The road ahead (1)

Despite already knowing what he was going to tell me, I couldn't help but feel something surge within me after hearing Dean's words. 

I guess, Blue Daisy meant a lot more to me than I initially thought. 

"What are we going to do now? Should we tell the girls about th—" 

"Nope, not yet." 

Dean shook his head, taking his hands off of my shoulders. 

"Since things are now confirmed, I guess it's time for us to get to work." 

I tilted my head, but just before I could ask anything, Dean started speaking. His previously happy expression slowly turned solemn. 

"Now that the situation is confirmed, we have a lot of things that we need to handle. First and foremost, we must determine the most effective means of publicizing the girl's entry into the site.  Secondly, and most importantly, we need to find a way to mitigate the potential backlash that we're going to receive." 

"Backlash?" 

What was he talking about...? 

'Wait.' 

A thought suddenly occurred to me. 

"Wait... don't tell me we aren't the only group that Dungeon Seekers recruited?" 

"You're sharp." 

Dean nodded, his expression turning a lot more complicated. 

"From what I've been told, the Guild will sign an exclusive contract with Dungeon Seekers for the rights to Darkness Overload. They'll be the face of the company." 

I drew in a sharp breath. 

'Fuck, it's as I thought.'

It wasn't that I didn't expect it. I'd be stupid to say that I didn't expect my actions to cause changes that I didn't expect, but still... facing the tangible extent of the alterations my actions had brought, I couldn't help but slip into a slight daze.

'...So my actions have caused Darkness Overload to be the face of the site instead of Frost Glaze.' 

In my vision, the group that had managed to sign the exclusive rights with Dungeon Seekers was them—Frost Glaze. Since Darkness Overload had signed, it obviously meant that Frost Glaze was no longer going to be the face of the company.

What did this mean...? 

And what were the consequences of such changes? 

'Ugh, I'm telling you. It's a conspiracy. A conspiracy.' 

'That's what I'm saying. There's no way things would've been like this if someone didn't interfere.'

'...Then why didn't the higher-ups do anything about it?'

'Because there's no evidence that suggests someone meddled in these matters. A conspiracy is, after all, just a conspiracy, plus... There's that.'

Somehow, my most recent vision came to mind, and my heart quickened its pace, thumping at a heightened rhythm.

'Surely not, right?'

Despite my earnest attempts to temporarily push the vision out of my thoughts, I found myself unable to do so. A fresh piece of information had surfaced in my mind, and a budding possibility began to take root.

While there was still insufficient evidence to conclusively support that possibility, the more I pondered it, the stronger my intuition hinted at its likelihood.

'Goosebumps.' 

All I felt were goosebumps. 

"Liam!" 

"Hm...? Yes?" 

I raised my head up to stare at Dean who was looking back at me. 

"Are you tired?" 

"I wouldn't say tired..."

More like preoccupied.

"That's good."

Dean nodded before continuing what he was saying. 

"...As I was saying, the Guild will soon make an announcement regarding the partnership between Darkness Overload and Dungeon Seekers. What we need to do is figure out a way to mitigate the backlash the girls will get as a result of the announcement." 

"I understand." 

For now, I threw away all my thoughts to the side. 

There was a more pressing matter at hand. Since there was still not enough evidence to prove my theory, all I could do was focus on the present while slowly accumulating knowledge and ways to figure out the disaster that would befall me in the future. 

'Right, I still have time...'

"We can't have the public think that the girls are merely add-ons for the deal. The public might start attacking them for no reason." 

"...Right." 

This wasn't an uncommon situation. There were many Guilds that used the same method to forcefully bring to light a new up incoming group. 

While it worked some of the times, there were many times when the groups received a lot of hate from the general public saying things like 'they got to where they were by some shady dealing from the company', or things like, 'they're merely quacks who are riding on Darkness Overlord's fame.'

Honestly, this would be a big problem... 

It might even hinder their growth if not handled correctly. 

"What are you guys still doing here?" 

Turning my head, Chief Madelyne walked out of the office room, holding onto a paper cup which she slowly crumbled in her hand before throwing toward the nearest trash can. 

"I'm sure all of you understand the situation we're in at the moment. We don't have any time to spare so finish what you're doing and get back inside." 

She looked toward her two subordinates before rubbing the middle of her brows. 

"Prepare a cup, no... two, no... three cups of coffee for me. I think that should be enough." 

Blinking her eyes repeatedly, Chief Madelyne sighed and turned around to head back to the office, her heels gently clicking against the marble floor. 

But not before adding...

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but I'll just do it for the sake of it. If you have anyone waiting at home, tell them you're not coming back home today... the next few days, or however long this is going to take. Just tell them before they call the police on you for going missing."

"You can go missing for all I care, but don't implicate the company in the process. That'll mean more work for me." 

What... did she just say? 

Looking around me and seeing everyone nod in understanding, my fingers twitched. 

'This is the devil's den.' 

*** 

How much time has passed? To be honest, the past dozen hours or so passed by in a flash. There was so much that we needed to do and little time to rest. 

I just worked and worked, and worked. Time merely seemed fleeting as I focused all my attention on the things that I needed to handle. It wasn't hard, but I needed to make several calls and contact important people, reporters, and such... 

It was rather boring stuff. 

At the same time, when I really couldn't hold on any longer, I took short naps. They lasted no longer than thirty minutes and each time I'd wake up feeling like shit, but it was still better than nothing. 

It just fueled me enough to continue for several hours. 

"And... that should be it for today." 

Placing her phone down, Chief Madelyne said. Her words seemed to have revitalized everyone in the room as we all stood up and cheered. 

Well, there wasn't much enthusiasm in the cheers since we were all too tired. We just all flopped our hands in the air.

It was something at least... 

"Ah, I can finally go back home." 

I slumped over my chair and finally relaxed. I thought I was used to situations such as these with all the training that I did in the past, but this was a completely different feeling. I much rather preferred being physically tired than mentally tired. 

My head felt light, and I could barely think properly. 

"Don't be too happy just yet." 

A hand pressed against my shoulder and when I looked beside me, my heart almost jumped out of my chest. 

Holy fuck! A ghost! It was a fucking ghost! 

"What's with that look...?" 

Only after hearing his voice again did I realize it was Dean and pressed my hand against my beating chest. Fuck, I really thought ghosts were real for a second. 

At the same time, I started to feel like my situation wasn't that bad. At least, compared to Dean who looked to be as pale as a piece of paper, I was faring much better. 

"No, sorry. I'm just tired from everything." 

"Yeah..." 

Dean nodded before adding. 

"...As I was saying, don't be too happy just yet." 

"Why's that?" 

I suddenly felt an ominous feeling. 

"Because we still have work to do." 

Dean glanced at his watch and stood up. 

"Just in time, let's go to the girls. We have a couple of things to handle. On a good note, their schedule is not that packed today so we should be done in no time." 

Without even waiting for me to say anything, he directly headed for the door. At the same time, I felt several pitying gazes directed in my direction, and when I looked around, I realized it was the guys from PR. 

They didn't say anything, but their eyes conveyed all that there needed to be conveyed. 

Nodding at them, I slowly stood up from my seat and followed Dean from behind. 

'It's only the second day... It's only the second day... It's only the second day...' 

*** 

"What... happened to the two of you?" 

Aimlessly following Dean from behind, we eventually arrived before an inconspicuous building located not so far from the Guild. It looked rather worn down from the outside, but when Dean rang the doorbell and saw Joana opening the door, I realized it was the Guild's private residence. 

As expected, the moment I came inside, it was the furthest thing from worn down. 

The apartment was of considerable size, featuring a spacious living room seamlessly connected to the kitchen on the far right. Adjacent to the living room was a lengthy corridor, lined with several closed wooden doors, each bearing the names of the girls residing behind them.

In the heart of the living room, a generous gray carpet adorned the floor, where a solitary couch was placed.

"It's a long story." 

Dean said, slumping on the couch and massaging his brows. 

"...Just know we had a lot of things to do." 

"I see." 

Joana nodded her head before heading to the kitchen and taking out a small cup of yogurt. Just as she was about to eat it, she looked at Dean. 

"Oh, right. Vice Director, do you want me to wake the girls up?" 

"No, let them rest for now." 

He shook his head, turning his gaze toward his watch. 

"We still have a bit of time. I'll take some time to r—" 

Clank—! 

One of the doors swung open, and Sarah emerged from her room, her silky black hair cascading over her face. Despite the hair covering her face, her beauty was undeniable as I struggled to take my eyes away from her. She was the face of the group for a reason. 

Rubbing her eyes, Sarah slowly walked toward the living room before looking around and settling her gaze on a certain pack of candy. 

Retrieving it, she made her way toward the sofa where Dean and I were sitting and sat beside me. 

A caught a whiff of a nice scent as she blinked her eyes several times. Pinching the side of the candy, she tried to pry it open several times, but it was clear she was struggling. 

'Not a morning person?' 

I was just about to offer her a hand, but she seemed to beat me to it as she directly handed me the package which I quickly opened and handed back to her. 

Numm. Numm. 

Her eyes curved slightly as she started eating the candy.

She looked delighted. 

I too was happy. Since she sat next to me, it meant that our relationship had improved, right? 

'Oh, right.' 

Right then, I remembered the words Dean told me yesterday, and I looked at Sarah. 

"Hey." 

I called out for her, and her gaze slowly turned to face me. She still seemed a bit drowsy, but she seemed alert enough to know who I was. 

I cleared my throat and looked directly at her. At the same time, I felt Dean's gaze on me. Not just him, Joana's too as she leaned on the marble frame of the kitchen while eating her yogurt. 

"Why can't a nose be twelve inches long?" 

"...?" 

She tilted her head slightly, her hand which was reaching for the pack slowed down. 

Blinking her eyes, she asked. 

"Why?" 

"Because then it'd be a foot." 

"..." 

"..." 

"..." 

Silence... 

Silence swept the entire apartment and for the first time since knowing her, Sarah put down the candy and scooched toward Dean's side.