Harry terpesona dengan sang pria di hadapannya serta segala sesuatu yang diberitakan. Kultivasi? Banyak dunia? Seluruh alam semesta? Itu terlalu luas dan kabur baginya untuk dimengerti — tapi ada satu hal yang ia mengerti dengan jelas: ini adalah kesempatan yang luar biasa. Harry memiliki sifat yang selalu menggapai kesempatan. Setiap hari, setiap menit, pikirannya tergelutkan antara cara untuk mendapatkan uang atau meningkatkan kemampuannya dan membangun jaringan.
Sebenarnya, apartemennya yang kini ditempuhinya bukan atas namanya, meski ia yang membayar sewanya. Harry adalah seorang yatim piatu dan pada usia lima belas tahun, ia melarikan diri dari rumah orang tua kandungnya dan datang ke New York. Ia mengorbankan banyak waktu, namun akhirnya berhasil meraih kehidupan yang layak. Apartemennya tertulis atas nama kaya seorang mahasiswa kaya yang pernah dia temui di sebuah acara di NYU. Sang mahasiswa menyukai kemampuan Harry dan meminta agar Harry memotong rambutnya setiap dua minggu. Ia bahkan membantu Harry mengurus seluruh dokumen untuk mendapatkan apartemen, meski dengan jelas menyampaikan bahwa Harry harus membayar uang muka dan sewa sendiri.
Ia berhasil mencapai semua ini karena selalu memanfaatkan setiap kesempatan yang ada di jalannya, dan ia pasti tidak akan melewatkan kesempatan ini pula. Namun sebelum ia secara resmi menjadi anggota Midnight Inn, ia harus menjalani sebuah pengujian. Lalu apa detail pengujian tersebut? Ia harus merombak total gaya rambut seorang gadis bernama Velma. Harry terasa agak cemas karena biasanya ia hanya memotong rambut pria, namun ia telah melihat banyak tutorial di internet tentang cara memotong rambut wanita.
Ia menutup mata dan menghela napas dalam, menahan kecemasannya. Ketika ia membuka kembali matanya, mata itu dipenuhi dengan fokus dan tekad. Ia tidak akan gagal.
Lex mengamati sambil Harry bekerja. Ia hanya mengatur ujian dengan meminta Harry memotong rambut. Sistem yang memutuskan ujian tersebut, akan memotong rambut Velma, namun hanya potongan rambutnya saja tidak cukup. Ia akan menguji berbagai hal, seperti profesionalisme, pengetahuan, keahlian, kepuasan Velma, faktor pesonanya — apa pun itu — dan banyak lagi. Untuk jujur, ia ingin menggunakan celah hukum dan hanya langsung merekrutnya, namun sistem tidak pernah akan longgar standar kualifikasinya, bahkan untuk sang host-nya.
Peralatan disediakan oleh Inn, dan potongan rambut dilakukan di ruangan putih. Ketika Harry bertanya apa gaya yang diinginkan Velma, dia menjawab bahwa karena ia sering berinteraksi dengan tamu, ia menginginkan gaya formal. Selain itu, dia tidak memiliki banyak preferensi karena memang ini adalah makeover pertamanya dalam hidupnya yang sangat singkat, dan ia bodoh tentang hal-hal semacam ini!
Saat Harry bekerja, semua orang menanti dengan penuh antisipasi.
*****
Bangun Chen dan Blane telah melalui banyak hal dalam beberapa hari terakhir. Saat mereka mencapai 'pos pemulihan', mereka terkejut melihat bahwa pos sederhana ini sudah lebih besar dari setiap pemukiman yang pernah mereka lihat. Mereka dibawa ke departemen pendaftaran dan pemeriksaan latar belakang, di mana mereka ditanya oleh para kultivator Golden Core tentang masa lalu mereka, seperti apakah mereka punya afiliasi dengan pemukiman lain, apakah mereka pernah bertindak melawan pemukiman, dan apa jenis kejahatan yang pernah mereka lakukan. Mereka disambungkan ke detektor kebohongan agar hanya bisa memberi tahu kebenaran. Untungnya, meskipun kedua orang ini pernah membunuh manusia, itu kebanyakan dilawan bandit dan mereka tidak pernah menyerang pemukiman untuk sumber daya atau melakukan kejahatan besar.
Setelah pemeriksaan latar belakang mereka selesai dan mereka disetujui untuk pendaftaran, mereka dikirim ke pusat rehabilitasi dan pendidikan ulang. Tujuan pusat rehabilitasi ini adalah untuk mendiagnosis apa masalah kesehatan mental yang mereka miliki, apa gangguan yang telah mereka kembangkan, dan menentukan apakah mereka layak bergabung dengan masyarakat. Kekaisaran Jotun menganggapnya sebagai sesuatu yang pasti — setiap orang asli Vegus Minima yang telah hidup seumur hidup dalam mode bertahan hidup, diserang setiap saat, pasti akan memiliki beberapa masalah kesehatan mental dan gangguan. Namun, tidak berarti mereka diskriminasi karena memiliki gangguan — mereka akan mendapatkan bantuan yang sesuai.
Setelah didiagnosis, akhirnya mereka belajar mengapa semua ini terjadi. Kekaisaran Jotun bukanlah kekaisaran yang didirikan oleh siapa pun di Vegus Minima, tapi adalah sebuah kekaisaran galaksi yang menguasai banyak sistem surya. Mereka sedang dalam perang besar melawan iblis yang meluas ke seluruh alam semesta yang diketahui. Bukan hanya Kekaisaran Jotun yang berperang melawan mereka, tapi banyak kekaisaran, sekte, keluarga, organisasi, dan kekuatan lain juga terlibat.
Perang ini adalah masalah kompleks dan kedua orang tidak mendapat banyak detail tentang hal itu, namun mereka dijamin bahwa sebagai warga negara yang diakui di Kekaisaran Jotun, mereka akan dilindungi dan tidak perlu lagi bertarung — kecuali jika mereka ingin!
Kedua orang tidak bisa percaya dan tercengang. Mereka tidak tahu bagaimana kehidupan mereka akan terlihat sekarang mereka diberi kesempatan untuk hidup dengan damai. Sebelum mereka bisa memproses semua ini, mereka memutuskan untuk mencari karavannya yang hilang. Harus dikatakan bahwa orang-orang di pos pemulihan sangat terorganisir. Begitu kedua orang memberikan informasi tentang karavannya, mereka segera diinformasikan tentang lokasinya. Karavan tersebut sebenarnya terpecah belah begitu mereka tiba di pos. Kekaisaran Jotun menawarkan mereka rumah, keamanan, pekerjaan, serta pelatihan profesional tentang cara beradaptasi dengan masyarakat yang damai dan hidup dengan bermakna. Lebih dari setengah karavan menerima tawaran tersebut dan dipindahkan ke luar planet. Di antaranya termasuk Iris, pacar Blane. Orang lain yang memiliki kebencian kuat terhadap zombie yang teridentifikasi sebagai iblis kerdil, bergabung dengan upaya perang. Lily, saudara kandung Bangun Chen, termasuk di antara mereka.
Kedua prajurit itu saling menatap dengan campuran perasaan karena mereka tahu bahwa suatu hari nanti mereka pasti akan terpisah. Namun untuk sekarang, mereka memutuskan untuk mencari Lily karena dia berada dekat. Tanpa ragu, Lily pasti mengira Bangun Chen telah meninggal, dan mereka harus memberitahunya bahwa mereka masih hidup, serta tentang Inn itu. Sekalipun Kekaisaran Jotun membawa perubahan ke Vegus Minima, memang Midnight Inn akan menjadi cara terbaik untuk meningkatkan kekuatan mereka.
*****
The Rose Society adalah organisasi yang didirikan oleh Will dan teman-teman sekelas SMA nya. Ia melambangkan bahwa mereka kelihatan tidak berbahaya seperti sebuah bunga mawar yang indah, namun duri-durinya akan memotong jika seseorang mencoba memetiknya. Ia melambangkan sebuah mimpi yang indah, namun bagi mereka, itu adalah usaha hidup mereka. Sumber daya kultivasi di Bumi memang terbatas, itu tidak dapat dibantah. Namun, bagaimana sebenarnya sumber daya itu terbatas?
Fakta sebenarnya adalah, ada kelebihan sumber daya kultivasi untuk para kultivator di alam bawah realm Foundation. Namun, kekurangan sebenarnya ada bagi para kultivator Golden Core. Bahkan kebanyakan dari mereka tidak pernah berkembang setelah memasuki realm Golden Core. Dan karena dunia dikendalikan oleh para kultivator ini, kekurangan sumber daya sengaja diciptakan agar semakin sedikit orang yang bahkan bisa mencapai realm Golden Core.
The Rose Society seharusnya menjadi organisasi rahasia yang bekerja di balik layar untuk perlahan-lahan menguasai sumber daya dari segolongan intimen. Meskipun kultivator Golden Core adalah yang terkuat, bukan berarti mereka bisa tinggal di sawah, tambang, dan pabriknya terus-menerus, atau bahkan tidak memiliki pemahaman yang baik tentang bisnis. Hal-hal ini dikelola oleh mereka yang berada di kultivasi lebih rendah, jadi menguasai aliran sumber daya secara perlahan tapi halus benar-benar mungkin. Namun, mimpi ini terputus karena Society tidak bisa menggaining cukup dukungan dan menjaga aktivitasnya rahasia. Namun kini, Will ingin memulai kembali organisasi ini. Enam anggota lainnya serta Hera menatap Will dengan ingin tahu, bertanya-tanya apa yang ingin dia lakukan.
Harry was in awe of the man before him, and all the amazing things he told him. Cultivation? Multiple worlds? The whole universe? These things were too vast and vague for him to comprehend – but the one thing he did understand was that this was an amazing opportunity for him. Harry had a hustling attitude. Every minute of every day his mind was either on how to make money or how to improve his skills and make connections.
Truth be told the apartment he was living in wasn’t under his name, even though he paid the rent. Harry was an orphan and at the age of fifteen he ran away from his foster home and came to New York. It took him some time, but eventually he worked his way into a decent life. His apartment was under the name of a rich student Harry met at an event at NYU. He liked Harry’s skills, and had him cut his hair every two weeks. He even did all the paperwork to help Harry get the apartment, though he was very clear about the fact that Harry would have to pay the deposit and rent himself.
He was able to achieve all of this because he availed every opportunity that came his way, and he wasn’t about to miss this one either. But before he could officially become a member of the Midnight Inn, he had to undergo a test. And what were the details of the test? He had to completely restyle some girl named Velma’s hair. Harry was a little nervous as he usually cut men’s hair, but he had seen a lot of tutorials online on cutting womens hair.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing his nerves. When he opened his eyes again they were filled with focus and determination. He would not fail.
Lex watched as Harry worked. He only set the test that he wanted to have Harry cut some hair. The system decided that the test would be cutting Velma’s hair, but just the haircut wasn’t enough. It would test various things, such as professionalism, knowledge, skill, Velma’s satisfaction, her charm factor – whatever that was – and many more. To be honest, he wanted to use some loopholes and just hire him directly, but the system would never relax its standards for anyone – even its host.
The equipment was provided by the Inn, and the haircut took place in the white room. When Harry asked what kind of a look Velma wanted, she said that as she dealt with guests a lot a formal look is what she wanted. Other than that she did not have much in mind, as this was literally the first makeover of her very short life and she knew nothing about them!
As Harry worked everyone waited, filled with anticipation. .
*****
Brother Chen and Blane had been through a lot the last couple of days. When they reached the ‘reclamation outpost’ they were shocked to see that this simple ‘outpost’ was already bigger than any settlement they had ever seen. They were led to the registration and background check department, where they were questioned by Golden Core cultivators about their past in general such as if they had any affiliations with other settlements, if they acted against any settlements and what kind of crimes they had committed. They were hooked up to lie detectors so they could only tell the truth. Fortunately, although the two had killed humans before it was mostly against bandits and they never attacked settlements for resources or committed heinous crimes.
Once their background check was completed and they were approved for registration, they were sent to a rehabilitation and reeducation center. The purpose of the rehabilitation and reeducation center was to diagnose what mental health issues they had, what disorders they had developed, and determine if they were suitable to join society. The Jotun Empire took it as a foregone conclusion that living their entire lives in survival mode, attacked at every opportunity all natives of Vegus Minima would have some mental health issues and disorders. Not that they would be discriminated against for having disorders, they would receive the appropriate help.
Once they were diagnosed, they eventually learnt why all this was happening. The Jotun Empire was not an empire founded by anyone on Vegus Minima, but was a galactic empire that had many solar systems under their domain. They were in a massive war against demons that spanned the entire known universe. It wasn’t just the Jotun Empire that was at war against them, but various other Empires, Sects, Families, Organizations and powers.
The war was a complex issue and the two did not get too many details about it, but they were assured that as recognized citizens of the Jotun Empire they would be protected and no longer needed to fight – unless they wanted to!
The two could not believe it, and were in shock. They didn’t know what their lives would look like now that they had a chance to live peacefully. Before they could wrap their heads around it, they decided to look for their lost caravan. It must be said that the people at the reclamation outpost were extremely organized. As soon as the two provided information about their caravan, they were informed about their whereabouts. The caravan had actually split up once they reached the outpost. The Jotun Empire offered them homes, security and jobs as well as professional training as to how to fit into a peaceful society and live meaningful lives. More than half the caravan took that offer and were relocated off planet. Among these people was Iris, Blane’s girlfriend. Others, who had a strong hatred for zombies which were identified as lesser demons, joined the war efforts. Lily, Brother Chen’s sister, was among those people.
The two soldiers looked at each other with mixed feelings as they knew that soon they would have to split up. For now however, they decided to go find Lily as she was nearby. She no doubt thought that Brother Chen was dead, and they had to let her know they were alive, as well as about the Inn. Even with the Jotun Empire bringing change to Vegus Minima, it was true that the Midnight Inn would be the best way to raise their strength.
*****
The Rose Society was an organization Will and his High School friends had formed. It was meant to signify that they looked harmless like a beautiful rose, but their thorns could cut if you try to pluck them. It represented a fanciful dream, but to them it was their lives work. The cultivation resources of Earth were limited, that much was evident, but how exactly were they limited?
The actual fact of the matter was, there was an abundance of cultivation materials for cultivators at the Foundation realm and below. However, the real scarcity was for Golden Core cultivators. In fact, most of them never make any progress after entering the Golden Core realm at all. Yet because the world was controlled by these cultivators, a resource shortage was artificially created so that fewer people would ever even reach the Golden Core realm.
The Rose Society was supposed to be a secret organization that worked behind the scenes to slowly take control of the resources from the few. Even though Golden Core cultivators were the strongest, it wasn’t as if they could stay on their farms, mines and manufacturing plants all the time, or that they had a good or even adequate understanding of buisness. These things were managed by those at lower cultivations, so taking control of the flow of resources slowly but subtly was entirely possible. Yet the dream was cut short because the Society could not garner enough momentum and keep their activities secretive enough. Now however, Will wanted to restart the organization. The six other members as well as Hera looked at Will curiously, wondering what he wanted to do.
“Thank you for trusting me,” Will said with a smile. “I know you all have questions. But this is not the place to answer them. To get your answers, we have to go to another place.” Will smiled as he picked up the Golden key and activated it.
*****
“If what you’re saying is true,” said Brandon with a rare, serious expression, “then this truly will change a lot of things. We should go investigate this Midnight Inn with you. I’ll call your grandma over and we’ll leave once she arrives.”
Alexander and Rorick nodded and began waiting. Everyone in the room was filled with anticipation.
*****
Somewhere in a forest in Nibiru, a giant turtle finally ended its daily tasks, and stopped to take a rest. Unexpectedly, in a rare occurrence, the Turtle actually fell asleep. It had recently experienced a breakthrough in its cultivation, so its control over its spirit energy was shaky, and in one of those moments where its spirit energy broke free of its control, it was attracted towards a Golden key it had placed in its shell, activating it.
*****
“But mom, I was only playing!” cried RussianPrincess77, but her mother would have none of it.
“I’ve told you a million times, you’re not allowed to touch the book of prophecies! Now hand over the key and go to your room!”
“Never!” the young girl exclaimed and started running and laughing.
“I told you to hand it over!” the mother roared as she took off her slipper in an experienced manner and threw it towards her fleeing daughter. Like a homing beacon it followed RussianPrincess77 until it gave her a solid whack on her bum. The girl fell over, accidentally releasing some spirit energy and activating the key.
*****
Somewhere on a space shuttle near Vegus Minima, a lone man was meditating in a prison cell. His body was impaled with various chains that restricted the flow of spirit energy, yet the man did not seem to mind. The pain in his body did not torment him, it only served to strengthen his will and solidify his focus.
Suddenly, a floating, golden door appeared in the cell in front of him, offering him freedom. The man did not even hesitate. Before anyone one the ship could realize what was happening, the door was gone and the prisoner along with it.
*****
Lex was grinning as he read the notification.
Quest Complete! The Host’s rewarded is being calculated:
– Reward upgraded for completing the quest in less than 24 hours
– Reward upgraded for locating employee with unique talent
Reward Rank: B-
Reward: Heritage for Glamor Sorcerer (given directly to employee), 1 barber shop, 1 employee residence, 1000MP, Event Manager panel
The little Innkeeper was too excited about his recent success, with no idea that he was about to welcome more guests than he’d ever had before!
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