What?! A Level Five Mutant? Wait, that clothing, that name? Isn't that...!'

"Who the heck is that?" someone asked, staring at the figure in awe.

With long hair tied into a neat ponytail, the figure stood in the battleground. His light brown leather jacket hugged his lean body.

It didn't take long for the crowd to place him.

"Wasn't that the receptionist?" someone whispered, voicing the exact question on everyone's mind.

"I actually thought it was a girl. Damn! Why does a guy have long hair? And he's looking... cute. Ouch!" The man's words were followed by a sharp smack to the back of his head.

"I always knew you were gay," the lady Adventurer by his side retorted, squeezing her face in disgust.

"Hey! But it's the truth!"

Indeed, the figure in front of them had feminine features. They didn't confuse him as a girl this time since he had tied his hair back, making the distinction slightly easier.

The man in question scoffed at their murmuring, clearly annoyed by the noise. He kept his eyes locked on Korak, who was still sprawled on his face after the palm strike.

"And I was trying my best to get a good nap. Why do you all always have to make things hard for me? What a hassle. Tch." He hissed, finally turning his gaze toward Akhil and the others.

Akhil stared back with a stunned expression. 'Isn't that the same guy? Could it really be...?'

"Seth?" The name slipped from Akhil's mouth before he could stop it.

"How the f*ck do you know my name? Weirdo." Seth's face crumpled in disgust.

Akhil's expression fell.

'Yeah, it's definitely him,' Akhil thought, feeling the urge to facepalm at the familiar reply.

"Guild Master, what a pleasant surprise," Langdon's voice came from the side, sending another jolt of shock through Akhil. "To think you were here all along."

"He's the Guild Master?" Akhil muttered, dumbfounded.

"Yes, he is the Guild Master and currently the highest-ranked Mutant among us humans. He only just awoke a few days back," Langdon explained as the figure—Seth—walked toward them.

"Why does it have to be him again?" Akhil muttered in a dispirited voice, wishing he could sink into the ground.

"Huh? You know him?" Langdon asked, "Isn't that a good thing? Why are you suddenly looking so gloomy about it?"

But before Akhil could answer, Seth's eyes landed on Akhil's information window.

{Nexus}

{Mutant Level: 5}

"What the heck?!" Seth paused, then his face split into a delighted, squealing grin. "Nexus, is that you?!" He quickly rushed over to Akhil, throwing his arms wide for a hug, but his embrace was cut short as Akhil instinctively held him back by the shoulders.

"C'mon! It's just a hug!" Seth complained, trying his best to push past Akhil's restraining hands.

Everyone in the hall, even Langdon, stared at the chaotic reunion in utter confusion.

"Aww, they look cute together."

"Are they couples or something?"

At the sound of the sudden assumptions, genuine tears almost leaked from Akhil's eyes.

"This is exactly why it's a problem," he muttered in a dispirited voice.

Langdon, hearing the Adventurers' assumptions and seeing the desperate struggle, finally burst into loud, unrestrained laughter.

"Seems both of you are really close," Langdon commented, wiping a tear from his eye.

"Aria would definitely love to see this," Ryan deadpanned from the side, making Akhil shiver slightly as he remembered the formidable Orc lady.

The Adventurers, realizing the fight was over and their entertainment gone, began filtering back to their various activities, muttering words of disappointment. Only those waiting to join the Guild lingered.

"Calm your f*cking ass down!" Akhil finally snapped, his voice tight with frustration, before Seth finally stopped his relentless attempt at a hug.

"As expected! You're still so cool after the Transmission! A Level Five Mutant?! Awesome!" Seth said with a proud grin, puffing out his chest. "See, your student also came off quite strong this time, too! I'm a Level Five as well."

"Seth, that's not why I'm here," Akhil replied bluntly.

"Oh, so what brings you here then? And why are you with this annoying brat?" Seth said, flashing a cold glint at Langdon.

Langdon smiled wryly at the insult. "You still didn't accept my request to join the council. You're a very important figure in the current system, and we have—"

"Enough with all the blabbing already... Tch," Seth rolled his eyes, cutting Langdon off and turning his intense gaze back to Akhil.

Akhil let out a deep breath. He knew Seth from the Beta test program. He was notoriously rude and seemed to have a bad speaking habit.

He used the same username, Noir_X, which made the recognition easy. Akhil had only helped Seth once in the game, and the fellow had become overly obsessive, immediately calling him 'Master.' He was a very clingy person, which made long collaboration annoying.

Despite that, they had worked closely together on many raids in the game, with Seth often serving as his teammate. Seeing him now, Akhil couldn't lie; he felt a slight wave of relief knowing the Guild Master was an ally, or at least, not an enemy.

"Well, I can assume it's a good thing that you're the Guild Master. It will make things easier for me," Akhil began, adopting a direct tone. "Some of your Adventurers took my Orcs captive, and now I'm hearing that the Guild's forum has also placed a bounty on Orc hunting. Since you're leading the Guild, I believe you should know who posted the request on the forum, and we also need to retrieve the Orcs that were taken." Akhil looked at Seth with a straight face, sensing the disappointment as Seth gave an awkward smile.

"For the person who set up the request... you see... I haven't really been checking all those stuffs, they're very... stressful. And for the Orcs you're looking for, I don't really know where they are," Seth said with a wry smile, seeing Akhil's face grow darker with each word.

"But wait, wait! I can still access the system and find out who did it," Seth quickly added with a bright smile. "Why don't we all have a seat somewhere so we can discuss this? I'll explain better, too."

Akhil let out a sigh. "Alright then. We don't have much time, so you have to be fast."

Seth nodded. He quickly assigned someone to replace him as the receptionist and led them to a separate room.

As the group sat down, Seth let out a deep breath. "You see, this Guild Master thing is really a stress. All the data the system gathers from the Adventurers gets dumped onto me."

"Just get straight to the point already, we don't have time," Nibo said impatiently.

"You f*cking asshole! Who the heck do you think you are to talk to me that way? I'll—"

"Seth, please, we don't have time for this,"

Akhil's calm, tired voice cut in from the side.

"Right, right. I'm really sorry, Master. Let me check for it now." Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes.

Within his mind, the system screen came to life. Thanks to his unique title, 'Guild Master,' he was able to access all the Guild's information, including those who placed requests on the forum.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes again.

"Well, I was able to access the information of the person who posted the request. For some strange reason, I can't see the person's player name or anything. It's blank. But it says that the person placed a requirement that whoever defeated an Orc should bring them to him for extra rewards..."

'That explains why they didn't kill the Orcs on the spot and decided to take them captive,' Akhil quickly assessed. 'But what does he aim to do with them alive? This also gives us an opportunity: if we can find the Orcs now, we can find whoever is orchestrating all these little schemes!'

"Do you know the location where they're to give the Orcs back?" Akhil asked immediately.

"Well, from what I saw... thankfully, it seems the person is residing within this city with us as well."

Akhil quickly stood up. "Can you lead us to the place?"

Seth gave a confident smile. "The system gives coordinates, not a street address. I have no idea where that is in the city."

"Don't worry about that, I can handle it," Langdon quickly cut in, making Seth flash him a cold, hostile glare.

"Alright then, come take us to the place. We don't have much time," Akhil stated calmly.

Without wasting time, the group immediately prepared and left the room. They left the Guild building and quickly made their way to the location, with Langdon taking the lead.

As the group hastily moved to the location, Akhil thought back to the entire thing. There was more and more evidence with every passing second.

And he couldn't be wrong: 'The Titan of Discord has to be a Beta Player, but who is it?' Akhil thought, staring intently at the backs of his two primary suspects: Langdon and Seth.

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