As he had expected, his group was the last one remaining in the room. Everyone else had already left, and it was just him, the healer, and the cloak on stage. Buddie really did that.

“Now for group N. Your group was added in by Buddie after the normal cut off period, so your situation is a little different. You only had you and the healers as part of your team, so we made it that you only had to take care of five interns.

Out of the five interns that you were in charge of, four have passed and one has failed. Considering your situation, you have done a remarkable job, and will most likely be asked to do this again for the next batch. The managers appreciate...”

The cloak continued talking, going into a long-winded speech like they had for all of the other groups.

As there was no longer a large crowd to hide himself in, Ed couldn’t take out his phone to distract himself. Instead, all he could do was pretend to pay attention while letting his mind wander.

Eventually, after what felt like an especially long period of time, the speech came to an end.

“... Please go back and inform the interns of their fate. You will be able to continue with your work for the day after doing so. Tomorrow you will be asked to show the new hires around the office.”

Finally. Ed rose from his chair and quickly left the place, not wanting to waste another second there.

Looking at his phone, he saw that it was already the afternoon. He had been sitting in there for over six hours just listening to that person talk. This day was such a waste.

He sent a quick text to Zara, telling her that he was finally out of there, and that he had a few things that he needed to do before he could get to the office.

From their previous text messages, he already knew that she was completely done with her work for the day but he still thought it would be a good idea to let her know that he would be at the office soon, just in case she wanted to meet up with him there.

Reaching the end of the hallway, he cleared his mind, thought about where he wanted to go, then opened the door.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Stepping into the familiar hallway lined with doors, he immediately felt the change in the air. The air was so much fresher where he just was. It was almost stale here by comparison, even though he knew there was nothing wrong with it.

I wish I had windows here.

Reaching the five doors for the interns, he stopped to consider whether he should break the bad news to Belle first, or if he should tell everyone else the good news, and then tell her.

After a moment to think, he decided to leave her to last.

Pushing open the first door, he saw Mathew sitting there, eating a lasagna.

That looks good. Maybe I should have that for lunch today.

Hearing the door open, Mathew’s head swerved around and he made eye contact with Ed.

“Sorry for disturbing you during your meal. I’ve just got some news that I need to tell you.”

Mathew twitched out of fear, his face paling as his fork dropped to the floor along with the bite of food that was on it. It clattered along the concrete floor, as the mess left behind by the lasagna was immediately cleaned up.

It took him a moment to react before he straightened up and looked at Ed again, though his eyes were now trembling in fear. “What is it?”

“You don’t have to worry, it’s good news. I can assure you of that.” Lesson learnt. I need to make sure I don’t scare the shit out of them. Anything I say has the chance to make them fear for their lives.

Mathew calmed down slightly, albeit he was still concerned and a little wary. But he knew that Ed was on his side and wouldn’t hurt him.

“I just came from a meeting. You have passed the internship period and are now officially an employee of the company. Rest well today, I’ll bring you around the office tomorrow.”

Ed left after saying that, allowing Mathew to digest the news and calm down so that he could go back to his meal.

The next person he went to talk to was Masami.

She wasn’t eating anything, but was instead just sitting there silently staring at the computer screen before she turned to look at Ed.

Learning from earlier, he gave her the good news immediately.

Her mood visibly improved, and after chatting for a while about all of the things the company had to offer, he left her feeling better than before.

It was clear that despite her being used to spending long periods of time alone in her room while working on games, that being in this room had impacted her.

Moving onto Jacob’s room, he decided to keep it brief. He gave him the news, and watched as he excitedly cheered at being able to leave this place.

After repeating the news to Roman, he stopped outside of Belle’s door. This is going to be difficult. Clenching his fists, he opened the door and walked in.

Just like the others, she immediately turned to look at him, Ed hoped to make things easier for her, but it was difficult to even look her in the eye.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to look anyway. He made a seat in front of her and sat down. “I’ve got something I need to tell you.”

Belle could see how he was acting, and knew that it wasn’t anything good. She was trembling, but she took a deep breath and maintained eye contact with him. “You can tell me. I’m ready for it.”

“I just came back from a meeting. You... did not pass the internship.”