The news spread like wildfire.
[Global Player Count: 212,000,000 Online]
Every day, the number climbed higher. Articles flooded the net:
"Revelation Online — The Greatest Launch in Gaming History.""212 Million Players and Climbing: A New Era of Virtual Worlds."
Investment firms whispered of billions shifting toward gaming divisions. Streaming platforms crashed under demand for first-hand dungeon footage. Entire esports organizations, sensing the storm, prepared to stake their flags.
This wasn't just a game. It was an economy. A culture. A world.
Kenji moved quietly through the Ashwood woods, blades slick with ichor. Wolves lunged and fell, boars squealed and dissolved into ash. His EXP bar ticked forward, creeping toward Lv 7.
Every corpse left scraps behind: hides, bones, fangs, tusks. Piles of resources filled his pack.
But no coins. Not a single copper.
Because monsters in Revelation Online didn't drop money.
Only resources. Only items.
The forums had pieced it together.
MerchantMind: "Confirmed. You can't sell anything without at least Guardian rank Rep."
CrafterX: "Protector rank = trade enabled. I sold wolf pelts to NPCs for copper coins. Finally bought a drink at the inn."
SaltFactory: "So you're telling me only people with REP can trade? We're broke otherwise?"
Economancer: "Yes. Reputation = economy gate. No Rep = no money."
It was true. Players couldn't just grind monsters and dump loot at shops. Until they earned Reputation, NPCs wouldn't even look at their goods.
Kenji had only just unlocked the ability to trade. Protector rank. For the first time, his piles of wolf hides, ant shells, and spider venom sacs had real value.
And copper was already rare enough to make people desperate.
Players sought workarounds. The Auction Room and Auction House opened, both run by faceless NPC brokers.
Equipment could be sold, but with a crushing 20% fee.
The forums raged:
LootLord: "20% FEE? That's robbery!"
BankerJoe: "It's the system. NPCs are the middlemen. Adapt or die."
ShadyFox: "Market's unstable anyway. Stick to trading with players."
There was also the parallel market. Websites already cropped up, offering "coin packs" for real money. But the economy was new, unstable. Exchange rates changed by the hour. What cost 10 dollars in the morning was 2 by nightfall.
It was a Wild West economy, and every player was a pioneer.
Kenji wiped his blades clean on the grass, slipping another pelt into his inventory. His pack bulged with resources and Common scraps of armor.
Around him, the world was chaos.
New players stumbled in the brush, struggling to land killing blows on a single wolf. Screams filled the forest as many died and respawned, their unregistered cards lost forever. Some huddled in groups, their EXP crawling at a snail's pace.
While most were still trapped at Level 1, Kenji walked steadily toward Hollowbrook, Level 6, Protector rank, and carrying an Epic staff he didn't even need.
The difference was staggering.
Guilds were forming—at least in spirit. Names filled the forums: Crimson Alliance, BlackLotus, Zenith, ValkyrieOrder. Recruitment ads spammed chat channels.
But in-game?
No guilds had been officially created yet.
Because no one knew how.
The conditions and process were hidden. The developers had given no hints. And until someone discovered the path, guilds existed only as whispers and promises.
BladeLord: "We have the numbers. We'll create the first guild soon."
LotusShade: "Knowledge before numbers. Watch us."
GuildlessHero: "Or maybe guilds aren't in the game at all? Just marketing hype?"
Speculation ruled.
By the time the gates of Hollowbrook came into view, Kenji's pack was heavy, his reputation glimmered, and his future felt sharper than ever.
The inn would finally open its doors. The blacksmith would finally nod in respect. The villagers who once ignored him would step aside when he passed.
The economy was just being born. Guilds were still a mystery. Billions of eyes were on the game.
And GrayWolf walked through the frontier with blood on his blades, carrying secrets and strength no one else yet possessed.
The world was waking.
And he was already ahead.