Second World

Jack watched Kill Order disappear into the golden opening, followed by the rest of the members of Black Cloak.

After the last Black Cloak member disappeared through the door, there was a slight pause. Then Scarface led Death Associates to the door. Scarface went through first, then his guild's other members followed. As Red Death approached the doorway, she glared at Jack with hostility for a while, before turning her gaze to the door and stepping through.

"I think she is in love with you," Bowler joked.

Jack ignored him.

After those two famous guilds took the lead, more and more of the crowd started going through the doorway. Although, with everyone moving, it seemed disorganized, no one was pushing others or cutting the line. As Honuren was keeping watch beside the door, everyone was obediently keeping everything orderly and not making any trouble. Everyone was terrified of the old man.

"Shall we go as well?" Silverwing asked.

"After you," Jack said.

Silverwing nodded. He walked to the very front of his group with Bluedaze and the others. Jack followed behind. Silverwing turned to face his guild, and said in a loud voice, "White Scarfs! Line up in formation. Walk in an orderly fashion. Watch your brothers and sisters beside you. Do not get separated. Let's go! We are heading to a new world!"

The guild followed his orders sharply. Jack was impressed by the members' discipline. It was like watching soldiers doing drill practice at an army camp. Silverwing then led the way to join the crowd proceeding towards the door.

As more people joined in the exodus, the area around the door became overcrowded. Some people were unavoidably pushed aside by the crowd, but they did not dare to raise their voices to protest. They just helplessly went to the back of the line or tried to find an opening where they could squeeze themselves in.

After quite some while moving along with this sea of people, Jack and his friends finally came to the doorway. The door was massive when seen from up close. It was so wide that it could fit twenty people from side to side, and that was how many people were going in at a time. The top of the door was as high as a three-story building. Jack lifted his hand and touched the golden layer with his finger. It went in as if there was nothing there. He felt nothing and couldn't see the tip of his finger.

"Could you please move?" The person behind him asked politely, yet with an irritated tone.

"Sorry," Jack apologized, and stepped inside.

As his body sank in, Jack could see nothing but golden light. He was suddenly weightless. He couldn't feel his feet touching the ground; it seemed as if he was floating. Then the scenery started to shift rapidly. The golden light began twisting into a circular well that elongated into a tunnel. Jack was sucked in by this golden tunnel and flew down it. He didn't feel any wind, but the swiftly changing view made him feel like he was moving very quickly like in a high-speed train, albeit without the train.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Jack's forward motion stopped abruptly. The golden light around him started to disperse. He found himself in an open field with other people who had crossed through the door scattered around him.

It was mid-day. The sky above was clear and blue. There were forests and mountains in the distance. He could see a stream not far from where he landed. It looked like scenery from a normal countryside. There was nothing out of ordinary in this so-called new world. Then Jack noticed some noise coming from behind him. When he turned around, Jack got his first look at the city of Thereath.

It was an imposing city with a wide range of buildings, all surrounded by a high fortified wall. The wall was so long Jack couldn't see its ends as he scanned left and right. Deeper inside the settlement, he could see numerous tall buildings. They were nothing like modern skyscrapers but, rather, stone buildings like medieval structures. However, they were unlike any medieval buildings Jack had ever seen in history books as none of those reached the heights that these buildings did.

Past these buildings, there was a large castle, larger than any building he had ever seen. It sat majestically in the middle of all those other buildings. He knew then that he was looking at a complex metropolis that was somehow built in a medieval aesthetic. The noises he had heard were the sounds of the city behind the wall.

Jack noticed that Bowler and Flame had both landed near him.  The White Scarfs were also nearby. Silverwing and his friends were making a headcount of all their guild members who had made the crossing.

Not far from where the players were gathered there was a large gate in the wall. Some of the players who had come through first had made their way up to the gate where several city guards were stationed.

"Let's head over there," Jack suggested.

"You go first, I'll come once I make sure everyone has made it across," Silverwing said.

Jack nodded then led Bowler and Flame towards the gate. As he approached, he noticed that a lot of players were crowding in front of the gate, but no one was going through the gate. The guards were barring the way. Some people were having words with the guards, but it didn't seem like they were being let through.

When Jack came close enough, he asked the person in front of him, "Are the guards not allowing us into the city?"

The person looked at Jack. He seemed surprised to find the guy who was first rank in the level competition speaking to him. He then told Jack, "I'm not sure either. I think I heard them say that we should wait until everyone was present and then they will make an announcement."

While they were talking, they suddenly heard people shouting in front of the gate. Jack saw the gang from Weary Wolf trying to push their way through the gate. Jack sighed; these people really like to act like a bunch of street gangsters. He saw one of them shouting at a guard and shoving him with his hands.

Jack used his God-eye monocle to inspect the guards.

'Holy shit!' Jack screamed to himself. 'Level 50? Every guard is a level 50 Foot Soldier (Basic Human). Do those Weary Wolf people have brain damage? Didn't they even bother to try inspecting the guards' level? They should at least have been wary when they found that they couldn't see the guards' level.'

"Who dares to make trouble here?!" A loud voice boomed from behind the guards. The guards parted to allow another armored soldier to walk out. His armor was a bit different from the other guards.  It had the same color scheme and emblems, but was much more stylish. Jack scanned him using his God-eye Monocle: Level 52 Guard Captain (Elite Human).

As the Captain strode forward, Boulder of the Weary Wolf gang answered in an equally loud voice, "We want to go into the city; you can't prevent us from going in!"

The Captain glared at him and said, "You can go in when we say you can! For now, stay here until everyone is present. Then we will tell you the regulations before allowing you in."

"What regulations?" Boulder spat, "if you have something to say, say it now. Don't waste our time. We are going in!"

Boulder and his gang started forward to try forcing their way in, some even took out their weapons.

'Those fools never learn. They are dead for sure,' Jack thought. 

Seeing the hostility of this group of newcomers, the Captain no longer held back. He pulled out his large broadsword and immediately followed up with a circular swing forward. The swing was so fast it created a small windstorm that threw all the Weary Wolf members several meters back. They crashed hard and suffered enough damage to push all their HP bars down to critical.

"You were lucky I held back," the Captain told them. "If you stir up trouble again, I will end you right here!"

All the Weary Wolf people went pale, they immediately moved back. They didn't dare stay near the guards anymore. The rest of the crowd also became quiet. They obediently waited in front of the gate.

Silverwing and his people joined Jack not long thereafter.

"What's the situation?" he asked.

"Guards said wait.. Another thing, under absolutely no circumstances let anyone mess with the guards," Jack informed him.