--

Ren felt twists in his stomach as he went to the GMU today.

They told him that somebody wants a meeting with him, a party manager, that is.

It’s the start of the second week since Ren began his dungeon exploration. He spent the first week going solo, and he stayed on stage 3 for the most part. He didn’t risk going to stage 4.

He anticipated that he would have to wait longer before he got a meeting with a party, but today, he got promising news.

And now, here he stood before the door of the meeting room. The GMU staff led him here and told him to go in on his own.

Ren took a deep breath and pushed the doors open. When he entered the room, he saw a man sitting there already, reading through a file in his hand.

He’s got short brown hair, thick-rimmed glasses, and a gaunt face that looks stressed. His brows were pulled together from thinking too hard. He wore a fine suit, ironed out cleanly; not a single crease could be seen. He also got these shiny black shoes, and there’s a very obvious shiny ring on his finger that indicates that he’s married.

"Hello, Sir. I’m Soren Marek Vire, Ren for short. I was told you wanted to meet me," Ren introduced himself after making a deliberate sound to catch the attention of the man.

That certainly did it. The man peeled his gaze away from the file in his hand and schooled his expression.

However, Ren certainly didn’t miss the way the man’s eyes went to his arms to look at the tattoos that marked his cursed physique. It was brief; the man shifted his gaze immediately to his face as if there was nothing wrong, but Ren caught it and prepared himself anyway.

"Ah, yes. Hello there, Ren. My name is Justin Newton, a party manager. Please, sit down. I’d like to ask you a few questions."

Ren nodded. The GMU staff didn’t take him to the wrong room; this man indeed invited him over. This is an interview, of course, but it goes both ways.

"Alright. Is there anything you’d like to drink first? Water? Tea? Coffee? Juice?"

"Water’s fine, sir." Ren didn’t stand on ceremony.

Justin poured water for him and pushed the glass towards him since he’s sitting across from him.

"How long has it been since you’ve got your license, Ren?"

"About a week, Sir," Ren replied after taking a sip of water.

"And you’ve been clearing dungeons ever since? Daily?"

"Yes." Ren found no reason to hide this; any party manager worth their skill would’ve surely done some preliminary investigation.

The Archstone Plaza was heavily monitored for obvious reasons. Ren wouldn’t have been able to hide his movements even if he wanted to, so there’s no reason to lie.

"Stage 3, from what I’ve gathered." Ren nodded to this, and Justin continued, "You’ve been very diligent; I admire that. And from what I learned, you always went there alone. Is your clan not informed of your activities, or do they just let you be?"

"It’s the latter, Sir," Ren replied. "The clan is aware of my activities. They support it, silently. They’re respecting my independence but are willing to offer support where they can. Alas, I can’t form a party with my clan since there were none that could keep up with me."

"Well, considering what I’ve read on your file, you’d be hard-pressed to find somebody who could," Sir Justin commented.

Then he thought to himself: ’Bone forging at 16 and a half. Not that heaven-defying, that’s for sure. The record was Pulse Awakening at 17, after all.’

"But his file said that, aside from his inborn aberrant martial physique, his actual talent is just a common Grade 1 martial physique. The best of the worst. This speed of progress shouldn’t have been possible.’

’I’m holding the official records. There’s no way this was forged. And I could feel the stability of his realm, so he isn’t lying.’

’Ah, whatever! Everybody has their secrets. I’m in no position, nor that interested, to pry. I’ll just take this as a blessing. Hopefully, those brats will, too.’

And so, the interview continued. Sir Justin confirmed the information he got so far, looking for inconsistencies but mainly observing Ren’s behavior.

So far, he was satisfied. Ren was calm and collected. He didn’t lie or exaggerate his deeds and achievements; he just admitted them and described them as is, which was a huge bonus.

Justin also threw some random questions here and there, questions that were asked casually but, in truth, concealed his deeper probes into Ren’s psyche. And so far, Justin was satisfied with Ren’s answers.

Ren threw in some of his questions too. Like stated, this interview goes both ways. Just as Justin was testing his attitude to see if he could fit the party he manages, Ren was also probing the older man to see if the party inviting him would at least be decent.

And Justin barely concealed the truth. He didn’t outright trash-talk the brats he manages, since that was against his contract, but he also didn’t paint them with colorful imagery. He was honest, in his own way, about what Ren should expect for the party.

"...The party experienced a great loss recently. And the ones left are handling their grief their own way. I do my best to help them, but grieving is different for everybody."

Ren figured out some things when Justin told him this. The reason why Justin was looking for new members was because somebody in the party he manages died recently. The team was grieving, but it couldn’t afford to stagnate, so, whether they like it or not, there will be replacements.

Although he didn’t get the full picture here, Ren prepared himself anyway.

He decided to meet the party first, reserving his judgment until later after the initial meeting.

Ren hoped that, somehow, things would go well. He didn’t mind being with a snobbish team. He wouldn’t be a permanent member, anyway. He just wanted to get through the challenging stages of the dungeon.

The rest? That’s for his future self to solve.

**

Derek was called by Justin late in the afternoon.

Things have calmed down between Justin and this party. There were no talks of settlement whatsoever, no apologies said or anything. It’s not that they’ve forgotten; they just decided to not linger on it too much.

Or, it’s mainly Justin being professional. This was his last attempt to revive this party. If they still refuse to participate, so be it. Justin will drop them off; he’d just apologize to Travis in the afterlife. No big deal.

"Good afternoon, Sir," Derek politely greeted, still hesitant to meet Justin’s eyes after yesterday’s debacle. "What do you need from me?"

"Sit, and take a look at the file of this person." Justin wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. He ordered Derek to sit down and placed Ren’s file for him to inspect.

Derek didn’t mind the stiff and almost rude tone of his superior. He did as he ordered and read through the file of another prospective party member.

He read through the file thoroughly, not daring to miss a single detail. And although some of the information here looked a bit unreal, this went through the GMU’s inspection and Justin’s purview, so there’s no way it’s fake.

Derek lowered the file once he was done and looked curious, more than anything.

"What do you think?" Justin asked.

He called Derek here because he’s to be the de facto leader of this party after Travis died. He’s the most mature and most driven out of the four. Sure, he’s got a sharp tongue and a fierce temper when he’s really tested, but that’s normal.

What’s important is that Derek had a clear grasp of right and wrong, and he wasn’t afraid to call out bullshit when he could. Justin saw this quality of him on multiple occasions.

There was no more suitable person in this party to succeed Travis other than Derek; the rest fall too short. That’s why he called him here to ask for his opinion.

"He sounds disciplined, at least," Derek admitted. "If his file stood out to you, then I’d like to meet him."

"As for the team..." Derek hesitated, "I talked to them after you left yesterday. I gave them a fierce reality check. They should’ve mused over it last night, and today’s team exercise feels great, so I suppose it had some effect."

"I can’t guarantee that Jen’s temper will be restrained, but I’ll watch over her this time. I’ll make sure that she attempts to accept reality, regardless of her unwillingness to move on."

"I’ll try...for the last time, for this team."

"If it still doesn’t work out..." Derek’s voice trailed off after this. Exhaustion appeared on his face, as well as reluctance.

But later, it was replaced by determination and decisiveness. He looked straight at Justin and declared, "...I’ll leave too. I won’t let this team become a shackle for me. I won’t tarnish Travis’ last wishes."

Justin stared at Derek for a while, then a small smile appeared on his face.

"Good. I’ll invite him tomorrow morning. Inform the team."

"And Derek...remind them, and this is their last chance."

"For both you and me, this is their last chance."