"10 minutes before 8:00. You’re quite punctual," the words of praise echoed through the cluttered office, where piles upon piles of books were stacked across a massive desk.
Behind the desk sat the familiar figure of a short, big-bellied, angelic man.
It was none other than Officer Rhys, who looked up at the door as a young man stepped inside. That young man was Ryuk.
"I could say the same for you," He replied, making his way further into the office and taking a seat opposite Rhys.
"Of course, of course. As the Boss of the Organization, I can only teach punctuality by being early myself!" Rhys boomed with a proud laugh, making Ryuk realize the man was, as always, fanning his own ass.
"That aside, I see you showed interest in the mission?" Rhys asked, leaning forward, fingers wrapping into the other’s "Let me confirm from you now that you’re truly interested in it..." He said, leaning forward slightly to stare at Ryuk directly in the eye.
"I’m up for it," Ryuk replied without hesitation, something that genuinely surprised Rhys.
A flicker of light passed through the officer’s eyes.
’He sounds too confident for someone unlucky enough to cross paths with an Occult group on his first day of work... and yet on his second day, he’s ready for a mission he hasn’t even heard the details of,’ Rhys thought.
But he didn’t let the doubt show on his face, nor impede him from making his decision.
Only a certain group of people usually showed such a lackadaisical attitude—the stupid or the genius.
View the correct content at NovelFire
Both were always interesting to command.
"I don’t know if you’ve heard," Rhys began, "but there’s a disappearance case amongst the Arch Guards..."
Ryuk’s eyes narrowed.
"And what’s more, these kidnappings have mostly happened to people like you—Foreigner Arch Guards—compared to the Angelic ones," Rhys added.
"They go on missions... and never return."
Ryuk frowned.
"And you’re sure they didn’t just lose their lives during the mission?"
The mission he went through yesterday would have killed any ordinary ArcGuard.
If the assassins had killed him and taken his body, wouldn’t that have just been considered a failed mission, instead of an abduction?
"We’ve confirmed it in more than 45 scenarios," Rhys said firmly.
"The Arch Guard we sent never even reached their destination before they were tagged missing, and all communication with them was lost."
"And in some cases, they reportedly completed their mission and left the mansion... only for them to never return to base and confirm completion."
"This has happened nearly 70 times now. All efforts from the Organization to track them down have failed—one cold trail after another."
Ryuk hummed in thought as Rhys continued.
Correct content is on NovelFire.
"Up until three days ago—when we finally got a clue."
"A tracker was left on one of the missing ArcGuards. Of course, he was abducted, nowhere to be found like the others."
"But we were able to trace the location where the tracker stopped transmitting."
He paused and activated a holographic display that appeared in front of Ryuk.
The image showed Ammora—a circular golden ball—and orbiting around it were several tiny planetary spheres.
But away from all of them, in a far-off, isolated space, was a dark, lonely sphere of black light.
"That world is called Nihility," Rhys declared almost grandly.
Ryuk’s eyes gleamed. "Nihility?"
"Legend says that the world once held the remnants of a powerful dark race. It used to be twice as large as the current Ammora," Rhys explained, eyes glinting with mystery.
"Twice as big?" Ryuk echoed.
"You heard right." He said with a nod, but then the glow in Ryuk’s eyes dimmed just as it came.
"If it’s twice as big as Ammamora, why does it look so small on the holograph, then?"
"Because a catastrophic ancient battle took place there that made the world lose about 70% of its mass."
"Now it’s desolate, a place where no grass grows... and no sunlight ever reaches."
"Some say it’s cursed. Others claim it places curses on all who dare enter," he added.
Ryuk raised an eyebrow.
If it curses everyone who enters, then wouldn’t the rescue team end up cursed too?
"I don’t believe in superstitions," Rhys said quickly.
’Of course, you don’t. You’re not the one going in,’ Ryuk scoffed mentally.
"But if there’s one thing that’s certain," Rhys continued, "it’s that all of the missing Arch Guards somehow—one way or another—ended up in that world."
"It’s where the tracker signal was lost. And before the connection broke, we sensed more signals—ones that could only belong to other Arch Guards."
"That planet is where they’re being held, without a doubt."
Ryuk’s gaze sharpened. "So what’s the quest?"
"The quest is to go there with a team of fifteen experts, divided into three groups."
"Each group is to scour the planet in search of the missing Arch Guards."
"If the team of 15 brings back any important clues regarding the missing personnel, each member earns 3,000 Ammo Points."
"But if you’re successful and actually bring the missing ArcGuards back alive, each of the team members will be rewarded with 15,000 Ammo Points."
"And the group that finds and brings them back personally? They’ll be given 30,000 Ammo Points each," Officer Rhys declared.
Ryuk hummed thoughtfully.
His previous mission—escorting someone—was worth 5,000 Ammo Points, significantly higher than the base 3,000 here.
But if the missing ArcGuards were truly trapped on that planet and they managed to rescue them, then that 3,000 would turn to 15,000... and if he happened to be on the team that located and rescued them directly?
That was a whopping 30,000 Ammo Points.
Six times the value of his previous mission.
A very tempting offer.
And he knew the pay for such a mission wouldn’t be something he could imagine.
’Searching for lost people in a cursed world, huh?’ Ryuk thought, a slow grin coiling on his lips.
"Count me in!" he said boldly.
Officer Rhys smiled brilliantly.
"I knew you weren’t the type to back off."
"Then let’s not waste any more time. Your group is already complete—and you’re the last person they’re waiting for."