Noe, make sure all of my Charisma-based passives are on. Make my voice commanding. I’m planning to make this short and sweet. I don't have time to play Jordan's little games. If she wants to inflate my ego with a big speech, then I'll do just the opposite.

And that was true, and part of it was to spite the Overseer and his lackeys, but it was mainly because I didn’t plan to give any exact information to the Apsirants, and more importantly, to the Admin about my plans. I had to change the parameters that I was dealt in order to win against the Overseer, which meant formulating a better plan once I knew all the tools I had at my disposal. I still needed to see what help Abigail packed for me, and I needed to do that before something else went wrong.

The longer I was following orders from Jordan, the less in control I was, and I desperately needed some time for myself to properly analyze the current situation and finally figure out a damned plan. I had so little information to work with, and I'll always be in the back seat as long as I was missing crucial information about Central's internal structure or all the rules they had to abide by.

“All passives are set to desired parameters,” she answered, “Would you like to expand Luck Charges to manipulate the emotions of the Aspirants with the Emotional Redux ability?”

You can do that?

“The results will be subtle,” the system explained, “But it will have a visible effect.”

Well, I did recharge all my used luck, so might as well use it now. Do it, Noe, and don’t skim back. I might as well make a clear impression now, that can't hurt if I need to abuse my new status later on.

“Acknowledged.”

“Good afternoon, Aspirants of Earth,” I addressed the crowd. I could feel the rumbling of power in my voice, and the people below me noticed as well. They couldn’t keep their eyes away from me. Guess Noe went with the emotion of reverence and awe. Not a bad choice.

I continued, “As the Host said, I am here to make sure that you Aspirants are ready for the upcoming battle. You are all weak, pathetically so, but I will whip you into something that you can be proud of!”

Did I believe a word I was saying? Not a chance. In the last few hours that I had to think, I’ve come to realize that nothing I did can achieve the results needed for this group of Aspirants to succeed given the Overseer’s restrictions. But that also made me realize something, why was I playing by his rules? If the setting that he gave me was unfair, then I’ll just change them, and go at things at an angle that he can’t predict. And if I was subtle enough, then plausible deniability can work both ways.

But for me to do that, I had to pretend to follow the Overseer’s instructions. I had to have his people think that I was playing along with his plotline, to believe that I was doomed to fail as they watched me struggle in futility. There was no doubt in my mind that I was being watched thoroughly, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have allies of my own to help me sneak around later on. The beginnings of a plan were already starting to formulate in my mind.

“I understand that this is all too soon to digest properly,” I addressed, “So I will give you three days to adjust to this new information and to make your preparations. However, after this three-day grace period, I will initiate a mini-trial for those who want to improve themselves and explain the nature of your upcoming foe. This opportunity is open to any and all residents of Pandora, but it will be voluntary. Know that the rewards for participation will be grand.”

The response of the Aspirants was divided; those who were already ahead had a look of determination in their eyes, while the downtrodden looked relieved that participation wasn’t mandatory. Well, let’s motivate some of them a little, if there’s Aspirants that didn’t choose to participate after that, then trying to improve them was a waste of time and resources.

“Remember, however,” I shouted, “That while participation in my training is voluntary, participation in the war will not be. It is your life that you are wagering if you choose to ignore my goodwill.”

That got the majority of the people here fired up. Nothing’s more motivating than imminent, looming death I find, yet a small percentage of people still looked like they would rather risk death than take the time to improve. I recognized some of them from the B Group that I had infiltrated before the third Trial. Yoona wasn’t kidding, these people really have lost all hope in the time I was away.

“Keep my warning to heart, Aspirants of Pandora,” I said, my gaze never wavering, “And come thoroughly prepared to face danger and hardship if you choose to take me up on my offer. You are dismissed.”

The Aspirants looked around in question, their unvoiced concern clear. That was it? They had anticipated a grand speech, kind of like the long-winded ramblings Raffiel used to give, but I didn’t have time for that. I needed all the time I had to fix some of the more glaring problems in my situation.

Speaking of the fake angel, I wonder what happened to him. Jordan said she sacked the people in charge of the last Trial, and I can’t help but think that he was one of the people implicated in that. I’ll check with Xalla later about the whole situation with the new staff, at least I had free access to the chief of security now that I was temporarily in charge of Site 1104. Let’s finish up with things here first.

“What are you looking around for?” I said again, raising my voice, “I said you are dismissed! Come back to this spot in exactly three days time, now go!”

I nodded at Jordan and she teleported us out of there.

“That was a shorter speech than I had anticipated,” Jordan said once we were back in Q’s office, “And you chose to give them three days as well? Remember that you only have a month, that’s a tenth of the total time that you have, Lord Arbiter. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I have my reasons,” I muttered, “Now if you will excuse me, I have things to do.”

“Of course, but are you sure you do not wish to stay and get acquainted with the Site's operations?”

I shook my head. Like hell I'd stay in enemy territory for any longer than necessary. I was willing to bet anything that she and her Overseer boss had a few more tricks up their sleeves to waste my time and piss me off if I chose to stay. The only way to win was to not play by their rules.

"If you insist," she answered reluctantly, “I can only imagine how busy you will be. Will you be going back as an Aspirant, or continue here in your official capacity?”

“I’ll go back as an Aspirant for now,” I replied quickly, “How will I contact you if I need to come back here? I am limited in my human form.”

“Just tell the Origin Matrix and I’ll have someone fetch you,” Jordan said with a practiced smile, “I’ll send you back to your room and inform your doppelganger. He will make his way back to switch with you at an opportune time.”

Another snap of the finger and I was sent back to my familiar dorm.

I should have some time before the doppelganger could find a good excuse to extract itself from my friends. They were pretty far away from the guild HQ, so I should have a few hours to myself, at least for now. I sat down on my bed and pulled out the satchel that the Director gave me. It’s been almost two days since I was back, yet it was only now that I had the chance to see what she had given me. I only hope that this wasn’t a prelude to endless nights of work. I activated the Absolute Luck Skill first to ensure nothing went wrong or that I was accidently being spied on, and got to work.

I moved the coffee table over and gently took out each item, some small, others large, but most of the stuff seemed to be surgical tools and various hospital gear. What caught my attention was a neatly folded letter enclosed in a fancy envelope.

I opened that up first.

 

Dear William,

Hello, I’m not sure what to say honestly, but I hope you are well. I don’t know what kinds of danger you will face over in the invader’s lands, but I have tried my best to provide you with items that will help your infiltration and your craft. Stealth is most likely the key to your success, so I prioritized that when I was packing your bag, although what I can provide you is limited.

You will find in the satchel a bundle of charms that will conceal your essence. I know how effective the invaders are at monitoring their victims, but they are also sloppy in their execution. They believe that they are infallible with their methods, never even considering how we might overcome their strange technology.

You will most likely be under constant surveillance if you find their headquarters and those charms will hide you from their strange monitoring system. Burn one and you will be undetectable for 24 hours, I have tested their efficiency myself, so please be at ease, Will.

 

I glanced through the assortment of items strewn on the table and found the package of paper charms. There was a thick stack of them neatly wrapped together, there must have been hundreds of them. I nodded and continued to read.

 

However, those charms will only hide you from their monitoring systems, which I understand will not be enough to get everything you need done. If you need to create an alibi, then you need to use the pendant.

 

I set the charms aside and took a small emerald necklace from the items. The jewel hung on a simple chain but was otherwise unimpressive.

 

Find a recently deceased corpse of good condition and place the pendant around the neck. It will allow me to control the body to act in your stead. Make sure you infuse some of your blood into the pendant before use and immediately burn a charm after. This will trick the monitoring system into tracking the corpse instead of you.

This is also the main way that we can communicate, so I hope to hear from you soon. My powers will be limited in such a restrictive vessel, but I’ll do what I can to help. You are a surgeon, so I trust you can make the necessary modifications to the body to ensure that it resembles your form if you need to be seen in public.

 

Well, I’m not a surgeon by any stretch of that definition, so that will limit what I can do with the corpse. That means no public appearances… unless I can somehow figure out how to transfer the weird human suits onto a new body. It should be possible if I find a body that’s of similar proportions to mine. Still, I could still get a lot done even in the worst-case scenario, it was enough just to fool the Trash Matrix into thinking I was still in Pandora if I needed to be sneaky in the future.

Wait, speaking of human disguises, how the hell do I take mine off? Jordan didn’t explain since she thought it would be obvious, and it probably would be if I was who I said I was.

“I can assist you in that, my Host,” Noe answered, “I have intimate knowledge of your physical form, and can isolate the parts that are foreign. You may allow me brief control over your body by expending 1 Luck Charge and Unit Noe can remove or put on the suit for the Host.”

Man, I’d be a wreck if it weren’t for you, Noe. Thanks again.

“You are most welcome.”

I continued to read.

 

Lastly, I have included a variety of different medical equipment for your use, I don’t know how readily available these items will be where you’re going, but no surgeon can function without the right tools. I know how much you love your craft. The leather case contains a set of my favorite instruments, I hope you think of me when you use them. Oh, and there’s a few cookies I made, Alice told me how much you liked them so I packed a few extras for you.

I hope to hear from you soon and thank you again for all the help.

Sincerely,

Director Abigail

P.S. The kids are doing great by the way, we have some new patients coming in today, and they’re both busy helping out with punishments here. They miss you though, so please call sometime.

 

I reread the letter before folding it neatly and putting it away. The Director really was thoughtful, even if I couldn’t use most of the surgical stuff that she packed. The fact that she gave so much thought about what to get me told me all I needed to know about how much she valued me. I was curious about the leather carrying case though, I unfolded it and marveled at the assortment of brutal-looking instruments. There was one tool in the case that I could use, however, and it was the rather large bone saw.

Dr. Walter’s about to make his debut in Pandora, and he’s in desperate need of an appropriately menacing weapon. This rusty, decrepit tool made for a more primitive time was the perfect addition to the doctor.

I put the charms and bone saw into my inventory while I wore the pendant on my person. I had limited inventory room, and I don’t think I’ll ever unlock any more than 10 slots with how antagonistic the Trash Matrix was. The rest of the stuff was packed neatly back into the satchel, but I hesitated when I saw the box of cookies. Those I stuck in my inventory as well, although I wasn’t sure why I chose to do so.

Once everything was neatly stashed away, I lay on my bed and reviewed all the information and tools I had at my disposal.

First of all, the Overseer’s backed me into a corner that had no victory conditions if I played it straight. I didn’t know what the hell the Vestus, or Hestus, or whatever the foe was called were, but judging from Rogue’s outrage, it was safe to say that they were not something that the Aspirants of Pandora could fight. Coupled with the lack of a central leader in the form of the Regressor helping out, we were well and truly screwed. None of us aside from most likely Jae-Hyun knew how to lead an army and create battlefield strategies.

Therefore it was safe to say that the Overseer’s agreement for me to train the Aspirants for a month was a vain gesture to pander to his detractors, it also explains why the new Site Admin’s so cooperative so far. Plus, if she knew I was busy wasting my time with the Aspirants, then she could rest easy knowing I wasn't going around screwing other things up. She'd be wrong of course. She knew as well as anyone else just how pointless it was to try to improve the situation, even if I had all the resources on the site. I can imagine her laughing at my futile attempts to salvage the situation.

But I’ll allow her to think that. Let her think and report that I was doing my best to salvage an impossible situation because I never planned for that to work at all. If I couldn’t strengthen my forces to victory, then all I had to do was weaken the opponent to the point of dysfunction, and I had all the tools I needed to do just that.

 

Tismon Update: Just a small head's up.

Volumes 1-3 of this book was just picked up by Podium for print, ebook, and Audiobook production. I don't know why they decided to pick up the third volume as well, since it's not even written, but that means that I'm now contractually obligated to finish that volume at the minimum! It also means that I am now pretty much guaranteed to be working on this work for the foreseeable future since it is now my actual job to do so! There'll be no long breaks or hiatuses for me!

Not to worry though, nothing will change on my free platforms for many long months while the editing and production process happens!

 

Want to read ahead? Check out my Patreon! It's what's keeping this project alive and well!

VOLUME 2 IS COMPLETE ON PATREON! 

It's currently 28 chapters ahead with a new chapter uploaded daily! 

Check it out if you want to support the author, and as always, thank you for reading!