"Congratulations! You have been chosen!"

I blink for a few seconds. I remember that I'm inside my room, ready to go to sleep. As soon as I close my eyes, I'm in this place.

"Hello?"

I look at the one calling me and see a floating eyeball looking at me. In front of me is a giant floating eyeball with a mouth and a hundred tentacles above the eyeball.

 

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, I'm confused."

The eyeball in front of me waves its tail at me and says.

"Don't worry about it. I know how you feel. Do you like some explanation?"

"Please."

"Very well. Do you know what Waifu Catalog is?"

I blink for a few seconds and say.

"The CYOA? The one about being a slaver?"

"Well, we like to be called a business corporation."

"And I like to be called Lord Supreme Pimp Lord 9000, but that doesn't mean I always get what I want."

"Fair enough."

The eyeball in front of me chuckles at my words. What kind of race is she, anyway?

"Ah, I can answer that. I'm what you call a Beholder, do you know it?"

"I heard it, I think. But where?"

"DnD"

"Ah, yeah! My brother loves tabletop games, especially RPGs."

The Beholder in front of me smiles, and I shiver a little at the number of teeth inside her mouth.

"Anyway, the reason why we take you to this place is because we want to hire you."

"Oh?"

I just graduated from college and am searching for a job. This is too convenient.

"This might look suspicious, I admit that. However, you do not need to worry. You are here because our system matches your personality and behavior for the job."

"Really?"

"As you already know, Waifu Catalog is about getting goods from other universes where we will clone them to be sold to our client. We want someone who will not do anything to the goods even though they know what they are doing is wrong."

"So you want a psychopath and sociopath."

"Well, not really. We are leaning more toward someone who is apathetic."

"Am I apathetic?"

"You don't really care about others. You feel bad when you see a car crash into another car, but you will not do anything about it. That is what we need. Too many people we recruit are hot-headed sociopaths and die before they can pay their debt to the company."

"So what do you want from me?"

"We want someone who will not do anything reckless. Too many agents are too fast and too loose. Binding people left and right without care. They did not think that their action would gather the suspicion of others. Because of this, they get killed by the powerful people of that world. What we want is someone who knows how to lay low and get the goods without alerting the powerful people of the world you will be placed in."

"I see. What do I get if I join your company? And what is my job?"

"Sure!"

A small stack of paper appears in front of me. I take the paper and start to read them.

"The company wants you as our agent. However, we don't need a binding agent. We want a troubleshooting agent. We want you to go from world to world to fix the mess our agents make in that world or prepare that world for our next agent."

I take another piece of paper and read them.

"We cannot give you many starting points like the binding agent. However, you will be given a good sum of points to spend at every start of the mission, and we'll even throw in a binding tool where you can bind Waifu or Husbando to accompany you and maybe sell to us."

I take another paper from the table and read it.

"You will be paid ten thousand USD monthly if you work with us. You can retire after you complete five missions. If you die, your family will be taken care of and we will give them a thousand USD monthly for seventy years."

I take the last paper from the table.

"For every mission completed, you will be given a month of vacation to spend your time in your world or the hub world, where you can spend your points in our multiverse market. The last option is to spend ten points visiting one of our vacation planets. All of this you can get if you sign with us. However, I need to tell you that your job will be dangerous. You will kill humans and other races in your job."

I put the paper away and said.

"This contract is too good to be true."

If what I read is true, what she says is the truth. The contract is what she said, and I get even more suspicious.

"We did not want to make things too complicated. The life of a troubleshooting agent is harsh, so we'll give you the best. We will lend you the best tools to complete your mission if you want them for free. As long as you did not destroy them, we will not ask for payment."

"That means there is a high chance I will die on the mission."

"Yes."

I look at her in shock and say.

"You will not sugarcoat it?"

"Why should we do that? Lying is a bad thing in the company, especially for our troubleshooting agent. So? Do you want to join?"

I think for a few seconds and nod.

"Very well. I'm in."

My life is boring. I want some kind of spice in my life, and this is a perfect opportunity for me. I'm afraid of death, but the chance of adventure lures me in.

"Perfect! Please sign the paper."

She gives me a pen. I take it and sign the paper. She takes the paper and smiles.

"Great! Now, please follow me."

I blink for a few seconds when I see our room change. Now we are inside a massive hall filled with people from different races. Many of them look like humans, but there are also many other races.

"This is the hub world for all of our agents. To the left is the teleporter where you will get into the marketplace."

I look to the left and see a massive door; above that door is a symbol of scales.

"To the right is where you buy something from the company. Unlike the marketplace, you can buy perks or power from that place."

"Does the marketplace cannot sell power?"

"Not directly. They can sell power through an item. For example, they can sell Chakra Fruit to grant you a chakra pathway. However, if you have enough points, you can buy it through the company official channel. We will be the one planting the chakra pathway."

"What is the difference?"

"Price and Safety. Marketplaces are usually cheaper, but you can die without being careful. The official channel will make sure the process of getting that power is completely safe but it does cost you a little bit more."

"How big is the difference?"

"Well, you can look for yourself later."

"Fair enough."

The Beholder led me to the end of the hall, where I could see many people queuing. However, we did not stand in line. Instead, she took me to the backroom.

When we get inside the room, I can see a lizardman–

"Oi!"

"Pardon me?"

"I'm not a lizardman! I'm a Dragonoid! Please don't call me and any other like me in the future ."

"Ah, I'm sorry. Can you tell me how to see the difference?"

"Our power. You can feel them in the future. For now, you can see it in our eyes. Dragonoid's eyes have an aura that you can see if you focus enough."

I frown and focus on his eyes. I blink for a second when I see what looks like a fire inside his pupil.

"Ah, I see it now."

"Good. Make sure this never happens, okay? You are lucky you meet me first because the other Dragonoid will kill you."

"Even when I'm a newbie?"

"Even when you are a newbie, yes."

"Sadly, you can't kill him, Thoid. He is a troubleshooter agent."

The Beholder next to me suddenly says.

"Really? Is he your agent then, Vloy?"

"Yes."

"Then he will survive as long as he does not push his luck."

My handler looks at me, and I nod my head. I got it, alright.

I have some leeway but don't push my luck, just like in real life. A rich person can get some leeway but don't push too hard unless you want the stick.

"Anyway, we came here to get his company phone."

"Ah, troubleshooter company phone, huh? Very well."

The Dragonoid, Thoid, opens the drawer and takes out a small box.

"Take a seat."

I nod and take a seat. He places the box on the table and opens it.

"This is your company phone. This phone cannot be stolen or lost. It will appear in your hand if you think about it hard enough. This phone is the gateway to purchasing all your needs. Power? Perks? Waifu? Husbando? This phone has it all. Some power and perk need you to be unconscious before you can use it."

Is this another reason why the power from the official channel is more expensive? It is sure more convenient than going to the market and needing to do it myself.

"You can see your mission there. You have a main mission that you NEED to complete before the deadline. There are also side missions you can take if you want bonus points. From getting monster' part to binding and selling someone."

"What happens when I fail a mission?"

"Side mission? You need to pay a fine but nothing too bad. The main mission? You don't want that. You will cease to exist if that happens. Our patron will eat your soul."

I swallow my saliva and say.

"Who is our patron?"

"Oh? Vloy did not tell you?"

I shake my head.

"Our Patron, and now she is yours as well, is Shub-Niggurath."

"Ah."