She Rules the Dungeon

In a different part of the city sitting on a leather chair on the top floor of one of the tallest skyscraper, a certain aged CEO smirked at the paper's headlines. Five Lives Saga topped the chart yet once again, breaking all records and spearheading the rebellion to open up a new path for adventurers and science.

To be honest, FLS was as weak as a newborn elephant. It may be huge but it was still weak. Brandon Clarkson knew that the dog he picked up that day would come to bite the hand that fed it. Richard was such an ungrateful child. Did he think that such a stunt would make him unable to act? The CEO of Clarkson Inc was a powerful man. Wealth only took you so far. Brandon wasn't only wealthy, he was an influential man who had ties with both the underground and government. Richard may be a prodigy with a stubborn streak but no man can become an army. What Brandon had, Richard didn't and that will become his downfall.

"Boris," the CEO called.

A bespectacled man in his forties stepped forward. From the expensive clothes and shoes he wore, it was clear that he wasn't a common person. Although he wasn't as eye-catching as Brandon, Boris was equally intimidating. He was both the butler and personal assistant of Brandon.

"Yes, sir."

"It's time to take Richard home."

The words sounded warm but the coldness in Brandon's tone made it very clear that it wasn't an invitation. Richard will be returning whether he liked it or not and Boris will see that it happens. What Brandon Clarkson wants, he will get. If FLS was standing in the way, he will get rid of it as well. With the new technology and private project rumours floating around, Brandon was feeling angsty. For many years, he'd kept the monopoly of technology with Clarkson Inc. With their patented technology for nutrition pill production and formula, they were meant to rule the society. Roomscape was also a project by Clarkson Inc and Richard was the brain behind it. Unfortunately, his adopted son was against using it for greater purposes. Roomscape was a money-making machine, a perfect way to brainwash the fools into working for Clarkson Inc for free.

The original idea was to use it to collect the identities of all adventurers and analyse their intelligence through the dungeons. All the intelligent ones will be given special dungeons modified by Clarkson Inc's end using Roomscape's administration rights. The level of difficulty will be increased slowly so that they wouldn't realise that they are test subjects. Human experimentation is illegal only if the humans know that they are being experimented on. With total control over new dungeons, Clarkson Inc can collect data to their hearts' content. Not even the government can do anything about it. However, Richard had to spoil their plans by constantly pushing PJP into the limelight with their new creations. Even in Clarkson Inc, there is nobody who is able to breakthrough Richard's security. That annoying child has set up a new security system for FLS and PJP, annoying Brandon to no end.

As Boris left the office, Brandon wondered how his adopted son would react. Would he come home willingly or would he fight it out and try to expose him? He smirked when he read about a certain red-head. The girl Otta Olley seemed interesting too. Those wacky ideas couldn't possibly be Richard's and Brandon knew it because his son was quite the gloomy person. He could never think of such ideas with his character. Richard never believed in love or God, he was a man of science, logic and reason. Unfortunately, he was also a man of morals and righteousness that Brandon couldn't paint over no matter what he did. A long time ago, Brandon was much like Richard. Perhaps that was why he took that stray child in. But like raising a pet, he grew tired of Richard's constant tantrums so he let him go only to regret it. Brandon learnt ten years ago that righteousness and justice was a lie. For humanity to advance, only the best deserved to live. Whatever Richard and Otta did was tolerable until they had the bright idea to introduce dungeons for the disabled to experience a normal life. What a joke! As if that could change anything... if only... if only they did that ten years earlier...

***

"A letter for me?" Richard was surprised. Who would send letters using the courier service in this day and age? Everything should be digitalised... there had to be a mistake somewhere but Richard didn't know what it was.

He took the letter from Otta's hands and held it up against the light trying to peek at its contents to no avail. The envelope was thick and didn't allow Richard to practise x-ray vision. He sighed. Well, if it was going to blow up, at least he tried to take precaution against it.

Messily, he tore the letter open. Inside it was a piece of paper with somebody's handwriting on it. That penmanship looked extremely familiar but Richard couldn't put a face or name to it until he read the contents. The message was short but it was sufficient to drive home what it wanted to deliver. Richard paled and Otta studied her partner's expression with worry. Not many things can unfaze Richard and whoever wrote that letter wasn't someone they could underestimate.

"What does it say?" she asked.

Richard shook his head and crushed that letter. He would make sure to burn it later, leaving no trace of it behind. This was his problem, he didn't want to implicate Otta. Richard felt weak and he didn't know what to do. His mind went back to Jeffer's words when they held FLS's first official meeting in PJP's meeting room. Those words were like a prophecy and Richard regretted not acting on them earlier. If he did, Otta wouldn't be implicated. However, due to his complacency, they were now going to suffer severe consequences.

He'd never liked his family. Yes, they might have been good to him and took him in when he had no place to call home. He ran away from the orphanage because those stupid caretakers and doctors classified him as 'special needs'. That meant that Richard had to follow stupid rules for his 'safety' and was always looked down upon with those eyes of pity. Pity that he didn't need, pity that he didn't like nor deserved. He was perfectly fine and to prove it, he ran away from the home only to go from the frying pan into the fire.

Brandon Clarkson wasn't a particularly kind man. He was cold, shrewd and calculating who didn't do charity unless there was something that he could benefit from. He was the most feared businessman until an accident struck over ten years ago. The new car prototype malfunctioned during one of his demonstrations to his investors and Brandon lost the use of his legs ever since. Richard had been eleven when that happened and saw how Brandon turned from a successful and confident man to one full of despair and hate. The government didn't allow disabled people to find employment or own companies. As such, Brandon was forced to step down from his position officially. Although he was retired, Brandon never stopped working from behind the scenes. Boris was Brandon's assistant and Brandon made him take the office while he called the shots from behind the scenes.

Angry with the government and sick of their 'laws', Brandon became obsessed with research. He wanted to make a comeback and it didn't matter how he did it. Brandon was determined to climb to the top even if it meant having to climb a mountain of bodies to get there. Richard was one of those people standing in Brandon's way. Hence, he had to disappear from his father's sight.

Roomscape was created because Brandon wanted to replicate a situation where an adventurer loses both their legs as he did. He wanted to virtually simulate and test if it was possible to recover them using various methods. Those methods were often inhumane and Richard disagreed with it. Human experimentation was wrong and Richard didn't like that idea. If it was successful, Brandon intended to bring those results over to the real world. Brandon's physical legs were deemed as impossible to recover by even the best doctors. What Brandon wanted to do was replace them with a mechanical pair. However, bioelectronics wasn't a perfect technology. Researchers have yet to discover how the brain can control electronics using brainwaves and electric pulses instead of nerves. There have been cases of electronic backfires or rejection by the body so the government didn't allow bionic replacements.

As Richard returned to his room, locking the door behind him, Otta couldn't help but fret. he hated it whenever Richard kept secrets from her. Although she respected him and knew when to leave him alone whenever he needed some space, it always made her anxious. This time, Otta just knew that she couldn't leave him alone. She'd seen him annoyed, tired, exhausted, stressed and confused before but never fearful. If he had such a terrible reaction to that letter, it could only mean that someone was threatening Richard with one of the secrets he kept from her.

Otta wouldn't pry into Richard's secrets but she will get to the bottom of who was threatening her partner. Richard had always been there for her, now it was her turn to stand up for him.

***

"Sir, the message has been delivered." Boris bowed.

It was eight in the evening. Brandon didn't look up from his book, still nursing a glass of wine in his other hand.

"Report."

The butler-assistant bowed once more and started reporting what he found out about FLS.

"Young master's partner Otta Olley is an ordinary person on paper. No outstanding achievements, no talent whatsoever. However, according to the scientists who've worked with her in PJP, Otta is someone who is able to think out of the box and make the impossible possible. It is also rumoured that she is the young master's love interest. The company is very small, consisting of only twenty-odd employees. However, every individual there is an expert in their field. Child genius Kalissa Rhonde and Jeffer Starlet the infamous private investigator are some of the people they hired."

Brandon took a sip of his wine and flipped another page. It wasn't too surprising considering how PJP was backing them. However, Brandon was interested to know if there was anyone within FLS that can be bought by them.

"I've compiled a list of the employees in FLS for your reading," Boris said and placed a stack of documents on Brandon's oak study table. "I believe that if you're looking for spies, Venus and Jeffer are good candidates."

Taking his leave, Boris shut the door quietly, leaving Brandon to his thoughts.

***

"I see... I have a few guesses about what happened there but it will take some time to confirm my suspicions."

Otta sighed. She'd gathered the informants and special team to discuss the letter Richard received. As expected, Jeff had an idea about it. Although Otta wanted very much to ask what he knew, she wanted to respect Richard's privacy.

"In that case, please let me know as soon as you find something. I'm worried about Richard. It didn't seem like something minor. He was very pale."

Jeffer nodded and placed a hand on Otta's shoulder. "Don't worry, we're here. Get some sleep, you look like you need it. Also, please keep an eye out for him."

Otta smiled wryly. "Thank you. I'm so sorry that you're not paid enough to do this..."

Venus giggled at that. In all honesty, she wouldn't have bothered applying for such a job if it was about the pay. "Don't worry your pretty head, darling. I'm sure I speak for everyone present that we're not here because of the pay."

Cameron gave her the stink eye. "Speak for yourself, lady. I was unemployed and this job pays well."

Neuf looked nervous as Cameron and Venus gave each other cold stares. Khan and Kalissa were expressionless as usual and Jeffer patted Otta's head when a fight broke out. For some reason, Cameron and Venus do not get along when it pertained to matters unrelated to work. Otta found that gap between their professionalism and personalities intriguing.

"I hope that you don't take what he says to heart. We're here because we like it. Although it's been only a year, I hope to be able to call you a friend. And as friends, you don't have to pay us for a favour. As socially retarded as he is, I consider Richard a friend of mine too. It's only natural to help friends when they get into trouble. Of course, I'm just praying that he doesn't get any funny ideas while we're working on his case. You know him better than us after all, we're counting on you to keep him out of trouble for a while."

The red-head sighed. Jeff was right. She knew Richard way too well. As calm and confident as he appeared, the real Richard was an overly paranoid person who had self-sacrificing tendencies. Neuf scolded Richard more than once for offering to test the riskiest dungeons and risk mental trauma. His excuse? "I'm already jaded."

"I understand. I'll try my best to stop him when I can but no guarantees here. You know him, when he wants something done, nothing can stop him."

Kalissa smiled. "Just like you."

Otta felt betrayed when Khan started laughing in her face, joined by everyone else.

"Well then," Cameron paused his fight with Venus for a while. "I believe Richard will be waking up soon. Leave everything to us, we're counting on you to keep Richard out of trouble."

The voice call meeting ended and everyone dispersed, leaving Otta to wonder if she should make Richard's favourite breakfast to take his mind off the letter.

"Double-shot espresso and strawberry waffles it is," she decided.