<strong>- Rise Online Headquarters of the Hónghé Group, Los Angels. -</strong>

“Tsk. Why is this meeting scheduled so urgent?” asked Kaia Luna, the Continental Financial Manager of Rise Online. “I am not an unoccupied woman, you know, right?”

Kaia Luna was a barely over thirty woman with hair so blond that it was almost white. Her light blue eyes were beautiful and, at the same time, terrifying to her subordinates.

“I don’t doubt it’s to talk about new growth projections. If it’s another one of those practically weekly updates, I’m out of here,” replied the extremely deep-voiced man named Emerson Rodrigues. “My little jet is already fueling up for my trip.”

Emerson Rodrigues was a Brazilian man responsible for being the Foreign Investment Coordinator, so he had a bit of an accent in his English. He was a black man over six feet tall with dark brown eyes, a shiny bald head, and a beard that perfectly filled his chin. His suit made him look elegant and strong, but the eye patch on his right eye only made him scary.

Besides these two, there were almost fifteen people in high-level positions at the table from different areas of Hónghé Holdings.

Hollie Rees, the Operational Team Leader of Rise Online, was a very severe and dedicated woman. Still, she could not understand why she was summoned to a meeting with some top bosses of the entire company. Her job was important, except that the services provided by her department were pretty much just pointing out bugs for the Supercomputer ‘Odin’ to fix. There was no reason for her to be in a meeting with so many big shots, or so she thought.

The buzz generated by the chatter of some impatient bosses ceased when the automatic double door to the meeting room opened.

A gray-haired man wearing rectangular glasses and a social vest entered hurriedly. Everyone in the company knew this man. His name was Charles Richard, and he was the Chief Developer of Rise Online in the Americas.

“Good evening.” Charles greeted everyone, scanning the huge round table in the center of the room with a glance.

“Good evening, sir.” All the other chiefs responded in unison.

“How nice that everyone answered my call. I hope I haven’t left anyone upset, however, the topics I want to address with you are crucial,” said Charles with his hands behind him, holding a slim tablet. “Let’s get to the first topic… About an hour ago, the main Boss of the Howling Cliff region was defeated and that message spread throughout the world. Obviously, this generated a lot of comments, discussions, and engagement for us as always. People are curious to know who has killed and where. Then five minutes ago an influential Chinese player posted a video on the most visited RO forum on the Webnet, which got the attention of all the curious users.”

Charles Richards brought his tablet in front of his back and, with a swipe of his left hand, made the paused video be projected into midair on the table.

When the video started, the first few seconds were marked by sounds of thunder coming seemingly from afar, numerous rushing footsteps, and a few isolated screams. Luckily, the person recording it began to narrate what was happening to make it easier to understand. The recording camera available to everyone was being carried in one of his hands as the man ran. The scene was also dark, making it harder to understand.𝒐𝑣𝑙xt.𝔠𝑶𝑚

“… Ha… Haa… I am Jojink2001, and I am in the Desert Lions Guild. I and some core members of my guild got together with other guilds to be the first to do the Raid of the Howling Cliff Boss, he was definitely at the Mythic level, or not, I don’t know yet…”

The man who was recording gasped as he spoke and ran.

“Except some ************* is trying to steal our ******* prey. Somehow, this guy made thunder fall exactly on the Boss, and even though two epic level arrows weren’t enough to even do damage, the Boss fell when hit by the thunder… If this guy manages to steal the raid rewards from us, I’ll at least tape this ******* face, and he’ll be in every corner of the Webnet with his face stamped on it tomorrow.” The video platform censored his cursing.

“Hey, *************! What do you think you’re doing!? Who are you!?” A harsh, distant voice boomed on the video audio moments later.

Sounds of boots rubbing against a rocky ground could be heard. The players stopped running.

“Why is the recording so dark?” Kaia Luna asked aloud.

“The Howling Cliff is an area with hills, hills, falls, and chasms, which is covered at all times by a giant cloud that doesn’t go away. So, there is almost no natural light, and we are only seeing something because apparently there are visibility spells active in the area,” explained Hollie Rees.

Kaia Luna made a fake smile. “Thank you~.”

Slowly, Jojink2001 began to turn the camera carefully.

First, a man’s metal boots were revealed, then his green cape, and as this man turned, the camera focused on his head.

This mysterious person in focus in the video was wearing a black mask that mimicked a wolf’s skull, but the mask covered only the top part of his face. Below, a broad, white chin was visible. His medium-lipped mouth displayed a fearsome smile as if he was very happy with what was happening, but since the upper part of his face was completely hidden, he looked more like a madman.

The video ends at that moment, focusing on the man’s smile and with a possibly Mythic Rank creature crumbling behind him.

“Who is this man? An NPC or a player?” Emerson Rodrigues inquired, placing his hands on the table.

“A player. NPCs would not interfere in a Battle against a Boss, at least not in Midgard.” stated the Lead Developer. He was walking around the table slowly now. “The user who posted the video is stating that the great guilds of Tretidian will hunt this man to the ends of hell if they have to.”

“But he is wearing a mask, which makes it impossible for anyone to recognize him, no?” A thin man wearing checkered glasses inquired.

“No. Somehow, in the masked man’s own post, the nickname has already been revealed… His nickname is Kaizen.”

“No…” Hollie Rees recognized the nickname on the spot and finally understood why she had been summoned to this meeting as well. “This is the new Single Class user, right?”

“Quite correct, Miss Rees… So now we will get into the second topic of this meeting: the Psych Class and the massive impact of its emergence in Rise Online. Hollie Rees, I owe you an apology. You were right, the Psych Class will change Rise Online even more than I could have predicted.”

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske

More character images in:

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