[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/DLKGpct.png[/img][h2][color=SteelBlue]Scraping Off the Rust[/color][/h2][/center]

Valk groaned and sat up as the sunlight streaming in through the window over his bed finally coerced him into waking. He ran one hand through his hair and stared out the window at the city streets. [color=SteelBlue]"Why do I still bother?"[/color] he muttered to no one. It had been about a month since he'd found himself trapped in his favorite MMO, and in that time he'd essentially done nothing. Sure, he had swaggered out into the surrounding fields and slaughtered mobs by the dozen, but that didn't really help anyone. He'd saved the odd noob from PK'ers, but it's not like the cost in repairs was doing him any favors. Other guilds, like the Neon Colossus and Fang Family had been proactively trying to sort out the mess everyone found themselves in, but [i]his[/i] guildmates were safely back home; maybe they were even playing from behind their screens and wondering where their guildmaster had gotten to. With a little grumbling, Valk stood, threw on his gear, and exited his now-empty guildhall.

As he wandered the streets, Valk watched both other players and People of the Land going about their daily lives. He absently fiddled with his Phantasmal-class spear, the [i]Lance of the Valkyrie[/i], as he walked, lost in his thoughts. For some reason, going back out into the wilderness no longer appealed to him, but it wasn't like he could raid anymore. Even regular dungeons worth his time weren't feasible when he just by himself. He could just begin recruiting new members, he supposed, but anyone properly geared and experienced was either dedicated to their independence or already with a guild. Training up a bunch of lowbies into proper raiders would be a months-long project that he really didn't have the heart for. Dissolving Gatecrashers was out of the question. Sure, a raiding guild with just one member was little more than a name and a place to sleep, but this was [i]his[/i] guild. He and his friends had worked themselves sick to become the equals of any top-tier raiding guild, and he'd be damned if he'd just throw that legacy away.

Eventually, Valk worked his way back to the Meeting Hall where he noticed a bounty posting calling upon adventurers to bring the rampant PK'ers to justice. [color=SteelBlue][i]"At it again, Fang?"[/i][/color] he mused. He couldn't be sure the self-declared Mother of Noobs Everywhere was behind this posting, but it seemed like the kind of thing she'd get up to. They'd never crossed paths in-game, but she had become an immediately recognizable public figure in the wake of the Apocalypse. Underneath the call to adventure, such as it was, was notice of an open meeting to discuss the recent rash of player-killing and loot exploits. Lacking anything resembling something else to do, he wound his way through the maze of hallways to the Fang Family guildhall.

Feeling a little like an intruder, Valk sidled into the guildhall and found himself an unobtrusive spot near the door where he could listen in on the meeting already in progress.