Inside a cramped office space, a young woman sat cross-legged, staring at the screen before her as she fanned herself.

Her golden blonde hair was tied in a bun, and she wore a pair of round glasses. Her office was a mess, covered in papers that should’ve been digitized long ago.

Even her heels were tossed messily on the floor.

"God, it is hot today."

She had cracked the window, but she was still burning up, forcing her to unbutton her shirt halfway down. Sweat dripped down her porcelain skin as she fanned herself with a makeshift fan made from a piece of cardboard.

On the computer screen before her, she listened to the afternoon news telling people to stay home because of the heat.

"Just this morning it was snowing, and now by noon we are in the middle of a heat wave." She sighed.

The weather situation has been getting from bad to worse. The temperature would rise and fall in the drop of a hat.

"On other news, the small settlement of Taiga had been wiped out due to a flash flood, killing 300 people. This makes it the third settlement that had been wiped out this month."

Hearing the news, she felt a pang in her chest as she clenched her fist tightly.

"300 people killed, and none of the guilds did a damn thing about it."

Immediately after, the segment moved to talk about the upcoming movie for a popular player.

"Are we dead ass right now?"

She pinched the bridge of her nose and quickly turned off the news to keep her sanity.

"I swear this whole world has gone insane."

Her computer screen switched over to the work she should’ve been doing instead of watching the news.

Which was reviewing applications and recommendations for the Player University.

Most of these players seemed talented since most guilds only recommended talented players to the university.

Looking at these applications made her feel even more depressed, especially since she knew that most of these players would end up, as she puts it, "selfish douchebags."

Instead of trying to help others, they would fall into the trap of the elite and would be swindled by money and fame.

She took this menial job to try and recruit players who wanted to make a difference in the world, but after one month, she couldn’t find a single player willing to join her.

She barely paid any attention as she looked through the applications and recommendations of players.

The recommendations were all from the same guild masters, which she knew she couldn’t reject.

She would only reject the ones that didn’t have any recommendation from any highly influential person, even if the player they were recommending was exceptional.

The system was broken. She knew it, but there was nothing she could do but abide by it... at least for now.

Even if she had to show her father and everyone else the middle finger and change the system by herself, she would.

That’s what she told herself, but it had been a while, and still nothing had changed.

"I’m such a fraud." She threw herself over her desk and sighed in despair.

She then continued to scroll through the recommendations until one of the names caught her attention.

"Alfred?"

Why would a broker be recommending someone? Intrigued, she quickly looked at the application to see who the broker was recommending, and to her shock, it was actually someone she knew.

In fact, it was someone she had done a bit of research on.

"This is the guy my crazy sister has been stalking for so long."

"ApexHunter101..."

"Pfff, this name screams cringe."

Several thoughts formed in her mind as she began to put two and two together.

"My sissy must’ve begged Alfred to write this. All so her boyfriend could go to Uni... that’s cute.

I just hope he’s not a scumbag, after all my sis’s sacrifice for him.

In fact, as her big sis, I should meet him."

A small teasing smile appeared on her face as she giggled. For her, nothing was as entertaining as uncovering her little sister’s little secrets.

"Ammi might get mad and try to kill me again, but it’s for the greater good." She said with a forced serious expression and a fist pump.

"Kikikiki."

....

The roar of winds was all Princess Cassandra could hear in the middle of the sandstorm.

Visibility was poor, but she was certain of it.

The monster she was looking at was indeed a centipede.

This new monster was over 20 feet long and was slightly bigger than the giant worm.

It had over a hundred legs, each ending in sharp points. Its exoskeleton was dark with an oily appearance, so shiny that she could practically see her reflection on it.

On its head was an appendage that resembled pincers. Only, they were longer, skinnier, sharper, and more flexible. This appendage was what the monster used to inject its venom.

And on its back were four sets of large, dark shaded iridescent wings that looked almost like glass.

Not to mention its sharp mandibles, which were tough and could be used to devour almost any prey.

The two beasts stood face to face, sizing each other up. The worm was raging as it was still in its berserk form, while the centipede was calm and collected.

The worm opened its mouth wide, which caused a massive ball of compressed air to form in front of its opened mouth.

The massive ball of compressed air began to grow until it was the size of a beach ball before it exploded.

The force from the blast parted the ground, creating a massive wave of sand.

Massive chunks of rubble were also sent flying. The princess barely survived the attack, and even then, she was halfway buried in sand, yet still she couldn’t take her eyes from the battle.

Where the centipede once stood was a massive earth wall, which was now smashed to pieces.

"It has earth affinity."

Yet the wall wasn’t strong enough to block the attack. In the aftermath, the centipede was gone.

The giant monster seemingly disappeared into thin air.

The princess felt her blood run cold. Her instincts were screaming at her, telling her to look up.

With her breath hitched in the back of her throat, she slowly raised her head to the sky.