Unaware of the chaos in the dungeon, Zen took his time soaking in the tub after teaching Joaquin and Elena how to maintain some of his kitchen tools. The knives were the only tools he didn’t allow them to touch. A chef’s knives were akin to their hands and lives. If he could, he would have a set of ceramic knives made instead, as they were more durable and didn’t need sharpening as much.
While Zen soaked in the tub, he thought about everything that happened that morning. There were still many things to do. He had no idea if anyone in Party Prayer knew what they intended to do. Moreover, Damian’s notes included with the name list were very comprehensive. One of the perks of having alternate reality technology is being able to view documents leisurely while in the bathtub without any risks of ruining them.Damian’s information was more resourceful than Zen’s. Although he spent a lot of credits reviewing every student’s game highlightIt’s been a while since Zen visited the shop. He walked through the portal expecting a different setting because it was a museum when he visited the rewards shop with his party members earlier. However, when he materialised at the shop, he saw a familiar bar counter and the same old lady who was snoozing shamelessly.“Hi, Vera. It’s been a while,” Zen greeted, startling the slacking shopkeeper, who quickly pretended she was merely resting her eyes and not napping.Chuckling at the cranky old lady, Zen sat down and looked at the menu. Even if this was a bar created in the system, they updated the menu accordingly. Previously, he ordered a hundred shots. Then, He ordered ninety-two shots. Tonight, he would be ordering only eighty-four. It was tragic that the number decreased each time. However, the migraines they gave him did not reduce.Glancing at Zen, Vera noticed a subtle change in the naive youth that came to her the first time he ordered a
Zen realised something after drinking close to thirty glasses and viewing more than half the game highlight clips from the shortlisted candidates. Apart from Vera’s helpful hints, there was something unique about reviewing the memory clips this time.Previously, Zen could only view them from a camera’s viewpoint. However, he could pause the clip tonight to take a closer view of the surroundings. The new feature allowed Zen to analyse what he saw in greater detail. He used this to help him take notes while viewing a memory clip. The power of technology was amazing.“You don’t seem to need any help recording your thoughts or observations about these candidates,” Vera slyly noted.Zen smirked. Was she playing clueless?“It’s the new feature,” he explained. “I don’t get headaches while I’m viewing the clip. At first, I thought I’d record it after viewing the clip. However, the first girl was so f
Akiko and Liu Feng boosted Party Freedom’s active members until last night’s twenty-first floor. It was close to midnight when they finally got past the demon lord, so Party Freedom didn’t join them in scouting the twenty-first floor. Sasha and Oritha still hadn’t found the dungeon border when Liu Feng and Akiko joined them in Damian’s call. It didn’t matter if they joined later, as they soon bridged the progress gap with their speed. Even so, they couldn’t find the border.“This is odd,” Damian frowned after analysing the data. “I think we should wait for Zen to do anything else.”Exhausted, the assassins agreed and retired to bed while the cyborg worked on putting the strange pieces together. From previous data, dungeon floors were usually confined to a limited stage with monster hunting areas. The cap was three different kinds of monsters per floor, excluding area bosses and secret dungeons. There was nev
As expected, Zen woke up in the afternoon the next morning. Having spent the whole night reviewing clips and finalising the candidates for the new farming parties, nobody bothered him. The only person who enjoyed Zen’s cooking was Liu Feng, who wasn’t fussy about his food for a change. Zen made him a simple congee with chicken strips, eggs and spring onion garnish. He was missing the fried dough sticks, but they were good enough. Liu Feng enjoyed it with Chinese tea while Zen ate the same thing, nursing his throbbing skull.“Did you put this list together yourself?” Damian asked. “It’s different from the screened candidates.”While the girls brainstormed how to work a toaster, the boys in Party Godly Food quietly discussed the new plan to disband Party Prayer. Liu Feng didn’t know who assisted Zen with filtering and decision-making. However, it wasn’t a terrible composition. The style was very unlike Zen, and the intent
Assembling all the birds of prey in the guild meeting room took more effort than Oritha expected. Apart from Oriole, who had to obey summons unconditionally, the other ladies took a while to convince. Damian sent his feeler robots out. Only three of twenty nano-roaches returned. The cyborg was depressed but couldn’t do anything to retrieve his nano-roaches as he was in the middle of a dungeon session with Zen.“It’s a pleasure to meet everyone! I hope we’ll get along,” smiled a voluptuous gothic beauty with black wavy hair and grey eyes. The only thing on her with colour out of a monochrome scale was her bright red lipstick. At one glance, Oriole hated her already.Rachel “Silver Tongue” Morose was well known in their industry for being a great translator. She was a polyglot who spoke over thirty languages and had many admirers. Her sensual nature and maturity made her appear older than she truly was. Even so, nobody dared to under
Compared to Birds of Prey, Party Oasis was a breeze to handle. Akiko felt it was due to the ranking of the members they were recruiting. Many of them had no useful offensive skills and were generally more amicable. Interestingly, the members recruited for Impenetrable Shield's party were mostly intelligent and educated in medical science.“Heavens! Ryan? Is that you?” a bespectacled Asian named Bai Junze gasped after entering the guild meeting room.Stiffening, Impenetrable Shield shot the lanky martial artist a glare. He kept his real name and identity shrouded in mystery all this time. Unfortunately, he met an acquaintance, and Zen will learn of it now.“Shut your mouth if you don’t want to die,” Ryan snapped for the first time since joining Akiko’s guild. The androgynous male had long hair and a pretty face that would make some girls in Birds of Prey jealous.Laughing good-naturedly, Junze wrapped an arm around the pretty bo
Killian “Match” Von Brandt had a sour look as he arrived at the guild meeting room. The new candidates for his party hadn’t shown up yet, giving him an opportunity to confront the Death Princess.“Why did you choose to disband my party?” he tried to keep his tone in check, but the balling of his fists gave him away.Akiko wasn’t dumb. She noticed it. Oriole must have cried to him when her meeting was finished. It was why she arranged for Birds of Prey to be the first party that morning. Too bad she wasn’t able to get rid of that troublemaker. However, the other ladies in Birds of Prey would keep her in check now that she has renewed her contract. If Oriole renewed her contract, Killian would begrudgingly do the same.“For the greater benefit of the guild,” Akiko levelled him with an empty stare. “Did you think our strategies would always remain the same? You’ll be given two options during the meeting. Y
Exhausted, Akiko checked the time. Negotiating terms with Brunus was more tiring than fighting a hundred gunmen without weapons. With how many conditions Brunus wanted to change in his terms, the Death Princess eventually threw in the towel and contacted Liu Feng for help. Oritha bailed when she saw intellectual reinforcements, not that Akiko blamed her. Thankfully, things smoothed over as soon as Liu Feng showed his face. She had much to learn.“If these ants cause you problems, just crush them. I can’t believe you let them overwhelm you with empty barks,” Liu Feng clicked his tongue.Ashamed, Akiko said nothing. Originally, she wasn’t cut out for leading a guild. Like members of Camper, she was also a soloist. It was her first time working with others for an extended period. Two weeks into the academic life, she was already drowning. Was this the difference between an heir and a tool?When he heard no movement or answer from Akiko, Liu Feng r