It was perfectly normal for Silas Vane to feel shocked.
Even though it was a custom instance, he hadn’t just gone through the motions.
The two players he dispatched were top-tier elites, and one of them even possessed a Chosen talent, making him far stronger than Zhao Heng.
Yet these two had actually failed to clear a mere custom instance?
Hearing the Department Director’s shocked question, one of the two men standing before the desk—a man who looked like an exhausted corporate drone—lowered his head in shame.
The other man, however, gave off a completely different vibe.
He had a round face that made him look like an underage high school student.
His long hair was tied back into a ponytail, giving off the distinct aura of an edgy teenager.
At this moment, his face was full of arrogance.
Faced with the Director’s questioning, he remained stubbornly self-righteous despite being completely in the wrong.
“It’s not my fault!
The designer is out of their mind!” “…I couldn’t stand how the instance played out!
I can understand being constantly hunted down by a crazy woman, and I can even understand almost being forced to eat raw intestines covered in feces, but torturing people with hide-and-seek is crossing the line!
How old are they, still playing hide-and-seek?!” “I was just disgusted!
It’s not that I couldn’t beat them.” “And I wasn’t scared of that hulking old man either.
I’m eighteen, why would I be scared of an old man?
He just appeared and disappeared like a ghost, making him a bit tricky to deal with, that’s all.” “…” He continued to babble on, constantly making excuses.
Silas Vane was already used to this subordinate’s style.
From the boy’s stubborn, defensive rambling, he managed to piece together the situation inside the instance.
During this time, the other man also spoke up to fill in some details.
As he listened, Silas’s expression grew somewhat strange.
“What’s the situation on the forum?” The baby-faced high schooler was still stubbornly making excuses, completely ignoring what Silas was saying.
The other man, who had clearly checked the forum after leaving the instance, answered Silas.
After hearing the report, Silas leaned back in his chair and furrowed his brows.
“To think it isn’t an imitation, but an original S-rank custom instance.
The clear difficulty is incredibly high too—even Zhao Heng and the two of you couldn’t beat it.
I misjudged it…” He suddenly realized that the custom instance named [Resident Evil], as well as the Architect who created it, were far more outstanding than he had imagined.
“I didn’t fail to clear it,” the baby-faced high schooler retorted again.
“Enough, Easton Wade.
I know you can clear it, now shut up.” Silas looked up and pointed at the door.
“Also, get out.” Easton muttered a few complaints and turned to leave.
But Silas thought for a moment and called out to stop him.
“Wait.
Go and call Nova Quinn over.” “What if she won’t come?
I can’t beat her in a fight.” “Then die trying!” “No way!” “Just tell her the Director is looking for her!
Tell her it’s an absolute emergency!
Now get lost!
Hurry up!” “Oh.” Ten minutes later.
The sound of the door opening rang out.
Silas shifted his gaze away from the forum, rubbing his temples as he looked up.
A girl who looked about the same age as Wren Lux, roughly eighteen or nineteen years old, slowly walked in.
She had an incredibly beautiful face, her features so exquisite they seemed meticulously sculpted.
Her facial contours were soft, her nose slender and straight, and her lips a pale, clean shade.
A head of waist-length silver hair, looking as if it were woven from moonlight, cascaded smoothly down her back.
It swayed gently with her steps, making her clear, striking eyes appear even more translucent.
The young woman had a slender yet not fragile figure, with well-defined curves and an incredibly narrow waist.
She wore a simple, crisp white short-sleeved shirt.
Her black pleated skirt was neither too long nor too short, ending right at mid-thigh.
Beneath the hem, her long legs were as white as snow, reflecting a faint luster under the lights, glowing with the flawless radiance of top-tier jade.
“What is it.” The girl stopped in front of the desk, looked at Silas, and asked her question.
Her voice was ethereal, but her tone was like a pool of stagnant water, completely devoid of any fluctuation.
Silas was clearly long accustomed to the girl’s temperament.
He cut straight to the chase, “Nova, there’s a mission…” Before he could even finish his sentence, the girl named Nova Quinn shook her head bluntly.
“Not going.” “Hear me out.
I’m not asking you to go to the SSS-rank instance [Island], but this one.” Silas rubbed his hair in slight exasperation, then swiped the forum page in front of him over to her.
He explained, “It’s a new instance, a custom one at that.
It’s called [Resident Evil].
Most of the players who have been there say it isn’t just difficult in the traditional sense.
Take a look and see if you’re interested.” “…” Nova didn’t reply.
She quietly stared at the translucent screen in front of her, her striking eyes silently reflecting the screen’s light.
Her expression remained wooden, making it impossible to tell how much she had actually absorbed.
After a long moment.
Her slender fingers swiped twice in the empty air, opening a thread with an extremely high number of replies.
Silas waited quietly.
Looking at the girl’s snow-white silver hair, he sighed softly in his heart.
To be honest, whether it was Nova Quinn or Easton Wade, in his eyes, they were both just children.
If the world hadn’t been gamified…
Nova suddenly shifted her gaze and uttered two words, “I’ll go.” “Huh?” Silas’s train of thought was completely derailed.
Just as he was about to say something else…
Nova simply swiped the forum window aside, opened her own system panel, and tapped rapidly with her fingertips.
She skillfully located the instance library, paid the Survival Points, and entered the instance.
The entire process was clean and decisive, taking less than five seconds.
The next moment, she transformed into a cluster of white light and vanished from the office.
“…” Silas stared at the empty office and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
These problem children…
on one hand, they made his heart ache for them, but on the other hand, they gave him massive headaches.
When they didn’t want to go, no amount of persuasion would work.
When they did want to go, they would dive right in without making any preparations whatsoever.
She could have at least asked Easton, who had just failed the instance, before going in.
Forget it.
Silas lowered his hand, deciding not to dwell on it any further.
He had a lot of confidence in Nova.
If it was only an S-rank instance, she would definitely have no problem clearing it.
It was just her personality that was a huge problem.
Was she willing to go simply because [Resident Evil] was an instance with intense emotional stimulation?
*…She really is just a child.* Thinking about the problem children in the Strategy Group, Silas felt his headache worsening.
He simply stopped thinking about it altogether.
Reaching out, he pulled the window Nova had swiped aside back in front of him.
Glancing once more at the forum filled with complaints, he muttered, “I really didn’t expect such an incredible Architect to actually appear…
To think they could create an S-rank instance from scratch.
I need to send someone to contact them a few more times.
While we’re at it, I’ll have someone filter through the ID database to see if there are any records.
It would be best if we could find them directly.” With that said.
He shook his head, then closed the forum window and picked up the documents on his desk once again.
There was no rush.
Although an Architect capable of creating an original S-rank instance was impressive, it was still unknown what kind of rewards their original instance would give.
There was no reason for him, the head of the Strategy Group, to scramble in a panic to make arrangements.
Right now, there were far too many things more important than finding that Architect.
For example, the clearance status of the SSS-rank instance, or the instance arrangements for the frontline soldiers.
There were a thousand loose ends to tie up.
In comparison, finding that Architect was indeed not a pressing matter.