Everyone else was submitting thick stacks of various documents and certificates, and the receptionist had to sift through all of it to find the best candidates.
So what kind of expression would the receptionist, who was used to seeing those thick files, make when it was his turn and he handed over a single, flimsy application form?
Bewilderment, surprise, disbelief? Maybe they'd think he was just here for fun, give him a perfunctory response, or even say something harsh?
If this were some absurd power fantasy novel, the next scene would probably involve him smugly telling the rude receptionist that one form was enough. Then the surrounding crowd would start mocking him, and he'd show them all up...
But Shu didn't like to show off. His mental fortitude wasn't as strong as those "Dragon King returns" protagonists. A couple of harsh words would genuinely make his blood boil, let alone being mocked by a whole crowd.
Even the strange looks from the people around him were getting to be a bit much, even if it was just because he was surprisingly handsome in their eyes.
Maybe he should just forget it for today? Go back, prepare some documents, and come back later?
Shu scratched his head in frustration, stumped by the single sheet of paper.
He stepped out of the line he'd been waiting in and squatted down in a corner on the second underground level.
But his identity was fake... His previous "accomplishments" were too conspicuous.
Any one of them would basically be a flashing neon sign announcing who he was... People might even accuse him of taking credit for others' work.
But without those accomplishments... did he really have any other achievements?
Not really. Shu couldn't even say where he was born or where he grew up.
He didn't even have an ID card for this world...
Suddenly, Shu fell silent again, then let out a long, dejected sigh and went back to staring blankly at the application form.
Did he have to make up a resume? But wouldn't it be obvious at a glance if it was fake? Wouldn't he just get eliminated then anyway?
Shu really hadn't expected to fail at the very first step...
He looked over the form several times and suddenly noticed a line of text.
[Recruitment Period: Seven Days]
Today was the second day... which meant he still had five days to build up some achievements for this identity.
That's right! All he had to do was register a new identity, right? Five days was plenty of time for Shu. Go out, deal with some nearby Honkai Beasts, zombies, and Deathly Honkai Beasts, and he'd have a resume in no time.
Five days...
Shu put down the application form, took out his phone, and opened his Spark account, pausing for a moment.
He suddenly remembered that he still hadn't unfrozen the Contribution Points in his account.
Looking at the one-hundred-million-point balance, Shu hesitated but ultimately decided not to delete the account.
It wasn't just his money; he couldn't make that decision alone.
At least, Kiana and the others hadn't told him that it was his personal asset.
He'd have to get a new phone and register a new account, or borrow one...
With a goal in mind, Shu finally felt some of the gloom lift, though a shadow of doubt still lingered.
The old problem was solved, but a new one had appeared.
Where was he going to get a new phone? His money was frozen and unusable.
And he didn't have any identification, so he couldn't register a new account. That meant his only option was to borrow one from someone...
Who should he ask?
Kiana and the others were out of the question. If he wasn't mistaken, their accounts were also famous. He needed a clean, preferably unknown account.
Only an account like that wouldn't arouse suspicion.
Then, he'd have to use that account to create a new City Exploration Team to start taking on bounties.
Shu looked up the rules for City Exploration Teams again. Perhaps because the system was still new, the rules were quite simple and clear.
It didn't take him long to find the requirements for forming a team.
Initial team must have at least five members.
Smack. Shu slapped the phone face-down on his thigh, then covered his face with his hand.
Great. Killed at the first step again.
Five initial members... So he, Kiana, and Bronya had never actually formed a proper City Exploration Team? There were only four of them... Or had Otto counted Ai-chan?
Did he have to trick... find a few people to form a new team?
Start over with Kiana and the others? No, that was still the first option to be ruled out.
He had to find people who weren't well-known...
Or... join an existing team.
The advantage of forming his own team was that he would be the leader, giving him the right to choose missions, especially the high-difficulty, high-profile ones.
Joining a team wouldn't be as convenient. He wouldn't be the leader, so he'd have to try his best to persuade the others that he could lead them through the difficult missions.
Even though he had the ability to protect them, would that be too difficult to pull off without revealing his identity?
He'd have to show them some of his strength...
Shu removed the hand from his face, sighed, and picked up his phone again to search through the list of all the exploration teams.
The first thing he saw was his own name, glowing in gold at the very top.
[Shu's First Special Exploration Team]... The corner of Shu's eye twitched. He could guess with his toes who had come up with that ambiguous and tasteless name.
Looking further down, the second-ranked team was [Judgment of Shamash and Hundred Flowers]. That one was much more familiar; it was obviously the Snow Wolf Squad.
There was a huge gap between his team and the Snow Wolf Squad, but the gap between the Snow Wolf Squad and the third and fourth-ranked teams was also significant, clearly showing three distinct tiers.
The names of the top few teams seemed to reflect their confidence in their abilities, so they were all quite serious.
But as the rankings went down, the team names started to get wilder and more abstract.
The further Shu scrolled, the more silent he became. Some of the abstract names were fine, but some of them...
What kind of team would call themselves "Warming Captain Shu's Bed"?
And that was one of the tamer ones in that category. The one about licking fingers... was that for real?
As if possessed, Shu looked at his own hand, then forced his gaze away with a shudder.
A minute later, the thought "humanity should just end already" had formed in his mind.
Had he fallen behind the times, or had the world finally gone crazy in a way he couldn't comprehend?
Amidst this chaotic mess of names, the only normal one stood out and caught his eye.
Actually, it was something else about the name that attracted him.
"Immortal Blades...?" Shu frowned slightly. If he remembered correctly, that was the name of Rita and Durandal's squad in the original story.
He remembered seeing someone who looked a lot like Durandal on the battlefield, and another figure who was almost identical to Rita...
Shu had his suspicions about Durandal's origins, but where had Otto found Rita?
Was this Immortal Blades the team they had formed?
But if it was really their team... why was it ranked so low? What the two of them were capable of... they should be ranked much higher, right?
In the bustling second underground level, Shu made his decision.
---||---
When Bianka opened her eyes, the familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling gave her a sense of unreality.
Am I really... back?
Thinking back on everything she had experienced in the past month, Bianka couldn't tell which part was a dream.
No matter when, no matter what happened, when you woke up the next day, you would always break free from the past and see that familiar ceiling.
Bianka blinked slowly. The warmth of the bed made her want to stay.
"Lady Bianka, sleeping in is not a good habit," Rita's teasing voice came from the doorway. It had only been a minute since Bianka had opened her eyes. Bianka's face flushed, and she quickly got out of bed.
"Good morning, Rita!" she greeted awkwardly, quickly dressing herself before Rita could pick out her clothes for her.
Rita naturally stopped her intended action and stood smiling at the door as Bianka finished dressing.
"Lady Bianka, breakfast is ready. Please freshen up and proceed to the dining room," Rita said with a slight bow, then walked backwards out of the room.
Bianka nodded awkwardly, then quickly washed up and went to the dining room in her slippers.
There were already three people in the dining room. Rita was standing by the table, spreading butter and cheese on toast for the two little ones seated there.
Compared to Sushang's excited expression, Azhar looked stiff just sitting there.
While the tenth underground level of Fire Moth couldn't compare to the dazzling luxury of the City of Sighs, Azhar had only ever seen such places from the outside. This was her first time actually being inside a villa like this.
She still felt like the sleep she'd had last night was a dream.
"Here is your toast, Lady Azhar," Rita said respectfully, placing a plate with toast and soup in front of Azhar, startling her.
"Wait, you don't have to call me 'Lady'!" Azhar waved her hands frantically at Rita. "I-I'm just a paper flower seller, really, not a lady..."
"There is no need to be so modest, Lady Azhar. On the battlefield against the Herrscher, everyone heard your decree of absolution. If that doesn't earn you the title of 'Lady,' I'm afraid others would speak ill of me," Rita explained with a smile. Azhar's face turned beet red, and she lowered her head.
"That was... I... I..."
She stammered, unable to speak, her face just getting redder.
As Bianka entered the dining room, Rita smoothly turned and smiled at her. "Lady Bianka, your breakfast is ready as well. Please, have a seat."
Bianka sat down in a daze. Sushang was already happily enjoying Rita's cooking without any ceremony.
The cafeteria food was good, but it couldn't compare to Rita's cooking.
Especially since Rita made small-portion meals, each dish was meticulously prepared and tasted exquisite.
So, ever since she'd had Rita's food, Sushang often came over to Rita's place at mealtimes, even for breakfast.
She didn't have the habit of sleeping in. She might doze off in class or while doing homework, earning her the nickname "Li Big-Pillow," but she was very diligent with her sword practice.
She woke up at 5:30 every day for an hour of sword practice and about half an hour of basic training, which left her just enough time to rush over here for a free meal.
As soon as Bianka sat down, she felt Azhar's gaze fixed on her.
"Good morning... Azhar?" Bianka, who was two heads taller than Azhar, smiled awkwardly.
Azhar nodded. "Good morning... um, Big Sister... Bianka."
The corner of Bianka's mouth twitched. She couldn't help but look down at her own body. She wasn't in her energy-saving mode right now, so in Azhar's eyes, she was indeed a "big sister"...
But why did Senior Kiana... also call her big sister?
Even if it was because Mr. Siegfried and Mrs. Cecilia said they would adopt her... wouldn't that make her the younger sister?
She didn't get it... Bianka just felt a headache coming on.
But a headache was a headache. Rita had already placed her breakfast in front of her. Better eat first. The warm toast wouldn't be as good if it got cold.
Azhar looked at Bianka, then at Sushang, and finally picked up her own breakfast and started eating in small bites.
Rita, however, remained standing by Bianka's side and took out several files.
Bianka's hand, which was bringing food to her mouth, paused. She looked at Rita, confused.
"Since you're back, Lady Bianka, let's take this opportunity to discuss the expansion plans for the Immortal Blades," Rita said with a smile, spreading the files out in front of Bianka.
Oh, right. I'm the captain of the Immortal Blades.
Bianka remembered her role, nodded, and quickly took a couple more bites before looking down at the documents.
The thick stacks of files made her feel dizzy just looking at them, but out of a sense of responsibility and guilt for having been away for so long, Bianka forced herself to read on.
"Huh? Are we getting new members?" Sushang looked up curiously and leaned over to Bianka's side, only to be infected by Bianka's headache and retreat, clutching her own head.
"Yes. The Immortal Blades is still too small. Besides, Lady Bianka now holds a very special position. In the future, you may be as busy with official duties as Senior Quinn, so we need to add more members to our team."
Bianka guiltily touched her face and focused more intently on the documents.
She knew she was special now. Whether it was her power, which they called a "MANTIS," or the strange power she had unleashed at the end of the battle with the Herrscher, she was no longer an ordinary person.
Even with her modesty, Bianka understood that she would be entrusted with great responsibility in the future, unless...
...someone else took on all the responsibility, forcing her to rest as well.
That would be too exhausting... Bianka didn't think she could do that.