Chapter 175: The other side
Kaho spent her first two weeks inside the tower completely alone, which was a little frightening.
After completing the entrance test, she received some money that she could use to pay for her expenses. She preferred not to leave the first floor at all, where she stayed in a hotel.
She had completed the test quickly, which attracted some attention, and the girl even received invitations from several guilds, all of which she declined.
She also learned some important things. The first five floors of the tower were open for public use and served as residential and commercial areas, jointly operated by the major clans.
These floors had police forces that prevented crime. And although the scenery and architecture were very different from what Kaho was accustomed to, the place still functioned much like the society she knew.
There were people there who made their living managing businesses such as theaters, barbershops, clinics, and many others.
However, the lower floors were far from being a utopia. If you had money, you could live normally there, but earning money in that place was not easy.
The main profession was that of adventurers, who hunted monsters and sold their parts. However, there were very few monsters to hunt on the lower floors. To hunt on the upper floors, one needed permission from the clans that controlled them.
In any case, the first floor contained a large public library, where Kaho spent almost all of her time.
There, she learned a little more about that mysterious world.
In addition, she spent the rest of her time checking the records of newcomers who had passed the test. And after some waiting, she finally saw a familiar face.
"Eva!" Kaho said in a deeply relieved tone as she jumped forward to hug her friend.
"I’m sorry for leaving you alone for so long," Eva smiled. "Don’t worry, from now on I’ll take care of things. But we should move quickly."
"Why?" Kaho asked, blinking in confusion. "Shouldn’t we wait for Shin?"
"No." Eva slowly shook her head. Then she looked backward, her eyes showing some concern.
Shin didn’t want to overwhelm Kaho with information, so there were several instructions he had given only to Eva. After all, the queen had much longer to prepare for life inside the tower.
"He won’t be coming out anytime soon. Apparently, he’s going to spend a very long time in the test area."
Kaho looked confused once again. In the central library of the first floor, she had access to a large system screen where information could be checked. Among the available information was the number of newcomers still inside the Dark Forest.
At that point, almost everyone had already left, and it was impossible to believe that Shin wouldn’t be able to leave as well.
"What will he do there?"
"Buy us time," Eva said. "And maybe more. It’s not like he told me all the details of his plan."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"So what should we do now?"
"Create our own guild," Eva explained with a chuckle. "Oh! But I also need to check the names of the people who passed the test. Soon, my allies should be arriving here too."
She said this while asking Kaho to guide her to the library. Eva had guided an entire team through the Dark Forest, and hopefully all of them would also enter the tower.
〇〇〇
Around one week later, other familiar faces for Shin entered the tower.
One by one, the group of girls trained by Arlo passed the final test. And there to receive them were Arlo, Lara, and a few others.
The two instructors had been released from their responsibilities in the test area, as almost all newcomers had already left the Dark Forest or died.
At that point, only six stubborn people remained there: Shin and five others who had their own reasons for staying.
"Okay! As promised, I will take care of all of you," Arlo said, intending to continue fulfilling the plans Shin had given him.
"The first thing all of you need to know about the tower is that hunting grounds are the most important thing. Killing monsters is the most reliable way of leveling up and the best source of income," Arlo explained.
However, he soon needed to tell them that newcomers basically couldn’t obtain hunting grounds by themselves.
The tower floors were absolutely massive, so there was still a lot left unexplored. However, almost every floor was controlled by clans and their guilds.
"For example, my clan controls the entire 16th floor, and through an alliance with the Beastfolk, we co-administer the 17th floor," Arlo commented while looking at Lara.
"Co-administration basically means that weaker clans, like my Dog Clan or Zoe’s Cat Clan, need to submit to the Ice Wolves and give them twenty percent of everything we hunt," Lara explained.
"But it’s much worse for newcomers," Zoe added. "At least we have our own guilds."
"What exactly are guilds?" one of the rescued girls asked.
"They are the most important institutions inside the tower," Arlo began explaining.
As powerful as the great clans were, they were nothing more than social creations. Families and individuals had decided to come together and create these giant organizations.
Guilds were different. They were recognized by the tower and the system itself. Their authority was absolute over all system users.
The main function of a guild was controlling territory.
Any free person, that is, someone unaffiliated with any guild, could create a guild as long as they paid 1,000 System Coins, also called SC for short.
SC was the main currency used inside the tower because it could be used to purchase things directly from the system. It was generally earned by killing monsters.
Once a guild was created, it became possible to use SC and other resources to establish territory. There was just one important detail: if the territory had already been claimed by another guild, both guilds would be forced into a war over it.
Once a guild claimed a territory, no one could hunt or even live there without the guild master’s permission. Of course, another guild could wage war to take that territory, but aside from that, nothing else could be done.
So guilds were what clans used to quite literally take control of entire floors.
"And if any of you want to hunt, you will be forced to join one of the established guilds," Arlo explained.
"Which will very likely mean giving away your life to the guild master," Zoe commented.
Joining a guild was simple. A guild master would write a contract specifying how long the person would remain part of the guild, along with their rights and obligations.
Then the applicant could choose whether to accept the contract or not.
However, because guilds had so much more power in these negotiations, it wasn’t difficult for them to force newcomers into lifelong contracts, in which the guild would take fifty percent of their hunting profits. Sometimes there were even contracts involving servitude or future children.
"But don’t worry. I’ll be a gentle guild master," Arlo commented, causing papers to appear in the air.
It was a simple two-year contract with a commission of only ten percent.
"Wait, are you a guild master?" Zoe asked in shock.
The Ice Wolf Clan owned five guilds that formed the foundation of their power. Being the master of one of those guilds meant that...
"Are you an important person?" Zoe asked worriedly.
"All clans need to provide high-ranking members to act as instructors," Arlo shrugged. "I was the most important disposable person they had. Besides, Lara is important too."
"I am the Sacred Virgin of the Dog Clan and a vice guild master," Lara answered, noticing all the curious looks. "But I can’t create contracts without asking the matriarch first."
Zoe was forced to look down in absolute defeat.
Not only was she from a weak clan like the Cat Clan, but she and her sister were merely ordinary members without any authority or privileges.
"But I think we’re done with the explanations. You must all be exhausted. So why not go take a good bath?" Arlo suggested.
"And you two should return to your clans."
"Yes, I know," Zoe said with a tired sigh.
She wished she could also sign a contract under Arlo. A ten percent commission was such a good deal.
