There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 52 - 51. Let’s Do This

That single piece of information effectively rendered the whole room speechless. Even Radia seemed to only hear about it now. He raised his brows and smiled in amusement.

How fascinating.

"Fully—what...h-how?" Abel stared at Zein with a whole new look in his eyes; Astonishment, disbelief, confusion.

But the guide soon calmed himself down. He recalled then, that there was a huge discrepancy among A-class guides. It was because the determining factor to decide an A-class was by fully lighting up the measuring plate. But there was no way to precisely measure how big an A-class vessel was. They were guides with the biggest vessel below the Temple-raised Saints. Whether it was just slightly bigger than the minimum requirement, or so big it nearing the Saint’s vessel—no device could measure that.

So his doubt easily vanished just like that, thinking that Zein must have a huge vessel—bigger than him, obviously. "Wow," it was replaced by genuine astonishment.

"So, how about it? We can consider the emergency situation as a special case and just give you the same incentive as the other guides," Radia clapped his hand to bring the focus back to the contract. "The rate for the 5-star’s guiding will follow the rate of the Temple. Fair, no?"

"I’m not a Saint, though?"

Radia just smiled mysteriously at Zein’s remark. "It doesn’t matter if you work like one," he shrugged. "Do we have an agreement, then?"

"Hmm," Zein took the contract from Bassena’s hand, and for the first time started to peruse the document seriously.

"Ah, we can send you the amended contract through the commlink, but I see you don’t have one," Radia tilted his head and snapped his fingers at the butler, who swiftly walked out of the room. "Please read that now while we wait for the amended version. Minho and Sina, come with me," he stood up and called at Director Lee, as well as the woman from Mortix, and left the room with his other summoned creatures.

Once the Guildmaster was out, Zein could hear a collective sigh from the other staff. Han Shin swiftly moved to sit at the guide’s other side, and the others seated themselves on the other chairs. Suddenly, the atmosphere became more relaxed with the absence of the boss.

"Is he that scary?" Zein asked while flipping the page.

Bassena leaned back and chuckled. "Let’s just say he has various ways of destroying people."

"Mm," Zein hummed in agreement. Radia didn’t look like much—wasn’t particularly dashing or strong-looking. But the man had powers in every aspect, and would hesitate at nothing to use them for his gain.

At any rate, he wasn’t someone Zein wanted to end up as an enemy.

That being said, Zein was in awe throughout the contract reading. It was thorough, detailed, and not once felt exploitative. It was miles different from the contract he had with Umbra. The contract fee and salary were written in detail, including the incentives. Zein presumed it was this section that would be changed.

But boy—what kind of money was this?

Zein spent quite some time just staring at the page filled with numbers. He looked at Bassena with widened eyes. "Hey, this is..."

"Hmm? Do you find something you don’t like? Radia might seem like a cunning businessman, but he is always fair when it came to fees," Bassena leaned closer and peeked through Zein’s shoulder. "Ah, the new contract would include the Temple rate for the separate payment, so it’ll be bigger, don’t worry."

Zein blinked. Worry? Worry about what? Did this esper think Zein was disappointed at the payment?

"Hmm...but I think the contract fee should still be bigger, don’t you think? I mean, isn’t this using the basis of a regular A-class guide?" Han Shin, who peeked from the other side, chimed in. "But Zein would be considered an executive, right? Since he’d be a division advisor..."

’What is this crazy punk saying?’

"You’re right. And considering that he’ll also be involved in the main research team..."

"I’ll go and speak to him," Han Shin stood up and abruptly left the room, leaving Zein feeling dumbfounded.

After being stunned for a while, Zein laughed inwardly. He wanted to talk about the absurdity of this currency, but someone who thought the numbers were extravagant did not exist in this room.

A million just for the contract fee. A hundred thousand in fixed salary, not including incentives, accommodation and food money, as well as a percentage earning from each dungeon raid’s net profit. And that was only talking about Trinity. Since Zein basically worked in tandem with Mortix too, he would also receive research expenditure.

Zein put on his mask again, because he felt like if he looked distressed somehow, they would make a fuss about it. A million was enough to buy a luxury condo in an upscale green-zone, and probably a whole mansion in the lower zone. Hell—a whole estate in the orange zone. He could buy the whole residential area in the red zone and rebuild it if he wanted.

If he recalled correctly, he was sold to Umbra for five thousand nocs. For the first three years of his contract with Umbra, Zein was only paid with stale bread and leftover meat. He got paid 5 nocs per day for the next five years, only because he finally became a decent guide. In the red-zone, they could get a cooked meal with 1 noc if they weren’t picky, or get a whole loaf of decent bread. He could at least start to feed his brothers with real food with that payment.

He received twice the amount for the remainder of his two years contract, and 18 for the other additional three, whereas the Borderland gave him around 11000 per year. Even with the payment he received from Mortix for the two weeks expedition, Zein received less than a hundred thousand throughout his life so far.

And he could get that much per year now, even if he did nothing but showed up in the guild’s building. With all the added incentives and separate payments...Zein suddenly felt at a loss for words.

It wasn’t that he felt it was too much. He just realized again how big the discrepancy between each zone was. It was something like a culture shock for him.

There was a time when he had nothing in his person to the point that he had to dive into the garbage can to look for food. But now, he suddenly had no idea what he should do with that much money in his possession.

Of course, he knew that the living cost in the green-zone was incomparable with what he was used to. But considering that lodging and meals were provided, as well as basic uniforms that served as equipment, Zein didn’t think there was a need for him to touch that money.

Just as Zein was drowned in a sense of incongruity, Han Shin came back with a bang on the door. "It’s done! I talked to him and they are adjusting it now,"

"Oh, good job," for once, Bassena gave the healer a thumbs-up.

What good job?! Zein was tempted to massage his temple. But his attention soon turned toward the ’butler’ that came with Han Shin. He brought a box and walked toward Zein, putting it in front of the guide.

"A gift from my Master," he said dryly. Zein couldn’t help but stare at this creature—a phantom. It was the first time for him, to see a human summon. The blue eyes flickered and glowed slightly, peering into the phantom’s inside. Just as he thought, the flow of mana was different, filling the entire vessel rather than flowing through the circuit like ordinary humans.

The butler paused for a second, staring with slightly widened eyes at Zein’s inquisitive gaze. He let out a smile for the first time, and Zein blinked, realizing his transgression. "I’m sorry," he apologized while taking the box. "Thank you,"

"My pleasure,"

With that succinct reply, the phantom butler walked out of the room again.

The box was actually for a commlink, and Zein stared at the sleek black bracelet with a deep red and gold line in a mix of interest and confusion.

"Ah, yes, you’ll need this," Bassena took the bracelet from the box and examined it. "Mm, good, it’s Mortix’s latest. Should I help you set it up?"

"...yeah," to this day, Zein still hadn’t got the hang of the device. He let Bassena take his hand and set the bracelet around his wrist, feeling that slight tingling again as the device turned on and connected with his neurons.

"You need to bind and register this with your id card. You can just use your guild license," Bassena put out his palm, and Zein took out the box he received from the Center earlier.

"Ah, that’s nostalgic," Abel commented with a smile, looking at the thin box. He had no idea why a guide with seventeen years of career would only have a license now, but he wouldn’t doubt someone being vouched by the three pillars of Trinity. "I’m sure you know it already, but you should keep the protective case safe. It’ll help a lot if your license got lost or damaged."

The box, or the protective case, that came with the license card was a type of warranty. It contained a unique pattern and was carved with a serial code that would prove the authorization of the card. Should the card got damaged, the guide would only need to bring the case for re-issuing a new one without much hassle.

"I don’t know that," Zein replied while Bassena scanned his card with the bracelet. "Thanks,"

The guide smiled amiably, giving him a benevolent, caring person vibe. Zein thought that was why he became the head of the guide’s division. To manage the guides’ level of stress, a kind yet stern soul would be needed—although resourceful guilds nowadays also had psychiatrists on standby.

Meanwhile, Bassena had finished fiddling with the commlink and set the device up. A series of familiar basic apps came into the pop-up holographic scene, including the Guide Center and Trinity ones. "This link should already be registered by the Guildmaster, so he’ll probably send the revised—ah, it’s here,"

A notification came up through the interface and Bassena guided Zein on how to operate it just like when they were inside the Deathzone. This newest, regular version was quite different than the one they used inside the Deathzone, so the guide had to learn about it all over again.

The digital version of the contract came up, and Zein skimmed the unchanged part. His focus was on the salary part, which, as he thought, was the one who got adjusted. As soon as he laid eyes on the numbers, he wanted to burst out laughing.

A fifty percent increase in the contract fee, and a yearly salary of one hundred and eighty thousand for the combined role in Trinity and Mortix’s research team.

It felt so absurd and out of his league.

"How is it? Satisfactory?" Radia came into the room then, along with his entourage. "Do you have anything more you want to negotiate?"

In the first place, Zein didn’t even have any intention to negotiate about the salary. He looked at the crimson eyes with a rare, helpless look. But the Guildmaster just smiled and spoke calmly. "I assure you, Mr. Luzein, that I always treat people true to their worth."

Which meant, if he deemed someone worthless, he’d treat them like shit. But Radia Mallarc did treat his talented people preciously. As long as you were still useful to him, he would be your undisputable protector and the most generous sponsor.

Zein let out a chuckle and a long sigh. He couldn’t even nitpick at the penalty clauses and leaned forward to empty his glass. "Haa..." as he put the glass back, the guide smirked. "Let’s do this."

* * *

"Alright, that’s it. We’ll introduce you during the executive meeting in five days, so just acclimate yourself with the guild," Radia clapped his hand once after Zein signed the contract. "You can ask Abel for things, and someone from the shard research team will reach out to you."

Zen exhaled behind his mask, finally feeling a bit of exhaustion that had been piling out through the journey here. Not to mention the accidental measurement and all of these contract talks. He stood up then, as the benign-looking guide walked toward him.

"Would you like to have a guild tour, or would you prefer to go to the dorm?" Abel asked.

Bassena, who had never left Zein’s side the whole time, interjected. "I can—"

"Esper Vaski, you have a raid briefing in fifteen minutes," Radia cut the esper with a deep smile and a sip of his iced water.

"Ah, crap!" Bassena clicked his tongue. He looked at Zein with a slightly pleading gaze, those puppy-like eyes he usually had. "Don’t go anywhere tonight."

"Where would I go?" Zein tilted his head. The only people he knew were the ones from Trinity.

But Bassena pursed his lips and murmured in annoyance. "I don’t know...that steel whatever guy..."

"Even though I already signed a contract?" Zein raised his brow at the incredulous thought.

Bassena stared at Zein for a bit, before frowning. Pouting. "The guild had nothing to do with the fact that he’s interested in you,"

"Heh," Zein raised his hand and patted the sulking cheek before he realized it. "Go to your briefing," Zein said with a hidden smile and started to walk away, only to be stopped once again.

This time, however, it was not Bassena—who was standing still in stun while blinking and touching his cheek. It was Director Lee, who had been reading a form in his hand. "Mister Lu—" Minho paused when he saw the cold blue eyes, and corrected himself. "Guide Zein, about this personal information you filled earlier..." the man waved the paper in his hand, "You haven’t filled in your day of birth, only the year,"

"Ah," Zein answered it with a shrug. "I don’t have it."

"...yes?"

"I don’t have it," Zein shrugged again. "I mean, I don’t know my birth date."

Apparently, his mother didn’t tell the grandma about it, and that man who sold him couldn’t bother to remember. It wasn’t a rare occurrence; orphans that got stranded from their infant day usually had a birthday of the day the orphanage take them in. Zein wasn’t really considered an orphan though, and the grandma didn’t remember when his mother hand him over to the grandma. The twin also had no clear birthday, so they usually just celebrated it during the new year together—not that they had any money to celebrate anything.

"Do you really need it?" Zein tilted his head with an impassive gaze. "Just use the new year or whatever,"

"Ah, no, it’s okay..." the Director responded after blinking a few times, and Zein wordlessly continued to walk away with Abel, who looked back with an awkward expression.

For a while, after the guides left the room, the lounge was filled with suffocating silence. Suffocating because the strongest individual there was emitting such heavy pressure.

But Radia said nothing, just looking at Bassena’s enraged back. Even Han Shin didn’t feel like calming the esper. He still tried to call out to him, though. "Bas..."

"He never even knew when he was born?" it wasn’t a question. Bassena chuckled darkly. No—rather than didn’t know, Zein just completely lacked any interest in it.

Like he was just numb already.

"Treat him well, Bas," Radia replied calmly. But his usual all-knowing smile was non-present.

"This reclamation project," the esper turned to look at the Guildmaster deeply. "We will make it a success, right?"

This time, the thin lips stretched into a smile as the crimson eyes glint sharply. "Don’t ask the obvious."