The Adventurer’s Office wasn’t a single building, but rather a collection of buildings set up across a secure campus. The main office was what most people thought of as the Adventurer’s Office, but Ian knew there were multiple living and training facilities housed beyond the twenty-foot walls that prevented the outside world from peering in. The buildings were all white metal and glass, giving it a very clean and modern look.

  It had been over a year since Ian had entered the revolving doors of the main office. It was the only building that allowed access to the campus as the fence attached to both sides of the imposing, metallic structure. He remembered going to take the beginner's classes at a couple of the training facilities, but the AO had stopped being a source of wonder and had become something he had grown to fear after his ordeal.

  Last time he had entered as a naive young man with no plans to make adventuring a career. Even though it was only a year and a half ago, he felt like it might as well have been a lifetime. Instead of being a stupid kid, he now had a much more thorough understanding of how the world worked. Instead of being here for someone else, he was here for himself, and he would make the most of his second chance.

  As he looked around, he saw that the place was almost exactly as he remembered it. The large room was set up with a long counter on one side, with numbers placed above the areas where the customer service personnel were assisting adventurers. He walked up to the kiosk and went through a small prompt to get himself placed in the queue to be seen. Looking over, he saw that the last number called was B4571 and his card was labeled B4603, letting him know it was going to be at least a few minutes wait.

  With time on his hands, he looked around the huge waiting area. Instead of rows of chairs that most waiting areas had, the room was set up as a hangout for adventurers. Throughout the room there were clusters of displays hanging from the ceiling, each streaming a different adventurer or party. He saw groups of adventurers fighting their way through dungeons, showcasing weapons to fans, and even doing interviews with a few well-known commentators.

  When the dungeons were unleashed upon Earth by the enlightened powers in the universe, they provided evidence that Earth’s mana was insufficient to connect with the greater whole. As Earth wasn’t the first planet to reach a point in a civilization’s evolution to reach out to the stars, the dungeon system was designed to allow sentient members passage into pocket dimensions that were filled with creatures created for the purpose of absorbing and compacting mana into essence. As this essence broke down into mana when it was used as a form of energy, it provided a continuous process to slowly increase the mana density of a planet, along with an immediate fix to Earth’s looming energy crisis.

  Why do it this way instead of just supplying Earth with large stocks of essence stones? The answer was simple, and Ian didn’t even need to look any farther than the displays in front of him to understand. Entertainment.

  Watching others pour their blood, sweat, and tears into fighting for their lives and grasping for ever-increasing amounts of power was like an addiction. It was the primary driver of the greater society throughout the universe, and the peoples of Earth jumped on the bandwagon without a moment of hesitation.

  On the screen in front of him was a member of the Spartans. He could tell by their emblem—a bronze Spartan helm with a blood spray pattern on one side—at the bottom right corner of the screen. The man was a mage named Ice Breaker, who kept throwing large spears of ice past the front line of his party to impale wolfmen. The commentator’s words sped across the bottom of the screen, attempting to give a play-by-play and insights into what Ice Breaker was thinking.

  Ian smiled as he looked around at the different displays. Most had a handful of people around them, but one of the far displays had over twenty people standing around watching. Intrigued, he made his way and found himself grimacing when he looked at the screen containing the symbol of The Conquerors.

  A man with blue hair was monologuing in the middle of a magical slugfest as he threw purplish blue arcane volleys at a bunch of skeletal mages. As Ian watched, the camera rotated to a mountain of a man in dark red armor swinging his giant hammer as even more skeletons charged at him with swords and axes. Every swing sent hundreds of bones scattering across the floor from the concussive blasts of the impacts. As a skeleton rogue appeared behind the bruiser, an arrow suddenly smashed through its skull, dropping it on the spot. The death of the newcomer caused the camera to jump just behind a shorter athletic woman with black hair as she started rapid-firing arrows into every enemy that moved. Every skull she hit caused another set of bones to fall to the ground. Then a giant pulse of golden light ripped through everything, causing the camera view to switch to the back of the party.

  A final woman stood in white and gold ornamental robes holding a gem-laden staff with a golden sun affixed to the top. She had golden blond hair and even more refined features than the last time he had seen her. It was obvious she had leveled a great deal, as the increase in stats tended to slowly change a person to be more towards society’s standards of perfect. For someone who knew her as well as he did, he immediately noticed the two moles are her neck were gone. While they had been small, they had been distinctive. He frowned as the display now showcased his ex-girlfriend Beth, now known as Avra.

  It was the first time he had taken more than a glance at her face in over a year, and he was surprised to find he didn’t feel the same emotions that plagued him right after she had ruined his life. He still felt love and longing when he saw her pictures back then. Now he only felt a deep simmering anger along with a disgust that he was sure would be visible on his face if his skill wasn’t preventing everyone from making out his features.

  “Dude! She is so hot,” one of the teenagers in newbie gear said to his right. “What I wouldn’t give to be her boyfriend.”

  Luckily, the kid’s friend hid Ian’s snort and chuckle, “Bro, there is no way you could snag a hottie like her right now, but when we become famous adventurers, we’re gonna be swimming in hotties.”

  “Even if you two become famous adventurers, it’s going to be pretty tough snagging any of us available ‘hotties’ if you two are still using ‘dude’ and ‘bro’ to start every other sentence,” chimed the beautiful woman standing behind them.

  Ian smirked at the embarrassed young men as the others laughed at their expense.

  As Ian looked back up at the screen, his number flashed across the top corner, letting him know to come to counter number three. He took one last look at the screen to see the members of his ex’s party congratulating each other before he turned towards the counter.

  As he walked up, the young man behind the counter smiled, “Good morning, my name is Steven. What can we help you with today? Are you looking to get placed into a temporary group?”

  “No, thank you,” Ian replied. “I am actually here to see someone. Is there a way you can let a Keeper named Claire know that Zero has arrived?”

  “A Keeper by the name of Claire? Claire…Claire…oh, of course! Please give me one moment please,” Steven said as he picked up the desk phone and dialed a number. “Good morning, Keeper Withers. There is an adventurer by the name Zero here to see you. Yes, ma’am, that is roughly how tall he is. Yes, his face is covered in shadow. No ma’am, it doesn’t feel like he is staring longingly into my…” the man started turning red as he realized what he was saying and that Ian could hear every word. “Stop it, you are going to get me in trouble again. Do you want to come pick him up, or do you want me to have him escorted over there? Fine, I’ll let him know.”

  The man hung up and sighed, “I am so sorry. Keeper Withers can be…problematic to deal with sometimes.”

  Ian chuckled, “I take it she teases you often?”

  “I’m pretty sure it is what she is getting paid for at this point,” Steven said with a chuckle. “She will be over here in a couple of minutes. The Keepers do not work out of this building, but she did want me to tell you she has everything ready.” He looked around quickly before leaning in. “Has she agreed to be your Keeper?”

  “Would that be a bad thing?”

  “Oh, definitely not,” replied the man quickly. “She just has refused to take on any full-time adventurers since she started here a couple of years ago. She fills in and assists, but has never signed any adventurers or teams to manage on her own. She does amazing work, and everyone appreciates her knowledge and dedication—even if her personality can be…trying for some of us at times.”

  “Well, it is good to hear that she is passionate about her work,” Ian said as he saw Claire walk through the back door in a chic business suit with her hair done up in a bun. It was at odds with the image he had of her from their first encounter when she wore monster feet slippers, pajama pants, and an oversized hoodie. “There she is, thank you for all the help, Steven.”

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  “You too, Adventurer Zero.” He replied.

  Ian smiled as the name Steven said sunk in. He was Zero now, and he felt a little lighter as he walked over to the door Claire was waving from.

  “How are you doing today, Zero?” Claire asked when he got close.

  “Feeling like a new person. How about yourself?”

  “Like a weight has been lifted now that you are here. I take it you got everything settled faster than you thought?”

  “Sometimes you don’t realize how amazing a friend can be until it is laid out in front of you. My old job is no longer a concern.”

  Claire smiled as she opened the door and ushered him outside into the campus proper. Ian smiled as he saw the well-manicured landscape. The grass was immaculately cut, and there were water features, flower beds, and rock gardens spaced out in the areas between the paths to provide many different eye-catching locales for adventurers to relax.

  “It’s as nice as I remember it,” Ian said as he walked next to Claire.

  “It doesn’t change much. I’ve seen the pictures from when my parents were just starting out, and it looks much the same. Some of the flowerbeds are planted differently, but things here don’t need to change as long as they are fulfilling their role.”

  “Do you ever just come out here and enjoy it?”

  Claire snorted, “It feels like I rarely have the time to visit my own room to sleep some days, so enjoying time in a place like this isn’t really on my schedule. It is what it is.”

  She opened a door and beckoned Ian into a building with black lettering above the door that spelled “The Keepers’ Domain” in bold print. He chuckled at the name as she led him up a flight of stairs and put a hand on a scanner that opened the door to a fairly large room he assumed was her office.

  She took off her heels at the entrance, “Don’t worry about taking off your boots. I take these off because heels suck.”

  “Then why not wear different shoes?”

  “The clicking sound lets everyone know I’m coming. Since I am the only one who wears them, they know to stop talking about me. It helps me hear less of the horrible things they say.”

  Ian looked over to see her smirking at him as she walked into her office and sat down on a comfy-looking desk chair. She motioned to a very cushy sofa on the other side of the desk for Ian to take a seat. She pressed a couple of buttons on a panel, resulting in an indicator light switching from green to blue.

  “Cool,” Claire said as she looked up. “The door is now locked, and the room is secure. As long as this light is blue, it is impossible to see through the windows or listen into this room. There is one of these installed in every living and office space on campus. The AI that runs it is the curator for the dungeon system, so we don’t have to worry about any foul play.”

  “Even I know that messing with the dungeon system is considered suicide,” he responded as he dropped his skill. “With all those different enlightened groups out there in the universe, it’s shocking that the system is designed to treat everyone fairly. Sure, there is some random number generation, but everyone is treated the same by the system. You would think someone would have tried to give themselves an advantage.”

  Claire nodded, “It’s the great equalizer. Though if the system could be rigged, it would take all the entertainment out of it. And the entertainment is all anyone outside of the adventurers really care about.”

  Ian nodded in agreement.

  “Okay, let’s go over some of the stuff I have set up for you,” Claire said, grabbing a tablet and flicking through a couple of applications. “First, I have drafted all the documentation that will officially assign me to you as a Keeper. Before I have you sign it, let me go over an overview of my duties for you.

  “I will be doing most of your administrative duties and brand building for as long as you are working solely under the banner of the AO. If you ever decide to join a clan, which most rankers eventually choose to do, your clan will end up taking over these duties. I know it won’t be soon, but I want to make sure it was stated before I continue.

  “My primary duties vary greatly between the different aspects of my job. On the branding side, my tasks include setting up sponsorship opportunities, organizing live streams, and booking interviews for you to get your name out there. I also assist in booking specialized dungeon slots for you to run. It doesn’t matter what tier of dungeons you are running in—the middle section is always camped hard.

  “For example, the first tier, the low tier, is comprised of the dungeons with monsters between level 100 and 1,000. Unlike the newbie dungeons, the difficulty ramps up considerably, making it dangerous for people to fight enemies of their level. So many groups fight ones that are just over half of their level, so they can continuously gain experience through mass slaughter. It is the safest way to level, and it also makes for great streaming when you can dress up and mow down hundreds of enemies without getting hurt.

  “Does that make sense?”

  “Definitely,” Ian said. “There were also quite a few people in the Turen Crevasse when I was there the other day. I think I saw more people in the first twenty minutes than I saw in the thousand plus hours I spent running the Slime Caverns.”

  “Exactly,” Claire nodded with a smile. “The early dungeons get out leveled quickly. After level 100, mobs that are half your level stop giving you experience. Before then, the leveling is kind of weird, but everyone levels through it really…well, everyone else leveled through it too quickly to matter. Sorry, Ian.”

  Ian chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.

  “Anyways, I can set you up with times to get into the dungeons that are in the middle of those tiers, so you aren’t stuck always running dungeons that are heavily camped by other adventurers. It’s easier to get your time slots if you decide to join or create a team. So, if you decide you want party members, I can advocate on your behalf to help you get slotted with either temporary or permanent party members.”

  Claire reached over and tapped her tablet a couple of times.

  “The administrative side of my job is a bit more problematic for you. The easy parts are ensuring that you have a place to live and food to eat. As you are living here, a dorm is provided, and you can use the cafeteria for free whenever you like. You can focus on leveling and bringing more essence stones out of the dungeons if you aren’t focused on paying bills. All your income can go into your gear, hobbies, or even the bank.

  “The other portion of my job is to constantly track and report your progress. This is where we are going to run into problems that others don’t have to deal with. The dungeon system tracks everything about you, but only certain information is made public. Any adventurer who hits level 101 is considered to be a ranker and will begin to appear on the level leaderboards for their current tier. Since you changed your alias at level 1 instead of level 100, we dodged a bullet because it should only show you as a brand-new adventurer under your alias. Luckily, the system hides all the previous data of your old name if you choose to take an alias, and if you don’t take one before leveling to 101, the option goes away to prevent people from changing their name in the middle of a climb.

  “Your issue is that you will be unable to hide that you have a skill that lets you reset your level because everyone will see your level update in real time. If you ever get to activate prestige again, people will literally watch you drop off the list and begin to shoot back up through the previous tiers again. Thankfully, there are other people out there who have purchased prestige skills to restart, but it is going to be obvious yours is vastly different when you are still running high-level dungeons and gaining levels faster than anyone else is capable of.”

  “There isn’t much we can do about that,” Ian said. “As long as people don’t know who I am, I don’t care if they know about my skill that lets me reset. They won’t be able to figure out what else it does, so it isn’t a big deal.”

  Claire’s eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him for a moment. “I forget that not everyone grew up around rankers. If you level as fast as my family thinks you are going to, the clans are going to swoop in and provide you with some hefty incentives to join them. Quite a few of the clans can provide a lot more specialized support than the AO can. We don’t have any rankers that stick around after they make it to the mid-tier. So, everyone over level 1000 belongs to a clan or is quasi-retired.”

  Ian shrugged, “I don’t trust them. Honestly, I barely trust the AO, but if it treats me right, I will treat it right.”

  Claire snorted. “I doubt you will refuse to join a clan forever. The knowledge they have of the later dungeons surpasses ours as a collective. My parents may know more, but they aren’t the highest levels anymore.”

  “That’s fair, but I’ll put it more directly. If you take care of me, I’ll take care of you,” Ian said as he looked Claire in the eyes. “If it wasn’t for your dad getting involved, I would be making fries right now. I’m willing to give you my trust, so hand over that form so I can sign it. I need to drop off my stuff so I can get over to the dungeon and level up some more.”

  Claire nodded and handed him the tablet with the application already opened to the contract. He read it over and saw that it was in easy-to-read terms and stated that she would pretty much do everything other than kill monsters for him.

  “Wow, you really do have a lot of tasks to do,” he muttered.

  “A lot of them are more about connections than actual work. It is what I help the other keepers with, so it just looks like a lot. However, I’m not the one who spends multiple days a week courting death. I found out I wasn’t exactly suited to that life years ago before I switched to become a Keeper.”

  Ian nodded as he placed his hand on the area of the form that he was supposed to sign, and it updated with his alias and the date. When it was done, he handed the tablet back to her.

  “Awesome, now I just need to request your micro drones for your streams. The dorms are the tall buildings across the campus. Your room has been registered as room 42 in tower 1003. Right inside is an elevator. Go to the fourth floor and put your hand against the pad and it will open right up for you. If that doesn’t work, call me.”

  Ian opened his mouth to say something as she held out a brand-new phone for him. He reached out and took it and flipped it on. He put his thumb on the screen, and it unlocked for him.

  “I remembered,” Claire said, looking a little embarrassed. “So, I got it added into your benefits package, and the charger is in your room already. The phone is yours to keep—even when you leave the AO. However, you will need to transfer the service to your name when you join a clan.”

  Ian looked down at the phone for a moment, feeling weird having such a device again. He looked up and gave Claire a real smile as he stood.

  “Thank you. I mean it.”

  “Of course, now go,” Claire said while making a shooing motion. “I need to process your paperwork, and you need to go drop your stuff off at your dorm, so your item storage is empty.”

  Turning his conceal skill back on, Ian said goodbye and left her office.