“Where am I?” Lein slowly opened his eyes to see an unfamiliar ceiling. He then felt something soft and furry touching his hand, only to see a panda wearing a nurse uniform readjusting his vitals. Unable to cope with such a strange sight, he got shocked and attempted to move away from it.
“Hahaha! You’ve got the same reaction as Su Zhen when she woke up.” Rong exclaimed as Lein noticed that he was sitting on the opposite side of his bed and found out that his arm was back with him again.
“How did I…? Have we been resurrected? How much time has past? Also, where is this place?” Lein asked as he saw the other three Demon Exorcist trainees being wide awake relaxing on their own beds. He was baffled why it looked like they were in a hospital instead of a Revival Chamber.
“You are currently in our Luxury Recovery Instance, a place designed for recovering after going through a dungeon instance. You have slept for around 5 minutes after having been defeated.” The Panda Nurse explained as she asked if he felt any particular pain on his body.
“Luxury Recovery Instance? Dungeon Instance? Weren’t we fighting with that Jin in an isolated place?” Lein inquired.
“Apparently that isolated beach was just a dungeon instance,” Rong answered as he had already asked the Panda Nurses the same questions. “I never expected a dungeon instance to feel so real.”
“Mmhmm! I can still remember the cooling sea breeze blowing at my face! There is no way that was a dungeon instance! Our Clan’s top dungeon supplier had never managed to reach such realism with his instances at all and he has been hailed as one of the best in the country!” Lian had trouble believing it herself. After she was done with her own medical query, she was browsing her social media account.
“Actually, I heard that Shenzhen had a rising dungeon supplier that everyone was raving about. People were boasting about how real the entire dungeon instances were, and an increasing amount of people were posting it in their Mechat accounts. ” Su Zhen was also looking through her social media platforms for more information about the dungeon supplier they were in.
“There were even rumours flying around that going through the dungeon would help one’s cultivation. I also remember seeing a picture showing off how amazing the post dungeon experience was and it looked exactly like this room, albeit smaller.” Su Zhen said as she browsed her MeChat looking for it.
“What’s the name of this particular dungeon supplier store?” Lein queried as he grabbed some water from the side cabinet.
“Dungeon and Pandas. Given the fact that we are being served by Panda Nurses right now, I can only deduce that we are in that very same store.” Su Zhen concluded.
“Wait, so does that also mean the portal that appeared in front of us was not Grandma Yuan’s doing? I thought she was able to afford a portal scroll for that Jin to choose a location. You mean that portal brought us directly into a dungeon instance?” Rong asked out loud, and only Lian replied that she did not know. The others were busy looking at their phones.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and Claire opened the door for Grandma Yuan to come in. Claire went after her, followed by Jin. Grandma Yuan took her time to look at the ward her trainees were housed in. In the meantime, the demon cultivators came out of their beds and stood in attention.
“How are they?” Jin asked the Panda Nurses, and they reported nothing unusual. He thanked them kindly and they went out of the room.
“Heh, so you treat them like real humans eh?” Grandma Yuan asked Jin upon seeing his attitude towards them.
“They should be respected as such.” Jin’s answer was short, sweet and to the point.
“Now, I can understand why those who have come to you most often wish to come again. The post dungeon experience is indeed a refreshing way to make them feel like they are appreciated for visiting your dungeon instances.” Grandma Yuan pretty much confirmed the theories of her trainees and they could not believe it.
“Jin is a dungeon supplier?! I thought you said that Jin is just a Grade 8 cultivator that wished to be a Demon Exorcist Trainee?” Lein questioned and Claire cleared her throat to signal his imprudence.
“Would it have made any difference if you had known that he was a dungeon supplier? Does telling you that he owns a famous shop cause you to be wary of him? Each of you had ample time to find out more about him, but did anyone of you cared enough to research about him, until your defeat?” Grandma Yuan asked the entire group, and they simultaneously responded with a firm no.
“Good, at least none of you give me any excuses for your failure. As for your mistakes.” Grandma Yuan walked towards Lian who was the nearest to her.
“Lian, why did you allow your anger to consume you when you saw that Rong was killed? I’ve warned you that the fights would only end in death and only the strongest can survive. You should have prepared for such a possibility. Knowing that he could and would be revived afterwards, why did you let it cloud your judgement?” Grandma Yuan shot her questions at Lian that it made her speechless.
“Lein, what was that shocked expression for, when you saw him casting a magic spell on you? Why didn’t you react back in any way? Instead, you remain stunned to see that he was able to cast magic. Having a full grasp of the abilities of your enemy is a pipe dream! You have to trust in your own abilities and deal with the circumstances as they present themselves!”
“Su Zhen, you might have been the most composed of them all, but you still erred in your judgement. Knowing that an enemy is right in front of you, you performed first aid for your comrade, who wasn’t even critically injured.” Grandma Yuan’s stare was so stern, Su Zhen could barely looked away.
“While your compassion may be commendable, on the battlefield, it most often leads to the result you all just experienced. Still, the biggest mistake wasn’t in helping him, but not covering your bases sufficiently. How blatantly confident were you to not put up any defences or traps to protect yourself when you aided your comrades?” Grandma Yuan wanted her to recognise her own flaws.
Su Zhen looked like she wanted to retort but Grandma Yuan’s stare immediately shut her down once more.
“You never accounted for the possibility of him having an ability that allows him to get behind your back, did you? I keep reminding you to think about the worst case scenario. You believed you had sufficient distance and Lian was covering the both of you?” Grandma Yuan asked and the White Snake Demon Cultivator slowly nodded her head.
“Good judgement of the scenario… but too bad, Jin was not your average cultivator.” Grandma Yuan concluded as she walked back towards Jin and Claire.
“…its cheating.” Rong whispered.
“What did you say?” Grandma Yuan turned her head at Rong and dared him to repeat his words.
“It’s cheating! This is his dungeon instance! He must have cheate- !” Rong exclaimed but the sudden slap Grandma Yuan sent to his face stopped his words.
“You lost. It’s as simple as that. Did you forget your Clan’s own lesson about losing graciously? ‘To be thankful to have lived through the experience and strive to do better next time’? Just be glad that this was a Dungeon Instance instead of a real death!” Grandma Yuan became very strict, and Rong looked dissatisfied and sore by the match.
“If you want a rematch, I have no qualms about fighting you in any other dungeon supplier store. With your background, it shouldn’t be hard to find one, which has a special licence allowing for cultivator matches.” Jin offered confidently. Lian excused herself and walked towards Jin while looking him in the eyes.
“Can you swear that you haven’t cheated and used only your own powers against us?” Lian asked, and Jin instantly swore to her that such had indeed been the case.
“I hate to admit it, but Grandma Yuan is right. Jin did not cheat when he fought.” Lian sighed as she took out a miniature toy charm from her pocket. “You all should know that aside from my Nine Tailed Demon Fox cultivation, I’ve received the foundation training from my Royal Zodiac Dog Clan.” She showed the entire group that the miniature toy charm which featured a husky dog, was looking brightly coloured and vibrant.
“A Legendary Grade Truth inscription charm!” Only Lein was able to discern it compared to the other trainees.
“Yes, my dad gave it to me as an insurance of sorts. He was worried that the enemy might have planned on using some underhanded method to cheat since it was a fight to the death.” Lian said as she shook the miniature toy charm.
“I had also activated the truth inscription charm along with my Keen Smell of the Watchful Dog technique to check whether he was lying or if his vitals would increase. Everything was as per normal.” Lian said, and Rong quietly suffered the humiliation he brought on himself.
“Sorry, Rong…” Lian whispered to herself quietly. She too would have preferred to believe that he was cheating, but the truth was that Jin was way stronger than them even though he was lower in grade.
“Now, as promised. Your oath to me when you enrolled included that you had to obey each and every deal I had made. All of you lost this particular match against Jin so, from today onwards, he will be your boss. You will work and get paid based on the salary I had drafted a few days back.” Grandma Yuan announced, and Claire passed them each a sheet of paper that stated the contract.
“What? Only 10,000 Yuan(1450 USD) a month? That is even lesser than the allowance I receive?!” Lein exclaimed at the absurdity of the contract.
“Yes, only 10,000 Yuan a month. You will work until you repay your debt equivalent to a resurrection fee for your current grade. And don’t even think about paying with your allowance or anything outside of your salary! Don’t worry. To make it fair, I’ve taken into account your overall cost and split it evenly.” Grandma Yuan seemed to oddly enjoy their shocked faces.
“That’s going to take like forever! What the hell?! I’d rather undergo the Heavenly Five Element Tribulations than be stuck with him!” Rong complained only to realise he angered his instructor once again.
“Rong stop being so impatient and listen to the end! I won’t hand you over to him without giving you a chance to prove yourself and regain your freedom earlier. ” Grandma stopped him from interrupting her.
“All of you will have the possibility to reduce the debt you incurred if you can complete the future tasks I’ll create for you. For example, passing out as a Demon Exorcist will allow to reduce your debt by 1,000,000 Yuan.” Grandma Yuan added, and everyone somehow perked up.
“Heh, talking about being a Demon Exorcist, if Jin is to be accepted, he will have to address us as his seniors.” Lein notified the others via private transmission, and Grandma Yuan could visibly see their lips curling at the side.
“Also, before I forget. Jin is now a Demon Exorcist and assigned as team leader of your group.” Grandma Yuan said, and their faces turned green and later red with anger.
“What! How can he just directly become a Demon Exorcist without proper training? Has he even fought with a demon before? We’ve been your disciples since our childhood, why are you showing such favouritism to this dungeon supplier?” Su Zhen who had been keeping it in all this while finally flared out her concerns.
“Oh, I fought many demons, slew them as well as monsters.” Jin chimed in as he could not stand this bunch of kids. Not to mention, now Grandma Yuan wanted to place them under his care. “Do I seriously look that carefree to her?” Jin thought to himself and sighed.
“So if you want to prove yourselves, go fight them. Since you guys are Demon Cultivators, I might at least use you for testing the prototype of a dungeon I had been working on. You all should know that a dungeon and the monsters in them is based on the Dungeon Supplier’s experience, right?” Jin questioned, though they did not even bother responding.
“Guess, I take that as a yes.” Jin looked over, waiting for an answer from her as to whether or he could let them try the dungeon instance.
“By all means. You are the team leader now.” Grandma Yuan’s arrogant voice became even more haughty. Claire could not help but cover her face while visibly giggling at Grandma Yuan’s reply.
“I will join in this dungeon instance too as a precaution to avoid you all getting bullied, okay?. After all, I was your former team leader.” Claire volunteered, and the rest reluctantly agreed since Claire had decided to join in. “However, I will not do anything unless I see him intentionally overstepping his bounds.”
“We understand. Then what if we manage to beat his dungeon instance?” Rong was still unhappy with the overall situation.
“I will slash the debt by 50,000 Yuan. (~7200USD)” Grandma Yuan said, and they were delighted to have at least something in return.
“However, if you fail. Half salary for the first month.” Jin had already begun abusing his authority even though Grandma Yuan knew it was a prompt to push them even further.
“A Panda Nurse will come in, and she will teach you how to install the Pandamonium App. Afterwards, just follow the instructions from the app. I will see you guys later.” Jin said as he left the ward alongside Grandma Yuan and Claire.
“So since when I did become a Demon Exorcist?! Also, could you please explain what is happening? I don’t even know anything about this Demon Exorcist thing! And why did you push those kids to me? You retiring or what?!” Jin who had been calm and composed became frantic after the Panda Nurse had closed the ward’s doors behind them.
“Hahahah! Well, I did promise you a little chat after all. Care to lead the way?” Grandma Yuan laughed, and her demeanour was a bit kinder than usual. There was a load of things she could finally take off her chest.
