I Became The Administrator of A Sacred Ground

That evening, Scavenger Rat finally broke through its second cultivation checkpoint. Now all five of his beast familiars had reached this level, and at least two of them were closing in on the third level.

Curious to test whether the upgrade of Scavenger Rat's special attribute, Hyperosmia, would have any effect on the rate at which it discovered common foodstuffs, Euri ordered it to go on a prowl.

The eleven-hour countdown of the core depletion state was about to end soon. Euri couldn't afford to waste an extra minute in making use of the hunting mode.

While he was busy digging into some obscure forums discussing the rise of large cults around the globe, Euri's comcell buzzed.

"Jaakie? What's up?" Euri could hear loud but indistinct chatter on the other side of the call. Jaakie's voice sounded garbled, as if he had been yelling for some time.

"Just as I suspected! Euri, you oblivious moron! Check the school bulletin, dammit!"

Jaakie cut off the call immediately. Had his tone not been jubilant, Euri would have assumed that he had run into major trouble.

The moment he searched up the school's official website, he realized what had gotten his buddy so worked up.

[ As unforeseen circumstances have resulted in the cancellation of the scholarship project for the final year students, the school authority has arranged a new diploma opportunity for them, sponsored by Red Sea Labs. Further details will be published after the finalization of the full contract. ]

Euri's eyes narrowed. He typed 'Red Sea Labs' in the search bar and skimmed through the results, noting down several names and titles. Soon, a brief peek into these names formed a pattern.

"Sixty percent of shares of Red Sea Labs belong to shareholders who are either members of the Bloodfly Clan, or are superhumans from vassal families endorsed by the Bloodfly Clan. Surprise, surprise..."

He had expected something big to happen since that clan's visit. But he hadn't imagined that it would come into effect so fast. Didn't this mean that the foundation for this new project was laid down way earlier?

His comcell rang again, and by now, Jaakie seemed to have calmed down.

"Euri, I'm going to attend cram classes every day from now on. The regret I felt after missing out on the earlier scholarship made me realize... No matter how unrealistic it is to dream of becoming a superhuman as a commoner, I will never be able to let go of this obsession. Even if the chances are near zero, I have to try."

Euri doubted that Jaakie was the only one who felt this way. The path and potential of a superhuman appealed to human instinct much more intensely than any other ordinary career choice. Even he used to have such dreams before waking up to the harshness of reality.

A safe corporate job was actually much better! Not to mention, he now had access to cutting-edge alien technology that was constantly strengthening him beyond the means of superhumans!

"Good luck, brother," he said with full sincerity. "Never seen you this serious about a test. If you want a suggestion, I'd say you shouldn't limit your studies to textbooks. Focus on those extracurricular books on logic and psychology that nobody ever bothers to read. I'll send you some links to some topics by tonight. Check those out as deeply as you can in a limited timeframe."

"...What? Why?"

Euri snorted. "Haven't you checked out the background of this Red Sea Lab that's sponsoring the diploma? They specialize in the research fields of clinical psychology and emerging mental disorders among superhumans. What do you think their recruitment process will entail?"

"...." Jaakie didn't answer, but Euri could still sense him muttering expletives. Clearly, he wasn't willing to study more than the basics.

"Jaakie, you're not stupid enough to think they're recruiting poor students to provide them careers, are you? Come on, it's a self-serving company! They want research subjects who won't cause legal trouble, desperate volunteers who understand what they're getting into, and pupils who don't need to be taught everything from scratch. If you don't present yourself that way, you won't get selected. But yeah, this is just my guess, after all. It's up to you whether you want to follow the suggestion or not."

"Are you going to study the same materials?" Jaakie asked with a big sigh.

"No."

"...What the fuck do you mean, no? Then why are you advising me to do it?" Jaakie fired up instantly.

"I am not changing lanes to pursue some shady diploma in hopes of becoming a superhuman, Jaakie. You know what really interests me. My chips are on desk jobs inside skyscrapers. So why should I bother?"

"You were actually so serious about wanting to become a corporate slave, Euri? Why did it always seem like you just liked to joke about it?" Jaakie was flabbergasted.

Coughing awkwardly, Euri cut off the call. He had indeed started out on this goal through jokes. Even he had never thought he'd end up being a little fascinated. And now, the game infesting his miniscreen had sealed the deal for him.

Why brave endless dangers in alien worlds when you can earn the benefits of the adventure while sitting inside a luxurious office, playing an idle simulation game, and being paid for every hour?

Toxic work culture? Management hassles? Tiresome, boring work? Hahaha! He'd take them all instead of dealing with a Rank-2 Lava Mammoth, and he'd feel no regrets in making the choice.

Half an hour later, the sacred ground's core returned to its recharged state, and Euri immediately activated hunting mode. By the time his mother declared dinnertime, the hunt was over and the spoils were under due process.

This time, two crows had been caught. Both had the same stats and the affix—Shadow.

Their special attribute was the ability to blend into darkness by absorbing all light falling on them. Euri had no use for such a creature at the moment. So he deposited them both inside the ambrosia pool as ingredients.

Now, it was up to Scavenger Rat to return with a good harvest and provide Euri another massive boost of physical attributes!