The meeting happened far more quickly than Karina expected. But this was an emergency, so it made sense why everyone was so quick to respond.

Currently, everyone important was connected through holograms and presenting their views on what was happening.

"We all saw the readings, right? What do you think about them?"

Karina asked the committee, trying to gauge their reactions. As expected, most of them looked worried.

But there were some, like Molly K. Jr., who looked delighted by the change. The carefree smile on her face made Karina uneasy.

"Isn’t this just a natural progression? I don’t think we need to interfere. We can let the system do its thing and evolve into a perfect species while we wait and watch."

Molly spoke with the same sweet voice she always did. But hidden behind her smile was her desire to see chaos.

She was a researcher, but she was also someone who believed that the creature should be allowed to control what happened instead of humans. Karina did not like her, but she understood that Molly was a brilliant mind they needed.

Fortunately, the others did not share Molly’s enthusiasm and decided to take the matter more seriously.

"This is not a good sign. The creature is taking too much authority out of our hands. We have no choice but to open the gates of the experiment and allow different regions to come together. Ideally, we wanted to keep the sample sizes smaller, but we can no longer afford to do that."

Mr. J spoke with confidence.

He was someone who had initially been against dividing the apocalypse into different parts, so it was obvious for him to suggest something like this.

Karina did not care either way, but she could see that the others were starting to get convinced.

"Do you think it will help?"

Someone asked, and Mr. J nodded.

"Most people would not be able to handle a brutal change, but if we allow more variables to influence each other, then there is a chance they will become stronger. This is a chance we have to take."

People slowly came around and agreed to take that chance.

And so it was decided—the communication channels in the system would finally be opened, and the world would be allowed to see the true chaos that was happening.

__________

[Rookie, I have an exclusive scoop for you. Are you interested in hearing this system out?]

The system sounded a little excited to tell Rin the news, so Rin decided to check it out immediately. After all, it was not every day that he saw the system this excited.

"What is this about?"

Rin asked the system, and he got an instant answer.

[Communication channels are about to be opened soon. The ranking list will change, and you will be able to see the progress of other regions. Aren’t you excited?]

Rin looked at the system with a blank expression before realization slowly crept onto his face.

"Other regions...you mean the world? Will we finally be able to see what other regions are facing? Is that even possible?"

This was beyond unthinkable for Rin.

He had followed the confines of the original story so far, and according to what he recalled, the story had never introduced other regions after the first half.

It was almost as if they were trapped in a secluded space and nothing outside it existed.

So to suddenly be told that there were other regions, and that it would become possible to contact them...Rin had to take a moment to process it.

"Is that even allowed? What about the integrity of the original story? Don’t you need to preserve it?"

Rin questioned, and the system gave him an instant response.

[Don’t worry about it, Rookie. This is in accordance with the original fate of this world.]

Was that...really true? Somehow, that did not sound right.

"Or...maybe I never read that far. It is possible that this is something that happened later in the novel, but because of the current circumstances, it got pushed forward? But wouldn’t something this big mess up the timeline?"

Thinking about all this was giving Rin a headache.

However, the system did not look worried.

[There is no need to worry about it. The system will handle all this. The Rookie has a new task to accomplish.]

[New KPI: Find fragments of the ’Origin.’]

[Task details: The ’Origin’ of this world has lost its fragments. Please find its cores and keep them safe inside you to ensure nothing happens to them.]

[Reward: A meeting with the higher-ups.]

That reward...was something Rin truly wanted.

He had a feeling all his questions would be answered if he managed to meet the higher-ups.

But to do that, he would have to collect all the Origins. How many were there even? And how long would it take?

"Isn’t this KPI too vague? Usually, there is a fixed number I need to target, but this time it’s just telling me to find the ’cores?’"

Rin questioned the system, trying to press for more information. He did not like how vague this goal was.

[Tsk, you don’t understand the spirit of the working class, Rookie. How can you question your superior like this? Unfortunately, this is all the information we have.]

[But there is a silver lining here—the more Origins you collect, the clearer the goal will become. So please, focus on the current task at hand.]

The system was good at motivating Rin and baiting him at the same time. This goal was something Rin wanted to achieve no matter what.

A meeting with the higher-ups was not an opportunity he wanted to miss. Especially since he had a feeling all his questions would finally be answered if he managed to secure it.

"Rin, are you still here? I came to talk about what happened before. Do you have time?"

Shelly asked, finally standing in front of Rin. He also got a good look at her and flinched as he took in her condition.

Shelly looked...sick.

There were dark circles under her eyes, and her complexion was paler than he remembered. But it was the look in her eyes that made Rin feel sorry for her.

"You...look really sick. You should have gone to Reina instead of coming to see me."

Rin told her, but Shelly did not answer. Instead, she locked the door behind her and walked toward Rin with a haunted look on her face.