Entering the Dwarves Secret Realm

Devin wasted no time logging out of Oasis. He refreshed his mind before searching for a local business that sells alcohol in barrels. He paid a visit to the business and made a special request for the barrels to have no logo of the Federation. He placed a large order of 50 barrels of alcohol, which cost him a significant portion of his money. But Devin believed it would be worth it once he gained the dwarves' loyalty. The business agreed to deliver the barrels to his storage units in two days.

Devin then went to a coffee shop to wait for Elijah. They were going to see the building that would become their headquarters. As Devin sat down, he ordered a hot chocolate and croissants, enjoying the leisure time. He had been busy since he started playing Oasis, but he had a feeling his business would not stop growing.

"Do you know how many times I've wanted to quit playing Oasis out of frustration?" asked a young man with blue-dyed hair.

"What made you stop?" asked his friend, who was enjoying a plate of apple fritters.

"Every time I feel like giving up, I notice something different about myself. You remember how I used to become short of breath when I ran and needed to use my inhaler?" The blue-haired guy asked his friend. The friend nodded in acknowledgement.

"Now, I can run around my block without any hassle. I've noticed that since I started playing the game and taking the nutrients liquid that comes with it, my body and physique have been improving, especially since I started practicing in the game."

"Are you serious?" asked the friend in disbelief.

"A lot of people still think the nutrients liquid is just a gimmick to make money, but now people are talking about it on the forum with a lot of conspiracy theories. Like how aliens from outer space are the ones who created the game or how we are experimental subjects," said the blue-haired boy.

"It's starting to get media attention," the blue-haired boy said.

"Did the game company come out to debunk it?" asked his friend.

"We don't know who the game company is. Moreover, they don't care. If they did, they would have adjusted the gameplay to make it less realistic. The funny thing is, the more people complain, the more people are playing the game. My cousin told me he happened to spawn in a place where he found out the military is carrying out training. They are also helping some countries fight wars," the blue-haired boy explained, speaking conspiratorially.

"That means the government knows about the game and is investing heavily. If it was bad, they would never allow soldiers to train in it. I was putting off buying the cabin before, but now I think I need to rethink my decision," said the friend.

"Didn't I tell you to buy your cabin so we can play together?" the blue-haired boy retorted.

"If I followed your fancies and whims, do you know how much useless stuff would fill my house?" the friend replied, giving his friend a look.

"This one is different. You are obviously playing the game while you are awake, but after selecting the sleep state game function, and playing the game before going offline, it feels like you have had a long dream while sleeping. Not only do you not feel tired at all, but you are still very energetic. I have a feeling this one is here to stay," concluded the blue-haired boy.

Devin smiled at the discussion between the two friends. It reminded him of similar conversations that seemed to never end. He agreed with the blue-haired boy about the nutrients. They helped regulate the body and physique, especially when the Sinclair family started producing their own nutrients, which would sell for five hundred thousand credits and increase to one million credits when demand couldn't meet supply. The creators of the game didn't care if someone took their business; in fact, they welcomed it.

It had been a while since he checked the forum. For the first time in a while, he and Alex were not the hot topic.

"Big news, everyone! The first bounty has appeared in Oasis!" This was the top post in the forum, gathering almost a million views.

Devin clicked on the post and saw it was a story he was familiar with. It was the story of six people who ran a dungeon together, but one scum man killed his teammates. The teammates he killed were well-known gamers in the game world, known for their group that always played as an assassin group in every game they played. One of the teammates was fortunate enough to be recruited into an assassin organization in the game, and now he's using the power of the organization to place a bounty on that scum man's head.

This news made Devin want to do the Tootsie slide. This was retribution. If there was anything his past life taught him about Oasis, it was that anything is possible and one should never underestimate anyone.

This was the most terrible punishment James could receive. Every death in Oasis incurred a penalty from the game, and people would realize that dying in Oasis was not just a holographic experience but would have an impact in real life.

In Oasis, you couldn't have more than one account. James' life was about to become miserable.

Devin knew that when the average number of people playing Oasis reached level 30, it would go through its first patch introducing domain ranking, video features, wealth ranking, and more. Wanting to help people level up quickly, Devin decided to share the three methods he had told Lydia and Law in the dungeon. He couldn't help but chuckle when he remembered the nickname Law had used, which came from an ancient Earth cartoon that the federation had unearthed and rebooted. The old man used to play it for him and Alex, and Devin loved how Finneas would come up with ideas and Ferb would go along with them.

The title of his forum post read: "Want a lot of experience points? Do you want to upgrade faster? If your answer is yes, then these three methods are for you."

Method 1: Change the local living conditions and develop more valuable technologies to earn higher experience points. This can be done by producing necessities in the real world in the game. For example producing farm tools for impoverished villages

Method 2: Become an adventurer and take on adventurer missions.

Method 3: Participate in large-scale national war missions and focus on saving people to earn very high experience points.

Devin posted this on the forum without caring about the noise it would cause. He didn't bother checking for reactions as Elijah walked into the cafe. Together, they left the cafe, ready to continue their plans.

Elijah didn't disappoint Devin with the building he had chosen. It was a large building with enough land for future development.

"Boss, what do you think?" asked Elijah.

"It's good. It's a great real estate investment. I like it," answered Devin.

"We just need to work on it to make it suitable for our operations," replied Elijah.

As they walked through the building, Devin became even more fond of this property. "I know someone who can help with the designing job. He will the first employee of New Horizons. His name is Neil White. I will give you his number so that you can contact each other and go through the formalities."

"No problem, boss," answered Elijah, as Devin sent Neil's contact information to his Link.

"What about the cosmetic company? How are the talks going?" asked Devin.

"Boss, things should come to a conclusion soon. They are the ones who are desperate, not us. We are the only ones willing to give them the best offer," said Elijah.

Devin knew that the family who owned the cosmetic company had become greedy, but he was confident that they would still dance to Elijah's tune.

"Boss, when are you going to come to the dwarves' secret realm?" asked Elijah.

"What happened?" asked Devin.

"Nothing, but the forging skills don't interest me. I am bored being alone," said Elijah.

"Don't worry, in two days I should be finished with my preparations," assured Devin.

"That's good. I can use this time to handle more matters in reality," said Elijah.

Two days later, with the alcohol secured, Devin activated the teleportation mark in his hand. He felt the weightlessness of space before disappearing from the room.

"[Congratulations to the player Devin for finding the lost tribe Valendor. You have gained 5000 Exp]," the system announced before Devin could be shocked by its generosity. However, instead of the welcome he expected, Devin found himself surrounded.

This was not the kind of welcome Devin had anticipated. Before he could even react, he was thrown into the dwarf jail.