and head of the Freude Group."

It was a sharp jab, but not painful enough to cause offense.

Freude’s face remained stoic as she listened.

"Sure, you have as many suppliers as you could wish for, and you even have some of the major guilds on your side."

Freude could sense the amusement in his voice when he said, "But are you really satisfied with that?"

She furrowed her brows. "What are you saying?"

Ark snapped his finger. "The top guilds are indeed supplying you, but what percentage do you get? Twenty? Thirty?"

He crossed his legs. "Now tell me. How much money would you make if one of the top five guilds in Eden became your exclusive supplier?"

Freude’s eyes widened slightly, and this time she could not hold back her laughter.

"That is an audacious statement. Are you saying you wish to overthrow one of the top five guilds?"

"Your words, not mine."

Freude’s smile brightened. "And what is the catch?"

"We are short on funds. We need a guild house, equipment and other forms of funding."

"Tell me figures, how much do you want?"

At this point, she was leaning at the edge of her chair, her eyes locked on him.

"Ten million." Ark smiled internally. "Ten million credits should be more than enough."

"Hahahaha!" This time, Freude burst into wild laughter, which was a stark contrast to the composure she had shown earlier.

"You want me to invest ten million credits in an unregistered guild with three members. A guild that doesn’t even have a single dungeon raid to its name??"

"Yes."

"Mmn~" Her dark eyes seemed to grow even deeper. "How incredibly greedy!"

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