"Have you sent the girls back?"
"Yeah. They all took the train to Sun Island and should be back at the dorms soon. I already informed the guild and they should send a car when they arrive."
"Good."
I felt a pat on my shoulder.
"You learn fast newbie."
He was subtly out of breath, but overall, his complexion was rather bright.
"I presume the talks went well."
"About that…"
Dean scratched the back of his head.
"They're still not over."
"Ah...?"
"I showed the Director the clip of the girls fighting against the 'Mother', and he seemed rather impressed. However, in the end, both he and I can't really make the final decision."
"I see."
Right. Thinking about it, this was no trivial situation.
This was a highly sought-after company we were talking about. Although Dungeon Seekers were just a new up-and-coming company, they had already garnered quite a lot of interest from the large guilds.
Surely, they could see the potential that Dungeon Seekers had. They didn't need a vision to be told that.
"…So, what do we do now?"
I looked up at Dean and asked.
With the girls back, and everything sorted out, I could go back home, right? I was kind of tired. In fact, I was really tired. I had barely slept at all, and my eyelids felt a little heavy.
"We go back to the Guild."
"...What?"
Dean looked at me right in the eyes, a smirk slowly forming at the edge of his lips.
"Don't tell me you thought we'd get to go home?"
"We don't?"
"Of course not."
Massaging the middle of his brows, Dean sighed.
"For matters as crucial as this concerning the girls, our only option is to go back to the guild and wait for their decision. We must be ready to take action if anything comes up, especially you. I'm still not sure about how you managed to pull this off, but none of this would have been possible without your involvement. Hence, it's important for you to be present in case any issues arise. So..."
Slowly unbuttoning his blazer, Dean put it on his shoulder before turning around and heading for the station up ahead.
"Get ready to not sleep today."
Staring at his departing back, I blinked my eyes several times.
...Really?
***
It was only after we received the call from the girls informing us of their arrival that we made our way back to the Guild. I took advantage of the little time it took for the girls to arrive to rest. Dean did so as well.
Despite our exhaustion, we had no other choice but to continue working. Such was the life of us in the management industry. Thankfully, it was just about enough for me to not feel like crap.
Arriving at the guild, I took a moment to look around me. The interior was every bit as magnificent as its exterior.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to savor my surroundings as I was quickly dragged toward the elevator, only stopping toward a certain floor. I wasn't sure exactly what floor. I didn't pay particular attention to it.
I just followed along without asking any questions.
Quite frankly, my mind was elsewhere.
I kept thinking back at the vision and everything that had happened. How I almost fucked everything up due to my greediness, and blind trust of the visions.
'Right, the main problem is that the me from the future, and the current me view things differently.'
I realized that I looked at this entire thing from the wrong perspective. For someone as successful as 'him', a Red-ranked boss was nothing but a treasure. However, to me, who was just a trainee manager in charge of a Tier 1 group who was barely hanging on, it was nothing short of an impossible task.
The fact that we managed to clear it was a miracle in itself...
But that wasn't the only thing that bugged me.
'What about the butterfly effect?'
You know, like in the novels and stuff, when changing the past would lead to changes in the future messing up the entire storyline.
My actions...
They were no different than the ones in those plots.
I had taken advantage of the information I received through the visions to change the present. Common sense would dictate that my actions would change the inevitable future.
So, would this affect my chances of becoming the Guild Master?
Hmmm.
I thought about it for a while, but I shook my head after a while. Common sense would say yes, but I didn't jump to conclusions just yet. I needed more time to understand this power.
I couldn't carelessly jump to conclusions like I did in the past. Of course, that didn't mean I would just ignore the situation.
I'd just keep a close eye on the situation.
"Liam."
"..Hm, ah yes!?"
I abruptly lifted my head to see Dean looking at me.
"It's not yet time to be tired. We still got a bit of work to handle."
"...Ah, right."
He seemed to have gotten the wrong idea as I had my eyes closed. Even though I was tired, the short rest on the way here was enough to charge me up for the day.
"Hm, if you don't mind me asking. What exactly are we doing now?"
I looked around me. We were currently inside a small room with one large table in the middle. It was just the two of us at the moment.
Where was the work that we were supposed to do?
"They aren't here yet."
Dean looked at his watch.
"...They should be here in a bit."
"I see."
I didn't know who he was talking about, but I just simply nodded my head. I'll know when they get here.
"Since we have time..."
Dean looked at me curiously.
"If you don't mind me asking, are you really a newbie?"
"Yes?"
"The way you handled things back then... I don't know how I should put it, but you appeared to be even more proficient than some of our top-tier managers. What I'm trying to understand is if this was blind luck, or are you actually skilled?"
Blind luck?
I smiled wryly.
"Honestly, I don't have an answer for you."
It felt like blind luck, but at the same time, in that moment, I felt in control. Every little detail couldn't escape my grasp, and the girls more or less moved according to how I envisioned. Yet, despite it all, there were still some flaws.
It wasn't perfect, and luck definitely played an important factor. I wasn't even sure if I could replicate this again, but the feeling that came with defeating the boss due to my instructions...
It didn't feel too bad.
...It felt rather addicting.
"I guess we'll find out in the future."
Dean took out two water bottles and handed one out to me.
"Blind luck or not, you did a good job. Besides that... did you not feel nervous at all? You seemed rather calm back then. Are you sure this is your first time?"
"Actually, I was really nervous."
My back was still drenched from the sweat.
"Oh? You were nervous? ...How come I didn't notice that?"
"Probably because I've got a resting poker face."
"Resting poker face?"
Dean looked at me weirdly.
"That's a thing? ...Is that why you never smile?"
"You can say that."
It wasn't something I could control. I was just born with a stiff face.
"Even though I feel emotions, and act on them, my face just doesn't show them. It's something I've been struggling with for quite some time. I even practice my smile every morning, telling myself I have the most beautiful smile in the world..."
"You what...?"
"Yeah..."
I looked up helplessly. If only my face weren't so stiff. I wouldn't be struggling to make a good first impression on people.
"You can laugh if you want."
"No. I'm good."
Rubbing his mouth, Dean uncapped his water bottle and took a few sips. Laugh. Laugh. I don't care. You don't need to hide it.
Clank—!
Shortly after, the door opened and three people entered the room.
"Ugh, I'm so tired."
"Thomas, did you manage to fill out all the reports?"
"No... I've still got several ones to finish up."
It was an elderly-looking woman and two men who seemed to be a little bit older than me. Perhaps in their mid-thirties. While the two men carried two large boxes in their hands, the woman carried a thin laptop with her.
As if they were already familiar with the room, they each took a seat and calmly sorted through the boxes.
"Liam."
"Yes?"
I looked at Dean who stood up.
"Let me introduce you to them. They're part of the PR team in charge of our Section. They're in charge of all the 'image' related matters related to the Stars of Section 2. Whatever plan you have for the girls, it'll have to go through them first. Oh, and if you fuck up, they're the ones who clean up after your mess."
Dean walked toward the eldest-looking woman and smiled warmly at her.
"How are you doing Chief Madalyne? It's been a while since we last saw each other."
Adjusting her thin oval glasses, the woman looked up before returning the smile.
"You have the nerve to speak to me like that after the shit you pulled? ...and here I was thinking of retiring without needing to work any longer."
"Haha, well. We've got to put you to work at some point."
"Oh please..."
The woman suddenly turned to look in my direction.
"Is he the one?"
"Yeah."
Dean nodded.
Feeling everyone's gaze on me, I was at a loss. What's going on?
"Not bad."
Words of praise suddenly flowed out of the woman's mouth as she looked at me in satisfaction. Chief Madalyne was it? It was obvious from her title that she was the head of PR.
"So you're the famous super rookie that we've heard all about."
"Excuse me?"
Super rookie?
"There's no need to be modest. We've all heard your commands during the video."
One of the assistants beside the Chief spoke. He had short brown hair and green eyes. Thomas Chamberlain? That's what the name tag on his shirt said. The other one said, 'James Cole'. He was on the chubbier side and had blonde hair.
"A lot of the people in our team have been talking about it. Some say it was all luck, while others think it's skills. Personally, I think it's a bit of both. There was some luck, but you can definitely see you've got the skills."
Thomas seemed to be rather talkative as he rambled about it was all sorts of things. I just quietly listened to what he had to say and occasionally nodded.
I had no idea about what he was talking about, but I still occasionally added a few words of my own.
"Ay, stop talking already. We've got work to do."
The Chief came just in time to save me. Checking her watch, she looked at Thomas.
"Quickly get me a cup of coffee. No, two..."
Thinking for a moment, she lowered her head and mumbled in a tone just enough for me to hear, 'Would two even be enough? I don't think we'll be sleeping tonight...'
My mouth twitched. What's with the 'we'?
Surely not, right?