"A trap?" Taiga looked at Ayumi and Suzuki, who seemed to have read each other's minds. Wait, why did this scene seem so familiar? "What are you guys talking about? No, wait. First of all, who's the goddess, and how do you know her?"

Suzuki snapped back upon Taiga's reminder. He pointed at Ayumi and said, "She's Adachi Ayumi, an old friend of mine. You know her better as Leila Lightwood, though."

"Leila?" Taiga's eyes widened in shock. "You're Leila Lightwood!? Our real guildmaster!?"

"Our?" Ayumi's brows creased as she began to match Taiga's personality to a certain vampire. "No. Wait. Are you—"

Taiga grinned. "Syel, the devilishly handsome vampire prince? Yeah, I am he." He made a show of bowing and then suddenly wrapped his arm around Saeko and pulled her close. "You probably don't recognize her with the blouse and skirt, but this is our resident bishoujo* Prince Shoko. By the way, we're kinda going ou—oof!" A punishing elbow to his solar plexus made Taiga collapse in pain.

While Taiga desperately struggled to suck in mouthfuls of air into his lungs, Saeko smiled and nonchalantly continued the introductions, "Nice to meet you in person, finally. It is an honor to meet one of the strongest women I have ever known." She then gestured to Jade, who was munching on a pocky with a thoughtful expression. "That's Yuhi Jade, and the guy trying to sneak away is someone I'm certain you'd love to meet."

Saeko looked over her shoulder and flashed a teasing smile at Usman, who slowly turned around with a look of betrayal. "Saeko, meet Usman Taki, better known as Miote."

Several emotions flashed through Ayumi's eyes as she observed the wry smile on the retreating middle eastern youth. "You're Miote?"

Usman wished he could find a hole to hide. If there was one person he did not want to meet in real life, it was Leila. How could he dare when he constantly hounded her with more work, especially regarding the funds required to start up several projects he and Kashi dreamed up on the fly? Usman, or rather, Miote, was one of the significant reasons Leila often found herself in the palace negotiating loans or projects instead of hunting or clearing dungeons like most gamers.

If Usman were in Leila's shoes, he would have strangled himself at least once to release his frustration.

In a desperate bid for self-preservation, Usman turned and raised his hands in surrender and winced before declaring, "Before you say anything, keep in mind that Miote and I are two separate entities. His decisions are not mine, and mine are not his, so please don't judge me by his actions."

Silence followed. Ponderous, Usman slowly opened his eyes and was met with looks of equal parts horror and amusement.

Taiga, in particular, walked up to the spy and patted his shoulder in admiration. "Congratulations. You are officially one of the most shameless people I've ever met!"

Usman wanted to cry. Nothing good came from earning this psychopath's admiration, not to speak of for such a stupid thing. *cough* *cough* Usman lightly coughed to clear his throat and then turned to Suzuki. "You were saying something about a trap?"

In awe at this point, Taiga gave the young man two thumbs up.

Fortunately, Suzuki was not interested in teasing Usman. Instead, he looked at James. "This assessment. Did you design it?"

"Hmm?" James, who had been munching on popcorn, looked at Suzuki with wronged eyes. "Why do you think I'm the one who designed it?"

"Because you're the only one he knows who can design such a messed up test," answered Ayumi.

James looked from Suzuki's emotionless abyss to Ayumi's cold gaze. "Haa~ I hate working with intelligent people. You guys are too analytical. Where's the emotion? If you're going to accuse me, you should at least be a little angry or upset, right?"

"So, you did design it," confirmed Suzuki, ignoring James' nonsense. Instead, he turned to Ayumi. "So, that validates our guess. It is definitely a trap."

Ayumi nodded. "But the question is why? What is he trying to achieve by setting up the assessment this way? If we do not figure that out, knowing there is a trap won't make a difference."

James pointed at himself, lips curled in amusement. "I mean, I'm right here. You could just ask."

Suzuki cast the man a sidelong glance. "Will you answer?" Before James could retort, he snorted. "Didn't think so. By the way, what are you still doing here?"

"I came to see an old friend. Is that not allowed?"

"Why do you need to see me? You've been spying on Kashi every second anyhow." Suzuki rolled his eyes and addressed the others, "Keep in mind, if you see any strange animals around you, it's most likely this creep."

"Ouch!" James clutched his chest, face constricted in mock pain. "I know you're mad I invited Yumi-chan over, but don't you think creep's a little too far?"

"Yes, yes, I was rude," admitted Suzuki with liters of sarcasm dripping off every word. He grabbed James and ushered him out of the apartment. Then, just before the door closed, he said, "I will offer my apologies in person soon."

James subconsciously gulped hard. "Hey, that's not necessary. Water under the bridge." Unfortunately, his words never reached Suzuki as the latter had already firmly shut the door in his face.

Inside, Suzuki walked over to the dining counter where everyone had gathered. Seeing everyone looking at him with questioning gazes, he instead turned to Ayumi. "Please."

Ayumi nodded and explained, "The assessment has a nefarious trap. What's so scary about this trap is that it is quite obvious, but at the same time, there is a good chance many will overlook it until it is too late. Even worse, the more people figure out the trap early on, the greater the chance it will succeed."

Taiga, who was already on pins and needles, leaned forward. "What is it?"

"The last part of the announcement," revealed Ayumi. "Whichever team gets the assassination target gets bonus points."

Saeko lightly frowned as she recalled the announcement. "I remember that part. But isn't that normal? It's supposed to be a competition, after all."

"Is it really a competition, though?" challenged Ayumi. She lightly tapped on the countertop as she reasoned, "The announcer called it an assessment, not a tournament or competition. If it were anyone else, I would dismiss it. But James is the type to pay close attention to details. I do not think it is a coincidence the announcer said assessment."

"Then there are the criteria for judgment," added Suzuki. "They said they would judge us on Speed, Teamwork, Adaptability, Kills, and Resourcefulness. Speed, Adaptability, Kills, and Resourcefulness make sense for competitions. Teamwork does not. Think about it; in-game, most of these teams are likely in the same guild, if not the same squad. Do you think any of them would be lacking teamwork to the extent that it would make sense to include it as a grading criterion? That would be like adding teamwork to the criteria for choosing the winner of a football match."

"That makes sense, I suppose?" Usman muttered in a slight skeptic tone. "But, what would be the purpose of the Teamwork criteria then?"

"Nowhere do they say we will be competing against other teams." Ayumi knitted her brows as she pulled the dangling threads to complete the mystery picture. "It sounds unlikely, but I believe there is a good chance we will have to work with the other teams to complete this mission. That teamwork criterion should cover our ability to coordinate effectively with other teams."

Usman shook his head. "While that tracks, it ignores one fundamental flaw. This is definitely a competition. A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Seki, one of the head supervisors of this project, informed us that there were limited spaces for a higher class of mobile suits called Centurions. He directly stated they would be testing us to determine which team gets to ride one of those."

"Yes, he said that but I'm sure James set him up to that," Suzuki mused with a dark gaze. "That's just like him. Set a trap early on to mess with our thoughts. By the time we realize we're just pawns dancing in his palm, it's already too late."

Taiga gave Suzuki a curious look. "You hold this guy on too high a pedestal."

Suzuki shook his head. "It's not high enough." The young man balled his fists as he asked the room, "What do you think about Razznik and Kashi?"

"Strong?" Taiga's brow rose in amusement. "Are you trying to brag about your strength?"

"It's not my strength. Also, that's not what I mean. Do you believe any company aside from Genaco would allow game-breaking characters like that to exist?"

"No," confirmed Saeko with a spark of intrigue in her eyes. She wanted to see where Suzuki was going with this. How did he see her father? "Most companies balance the playing field, so the gap between the strongest and weakest players never feels insurmountable. They always maintain the illusion that one can get as good as a pro with more practice and time. Kashi, and to a larger extent, Razznik, break that illusion. Among most regular gamers, less than 0.1% believe they can ever reach their level."

Suzuki nodded. "Do you know why companies balance the playing field, even if it annoys the pros and streamers who doubtlessly bring in a lot of publicity and, in turn, revenue?"

"Money," Usman confidently answered. "One hundred streamers at times can't compare to one consumer whale who buys up everything on the belief it will either help him close the gap to the pros or at least stand out. However, if the gap between the best and regular gamers is too wide, those whales won't enjoy the game and, as a result, would quit, depriving companies of sweet cash."

"Exactly. So, it is safe to assume that most large gaming companies make games for profit, which means they must cater to their consumers, which affects how they balance and tweak the game features, right?"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"But, Genaco is different," stated Suzuki. "I sensed this during King's Journey, but it feels like they made a game they wanted, put the rules down, and then pointed to the world and said, 'Live with it.' They genuinely do not care if the game crashes and burns in the market. So, even if bugs like Razznik or Kashi appear, they will not do anything to please the fans who scream for fairness. They neither need nor care about our money."

"That is not entirely correct," countered Saeko. "They did limit Kashi."

Suzuki shook his head. "That joke? First, that was a personal vendetta of an employee, not the strategy of Genaco as a whole. Second, the standing rules severely limited his choices. Instead of weakening Kashi's abilities as any other gaming company would, they could only limit his XP gain. Lastly, that 'limit' might be detrimental to most gamers, but Kashi is different. He's strong enough to battle monsters many levels above his, so his XP gain rate has only slowed to about a regular gamer's if he sets his mind to solely level-up. Also, Kashi gains most of his XP from completing his major quest. Every territory added to Rosendun's empire is enough for him to jump about ten to forty levels, depending on the territory's size and strategic importance. And, if that's not enough, Kashi has never been one to speed-level anyway. Most people are unaware, but it's much easier to gain junk stats at lower levels—to a limit. It pays to spend some time doing crafts and other activities that boost stats because the higher you go, the longer you'll have to repeat those actions to gain the same bonus stats."

Suzuki paused to retrieve some bottles of water from the fridge. He slid the bottles to the listeners, took a quick gulp, and then continued, "So, no. That 'punishment,' if you can call it that, has only helped Kashi in the long run as it makes it easier to remain at his level even if he engages in significant battles."

"Back to James. I don't think he'll set up a simple test. There's always an angle when he's involved. It's like—"

"He's working towards something the rest of us are too blind to see," surmised Ayumi as she recalled her conversation with the enigmatic CEO. Considering she should have the lowest clearance among the group, she did not hesitate to share James' doomsday claims with them.

Surprisingly, Usman's slightly furrowed brows were the most significant reaction to that news. Suzuki's eyes were as unreadable as ever, Saeko's had a look of confirmation, Taiga wore an intrigued smile, and Jade was too engrossed, tapping away on a laptop.

Ayumi shook her head. Indeed, this team was all kinds of weird. Fortunately, that weirdness helped when they had to deal with strange circumstances like the one they found themselves in.

"That... changes things," muttered Suzuki after a second's thought. "Even if it sounds ridiculous, I'm inclined to believe James. He's many things, but he has never lied, as far as I remember."

"Perhaps, but his truthfulness does not matter either way," suggested Ayumi. "What matters is that he believes it. If we look at this test from the viewpoint of someone who's end-goal is saving the world, does it make sense to stoke enmity by pitting us against each other?" Pulling from her father's tales of his days in the barracks, she stated, "Competition is crucial to motivating troops to train more rigorously, but successful training competitions are rarely directly combat-related. Who can jog the farthest? Who can assemble rifles fastest, or what team can complete a challenge the fastest? The rewards are usually like earlier rec time, extra meals, less exercise, or whatnot. On the surface, these seem to pit soldiers against each other, but in reality, a successful squadron is one where the best does not hesitate to teach others the tricks he uses, even if it comes at the cost of his top spot. When the bullets start flying, you want the brother or sister watching your back to be the very best version of themselves. Only then can you be assured."

"Alright, if we consider that they want us to work together, then why add the stipulation that a certain team gets bonus points?" pondered Usman. "It seems antithetic to their philosophy of teamwork."

"That's the trick," stated Suzuki. "I'd bet he wants to weed out the undesirable elements early on. I'm sure we've all had experiences where teammates suddenly turned on us when we stumbled upon a treasure chest in a game. Being the strongest is not enough; character matters a lot." He paused to take a sip of water and continued, "Gladiators are dangerous weapons. I can't begin to imagine how powerful the Centurions are supposed to be. It would be hell if a self-serving bastard piloted one within a battlefield. Who knows what a glory-seeking idiot would do to get themselves more merits? History's proven numerous times that pig generals and leaders of countries were willing to sacrifice thousands of their people's lives for a chance to serve selfish interests. If I could weed out such people early on, I would do the same."

"So... What are you saying?" Taiga revealed a devilish grin, choosing to play the villain role. "Should we give up the bonus points? Let me tell you; Gladiators are to Centurions what AK-47s are to an F-15 jet. You cannot begin to compare the two. I know what machine I would rather pilot if there's a world-ending event."

Suzuki shook his head. "Do you think anyone can win a war with just jets? The brave souls willing to dive into hails of bullets with only a ballistic vest are just as crucial as the F-15." Taiga, Saeko, and Usman's eyes widened in shock as a formless pressure spread from Suzuki with each passing word. It was the kind of pressure born from unbending conviction forged in fires of countless close-death experiences. "There are only two things to care about when issued a mission. First, how to accomplish it, and second, how to get as many people safely home as possible. It's up to each person how they rank these criteria. For me, the second always comes first. If getting the most people home alive means I'll have to give up on the Centurion, then that is what I'll do."

"Aren't you taking this a little too seriously?" questioned Usman. "It's a test, not a fight to the death."

"That is where you are wrong," Ayumi proffered. "It's not a coincidence that Genaco started LNE without resurrections. They used King's Journey to train the population on weapons and battle composure. Then, in LNE, they removed the safety of revivals to force us to adapt our learned techniques and planning to an environment where we cannot afford to die. While it is not quite the threat of IRL death, to the pros, losing a character you've poured months of work into can feel pretty close. In that same vein, I'm certain these assessments are the next step in targeted training. To make the most of it, we must treat this as a real mission with real death consequences. Only then can we make the right decisions that should, for the most point, also net us the most scores, final kill aside."

"Excellent analysis," praised Saeko. "There's only one problem. There's no information on the contents of the mission. If we want to have a prayer of working with the other teams effectively, then we need to plan our operation down to a T in advance. We can't have people barking different orders on the day, or else only chaos would ensue."

Ayumi frowned. "Yes, that is a worry I share. I do not know when or if the supervisors will release the operation details. The later it is released, the more difficult it will be to convince the other teams."

"Resourcefulness..." Suzuki suddenly muttered as his eyes shone with a strange glint. "It could not be that, right?"

Ayumi caught Suzuki's strange look. "Suzuki?"

"Resourcefulness." Suzuki suddenly looked at Ayumi. "Could it be possible the assessment has already started?"

"What?"

"No, I mean, what if they expect us to find out some details about the mission by ourselves," muttered Suzuki doubtfully. "It does sound like something that twisted bastard would come up with."

Saeko's eyes flashed in recognition. "If Genaco deliberately left breadcrumbs they want us to find, the easiest way to track them would be to bribe or threaten an employee for details. There's also the option to hack—" Saeko paused as she recalled someone who had been silent for most of the discussion. With wide eyes, she excitedly turned to her pokey-chewing friend, "Hey, Jade! Could you—"

"Hack their servers for info?" Jade replied with a grin as she looked up from her laptop. "Already did." Wearing a mischievous smile, she explained as she turned her laptop around, "They couldn't have made it more obvious. The security protocols on a few servers were inexplicably weaker than they were a few days ago. Might as well have been open doors to any half-competent programmer."

"Wait, you're not saying?"

"Ladies and Gents, I present to you: Operation Headhunter." Jade's smug grin widened even further as she hit the enter key. The download completed in an instant, and soon numerous PDF files popped up on the screen, blocking the wall of black and green.

"...Holy Fuck."