Even in a highly developed, connected, and educated society, it doesn’t take more than a few differences in opinions that are all supported by different, but true, facts for people to start gathering in opinionated factions.

It wasn’t to say that the IGS had already split into camps and factions that saw each other as rivals, allies, or even enemies, as Rune knew even before Tiziana reminded him that the inherent functioning of the IGS didn’t lend itself to such a way of doing things.

The history of the IGS was an objectively peaceful one, any historian would say the same thing on this point, and it was all due to a major society mutation that took place relatively early in its creation: Administrative necessity.

The reason the Rululus came to fame wasn’t due to just their unique intellectual capabilities, because while it was certainly a part and the Rululus really birthed political leaders that brought enormous change, even them only became names in a long registry of revolutionary leaders that weren’t mentioned anymore after they stepped down from the scene.

The most important part was their seamless integration into this society mutation that was the administrative necessity.

The origins of this society mutation were clear for everyone, so it wasn’t a secret, as was its content: The complete separation between administration and… Everything.

When the past IGS decided to exact this change, they didn’t know this change would have come to shape the entire future IGS thousand of years later, with an administrative side that had never ceased to increase its separation from and with everything else.

The culture was one thing, the economy was another, the military was one more, politics had also become just another thing, as for administration? It was “the” thing.

Everything was linked to it but it had become a completely self-contained black-box in which anyone unrelated couldn’t interfere at all, if they could even see it, to begin with.

The advent of the AI core revolution and the official recognition of the need for AI cores in their civilization had only exacerbated the existence of this ultimate black-box, separated from everything but paradoxically still linked to everything, with an administration that saw its efficiency increased by an untold amount in an extremely short period of time.

All to say, the IGS as a civilization didn’t fear social wars or even having its own citizens split into hundreds of factions, because in the end, there existed only one way for those possibly extremist factions to advance their plans and ideas: Bringing change from the inside.

Such a fact had been proven again and again over tens of thousands and tens of thousands of years.

Cosmic disasters could wipe entire star clusters, giant universal companies could create complete monopolies, war-inducing cultures could propagate to an entire galaxy, entire solar systems could totally isolate themselves… All those events would only be noted down and archived.

The IGS administration was a cold-hearted monster that would never move. Some called it a neutrality utopia. It only obeyed the law and remained neutral, it wasn’t making money, it didn’t have an armed force, it didn’t have political power, it didn’t influence anything.

It just administered.

So when Tiziana told Rune the tale of the creation of the noble faction and the opposed minor faction, he acted like any proper IGS citizen and… Saw it as yet another form of reality-show entertainment.

“So the people with families who died due to minor civilization’s criminals formed the noble faction to prove their nobility and discriminate against minor civilization’s people, but as some took it too far, some minor civilization’s people formed their own faction to act against the nobles, which in turn acted against original IGS citizens indiscriminately? Is that a good summary?”

Asking if he had gotten it or not, Rune wondered if he had correctly understood everything that had been said over the last hour.

“Yup,” Tiziana affirmed with a nod, still wearing the same smile, “It’s a classic far-reaching open stigma cycle: Division us versus them, discrimination, labeling, stereotype, more division. The more actively involved department is the economic one if you’re wondering where the support comes from.”

Finding a new dam to break as she confirmed Rune’s rough summary, she rushed at it faster than her shadow was capable of following.

“For the economy, creating 2 clearly cut factions can only benefit them as it allows new companies to be created with the express intent of catering to those factionalized-minded people. You can search online for noble faction-derived products and you’ll find a bull ton of them.”

Still uninterrupted, she continued.

“As of now, politics didn’t really involve itself as neither faction has a solid realist plan concerning how they want to further their convictions. The rise of criminality, in general, is something that interests the political camp more than determining who is the cause of this rise.”

Adreana had long since left, leaving the two of them to discuss whatever they ended up discussing, and as Rune had said, he was more of a listener than a talker, and what she was talking about interested him, so why would he bother saying anything or interrupt her?

“Oh, right? I was talking about the economic implications. Did I talk about the statistic that established without any possible denial that more than 70% of new pioneer companies who own a pioneer advantage are helmed by original IGS citizens? The Undecided company is just an example, but it’s an interesting number when I say it like that, right?”

Digressing and speaking chaotically about somewhat-related subjects. That’s what Tiziana did without even being aware of it, for Rune he simply explained it as her having too much to talk about.

When he talked about something he loved, he was maybe a bit like this? It was certainly a possibility.

“There’s also a few figureheads that have started to stand out, notably in the minor faction there’s a historian who studied the history forum of the globalized information board and made his work publicly available.”

“The fact that in the future once our dimension reaches true tier 1 ether density, species more intellectually capable or gifted with unique powers just by virtue of their birth are sure to come to existence is close to creating yet another faction within the minor faction… Something like an educator faction? Don’t know, it sounds a bit weird but who am I to judge?”

With an endless well of subjects to talk about, and all being of slight interest to Rune, their discussion continued for hours, ultimately only ending when after too much digression, Tiziana had come to talk about the gardener path.

“Now that I think about it!” She suddenly exclaimed as she got up from her chair after talking about random advanced material structure types and coexistence with atomic energy bridges, “I need to work on this structure before I forget about it! It was a good chat and I think I’ll be able to focus on my work for more than a week! It was a pleasure to meet you! Bye!”

Faster than her voice reached his ears, she had moved a few hundreds of meters away and entered a container containing the abbreviated chemical element Bk97, just next to the Cf98 container.

“It was my pleasure too.”

His voice echoed out to no one as he politely bid goodbye, satisfying himself by acting like a noble as told in ancient stories or depicted in all-generation movies.

‘Well, in the end, nothing really happened. At least nothing that concerns me or my future destination. I wonder if I was assigned an AREC adventurer rank… Maybe I’m already gold? Though that seems a bit far-fetched if the system is really as scaled and adaptive as she said.’

Hesitating for a few seconds, Rune ultimately sent a message to Olivia, his first support, asking whether he had been assigned an adventurer AREC rank, and if he had been, what it was.

‘I should also send a contact request to Tiziana… There are only pros in having someone like her as a friend.’

Once he did that, he looked towards the training area where people tried to destroy targets that were conceived to not be destroyed.

‘I also need to update the cosmic mist dome. Can I make some sort of announcement about it with my network admin rights?’

Forming the start of a funny plan in his mind in an instant, he calculated with his own algorithm that the effort-enjoyment ratio of this plan was in the right range and started to build it from the ground up.

This plan climaxed 2 hours later when he had written a beautiful announcement and arrived at one of the few 5-kilometer wide domes present in the entire training park, and it was one used to host his cosmic mist element.

‘Yup, it really needs an update. I can just completely see right through it.’

Entering it, he gathered a bit of ambient cosmic mist and started to feel it, analyze it, and after he had his fill of nostalgia, replace it.

‘Even if it wasn’t voluntary, the other 3 stages have also progressed neatly compared to the version I left behind 2 years ago. Do I need to thank my battle mutations or my stubborn focus on progressing my 1st stage? Yet more to think about. Can’t wait to visit the Secluded Corner again.’

In less than 5 seconds, he created a wisp of intent that started to propagate itself at an unimaginable speed, transforming the 5-kilometer wide cosmic mist dome in a way that only those who specialized in perception could somewhat sense.

‘Let’s update the others, a few small ones and the parkour one too.’

Navigating through the park quickly and arriving at all the domes that hosted his cosmic mist, he changed all of them depending on what version they needed, ultimately being rewarded by a single leveling notification.

*Ding* Energy: Specialized Cosmic Mist Element reached Tier 4 Level 13

‘I’ll take it, not that it changes anything at this point. Or maybe I can expect a change at tier 7 or 8? Seems that the Secluded Corner is the answer to everything hehehe, what’s better than a quiet place to read and write everything I need to?’

Wondering when Astryde’s report on that subject would be finished and he would be able to read it, he brought up the Undecided training park’s network and used his admin right to send a general message that the cosmic mist domes had all been refreshed and updated to a much stronger version by its amazing creator.

‘And… Done. Next step: Concluding the bone region adventure in a way that I’ll just forget everything once I’m finished!’

Not even needing to think about where he wanted to go next, he stepped out of the last small mist dome and set off towards the minor teleportation node.

‘And it’s even dusk, what more do I need?’

…

“Woah~~”

Looking up at the 7-kilometer high skyscraper shining with blue and pink neons detouring a complex and futuristic form in the completely dark night made certain awe appear in Rune’s admiration-filled exclamation.

Where this building could be found was the extreme west district or the south sector, exactly the same address where the first iteration of the Secluded Corner was created.

‘And they don’t even need to adapt the gravity to allow such a building to exist? The architects must have been having wet dreams when they were designing that with tier 3 materials, it’s just so extravagant.’

This skyscraper wasn’t average or even normal, it was the complete opposite: It was dwarfing everything around it, the “normal-sized” buildings.

Joining the flow of people entering this massive towering building, Rune took a sly pleasure in hiding himself in plain sight by covering himself in his cosmic mist.

He hadn’t lost this habit even after years of being away, and it still felt as good as when he first did it.

‘So… 214th floor?’

Searching for signs that could help him confirm the information he had on hand, he found one easily and was surprised by the presence of a single clearly written “Secluded Corner” sign on the general floor registry panel of the hall.

‘Well, is it still secluded or even a corner at this point? Though if I know them as much as I think I do, it’s more likely that they just adapted their operating model to a more VIP-centric one…’

Having not spoiled himself of anything prior to arriving, he was only aware that the Undecided company had given them unlimited EP loan as long as they continued doing what they had been doing.

Faced with such a fact anyway, Rune could only see his expectations climb higher than before upon seeing that a floor took on the name of the establishment itself.

‘And for having the most genuine experience, it’s a must to take the elevator and not the vertical corridor.’

Taking this rediscovery of one of his favorite establishments seriously, at least as much as he was able to considering his overpowered perception sphere, he approached one of the elevators that served exclusively the 200th to 250th floor and waited until people entered it to enter with them.

Not wanting to spook them, he used an energy tendril to press the 214th-floor button undetected as it seemed no one wanted to go there.

It had to be said that people using the elevator were either the laziest people or those who wanted to enjoy it like an attraction, so he didn’t put more thought into his situation as the elevator finally took off.

With the new constitution given to everyone by the Ether Law and the fact that anyone in the Endless would be peak tier 1 entities at least if they weren’t babies, the safety threshold of the elevator’s acceleration seemed to have been simply removed, allowing it to reach the 200th floor in 20 seconds.

No one flinched at this acceleration, nonchalantly acting like it didn’t even exist for the untrained eye.

When the elevator reached the 214th floor and the door opened but no one exited, Rune thought it bad manner to leave without saying anything so…

He clapped his hand strongly, producing a clapping sound that made the people still present inside the elevator jump.

‘Respect the invisible people’s rights, please.’

Making a joke internally that only made himself smile, he turned around and faced this floor that was supposedly fully owned by the Secluded Corner.

Welcoming him was a large circular corridor decorated with flowing curtains and illuminated by subdued lights from where all the elevators and vertical corridor opened, giving everyone a foretaste of what this floor was about…

Or it should have been if his spiritual perception strength hadn't been strong enough to go through the anti-perception measures and directly see everything on this floor apart from a select dozen rooms, some bigger than others.

‘Well, there’s a limit to immersion, I plan to use this place for a long time so let me know all my options and how I should appreciate them all. And by the way, the first to be visited is obviously the jazz bar.’

As if he had been here before, he circled around the elevator shaft and headed towards a curtain that seemed to be made of purple crystals.

By the time he reached it, he had connected to the only available network of this floor and was surprised when he didn’t find anything like a floor map.

‘So they want everyone to enter and experience everything themselves? Not a bad idea considering all the new ambiances I currently see, it’ll be my pleasure to personally test everything once I feel like it.’

Opening the curtain and passing through it, he passed through a layer of intangible energy isolation that should have blocked his perception and senses, only now allowing him to directly hear a slightly muffled background music.

Very familiar background music. Familiar not by its content but by what it created in him.

‘It’s a bit like coming back home… In a very distorted way though, considering it's not the same location anymore and I’ve yet to see any acquaintances.’

After passing through the curtain, Rune stepped inside a dark corridor. Taking a few more steps, he passed through another energy layer as well as a holographic one that made him feel like he instantly teleported inside a fancy-looking large hall.

The way this hall was arranged was exactly the same as the Secluded Corner jazz bar he knew, just adapted for a bigger room.

The main counter was located in the middle of the big hall, the window bay, the table arrangement, the general silence accompanied by relaxing background music that was neither too loud nor too soft…

As he had often felt those last few days, following his return to familiar civilization, a wave of happy nostalgia invaded him and prompted him to find an empty table near the window bay and settle himself comfortably at it.

Accessing the network, he had been given access to the “Traditional Jazz Hall” ordering menu and picked the item he knew was worth his money: Random energy-taste drink.

Finding no meaning in trying to enter the perception-isolated areas just yet, he enthusiastically enjoyed the night-time futuristic urban view in the carefully engineered ambiance of the hall.

Even when his drink was delivered via energy threads, he didn’t bat an eye and just took it for granted that the service was like that.

Once his nostalgia receded and left its place to… What could only be called happiness, happiness in normality to be more exact, Rune got a high-tech tablet he “borrowed” at the training park and had no intention of giving back, out of his now single remaining ether pocket dimension.

The other much bigger pocket dimension was coming close to collapsing so it had been thrown to Arik to be processed, or with another word in Rune’s case, forgotten.

Only his memories and the data he created were things he needed, EPs weren’t completely useless for him, but they could be considered so if he compared the number of situations where he needed them and the number where he didn’t.

Sure, he would need to max out his EP storage before departing for his next adventure, a dimensional one, as he didn’t know if it would last months or years, but that was an exception, not the rule.

Beginning to work on what needed to be done, Rune reviewed his Unending Mountain Dimension preparation list, but didn’t find any flaws or felt inspired to fill the already big list more than it was, so he switched to his bone region diary.

Reclined on a comfy chair and remembering the perfect form he had come up with for his “Journey Through The Bone Region” book, he soon immersed himself in this work that wasn’t work.

It was time to thoroughly end his bone region adventure.