Chapter 334 - 328 : Sato's Worries

"That's the last of them." Yato announced as he withdrew his sword from the belly of a Ground Rat.

"Okay. Now time to loot. Hehe." Fudo rubbed his palms together with a money-grubber's smile on his face.

"Luckily for us, the auto-loot function is available here." Seiichi said.

Since Infinite Realm tried to pursue reality in its mechanics, it would be strange for there to not be any corpses left after a battle. However, in certain situations, the scale of the battle might be immense that before one could finish looting the entire corpses, a day might have gone by. Also, since the corpses -both large and small- would be sprawled all over the place, it would be hard for players to discern which body part belonged to whom to be able to loot it. Usually, it's the most complete part of the target that could be looted however, if the corpses were dissected into small parts, confusion could arise in this manner. And in a large-scale battle, such could easily happen. Wouldn't that mean that one's efforts in defeating the opponent would go unrewarded?

To prevent such a situation, the auto-loot function was introduced as a part of the game, becoming a new feature in VRMMMORPGs. Originally, some games did have this feature but it came at a certain price but IR was the first to implement it as a basic feature.

During large-scale battles, the auto-loot function would be activated and the corpses of the dead would disintegrate into starlight, leaving behind a small floating orb with a soft dull light emitting from it. Players would only need to then loot this object and the process was quite simple. One would only have to plunge their hand into the orb and withdraw it. Depending on one's luck, a piece of equipment, a weapon or resource may or may not be pulled out from the orb.

While this didn't sound like a true auto-loot function, it was still much better than having to dig through bloody corpses for a reward. It would be more appropriate to call it an auto-dismantling feature though. As for the true auto-looting function that automatically collected one's loot, it did exist within the game but naturally, it would come at a price.

"Auto-dismantling." Yato pointed at Seiichi with his index finger. "It's called auto-dismantling and not auto-loot."

Ah...seems like the author made a mistake with the name too...

"Whatever." Seiichi ignored him.

"Alright, everybody. We're done with these guys out here so we have to push forward and eliminate the others as quickly as possible." Sato said from the team chat. He was still a couple dozen metres away from the group so shouting his orders from there would be inconvenient.

"Same strategy?" Fudo asked.

"Nope. This time around, we cut through their lineup and attract the guys in the centre. Lu Zhen, you use the opportunity created from the commotion to investigate that wooden house. If the Exit gate is in there, you alert us immediately after which everyone would then dash towards it." Sato replied.

"Why can't we just eliminate all the monsters here and check out the wooden house at our own pace?" Katsuo asked.

"You all should already be aware: we aren't the only ones on this floor. It would be best that we move as quickly as possible and in secret. Every top guild has most likely set their sights on the world-class BOSS and every one of them has an informant hanging around the other. The guilds might not be aware of this but none of them are the Kobold King's match. However, we are. If we succeed in defeating the monster, every guild would inquire amongst themselves about the identity of the successful team. Even if they don't trust the words of the other, they all have their various spies amongst one another. Once they figure out that none of them succeeded, they would set their eyes on the third parties, who are the independent associations and clubs.

"Now, supposing that a guild's team spots us here. We would automatically become one of the suspects if we defeat the Kobold King as planned. While we can simply deny it, they could pressure each of us in our identities. If they discover the true strength of our team, we would be automatically deemed as the culprits. And unless we hand over the loot we gain from the battle, they won't let us go even if I'm 5 levels ahead of everyone. Once that happens, our gaming career in IR would be hindered by these guys." Sato explained.

"It should be known that it isn't just one or two guilds that are involved in this struggle but the top guilds of the 3 towns. Upon promotion to level 10, we would all be gathered in the city and that would make it easier for them to deal with us, whether individually or as a group. Rather than create such a problem, it would be better to avoid it if possible." Sato sighed.

The reason for his sigh was because he was aware that even with his current strength, he couldn't offend the big guilds just yet. He wasn't the only one in the team so even if the guilds couldn't deal with him, they would still be able to unleash their fury on the others. Fudo and the rest can't always be with him so the possibility of this happening was extremely high. Apart from that, the big guilds could still deal with him by placing a bounty on his head.

It should be known that levels aren't everything in IR. Even when one was facing a much higher levelled individual they could still come out victorious by relying on external help. Sato and Fudo's battle against Sygrart, and the team's raid on the Kobold Chief and its guards were pretty much good examples.

If the big guilds or even the hired hands they had sought out were to plan an ambush for Sato properly, even if he were a level 20 player, they would still have a chance of success as long as they sacrificed a lot to achieve this. This was what Sato feared and so, he decided that they move in secret lest they attract attention to themselves.

"Alright, we get it." Fudo replied with a relaxed expression. However, deep down, he had already considered Sato's words with a heavy heart. This was because he too had recognised the problem they would end up facing if they got spotted. Even Yato and the others understood this as they all had serious expressions on their faces.

The big guilds weren't to be messed with especially those from the 1st tier rank and above. Which one of these guilds didn't make use of unscrupulous means and methods to get where they were now? There was even a super guild involved in this struggle and while it was only a branch force, it still couldn't be underestimated. If things got worse for them, they could request help from the main squad and the entire matter would get blown out of proportion.

"Relax. Since you all understand the matter at hand, you don't need to keep such serious faces. We just have to be quick with our actions and leave no clue behind. That way, the chances of us getting suspected would be the least." Sato tried to ease the mood.

Everyone nodded since Sato's words were undeniably true.

"Alright then. Let's just proceed as planned but remember, we have to be quick. Try not to use overly explosive or noisy attacks and be swift with your moves." Sato then glanced at Lu Zhen. "Lu Zhen, the entire success of this operation depends on you. The quicker you can get to the wooden house and analyse the situation in there, the faster we can leave here and potentially escape without getting discovered."

"Got it." Lu Zhen nodded.

"Then, let's go."