Frizz sighed, eyeing the egg omelet. He wasn't able to eat it because he was explaining the earlier events to his two teammates. Now, someone else was knocking at the door; he couldn't help but feel anxious, as several people were behind the door.
*Knock!* *Knock!*
Frizz opened the door, spotting a middle-aged man with stubble and receding hair. The man was wearing a faded shirt with gauze bandages around his arms. The man then politely smiled at him.
"I am Hei; we haven't properly met face to face." Hei introduced himself and shook Frizz's hand.
"These are our group members, some of them at least. May we come in?" Hei said with a gentle tone, producing a box full of donuts.
Behind Hei were four other wounded people, looking at Frizz with a curious gaze. He forced a smile and invited them in, hoping they'd leave sooner if he complied..
"Hei! You came!"
Divine Hesoyam Rosa said, raising her arms and waving them to Hei, meanwhile Nathaniel looked outside the window, miffed due to the hard rainy weather.
(What the frick is this? Can't a guy get some peace after he died and almost died?) He thought, looking at his fully occupied apartment, there was barely any room left.
*Bump!* A blindfolded man holding a huge sniper rifle bumped the ceiling light, flickering it on and off.
"Sorry, and if that light fails, tell me. I'll pay for it." The man with the sniper rifle apologized, propping the weapon against the wall beside him.
(You're a goddamned leveler, don't you have your own inventory!?) Frizz thought, eye twitching, glaring at the man.
Hei placed the box of donuts on the table, intently observing Frizz.
"I am Hei de la Roxas, the eyeball guy, as you call it. My current occupation is a night guard." Hei said, sitting in a small chair.
"Do you have any other chairs? I hate standing up." A purple-haired woman approached, her arm in a sling, and her purple varsity volleyball jacket caught Frizz's attention.
(This looks familiar.)
"That is Rylai Capones, our speedster leveler."
"The one with the huge rifle over there is Justing Hang, though you can call him Sniper." Hei introduced the other members.
"This young man here is Nacky Ping, a senior high-school student, but he's a telekinetic like you," Hei said, as Nacky Ping respectfully bowed his head and adjusted his eyeglasses.
"That's Danna Young; she is the vice-leader of our group." Hei, introduced as Danna Young, weakly yet politely bowed her head.
"Let's address the huge question," Hei said, smile fading. "How are you alive?"
Frizz sighed, grabbing an extra chair for himself and Rylai. "It started weeks ago."
Thirty minutes later...
Frizz explained everything, from acquiring a new contract to a revamped leveling system, and everything that has been happening to him lately. His death, and the autonomous soul forming inside him. The rest of the Status Quo listened, however, Divine Hesoyam Rosa was conflicted since Frizz confided in her but chose to leave out some key parts.
Hei was especially interested in the contracts but was seemingly worried about the autonomous soul. He was also the only one taking down notes.
Frizz munched on a donut while eating the egg omelet. "That's all there is to it."
"Well, I apologize for the bearer of bad news, but Torres isn't dead. That white foreigner managed to escape." Hei said with hardly any concern. "She managed to heal herself, killing several police officers on the way."
"H-how?" Frizz said, remembering that he shattered and turned her head into paste.
"She's almost like a vampire, but don't worry, she's still in the country and she won't be leaving anytime soon," Hei said with complete confidence, assured that she'll be captured soon enough.
"You're level forty, but your base stats are similar to a level fifty third-rate leveler." Nacky Ping said, reading Frizz's physical stats using an information skill.
"Second-rate levelers have more increases in physical stats every time they level up," Hei answered, lighting a cigarette.
"You have a system that allows you to earn talents, yet you don't even have a dozen. Why aren't you farming them?" Danna Young said, also smoking a cigarette.
"Because most of the time, they're difficult to accomplish," Frizz answered, covering his nose from the cigarette smoke.
"For example. I checked the objectives for today, and one of them told me to steal one hundred items that are valued at one hundred pesos." He said with an exhausted sigh, he was frustrated with the amount of talents he had.
"That shouldn't be difficult with our plethora of abilities." Rylai Capones said with an impatient tone that Frizz quickly picked up, realizing a hint of disappointment.
"I concur, you're not fully realizing your potential. I wouldn't be in your situation if I had an opportunity like yours." Justing Hang said the tone of disappointment was present again.
Hei rose from his seat, checking the time on his wrist watch. "I suggest you get as many talents as possible. That goes for all of you, look for ways to get stronger despite the level cap."
"Starting as of now, we are unofficially part of the government."
"What!?" They all exclaimed in surprise, but not a single one in the group was overjoyed with the news.
"I told you all before that I will do everything in my power to keep the status quo, and this is how we keep the status quo, by working with the government."
Frizz kept silent, unsure of how to feel. He knew that an earlier version of him would be furious right now. Probably throwing a tantrum.
"We can't keep hiding in the shadows forever, especially after what happened at that hotel. I took the initiative to talk to some figures, and it paid off. The existence of levelers will be made public after the election to avoid any major political issues."
Hei said with conviction, though a lot seemed unsure. The idea of working for the government didn't seem right. Nathaniel was especially apprehensive, rubbing his nape repeatedly.