Red Block Control Room…

“Takao, report.”

Fallen asleep on his desk in the wee hours of the night, the Watcher in question jumped up in shock from the sudden command. Falling off his chair, coffee spilt on the young Seer’s head as he scrambled to stabilise his senses.

“Fucking Hells!” Takao swore as he looked up at his superior. “You could’ve woken me up literally any other fucking way!”

“I could have, yes.” Vis replied with an unapologetic smile on his gruff face. “But that wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining. Now, if you will, report.”

“You could’ve just checked your own shit for the stats, dickwad.” Getting back on his chair as he wiped the spilt drink with a tissue, Takao imbued his mana into the pad on his desk.

The Egos powering his holomonitors turned on, displaying the live video captured by a dozen Remote Eye Egos and a few recorded videos. The only exception was the left side screen closest to the Seer, which showed a graph and other numerical statistics that were being updated by the second.

“Totalling just under five thousand disqualified, up to two thousand dead in just fifty minutes. Damn, and the ‘First Wave’ hasn’t even been sent yet. I feel like the whole ‘anyone under twenty five thousand ranking will get disqualified’ rule will be completely redundant after the next half hour.”

“I disagree. There are many methods of surviving the incoming wave. It just takes a little intelligence and ingenuity for the most part, or brute force to those who possess it. It’s probably why the higher ups have explicitly told us to increase the number of dead.” Vis said, his red eyes cold. It did not take a genius to know that the Overseer was rather unhappy with the attitude of their superiors. Even still, the man carried out his job to the letter, driven by his sense of duty. “I’m certain the ‘number issue’ will take care of itself in the following waves.”

Takao, in contrast to his superior’s displeasure, was a bit more indifferent. “Dead people can’t fuck up PR nearly as badly. That’s probably what’s going on at the Table.”

“And yet rumours say they want as much ‘fodder’ as possible to slow down potential enemies at the borders of the world.” The redhead countered. “It’s too contradictory.”

“Well, who knows what they’re thinking?” Takao waved off with half-closed eyes. “Just need to do my shit and get paid. Could use a raise though.”

Vis tilted his head, thoughtful. “I heard there’s an opening in Green Block.”

The Seer frowned. “Not on your life. As if I’d go work under that idiot.”

“Cu Chulainn’s the one leaving. Apparently there’s a Rift Outbreak in Norkos, and the entirety of Fireteam Amethyst is being called up.”

“When is there not a Rift Outbreak in that frozen hellscape?” Despite being a joke, Takao did have some basis of truth to his words. The northern lands were just that hostile. Untamed and unchecked, the worst place to go on vacation to, with a few exceptions of course. “Anyway, I’m not interested in management. Too much brain-work.”

“I see. Then perhaps your best option is just to volunteer for the Recovery Crew.” Vis smirked. “They’re getting quite rich with all the participants dropping out.”

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The Seer scoffed, louder than he intended. “Maybe when pigs can fly. I’m no babysitter, and I don’t have any Spatial Magic talent in me.”

“There are flying pigs in Sorkos. The Lower Heights are full of them.”

Takao rolled his eyes. “Yeah, fuck up. Those things ‘glide’.”

The Seer yawned, hoping to chase away the drowsiness. He had fallen asleep minutes after the start of the new event. It was not that he was slacking, but rather his job was usually a day time Watcher, and thus he clocked out the moment the clock struck six in the evening. That being the case, this was supposed to be his off-duty hours.

“By the way, you better have a bloody good reason for waking me, otherwise I’m reporting you to HR for abuse.” The young Seer glared at the redhead who stood next to him.

“Of course. Recall 726?”

Takao tilted his head in confusion. “Uhhhhh… you mean the participant or the room?”

“The participant, obviously.”

“What about him?”

“He appears to be in the process of triggering a special event in Depth Level One.” Vis explained, folding his arms. “I’d also like a closer look at this.”

“Huh?” The Seer was taken aback, his fingers moving quick as lightning across his keyboard. Within seconds, a video was brought forth on his main monitor which displayed the ongoings of a room named ‘CZ101’.

Takao’s brows furrowed, his gaze focused on the pixelated image of a spawn of Niggurath with tendrils attached to its back. The feminine monster appeared to be fighting a well-built human with fire-like eyes and sclera dark as night. More precisely, the monster appeared to be attacking with every limb it had except its legs, while the man dodged and blocked with shocking precision and calmness.

Both Watchers observed in silence, up until participant 726 decided to flee, picking up the corpse on the way out. Perhaps the dark-skinned woman meant something to him. Takao was not all too sure, nor was he curious enough to find out. What he preferred to pay attention to were the monsters that remained within the room.

One, a former male by the looks of its physique, was a regular spawn of Niggurath. The lowest of the low, bottom of the barrel, crack of the Abyssal deity’s thousand asses. Meanwhile, the other, more evolved creature was of great interest. It was well armoured, with extra-long claws and five flexible tendrils for attacking. Its capabilities were a far cry from the regular mob on the first level.

“An [Elite] monster…?” Takao muttered in thought, rubbing his chin. “Not just a bronze or silver…but a gold rank?”

“So it would seem, and yet the special event remains incomplete.” Vis noted, his tone even. The Seer could not tell whether his superior was happy or disappointed or perhaps both.

On the one hand, Overseers wanted their Block’s participants to excel, especially with the ‘patron system’ on the immediate horizon. They wanted their participants to show off their worth. On the other hand, there were rules and a level of fairness that needed to be maintained within each event. Letting a participant combat something far above the predetermined ‘level’ of the event would be breaking the rules, as a standard needed to be kept to ensure some measure of survival rate. There was one exception, however.

“This isn’t one of the boss rooms, right?” Takao asked, to which the redhead shook his head.

“This is supposed to be a [Normal] room. The appearance of the high-ranking [Elite] was not expected, but I suppose it’s being balanced by the absence of Egos.” Vis clarified, watching as the two monsters returned to the leech sacks that birthed them. For the Elite, it was the mass in the wall that evolved it, enrapturing the tendrilised form like a cocoon.

Takao frowned in disgust as he watched the eggheads enter the gaping maws filled with spirals of teeth. “Gods, those things are bloody disturbing. Less I have to see them, the better.”

Vis looked at him for a moment, before turning around. Walking away, the Overseer left some parting words. “Don’t be such a wimp. Rose isn’t fond of weaklings.”

“You don't need to spell it out…”

Vis definitely heard him, but the redhead ignored the complaint, turning his attention to the other fifty or so people currently in the room. “Get ready! Ten minutes before the First Wave!”

“Yes, sir.” A few shouted back, while others like Takao remained silent.

“First Wave, huh. Guess I’ll stick around for it.” His lazy eyes swept over the dozen screens around him. Some showed dead bodies, others small groups cowering or scavenging what they could in isolated rooms. Some who were braver and more capable than the rest were even actively going into areas filled with monsters, seemingly understanding that the majority of the ‘loot’ was there.

The most interesting however, were those that stood alone. Not those who lost their group members to this or that, but the ones who chose to be on their lonesome.

“‘Geniuses stand alone’, was it? I wonder how many of these guys qualify?” Takao tapped his keypad, bringing a camera from the second level to his main monitor. As soon as he did, the lone figure in the picture looked up at him, or more specifically, at the hidden Ego providing the video.

“Well aren’t you sharp?” The young Seer smiled in amusement, eyes drawn to the ‘88’ symbol on the human man’s chest.

“Avert your eyes, plebeian.” Harsh golden eyes paired with a nonchalant frown and deep voice stared at Takao through the screen. “I don’t like worshippers.”

The Watcher felt a vein pop on his forehead as his grin dropped, replaced by a tight line. “Green Block’s got one arrogant little shit, huh? The fuck's this guy's deal?”