Chapter 25: Professionals

Hearing Danika's words, Marcus looked at Leon with newfound interest. Since his capable right-hand woman had spoken so highly of him, it seemed this draftee snatched from prison truly had some exceptional qualities.

He grinned and said, "Work hard, kid. Once the mission is over, I’ll treat everyone to a night out at Price’s."

The first part was directed at Leon; the second was for everyone present.

Hearing this, Danika replied lethargically, "Forget it, Chief. You’d be better off giving us a bonus with that money. Besides, have you forgotten how many women there are in the bureau?"

"But that’s a reimbursable expense! Those stingy bastards in the Finance Department would never approve it if I tried to swap it for bonuses." Marcus scratched his cheek, looking somewhat disgruntled.

Leon listened to their conversation, completely bewildered. He quietly tugged on the sleeve of a nearby security officer and whispered, "What is Price’s?"

Given his performance earlier, the officer didn't mind answering such a trivial question. "Price’s Desire Group, a large corporation affiliated with the Universal Enterprise Union."

"Its primary business is..." The officer didn't finish his sentence, a knowing, lascivious grin spreading across his face.

"???"

Seeing the man’s lewd expression, Leon was stunned for a moment, but then it clicked. He realized exactly what the "primary business" of Price’s Desire Group was.

A brothel!

Noticing that Leon had grasped the subtext, the officer continued, "Though, our Price’s in Sector 66 has its own unique flair." He leaned in close to Leon’s ear and whispered, "The owner of this branch is a fellow countryman of the Chief—a succubus."

"...?"

Life is hard, so the demons have to sell their charms to get by?

Leon finally understood what Hall had meant by "half-demon, half-human" earlier. But if he recalled correctly, wasn't he transported to an interstellar era? Humans, Zerg, Demons... Leon felt that no matter what race appeared next, he wouldn't be surprised.

As for the "Universal Enterprise Union"... that sounded like common knowledge, something he could look up himself once he had access to a network.

At that moment, Marcus and Danika finished their conversation and vanished in a flash.

"Let’s go. Let's finish the mission so we can get off work." Danika walked downstairs in her heels, complaining under her breath about "low pay, too much work, and how a shift feels more exhausting than visiting a grave."

The level of resentment radiating from her was something Leon had only seen in the vengeful spirits of horror movies back in his past life.

However, he soon realized why Danika’s resentment was so heavy. All the security officers were forced to work for two days and a night straight, unable to rest until they had completely cleared the entire Technical Talent Relocation Zone 2.

***

Sitting in the blue-and-white security vehicle, Leon radiated the same level of resentment as Danika. Fortunately, besides the promise of a legal identity dangling in front of him, he had his skill proficiency to soothe his wounded soul.

[Reverse Life Triple (Proficient 134/500)], [Mystic Gate Escape Technique (Proficient 89/500)].

Looking at the skill proficiency on his panel, Leon felt a sense of comfort.

*Still, I need to raise my job level as soon as possible. Focusing solely on skill proficiency is putting the cart before the horse.*

*I also need to find a way to gain access to new jobs.*

With that, Leon began to plan.

The highest priority was undoubtedly breaking through the "Reverse Life Triple" to the Mastery stage—the second level. Then, he would focus on raising his job level and searching for clues to new jobs. As for making the "Mystic Gate Escape Technique" more practical... that was less important than the first two, as it was barely sufficient for now.

Just as Leon was pondering his future, a sharp brake jolted him back to reality.

"Get out. I’ve already arranged a place for you to stay." Danika dropped the words and stepped out of the vehicle.

Leon followed her obediently. Soon, they arrived at a dormitory door.

Danika tossed him a key. "You’ll stay here for the time being. If you have any problems, come find me next door."

With that, she walked to the dorm next to his, pulled out a key, and went inside. Following a crisp sound of a closing door, Leon was left alone in the hallway.

He looked at the key in his hand, then at the closed door beside him, feeling somewhat speechless. He understood why Danika had arranged his lodging next to hers—it was simply because she didn’t fully trust him and wanted to keep him under surveillance. But would this really be an effective way to monitor him?

"..."

Leon twitched his mouth, opened his door, and stepped into a tidy dormitory. He closed the door and began to inspect his new quarters.

Though it was called a dormitory, the space was quite large—about a hundred square meters by his previous world’s standards—and it was fully equipped. After a brief tour, Leon collapsed onto the living room sofa and let out a long sigh.

Regardless of anything else, his life in this world was finally starting to get on track.

After zoning out for a while, Leon sat up and began fiddling with the communication device he had been issued—the wristband Danika used to interrogate him when he first arrived in this world.

***

Just like when he first received it, the wristband still couldn't connect to the network. However, Leon discovered it had some basic information about jobs preloaded, so he began to browse.

"Job holders are divided into levels one through nine, with every three levels forming a tier."

"Each breakthrough into a new tier creates a qualitative change comparable to a leap in life essence, which is why job holders generally cannot fight across tiers."

Leon frowned slightly. He had originally thought he could keep becoming a "stat monster" by taking on new jobs, but according to this data, that seemed unlikely. Of course, if a new job were available, he wouldn't pass it up; after all, even a fly's leg is meat.

He continued reading.

"However, because of this, the requirements for changing jobs when crossing tiers are much harsher than standard transfers, and no outside help can be utilized."

"It is worth noting that job progression is not strictly sequential. Some rare jobs may only be at level one when first acquired, but after the first transfer, they may reach level three..."

"...or even level four."

Seeing this, Leon was taken aback.

It seemed that increasing one's power in this world didn't have to be a step-by-step process; there was a possibility of leaping to the top in one go, though the difficulty was undoubtedly astronomical.

Just like the transfer to [Immortal] from [Qi Refiner (San-Yi)].

*So, is [Immortal] a mid-tier job?*

*Or... an upper-tier job?*

*If it’s an upper-tier job, then isn't [Qi Refiner (San-Yi)] a legendary gold-tier find?*

Leon had no way of knowing. If anyone else had acquired [Qi Refiner (San-Yi)], they would likely assume the job’s limit was level one. Even if they knew the transfer requirements for [Immortal], they would surely think it was a joke.

But Leon was different. His job slots were unlimited, so the possibility of "stepping on his own left foot to climb higher" existed.

Of course, that had little to do with Leon, whose job levels were currently only [Novice Qi Refiner lv5 (122/500) / Qi Refiner (San-Yi) lv3 (157/300)].

"No use thinking about it now. Better to just level up honestly..."

Leon calmed his mind, freshened up, and began his daily practice.

[Circulating Qi, job experience +3]

[Controlling Qi within the body, skill experience +1]...