Opening his eyes again, he found himself at home, looking at the now empty house. He thought for a moment and decided he needed to get a better place to live, something bigger. After thinking for a while, he searched the internet for options. After some time, he saw that those who form teams or guilds can choose to rent houses in the city above for the team to live in. It's a bit expensive, but there are various styles and sizes. Soon, he will need it. Looking at the places now, he asked Saeko to gather some resources in her world that can be sold here for money. Because of the chaotic world, it's much harder to get some natural resources. When she finishes, the money will be enough for him to allocate a house for a guild or team.
He has already decided: he will keep a team to remain as anonymous as possible from society and then assemble a Team B in the form of a guild, where they will be at the forefront and take on the role of attracting attention, thus solving various problems for him financially, such as entering high-level dungeons in the future. After the pirate worlds, he saw that he is always relying on luck to recruit family members because he doesn't have strength now. Depending on where he had gone in the pirate world or the wrong time, he could have died or not managed to recruit anyone. The power level in that world is very high. Arlong in the novice village was not possible to kill now, he was very upset about that.
Thinking about who could be the leader of Team B, it has to be someone with good manners, being intelligent is key, someone he can negotiate with. He will try to find people who awakened weak talents. Looking at the time, it was now morning, 7 am. He decided to go to school. People who awakened combat powers no longer go to school, but students who can only pursue a civilian career continue to try to gain more knowledge to enter society.
Arriving at school, he went to the classrooms to see which students didn't get a good talent. Walking down the hall, he happened to meet one of the school principals. When the principal saw him, he was surprised. He recognized White Night because talents of level A and above are reported to the directory. When he saw him at school again, he walked up to White Night:
"Student White Night, are you needing any help with dungeon intelligence or instruction from a teacher?"
It's normal for students without families of powerful awakened ones to return to school sometimes seeking help with some things. As a principal, he gives great importance to genius students at the school. White Night, looking at Principal Mark in front of him, had an idea.
"Principal Mark, actually, I've already formed my team and we're doing well. Actually, I came to school this time to recruit some students who didn't have a good talent awakening for some jobs outside the dungeon for my team. Can you help me?"
Hearing what White Night said, the principal was very surprised at first, but then became happy because this is of great help to some students with bad talents. The school greatly supports students helping those who can't go to the dungeon to get jobs.
"Come with me to my office, let's talk there."
After walking to the principal's office, he heard the principal asking his secretary for the list of students with non-combat talent awakenings. After the secretary went to look for the documents, the principal talked with White Night about the situation of students with non-combat talents being very precarious. He thanked him for remembering his colleagues to help them get jobs. White Night thought that he really was helping people change their destinies. After having tea with the principal, the secretary returned with the files. The principal sent White Night to an empty school meeting room so he could carefully look at the candidates.
After looking at part of the students' files, White Night separated some potential candidates, but they were still far from the potential to take over the leadership in his place on the main team. After looking at a certain student from the same grade as him, he thought about it. If he remembers correctly, she is from a large family trained since childhood because her father is the family leader. She received a lot of training, but since she awakened a bad talent, she was abandoned by the family. This is very common in a world where power decides everything. It doesn't matter if her father wants to keep her, but the rest of the family won't accept it, and living in the family without talent is worse than living outside. It's much better to separate from the family and live a common life than to suffer humiliation in the family for lack of power.
Calling the principal's secretary, he spoke about the student he liked. The secretary confirmed that she was at school and would call her for him. The secretary went to the classroom, spoke with the teacher, and called:
"Student Alice Snow, you have a minute."
When Alice went to the secretary outside the classroom, the secretary explained the situation to her and asked if she was willing to go to the other party to talk. Hearing what the secretary said about White Night wanting to hire students with non-combat talents, she was surprised at first. She knows White Night for being one of the most handsome students at school, he has his popularity. Alice, despite leaving the family, still has the aura of a great family, she is not short of money. After hesitating a bit, she decided to go, she wants to meet this student who, even knowing her family's origin, decided to offer her a job.
The Snow family of Alice, by tradition, only conducts marriages between people with similar talents, thus increasing the chance of their descendants inheriting such talents. The Snow family is known for their Ice abilities. Alice's mother was a famous ice mage who died in a high-level dungeon. If she were alive, Alice would still be highly respected in the family, even without talent. Now, without a remarkable talent, Alice was practically abandoned. She knows her father still loves her, but he has no way to keep her close. So, for her own good, he provided a good life for her outside the family.
Despite this, Alice was desperate. She wished to have an exceptional talent to make her parents proud. Immersed in her thoughts, she arrived at the meeting room. After knocking on the door, she heard White Night invite her in.
"Colleague Alice Snow, please sit down."
After introducing himself, White Night said:
"Colleague Snow, what I'm about to tell you involves the ultimate secret of my ability. Therefore, I need you to sign a contract. What you hear here cannot be revealed to anyone. If you decide not to accept my proposal, you will forget everything."
Alice hesitated. In today's world, contracts for discussions were common, but this was just a job offer. Noticing her hesitation, White Night said:
"You can refuse and leave now. I understand it seems strange, but I guarantee you won't regret listening to me."
Intrigued, Alice thought it might be an opportunity. She decided to sign the contract. White Night then presented a simple restriction contract, using his Absolute Contract ability.
After signing, White Night said:
"Alice Snow, one of the contract clauses ensures that I cannot lie to you, only omit information, as my ability is difficult to believe."
"I can make a contract with you, where I will give you power to become stronger, in exchange for you joining my family. You can also ask for a wish as a price for joining my family."
Alice asked:
"What is your family?"
"My family are people united by my power. Once inside, we will be together forever."
Alice, being intelligent, weighed the pros and cons and asked the crucial question:
"What is the limit of power you can give me?"
White Night praised her perspicacity.
"The power I can give you has great growth potential, depending on your talent. At a minimum, you will become a Level B or A hunter. Talented people can reach Level S."
Alice was impressed. The ability to grant Level B or A power was extraordinary, and Level S was the pinnacle for most people. She decided to accept the proposal. She didn't want to be ordinary; she wanted to show her strength to her family.
"Alright, I accept your proposal. I want a contract that grants me power and ensures you won't hurt or mistreat me."
Alice didn't make absurd requests. She understood that by joining the family, her body would belong to him. To have power, she would accept this condition.
White Night praised Alice's intelligence and decisiveness. With her white hair and almost transparent skin, a heritage of the ice lineage, she was one of the most beautiful girls in the city. They discussed and signed the contract. White Night explained that the next step would be inconvenient at school. They would hold the Grace ceremony at her house after classes. Since Alice was already part of the family, he explained his plan:
"I want to create a Guild. You will be the leader of a female guild, recruiting girls with good personalities and weak or strong talents."
"I will manage everything behind the scenes. My ability allows me to reach the top of the world, but I need influence."
Alice was increasingly shocked by White Night's ambition and the revelation of other worlds. She was pleased with her decision, seeing the chance to realize her dreams of power and recognition. Alice, being sociable, began to help White Night select potential members for the guild, noticing his preference for beautiful girls.
The selection continued, and since Alice had good prestige at school, she easily gained the trust of many girls. Unlike Alice, who had money and family background, the other ordinary girls were more approachable.
That night, they went to Alice's house, where White Night performed the Grace ceremony.
Name: Alice Snow
LV: 1
Race: Human
Strength: i= 0
Agility: i= 0
Physical: i= 0
Intelligence: i= 0
Talents: Charm: S (Passive)
Ice Affinity: (Intermediate)
Abilities: Martial Arts (Advanced), Chess, Piano, Etiquette...
Observing Alice's long list of skills, White Night couldn't help but praise her. As an ability, he chose Charm: S. Even with an S-level charm, who wouldn't want to be even more beautiful? With this talent, women would always be enchanted by him.
When Alice saw the paper, she was surprised by the ice affinity. She felt that maybe she still had a chance to use ice power.
The following week, White Night and Alice conducted several interviews at the school, selecting girls for the guild. Then, they focused on other schools, using Alice's network of acquaintances. They easily found the students, and Alice offered to cover the costs for now, as even outside the family, her father sent her a lot of money every month. For a major family, money was secondary; what mattered was power.
After another month, they finished the selection. White Night and Alice chose 99 girls from various schools, forming 20 teams, with Alice's team being the main one. The guild was defined with Alice as leader and 5 girls with good administrative and intelligence skills to assist her. The chosen name was Garden of Roses. White Night liked the name a lot, and Alice just rolled her eyes, but he was the boss.
Alice's father noticed his daughter's movements but said nothing until now, as they had not yet caused any real impact on other guilds. They chose a girl to serve as a front in place of White Night. There was no way a group of powerless girls could suddenly gain enormous strength, so they decided to use her as a scapegoat, with an ability to help others reawaken their abilities, albeit with some restrictions. She would live mainly in other worlds to avoid attacks until she had enough strength to protect herself.
It had been a month and a few days since he had been preparing everything. Now, he called everyone for a meeting to go to the zombie world to fight and gain Grace. After taking all the girls to the zombie world, they were surprised to see the new world, which was still like their old world, which they had only seen in books. The area was free of zombies, thanks to the girls' hunts and the camp. He left the guild girls in the building and went to the camp to find Saeko and Gwen, arriving at the school that had been transformed into a base.
When he told the girls what he had done in the real world that month, they were surprised to learn that he had put another 100 girls in the family. He explained that they would not have much contact with them, as their team would be in the shadows, while the guild would be in the light. Saeko also mentioned that she would like to include Shizuka, Rika, and Saya as family members in that world, to protect everything while she was away. He thought about it and agreed. He wanted to use that world as a training area for new family members and needed someone to manage the place, as Saeko would always be with him.
Everyone missed him a lot, as they had spent a long time without seeing him, due to the time difference between the worlds. Saeko and Gwen said they felt their growth should have reached the standard to level up. Nami and Nojiko had also made significant progress. They explained to Saya's father that the people outside the base were allies, so as not to scare the base residents with the sudden arrival of so many people.
Taking Shizuka, Rika, and Saya with them to the Garden of Roses Guild in the building near the school, he introduced everyone and began to explain that they would stay there for a while to increase their power before returning to their world to set up a base camp. Shizuka, Rika, and Saya would be the administrators of that world for the transition of level 1 novices. They accepted, as they knew they were good at combat and were already integrating into zombie killing.
After explaining all their objectives, he would return to the main world and accelerate time there for everyone to quickly reach level 2. Through Saeko, he already had an idea of how many zombies were needed to go from level 1 to 2. Going to his world again, but this time with Gwen, Saeko, Nami, and Nojiko, he would update their Grace.