As with a majority of MMOs, CNo includes a system for creating what are known as guilds. Guilds are official groups players can join, and can be an effective method for gaining notoriety based on the guild's accomplishments as a whole. The downside to being part of a guild is that any bits you obtain from mob drops are taxed and sent to a collective guild treasury. The default tax rate is 3%, but this value can be altered by the guild leader. The guild leader also has other privileges, such as assigning ranks to certain players, giving access of the guild vault and treasury to individuals, and accepting and dismissing members. One of the notable benefits to being in a guild is that players receive minor buffs in the form of Increased Status Resistance and Increased HP Recovery Rate if they have a fellow guild member in the same party.

-Lepus Guide to CNO: Guilds

I had never really given much thought to what my life in CNO would be like without Violet.

Of course I had played CNO for a bit before the raid event where Violet and I had first met. And even after that, it's not like we were always together. We were friends. Simple as that. She helped me and I helped her. Our relationship went no farther than that. We didn't even know the first thing about each other irl.

And yet now that she had cut off all contact with me almost two weeks ago, it felt like a part of me was missing.

None of it made sense. This was far too sudden. Why had she suddenly decided to cut me out of her life? We teased each other about stupid trivial stuff, but it had never reached any level that hurt either of us. Had I done something wrong to her without realizing it? No matter how hard I thought about it, nothing had happened recently to warrant this. The Dante incident the other day had been annoying sure, but it would take way more than a PKer to scare Violet off.

I had tried to reach out to her. I sent Friend Requests to her about a dozen times, desperate to figure out why she had done what she did. After all, I couldn't send messages her way without being on her Friends List. Even though we had messaged each other dozens of times back and forth, the simple fact that I was no longer on her Friends List caused an error message to pop up when I tried to send her one now. When that had failed, I frequented all the usual spots where she liked to hang out, and still not a trace of her. Either she had been offline ever since that message, or she was intentionally going out of her way to avoid me.

To be honest, I wasn't sure which of those two options scared me more.

I wandered around Serulis aimlessly. Perhaps I should just go out on a hunt to get my mind off Violet for now. But at the same time, not having a reliable partner around made the list of places I could grind at safely significantly smaller. Not to mention whoever had hired Dante was likely still out there, and probably wouldn't be deterred just because I had defeated their first assassin. There was always Shingo, but I didn't want to get him involved in a potential attack from a PKer targeting me and/or Violet. Besides, he would probably bring her up while we hunted.

Just as I was about to give up and log out for the day, a small ding sounded and a notification popped up in front of me, informing me that I had just received a message from another player. One look at the sender told me exactly what it would be about.

I tapped the notification and opened up the message. One quick scan through it confirmed my suspicions. I closed the message tab and headed off to my new destination.

When it came to online games, there were always guides of some kind. Online walkthroughs. Tips for how to create the best type of build for a character. Handy hints for secret areas. But when it came to VRMMOs, there was a special type of guide that usually worked best and could net you all kinds of information. Info brokers.

Unlike online guides, info brokers charged a fee for their services, but they were well worth it usually. Info brokers went far more in-depth with the information they provided, and gave that personal touch you just couldn't beat. Some info brokers also provided info where guides couldn't. Info on certain players for instance.

I arrived at a small building in the middle district of Serulis. A small sign hung overhead with a cutout of a bunny head with the name of the business that ran out of the building.

Lepus Information Agency

Among all the info brokers in CNO, very few compared to Lepus. She had it all. In-depth guides to practically every quest in the game, the best places to farm for materials and weapon drops, even the latest hot gossip. She had even posted an online beginners guide to CNO, explaining all kinds of more detailed information regarding game mechanics that weren't on the game's main website. You couldn't mention the word info broker without at least thinking of Lepus. She was famous in the game, in a far different way than top players like Zenos were. She did her job and she did it well.

It was exactly that reason why I had put in a request with her a week ago.

I walked in through the front door and was greeted with a fairly open lobby. Chairs were lined up along the side walls. A counter was set up near the far end of the room with a male player sitting behind it. I could only imagine he was hired help to act as a secretary of sorts. To his side was a door that led to Lepus's main office.

I walked up to the counter and the player spared me a glance before bringing his gaze back to the book he was reading. "Name?"

"Tae."

With a casual swipe of his hands, the player opened his menu and looked at a list. "Got it, head on in."

I wasn't sure which was crazier. The fact that Lepus was busy and successful enough to have a secretary, or the fact that there was a player out there that would take a boring desk job like this when this was supposed to be a game. The "role play" in RPG was supposed to mean being something interesting, not a bored teenager saving up for a car. But if he liked doing this, then all the more power to him. I certainly wasn't going to bother trying to figure out his reasons. I had more important things on my mind.

Walking through the door, I found myself in another open room. To the right was another desk, but the person behind it was the player I had come to see. Lepus.

While the initial appearance for a player's avatar is randomly generated, it is possible to alter it in ways such as changing your height and overall build. Most VRMMOs allow this, but normally at the cost of some sort of fee. As a result, most players simply settle for their appearance as it is.

There are a wide variety of appearances for players. Some are muscular men who look like they could arm wrestle a gorilla. Others are sexy beauties with curves in all the right places. Players usually show off their personal tastes in the form of clothing and accessories. There's practically an unlimited number of appearances and styles for players really.

As for Lepus, contrary to her reputation of being CNO's top info broker who could get almost any piece of information for a price, her appearance was that of a blonde ten year old girl wearing a rabbit hoodie.

"You sure got here quickly." Lepus greeted in an amused tone. "Have a seat."

I did as Lepus said and sat in the chair across from her. "I take it you were able to complete my request?"

Lepus shot me an expression as if to say "Really?". It was clear that she took her reputation as CNO's top info broker seriously. "Perhaps you went to the wrong place. I'm Lepus, CNO's top info broker and the girl that can get you any information you need. And you're asking if I was able to complete your request? You must be mistaking me for some half-assed loser who can even do proper-"

"Alright, I get it." I said, perhaps a bit too impatiently. "I'm well aware of how good you are. That's specifically why I came to you with this."

"Good. As long as we're clear on that." she said. "Let's start with your first request. That Dante guy? He's pretty much a mercenary. Does all kinds of work. Manpower for clearing dungeons. Bodyguard against PKers. Assassin PKer targeting whoever his client wants to harass. I'm sure you're familiar with that last one."

I hadn't told Lepus about Dante's attack on Violet and I when I asked her to look into him. She must have either heard about it from her own sources or had put two and two together on her own. "Any info on who his clients are?"

Lepus shrugged in response. "You'll have to ask him yourself. Guy does a lot of jobs for a lot of people. No self-respecting freelancer is gonna just post the names of all their clients for the world to see."

I let out a sigh. I couldn't say I was expecting anything else. Lepus was right. The only way to find out who hired Dante to attack Violet and I was to ask him directly. Pinning him down was going to be a major hassle though.

"Moving onto your second request…" Lepus said. "I found that girl you were looking for, stalker."

I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. I really didn't care for being compared to the creepy online simps who wanted to know everything about a girl in hopes of getting her number. "I'm not a stalker. I-"

"Stalker. Noun. A person who follows or harasses someone with unwanted and obsessive attention." Lepus said plainly, cutting me off. "She deleted you from her Friend's List, right?"

"Yes, but-"

"And you're trying to find her despite her telling you to stay away from her, correct?"

"Well… yes, but I-"

"Look, as long as you don't drag me into anything illegal, I couldn't care less how much of a creepy obsessive stalker you are." the info broker stated. "Point is, I found out what she's been up to this past week or so."

So she had been online after all. At least that meant there was a trail to follow- ok yeah, I was beginning to see Lepus's point in me seeming like a stalker. But if figuring out what had caused Violet to break ties with me out of nowhere made me a stalker, then so be it. "So what did you find?"

"Bloody Rose has been pretty busy. But the most important thing I found is she joined up with a guild."

I blinked my eyes in surprise. "Violet joined a guild?"

"Yup. It's a new guild that started up recently called Sparrow Wing. Small group; only about five people. Word on the street is they're not exactly friendly though. I confirmed through multiple sources that they've been PKing hunting parties left and right this past month or so."

Sparrow Wing. I couldn't say the name rang a bell. But the rumor of a guild PKing players out in the fields certainly had been going around. I had heard as much from Shingo the same day I ran into Dante. But if Sparrow Wing and this PKer guild were one and the same, then that only raised more questions. What was Violet doing with a bunch of PKers? That wasn't her style at all.

"This guild's been even more active this past week with their PKs. And I've gotten two confirmed sightings of Bloody Rose being with them during an attack." Lepus added, finishing up her report. "That's everything I found. Now then, the rest of my payment?"

I opened a trade window and sent 3000 bits her way, the remaining half of the agreed upon payment for Lepus's services. She confirmed the payment and smiled. "Pleasure doing business with you, stalker boy."

"I'm not a- oh forget it." I sighed. I began to walk away, but Lepus called out one more thing.

"By the way, Sparrow Wing has a guild home."

I paused at that. "Where is it?"

"800 bits."

Rolling my eyes, I sent another trade request with the money. This girl was shrewd, no question about that. A few seconds later, Lepus sent over a map of Serulis with a particular area on the middle section of the city dotted.

"Thanks for the info." I said, walking out and closing the door behind me.

I left the building and took another look at the map I had bought off Lepus. I had a rough idea of where Sparrow Wing's guild home was just from a glance. Closing the window, I began making my way there. The information Lepus had given me had certainly not been what I was expecting. It raised several questions as well. But I knew where I would find more answers.

It was time to pay Sparrow Wing a visit.

If there was any one thing that I could describe about my first impressions with Sparrow Wing, it was definitely their unique brand of hospitality.

"Get lost."

A single male player stood at the door of Sparrow Wing's guild home, having come out to greet me when I knocked on the door. As much as I didn't care for this guild so far, I had decided to play nice at first and simply ask if I could talk to Violet. Needless to say, that hadn't worked so well.

Oh well. The charming and funny approach it was then.

"You know, you should really look into a job as a concierge." When he narrowed his eyes at me, I shrugged. "No, really. You truly know how to welcome people in a way very few do. Most people would be polite and courteous. But the 'be a major prick' approach is sorely underused. And you've got it down pat."

"Yeah, you can definitely fuck right the hell off now."

I gestured in response. "See what I mean? You've got a gift. Not everyone can naturally be such an absolute rude piece of crap."

"You seem to also have a gift in the form of being really good at pissing people the hell off." The Sparrow Wing member took a step forward. "Get outta my sight. Otherwise next time I see you in the field I'll send your ass back to the Warp Monument before you even have a chance to crack a joke."

"Why would I need to crack a joke? You'll already be there."

That had clearly been the last straw as rage filled the guard's eyes. "You son of a-"

Before things could escalate any further, the door behind the guard opened and another player walked out. This one was a girl with short tan hair. She gave me a quick glance before turning her gaze back to her guildmate. "Problem, Tanba?"

The guard Tanba grunted in response. "It's nothing, Elisse. Just a smart ass who's not even half as funny as he thinks he is."

I put on my best look of sincere hurt. In which I mean it looked fake and sarcastic as humanly possible. "Aw, don't say that, Tanba honey. Where did we go wrong, you and I? How about one night, just you and me? Rekindle that spark we had."

Tanba got ready to throw a punch, but Elisse put a hand on his shoulder to signal for him to stop. She likely didn't want to cause any more of a scene than was already being made. She then turned her attention to me. "Violet says she doesn't want to talk to you."

Well that at least answered my question of whether or not Violet was here right now. But I wasn't giving up that easily. "Look, I just need to talk with her for a couple minutes. It's important."

"Too bad. She says no, and that's that." Elisse shooed me off with a wave of her hand. "Get going before you make her even more upset."

I let out a small scoff at the hypocrisy behind her words. "Something tells me I'm not the one making her upset. You think she'd join a gang of PKers for fun?"

Something seemed to snap in Tanba from that. He quickly grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. "You don't know shit about us, jackass! Or Violet for that matter!"

Tanba's sudden rage had caught me off guard, but I met his gaze nonetheless. "I know her better than some rando ganker like you ever could."

"Enough, Tanba!" Elisse said in a commanding voice. "Let him go."

"Did you hear what he said, Elisse?! He's calling us-"

"I said let him go."

The cold piercing glare from Elisse seemed to work with Tanba as he released his grip and muttered something under his breath before walking back inside and slamming the door shut behind him. Elisse let out a sigh and shook her head. "You really are exactly how Violet described."

"And exactly what is she to you?"

"A friend." If Elisse was lying, I couldn't sense it. Her gaze was low and her eyes had a hint of a somber look in them. "Just leave. It's what's best for everyone. Behind all your insults, you seem like you really care about Violet. But she doesn't want you in her life anymore. So please just accept that, forget about her, and leave us alone."

"You really expect me to do that?"

"If you're half as stubborn as Violet said, I doubt it." Elisse turned and walked to the door. "But she isn't coming out to see you. I suggest for both your sakes that you leave for now."

Elisse didn't say another word as she opened the door and walked back inside, closing it behind her and leaving me on the outside.

A/N: Hey readers. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, including the introduction to Lepus as a character. If any of you were wondering why some of the info logs at the start of each chapter have had "Lepus Guide to CNO" instead of "CNO Online Manual", now you know. And I hope you like Lepus so far, cause she's gonna be sticking around for awhile as a character.

Onto other news, I recently finished the first volume of my first original story. As it is an original series and not a fanfic, it is not posted on here and is instead on Wattpad. For any of you that are interested, please go there to check out Genesis Game. It should be one of the first stories that comes up if you put in the title, and my handle on there is the same as this site. I'd love to have more people check it out and give me feedback.

That's all for now. Until next chapter, readers.