"I just spoke with some guild members. Apparently a few people from our guild threatened and intimidated yours."
Dreamshade carried himself with the calm authority expected of a major guild leader.
"Back in the early days of online gaming—through the eras of games like Ultima Online and Tibia—Madhouse always relied on strength, not cheap tricks. Now that we've entered World of Warcraft, that creed won't change."
"I've already dealt with the people responsible. They've been removed from the guild and won't be allowed back."
He didn't bother offering an apology. Instead, the decision itself made his stance clear.
Gabryell was satisfied with the outcome.
"Then it seems this was just a misunderstanding."
World of Warcraft was different from most other MMOs. Progression depended on real strength. In many games, the guild with more players could dominate through PvP—locking down maps and monopolizing bosses—but WoW didn't work that way.
"Madhouse welcomes fair competition from any guild."
"We're not afraid of challenges. If we win, we celebrate. If we lose, we improve. One way or another, Madhouse will become the strongest force in any MMORPG."
Even through the text on the screen, Dreamshade's confidence was unmistakable.
As the guild master of Fearless, Gabryell couldn't show weakness.
"Fearless means fearing nothing. We accept any challenge—and I've never doubted we'll come out on top."
Dreamshade's character suddenly burst into laughter.
He had triggered /laugh. Being able to use that command already meant he was a beta player.
"Interesting. I like your attitude."
He sounded genuinely impressed.
"You're someone I definitely want as a friend."
Gabryell replied, "Competition creates motivation. In the future, Fearless and Madhouse can compete with each other and grow stronger together."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Dreamshade said. "You're level 13 right now—the highest level on the server. I'm guessing you played in the beta too. How about a challenge between our guilds? Something to push everyone to level faster."
"What kind of challenge?"
Gabryell doubted it would be a duel. At their current levels, they barely had any skills, and a fight like that wouldn't involve much technique.
Blizzard had set the battleground bracket at level 30–39 for a reason. In their design philosophy, PvP only really began to show depth after level 30.
Instead of answering directly, Dreamshade asked,
"What level did you reach during the beta?"
With his three brothers not around, Gabryell answered casually.
"Level 45. The cap back then."
The rogue continued,
"Do you know Maraudon?"
"Of course. A level 46+ dungeon in the Valley of Spears in Desolace, on Kalimdor."
How could he not know Maraudon?
As a mage, if you hadn't farmed Princess runs there hundreds—no, thousands—of times, you could hardly claim you'd ever farmed the Blade of Eternal Darkness.
"Did you try challenging Maraudon during the beta?" Dreamshade asked.
Back when the level cap was 45, Maraudon was the highest-level dungeon available. Attempting it at that level was extremely difficult. The mobs inside ranged from level 46 to 51, giving them a significant level advantage over players.
Normally, attempting it at level 48 made things much easier, and by level 50 it became fairly manageable.
Gabryell knew that top players and major guilds took pride in clearing Maraudon at level 45. During the beta, many large guilds had assembled level-45 teams specifically to challenge it.
World of Warcraft in 2004 was nothing like the later WoW Classic. There were no nerfs and no addons. Very few groups were capable of clearing Maraudon at level 45.
"Did you clear it?" he asked, turning the question back on him.
Dreamshade shook his head with a bitter smile.
"The beta only lasted a month. Nobody really understood the game yet, and leveling was slow. It took us nearly twenty-eight days just to reach level 45."
"That left us less than four days to challenge Maraudon. Without gear from earlier dungeons, we wiped more than fifty times."
The rogue gave a self-deprecating laugh.
"In the end, we wiped until the team fell apart."
Gabryell could easily imagine it.
At that time, there had been no previous large-scale testing for players to learn from. To everyone on the server, World of Warcraft was a completely new game.
Dreamshade let out a quiet sigh.
"As far as we know, only one guild managed to clear Maraudon during the beta—the European guild Nihilum."
As someone reborn, Gabryell knew that name well.
Nihilum would eventually become the guild that achieved the world-first kill of C'Thun, the final boss of Ahn'Qiraj. Their victory became legendary because the entire raid cleared Ahn'Qiraj with zero world buffs, relying purely on raw raid performance.
And notably, Nihilum was a Horde guild—meaning they didn't have access to Paladin blessings or auras.
Dreamshade then revealed something he didn't know.
"According to some insider information we received from the developers, the official launch will happen globally on June 1. When that happens, the level cap will increase from 45 to 60."
Gabryell was genuinely surprised.
He had only been reborn for half a day—there hadn't been time to research anything.
In his previous life, the game had launched on November 23, 2004. But in this world, the timeline had shifted.
Not only had the global open beta begun on April 26, 2004, even the official release date had been moved forward.
"So it really isn't the same world…"
But after playing for half a day, he realized the game's content was identical to what he remembered from the November release in his previous life.
Unlike the earlier beta back then, which had used a much earlier test build.
"It doesn't matter whether this world is the same or not. As long as World of Warcraft itself hasn't changed, my advantage remains."
The timeline shifting didn't matter to him.
What mattered was that this was still the WoW he knew.
"You want our guilds to compete to see who clears Maraudon first at level 45."
Gabryell had already figured it out.
Dreamshade smiled.
"I like dealing with smart people."
"Exactly. Our guilds will compete to see whose team clears Maraudon first at level 45. The condition is simple—every boss in the dungeon must be killed."
Maraudon had three entrances. You could cheat by skipping bosses and going straight for the Princess.
Only by killing every boss could you truly claim a full clear.
"The winner can ask the loser to do one thing," Dreamshade continued.
"As long as it doesn't violate the other guild's principles and is within their ability."
"This kind of competition pushes members to level faster and strengthens their sense of guild pride. It benefits both of our guilds."
Gabryell laughed.
"This challenge is interesting. Fearless accepts Madhouse's challenge."
"Madhouse will not lose."
"Haha. Fearless only knows how to win."
If the game allowed handshakes, the two probably would have shaken hands in mutual respect.
"Boss, someone just whispered me. Those people you kicked from the guild… they've joined Freedom."
A Warrior standing behind Dreamshade spoke openly, not bothering to avoid Gabryell's group.
Until now, Gabryell had been focused entirely on the rogue and hadn't noticed the others. Only then did he recognize the Warrior.
This was Madhouse's main tank.
Gorak.
"They must be from Freedom," the Warrior continued.
"They used this dirty trick to smear Madhouse and provoke a conflict between us and Fearless, hoping to profit from it."
A human Priest with long hair added angrily, "Freedom was already at odds with us during the beta. I didn't expect we'd end up on the same server after launch."
Gabryell knew Freedom too.
They were the second-ranked guild on Tichondrius. Although they eventually cleared Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas, they had always trailed behind Madhouse in progression. They were, in a sense, the server's eternal runner-up.
"Damn… so it was a setup."
Only then did David realize they had nearly been used as pawns.
Dreamshade remained calm.
"Freedom probably wants the level-45 Maraudon clear as well. They're after the title of number one Alliance guild on Tichondrius."
Gabryell gave a faint, dismissive smile.
"They're not getting Maraudon's first clear on Tichondrius."
"That honor belongs to Fearless."
"Hahaha—"
Dreamshade triggered /laugh again, and his character burst into laughter.
"Madhouse won't hand it to you. In the end, we'll be the ones who win."
Gabryell answered with /laugh of his own.
The players around them followed suit.
Before long, the second floor of the Lion's Pride Inn was echoing with waves of laughter, leaving everyone else inside completely baffled.
"Damn… is the Lion's Pride Inn haunted?"
Outside, night had already fallen in-game.
From that day on, rumors began to spread that the Lion's Pride Inn was haunted at night, becoming one of Goldshire's many strange legends.