Parallel Memory

[ "That's right! I shouldn't have any problem going with you." ]

[ "Ahhh...." ]

[ "You are already my student. If we go out together, then there will be no problem." ]

( That's exactly the problem. How can a student and teacher go to a party as partners? )

[ "I respectfully decline. A teacher and student attending a party while pretending to be a couple are not appropriate." ]

[ "How about you help me this time? You said that you owe me." ]

[ "Huh?" ]

Oh. I owe her for saving me. I nearly forgot that. She wants me to help her with this problem? I guess I have to. Compare to her saving my life, posing as her partner is no problem.

[ "Though if you don't really want to then it's okay." ]

[ "It's okay. I will be your partner." ]

[ "Really? Then I don't have to worry anymore. The party is next Friday, I will pick you up." ]

I walked to the door. When I reached the door, Professor Mia said to my back.

[ "Thank you!" ]

I ate my lunch in the cafeteria and then proceeded to train in the training field. My goal this time was to train my Shadow Style.

The training ground was more packed than the Magic Art training ground. Most students have sword art.

The training turned out well and I had improved my condensing mana in Shadow Style.

I returned to my dorm and checked my phone for any news. I was specifically looking for the auction that is going to be held. I was searching for any auction that had Malus Fruit as auction items.

Malus Fruit usage was unknown until the later part of the novel and it became one of the most sought-after fruits.

If you consume the Malus alone, it will only increase your mana. However, this is not the reason why it is sought after.

You have to mix Malus fruit with another Rank-A item Lilium flower at the ratio of 3:4.

If the mixture is taken by Rank-A+ peak then he/she will break through to Rank-S.

Due to the limited availability of Malus fruit, only a few rich people could rank up this way.

Currently, the method has not been discovered. Therefore, the price of Malus is a lot cheaper than it will be in the future.

Though I don't need it right now, it will be useful in the future. Whether for money or to break through the Rank-S.

Despite the only known use for the item right now being to increase mana. It was still expensive as it was a Rank-A item and quite rare. It would cost more than 100,000 Ethan coins right now.

While searching for any auction news, I came across a piece of hot news. It was about a Gold graded guild attempting to clear floor 30 in the Obelisk.

The Obelisk is a tower with an unknown number of floors. The higher you climb, the higher rank monster you encounter.

Obelisk allows only 10 people in a team. If an extra person enters then they will be treated as a different team and they will be teleported to a different place.

While raiding the Obelisk Tower, it would take months before a raid is complete. So, preparing for rations and potions is a huge expense. However, the reward is also high and many people do it.

If you beat the boss stationed on every 10th floor, there is a high probability of an artifact appearing.

It was reported the Rank-A team had been inside the Obelisk for over a month with the intention of conquering the 30th floor.

The name of the guild was NightShade. It was a fairly strong guild with three Rank-A+ peak members.

Anyway, after reading the news I jumped back to searching for items. At last, I saw the Malus fruit which is the item that is going to be auctioned this Friday.

I noted down the auction place and time. It is to be held in the auction house of a gold-graded guild.

After that, I casually looked at the status of the app and I was stunned. The app had lots of negative reviews and sales have dropped compared to yesterday.

There were lots of comments, telling others not to download the app.

[ 'Scam! Waste of money.' ]

[ 'Contain Virus. My phone was destroyed after downloading this app.' ]

[ 'Malicious content! Don't Download' ] …

[ "What the hell! What happened?" ]

There were at least a thousand negative reviews. Did something go wrong? I called Aiden.

[ "Hello boss!" ]

[ "Aiden, what happened? Is the app malfunctioning? We are losing lots of users." ]

[ "Sir, about that… The app is working fine. My guess is some guild hired people to write negative things about the app. It could be the guild that we have rejected to work with before." ]

[ "Hmmm… Can you find out who is behind this?" ]

[ "Sir, I know someone who might have this information… I-It will cost some money." ]

[ "Don't worry about money. Use company funds for now and find out who is behind this." ]

[ "Ok" ]

I ended the call. Looks like someone is looking for trouble. Perhaps they have found out that the company is not associated with any guild, so they are messing with us.

[ "Good! Good!" ]

I don't understand why trouble is coming looking for me. From Devil Contractor in BloodyWolf Forest to Professor William, everyone seems to be targeting me.

What? If a tiger doesn't roar, you mistake it for Hello Kitty? I will make you all regret it sooner or later.

The next day, I showed up to class and as always the students were giving me weird looks. After two months, I got used to these stares.

Though initially, their stares were more of looking at some clown. Now, they seem to be staring at me due to their curiosity.

I would usually ignore those stares but it is difficult for me to ignore them while I am training. Therefore, I headed to the Ice room where I could train in peace.

I decided to visit the company before going to the dorm. Since a month ago, Tech Genesis has grown significantly. Now, with Software Engineers, the company had a management team and a Legal team.

With this, I don't have to handle everything. The recruitment of more employees is easier since our company has been running for a while and also because I pay my employees more than others.

Since most people who don't become fighters are generally low-rank, their pay is also low. They would usually get around 5000 - 7000 Ethan coins.

However, I pay them at least 10,000 Ethan coins, and Aiden who is the senior is paid 20,000 Ethan coins excluding bonus. Since our company generates quite a bit of revenue, you can guess how much bonus they get.

Therefore, employees would invite their friends to come to work there. Since I am still short-handed, I appreciate others bringing talent to the company.

As the boss of the company, I had to visit the company from time to time. I treat my employees to dinner sometimes. My employees work hard to make money for me, so I need to treat them well.

Well, you could say I am treating them better than most. Talent other than fighting is not really appreciated by society in this world. They are generally looked down upon.

But which company made up of low-rank humans can earn more than 5 million just after one month of establishing?

The explorer and high-ranked humans are popular because of the money they earn but I don't think even the Gold graded guild generates as much profit as my company.

I entered the company and the receptionist greeted me hurriedly.

[ "Good Evening, Sir!" ]

She bowed gracefully.

[ "Good Evening, call Aiden to my office." ]

[ "Right away!" ]

I nodded and went to my office.

-KNOCK! -KNOCK!

[ "Come in!" ]

[ "Sir, sorry. I have not handled the matter properly. Looks like the other 5 silver graded guilds are targeting us. " ]

[ "5 Silver guild. How can that be?" ]

[ "From the information I got, It looks like someone from the Gold graded guild has instructed them. Otherwise, there is no way they will team up to take a small company like ours." ]

[ "Gold-graded guild?" ]

[ "The informant also said that they suspect the Gold graded guild to be a Dark guild." ]

( Dark Guild )

Dark Guilds are guilds made up of people who like to murder, rob, and commit other unlawful things. Despite not being contracted with Devil, they are not any better than them.

[ "Dark Guild … " ]

Still, it doesn't explain why they would target us. If the Silver-graded Dark guild targets us, I can get it.

However, the Gold graded guild has no reason to invest so many resources into acquiring my company.

[ "Do you know what the name of the guild is?" ]

[ "It is CunningSkull." ]

What a sinister name!