’Why is he asking me to play his game?’
Staring at the laptop in front of him, Rowan was a little confused. However, he wasn’t confused for long as he recalled that Seth’s ’real’ job. That of a game developer. Or at least, that was what he called himself.
In Rowan’s mind, Seth was more of a therapist for him than a game developer.
He was the only one who was capable of calming him down whenever he had trouble with sleep or had nightmares about his past.
That was why Rowan forgot all about Seth’s real job.
But then again, he wasn’t really that interested in playing Seth’s game. He didn’t want to sound arrogant, but he was one of the top recruits within the Guild. Yes, he was still inferior to Kyle and Zoey, but he was still up there.
He didn’t believe for one second that the game could have an effect on him.
He was also not in the mood for it. Especially with everything that had been happening within the department.
’I know he’s helped me out a lot, but I don’t really want to fake a reaction. I’m not exactly the greatest of actors. If I fake it, and he realizes it, he might just stop doing the sessions with me. But what if I don’t fake it and I won’t get scared? Will he get angry and kick me away? Or will he lock himself up in his office again? But what about my sessions…?’
Rowan started to sweat.
Regardless of how he tried to see things, he was in quite a disadvantaged situation.
Whichever option he chose seemed to lead to a terrible outcome for himself. The only way for everything to go smoothly was to be genuinely scared, but Rowan knew he wasn’t going to get scared.
Just one look at the plain interface was all he needed to know about the quality of the game.
’Ah, shit… What do I do? I can’t do without the therapy sessions anymore.’
“Rowan?”
Suddenly hearing his name get called out, Rowan raised his head to see Seth staring at him with his head tilted.
“Is there something wrong? Is the game not loading?”
“Oh, ah… the game. Yes, the game.”
Turning his attention back to the game, Rowan secretly swallowed. He was trying to think of all ways to reject playing it. However, lifting his head once more to stare at Seth and seeing the way that he was looking at him, Rowan could only inwardly sigh.
’Since I made an appointment with him, telling him that I have something coming up will feel too obvious. In the end, do I have no other choice but to play the game…?’
Licking his lips, Rowan once again alternated his gaze between the laptop and Seth. However, the moment he looked at Seth and saw the look of anticipation on his face, Rowan felt his hand twitch.
It really did seem like he cared…
’Alright, fine.’
In the end, Rowan sighed once more.
Regardless of how unscary the game was, he was prepared to put out the most amazing performance of his life.
Reaching out for the mouse, Rowan moved the cursor towards the [Play] button and left-clicked.
Click!
The game began.
***
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Figures began to emerge one after another from behind a large portal. Waiting for them before the gate were several figures clad in white clothes, holding onto tablets as they stared at the emerging figures with a look of shock.
In the end, they only snapped out of it when Kyle emerged. He had a complicated expression on his face as he did.
Turning his attention towards the people clad in white, Kyle held onto a large bag and tossed it to them.
“Here. This is our haul for today.”
“Uh, ah…? Yes, ah, yes.”
Catching onto the bag, one of the figures clad in white opened it and quickly looked through the contents.
“This…”
It didn’t take long for their expression to change as they looked at Kyle and the group in shock.
“Not bad, right?”
Smiling at the researcher, Kaelen emerged from behind Kyle as he stared at the bag.
“If I didn’t count wrong, we should’ve been able to fetch about thirty fragments.”
“Thirty-four to be exact.”
Serelith added by the side, yawning slightly as she gave the bag a casual glance before losing interest. Leaning against her spear, she brushed her long white hair behind her head while also mumbling something to herself.
Something along the lines of, ’What should I have for lunch? Turkey sandwich?’
Staring at the two and then the bag, Leon found himself licking his lips. While the haul wasn’t exactly big, considering the gate that they had just entered was a mere <D> rank, this was amongst the highest hauls they could receive.
Once a gate was cleared, they wouldn’t just disappear forever after closing.
Once a gate was cleared, the Guild would assume authority over it, allowing them to send members back inside to gather fragments.
…Or in their own terms, ’farm’ them.
What distinguished the differently ranked gates from one another wasn’t the purity of the fragments within; they all scaled with the gate’s clearance level. It wasn’t the attribute either. What truly set the gates apart in rank was the haul granted upon clearing each successive trial.
The higher the rank of a gate, the greater the number of fragments that could be ’farmed’ in said gate.
A <D> ranked gate usually produced about twenty to thirty fragments per subsequent clear.
In other words, they had cleared the gate flawlessly.
“This one was quite a bit easier than I expected. I’d expect the fragments to be quite pure this time. The haul isn’t so bad.” Chiming in from the side was Sarah, who looked at the bag with sparkling eyes as they all started to move back towards the Containment Area.
Coming directly from the Collection Department, Sarah specialized in the collection of fragments from gates.
Her attraction towards the fragments was only natural.
“I can tell with just one look that the fragments are at least 60% above in purity. Fuck!” Sarah enviously looked in the direction of those in the Containment Department. “You guys have it really easy. We hardly did a thing, and we managed to get so many pure fragments. How is this department so unprofitable when it’s so easy to farm fragments?”
“About that…”
Kyle could only force a smile while answering her. It wasn’t like collecting the fragments was hard. If he went by himself, he could probably collect the same amount.
The issue was that he was too busy trying to clear the higher-ranked gates, leaving the lower-ranked gates for the less experienced people.
The number of resources the Guild had to spend to first clear the gate in the Containment Department was much higher than what it spent on one gate in the other departments. Not only that, but the deaths were much higher, too.
It really wasn’t as easy as she thought it was.
Kyle was just about to say this, but was soon cut off by Kaelen, who gave them the side-eye.
“Maybe the reason why they are so unprofitable is that they waste too much time on preparations. I heard that in order to join this department, one needed to be extremely brave. But…”
Kaelen put on a difficult face as he looked away from Kyle and entered the containment zone, filled with its numerous cubicles.
“…As far as I see, rather than bravery, I see something else.”
“What else do you see?”
Frowning, Kyle looked at Kaelen. He could feel that whatever Kaelen was trying to imply wasn’t anything nice.
Seeing Kyle take the bait, Kaelen’s lips pulled up as he opened his mouth to speak when…
Clank!
A sharp smack rang out in the distance, snapping everyone’s attention toward one of the doors. From behind the darkness that embraced the insides of the door, a pale figure stumbled forward, his eyes wide and quivering.
He reached out a trembling hand toward the doorframe, barely able to whisper,
“H-help…”
But before his fingers could touch the edge, a figure materialized behind him. The figure tilted his head slightly, voice calm.
“Come on. You barely played the game. Keep going. I still need more data.”
“No, no, no…”
“Do me this favor.”
Rowan’s face contorted, his expression twisting as the color drained from his skin. He jerked his head up, eyes locking with Kyle and the others. With sudden desperation, he reached toward them, screaming at the top of his lungs:
“Help me! Help me!! I can’t do this anymore! Help me!”
