Nuclear war was devastating, no doubt about that. But it still led to a few things that ended up being useful to humanity. One of them was how quickly construction methods improved.
People learned to build faster and smarter than ever before, and a clear example of that was standing right in front of Adyr.
It was a skyscraper, standing over 150 meters tall and just as wide as it was high, which made it all the more astonishing. The exterior was clad entirely in matte black, absorbing light rather than reflecting it.
It didn't look like a building. It looked like a massive coffin stretching toward the sky.
Adyr paused for a moment, wondering if a building this massive was really necessary. How many players were they planning to house in there, anyway?
He glanced back, but the suited man clearly had no intention of following. Taking the hint, Adyr turned and made his way toward the entrance alone.
The interior was just as massive as the outside. On the right, a waiting lounge was outfitted with luxury leather seating and even an open buffet—clearly designed to impress.
On the left, a garden stretched out like a small forest, complete with a pond, making Adyr question again who this level of extravagance was supposed to impress.
The place wasn't empty. People were scattered throughout—sitting, walking, talking—but none of them looked ordinary. They tried to appear casual, but Adyr could tell. These weren't regular visitors.
Assuming they were all mutants, he already had a sense of how tight the security was here.
Without turning left or right, he headed straight for the large reception desk ahead. He could feel the stares on him. Measured, cautious, assessing.
When he reached the desk, one of the three women behind it greeted him. She was sharply dressed, with short black hair and brown eyes, her smile polite but thinly veiled with disdain.
"Hello, sir. Can I help you?"
Wow. One of those moments, huh? The face-slap scenes from those webnovels. Adyr smirked inwardly, the whole scenario already playing out in his mind.
"I came to see a friend; his name is Victor," he said flatly, skipping the small talk.
The receptionist froze for a brief moment at the name, though her smile didn't fade.
"Can I have your name, if possible?" She asked.
"Adyr," he replied, already knowing exactly how this would go.
"Your surname?" Her polite tone dipped slightly.
"No surname. Just Adyr."
The smile finally vanished from her face. "This isn't a place you can just walk into," she said coldly. "Leave."
Wow. That character shift was impressive. Adyr couldn't help but admire the performance.
"Well, I'm afraid I can't leave. My friend's waiting for me. The least you can do is call him so he can come down and get me," Adyr said, keeping his tone calm and reasonable.
In truth, everything had already started to unravel the moment Victor's driver dropped him off without escorting him inside. And even more so when Victor didn't bother to meet him at the entrance. That small oversight had set the stage for everything that would follow.
Still, Adyr couldn't be too surprised. He knew Victor—careless, laid-back, and completely lacking foresight. The kind of guy who probably assumed Adyr would just stroll in and somehow find him in the middle of a fifty-story fortress.
"If you don't leave now, the only thing I'll be calling is security," the woman said sharply, no longer bothering to hide her disdain.
People get angry too easily. They keep ignoring how easy dying really is. Adyr sighed quietly.
There were two reasons he didn't act on what crossed his mind. One, he didn't want to kill anyone. Two, there were mutant guards around. The second reason was far more convincing.
But there were plenty of ways to kill someone without actually taking their life. And Adyr had finally accepted that being reasonable was a waste of time. It was time to change tactics.
He took a step closer and discreetly studied the woman's eyes.
"What are you—" she began, but Adyr cut her off.
"Mistline or Retinex?"
The moment she heard the names, her body tensed, and she took a small step back. "Stop spitting nonsense," she snapped, but her voice had already lost its firmness.
Adyr smiled. Those were the two most commonly used ocular drugs—and of course, they were illegal.
"Even in this much light, your pupils are still dilated. There's visible color fading, especially in the left eye. So... Mistline, right?" He said, calm and collected, his smile never leaving his face.
Her complexion turned ghostly pale. But Adyr had no intention of letting her off the hook.
"Judging by the discoloration and your eyes' lack of light response… what, three years? Maybe a bit more, huh? Must be hard—fighting addiction," he added, almost as if the last sentence weighed on him too.
"Stop it," the woman said, her voice trembling. She looked like she might collapse at any second.
Adyr noticed the other two receptionists staring at them in shock and turned to address them.
"Oh, you didn't know? Right, of course you didn't. It's an illegal substance, after all. A receptionist—right here, in a facility where order and security are supposed to be at their highest—addicted to a banned drug." He clicked his tongue softly and shook his head, as if disappointed.
The shift was instant. The two receptionists immediately panicked.
In a place like this, even a receptionist position should've gone through strict screening. The only way an addict could've slipped through was with connections. And if there were connections involved, it wouldn't just be one person facing consequences—the entire department would be wiped out.
Seeing the scene ripen for its final act, Adyr decided to close the curtain with one final performance.
"Don't worry, I'm not blaming you anymore," he said, his voice low and almost sympathetic. "Anger's just one of the side effects. And with how much that drug's ruined your vision, it makes sense you didn't notice the uniform—Shelter City 9's only university. So naturally, you couldn't have known Victor Bates, who goes to the same university, is a friend of mine."
And with the final words, the woman collapsed—her consciousness slipping away as her body hit the floor.
The other two receptionists stood frozen, staring in horror. Not a single step forward. Not a single word. Because they knew exactly what was coming.
An internal investigation would begin immediately, starting with the one who hired her and extending through the entire department. The charges would fall under terrorism-related breaches, since the drugs were known to originate from terrorist groups operating outside the city.
And even if they somehow managed to clear their names by some impossibly narrow margin, the stain would stay. No company would ever hire them again.
Faced with that reality, all they could do was watch in paralyzed silence.
And Adyr watched them in return, smiling.
He had just murdered a dozen people in front of an army of mutants, and somehow, it felt refreshing.