Chapter 21: The meeting

Inside one of the meeting halls in the Snow Peak Community, a single long table sat in the center of the room. seats were set around it and some where arranged behind the main seats, all occupied by men and women wearing formal attire.

​At the head seat on the long table sat George. He no longer carried the lazy appearance he had shown during his last meeting with Smith and the others; instead, he wore a sharp black suit with a red tie. Although he was bald, he maintained a dignified, imposing expression.

​After the last expected participant opened the door and entered with his secretary, George looked around the room. Seeing that everyone he invited had finally arrived, he began the meeting.

​"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for answering my call," George said. "I know you are guests from afar, and I sincerely thank you for coming today."

​Although George spoke those polite words, he knew he had to pull a lot of strings just to get them into the room. However, he maintained the facade that they had agreed readily in order to save face for everyone involved.

​Just as George was about to continue with the formalities, a young man suddenly interrupted him without permission.

​"George, you know we’ve all are busy people, and we came because you said it will be worthwhile," the young man said impatiently. "So don’t waste time on these meaningless pleasantries. Go directly to the point. We have other things to do. If what you told us isn’t satisfactory, I swear that even if you’re an honorary guest of our family, I won’t let this joke slide without proper compensation."

​Although the young man’s tone was rude, no one in the room disagreed with him. What George had told them was extremely important, and several representatives had traveled from very far away. If this turned out to be a waste of time, George would have a difficult time explaining himself.

​Unlike the others in formal wear, this young man wore casual attire and carried a look of clear impatience. His name was Peter Brown—a direct descendant from the main lineage of the Brown family and the second son of the current family patriarch. George had been forced to use a significant amount of connections just to secure Peter’s presence.

​George didn’t get angry; he simply smiled and continued. "I see everyone is impatient, so I won’t waste any more of your time. I will go straight to the point. As I mentioned before, I am here to introduce a person who will pique your interest. I promise your trip will not be in vain, and the powers behind you will be very satisfied."

​Just as George finished speaking, the door behind him swung open.

​Smith entered in a wheelchair. This time, he was not wearing his shabby clothes. Instead, he wore a branded t-shirt, jeans, and expensive sneakers, paired with a fresh, stylish haircut. The transformation changed him from an ordinary person from the slums into a refined young man. Because he rarely left his house, his fair skin stood out compared to the others. This single makeover cost more than his aunt’s entire annual salary—a level of luxury Smith had never imagined for himself.

​As Smith was rolled into the room, Brian pushed the wheelchair while Jack followed closely behind.

​When the representatives scanned the aura of the newcomers, they found two people at the peak of the Intermediate Rank. In front of them sat a crippled youth who, despite his handsome appearance, was only at the beginning of the Novice Rank. The representatives were puzzled by the trio’s entry, unsure what made them special, but they held their tongues and waited for George’s explanation.

​Seeing that he had everyone’s undivided attention, George spoke up again. "The young man in front of you is Smith. He awakened less than a week ago. As you can see, he is a free agent, and he is the reason I brought you all here."

​George paused briefly. The representatives remained silent, waiting for him to elaborate.

​"What I can tell you for now," George continued, "is that he has awakened a Queen with a High Ranked Title. I am introducing him today so that you may have the opportunity to successfully invite him to become an honorary guest in your respective factions."

​A commotion instantly broke out. The representatives began whispering excitedly among themselves. To gather a crowd of this caliber, the Queen’s Title had to be at least Silver-Rank—just like George’s own Queen. They reasoned that a Silver Title was well worth the trip, believing George wouldn’t have summoned them for anything less than that.

​Watching the commotion die down, George shook his head, aware of what they were thinking. "You may have misunderstood me. I didn’t say he has a Silver-Titled Queen. I said he awakened a High-Ranked Title. If it were merely a Silver-Titled Queen, I could have simply brought him to the Brown family in exchange for personal benefits without going through the trouble of calling you all here."

​The room froze. As faction representatives, none of them were foolish. They instantly understood the implication: if it wasn’t Silver, it meant a Gold-Titled Queen.

​A Gold Title changed everything. Even the top tier-factions would want to recruit a talent like that. The noise level in the room skyrocketed as the realization set in.

​At the peak of the uproar, Peter Brown stood up from his seat and confronted George directly. "George, you should have told me about this privately beforehand! Why did you call the others?, you could have given us a heads-up so we could handle this internally!"

​The other representatives glared at Peter in disgust. The young man was blatantly ignoring their presence and using his personal connection with George to secure an unfair advantage in the upcoming negotiations. Arguments broke out immediately.

​As the chaotic shouting reached its boiling point, George slammed his hand onto the table.

​Though slamming the table in front of high-ranking representatives was considered impolite, he had no choice; if the room stayed out of control, he wouldn’t be able to finish his presentation.

​"Silence!" George commanded. "I haven’t even finished explaining the situation, and you are already fighting over him like an auction item!"

​The representatives reluctantly settled down, realizing they had lost their composure over the prospect of a Gold-Titled Queen. However, their reaction was understandable. Gold-Titled Queens were rare strategic human resources.

​In this world, certain dungeons restricted entry based on player rank and participant limits. For instance, an Intermediate Rank dungeon might only allow a party of five to enter. Upon entry, the exit would seal, forcing the team to navigate through to defeat the boss guarding the exit before opening the dungeon to the public.

​Furthermore, special "One-Time Dungeons" imposed strict rank caps and player limits. These contained intense, condensed challenges with higher difficulty than standard dungeons, but they yielded monumental rewards before permanently collapsing.

​A Gold-Titled Queen was invaluable in these scenarios because they could fight far above their own aura level, guaranteeing high success rates in high risk, rank restricted missions.

​Seeing that the room had calmed down, George gestured to Smith. "I haven’t finished, so please let me demonstrate."

​Smith gave a quiet nod and summoned Velvet.

​Velvet appeared wearing her usual Samurai armor. Her twin katanas remained sheathed at her hip. Although everyone suspected she was a Gold-Titled Queen, they needed confirmation. Scanning her, they initially sensed an aura level of only 11 points was a beginner Novice.

​Suddenly, Velvet activated her title: [Blade Saint].

​Her aura spiked instantly, surging from 11 points all the way to 33 points.

​In a single moment, she transcended the Novice Rank and jumped directly into the Intermediate Rank. The drastic transformation left every representative in the room stunned, staring at Velvet in absolute shock as if they were looking at a monster.