"Hey, what are you doing?"
A higher-ranking team leader gave Phainon's shoulder a heavy slap, his brow furrowed tight enough to crush a fly.
"Stop looking around. I'm telling you, don't get involved in what they're discussing. We need to be able to tell right from wrong!"
The team leader's spit nearly sprayed Phainon in the face.
"Those Earth Beasts over there are still waiting for their baths. The water's already been drawn!"
"Don't think I'll give you special treatment just because the Chrysos Heirs personally approved your entry! We grassroots workers make our living by doing real work. Don't go thinking about pulling strings or demanding special privileges, got it?"
Phainon's hair had been rubbed into a bird's nest that looked as though an Earth Beast had trampled it. His face was dusty, and combined with that tight, undersized work uniform, he looked exactly like some poor bastard who had just been viciously beaten by a Black Tide monster.
"Uh, okay, okay, I'm coming right away!"
Phainon forced out an awkward yet polite smile, nodding and bowing like a failing student caught by the dean.
He grabbed a brush and headed toward the Earth Beasts, which were impatiently pawing at the ground and snorting hot breath.
Yet his gaze remained glued, like industrial-strength adhesive, to another "keeper" not far away.
That was because the guy looked exactly like him—a cheap knockoff version, at that...
He had the same messy white hair, clearly the result of low-quality dye, with a tinge of yellow in it.
The man wore an oversized, baggy keeper's uniform that looked stolen, like he had put a sack over himself.
His eyes darted around furtively, carrying the air of someone who was obviously suspicious but stubbornly trying to act natural.
Whenever anyone spoke to him, he