[Employee Candidate Orientation]
As the applause and cheers slowly fade, a person who seems to be the host pops up behind the podium, causing another round of applause.
I look around me, confused.
People are sitting down, dressed in suits. They’re clapping and cheering with excitement, but also nervousness.
It seems to be an orientation event for a major company.
The host smiles brightly, clicking on a remote which advances the presentation to the next slide.
“You guys should be proud of yourselves for passing the written exam!”
Cheers fill the auditorium again, leaving me in bewilderment.
What the hell is going on?
I try to step back in hesitation, only to realize that I’m sitting down.
“Only a select few have been chosen for this special session!”
“Congratualations, you all have been assigned to the Field Survey Team!”
A slight tingle rides up my spine, the familiar words clicking in my brain.
“Field Survey Team? Does Vita Corp have a department like that?”
“Field exploration for a pharmaceutical company?”
Murmurs and whispers reach my ears, but my mind is already occupied.
I recognize these names, Vita Corp and its Field Survey Team.
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Field Survey Team (Vita Corp)
One of the five departments that make up Vita Corp.
They are sent out to retrieve flaws that are beneficial to the corporation's interests.
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Ah… don’t tell me.
I look upwards, an attention grabbing symbol now plastered across the screen.
A cartoony red heart with the sole feature of a wide grin.
It’s the insignia of Vita Corp, a famous company that sells life-extending medication in the world of Iridiscience Company.
But how can this be?
My face twists into a nervous smile, a terrible thought coming to mind.
Immediately, I stand up.
But it’s already too late.
Bang, bang, bang!
The doors of the auditorium shut one by one, seemingly by themselves.
While that happens, the host shouts in a cheerful tone.
“Let’s get started everyone!”
With that lively voice, the lights go out.
“…huh?”
“What’s happening…?”
“Is this a surprise event?”
While I was panicking, the new trainees still hadn’t realized what was happening.
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Vita Corp is one of the most beloved factions by fans of Iridiscience Company for many reasons.
But for the inhabitants of the world, it’s probably the worst company for new hires.
A specific line from a YouTube video flashes through my head.
At the employee candidate orientation, trainees are thrown into a deadly survival game to determine who gets full time employment.
-Bzzzt
Emergency lights flicker on, painting everything in an eerie red.
In the center of the auditorium now stands a shaking figure, illuminated by the flashing lights.
The trainees nearest to the figure jump out of their chairs, scrambling away in fear.
“What the hell is that?”
“Can someone tell me what’s going on?”
“Hey, check if she’s okay!”
Squinting to get a better view, my mouth forms a grim line.
A woman with a white hair pin pushes through the crowd, walking towards the shaking girl.
With a look of worry on her face, she stretches out a hand and touches the girl’s shoulder.
At that sight, I break out of my trance, my body moving on its own.
“HEY! GET AWAY FROM HER!”
I shout with all my might, but it’s already too late.
The shaking girl goes still.
Her mouth begins to spread across her face, bloody gums replacing where her eyes and nose had once been.
Her teeth become jagged and elongated, protruding from her mouth like sharp spikes.
Crunch
Crunch
Her legs snap as they bow inwards, and her arms crackle as they warp into long, scythe-like appendages.
Horrible noises fill the otherwise silent auditorium.
That’s right, they have to survive against a D class flaw for 5 minutes!
As the next line from the video plays in my head, a single thought crosses my mind.
We’re fucked.
The woman with the white hair pin falls backwards, an expression of pure terror on her face.
Screams and shouts fill the auditorium as the trainees push outwards. They trample over each other as they try to escape the room, desperately banging on the doors.
But they don’t open.
As the flaw raises its transfigured limbs, I tense my legs.
Swoooooosh
My body moves on instinct, a sharp roll. Hitting the ground hard, I wince as a jolt of pain shoots up my leg.
I can feel a rush of wind right where my head was, the sound of slicing air brushing past my ears.
As I scramble to my feet, I quickly glance upwards.
Heads and limbs go flying as the flaw rips through the trainees, like a farmer using his sickle on a bundle of crops.
Its distorted figure looms in the center of the room, spinning as it swings its claws in my direction again.
Gritting my teeth, I lunge forward, narrowly avoiding decapitation.
The screams of others reverberate though my skull, but something in the back of my mind quiets the noise.
Focus.
The trainees are scattered across the room now, some of them still clinging to the doors. Others are frozen in place, their eyes wide open in terror.
Nearly half of them are dead.
Swooooosh
I roll forward again, but this time I stumble slightly over a corpse. Quickly raising my arms, I soften the fall.
Crimson blood soaks through my sleeves, the sticky sensation seeping onto my skin.
Beads of sweat roll down my face as I rack my brain.
This can’t go on forever.
The sheer amount of corpses is making it harder and harder to dodge, and the slick blood will eventually make me slip.
In Iridiscience Company, every flaw has at least one weakness.
I just need to figure out the name of this flaw and then I’ll…
No.
Will I even be able to remember?
Thinking back to Abyss Transit, I was only able to faintly recall the procedure because it was a memorable flaw.
But this D class flaw… it's just another monstrous slasher.
The flaw let out a guttural scream as it dissects another trainee in brutal fashion.
…
Just as I had given up hope, my phone buzzed inside my pocket.