A handsome blond man strode down the corridor with absolute, unshakeable confidence.
His smile was a flawless, practiced curve—exactly the same as the ruthless schemer etched into Frez’s memory.
There was just one glaring issue.
He was wearing nothing but a white bath towel wrapped around his waist.
“Lord Overseer,” Rita said.
Her voice remained perfectly sweet, yet the smile on her lips sharpened into something lethal.
“When will you change your habit of running around without clothes?”
Before Frez could even process the absurdity of the situation, Rita reached beneath the frills of her maid skirt.
She produced a solid aluminum baseball bat.
Frez blinked.
Even with the Six Eyes feeding him a constant stream of spatial data, the sheer speed of her draw was terrifying.
Without a second of hesitation, Rita swung the bat directly at her respected Overseer.
Thwack!
“Gah!”
Kiana didn’t miss a beat.
Seeing the Overseer getting assaulted, she immediately jumped into the fray, fists flying.
Frez watched for half a second before deciding it looked like too much fun to pass up.
He stepped in, delivering a few swift kicks to the man’s shins.
“Fck, Otto, fck, hit him!”
“Spare me!
Please!”
Otto immediately curled into a ball on the floor, throwing his arms over his head in a practiced defensive crouch.
The pathetic display finally prompted Rita to lower her bat.
“I was just worried about the employees!” Otto hurriedly explained from the floor, peering through his arms.
“As Schicksal’s best Overseer, I rushed over as fast as I could after receiving the news.
Schicksal cannot lose Himeko, just like Kallen Fantasy cannot be without Kallen!”
Frez let out a long, exhausted sigh.
He slipped off his coat and tossed it directly over Otto’s head.
If he had to look at the half-naked Overseer any longer, he was going to develop a sty.
“Ah, clothes!
Truly humanity’s greatest invention.” Otto’s muffled voice came from beneath the fabric.
He fumbled to pull the coat over his shoulders.
“Thank you, generous gentleman!
If you’d like to be even more generous, could you please give me a pair of pants?”
Give an inch, take a mile.
Reaching into his four-dimensional pocket, Frez retrieved a spare pair of trousers and tossed them over.
Otto caught them, finally displaying a sliver of shame.
He scurried off to the nearest bathroom to change, though his haste seemed motivated more by the fear of Rita’s bat than actual modesty.
A few minutes later, a fully dressed Otto emerged.
He cleared his throat, smoothing down the borrowed clothes.
“I apologize for making our distinguished guest laugh.
Let me formally introduce myself.
I am Otto Apocalypse, the Overseer of Schicksal.
I wonder…
is this generous gentleman interested in taking over as the next Overseer?”
Rita stepped smoothly between them, her polite smile firmly back in place.
“Mr.
Frez, please ignore the Overseer’s words.
He has been trying to pawn off his position onto anyone with a pulse.
Frez raised an eyebrow.
“Is the Schicksal Overseer’s chair made of solid gold or something?”
“Not exactly,” Rita replied.
“The authority of the Overseer is vast, and the funds at his disposal are astronomical.
However, the workload is so crushing that it has reached a point where no one but him can handle it.
Unable to find a willing successor, he has resorted to scamming whoever he can.
Once you agree, you will be chained to that desk until you can trick the next victim.”
So the Otto of this world wasn’t a tragic mastermind.
He was just an overworked middle manager desperately trying to retire.
Otto didn’t look the least bit embarrassed at being exposed.
“Actually, there are suitable successors.
Isn’t Theresa a perfect candidate?”
“Lady Theresa refuses to inherit the family business,” Rita said smoothly.
“Lord Siegfried and Lady Cecilia have…
limited administrative abilities., if you had been willing to adjust your personal management style, Mr.
Joyce wouldn’t have taken several top researchers and fled to found Anti-Entropy decades ago.”
Welt Joyce.
The successor Otto had cultivated in the 20th century.
Because Otto’s personal style was far too ‘abstract’, Joyce had finally reached his breaking point.
He took his people, fled to North America, and established a ‘New Schicksal’—Anti-Entropy.
Now, Welt Joyce had comfortably retired, passing the Sovereign title down to the second-generation Welt, Joachim Yang.
Frez couldn’t help but wonder just how ‘abstract’ this Otto had to be to drive a famously nice guy like Joyce into starting a rival faction.
Otto crossed his arms.
“Impossible.
To show how much I valued him, I frequently invited him to bathe with me!
I even followed the ancient Shenzhou custom of sharing a bed to build a deep bond, yet he always gave me this…
indescribable expression.”
Frez stared at him.
Could it be because you constantly cornered him in the bath and tried to sleep in his bed?
Rita maintained a serene silence, clearly refusing to voice her own thoughts on the matter.
Times had changed.
Behaviors that might have been considered normal camaraderie in ancient times carried vastly different implications in the modern era.
Especially considering that during that specific period, Kallen had been away from Schicksal on a trip.
“I get it,” Frez said, realization dawning on him.
Otto’s actions had been completely misinterpreted.
As an adult male with standard preferences, Joyce would have been terrified.
He’d rather take a knife to the front from Otto than turn his back on him in the bath.
The Otto of this universe was definitely eccentric, but according to Rita and Kiana, his governance and research abilities were stellar.
He actually did good things.
With Kallen around to keep his worst impulses in check, he wasn’t the monster Frez knew from the lore.
“Would your Excellency be willing to resolve my confusion regarding Joyce?” Otto asked, tilting his head.
“No.
Figure it out yourself.” Frez shook his head, dismissing the topic.
“You didn’t just come here to check on Himeko, did you?”
“Of course I did.
As I stated, Miss Himeko is a vital employee of Schicksal.
How could I allow anything to happen to her?
So, what is her current prognosis?”
Otto pulled out his phone, calling the attending physician.
“I see.
She will only be bedridden for two months.
If it’s only two months, then it’s fine.
It won’t affect the filming schedule.
If necessary, we can just borrow the Miss Himeko from World Serpent; those two are practically biological sisters anyway.”
World Serpent?
Frez paused.
Right, Kiana had mentioned earlier that Sirin was apprenticing under Eden to learn fashion design.
If the Golden Courtyard existed here, it made sense that World Serpent did too.
He pulled out Kiana’s phone and did a quick search.
World Serpent: a massive conglomerate deeply involved in medical and biotechnology.
The CEO?
Gray Serpent.
Eden was their primary investor, and the company even had the Mobius Laboratory under its corporate umbrella.
This universe’s lore was completely flipped on its head.
“Since Himeko is stable, I won’t overstay my welcome,” Otto said, turning to leave.
“Mr.
Frez, may I tell the Overseer?” Rita asked suddenly, her voice dropping to a serious register.
“Go ahead.”
There was no point in hiding the existence of the alternate universe Himeko from this Otto.
He was weird, sure, but he wasn’t malicious.
Left in the dark, he was more likely to drag a sick Himeko out of bed to film his movie than actually harm her.
With Frez’s nod of approval, Rita quickly briefed Otto on the true nature of the Himeko currently resting in the ward.
As he listened, Otto’s eyes widened.
A brilliant, manic spark lit up his gaze.
“I knew it!
I knew my hypothesis was correct!
Our world is very likely situated within the Sea of Quanta, existing in the form of a World Bubble!”
He clapped his hands together, practically vibrating with ecstatic energy.
“Haha!
It seems my research hasn’t been in vain after all!”
“Research?” Frez asked.
Otto smiled brightly.
“Yes, Rita knows all about it.
Starting from the last century, I met a Dr.
Schrodinger from another world.
Although she gave me quite a severe beating upon our first meeting, she graciously apologized after clearing up the misunderstanding.”
Otto stepped closer, his enthusiasm spilling over.
“It was during that encounter that I learned of the existence of the Sea of Quanta.
I immediately began my research, and the results have been incredibly gratifying!
I even located a Divine Key similar to the Void Archives—the Cosmic Juggernaut!
It allows observation of other worlds.
Not only that, but I’ve made personal modifications so it can salvage items directly from the Sea of Quanta.
I’ve scavenged quite a few fascinating artifacts.
Come, come, I’ll show you!”
Without waiting for a reply, Otto grabbed Frez by the arm and began dragging him down the hall toward his research lab.
[Akarin’s Note:
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