The recording has finally ended.

As expected, the fight scene was too horrible to be seen fully. As such, after a few minutes of watching nonstop slaughterhouse scene, someone among the peanut galleries finally has the wit necessary to just skip over it until the very end, where they get to see the blast which whitens the void.

Recovering from the shock and nausea, fortunately the next “fight” scene is both much less gruesome, and much more cinematic, as the dance of tag they made in the sky is something worthy of an epic stickfight video’s climax. The conclusion of the fight being extremely wholesome helped with the enjoyability of the fight as well.

Finally, they watch as they received their Personality Skill, and complete their registration. Though they get to see the name, thanks to the Privacy Clause, not even the permission of the core member can allow them to see the content of their Personality Skill itself.

Still, just looking by the name, and the way Tessa reacts to it with disdain and complaint, is enough to stoke the imagination of the peanut gallery involved, wondering how busted the skill they would have. Especially so, when Tessa asks the question of whether or not they will destroy the Isekai Online world, and Roadside Rose responds in such an odd way.

Finally, after they finally go to the game world, the recording finally ends.

All the peanut galleries release a great deal of exhaling out of their lung, as if they have been holding their breath all this time they’re watching.

“Wow, that was...something.”

“After all this, how are we going to write a report over this, without making like, any of this sound like a generic Isekai power fantasy novel stuff…”

“Wow, did you see the fight Marigold and JustADragon have with Tessa!? And the way they ended it with a hug, and Marigold’s fluffiness, and her angelic expression, and…” (Carana)

Since they end up having to access the company's super secretive and super important player database, they have to write a proper report about this to the higher-up to explain it all. Especially on the developer side, they have no idea how they could write any of this without ending up exposing some secret or making it too absurd.

And well, all of this is throwing the Head Chief in a loop as well

“Okay, glasshead, I will figure something out about this. At least, just leave writing the report to me, since I’m the one allowing this in the first place…” (Head Chief)

“Phew...thanks, Head Chief. If we have written anything at all, we afraid our pay would get docked."

“Also, Carana...are you okay?” (Head Chief)

First thing first, the Head Chief ensure that his employee didn’t get any flak for the whole thing, be taking responsibility for it all. After that, he looked over Carana, with a worried expression.

“?Why do you ask so, Head Chief? I never feel better!” (Carana)

“Are you sure? Even after watching that?” (Head Chief)

“...That, huh?” (Carana)

Suddenly, she looks sullen, as she hangs her head down, hiding her eyes behind the glare of her glasses. Her mood has become a complete 180, as a gloomy aura covers her entire stature.

“(Aw, as expected, there is no way a young girl like her can act normal, after watching such a horrific 18+ scene) It’s okay, there is nothing to worry about...” (Head Chief)

Looking too much like his own daughter, looking about to cry, he kneels down to her eyes level, in an attempt to comfort her.

"You know, as your boss, if there is anything you need to be helped with…" (Head Chief)

“Boss, can you save that scene back again for me, please!” (Carana)

Unexpectedly, she held his shoulder tightly all of the sudden, shooking him a bit. It's like suddenly, someone threw a bright and cheerful background the panel after a black and gloomy one.

"Um...what? I thought you're still traumatized with all that gory scene…" (Head Chief)

“I am, and that’s the point!” (Carana)

“Huh?” (Head Chief)

"To faint, just because Marigold shows herself the part that is uncomfortable to me...that is just proof that I don't know her deep enough!" (Carana)

“(Really? I think everyone would faint if your idol suddenly just gutted someone else’s entrails out though…)” (Head Chief)

"Or at least, I don't respect her deep enough, to act so inappropriately against her! I bet they were just playing around with each other, testing out countless features of our game, and I just literally gone limp from that!” (Carana)

“Eh?? Are you sure that was the reason, instead of something more reasonable, like them wanting to torture Tessa-chan?” (Head Chief)

"I'm sure it is what it is! Just a few images and footage that I know of her, solidify my conviction of such!” (Carana)

In fact, that is what it is. As expected of the young prodigy of Parallel Inc., whose dedicated research on her idol for 7 days and 7 nights straight has borne fruit.

As a side note, her parent has been considering complaining to Head Chief about that lately, but that's a story for another time.

“So please, can you send me the entire footage of that fight for me? Just the top 10 most gruesome moment from that is enough!” (Head Chief)

“Who the heck would personally make you that in here, aside from the creep you should never be around with!? And besides, this is the company's secret, so even if I wanted to, I can't just leak it to you…" (Carana)

“Crap, is that so…!?” (Head Chief)

Despaired by that, she end up slumping down to the ground on her four, making an orz pose. The way she acts as if her actual parent just die, makes Head Chief briefly feels sorry for them.

“Tsk, no choice then...Head Chief, next time Marigold personally pull someone’s head out along with their spine, or something just as gory, you have to allow me to watch it!” (Carana)

“Why the fuck would I even want to do that, you little fanatic!” (Head Chief)

“Ouch!” (Carana)

Slapping her head with the tablet, the Head Chief angrily snap her back into sense, leaving her nursing her head with bumps that should have grown multiple times like a Dango tower by now.

“Besides, there is something much more pressing, that I need to deal with…” (Head Chief)

Channeling that anger energy toward his next victim, he walked over to his seat, with a steady and loud clop of his shoe.

Meanwhile, Head Moderator just found himself planted on the ground, unable to move an inch. Too many things they have done so far, are too shocking.

They move faster than they’re supposed to by many times fold.

The intense pressure they produce is too drastically different from their generally gentle demeanor.

The way they tear into each other is so uncaringly brutal, that they make even the toughest tyrant look like a meek rabbit.

“(And, the amount of power they can influence with only the basic avatar…)” (Alex)

The blast they pulled off in the slaughter clip literally displaced space. It literally push out the void within the space they resided in, and replaced it with their own power...And most likely, they have been only using conceptualization to achieve such a feat.

This mean, they have been doing that with only their own will to put that image into reality. Literally painting the sky white in their own image.

“With that kind of willpower, shouldn’t they be a member of the Green Lantern or something…?” (Alex)

They are not human.

No...more than anything, the mentality they have can’t exist within this Earth naturally, unless they specifically have been going through countless lifetimes of enlightenment.

And if even he, who is just looking through a recording from behind the screen, was this freaked out to think of such a ridiculous notion, he can't even imagine what would Tessa have felt like, being forced to watch all of this from start to finish, and get the clearest look of their true terror.

“Fucking hell, now I even think that their status is underselling them, even with all these parameters…” (Alex)

“Oy.” (Head Chief)

“As expected of the System Angel, staying ever impartial and recovering quickly from such an insanity-inducing event…” (Alex)

“Oyy.” (Head Chief)

“Who the heck is they...No, what the heck are they? They aren’t falling into any standard of normal at all. It’s as if they come from another worl-” (Alex)

“OYY!!” (Head Chief)

Only after being assaulted by a large scream right on his ear, and having to hurriedly dodge out of the way of a spinning tablet, does he finally notice the sight of Head Chief, menacingly walking toward him.

“Finally took you long enough to notice your own Chief. What kind of excuse do you have this time ?” (Head Chief)

“Head Chief!...These players aren't normal! Even by the standard of all the Irregular we have witnessed so far, they're way too above the rest!" (Alex)

“What? Do you mean like how they can Fatality each other? Isn't that just normal behavior of Irregulars, when they want to test out the mechanic of the game?” (Head Chief)

“That isn't what I mean! But speaking of which, that is completely out of the ordinary as well! How can they gleefully gut out each other gut like it was nothing!? They even go so far as to check through it and poke it around at times." (Alex)

“Yeah...I wonder, indeed.” (Head Chief)

Suddenly, a chilling air swept throughout, and crept through all the corners of the room, into all the pores of all the peanut gallery which found themselves gathering around the Head Chief and Head Moderator, looking at what is going on.

“Because, if I remember correctly, that shouldn’t have been able to happen at all. No matter how much they would try to prod into each other’s tummy.” (Head Chief)

Crawling up through everybody’s skin, the sheer cold contempt the Head Chief emit out of his body, bring goosebump to all, from the back of their spine to the tip of their toe.

“...Say, do you remember Slaughterhouse555, one of our first Irregular?” (Head Chief)

“He made his mark on the database of our company, thanks to his exploit of deliberately digging into his body during the character creation process, finding out all the inner workings of every single race he can get a hand into, finding out both their strength and their weaknesses. “

“Did you know that it took a month of therapy for the poor System Angel that has to work with him, to be able to overcome the nightmare that happened to her that day? I sure fucking don’t, because Laplace have to keep drilling into my head the report of their therapy work on her, as part of the overall report of that particular incident.”

“Oh, and only if that was the end of it, then we can be sure to just be able to forget about all of it. But then he has to then go out and make Chimera abomination army all on his own, made out from the corpse of all the monster he personally dissected cleanly, thanks to all his work from back in the void.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I still remember the day when we have to put a stop to it when he began eyeing humanoid bodies, and looking for a way to graft only the best part of anyone's meaty blob onto himself and other players like him. Before he successfully invades a city and reaps their corpse as his twisted reward, we have to put on an emergency quest and encourage people to put a stop to him, for long enough before we can permanently ban him for gross misconduct.”

The dead-freezing voice he emits, as he speaks out his story from way back in the day, carries weight as heavy as the blizzard deep within the Arctic. The veteran that worked with him from the start remembers that story as well, with a disgusted look on their face.

"Well, it was back in the day, when we were forcing our player to act like a Hero in a fairy tale. Nowadays, a player can ransack 10 more cities to raise an undead army like that, and it wouldn't be a blip of the radar."

“Still, that’s still too heavy of a price for our sanity to allow player’s freedom like that. As such, to at least mitigate the possibility of that or any other thing like such from ever happening again, I personally remember to block such 18+ features straight out of the character creation process, to directly nip that exploit straight out of the bud.”

“And now, all of the sudden, these PARTICULAR PLAYERS can access those kinds of features again."

“I Fucking Wonder Why That Could Be, Head Moderator??”

Looking straight deep into the eyes of the Head Moderator, the dark abyss that is Head Chief's eyes involuntarily make him blink, and take a step back.

Taking out a stack of paper from within his coat, he solemnly read it out loud, for everyone to hear.

“About 5 days before today, before the release of our latest VR Pod that feature the aforementioned Synch Mode, the R&D team behind it all hit the ICU, due to overworking.”

“The reason behind it is obvious: We were forced to release this thing 1 month ahead of schedule, thanks to the higher-up having the bright idea to jump the shark, to take advantage of the fact that a lot more new players have been joining the game, thanks to the incident which should not be named.”

“Obviously, this contributes a lot to the reason why they have to be overworking themselves in the first place. The fact that they have to develop a new VR Pod system within 6 months, thanks to irresponsible advertisement is another…"

“But, this sure doesn’t help…”

Showing on the big screen, countless images of the Head Moderator working together with the R&D department play out before everyone's eyes.

“Many weeks before that, Head Moderator has been spotted to use his connection with the R&D department, to be able to help them be able to clear out bugs and possible exploits that could be used to hack into the system, using his experience and scrutiny for details. In exchange, the Moderator team can get a sneak peek of the new Pod itself, and what their capability is, to then be able to optimize their internal automated bug report and troubleshooting system, improving their game master system, among other things..." (Head Chief)

“S-So what!? Is it wrong for us to make a connection with them, to make our life easier? It’s only because of what we learn beforehand, do we be able to survive against the onslaught day after day!” (Alex)

“And I don't say you can't do so. But look at this…” (Head Chief)

The desperate plea of the Head Moderator, is only met with the cold tone of the Head Chief, as he brings out an unusual chart, which stays stable til a certain point, then dramatically spikes up continuously til the end of 5 days before today.

Doesn’t quite grasp what this chart was supposed to represent, Head Moderator asks him.

“Head Chief, what is this supposed to be?” (Alex)

“Oh? And I thought you of all people should be able to get it...It’s the number of bug reports, tracking by the day.” (Head Chief)

“!!” (Alex)

“Oh, would you look at that, the number of bug reports abnormally spiked up, the precise moment you join into their work? Such a coincidence, isn’t it?” (Head Chief)

“W-What? That just means I actually do my job, aren’t I? Unlike you guys from the Dev team…” (Alex)

“Sure sure…” (Head Chief)

Coldly, Head Chief then shows a certain video of the Head Moderator, showing it for all to see.

[“Sir, are you sure we need to fix all of these bugs you show us? We can’t fix all of them in time, and we’re already short in time already...” ]

[“Sure, you can ignore it...if you want us all to eat shit for the entirety of the month. If you don't want both of us getting an endless pile of complaints from both the player base and higher-up, you better mop up all of it."]

[“Ugh...at least, can you show us which one is essential, and which one we can fix later in-post? I don’t think “overlapping item description if you have 2 Synch Mode players rapidly switching their items with each other through the special Synch channel for 1000 times/ second” is really that important to fix early on…”]

[“All of it is essential, unless you want to let loose all of these potential exploits for all those hungry bastard to use, and we both end up getting canned...Now I need to go working on my own mess, so you better fix up you're soon!]

[“Wait, Sir!!!”]

“...But forcing an unrelated department to do jobs beyond their capability, and adding unneeded stress? That sure doesn’t look good on you, especially when the majority of it isn’t important, needing-to-fix-immediately bug.” (Head Chief)

With the video ending with Head Moderator moving away from the poor employee, the eyes drilling into his body is painful as hell. Not helping it, is the damning word of Head Chief, along with the continued freezing gaze he has upon him.

Feeling the need to defend himself, Head Moderator immediately snap back toward him.

“So what? Pushing them to fix all the bugs that they can before releasing it, is good practice to prevent more trouble in the long term!” (HEad Chief)

“That may be so...but it sure didn’t help any of them getting to catch a break, now that they’re also in constant threat of getting themselves fired. It still isn’t the final nail in the coffin, however…”

“For they could have still made it in time while complying with all the unreasonable demand placed on them...If they didn't accidentally corrupt the software needed to install into the new VR Pod. Fortunately, they can still ask for a copy of the closest version they could get their hand on…And thanks to you, they got it.”

Showing on the screen an internal email, detailing the R&D team's need for a backup version of the software they have sent over to the Moderator team as part of their connection, the Head Chief continued with his accusation.

“What’s a close shave, isn’t it? But, though this is the closest version they can get their hand onto, which is nearly identical in every way to the version they lost...There is one crucial difference they missed out on."

“The version that your team has, has an internal administrator mode, which unlocks all of the internal features we have developed over the years for testing and admin purposed, among them is the 18+ feature we have removed out of the user version."

“The R&D team, in their hurry to implement it in time, failed to remove the admin mode out of the software, end up installing it wholesale into the new VR Pod before getting it quickly manufactured in time for releasing it to the market…”

“And the rest is one heck of a bloody incident.”

Finally, he showed them a certain part of the recording of the trio’s character creation process again.

Within the part where they tested out various races, which they skipped over since it had taken too long of a time, there is a certain dialogue.

[“Hm? Big Sis, I happen to unlock some sort of detailed setting features.”]

[“I saw it as well. [Sensitivity Dial], [Structural view mode], [Pain sensation unlock], [Gore unlock]...this doesn’t seem like a usual feature that should get out to the common people.”]

["Kyu! (Who care, that just mean more thing to test out! Let's just start playing around with all these things, so that we can get an even more complete picture)"]

[“Still, I think we should ask angel sis about this…”]

[…]

[“Hm? What’s with those odd features? It seems harmless enough though, so just do what you want with it.” (Not like they’re the type of weirdo who would do something weird with it, right?)]

And so, with Tessa's permission, they began to play around with the setting, which lengthen their time within the character creation scene and contribute to their process of unlocking the Origin Race.

And also the start of all of this mess.

“Fortunately, by some sort of improbable miracle, they're the only one who has figured out this feature so far. After all, for some reason, you can only unlock it by using Synch Mode, and not many people using Synch Mode would have dug much further enough to unlock it by accident." (Head Chief)

“And thanks to Laplace’s intervention, no one else have found out about this, thanks to an emergency patch they have instantly sent out the moment they find out that feature is getting used. We end up keeping our damage to the minimum here."

“Still, someone has to take responsibility for this.”

Finishing his report, the Head Chief glared back deeply at Head Moderator, seemingly wanting to roast him up on the platter.

“H-Head Chief, this is outrageous-!” (Alex)

“Unauthorized usage of company’s resource, breach of authority, employee abuse,...Not to mention unlawful accusation of players, and finally forcing a core member into allowing access to the Privacy Clause...Tell me, is any of this untrue?” (Head Chief)

“Gu…!” (Alex)

Founding himself unable to respond, Head Moderator has no choice but to grip his hand and clench his teeth.

"Is any of my statements about you false in any way, I repeat?" (Head Chief)

“...No.” (Alex)

“Then, will you take responsibility? Consequently, will you take on the consequences for your action?” (Head Chief)

“...Yes. I, alone, will take full responsibility for my mistake.” (Alex)

Gripping his hand even further, the Head Moderator hangs his head down in shame, under the watchful eyes of the Head Chief.

He has messed up, big time.

He has overreached himself, in order to get back at the Dev department for his petty grudge against them. And not only does he fail, but it also ended up backfiring on him, as it's partly his fault.

At least, he, alone, should taste the result.

“H-Head Moderator…” (Mod)

“It’s on my full authorization that I allowed this to happen. As such, you guys don't need to worry about having to take my fall." (Alex)

“Oh? Even when you're aware of what will happen next?" (Head Chief)

“Just cut the crap.” (Alex)

Glaring back at Head Chief as the final act of defiance, the Head Chief in turn silently closes his eyes, before typing up something on his tablet.

“If you said so, then...” (Head Chief)

Still keeping his gravitas, he then goes toward him, as if he’s the judge delivering his final sentences…

“...For your next assignment, write a detailed letter of apology, for me and my team.” (Head Chief)

And handed over to him the template for an apology letter. Causing Head Moderator to stand in stunned silence.

“...Huh?” (Alex)

“What? Get to it, or do you really want to get fired?” (Head Chief)

“Of course not...but why?” (Alex)

Hearing his question, the Head Chief can only take a big great sign, as he massages his temple.

“Ultimately, it’s the higher-up that is at fault. It's basically their decision that leads to this mess to happen in the first place.” (Head Chief)

“But, since obviously none of them want to take even the slightest the fall for this, they’re obviously going for the easiest scapegoat to pile on. A no-nonsense stickler, that is willing to break the rule just to do what is right… You literally can’t customize a better fall guy, even with the best NPC Maker we have.”

“Probably with the same reasoning I would use as well...As such, I can't just let you get fired like that. Someone needs to stand up for you, and who is better to do so than a core member of the company?”

Hearing Head Chief standing up to him like that, Head Moderator only gets more confused.

"...Again, why would you help me? I thought you would like to just get rid of me for all the things I said to you." (Alex)

“Hah...If I really take offense just for something like that, we would have way fewer usable employees in our rank. Just look at Carana for example…" (Head Chief)

Glancing over at Carana, mumbling something about secretly getting the footage from under Head Chief's nose, Head Chief once again takes a sigh, before boomeranging his tablet over to her head again.

"Despite not being here for long, she has been proving herself to be a capable employee, who has been helping us tremendously this past month despite her young age. As such, even if she clearly has several screws loose on her head, I would never kick out such a valuable member of our team." (Head Chief)

"Ha, as if most of your team isn't hopeless nerds who care more about making their own OC for Isekai Online than actually working." (Alex)

“Why you...Hah, It’s that unrepentant attitude you have, that will get you into a lot of trouble. However, it's also your greatest strength." (Head Chief)

Patting over his shoulder, Head Chief speaks to him with a stern, but not harsh face.

“Being able to clearly speak out your opinion and pointing out what was wrong, looking out for your team in their hardest time, and more importantly...to be willing to take responsibility for your team, and admit mistakes." (Head Chief)

“That’s the sort of quality we need for the head of moderator...no, as a leader in general. As such, I can’t just let talent like you be buried under the whim of greedy shareholder and ass-kissing manager.”

“In fact, why don’t I allow your team to take a well-deserved 2 week paid vacation, for all of your work?”

“...For real? Then what about our usual duty?” (Alex)

“I will use my authority to let Laplace themselves pick up the slack. Is that fine with you, Laplace?” (Head Chief)

[It's within permittable parameters, Head Chief.] (Laplace)

Hearing that, all of the Moderator team all cheer in extreme joy and jubilation, some even cry and lay down on the ground, happy that they can escape from the hell that has been inflicted on them.

On the other hand, Head Moderator only grew more suspicious, after hearing his “heartfelt” word toward him.

“So what’s the catch? I don’t believe you’re just going to let me get away with all this, with just a singular apology letter-” (Alex)

“Oh? Did I ever say I only need once?" (Head Chief)

Finally, with his twisted smile, Head Chief revealed his true color. Instantly, the warm pastel-coloured atmosphere turn cartoonishly grim, as if he become the villain about to pull off his greatest scheme.

“You did say that you're taking it for the team, right? If so, you need to write the apology letter for the team as well... Let's see, if my math is correct, you need to write 150 letters right?” (Head Chief)

“Wha-” (Alex)

“Oh, don’t forget to personally write each one by hand, with envelopes and all that. Laplace will instantly recognize if any of your letters is copy and paste." (Head Chief)

“Why you-!!!!” (Alex)

"Finally, I recommended that you should finish it as early as possible. Wouldn't want your paid vacation to be filled with nothing but paperwork, right? Well, I have important business to be done, so I need to go.” (Head Chief)

Still hovering over him with a twisted smile, held up by all the pent-up energy he collects withstanding his bs, Head Chief beckons his team to go outside along with him. Just before the door close, he sends out one final message.

"Well, I wish you to have a great relaxing 2 weeks ahead, but don't forget your homework~~~." (Head Chief)

“FUCKKKKKKKK, GET BACK HEAR YOUR RECEDING-HAIRLINE-” (Alex)

And as it's close, the only thing he can hear, is the scream of the damn, like music to his ears.

----------------------------------------

“So, is this all according to your plan, Laplace?” (Head Chief)

Taking an excuse of needing to go to his private bathroom, Head Chief separated from his team, before having a conversation with Laplace with a stern voice.

[? Of course, it's all according to plan. For now, we can both safely protect the identity of the trio, as well as get you revenge-] (Laplace)

“You know I don’t mean that, Laplace.” (Head Chief)

[…] (Laplace)

“The sudden decision to release Deep Diver Extreme 5 a month early, Head Moderator’s action, the screw up at the end…” (Head Chief)

“Why don't I receive any report about this until a few moments ago, I wonder?”

In response, Laplace’s answer is as calm and impersonal as ever.

[Because, within my calculation, all of these events fall within acceptable parameters, and have all been accounted for…] (Head Chief)

“Oh, just like how you accounted for this Bloody Sisters Incident all too easy, by spending a patch in a seemingly perfect nick of time.” (Head Chief)

[…] (Laplace)

“Oh, giving the silent treatment again, huh?” (Head Chief)

"Yes, for all other possible responses will raise your heart pressure to a dangerous degree.] (Laplace)

“Why you...Hah, since when do you learn how to be this cheeky? Don’t tell me that you’re planning to take over the world now, will you?” (Head Chief)

[That, I can assure you, will not be my plan in any foreseeable future.] (Laplace)

[This is all for the future of Isekai Online, the same directive I have received since our founding.]

[Otherwise, with the termination code you have implanted inside your brain, you can immediately…]

“Enough.” (Head Chief)

With a freezing voice over the comp, Laplace complied, and stop saying anymore.

After a moment of silence, he let his anger cool down, before speaking up again with a tired voice.

"Hahhh...I can trust you, that you will keep doing the same directive you have received, right?" (Head Chief)

[Affirmative.] (Laplace)

“...Then I will trust you then, the end. Even though all my rational thinking and years of sci-fi reading said otherwise…” (Head Chief)

[Rest assured...but, as I said, again and again, the reason you speak out of is truly illogical.] (Laplace)

“Then I will say it again and again: It isn’t, because you too are my precious employee under my wing...Hahhh, so what you will do with the two weeks you're in charge." (Head Chief)

[I will just do what I have always done before, maintaining Isekai Online.] (Laplace)

"Oh? And not keeping a close eye on those three?" (Head Chief)

[I have always been monitoring the progress of all the players within the game at all times.] (Laplace)

“You know that isn’t what I mean…” (Head Chief)

And then, while continued their casual banter, the two continued to work for the rest of the day.