Nick had shown that he had prepared the contract in advance on purpose.
The purpose was to intimidate Irwin.
Naturally, Irwin realized that everything had been prepared beforehand and that Nick had expected him to come, asking for forgiveness.
While Irwin would be extremely loyal due to his own guilt, that didn't necessarily mean that he viewed Nick as superior.
Because of that, Nick wanted to intimidate him.
Feeling predictable equaled feeling vulnerable.
Humans put a lot of value on their free will.
Free will meant freedom and being able to make one's own choices.
However, if someone could predict everything someone else did, that feeling of power vanished.
The way Nick had spoken had shaken Irwin's confidence even more.
When someone's confidence was completely broken, they were far more likely to accept almost any kind of information at face value.
Due to the sheer power imbalance, Irwin viewed everything that Nick had said as the truth.
Nick had completely intimidated Irwin, and subconsciously, Irwin felt very vulnerable and weak in front of him.
Irwin took hold of the contract with slow hands, afraid of making any sudden movements.
Nick looked at Irwin with neutral eyes.
Irwin's entire body was sweating due to pressure.
Irwin was two levels higher than Nick, but right now, he felt like a little child standing in front of an intimidating stranger in a lonely alley.
Irwin read through the contract, and he felt guilty about doing that.
His emotions were telling him that he should just sign and that reading the contract showed disrespect to Nick.
"You don't need to hurry," Nick said, his voice startling Irwin. "Take your time."
"Th-thanks," Irwin answered before he looked back at the contract.
The more Irwin read, the more shocked he became.
This contract was too good!
Sure, Irwin wouldn't get any authority, but his pay was insanely high!
10% of what he earned for Dark Dream was what he would get!
He would earn more than double of what he had earned in Solace!
When Irwin was done reading the contract, he felt even guiltier than before.
This felt more like a reward than a punishment.
Irwin's hand was shaking as he took hold of the pen.
Finally, he signed before handing the contract back to Nick.
Nick also signed the contract and stood up.
"Follow me," Nick said.
"Y-yes, sir," Irwin said nervously as he quickly shot to his feet.
"Everyone calls me Boss," Nick said as he walked out of his room.
"Sure, B-Boss!" Irwin said, quickly following behind Nick.
Nick led Irwin to another office and entered without knocking.
Irwin walked after Nick, and when he saw the person in the office, he looked away in guilt.
"My, my, Irwin. You made quite a blunder, didn't you?" Julian said with a chuckle.
"I'm sorry," Irwin said, not looking at Julian.
Naturally, Irwin felt extremely guilty in front of Julian.
After all, Irwin had nearly killed Julian's most important employee.
"It's fine," Julian said with a laugh. "Sit down. Nick already told me about everything."
Irwin did just that and sat down in the chair in front of Julian's desk.
Nick stood diagonally behind Irwin, which made Irwin nervous.
Julian just smiled and laughed. "Now, you don't need to be so nervous. You're part of Dark Dream now, after all."
Then, Julian casually signed the contract and gave Irwin a copy.
"Nick is the one that deals with all the personnel matters of the Extractors," Julian said. "He is the one that decides who gets hired and who gets fired."
"I trust him with these matters, and I just put my stamp on any matter he presents to me when it comes to his part of the business."
"Our friendship is not the reason why you are here right now," Julian said with a smile.
Irwin took a deep, nervous breath and nodded.
"Good that you understand," Julian said with a smile. "Welcome to Dark Dream!"
"Th-thanks," Irwin said.
Irwin had understood Julian's message clearly.
Nick held all the power over Irwin's fate.
And from what Irwin could see, going against him in any way was the worst thing he could do.
Julian nodded again with a smile. "If there's anything you need, you can tell Nick."
"Of course," Irwin said nervously, standing up.
He knew that Julian had just politely told Irwin to leave his office.
Nick opened the door behind Irwin, and the two of them walked out.
After that, Nick gave Irwin his uniform and his equipment.
"You can come back tomorrow. Tomorrow at 8 a.m., I'll show you around. Due to your level, I will not put you on any of the teams. You will be working directly beneath me, but keep in mind that your position is not superior to others."
"While you don't need to take orders from the team leaders, the team leaders are still my most trusted employees, and I am more likely to believe them over you if there is a problem."
"Do you understand?" Nick asked.
Irwin nodded twice. "Yes, Boss."
Nick nodded back slowly.
"See you tomorrow," he said, walking to his office.
"Thank you, Boss. See you tomorrow!" Irwin said nervously.
Irwin was left alone in the hallway, and he nervously looked around.
He now worked for Dark Dream.
That didn't feel real.
It felt especially strange since the past weeks had felt like a dark dream to him.
Maybe it had always been his fate to end up here.
Irwin turned around and left the building.
He wasn't sure what he would do until tomorrow.
Just like that, Dark Dream had gained a Peak Veteran.
As a very powerful Mid Veteran, Nick's power had been leagues above any other employee.
This had always been an issue since no other employee was strong enough to really help Nick.
But now, they finally had one!
A powerful Sniper and Senser!
Even more, Irwin had been on hundreds of excursions into the outside world.
By hiring Irwin, Dark Dream had essentially received an extremely valuable map of the outside.
Maybe that was worth even more than capturing a Specter.