Within a minute, Kalis received a friend request.
The sender was named Seren, an easy-to-remember name, and their level was impressively high: a Level 36 Archer, ranking among the upper tier of current players.
"Kalis, I've heard a lot about you! I'm the Guild Master of Spheres Crusaders," Seren got straight to the point after the friend request was accepted, their tone brimming with unmistakable eagerness.
"Guild Master Seren, nice to meet you," Kalis replied politely.
Seren acted decisively, cutting right to the chase: "Your friend Lenore mentioned you obtained a Guild Residence Token. Could you show me the item details?"
The game's item sharing feature allowed direct transmission of item information for verification. Kalis sent the residence token's attribute panel without hesitation, speaking plainly and openly: "I seized it from the Shadow Claw Guild half an hour ago. It's a loot drop from a Mythic BOSS."
"Oh? You even dared to steal a BOSS from Shadow Claw, you truly live up to your reputation!" Seren's surprise was evident.
After confirming the item information was authentic, their tone grew even more delighted: "The item checks out. We'll take it! The 120 million gold coin price has been finalized with Lenore. The funds will be transferred directly to your account once the transaction is complete. My financial officer is on standby at the merchant guild in Starfall Harbor. You just need to provide your account ID and identity verification code."
"If you're worried about transaction risks, I can invite three top dignitaries from Solaria Continent to act as notaries. They're all billionaires in the real world; they will never break their word," Seren added, seemingly sensing Kalis's concerns.
With such a huge gold coin transaction at stake, Kalis was indeed worried about the other party backing out. But since the game had no official trading platform, he had no other choice. The other party taking the initiative to propose notaries perfectly aligned with his wishes.
He nodded immediately: "Then please ask the three notaries to witness. I'm still red-named and can't enter the main city. Let's meet at the central stone tablet in the Level 60 map Frostwind Path."
"Great! But Frostwind Path is quite far from Starfall Harbor. Please wait a moment," Seren smiled bitterly after checking the map. "I'll bring several core guild members as bodyguards, both to protect the notaries and to keep you safe from wild monster harassment."
After finalizing the transaction details, Kalis left Godfall Basin and headed for Frostwind Path.
Although the monster levels in this map weren't as terrifying as those in Godfall Basin, Level 60 monsters were still highly threatening to ordinary players. Occasionally, elite teams would grind levels here in groups.
Kalis walked through the map with his deep crimson name, the golden glow of his Mythic gear, and the orange radiance of his Legendary equipment complementing each other, instantly attracting the attention of all players. Many looked on greedily, secretly plotting ambushes.
But when they saw Kalis's character information, most immediately abandoned the idea: a Level 58 Celestial Mage with 9,200 HP, a full shield, and the title of Level Ranking Champion, an invisible deterrent.
However, one Level 33 Assassin couldn't resist the temptation. He launched a sneak attack when Kalis passed through a canyon: Shadow Strike + Poisoned Dagger + Lethal Sting, landing a combo dealing 5,800 damage.
Yet, Kalis's Crystal Barricade only rippled slightly, his HP bar remaining unchanged. He turned to glance at the Assassin, lifted his staff gently, and a 1-meter-diameter Fireball roared out. The orange fireball instantly vaporized the Assassin into white light, leaving only a single silver coin on the ground.
Witnessing this terrifying gap in attack and defense, the surrounding players fell completely silent, hastily stepping back to avoid angering the red-named player.
Kalis waited at the central stone tablet for about 10 minutes. Finally, a group of figures appeared on the distant horizon; it was Seren and his party. There were 13 people in total: 10 core members of Spheres Crusaders, and three notaries with distinctly different auras.
"Kalis, that red name of yours is quite intimidating!" Seren called out from afar, his tone full of admiration. "How many people do you have to kill to turn this red? Shadow Claw really kicked the hornet's nest this time."
The accompanying "guild members" were also full of admiration. These "members" were all renowned experts in the gaming world, including Yasha, a hidden class Beast Soul Hunter ranked in the top 10 of the level rankings.
The earth-yellow shield around Kalis still hadn't faded. He smiled helplessly: "I still need to kill nearly 800 high-level monsters to clear my red name. I'm also taking a risk coming here for the transaction."
"Hahaha, with your level and strength, who could possibly kill you?" Seren laughed as he stepped forward an
d introduced himself formally: "Kalis, let's get properly acquainted. I'm the Guild Master of Spheres Crusaders and also an entrepreneur of a large company. Our entry into the Eternal Realm is partly to expand our online business and partly for relaxation. It's an honor to meet a player like you!"
Kalis was just a college student and didn't have much fancy rhetoric. He only replied humbly: "You flatter me. I'm just a bit luckier than others."
After that, Seren introduced the three notaries.
"This is Nivorn, Vice President of Silvervein Group. His assets span various fields, and his reputation is well-known to all."
"This is Roderic, Guild Master of Bronze Tree, a veteran giant in the gaming industry, and my senior."
"This is Magnus, founder of the Golden Treasury Merchant Guild. I presume you've heard of him. In every popular game, his guild is a top resource controller."
Kalis's heart skipped a beat: these three notaries were indeed highly influential. Silvervein Group was a world-renowned enterprise with assets worth tens of billions, so the authority of its Vice President was unquestionable.
Kalis also knew about the Bronze Tree Guild, one of the "Top Ten Guilds" on the Solaria Continent. Although it ranked slightly lower, it was on par with Shadow Claw. It was rather puzzling that such a big shot wouldn't bid for the residence token himself, but instead act as a notary for a competitor.
As for Magnus, he was a legendary businessman with assets exceeding 100 billion. In every hit game in recent years, the Golden Treasury Merchant Guild was inevitably present.
And this guild was always one of the top player merchant groups in the game.
His real-world assets were said to have reached 100 billion levels—one could imagine how much money he had earned from the gaming industry.
With their witness, the transaction risk was almost zero.
"With the guarantee of three seniors, I'm naturally at ease," Kalis nodded in acknowledgment.
The transaction process was concise and efficient: Kalis first traded the Guild Residence Token to Magnus for escrow, then provided his account ID.
Seren immediately signaled his financial officer to make the transfer. Kalis simultaneously received a system notification: "Your account has received 120 million gold coins. Would you like to convert it to real-world currency?"
Yes. Kalis clicked confirm without hesitation and provided his bank card information.
He then logged off briefly to check his bank details.
Sure enough, in just 3 minutes, his phone received a notification of a 1.2 billion deposit. His account was automatically upgraded to a diamond member, and he also received an invitation to open private banking services.
The long string of zeros made him dizzy. He counted several times to confirm before logging back in.
Ignoring other text messages, Kalis returned to the game.
There was a significant time difference between the real world and the game. He had only been offline for a minute, but 10 minutes had passed in the game.
Seren and the others had been waiting in place for a long time before finally seeing him log back on.
"Crystal Barricade," Kalis muttered instinctively, casting a shield on himself when he saw everyone else's red HP bars (all players appear attackable when red-named).
Seren smiled when he saw this: "No need to be so nervous, Kalis. I assume you've received the money?"
"Uh, yes, I have," Kalis's mood was still hard to calm.
After confirming this, Magnus traded the residence token to Seren.
"Pleasure doing business!" Seren's eyes were filled with excitement. With the residence token, Spheres Crusaders would become the first force on the Solaria Continent to establish a guild residence.
"Kalis, you don't seem to have a guild yet. Are you interested in joining Spheres Crusaders to play together?" Having obtained the residence token, Seren was in a great mood and took the opportunity to extend an invitation.
Kalis politely declined: "Thank you for the offer, but I have no plans to join a guild for now. If there's an opportunity in the future, I will definitely consider your guild first."
"In that case, I won't insist," Seren didn't press further. "The door to Spheres Crusaders will always be open for you."
After exchanging a few polite words, Seren and his party soon crushed their Return Scrolls and left.
The transaction went very smoothly without any accidents.
After the successful transaction, Kalis immediately shared the joy in the party channel, and Eira and Lenore's exclamations kept coming.
After calming his excited mood, he secretly rejoiced: "With this money, I have no worries about my life after graduation. I can finally enjoy the game at ease."
In this era where everyone struggled hard for a living, being hit by such a huge "windfall" made Kalis feel that he must have saved the universe in his previous life.
With his financial pressure completely lifted, his motivation to play the game became even stronger.
His eyes turned firm: "After clearing my red name, I'll focus on preparing for the second class advancement. Then I'll tackle the Mythic Quest: Subdue the Four Fallen Wraiths! Unlock the City of Holy War, challenge the temple, face the Supreme God directly, and conquer all dungeons across the realms. I will forge my own legend in this world!"