The Place Where Everything Begins

Chapter 82 - The Hidden Condition (1)

'What a show... Their small scheme is pretty impressive befitting the future residents of Ortus.'

Jeremy, who stood silently behind the crowd of people, thought to himself in impression after seeing such a spectacle...

Then as if he had just realized something, Jeremy thought joltingly,

'Wait... where is the bastard, Bad Mouther?'

Having thought so after not seeing the man within the crowd of people, Jeremy hurriedly turned his head to look around the tutorial chamber...

'He is not here...'

'Not there either...'

Even after looking here and there but still not found even the man's shadow, Jeremy eventually turned to look at the 'mound' of corpses.

'Or... he is being buried under the heap of corpses?'

At last, Jeremy turned his head towards the last place he didn't look at a moment ago, the ward where people used as a recuperating place,

Sure enough...

'There he is...'

Jeremy thought to himself after seeing the man he was looking for, Benjamin, lying unconscious there with William and three other badly injured people.

'Hmm... He is unconscious?'

While Jeremy thought that, his eyes widened in puzzlement a bit...

The man, Benjamin, was actually the one who had let open a hole in the formation, subsequently causing Jeremy to be stabbed at the side by an imp in his past life.

How could he not seek revenge after going back in time?

That was a matter of course, after all...

But who would have thought the man was already at his death door?

'What happened?'

Jeremy thought in bafflement...

Meanwhile...

When Mitchell saw that 'everyone else' had agreed and given their mutual approval towards his idea of letting the elderlies and kids fight at the backline, he decided to conclude the meeting for the time being,

"So, it has been decided then. For now, we will end our meeting here; everyone, please disperse and do your assigned duties. If there is any issue, please come and contact Eddie or me. If there is an urgent update regarding other matters, I will call you guys again for a meeting. Alright, rest well."

Upon saying so, Mitchell nodded his head at the people in front of him as a sign of farewell.

Afterward, everyone started scattering out to different areas within the tutorial chambers to do their own jobs and duties.

Suddenly...

"Aargh!! Ghost!!"

Someone screamed with a high-pitched voice upon seeing a black-cloaked man...

Well, the timing of the scream was just right for Jeremy's Stealth's five minutes duration to run out at this time.

As a result, many pairs of eyes shifted to the source of the loud noise, only to see that it was instead Jeremy, not a ghost or anything else.

As of why everyone in the gathering didn't notice Jermey earlier was simple...

It was due to Jeremy's [Stealth] skill had lowered his presence to a meager degree, causing everyone at the gathering place unaware of his arrival and all.

Regarding the Stealth skill's effects, the skill didn't make Jeremy become invisible or become a black shadow or something out of the ordinary as such. It only lowered his presence down a notch or two, causing other people to feel like he was just the air, that's all.

Concurrently, upon seeing that it was not a ghost but Jeremy, the person who had screamed earlier, hurriedly apologized before walking away from the scene in embarrassment.

When those scattering people saw Jeremy, at first, they got a bit startled, not knowing when he had appeared or arrived here.

Afterward, they dismissed their fleeting thoughts as if it was nothing important and started dispersing to do their own things.

Regarding their reactions when those people saw Jeremy, some nodded their heads slightly, some nodded with reverence-filled eyes, some said words of greetings and gratitude, and some ignored him like always.

After greeting those good manners people back with a slight nod and ignoring those who ignored him, Jeremy walked towards Mitchell besides Eddie and Joshua.

"Oh, you are here..." Mitchell opened his mouth first.

"Hello..." Eddie greeted solemnly with a hint of vigilance within his eyes.

"..." Joshua remained silent.

"Yep." Jeremy only responded casually towards the three.

After the greetings part was done, Mitchell opened his mouth to say the words of formality right after,

"I've heard about your help earlier; you have saved many lives already with your timely appearance. So, I would like to express my utmost thanks to you."

"It's nothing. I just do what I can do. Don't bother yourself with such a formality."

Jeremy answered with a charming smile while his thoughts said otherwise,

'I only do what I can do, which is to earn SP as much as possible...'

Mitchell, who wasn't aware of Jeremy's inner thoughts, decided to ask Jeremy to clear his own curiosity,

"By the way, Joshua told me that you would attend the meeting, but I didn't see you earlier. What happened?"

When Joshua had heard Mitchell's words, he nodded his head lightly...

Meanwhile, upon hearing Mitchell's question, Jeremy got a bit stunned as he didn't prepare for such a question.

Well, Jeremy couldn't just tell them that he was in a Stealth mode, and then when he decided to cancel the skill to raise his opinions to the mass, he was suddenly interrupted by Mitchell and Eddie's small scheme, right?

All in all, Jeremy only wanted to watch the show of the duos, so he didn't appear in the meeting earlier.

After thinking for a second to find a suitable reason, Jeremy finally answered Mitchell,

"Well... that... I've changed my mind. I think talking with you guys directly is better than speaking it in public. That's all..."

Even though his reason wasn't quite added up, it still more or less piqued the trio's interest, as Mitchell and the other two had a curious look written clearly on their faces now.

"Want to talk privately rather than in public? You make me curious..."

Mitchell said with an inquisitive look, followed closely by Eddie's manly voice,

"Yeah, me too."

"..."

When Mitchell had heard Eddie's stupid voice, he rolled his eyes towards his right side, which happened to be where Eddie stood before asking,

"Dickhead, don't you have something important to do?"

"What? Me? Nah... I'm free..." Eddie replied, full of confidence.

*Sigh*

Mitchell sighed exhaustedly after hearing such confident words from an idiotic moron. Then he elaborated further,

"I mean teaching the elderlies and kids how to handle the crossbows..."

When Eddie heard Mitchell's reminder, his eyes suddenly widened in embarrassment,

"Ahh shit! Guwahaha, I almost forgot that. Thanks for the reminder. It seems like I gotta go first. See ya guys!"

Eddie's sonorous laughter rang out within the tutorial chamber, attracting many eyes and ears. Afterward, he sauntered away with his ass swaying left and right like always.

Meanwhile, the three people at the scene could only look at Eddie's back in a stupefied manner.

"Almost, he said." Joshua insinuated lightly after Eddie had finally gone.

At this time, Mitchell could only shake his head in helplessness before turning his head towards Jeremy and said,

"My apology, Jeremy. That guy is just that muddled; he is already at the level of unredeemable."

"Nah... I appreciate you guys' liveliness. It at least signifies that you guys still 'live'. By the way, muddle, huh. How about you; what do you think about Eddie, Joshua? Do you also think that he is muddled?"

Jeremy said with a smile, whereas he turned to look at the 'paladin', Joshua, at the end of his speech.

"No comment..." Joshua replied casually with a shrug of his shoulders.

At the same time, Mitchell mumbled to himself inaudibly to other people around him, "Liveliness... we still live, huh... Hmm..." 

Shaking his head lightly, Mitchell discarded those thoughts away; he decided it was time to finish the chit-chat and started talking about serious matters instead,

"Alright, let's talk business, Jeremy. Please do tell us about what you have here..."

When Jeremy had heard Mitchell's words, he stopped his teasing behavior and started his casual mode instead,

"Hm, the thing is about the Tutorial Missions on everyone's Status Window." Jeremy told them the topic.

"..."

"..."

At this time, the two people could only keep quiet to digest and think about Jeremy's words. Then after a few seconds, Mitchell said,

"Please elaborate..."

However, Jeremy's following words would shock them out of their minds...

"Have you noticed a hidden condition put within those tutorial missions?"

"What?"

"!!"

While Joshua exclaimed in astonishment, Mitchell's eyes widened considerably...