After turning in a huge batch of eggs, Zen sighed. These red eggs won’t amount to many points, but they were definitely heavy. Zen walked back when he heard the oven’s timer go off and was opening it to retrieve the new batch of Basilisk eggs when something crashed through the window from the cafeteria.
Zen froze in fear when he heard the screech. The boss monster that everyone else was chasing was in the same building, and Zen panicked. He wasn’t trained in combat. How would he tame this basilisk?
There was no time to think. For Zen, every second he wasted hiding in this kitchen was a second that he was endangering these egg supplies. He had to get the bird out of here.
With a burst of bravery, Zen armed himself with the hot eggs and spied on the monster from the serving window connecting to the cafeteria. The dumb monster boss did not seem to notice him yet, so Zen called out to it.
“Over here! I have your children!”
By the end of the event, Johan and Felix remained the only members remaining in what used to be Guild Carnage. All their members were dead, and their strongest weapon defected to the other candidate’s party.Nobody dared to approach the basic gym as Johan continuously took his frustration out on the punching machine. Beside him, Felix looked very serene, even if the aura surrounding him was dark. It was a joke how the dead last from the opening ceremony was now ranked first. Guild Survivors recruited almost thirty percent of the remaining survivors. Apart from Party Undead, who were wiped out by Party Freedom, who was promoted as the captains of Guild Survivors, the other four who died were simply unlucky.Johan wasn’t mad that their guild and party disbanded. He was madder at how he couldn’t kill a single person with his own hands. That fight with the Seer was the only fulfilling thing he gained from this useless event.“Be thankfu
Zen came to a very familiar bar and did not know if he should be thankful or sad that he had eight fewer drinks to buy.“Hey, kiddo! You’re back. How did it go? I heard that you were quite the star, among other things.”Vera, the barkeeper, was still as short as ever. Zen forced a smile and nodded. Maybe this was why people drank. The act of pouring their worries down with a cup and forgetting about reality for a moment was the same as how the original third young master indulged in virtual games. Only, it was now drinking in a virtual world.“I’m back for the game clip highlights for the event,” Zen told her.Vera chuckled. “Ninety-two shots now. You might not have that bad of a hangover tomorrow. Are you sure you want to down all of them in one go? There has been no announcement for the next event yet. You don’t have to hurry.”Zen shook his head. This was precisely why he was here tonight, ri
After a night of drinking, Zen came to terms with certain things. However, he could not make these decisions alone. Too many have died, and while he knew these teens were not against murder, he was not expecting Party Freedom to completely annihilate Party Undead.He had to let his party members know. After all, two of the guild’s highest-ranked people were there.“Did you not get any sleep?” Liu Feng asked as Zen clutched his throbbing head.“I did,” Zen replied with a scratchy voice. “However, the memories crammed into me didn’t give me any peace.While the Seer was still here, Zen took the opportunity to ask about his fight with Johan.“Ah, you saw that in the clip too? It was probably the most interesting thing that happened during the entire event. There were simply too many errands to run, and if Amazonian did not tell Death Princess where those rats were hiding, I might not have found them.&rdq
As Zen rolled the food trolley with Bolt and Yelena in tow. He thought about the few ways he could react to seeing everyone in the guild again. The first was to pretend that everything was alright and go back to that more playful atmosphere to lighten the serious mood. There was nothing wrong with lingering in the celebratory mood after their victory against Guild Carnage. However, his reaction that morning when Liu Feng woke him up was a little too strange for the Seer to overlook it. The best option was to remain silent and not attract too much attention to himself. It usually worked while he was still working as a chef when he was a civilian. On good days, his boss would completely forget him and Zen remembered how he would share the stolen meat with Celine on days like that. It was a good solution if the situation allowed him to play a background character. Unfortunately, Zen had no idea his party members would allow him to remain a background character.
When Zen returned, Charlie and Remi were already gone. Sasha looked at all the extra food with confusion. Why did they leave so quickly? Then again, the atmosphere in the room was a lot more relaxed now that they were gone. Perhaps the upper echelon of the guild resolved it while they were gone?“Here, your macaroni soup, although I don’t know if it is to your taste.”The steaming bowl of chicken soup macaroni with shredded chicken and simple vegetables was placed on the small side table near Liu Feng. Zen did not forget the chopsticks and soup spoon that he grabbed from the room he shared with the blind teen.Just from the smell alone, Liu Feng knew that it would be good, although he did not know if he would be able to maintain his usual composure after eating it.
The invigilators took their leave after helping to clean up. Zen heaved a sigh of relief now that the two troublemakers weren’t in the same space. He hated to play mediator for a commando and a muscle woman.Now that the party was together again, Zen took a good look at them. The ninety-two shots he drank gave him more insight into the kind of people they were. Zen should not be very shocked at some of their brutality. However, there were some things he felt the need to let them know.“I saw the game clip highlights,” Zen cut to the chase. “Some of them weren’t very pretty. I hope you’d bear with me as I recall everything from the notes I made after watching them. It’s quite a long list, and most of them are observations on my end with personal opinions. To Kanzaki-san and big brother Wind, I hope you won’t make r
Despite the curiosity eating at everyone’s insides, Zen ignored the bomb he just dropped and continued with his agenda.“Firstly, I would like to highlight the true potential of Remi’s abilities.”Nobody complained about Zen’s debrief session. As the only person in the guild who watched all ninety-two game highlight clips, nobody questioned his event analysis.“He did suggest the method of luring those flight white eggs,” Sasha attested. “I’m more impressed by how quickly their plans adapted to the new person. I wasn’t that prepared when my shots missed.”At that, Zen smiled. “You should have more faith in your marksmanship. The two shots hit their target, but the target was made tougher than bullets
Although nobody spelt it out explicitly, Zen could tell that they did not like the idea of adding someone else into the party. He wasn’t sure if it was because they did not like Damian or if they just did not want anyone else joining them.Regardless, the young cook was determined to persuade them. If Oritha could switch sides, talking to Damian and getting him to lend them his abilities would be possible too. After all, he had a less disagreeable personality to work with.The Cyborg was a mysterious person, and even after asking Faceless to stalk him, Zen had yet to receive any useful information about him. Apart from how the Cyborg hardly eats and spends most of his time locked in his room, Faceless did not get any useful information.“Why him?” Sasha asked, clearly distressed.