"Aaaaand this is where we have our magically synthesized forest space," Orfo announces, waving his arms wildly. Beside him bounces an ever energetic Maya and a stoic Xue Jiang: posture perfect, unbending, and strict.

"Holdup." Arek pauses: staring at the doorway leading to a forest of lush greenery before him, sharply contrasting with the gray metal building he'd previously entered. Upon seeing the greenery, Arthur peeks his head out of Arek's hair, chattering excitedly. "You guys have a forest space, an intergalactic space, a barren desert space, a technological experimental space...all in one building? I've never seen magic used this excessively before."

"Well, my friend, this is all thanks to our mighty leader."

"She's powerful enough to make all of this?"

"Nope."

"Then-"

"She's rich enough to find and hire starving mages reappearing out of centuries-long seclusion to find that the 21st century isn't a world where they can bully the common people into giving them wealth or hunt and forage as they used to," Orfo replies in one breath.

"But this would take at least ten mages working continuously for years!" Ark responds.

"Yup, that's why she has them sign decade-long labor contracts before they know any better," Orfo replies with his usual genial smile. Arek shivers.

"Then...who is your boss?"

"That would be me, darling." Hearing the familiar sweet saccharine voice, Arek whirls around to see none other than the familiar Ella Rose with her customary sweet smile. However, unlike the meeting with his brother, the woman is in a full-length corset and dress: the outfit vaguely reminiscent of something from the Victorian era or something like what noble women would wear in the other world.

"You..." Arek starts, looking toward her.

"That's right, Dearie."

"You're like me?"

"Well...somewhat. Except I wasn't taken to another world-"

"-you're from another world." Arek finishes for her. 

"That's right." She says, smiling and blinking. "But, let's get past the boring part. You're here to register? Right?"

"...Yeah."

"Excellent! Orfo, get him registered, then we can do a practical."

"Practical?" Arek blinks, catching the odd word.

"A practical examination, of course, to assess your danger level." Xue Jiang sharply interjects from the side.

"...what?" Arek furrows his brow.

"Don't worry about it; I'll take good care of you! I'm super reliable." Maya quips as she skips over to Arek from the side. Arek slowly looks down to see her feet covered in a mismatched pair of fuzzy socks peeping out from a pair of bright orange Crocs. He slowly looks up to see Maya's goofy grin.

"She's testing me?"

"Well...why don't you finish up this paperwork first." Orfo hands him a pile of papers nearly an inch thick. Arek blinks at the thick stack, then peers up at Orfo's innocent smile. No one here is simple... Thinking as such, Arek turns to look through the stack in his arms. 

"What species am I?" Arek blinks, looking down at the very first question.

"Yup."

Arek opens his mouth to speak; however, Orfo cuts across before he can get a word out. 

"Don't bother saying you're human. We've already scanned you coming in, and our results say you're an octopus human hybrid, so just go ahead and put that down."

Hearing this, Arek's brows furrow. Damn, when did that happen? I need to be more vigilant!

"Or you could put down octoman!" Maya interjects. "That'd be funny! What's it like being an octoman anyway? Can you turn into an octopus? Do you have little suction cups on your body? Do you-"

"Enough Maya." Xue Jiang cuts across from the side.

"Okay~" Maya whines. 

Crazies, the whole lot of them... Arek thinks, shaking his head and returning to the documents. As he skims them, he feels his palms grow sweaty. Man, this is worse than any school test...

"Why the heck am I supposed to do this again?" He demands, looking up.

"Well, to keep a record. It's like being a registered citizen of a country. You have to be registered as part of the local magic community: especially since we live in a fairly orderly world regulated by laws where most of the population are nonhumans who don't know the existence of the supernatural."

"Then you're government affiliated?"

"Yup, here, we're a certified government organization," Orfo replies holding out a document.

When did he pull that out? Arek blinks. It all looks legit enough...He looks back down at the mound of paperwork.

"Then what if I don't sign?"

"Ah...well, that might be a bit of a problem..." Orfo responds, his voice curving up somewhat threateningly. Instantly Arek feels a chill down his spine. After several more minutes of questioning, Arek finally resigns himself to the stack in front of him. Looking down, he reads the next question.

Mark which of the following applies to you:

transmigrator

transformed transmigrator

returning transmigrator

transformed returning transmigrator

...

Other

The heck??  Arek furrows his brow.

"What kind of a question is this???"

"That? Oh, just mark transformed returning transmigrator."

"Ah?? What does that even mean?"

"It means you're a transmigrator returning home. However, you've been transformed physically compared to when you left."

"Uh...okay..." And so Arek embarks on a several-hour-long journey trudging through the seemingly never-ending stack of paperwork. Finally, "there. I'm done." Arek looks up. The room is empty; while he'd been working, the others had slowly wandered away.

"Yay, then come follow me for the practical!" Maya's voice suddenly breaks the silence, and Arek nearly jumps out of his seat. When did she appear?

"Uhhh, where are you?"

"Just follow the sound of my voice~" 

"Um, okay..." Arek gets up and follows the sound down a long corridor that leads to a set of double doors. 

"One second, please." Maya's voice chirps. Then the doors open, leading to a fully insulated room with metal flooring, ceiling, and walls. The room is empty besides a white bed in the center. As soon as Arek steps in, the doors behind him slam shut.

"Take a rest, please!"

"On that?" Arek eyes the bed.

"Yup!"

Tentatively, he touches the bed slowly before lying down on it. For a moment, nothing happens. Then, just as Arek is about to lift his head to sit up, there's a brilliant flash of light. A moment later, he finds himself standing - well, more like floating, in a strange purple space. Peering around, the room is empty. Suddenly, Maya's voice booms within the space.

"Welcome to the simulation chamber! I'm your temporary system Maya; let's get going!"

"What?" But before Arek has time to process anything, there's a woosh, and he's gone.