The Cloud Reverence Guild wasn’t the only one making moves. The remaining King-Grade and Queen-Grade Guilds began mobilizing as well, the situation clearly escalating, with citizens in the Western District urged to remain inside their homes.
The BUA had also been alerted, keeping a close watch on the situation. As of now, no one truly understood what was happening, but it was clear that it was dangerous.
"Keep in mind that the Western District is very different from the Eastern District we’re in. The buildings are far more run-down, and poverty is much more apparent there. Make sure not to wear anything too distinctive when you go. We don’t want to draw unnecessary attention, even if we’re from the major guilds."
After going through a brief checklist, the Team Leader reminded everyone of the dangers in the Western District.
"Anomalies aren’t the only dangers that lurk within the Western District. You have to be careful of the people, too."
Thinking about the crime rate and the daily homicides in the Western District, the Team Leader felt a surge of disgust, as if he might spit on the floor. The situation had only reached such a point due to a past incident several years back.
’I still get shivers while thinking about that incident.’
It had been quite some time ago, yet even now the Team Leader could clearly recall the incident. In a way, it was similar to what had happened in Malovia, except that it wasn’t an <SS>- ranked gate but something just below it.
<A> Rank.
While it might not sound particularly frightening now, at the time, an <A> Ranked Gate was among the highest the world had ever witnessed.
The moment the Gate appeared, it felt as though the entire island trembled, as if it might collapse beneath it. It had nearly fallen from the sky, only barely held in place by the combined efforts of foreign guilds and engineers who had come to aid during the crisis.
It was a Gate that nearly sent the entire world into a state of panic. Thankfully, it was eventually cleared, but the number of casualties was far from small. It became a tragedy that many on the island had yet to forget, with the Western District remaining a direct scar left behind by the Gate.
Many lost their home, their jobs, their families...
Everyone had lost something, and those who had were left with no choice but to settle in the Western District, while new guilds rose to prominence and claimed the Eastern side.
’Now that I think about it, there are quite a few that came and joined this Guild due to that incident.’
As the Team Leader’s gaze swept over each recruit, his gaze eventually settled over to Cedrick as he sat in his seat in silence, his gaze directed towards the window.
’...Right, he joined us after that incident. As far as I’m aware, he lives alone, his entire family having died because of it.’
Thinking about Cedrick’s situation, the Team Leader felt a twinge of pity as he shook his head and sat down. In the end, everyone had their own circumstances. Although the Team Leader felt pity for Cedrick, this was all it ammounted too.
His life wasn’t easy either.
"Oh, right."
Suddenly, as if recalling something, the Team Leader reached for his pad as he scrolled through the profile of each recruit before his gaze fell on Cedrick’s profile.
As his gaze fell on his data, his expression changed.
’Age, twenty-two. Birth 25th of June.’
That’s...
His head turned slowly as the bus began to move.
***
Ding!
A notification flashed across my vision.
[Due to extraordinary circumstances, the quest could not be completed.]
[Calculating...]
[Quest time has been extended. Partial rewards have been issued.]
"Oh?"
Looking at the windows, I was left pleasantly surprised.
’So the system took into account the fact that someone interfered with my quest and decided to extend the time and even award me a partial reward? Not bad.’
This was unexpected as I immediately shifted my attention to my laptop, where the app was loaded. Instantly, my attention fell on the new section that appeared.
"H-hoo."
The moment I caught sight of it, I drew a cold breath as my chest trembled ever so slightly. Honestly, this was the last thing that I expected to see as I found myself unable to calm down.
It took a few seconds to fully quench my excitement.
[Anomaly Developer]
It was self-explanatory. There wasn’t much that I needed to think about when seeing the name of the new feature. I knew in an instant what its features were and what it did.
Pressing on it, numerous features were grayed out.
"...Honestly, it’s a pity that it’s partially locked."
Indeed, this was a pity.
Thinking about the notification that I had received from the system, I felt that it was a little bit of a pity. But it couldn’t be helped.
’At least I didn’t fail.’
This was all that mattered. Especially when taking into account that I hadn’t really accomplished the goal that the system had given me. This was all due to the interference, and with the system realizing this, it decided to award me half of the features of the reward that I was supposed to get.
"Still, I can work with this."
I pressed the [Start] icon, and the world around me suddenly turned white, pulling me into a strange, empty room where a mannequin stood waiting in front of me.
Looking around, I saw several windows.
—[— [Appearance] —]—
● Face
● Hair
● Nose
● Clothes
● Decree
—[— [Appearance] —]—
The first window that popped up for me was the ’appearance’ window. I realized that with it, I could probably make it look incredibly creepy. However, if there was one thing that I learned while developing horror games was that while appearances matter, what mattered the most was the atmosphere and the environment.
Looking further, I saw another area, [Sketch].
I laughed when I saw it.
"So it can turn my sketches into anomalies? That’s pretty neat."
But unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at drawing. Not that it mattered as my attention fell elsewhere.
—[— [Abilities] —]—
Ability 1: [Please write down the anomaly ability. Cost will be calculated depending on ability.]
Ability 2: [Locked]
Ability 3: [Locked]
—[— [Abilities] —]—
"So I can just write whatever ability I want it to have?"
This was interesting.
"Doesn’t hurt to try."
I immediately typed, [I want the anomaly to have the ability to kill by looking at someone.]
There was a slight pause after I input such a setting. The lag merely lasted a few seconds before I suddenly received a notification.
—[— [Abilities] —]—
[Kill on sight]
Cost: 99,999,999SP.
—[— [Abilities] —]—
"Okay..."
I closed the window.
"It definitely works, but I can’t be too ridiculous with the ability that I decide to give it."
This much was fine. I didn’t really mind it. I had only done it to test the system. However, the very fact that I could create an anomaly capable of killing someone with just a glance made my heart begin to race.
’If I do end up collecting that much SP, then...’
I took a deep breath.
The possibilities felt endless.
"Still, this is good enough. I can work with this."
There was one last window after this.
—[— [Rules] —]—
Rule 1:
Rule 2:
Rule 3:
—[— [Rules] —]—
This was self-explanatory. I had to treat the anomalies as some kind of programmed entity. They needed rules to act and behave, and I understood that well.
"Yeah, this isn’t too much of an issue."
Gates weren’t much different. They needed rules to function.
"Well, I guess that’s enough for now."
I pressed [Exit] and left the space. There were also several other windows, but they were unfortunately locked. I knew that I had merely scratched the surface of something interesting, and as I came out of the space, I suddenly felt my phone vibrate as I reached out for it and looked at the message.
The moment I did, I couldn’t help but smile.
’...Looks like something interesting is brewing.’