There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 53 - 52. The Golden Badge

Zein stared at his hand as he walked through the hallway toward the elevator he came in earlier. Ah...his body moved before he realized it, casually exercising his show of affection.

’Haa—this fickle heart...’ Zein wanted to reprimand himself. But then, it wasn’t like he was still mad at Bassena, so that was probably why his subconscious mind moved his body without proper thought.

"Mister Zein?" a soft voice calling out to him and Zein put his hand down. They were inside the elevator now, and it seemed like he’d been staring blankly at his hand for a while. free𝑤ebnovel.com

Zein looked at his side, at the guide that looked at him inquisitively, but still with a kind smile. Abel was what people would call a ’normal’ guide. An average build of 170cm, a fairly good-looking feature, and quite a delicate body whose exercise routine looked as if comprised of only stretches and a morning walk. As opposed to Zein, who was 10 cm taller and built with muscle like an esper.

"What’s with the ’mister’? Aren’t you going to be my boss?"

Abel laughed as the elevator slowly went down. "That’s not the case. Since you’ll be an executive, our position is the same. And if we go by guiding rank," he turned and made a finger gun at Zein before continuing. "Won’t you be higher than me?"

Since Zein would exclusively guide the five 5-stars belonging to Trinity, he basically had a higher hierarchy than the division head that would only take care of 4-stars.

"I’m a newbie, though?"

"A newbie with seventeen years of experience?"

"There’s no record of that," Zein shrugged. He did have the experience, but his license card would have a clean record, as if he was just awakened yesterday.

"The sentinel world dictate by power," Abel replied with a simple smile and a wink.

Well, that was true enough. Even if Zein only awakened yesterday, as long as he had the largest vessel, he would stand at the top of the pyramid. That was the benefit of having clear, legitimate measurements. "Just call me Zein, then."

"Fine, Zein," again, Abel chuckled. "What would you like to do now? Guild tour? Or should we go straight to the dorm? But I heard you spent a long time on the road, and with the events today, it might be too exhausting to experience the guild’s compound. Would you like to rest first instead?"

Zein observed the guide beside him. He couldn’t say that he was good at reading people, but Zein thought that Abel looked as kind as what the face showed. Or, rather than kind...how should he put it...

"You looked like you’re good at taking care of people," Zein commented instead of answering.

"Hmm...I get that a lot," Abel replied with a smile. "The Guildmaster told me that’s the reason I became the division head,"

A kind, natural caretaker that also knew his worth, aside from being an A-class guide—Zein got a glimpse of what his coworker was like.

"So? Guild or dorm?"

"Dorm," Zein answered readily. It had been a few days since Zein last saw a proper bed, and no matter how used he was to harsh living, sleeping well was still essential to him.

"Good choice!" Abel clapped his hands once. "It’ll take a while to tour the entire complex, so it’s better to do it tomorrow. I’ll explain the general things about Trinity on our way,"

"But do you have time to do this kind of thing?" Zein tilted his head. "Isn’t this like, I don’t know...an assistant job or something?"

At that, Abel raised his brows and tilted his head to stare at Zein, eyes narrowed and looked like there were a lot of things he wanted to ask. But in the end, he just replied simply. "You know that if not me, the one showing you around would be someone of higher rank than me?"

Zein then remembered Bassena and Han Shin’s eager intention to be his tour guide and chuckled. "I get it. What should I call you, though?"

"You can just call me Abel," the guide replied as the elevator smoothly stopped at the lobby. "It’ll be shorter to use the rear entrance to reach the dorm."

Just like before, as they stepped into the lobby, some people ended up looking at them—or rather, at Zein. Clearly, it was because he was a stranger without any identification card, not even one for a guest. But the gaze was still less than when he walked with Bassena earlier, and without accompanied by nervousness.

With that, Zein could observe the lobby more leisurely. He finally could appreciate the luxurious feeling of the place, although Zein had no sense or idea about aesthetics. He just felt that everything looked expensive, like those shiny antique collections of Umbra’s Guildmaster.

How funny that those precious-looking vases and objects were simply lobby decorations here. Things placed in a public space with high traffic like a lobby meant that it wouldn’t be a big deal even if it was accidentally damaged.

There was a big, semi-circular structure not far from the entrance that seemed to be a receptionist booth, manned by four different good-looking people in white uniforms and iron badges.

Talking about uniforms, Zein realized that most people fleeting about wearing uniforms, including the guards. He saw some who used plain clothes, but he could tell immediately that those were espers.

Abel too, wore a uniform. It wasn’t a blazer suit like the others, however. It was almost the same as what a government guide would use—double-breasted with a banded collar—although the quality of the cut and the fabric was much higher.

Feeling Zein’s gaze, Abel smiled and started to explain. "Right, this is the first thing I’ll tell you about Trinity," he said as they walked further beyond the receptionist’s desk, where the people there smiled and nodded toward the guide. "As you can see, people contracted to Trinity wore uniforms—ah, you’re supposed to have a fitting tomorrow, by the way, for your uniform. Anyway, looking at the uniform colors is the quickest way to tell people’s rank here."

"So, it’s not only differentiated by the badge?"

"Oh, you recognize it too? Yes, we also use that, but there are some differences between them. I’ll explain it to you later, but let me tell you about these places first," Abel paused in the middle of the large hall with something that Zein could only describe as an abstract sculpture. Like a centerpiece, it was surrounded by cushioned benches. Seating places were spread out around the hall, so it looked like a lounge.

Abel pointed to the left then, where Zein could see what he understood as a restaurant through the glass wall. "We have an eatery here," and then he pointed to the right, "and a coffee shop, too. It’s the holy grail for overtime workers since they open for 24 hours. Of course, you have to pay, since it’s not covered by employee benefits, but you can also use your points for that."

"What points?"

"Performance points," Abel moved toward the coffee shop while explaining. "It’s like a reward you get when you did good, like contributing greatly to a project or mission, exceeding your quota, good behaviors—things like that. It is distributed monthly and recorded here," he tapped the badge fastened on his collar. "Those points can be exchanged for anything in the guild’s compound, including food, drink, and equipment."

"Even equipment?" Zein raised his brow, following Abel toward the bar counter. "Like weapons and combat suits?"

"Uh-uh," Abel nodded with a smile. "There are even things that are only available for the guild and are not being sold publicly. Oh, and artifacts too."

Huh, even artifacts? Zein felt more amazed than looking at the luxurious interior.

"Yeah, people can use an auction, sure, but they need to wait for quite some time since it’s not held daily. The espers here prefer to sell their artifacts here and receive points so they can custom made their equipment. It sure is nice being affiliated with Mortix, right?" Abel explained with a grin. "Well, not that I really know, since we guides don’t really need equipment. Ah, what would you like to drink? It’s my treat,"

There was not much line so they easily reached the counter, where various beverages were listed behind it. Zein had no idea what those drinks were, something with coffee and something with chocolate, something blended, something with milk, something with the names of ingredients Zein never encountered in his life...

In his confusion, Zein just answered in a daze. "Something sweet..."

Seeing the frown of flabbergastion in Zein’s eyes, Able laughed softly and ordered something to the barista. "Would you like to have the whipped cream?"

’What the fuck is whipped cream?’ was what Zein thought. "Sure," he replied nonchalantly.

"New guy?" the woman working the cashier asked, glancing at the masked Zein that still looking at the list of beverages with narrowed eyes.

"Uh-huh," Abel replied while paying with his points, and then added with a lower voice and a smile. "A gold badge,"

The woman widened her eyes before responding with a whisper. "An exec right off the bat? Is he an esper?"

"Why would I be a tour guide for an esper?" Abel chuckled. "Of course he’s a guide."

The woman tilted her head, staring keenly at Zein, who was getting tired of looking up and now just observing the espresso machine with interest. "...a guide?"

"A guide," Abel replied calmly, already expecting the reaction. After all, he had the same thought just a few hours ago.

"Huh...but, is there a vacancy in the guide division?"

"Not really, but...hmm, I can’t tell you yet," Abel grinned as the woman pursed her lips in disappointment. But their drinks were done and Abel used it to run away with a laugh. "Here, I don’t know what you like so I just go with some basics. You seemed to like chocolate so, a mocha frappe for you."

What’s a mocha? What’s a frappe? Zein received his tall cup with questions swirling inside his head. But when he sipped on the straw, he didn’t care anymore, just committing the drink’s name into memory. He didn’t even care as people stopped on their track to gawk at him.

"So I can buy this with points?"

"With money too, if you want to save your points, but yeah," they walked through the lounge again and soon reached the rear entrance.

"And the points are stored in that badge?" Zein asked as they exited the sliding door and walked into a concrete field leading into a park he saw from the elevator earlier.

Zein hadn’t received his badge yet, since it need calibration first, so he stared at the gold one in Abel’s uniform. The guide took his badge off and put it on Zein’s palm.

"The badge is your membership identity. It contained your record; achievement, infringement, points, missions, even your vitals. So it is imperative to have the badge on you all the time, so the guild would know immediately if you’re in danger."

Zein observed the badge in his palm. It was shaped in the emblem of Trinity Guild; the flower, the snake, and the white star inside a triangle. He returned the badge to Abel, who continued the explanation.

"The badge represents the structural position inside the guild. The lowest one is the iron badge, worn by normal staff and entry-level members. Ah, but there’s also a no-badge—interns and probationary members with temporary contracts," fastening his badge again, Abel brought Zein through a paved road dividing the park in two, which ended in an apartment building about two hundred meters away. "Oh, you can use the park to wind up and get in touch with nature, anything as long as you don’t damage the plants. I heard it’s a nice place to have a morning run too,"

Zein stared at the spread of greenery that he’d been enjoying since he arrived at the green-zone, thinking he might be able to spend a whole day just looking at the trees and flowers.

But not now. "What about the other badges?"

"The bronze one for the elite members; hmm...like a very talented member that holds no managerial position? The managers and team leaders wore the silver one, and the executives, us, have the gold."

Zein sipped on his drink while looking at the bright blue sky, feeling comfortable and weird at the same time. "But why am I an executive?"

Obviously, Zein wasn’t really familiar with that kind of structure in a guild. Umbra only had Guildmaster and team leaders, while the Borderland used a military system, more or less. Perhaps because Trinity was essentially a Mortix’s guild, it felt like a company structure. And seeing the structure, executives were in an extremely high position.

What was someone like him doing in that kind of position?

"Why?" Abel looked like he was more dumbfounded about why Zein was asking that. But then, Abel remembered that this man even thought that he would be placed below Abel in the hierarchy, and closed his mouth to contemplate before answering. "First, you will become an advisor for a new division. Second, because you are an exclusive guide for our 5-stars," he stared at the blue eyes, which seemed to be thinking about something.

"Are exclusive guides considered an executive?" he tilted his head. Of course, by this point, Zein already understood that ’exclusive guide’ had a different meaning than the one in the red-zone.

"Of course not," Abel shook his head and shrugged. "But you do know that the status of exclusive guides is proportionate with the espers of their charge, yes?" after Zein nodded, he continued with a question. "Then who are you in charge of, Zein?"

5-stars. No—four 5-stars and one Saint-class belonged to Trinity. As Abel saw the understanding inside the blue orbs, he let out a slight chuckle. "Your job is akin to a Saint, Zein. What would people think if the one in charge of those monsters is a normal staff? You are an executive because you receive executive-level pay and responsibility."

"I see..."

Abel wanted to laugh, honestly. Zein didn’t even understand the massive role he held now. He still hadn’t seen what Zein could do, but if what Han Shin said was true, then Zein had an ability that was almost on par with a Saint. With that kind of skill, it was easy for him to seek a position in any guild or become an exclusive guide of the world’s strongest.

But then, he would be put in that much danger too. After all, there was a reason why the Saints always stayed inside the Temple.

The contract with Trinity, at the very least, would protect him somewhat for the next six years.

"What about the uniform?" the tall guide suddenly asked, shattering Abel’s train of thought.

"Ah, right, the uniform," Abel nodded. "It represents rank, to put it simply. Red for A-class guides and 4-star espers," he pointed into his own uniform. "Blue for B-class guides and 3-star espers, and green for C-class guides and 2-star espers."

"So they corresponded to each other," Zein muttered. C-class guides were the most optimal for taking care of 2-star espers and so on. "But did espers wear a uniform too?"

"Well, not really," Abel laughed. "Since it is cumbersome for the combat unit. But some whose role is more in the managerial field tend to use it. They also use it for formal events."

So that was why Bassena’s assistant use the suit. "And below that?"

Abel smiled and replied with a shrug. "We don’t accept below that."

Trinity didn’t have a lot of members compared with other big guilds. Size-wise, it was a medium guild. But they had enough financial confidence to only look at the talented individuals.

"What about the white one?"

"Ah, it’s for civilians—you know, the ones that aren’t espers or guides," Abel suddenly tilted his head and looked at Zein, observing the man from head to toe. "Hmm, I wonder..."

"What?"

"What color would your uniform be," the smaller guide grinned.

"Wouldn’t it be red?" Zein responded while looking sadly at his empty cup while activating his mask again. "Following the guide class,"

But Abel curled his eyes and smiled mysteriously. "Who knows, since they go as far as make a fitting for you,"

"What’s that got to do—"

"Ah, we’re here! Let’s go," without letting Zein finish his words, Abel spread his arms toward the tall building in front of them. "Welcome, to the Trinity Residence."