Spider

As Shen Yu and his two companions walked along, they came face-to-face with a bald man!

Ahem... a clerk in a suit, whose name badge read: Owen.

Owen stared openmouthed at the adorable little fellow who looked like a rag doll. After a moment of thought, he recalled the clerical staff regulations and broke into a brilliant smile.

He promptly flung away the documents in his hands, screamed "Help!" at the top of his lungs, and fled, his legs pumping desperately. The instant his feet hit the floor, he sprinted several hundred meters, intent on sounding the alarm as soon as possible.

Shen Yu and Harvey stood rooted to the spot, utterly bewildered.

This guy was a fucking clerk?

"Wait, come back!" Harvey hurried after him, but somehow couldn't catch up.

Shen Yu had told him earlier that the Manager's plan violated company regulations and couldn't be exposed yet.

A Level IV Employee received percentage bonuses to attack and movement speed from their Justice stat.

Then just how high were that clerk's base stats? That was impossible in the game. Was this the setting evolving into reality?

"I'd better handle this myself." Shen Yu sighed and glanced at his bad leg, promptly abandoning the idea of using [Aerial Thrust]. He set Little Knight down and immediately instructed the little fellow to use that ability.

Little Knight hunched over as surging air gathered around that small body, billowing the shadowy cloak. Brilliant purple crystals sprouted all around, bursting with dazzling light as they formed and continuously feeding vast amounts of pure violet energy into Little Knight at their center.

Finally, the energy erupted, shattering the crystals. Little Knight shot forward at a dangerously high speed, the raging airflow slicing straight through a nearby warning sign. -Ability: Crystal Heart

Almost instantly, Little Knight reached the far end of the corridor, then slowed and landed, blocking Owen's path.

At the sight of that rag doll, Owen sucked in a sharp breath and immediately turned to flee the other way.

When he saw Harvey coming to intercept him, Owen performed a forward somersault, then sprinted dozens of meters upon landing, leaving Harvey in the dust.

Harvey was bewildered all over again. What was going on today? Were talented people spawning on a schedule?

Shen Yu watched Owen race back toward him. Once Owen came close, he released a blast of Lonesome Dust to envelop his head and transformed EGO Solitude into a rope.

Then, before Lonesome Dust could cause any damage, he bound Owen and withdrew the dust.

The moment Owen spotted Shen Yu, he warned him:

"Quick, an Abnormality's escaped up ahead! Huh? Why am I tied up?"

"You mean this one?" Shen Yu picked Little Knight up and held the little fellow in front of him.

"Yes, that's the one! Wait, why can you just hold that thing?"

"Because this is a ZAYIN-class Abnormality," Shen Yu explained, while Harvey nodded beside him.

"ZAYIN-class?" Owen thought it over, recalling the relevant information:

ZAYIN-class Abnormalities showed almost no aggression and had little desire to harm employees. They wouldn't cause employees any serious harm.

"But aren't ZAYIN-class Abnormalities supposed to never escape?"

"Of course Little Knight hasn't escaped. This is part of the relevant communication work." Shen Yu repeated the explanation he'd used to fool Harvey earlier. Sure enough, it worked wonders.

"Sorry, I was too cowardly." Owen lowered his head. "I'll work on that from now on."

"No." Shen Yu placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did very well. You're a model for the clerical staff.

"I've decided to have you... ahem, report this to the Manager. From now on, you'll be responsible for emergency training for the clerical staff." Shen Yu untied the rope formed from EGO Solitude, turned it back into a scythe, and patted Owen's shoulder. Then he picked Little Knight up and headed toward the elevator ahead with Harvey.

As the bewildered Owen watched them leave, he suddenly realized something:

Wait, how had I gotten tied up? And hadn't that guy just turned a rope into a scythe?

Meanwhile, Shen Yu's light Doppelganger, X, sent Angela away on the pretext of wanting coffee, then immediately deleted the Control Department's surveillance footage from that time period to prevent their exposure.

Although he couldn't tamper with the office's surveillance, he could do it to footage from the company's other departments. If all else failed, he could simply have a word with "Viper."

"By the way," Harvey said, looking at Shen Yu beside him, "why don't you report to the Manager and have that clerk named Owen promoted to an employee? He seems to be in pretty good shape."

"Harvey." Shen Yu patted his shoulder. "You saw how fast he was just now. Let me ask you this: if he became an employee and panicked, how many people would it take to catch him?"

"Uh..." Harvey scratched his head, figuring that did seem reasonable. Then he changed the subject. "Anyway, what were you doing with that little fellow in the Containment Room?"

"Classified," Shen Yu replied offhandedly. He couldn't exactly say that Little Knight had swallowed that thing, only for him to mold it back into existence.

"Do you have a flashlight?" Shen Yu stopped in front of [Spider Nest]'s Containment Unit and turned to Harvey.

"Here." Harvey took a high-powered flashlight from his belt and handed it over, offering a warning:

"Be careful. Whatever you do, don't alter the original environment-that means the observation work mentioned in the manual-or step on any little spiders. Otherwise, Mother Spider will treat you as an enemy."

"Mm." Shen Yu nodded and entered with Little Knight in his arms.

The Containment Unit's cables had been chewed through, leaving the entire Containment Room dim. The rustle of crawling spiders came from the floor. Adult-sized spider cocoons hung from the ceiling, and the three on the right were trembling, swelling and shrinking.

"Tch, what a pain." Shen Yu sighed at the little spiders crawling all over the floor.

Spider Bud's main body was Mother Spider, but that creature normally stayed overhead, only descending when an employee performed observation or stepped on a little spider.

Once an employee saw Mother Spider's true appearance, however, they would panic and be wrapped in a cocoon to serve as food.

I wonder if that ability will work. Shen Yu rubbed his head, recalling the final ability he'd gained after attuning with Hornet:

[Hornet's Protection]: The child of three queens will protect your mind, keeping it from being torn apart by the maddening light.

The "mind" mentioned there could be understood as his mental state, while that maddening light probably referred to the mental plague spread by the God of Light.

Radiance was a True God, after all. This ability should have no trouble resisting an Abnormality's mental corruption, right?

Shen Yu exhaled, looked up at the ceiling, and strode toward the center of the facility, stepping on little spiders along the way. He began observation work-in other words, clearing away the surrounding webs.

The instant Shen Yu tore down a web, the little spiders let out low hisses and lunged at him.

Under normal circumstances, an employee was supposed to endure the little spiders' bites while improving the Containment Unit's environment, completing Insight Work, and obtaining energy. Then Mother Spider would wrap them in a cocoon.

But I'm the combat Manager, not here to collect energy. Why should I put up with you lot?

Shen Yu chuckled, took the scythe-shaped E.G.O. from his back, and swept away all the lunging spiders before chasing down the ones on the floor and beating them.

Meanwhile, Mother Spider's eyes trembled overhead, shedding red motes of light that represented its emotions. The grids on either side of the Containment Room absorbed them and sent them through pipes to the conversion device.

As the conversion device ran, crimson NE-BOX (negative Enkephalin) lit up in the energy gauge on the left side of the Containment Room, seemingly embodying Spider Bud's fury.

Although PE-BOX (positive Enkephalin) and NT-BOX (negative Enkephalin) were both products of Abnormalities, only the former could be refined into energy.

Simply put, if an employee's work pleased an Abnormality and made it happy, it would produce PE-BOX. Otherwise, it would produce unusable NE-BOX.

When the final NE-BOX filled the energy gauge, a crying face appeared on the display, which had turned red. Then a notification sounded:

"Insight Work result: bad."

With a creaking sound, a giant spider resembling a flower bud descended along a strand of silk, its countless crimson eyes fixing on the prey below.

"That's it? You're not that scary," Shen Yu remarked. He took the high-powered flashlight from his belt, aimed it at Mother Spider's cluster of eyes, and switched it on.

Mother Spider: "..."

"I'll go get something to drink." Harvey stretched and turned to enter another Containment Unit.

Under low-powered lights, two large lobsters in dark blue work uniforms stood on either side of Soda Machine, watching Harvey with their black eyes. (Image)

Following the management information, Harvey decisively chose its favorite: Instinct Work.

Instinct Work meant meeting an Abnormality's physiological needs, such as providing specially prepared food or cleaning its body.

As for this Soda Machine, Harvey took a cloth from the side and carefully wiped the crystals on top.

As Harvey worked, green motes rose from Soda Machine and the lobsters on either side. The Containment Room's grids absorbed, transported, and converted them, gradually lighting up green PE-BOX segments on the display outside.

When the energy gauge filled, a smiling face appeared on the now-green display, followed by a notification:

"Instinct Work result: good."

Soda Machine rumbled, and a red can of strawberry-flavored drink dropped out.

Harvey opened it one-handed and drank it. New flesh rapidly grew over the wound on his right hand, restoring it to its original condition in an instant.

Looking at the drink dispenser before him, he suddenly recalled what the cleaning staff had said earlier about leaving the company.

According to certain rumors within the company, drinking the Soda produced after a bad work result would trigger this Abnormality's special mechanism.

The employee who drank the Soda would lose consciousness and be transported aboard a Sailing Ship, thereby escaping the company.

But Harvey didn't want to take that gamble. Entrusting his life to these bizarre creatures was incredibly foolish.

I'll get that guy a can too, Harvey thought. He wiped away the newly grown crystals with the cloth again, then, after completing the work, walked out drinking one beverage and carrying the newly produced one.

But when he saw the Containment Unit Shen Yu was in, he spat out a mouthful.

That Containment Room, where there absolutely must not be any light, was now as bright as day.

Assailed by the intense light, Mother Spider hurriedly closed all its eyes. Then Little Knight approached with tiny steps and swung the Dream Nail, tearing apart its shell.

But what gushed out wasn't the Spider Silk Shen Yu had expected. Instead, countless tiny white spiders and spider eggs sprayed everywhere.

The corner of Shen Yu's mouth twitched as he stared at a sight that would instantly send anyone with trypophobia into a meltdown.

If I'd known, I'd have brought insecticide.