Click—!
Everything felt like a blur. I was aware of everything that had happened, and all the things that I did. Slowly, everything started to sink into my mind and my head turned.
There I saw Dean staring at me with evident shock on his face.
"You… Fucker actually did it..."
"Fu... what?
What did he call me...?
I wasn't sure if I had heard correctly, but I didn't feel so well. A persistent ringing resonated in my head, drowning out all the noise around me. As I glanced down at my hand, I noticed beads of sweat forming.
"...I need to go to the bathroom."
I didn't even wait for him to reply as my body moved on its own. I swiftly maneuvered past him, my hand reaching for the door, swinging it open, and stepping out, leaving him behind in the confines of the room.
"Haaa… haaa…"
Each and every one of my breaths felt extremely vivid in my mind, and a sudden rush of dizziness overwhelmed me, making it difficult to maintain a steady gait.
The world around me swayed, tilting back and forth, as if I were aboard a small boat adrift in the vast ocean, struggling to stay upright amidst the relentless waves threatening to capsize it at any moment.
I took a couple of extra steps before suddenly finding myself engulfed in darkness.
Shaaa—!
Uh?
When I came to, I found myself standing in front of the bathroom sink, the steady stream of water cascading from the tap.
Slowly raising my head up, I looked at the mirror before me. Reflected within its surface, I found my own figure positioned at the center, surrounded by the mirror's frame.
'When did I get here?'
Everything felt like a blur to me, and the next thing I knew I was standing in front of a large mirror. My entire body was soaked. Was it from sweat, or did I wash?
I wanted to know, but just as I lowered my head, the world around me turned dark again.
Again?
It was another vision.
'Why now of all times?'
As usual, I couldn't move or control my body. However, I could still see and hear everything. In fact, all my senses were working properly.
I was in a bathroom. Water dripped down from the side of my face, probably from having just washed it.
It left a cool trail behind as it dripped down into the sink.
'Eh, the vision is different from usual.'
It was a new vision. One different from those that I experienced in the past. Did the future in the visions change, or is this something that will happen in the near future...?
If only I could get an idea of the timing of this event.
"I think I'm going to die. I'm so tired, I wish my heart failed me. I can't keep living like this."
An unfamiliar voice reached my ears. It sounded rather irritated.
"...Haa, who would've thought things would turn out this way? The directors are all scrambling to fix this mess."
"Right, fuck."
No, there were two voices. Both seemed to be masculine in nature.
The only thing I could make out was their voice as their faces were too blurred out.
Still, a certain part caught my interest.
'...The directors are all scrambling to fix this mess?'
I was still a little dizzy and couldn't focus properly. It took everything for me to properly decipher what they were saying as I strained my hardest to listen.
"I don't even have time to go back home. It's been days since I last went back. Fuck... I'm starting to question whether I still have a family at this point."
"...At least it's paid."
"Rather go back home."
"Tell me about it..."
'What exactly are they talking about?'
It was hard to understand what they were talking about without proper context. From what I could make out, something big was going to happen within the Guild.
Something big enough to alarm the entire Guild. But what exactly was it that made them like this?
I strained my ears as I focused my entire attention on their voices.
"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."
"That...? Ah, right. I forgot about that."
'That?'
Fuck, could they be any more ambiguous than this?
"Those lucky bastards. Unlike us who are miserable every day, those bastards are partying every day. Just thinking about how they walk around with their nose flung in the air pisses me off."
"I guess you can say it's the only silver lining of the situation. If not for that project succeeding, the situation would've been worse. It's also the main reason why some don't think this is a conspiracy."
"Yeah... After all, if it was really a conspiracy, they wouldn't make such a huge mistake."
"A slip-up?"
"Who knows, but I doubt it. After all, everyone did reject that project..."
"Oh, right."
One of the figures suddenly turned their head to face my direction.
"Right, Liam, weren't you also part of the mess? How are things going on your side...?"
What?
Crack—!
"Uh!?"
With a delicate, yet distinct cracking sound, the vision abruptly fragmented, dispersing like shards of glass, and I suddenly found myself once again gazing into the familiar reflection of the bathroom.
"Haaa… Haaa…."
My breath. I could barely keep it in check as my chest heaved up and down repeatedly.
"What… haaa.. Hell was that?"
Everything still felt like a blur and I had still not come out of my daze. But despite that, I couldn't get distracted as new information started to flood my mind.
Rearranging them in my mind, I quickly summarized everything that I managed to figure out.
'Something big enough to implicate the entire Guild will happen, and I will be implicated in it. Besides that, there is one silver lining in this entire situation which is that one project will succeed.'
I was grasping at straws at the moment.
There was not enough information to properly assess the information. I needed more.
A conspiracy, a mess large enough to implicate the guild, a silver lining, and me getting implicated in this entire mess...
'Give me a break.'
I slapped my head with my hands.
It was only still just my first day.
Cra— Crack!
"Ah...?"
Startled by the subtle cracking sound, my attention was drawn once more to the sink before me.
As I lowered my gaze, my eyes widened. Cracks were rapidly forming on the surface of the sink, spreading outward from the exact spot where my hand was.
"What in the…"
I stared at my hand and then the sink which was filled with cracks. Just what in the world…
Clank—!
The door of the bathroom abruptly opened and I hid my hand behind my back and moved to cover the sink.
"Like I said, tell those fucking pricks we're not increasing the offer! This is our final offer. Leave it or take it!"
His mustache was trembling and veins bulged down the side of his neck. A lot of profanities escaped from his mouth as he yelled at the phone in his hand.
It's him.
I was going to wait for him to go to the bathroom before leaving, but upon realizing who he was, my legs came to a stop. Should I greet him? He didn't seem to be in the greatest of moods, and thinking back at how I left him…
"It's nice to see you again Director Lawrence."
"It's you."
A frown appeared on his face the moment he looked at me.
He's definitely mad.
I still smiled... or at least tried. Deep inside, I knew my expression didn't change.
"I apologize for what previously happened, but something extremely important happened. I wonder if we can continue our talk."
"You think...?"
His face slowly started to contort.
As expected he was really mad.
"I'm sorry but I'm not in the mood right now, if you would excuse m—"
"We encountered a red-ranked beast in our dungeon."
So I could only come clean to him.
"Huh?"
He stopped right in his tracks.
"What did you—"
"We managed to beat it."
"You what now?"
Looks like I finally got your interest.
"Yes. The reason why I had to leave so abruptly was because the girls encountered a red-ranked beast. Thankfully, we managed to beat it and recorded everything. We haven't edited anything yet, but I can assure you, it would make for a great clip."
"...Did you suffer any casualties?"
"None."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
I nodded.
"Hmm."
With a pondering look, Director Lawrence rummaged through his pockets and took out a familiar-looking business card.
"This your business card? Mr Marken?"
"That is indeed me."
Fiddling with it, he cast his gaze back toward me.
"Can you give me a brief glimpse of the video?"
"That…"
I scratched the bottom of my chin.
"I'll have to talk to the director about that."
"Can you do that?"
"Yes, I can."
With a thoughtful nod, he presented me with a card of his own. It looked nothing like mine which was just a simple piece of paper with my name and number on it.
"Okay. Here's my business card. If the clip is indeed good, I'll consider your proposal. But don't get your hopes up. Whether we accept your clip or not will depend on a number of things. I can only provide you with an opportunity."
"That's more than enough."
An opportunity? That was all I needed.
I was confident in the girls's abilities as well as their looks. All they lacked was an opportunity to showcase themselves.
Whether the deal could be processed or not, I could only hope those at Dungeon Seekers could see what Dean and I could see.
"Thank you."
I took his business card with both hands. Crap, even the texture felt different from mine.
Tucking the card away safely, I smiled at him before politely lowering my head and leaving.
At the same time, I silently clenched my fist.
I did it.