The morning mist clung to the swamp, shrouding the path to the Bureau of Eternal Waiting.
Rui marched forward with renewed determination, with Ran at her side and Kee Kee trotting ahead while sniffing the air suspiciously.
The demon clerk looked up from his endless stack of papers, jaw slackening at the sight of them. His spindly fingers froze mid-stamp.
"You... came back?" Disbelief colored his voice. "Most give up after the first reset."
"We're not giving up so easily," Rui said, lifting her chin.
The clerk's thin lips curled into a mocking smile.
He gestured toward the number display, which now read "1" while the ticket in Rui's hand showed "24,719."
"As you can see, we experienced another unfortunate system reset overnight." His voice dripped with false sympathy.
"Even more souls arrived during the night. I wish you the best of luck processing—" he paused, checking a ledger, "—nearly twenty-five thousand cases before sundown."
