Rose looked over the report. His mana signature... there was no doubt about it… he was an Irregular. ‘I have to report this higher up…’ she bit her lip, looking at Jeffers’ back. He had been acting strange lately. “Do you think he is lying?”

Jeffers tensed. “He is definitely lying. Just don't know about what.” He rolled his neck without looking away from his phone. “I think he probably ran away from the fight, leaving his party members to die. Cowardice isn’t a crime.”

“What? And you didn’t press him on that? What even made you think that?”

“Think about his story…” Jeffers spun around. “He says he fought off the monsters with his knife… where was it? You don’t just leave behind hundreds of dollars in equipment just because you see the exit. Especially not a meagre Iron Grade like him… he couldn’t afford that.”

Rose cupped her face. “Maybe he dropped it while running away.” It reminded her of the man with the epithet Metal Breaker- an Irregular Avatar and guild leader who consumed weapons and armor for their skills. ‘Perhaps he has a similar system and consumed it...’

“Unlikely. He says he fought off a raid boss with it… but he left it behind? It seems more like he didn’t even notice he lost it. What did his signature come back as?”

Rose bit her lip, looking up from the keyboard. “It- it came back normal. Standard. It’s the Black System. Maybe he leveled up because he killed the monsters barehanded. That would be enough of a feat...” Rose trailed off. She wouldn’t reveal that he was an Irregular— not to Jeffers. Instead, she would pass this news directly up the chain- over Jeffers’ head.

“Still though, we should dispatch a member of the monitoring division.” Rose spoke.

“Just in case!” She hurriedly followed up her previous statement to dispel the awkward tension in the air.

‘Standard? You lying bitch. How dumb do you think I am?’ Goldy Jeffers’ thought to himself as he reached his work for the second time today. ‘No… this man, he definitely has the red system. The first time he levels up, his entire party dies? There’s only one possibility.’

“Jeffers!” He smiled and nodded, returning the gesture to one of the admin workers. ‘What was this one's name…? Steve?’

“Hey bud.” Goldy continued down the halls, not stopping to talk to him. Goldy was on a mission.

“You’re working a late shift tonight!” Steve called after him, before turning to follow him down the hall. “Working hard or hardly working?”

“Ha, a little bit of both. I think I forgot my wallet in the office. Just blowing back through.” Goldy smiled grandly.

“Well, my shift is over, we ought to go out for drinks aft—” Steve stopped talking, seeing the terrible look on Goldy’s face. If looks could kill, Steve would have dropped dead on the spot. Goldy’s eyes seem to radiate a reddish aura. “Ah… another time then!” Steve turned around, heading out of the hall.

Goldy finally gained access to the computer network in his office. He logged in and accessed Damon’s profile.

“Wait… what the hell is this mana signature!?” Goldy nearly exclaimed. “This… is standard?” ‘The red system is known for hiding its user's signature behind an ordinary one… did the device originally show black?’ Goldy quickly edited the signature on file to reflect an ordinary system, before heading to the lockup. Stealing inside, he unlocked the locker containing Damon’s mana imprint, sliding it into its pocket.

He flipped open his phone and sent a text.

‘I've cleared his records. Another potential user. I’m texting you his address. Send a welcoming party… but be careful of the monitoring division.’

Name: Goldy Jeffers

Level: 34

Skills:

Title: 100 Man Slayer

Class: Assassin

[Assassinate] Lvl. 24

I sighed, setting down my nail third file. There was nothing more grating to me than the sensation and sound as I tried, desperately, to shave down my blackened nails. Despite the debuff being cleared, I still had to file off the length that I still had— uneven black, sharpened keratin that refused to be grinded away.

Fuck it. I’m going to find a sanding machine.

Wait, do we already have one?