Gregor: At Last, I Can Speak!

A distortion rippled before Gregor. When his vision cleared again, he found himself in a dimly lit space.

Vane, the fourth brother, stood not far ahead, frozen in place.

What met Gregor's eyes was a studio with a sleek, modern minimalist design.

In the center of the room stood four neatly arranged dark wooden office desks, and on top of them sat—

"Computers?!"

Vane cried out before Gregor could, his fingers trembling as they brushed over the cold casing of a monitor. Then he eagerly reached for the computer's power button.

Gregor immediately followed, his burning gaze fixed tightly on the screen.

[Can they be used?]

Yet what lit up on the screen was not the familiar system interface, but a mass of continuously scrolling green gibberish...

"No..." Vane's voice instantly deflated.

"They're completely unusable. And I got so excited..."

Gregor's excitement immediately faded as well. After sighing, he asked,

[What is this room?]

"A hidden Easter egg room in the game lobby." Vane stood up and looked around.

"Originally, there should've been a few chibi figurines of the game planners lying around in here, but obviously they're gone now too."

He bent down and picked up Ten Percent Off, which had been rubbing the edge of its screen against his calf.

"You've been hiding in this secret room the whole time?"

"√"

[So that's why you got stuck when you tried to leave...] Gregor understood.

"⊙ω⊙" Ten Percent Off nodded obediently.

Vane sighed, set Ten Percent Off on the desk, and patted its metal top.

"What a shame. The computers here are just decorations. If they worked, I was wondering whether I could finally catch up on One Piece..."

[You probably couldn't finish that even in your next life... I thought your first reaction would be to try contacting Earth.]

Gregor was at a loss for words.

"There's an entire world between us, Boss. That's way too wishful thinking, isn't it?" Vane rolled his eyes.

"Bili—!"

Just then, Ten Percent Off suddenly let out a high electronic chirp, and the emoticon vanished from its screen.

Then, under Gregor and Vane's watchful eyes, its screen changed into an extremely familiar—

Digital TV home screen!

Clear channel icons and program listings were all there!

Vane and Gregor: "..."

After a brief dead silence, the two roared almost simultaneously:

"You really can watch TV?!!" x2

"Bilibili~!"

Ten Percent Off's screen flickered a few times, and a thin metal antenna somehow extended from the top of its head, subtly adjusting its direction.

The interface automatically flipped through channels, and before long, familiar anime music began to play again.

Vane's eyes lit up. He skipped straight to the latest episode, then his expression fell when he saw the episode number.

"It still hasn't updated~"

(Stop rushing me... I'm writing it. I've already started outlining what comes next. I have ideas, but connecting them is too hard.)

[Is that really the point here?!]

Gregor rubbed his forehead helplessly and gave Ten Percent Off a new command.

[Switch to the news channel.]

A spinning loading icon appeared on Ten Percent Off's screen. A few seconds later, it turned into a giant question mark.

[Looks like it can't...] Gregor was somewhat disappointed.

"Boss..." Vane suddenly spoke, his voice filled with shock.

[Hm?]

Vane stared back and forth between him and Ten Percent Off in astonishment.

"Can you mentally connect with Ten Percent Off?"

[Of course not.]

"Then why can it understand what you're saying?!"

[...]

The two simultaneously lowered their heads to look at Ten Percent Off on the desk.

Gregor tentatively opened his mouth and let out a low Flame Demon roar.

[Can you understand what I'm saying?]

"Bili ✓"

"Hiss—!"

Vane sucked in a breath and raised a finger.

"Boss, I have an idea!"

[What?]

Before Gregor could react, Vane had already begun excitedly explaining.

"Since Ten Percent Off can play TV programs and understand what you say, isn't it a ready-made translator?!"

[But it doesn't seem to know how to speak...]

"You're being dense, Boss!" Vane clapped excitedly.

"Think about how Bumblebee talks in Transformers!"

[Uh... by piecing together clips from the radio? You mean—?!]

"Exactly!" Vane grabbed Ten Percent Off and held it up before Gregor.

"From today onward, it's your personal interpreter!"

At that moment, in the game lobby.

Ifrit was repeatedly smacking the wall, trying to find a way inside.

Just then, ripples spread across the wall, and Gregor and Vane appeared at the same time.

"Boss, you're back! Where did you go just now?" Ifrit immediately rushed up and asked.

The two stood silently before her. Vane held Ten Percent Off and nodded at Gregor.

Gregor understood. He walked over to Ifrit, lowered his head, and let out a roar.

[Flame Demon roar] (Greeting her.)

As Ifrit stared in confusion, Ten Percent Off's screen suddenly switched—

"Go, Little Fire Dragon! (Ash's voice)"

Ifrit: "!!!"

She stared in surprise at Ten Percent Off, then at Gregor. Her little face was full of wonder.

"Boss... was that you talking?"

Vane proudly shook Ten Percent Off in his arms. "What do you think? Now Boss can 'talk' too!"

Ifrit's eyes lit up, and she excitedly began talking with Gregor. Ten Percent Off dutifully translated for them, though there were rather serious issues with how much it translated.

Ifrit: "Boss, you can finally talk! So can you play games with me now?"

[This body still can't do that... Go play with Fourth Brother.]

Ten Percent Off: "Go play by yourself."

Ifrit: "Oh... Then, Boss, when are we going out to play? We can just walk around outside too!"

[Your body isn't doing very well right now... Once Second Brother has some news, I'll take you out.]

Ten Percent Off: "Next time for sure."

Ifrit: "What about barbecue? Boss, you promised me before!"

[I don't think I ever promised anything like that...]

Ten Percent Off: "Are you dreaming?"

Vane: "...The meaning is more or less right, but aren't you leaving out way too much?"

Ten Percent Off: "Bili?"

Shaking his head, Vane looked around and finally noticed that Gorth still had not returned.

[Gorth: Third Brother, what are you doing? Hurry back, there's a surprise waiting for you~]

[Gorth: ...I have something to deal with here.]

[Gorth: What is it? Let me give you some advice.]

[Gorth: ...]

At the edge of the Black Forest, on the Ursus Snowfield.

A massive stag's head slowly emerged from the shadows of a giant tree, silently watching the group of uninvited guests below.

"[Ursus curse!] Since when was there a forest here?!"

"Did we take a wrong turn?"

"Impossible! I could walk this route with my eyes closed!"

"So what, did this forest just suddenly grow here?"

"Are we going in or not? That Infected has already gotten far away!"

A group of Ursus soldiers dressed in black uniforms argued fiercely below. Though Gorth could not understand their language, he could roughly guess what they were discussing.

His gaze shifted slightly, settling on a tree not far away...

An Infected in tattered clothes.

The Infected was clearly the one they were pursuing. He was trembling all over in terror, yet he tightly covered his mouth, not daring to make a single sound.

Gorth raised a claw and made a shushing gesture toward the Infected.

The Infected trembled and nodded hard.

Gorth withdrew his gaze, while silently retracting the vines that had been lying in wait behind the Infected.

My luck really is terrible... How did I run into people the moment I came out, and in a situation like this too...

Gorth sighed inwardly and refocused on the people below.

I'd expected to be discovered sooner or later, but I didn't expect the military to be the first ones to come knocking...

After silently observing them for a while, Gorth responded to Vane's urging.

[Gorth: A group of people in military uniforms came to my forest. I'm considering whether I should make contact with them...]

[Vane: Military uniforms? They aren't black, are they?]

There was a rare trace of tension in Vane's voice.

[Gorth: They are.]

[Vane: Do they have military sabers at their waists? Are they wearing breathing masks, with strange tubes stuck into their bodies? How many are there?!]

Gorth glanced down as instructed.

[Gorth: They have masks, and a few of them have sabers. I don't see any tubes. Their numbers... roughly one squad, around twelve people.]

[Gregor: What's wrong? Are those people dangerous?]

[Vane: Whew... Looks like they're probably the Ursus Patrol Squad. You scared me. I thought they were the Internal Guard...]

"Internal Guard"?

Were those traits Vane had just described traits of the Internal Guard?

Gorth was puzzled, silently committing the title to memory.

For Fourth Brother to be this nervous... could they be some terrifyingly ruthless people?

Looking at those people below who were called the Patrol Squad, Gorth grew concerned.

Although it was not the worst-case scenario, being targeted by official military personnel was clearly not good news either.

Should he... kill them?

The moment the thought surfaced, Gorth himself was startled.

He instinctively shook his head and cast aside the bloodthirsty thought. His gaze returned to the Infected, who was looking at him nervously.

These people had come to capture him, right...

After pondering for a moment, Gorth decided to ask Fourth Brother for advice.

[Gorth: There's an Infected here. Those Patrol Squad members seem to be here for him.]

[Vane: Tsk... Then it's no surprise.]

[Vane: Rather than soldiers, the Ursus Patrol Squad are really just a bunch of vermin who specialize in persecuting the common people. They're very practiced at it.]

[Gorth: Persecution? Aren't they regular soldiers?]

Gorth was somewhat confused. In his simple understanding, soldiers should defend their homes and country, not bully the weak.

[Vane: Soldiers? In Ursus, the entire country has an extremely hostile attitude toward the Infected.]

[Vane: Forget actual Infected—even if you're merely suspected of being one, they'll arrest you and throw you into the mines, where they'll squeeze out every last bit of value until you die inside.]

[Gorth: So... none of these people are good?]

[Vane: Put it this way. There might be a few soldiers in the Ursus military who still have a conscience, but a Patrol Squad that specializes in this...]

[Vane: Kill a thousand of them, and nine hundred ninety-eight would still deserve it. Of the remaining two, one of them deserves to die twice!]

[Gorth: ...Is it really that outrageous?]

[Gregor: Words alone are indeed not enough proof... Third Brother, come back first and bring our new interpreter with you.]

[Gregor: Once you hear for yourself what they're actually saying, you can decide what to do next.]