"That's right. I made the decision to recruit Shin to Squad 0." Gin explained.
"But he's weak!" Ren exclaimed, having lost all former decorum. "It's always these Legacy brats trying to worm their way in." Then pointing at Shin, he harped on, "Hey, E rank! Which rich family do you come from?!"
Shin was still trying to wrap his head around the silver-haired Gin's announcement. To his knowledge, which came directly from the Codex of the Order of Silver, the first promotion only occurs after three months. He didn't even know there had been a ranking system for the awakened themselves.
"Calm down, Ren. First of all, he was a civilian recruit. Secondly, I'm confident he'll show us outstanding improvement."
Standing up from his seat, Ren made his way towards the exit. His fiery red hair looked like it had combusted amidst his searing discontent. "I hate weaklings. You better not ruin the reputation of Squad 0, E rank." Ren concluded as he made his way out.
Letting out a somewhat contemptuous sigh, Gin tried to alleviate the remaining tension. "Don't mind him too much, Shin. Ren is, let's say, 'passionate' about Squad 0. Eventually he'll come around."
Then, retrieving the folder under his arm, Gin placed it on the table and took a seat opposite Tsuki. "And congrats to you; you are no longer the junior of Squad 0."
Not showing much expression, Tsuki just pointed at the folder and asked, "Is that the new assignment?"
"This will be Shin's first official assignment, and you will help him. This folder contains most of the preliminary evidence gathered, so all you have to do is find the source of these rituals."
Turning his attention to Shin, he then added, "This past week, there's been a rise in supernatural cases. And from what we can see, this ritual and the one you used are identical."
Shin stood at the side of the table taking in all the information; he compiled all the notable details he could still remember. And came up with a rudimentary observation.
"Meaning the ritual is being spread?" Shin shared his guess. Recalling the chat logs with his friends, he then continued, "The first time I heard of the ritual was how it was portrayed as a horror game. A group of friends would perform it as some prank."
"That's correct; that's why you two will head to the 50th District and find clues at the origin." Then, turning his attention back to Tsuki, he instructed.
"First head to the morgue and rendezvous with Valerie; perhaps she can uncover some information from one of the victims. Make sure to return to Outpost 0 before the Waking Hour starts."
The meeting had finally come to an end. And just like that, the two members of Squad 0 embarked on their new assignment.
…
Inside the elevator was an awkward silence. Even though Shin had grown accustomed to Miss Tsuki's quiet nature, he felt that now there had to be some questions from her. Watching the numbers of the floors slowly lowering to the lobby floor, he let out a tense cough.
"So, uh, what is Squad 0?"
"One of the five elite teams in Sakura City's Order of Silver." Tsuki replied with not much thought.
"Cool." Then why the hell am I in it?! Still scrambling with the sudden news of promotion, Shin could find no reason or indication as to why Gin would suddenly recruit him.
As if sensing his internal battle, Tsuki turned her gaze and inquired, "Why would the Captain go out of his way to recruit you?"
With no clue to the answer himself, all Shin could do was shrug his shoulders.
"Interesting," Tsuki said as the elevator doors finally opened.
…
After spending all that time in the Silver Palace, Shin finally made it back outside. When he first came here, it was still the Waking Hour, but now everything looked as it should be. The familiar metropolis of Sakura City, the sky-piercing buildings, and the streets filled with cars, with pedestrians wandering the sidewalks.
This area may have looked like the Sakura City he knew, but there were definitely some stark differences.
For one, the building he had come out of was definitely no cathedral. This modern building was a high-rise covered in glass panes with various employees entering, a far cry from the black cathedral he had first entered.
The streets here were clean, and the people wore fancy clothing and drove even fancier cars. Definitely not a middle-bracket district that he had ever seen.
"Where are we exactly?" Shin asked, not realizing his mouth was still agape at the scenery.
"We are outside the real-world HQ of the Order of Silver." Tsuki seemed to have taken his question too literally.
"No, no, I mean like District."
Still maintaining a moderate pace, she emended her answer, "This is the 25th District, where the HQ of the Order of Silver is."
We are in the upper districts?! Did we really 'teleport' all the way here from the 64th District? Slowly falling behind in pace, Shin could not help but greedily take in the fresh air of the Upper District.
"This really is rich people air," he softly exclaimed.
…
Unfortunately the moment of bliss did not last too long; the pair had to make their way back to the 45th District, which is where the morgue was located.
Their mode of transport was a private car that agents got to use, and as someone from the middle brackets who never got the opportunity to drive, this role fell to Miss Tsuki. Although Shin had been a bit skeptical of her driving skills, they had fully made it to their destination.
But the thing that Shin was most worried about was the District Border checks. The main reason why Shin studied Hexa engineering was to bring his family to the upper bracket, so he knew how tough it was to get here. However, when they got to the border crossing, they merely showed their badges and were let through.
Now outside the morgue, the two of them made their way inside.
Entering the morgue, one would immediately be hit with a foul smell. Shin's face immediately scrunched, but Miss Tsuki maintained her stoic expression, simply raising her hand to cover her nose.
Shin then noticed a woman standing at the side, and judging from the similar attire, he deduced that she was the person they were supposed to meet.
She was very beautiful, but one could easily tell that she was a foreigner. Her luscious blonde hair was free-flowing, and her skin was like porcelain, with blue azure eyes drawing all attention. And she was well regarded in other areas, even with the black trench coat covering everything.
"You must be Valerie?" Shin confirmed.
"Indeed, you must be the rookie." Her voice carried an obvious accent.
"Come on, let's get this show over."
Taking command, she then led everyone deeper into the morgue.