"Sir, the meeting is about to take place."

A man of average appearance entered through the main office door. He quickly urged everyone to prepare as quickly as possible so as not to keep the higher-ups of the new organization waiting.

"Just wait a little longer!"

Elise was checking her clothes, while he prepared the object.

The man who was present in the main office had come after the envelope had been handed to Natasha.

He introduced himself as a man in the service of the organization, sent by someone who was undoubtedly an "O5" as indicated in the previous letter.

And after confirming that the time was almost up, he immediately took his position.

The main office had become a mess. There was a circle used by salt to imitate characters inscribed by the man.

The alphabetical characters did not come from any known language. He could be sure of that because he had learned all the available and known languages for over a thousand years in the family library. Perhaps they were created for the sole purpose of being secretive.

The reason they had prepared so many preparations to meet in a confined space showed the stakes behind them.

Ranold chuckled and had to recite all the characters written so that she would activate and enter the space reserved for top leaders.

Fortunately, his memory did not fail him, and he could calmly read each character quickly and beautifully after learning them from the unknown man.

Why do I have to do this kind of thing?!

I found myself in an impossible quagmire.

Ranold cursed himself inwardly as he continued his spiel.

After checking all his clothes, Ranold positioned himself in the center of the circle. The last characters were being pronounced at the same time.

The man pulled out a glowing ring.

"I authorize O5-12 to participate in the meeting."

At that moment, the entire space began to sink into an endless fog. Whispers appeared and murmured in the ears soft words, charming and sometimes provocative.

He did not understand why such whispers were occurring when the main office had disappeared, and there was no one near this unknown space.

At the same time, a barrier appeared, traversing and surrounding the endless fog. The barrier prevented sound from passing through and distinguishing anything beyond two meters.

His head hurt. It was so painful he would have thought he was being smashed with a hammer, while his head rested on an anvil as it was hammered blow by blow.

Ranold knew he would lose himself and never return if he lost his reason here. The deep murmurs grew louder, thoughts becoming chaotic.

The lucid body became heavier and heavier, sinking completely into the ground, feeling like it could break at any moment like a glass dropped against the ground in midair.

He managed to regain a brief rational thought and immediately activated a skill: [Mental Protection].

Immediately, the whispers and their intensities decreased. Even though they hadn't disappeared, it was more comfortable than being overwhelmed by chaotic whispers.

He added a strong magic to reinforce his current skill, and the whispers faded, while the fog began to clear as if it had never existed.

It wasn't just the fog; Ranold also felt the heaviness leave his own body, which fell endlessly like into the ocean depths.

He tried to move forward, even though it was complicated.

Every step, every advance required mental strength, physical endurance.

"What is this cursed place?" Ranold suddenly looked around and then lowered his head to see that the ground was becoming less transparent, leaving a marble parquet reflecting his appearance.

"What? Why is my appearance like this?" He was wrapped in endless gray mist, no skin or silhouette of his appearance could be distinguished.

At the same time, the fog cleared to reveal a red carpet appearing under his feet to a wooden door.

The wooden door was old, illuminated by a small torch hung on the wall.

Ranold instinctively walked in that direction.

It seemed that the meeting was behind that door.

As he walked on the red carpet, the entire space became an endless gray ocean. Everything fell like a theatrical curtain, as he hurriedly accelerated out of fear of falling into an unfortunate accident.

He reached the door and prepared to open it by turning the handle. Black smoke emerged from the gap in the door and covered him completely before he regained consciousness in another place.

"Ohoh! Another one?"

Ranold covered his eyes because of the strong radiant light in the dark space.

After managing to adapt to the strong light, he could see a long circular bronze table with twelve high-backed chairs on each side symmetrically. The backrest of each chair was numbered from 1 to 12, while only six chairs were currently occupied.

He slowly headed towards the chair he had been assigned previously by the man who had come to his office. The chair was located at the end of the table, number 12 shining, and Ranold comfortably sat on it, looking at the six other people who were looking at him curiously.

"What's your name?" asked the man with a cane resting on his arm.

Ranold looked at the interrogator. By examining the man's appearance precisely, he could vaguely perceive his silhouette. He was a man with a gray beard, but his face couldn't be clearly seen.

He didn't rush to answer the man's question but only tilted his head to look at the five other people. They all had their faces obscured by endless mist, but their clothes and accessories could be distinguished.

There was a woman with smooth blond hair, wearing European attire.

An old bald man with a monocle over his right eye and one leg missing.

A child sucking on a lollipop calmly while reading a book.

A cat lying silently asleep.

And an ordinary man without distinction, but who was almost two meters tall.

Each had a distinct and unique identity that set them apart from ordinary people.

He looked for O5-10, but he didn't seem to be present. Ranold expected this since in the envelope, it had been announced that he couldn't participate due to various reasons.

Ranold suddenly realized something. How would he appear in the eyes of others now? Would he look like a child like the one sitting on chair "05-4"? Or would he have the same appearance as the man with a slightly smaller stature?

In this situation, it was better to remain silent.

After nodding, he remained silent and calmly observed the others.

"Let's get back to our discussion. It seems the newcomer is not inclined to converse with the others. What a pity," said the old man, laughing.

His laughter was strange, imbued with an oppressive aura. Only he was affected by this anomaly, while the others ignored it. Or perhaps he was the only one who could feel it? Either way, he wasn't curious.

"How is it going in the East?" asked the woman, shamelessly doing her nails.

"O5-2 is currently dealing with hunting down some entities that are causing harm to the residents of Moscow, but with their number, even O5-2 is overwhelmed," replied the man.

"Ahah, so even that combat fanatic can't face so many monsters alone?"

"That's why we have been called here today by 'the Administrator.'"

Everyone fell silent at the words of the cat, who woke up yawning.

A door slowly opened with a creak as the others stood up from their chairs.

Ranold did the same, immediately rising to follow the others.

The mysterious man who appeared stepped forward. "So we are only seven?"

With blonde hair and an amused smile, he walked casually.

His questioning words cast an oppressive aura over everyone. Only the cat, the child, and the two-meter-tall man could resist and remain standing, while the others, including him, sat back against their chairs.

"Well, I didn't expect a large turnout. So I suppose that's good news," he laughed.

He clapped his hands, and the atmosphere of the space disappeared as if it had never existed, replaced by a calm and soothing ambiance.

"O5-1, you should stop these antics," warned the cat.

"I agree," followed the child, continuing to read.

"Ahah, let's be quiet today. I have come with a message from the Administrator."

Ranold trembled upon hearing "Administrator."

What message did the Administrator want to convey?

The envelope sent by O5-10 also mentioned the Administrator who was soon to take action.

The Administrator was the organizer of this meeting, but also the one who held absolute power here. Everyone would obey his order; if he asked them to kill, they would all do so without hesitation, such was their loyalty to the organization.

O5-1 sat in the chair assigned to him and put his long legs on the circular table, yawning.

"Stop wasting our time and give us the message," urged the irritated cat.

"Alright, alright," he replied, snapping his fingers, as a paper appeared out of nowhere, falling into his hand.

Suddenly, a paper fell in front of each person.

Ranold picked it up and was surprised.

The sheet was blank. There were no written characters on it, no trace of ink.

He turned his head to check if he was the only one experiencing this effect, but the others had activated some sort of intermediary to make the invisible text appear.

The woman took out her necklace and activated it, the old man activated his monocle, and the child activated his book. The cat and the ordinary man were the only ones who could read the text without using any intermediary.

Ranold was lost.

Should I use my magic? I wasn't given any information or instruction about this...

He infused magic into it, and the text appeared between the lines.

The cat, who had seen this, widened her eyes.

"Dear founding member, here is your new mission."

"We will establish bases in each country to contain the growing emergence of monsters and entities in the world."

Ranold widened his eyes.

The message contained only two short sentences.

Establishing bases in each country?

Did it mean they were going to build clandestine bases in various countries?

"Well, I understand. The increasing threat of monsters cannot be taken lightly," said the woman, disappearing from the space.

The old man laughed. "Ohoh, is this good news for us? I guess I still have work to do before my retirement," he said, also disappearing.

One by one, everyone disappeared, leaving Ranold, the cat, and O5-1.

As Ranold was about to disappear too, the cat stopped him.

"What item are you using?"

"What?"

"How did you open the message?"

What? Was opening it with magic a mistake?

"I simply opened the text with my intermediary," Ranold said confidently, taking out a key from his pocket.

The cat looked closely at the ordinary, old chief who swayed from side to side due to the wrist movement.

"Hm... So-"

"Let's stop there, O5-2," ordered O5-1 in a cold tone.

The cat glanced at O5-1, then clicked her tongue before disappearing.

Ranold sweated.

Fortunately, it was only an imaginary space, so bodily fluids didn't appear in this place.

"Ahah, I'm sorry. O5-2 can sometimes be a bit too excessive in his manners," he said, extending his hand.

He took his hand to accept his apology. "No problem. I didn't take it the wrong way."

"I see."

He forcefully pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. "I know you're not the real one, but I hope you'll stand straight and not disappoint us. Do you understand?"

Ranold took a deep breath. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said without trembling.

O5-1 pondered for a few seconds then released his hand. "I see. Then I must have been mistaken, my instinct thought a rat had 'snuck in,'" he laughed, disappearing from the space.

Soon the space collapsed, and Ranold regained consciousness in the middle of the ritual circle in the main office.

The first thing he did when he opened his eyes and stood up was to sigh.