CHAPTER 184: BOLD WORDS

The crowd instantly erupted into chaos at Gabriel’s words.

"What?! He’s forming his own guild?!"

"Impossible, does he even have the resources for that?!"

"Idiot, it’s Gabriel Reyes—we’re talking about Sir Broken! Of course he can do it!"

Reporters shoved microphones forward, cameras flashed, and the mob pressed closer, their voices overlapping.

"Gabriel! What will the guild be called?"

"Do you already have members lined up?"

"Will your guild challenge the Five Major Guilds directly?"

His expression didn’t change. Electric blue eyes scanned the crowd. Now that he was famous, it was only natural that he took advantage of it.

And announcing his guild this early was a gamble—but one he had already decided to take.

He let the noise run wild for a few seconds before he spoke again. "All I’ll say for now... is that my guild will stand above all others."

The statement was simple, but it sent a shiver down everyone’s spine.

The reporters gasped. "Above... the Five Major Guilds?!"

Sebas, who had followed behind, nearly tripped at those words. He knew this man was dangerous, but hearing such arrogance spoken so calmly made him realize Gabriel wasn’t just ambitious—he was deadly serious.

The reporters wanted to ask a few more questions, but at that moment, a car pulled up in front of him.

"Are you coming or not?" Alice asked from the driver’s seat.

He didn’t hesitate and quickly entered. As they drove off, he asked, "How did you know I was here?"

"I saw you on the news a few minutes ago and thought you’d need a ride," Alice replied, eyes fixed on the road.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes when he heard this. The first place he checked was the forum.

As expected, it was already flooding with messages. At the top of the screen was a bold thread:

[Is Sir Broken really going to start his own guild?]

Zezima79: Yooo sign me up! I was planning on joining the Adventure Guild, but now I’m waiting for Sir Broken’s guild!

CrispyDeath:Me too, joining early would definitely come with perks.

DaoofAcu: Did you see his bold declaration? He said the guild would stand above the Big Five!

Kanderson2084: I’ve known Sir Broken for years, and one thing is certain—he always backs up his words!

Tormentor53: Known him for years? Dude, the game isn’t even two months old!

Most of the comments were going off on tangents, but Gabriel knew he had successfully won the hearts of thousands of players.

It was easier than he thought. All he needed to do was show his strength.

However, he also knew this was largely possible because of his talent.

While absentmindedly scrolling through the forum, he arrived at the Adventure Guild building.

"Oh, before you go, I have something I want to ask you," Alice suddenly called out.

"What could that be?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I know you said it in the news too, but... are you really planning on forming your own guild?" she asked, fidgeting with her hands.

"You heard right." That was all he said before leaving.

Alice was left staring at his disappearing back as she thought to herself. ’And here I thought we would have time to go on several missions together. Seems he already planned this beforehand.’

As soon as he stepped inside the guild, Gabriel felt countless eyes on him. He figured they had probably heard about his plans.

The looks were varied: a few filled with sadness, others with contempt, and some with betrayal.

But the older members like Brunt and Old Man Khrome had already seen this coming, so they weren’t shocked.

From the sides, Scarlet and Lilly watched with calm expressions.

"Sigh, what a pity. If he had stayed in the guild, we could’ve achieved more. But now he’ll be hunted by several powerful houses," Lilly said helplessly.

She had expected this, but seeing him make an official announcement confirmed it.

Scarlet didn’t comment, simply watching with a neutral expression.

"It might be beneficial to us as well," Lilly suddenly added. "Now we don’t have to fear the Tempest family’s retaliation."

...

Bang!

Gabriel arrived at his room and shut the door, silencing the noise and whispers from outside.

A few adventurers had even walked up to plead for him to stay, but he had politely turned them down.

Currently, he still had three more missions to complete before he would be eligible to start his own guild.

The next morning, Gabriel woke up to the familiar figure of Anna cleaning his room.

"Good morning, master." The Huntress smiled. It seemed she had somehow overcome her fears and could now face him again.

"Morning." He replied as he rose from the bed.

Anna gulped a mouthful of saliva as previous memories resurfaced, but she quickly shook those thoughts away and returned to her work.

Some time later, after freshening up, Gabriel and Anna went to the mission room for the elite squad.

"How is the search going?" he asked on their way.

Anna pressed her lips together before replying. "No progress yet. So far, no land matches your description. The closest ones are all occupied by bandits."

"Occupied, huh?" A sharp gleam flashed across his eyes as he halted. "Well, the problem is solved."

"Huh? What do you mean the problem is solved?" Anna frowned. Then realization struck her. "...Wait."

But Gabriel was already through the door into the mission room. The adventurers inside froze when his gaze swept across them. Without hesitation, he walked straight to the counter and tapped an A-Rank mission.

"I’ll be taking this one."

The clerk blinked. "Sir Gabriel... that’s a territorial control mission. You’ll need to clear out the bandit encampments occupying the area and hold the land for at least seventy-two hours. Normally, it requires a full squad to—"

"Approve it. I’m aware." He nodded firmly.

The guild might think his objective was only to clear the bandits, but little did they know—he had much greater plans in mind.

***

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