Candy (1)

What the hell am I supposed to do now?

Things were messed up.

The project that I previously thought was my lifeline was suddenly snatched away from me. Not only that, but it also left behind a veil of uncertainty. 

What precisely accounted for the disparity between the future in the visions and the present?

I had several ideas, but I just hoped it wasn't what I was thinking.

If that were the case…

'...Wouldn't that mean we'd be at each other's throats with both of us trying to snatch opportunities from one another?'

Ah... 

My life was already filled with stress, and I couldn't bear any more. The idea of having to constantly be vigilant during every moment of the day felt suffocating. It felt as if two hands were constantly pressed up against my throat. 

Who could predict when I might be stabbed in the back or have yet another opportunity swiped from my grasp?

My hair stood on end. 

'Damn, goosebumps.'

However, the most urgent issue at hand was not that. I still lacked sufficient evidence to confirm whether the other recruit could truly foresee the future. So, for the time being, I needed to thread lightly. 

What I really needed to figure out was what the hell I was supposed to do next.

With the other projects presumingly also doing badly, the road ahead seemed dark. There was no light in sight.

'Fuck, just what am I supposed to do now...?'

As I remained frozen in thought, contemplating my future steps, Dean gently nudged my shoulder.

"Hey, get your shit together. The girls are about to dive."

"I'm ready."

I donned my headset and fixed my gaze on the monitor before me. A familiar scene, and a familiar environment.

Only that things were slightly different today.

"We want to emphasize that the girls must effectively showcase the products during their battles. While we'll use drones to capture footage, it's also essential for the girls to position themselves in a manner that facilitates the shots."

"I understand. Don't worry, I will tell the girls." 

"Yes, please. It's important." 

"Don't worry." 

"...I'm glad I don't have to worry. Producer Garner said that we can begin in ten." 

"Got it." 

The floor echoed with the subtle sound of heels clicking.

Only once the sound faded did Dean slump over his chair. 

"Damn, stressful." 

"How much are we getting paid for all of this?" 

Taking advantage of the girls's situation, the Guild managed to land us an opportunity with an equipment manufacturing company. 

We were now shooting a promotional video for them. 

From what we were told, the task involved creating a one-minute video showcasing the girls engaging in combat with their new equipment. 

"Getting paid?" 

Dean looked at me weirdly. 

"Why would you think we're getting paid?" 

"We're not?" 

"Of course not!"

"Then..." 

"The girls will each receive a set of Tier 1 Equipment. It's a fair deal. Plus, they'll be plastered all over the television which will help us in getting their faces known." 

"Ah."

"That's the most important thing for us at the moment. Shoving the girls's faces down people's throats so that when they appear, someone will go like, 'Oh, aren't those Blue Daisy from Emblem of the Sun?'"

If you put it like that... 

"Our end goal is to make it to the popularity rankings. It doesn't matter how we achieve it. Only once we get them there do we have a shot at entering Tier 2. Once that happens, the Guild will definitely pull more resources our way." 

Dean pointed at his temple. 

"Think ahead, don't think about short-term monetary gains." 

I simply nodded my head. Daen took his attention away from me and shifted it back to the monitors. 

The dark circles underneath his eyes seemed especially glaring today. 

He spoke, 

"Girls, are you ready?" 

—We're ready.

"Then can I proceed with the check?" 

—We should be fin... 

—Ehm. 

"Sarah?" 

I adjusted the panel and zoomed toward Sarah. 

Dean leaned his head closer to the monitor. 

Why does he... 

"Sarah, is there a problem?" 

—I think there's something wrong with the grip of the sword. 

"The grip?" 

—Yes. It doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel secure.

"This..." 

Dean massaged his mouth. 

"Have you tried the spare swords? Are they the same?" 

—Yes. The grip doesn't feel right in all of them. 

"Huu." 

Taking a deep breath, Dean massaged his temples. 

"What about you girls, do you have a problem?" 

—Umm, my spear is fine. I tried it around and it seems okay.

—My shield is also good.

—No problem for me, and Lyla also doesn't seem troubled. 

"So just Sarah, huh...?" 

Dean mumbled with a frown. 

I exchanged glances with him, and we both seemed to share the same thought. 

"Should I go inform the staff?" 

"Yes, immediately." 

"Understood." 

I rushed out of the room in a heartbeat. This was not something that we could simply ignore. 

There were dangers when diving in a dungeon. Even though Return Stones existed, they couldn't guarantee that the holder would be able to survive before activating them. Just one wrong move and they could find themselves at the gates of the afterlife. 

In essence, equipment served as a fundamental tool for personal safety, survival, and protection when dealing with monsters and other threats in various contexts.

But what if there was something wrong with the equipment? 

Then... 

"Excuse me. Where's the producer, I have something to report." 

"Ah, yes?" 

Caught off guard by my sudden call, the lady I had encountered earlier appeared visibly taken aback. She seemed to be the secretary. 

"How can I help you?"

"One of our members seems to have a problem with the equipment, is it possible to have it switched with something else? The swords to be precise. The grips don't feel steady."

"Eh? There should be spares as well." 

"They also seem to have a problem." 

I wouldn't be here if they also didn't have a problem. 

"Is that so..." 

With a troubled look, the secretary took out her phone and dialed a number. 

The call went through and not long after a middle-aged whom I presumed was the Producer arrived. 

"What's the problem here?" 

His expression didn't seem too friendly. 

The secretary explained,

"He's saying that there's something wrong with the equipment. Apparently, the grip of the swords isn't steady enough."

"There should be spares—"

"Those also don't seem to be good enough." 

"What nonsense..." 

The Producer looked at me and sighed. 

"You're their manager, correct?" 

"I am." 

I handed him my business card. He briefly glanced at it before taking his gaze away from it. 

"Right. Then, I'll lay things out for you in a way that you can understand. There are no spare swords. All the swords that are there are spare swords. I'll be honest here, sometimes the problem doesn't always lie in the equipment..." 

I frowned.

So what are you trying to say, that it's Sarah's fault? 

Noticing the change in my expression, the Producer cut things shortly. 

"Listen, there's a lot of things that I need to do at the moment. We will begin shortly, please tell the girls to get ready." 

I never got the chance to say anything else.

The Producer left before I could say anything else. I gazed at his retreating figure, a simmering anger welling up inside me. Yet, what proved even more exasperating was my inability to vent that frustration.

Exchanging glances with the secretary who looked at me awkwardly, I rushed back to the watch room and recounted everything that had happened to Dean. 

"Those bastards...!" 

Dean slammed his fist against the table. 

I wanted to do so as well but held myself back.

Now was not the time for that. 

"What do we do now?" 

Dean sobered up at my question. 

"What can we do...?" 

"Should we contact the Guild and tell them about the situation?" 

"No, that's not right. Even if we do tell them, there's not enough time to change things up. The shoot is scheduled for today, and if we report things to the Guild, they might just cancel everything." 

"Then..." 

"Let me talk to the girls. We'll decide after I talk to them." 

"Okay." 

That seemed to be the only approach we had. 

At the end of the day, this was an opportunity. It wasn't something that we could afford to throw away. 

—I'll do it. 

Sarah's voice was firm, and so was her expression. A rare sight for someone who seemed rather expressionless most of the time. 

Dean tried to convince her otherwise. 

"Sarah, are you sure you can do this? If you can't, then we can just can—"

—I'll do it. 

But she insisted. 

"Bu—" 

—I can do it. I won't hold the girls back.

"Well..." 

Dean looked at me and we exchanged glances. After a brief moment, we both nodded. 

"Okay. I'll trust you. If there are any problems don't hesitate to use your return stone. Your safety is our number one priority." 

—I understand. 

So that's that. 

I slumped on my chair and massaged my forehead. In the end, we were still going through with things. 

'If only we were more popular...' 

The fact that we were in desperate need of publicity and equipment was the main reason why we were so reluctant to part with this project. 

Had we been more famous we couldn't have simply ignored the project or even better, had more power over the production. 

As if they would've ignored our request to have the weapons changed had we been more popular. 

'What an unfair world.' 

[Blue Daisy, the dungeon will be opening shortly. Please be on standby.] 

At the announcement, Dean sat up straight. 

"Girls, get ready. Check with me." 

—Check. 

—Check. 

—Check. 

—Check.

—Check. 

The girls got into position. Once they confirmed with Dean, a portal slowly started to manifest before their eyes. The procedure was the same as last time. Entering the portal, the scenery changed. 

A veil of white covered the screen. 

"Frost/Tundra." 

I sighed in relief. It was within our expectations. That was good. It meant that the likelihood of there being trouble was low. 

Things went smoothly from there. As I previously said, the girls's skills were excellent. Having trained, and lived together for the past three years, their synergy was out of the charts. 

It was as if I was watching some sort of dance. Every move they made flowed together seamlessly, showcasing a level of coordination I had never witnessed before. What truly left me in awe was that they didn't need to communicate verbally; it was as if they could read each other's minds.

I was previously holding my breath in anxiousness but the more time passed the more relaxed I became. 

They were at the boss now, and they were on the verge of killing it. 

The boss was a large Yeti. Its fur was extremely thick which made it hard for the girls to kill it fast. A resounding clash reverberated after each strike of the girls's weapon. 

My mind wandered over to Sarah. 

Her grip seemed firm. But for some reason, I couldn't help but worry each time her sword clashed against the Yeti's fur. 

The aftershocks seemed powerful. I worried that her weapon might slip. 

Just as things were starting to heat up... 

Clank—! 

"...!" 

I stood up from my seat. 

My worst fear came to light. 

Sarah, who had just delivered a powerful strike, suddenly found herself weaponless as her sword slipped from her grip.

My stomach dropped. At the same time, I frantically reached out for the coms. However, I didn't have the opportunity to act on that thought, as her figure abruptly vanished from the screen.

She had used her return stone...

Damn it. Damn it. 

I wanted to curse out loud and strangle the Producer on the spot, but Sarah's safety was my priority as I rushed out of the Watchroom alongside Dean who gave the girls a couple of instructions before leaving. 

I found her in the waiting room outside of the portal station. A bunch of employees were surrounding her. Squeezing my way through, I immediately asked,

"Is everything alright? Did you get hurt?" 

"I'm alright." 

"Any injuries that need treatment?"

"No. I used the return stone before anything could happen." 

"I'll still check." 

I checked just in case she was lying for the sake of not worrying us. Thankfully, she was really telling the truth and seemed totally fine. Only then did I sigh in relief. 

"Seems like it's all good to go... that's good."

"Yeah, I was careful." 

"That's a relief, but we shouldn't have gone through with this." 

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." 

Sarah avoided my eyes when I tried to make eye contact with her. 

"It's got nothing to do with you. The equipment was faulty. If anything, it's my fault for not canceling things when we should've." 

"But..." 

"Don't sweat it." 

I reached out in my pocket and took out a pack of candy. The same brand that she liked. Her eyes sparkled at the sight of them. 

"Eat this for now while we wait for the others to fi—" 

Just then Dean walked into the room. 

The words that were about to come out of my mouth stopped as my mouth closed. Dean wore the scariest expression I had ever seen him do as my heart paused. 

"Pack your stuff up." 

Even his tone was dark. 

"Is something the matter?" 

"Yes..." 

Dean nodded slowly, the side of his jaw slowly clenching. 

"Canceled." 

"Sorry?" 

"They've terminated our agreement. Furthermore, they insist that the Guild cover the costs for violating the contract, and they've threatened to take legal action against us if we don't comply." 

My mouth opened and closed. I struggled to articulate my thoughts. My mind was numb. Then, I suddenly remembered something and looked at Sarah. 

Her face looked normal. As if she hadn't heard what he had said. 

Yet. 

As I glanced downward, all that met my eyes were scattered pieces of candy strewn across the floor.

That.

That was all it took for me to understand.