Rat Legion

Getting household registration for Shanchengshan's Upper City was no easy matter. It required property in the Upper City tied to your name, plus a certain level of assets, and above all, a guarantor. It wasn't something that could be arranged on a whim. If someone actually got Shanchengshan household registration, for an ordinary person it truly meant moving up a whole class. Long Ming replied at once. "Thanks. Let me think it over." "Next." Lu Wei called out again, entirely unbothered. Seeing that, Long Ming turned and left. Once he had walked some distance away, he sighed helplessly. He hadn't expected the Shadow Guild's requirements to be so steep. This was turning into a real headache. Nowadays even joining a half-decent guild just to coast along was hard. Just as Long Ming was at a loss for what to do, he suddenly remembered that the Star Wish Club seemed to be recruiting as well. If he remembered right, that club's requirements were fairly relaxed? With that thought, Long Ming logged out of the game. In his room. Long Ming took off the helmet, picked up the phone beside him, opened Weiliao, found Xiao Qi, and typed out a message. "You there?" A few seconds later, Xiao Qi replied right away. "I'm here! Would you like to book a game pod? (*^▽^*)" "No, I wanted to ask you about something." "No problem, ask away." "If I remember right, your Star Wish Club is recruiting too, right?" "That's right. Interested?" "Yes. What are the conditions for joining?" "We give priority to active-duty NCOs and veterans, or people with a special skill—combat coaches and the like. You can't be too old either, and game experience is preferred." Xiao Qi listed off a whole pile of requirements for Long Ming. When he finished reading, his heart sank to rock bottom, and he replied. "That demanding?" "That's normal for combat personnel. Of course, our benefits are excellent." "Thanks, but forget it." "Don't be like that! If you don't think you'd fit, you could consider joining our guild's Rat Legion instead. The requirements there are really low—basically no threshold at all." Seeing Long Ming back off, Xiao Qi hurriedly sent another message. "Rat Squad?" "The squad that goes in to scavenge and loot." "Oh. Then what benefits and restrictions come with joining?" Long Ming asked, a little interested. "The Rat Squad has two modes." "Let's hear it." "The first is full-time: eight hours of work a day, anything beyond that counts as overtime, and days off are the two-day weekend! Upper City staff are paid 8,000 Shan coins, Lower City staff are paid 5,000 Shan coins, with social insurance and housing fund plus a year-end bonus." "For full-time players, does everything looted during work hours belong entirely to the guild?" "Yes." "And the second?" "The second is part-time: whatever a player loots is split fifty-fifty with the guild, they have to take part in one guild group quest a week, and a month of full attendance earns a 1,000 Shan coin bonus," Xiao Qi explained. "The second mode seems decent, but let me think it over." Long Ming hesitated. The second mode was barely acceptable. "What is there to think over? Joining our club's guild comes with all kinds of perks. Besides everything I told you, the guild can also arrange a long-term pass for the Upper City for you, and guild players get twenty percent off when applying for a game pod!" Xiao Qi urged him warmly. Hearing that he could get an Upper City long-term pass and twenty percent off a game pod, Long Ming agreed without hesitation. "Deal!" "Wonderful." "So do I play from home, or do I have to come to the club?" "Rats don't have many mandatory rules—you can play wherever you like. But you do have to come in once the first time, to get your guild armband and sign a contract," Xiao Qi explained to Long Ming, looking delighted. "Then when should I come over?" "Tomorrow morning at 7:30. I'll walk you through the paperwork, and right after that I can take you along to the group activity." "All right." Long Ming nodded. The next day. Upper City. Long Ming arrived at the entrance of the Xingyuan Star Café early. As he walked in, he ran straight into Xiao Qi. "Mr. Long, you're here." "Yes. Please take me through the paperwork." "No problem, follow me." Xiao Qi led Long Ming to a side door and into the Star Wish Club. The Star Wish Club was decorated even more lavishly: gold-patterned tiles on the floor, starlight lamps hanging from the ceiling, and artworks lining the walls. The hall was crowded with people chatting everywhere—thoroughly lively. "This way. Like the Xingyuan Star Café, the Star Wish Club has six floors: floors 1 to 3 are the helmet area, and floors 4 to 6 are the game pod area. But take note—Rat Squads can't go up to floor 4. Part-time Rat Squad members can only use a helmet here for free when they're taking part in a guild quest." Xiao Qi led Long Ming toward the office area behind the hall as she introduced the place to him. "Mm." Long Ming nodded slightly. Soon, Xiao Qi brought him into an office, but there was no one inside. Xiao Qi walked straight to the desk and sat down, opened a drawer, took out a contract, and handed it to Long Ming. "Have a look at the contract. If there's no problem, you can sign it." "Aren't you a receptionist at the star café?" Long Ming asked, puzzled, as he accepted the contract. "I am. But I play Civilization Paradise too—and I'm also the head of the Fifth Rat Squad," Xiao Qi explained with a smile. "All right." Long Ming flipped through the contract, confirmed there was nothing wrong with it, and signed his name. "Welcome to the Fifth Rat Squad. From now on, we're in the same guild." Xiao Qi broke into a radiant smile and held out her hand to Long Ming. "Mm." Long Ming reached out and shook it. Then Xiao Qi rose, walked to the cabinet at the back, took out an armband stamped with a purple star, and handed it to Long Ming. "This is the guild armband. Wear it on your shoulder before you go into the game—that way it's easy for our own people to recognize each other!" "Got it!" "Also, I'll send you the guild's alliance roster and hostile roster. You need to read them over. When you're in an instance, you must not attack allied guilds—unless they strike first." "Understood." "Of course, these rosters aren't fixed; they can be adjusted at any time. After all, there are no forever friends or enemies in this world. But don't worry—whenever there's a change, a notice goes out to the whole group." "Got it." "All right, I'll add you to Rat Squad Group 5 now." Xiao Qi picked up her phone, opened Weiliao, and pulled Long Ming straight into a group. Long Ming glanced at the group chat. It had a full 5,000 members, and the whole group was bustling. Zhou Hui: "Ugh, my last run I had the worst luck imaginable. I was this close to getting my hands on something good, and then I got blindsided by a monster." Qin He: "Enough already. We've heard it so many times our ears are about to grow calluses." Shen Chu: "Is the guild running a group quest in a bit?" Yun Yu: "Yep. Are you all joining?" Ning Yan: "Forget it. I only just took part yesterday. Skipping it today." Tang Ye: "Yo yo. Now, who was it that said they were broke? Talk about half-hearted." Then Xiao Qi sent a message straight to the group. "All right, everyone, watch the time. Anyone who signed up for the 8:30 operation, don't be late. Lateness counts as absenteeism, and it'll cost you your full-attendance bonus." Yun Yu: "Got it, Sis Seven!" Tang Ye: "We're heading over now." He Zhong: "Sis Seven, wait for us!" The whole group responded excitedly the moment Xiao Qi spoke up. "Let's go. I'll take you up to floor 2 to log into the game and join the guild group quest," Xiao Qi said, looking up at Long Ming with a smile. "Okay." Long Ming followed Xiao Qi out at once.