Contract Type: Joint.

Contract Goal: Special Purpose.

Contract Level: C-Level Limit.

Minimum Recommended Level: Solitium.

Access Level: Strictly Confidential.

Disclosure of contract details in any form whatsoever — verbal, written, informational, or even telepathic is equivalent to treason under Article 2, Section 7.1, and is punishable by confinement in a special-purpose facility—Stem—with corrective procedures under the supervision of authorized agents of Purity.

Access is granted only to Participant Mr. Nobody, Participant Noir, Coordinator Sofien, those directly involved in assisting or preparing for the mission (a list of individuals may be provided upon request), authorized personnel overseeing the mission, and individuals with special status (details classified — Access Level: Santiago).

The mission is considered highly unstable due to unpredictable interference from entities and unknown environmental anomalies.

This is a reconnaissance mission. The participants must determine the location of the target—the Village of Fool Baals. If successful, they must locate the site of the presumed Ascension ritual and monitor it.

If an opportunity arises or if the situation becomes critical, participants must immediately interrupt the Ascension ritual.

If successful, participants must proceed to the evacuation point and await AVI extraction.

Upon full completion of the mission and successful evacuation, participants must provide a full report to the cleanup team and assist in planning the follow-up operation to the extent possible.

Timeframe: Variable, dependent on the progression of the Ascension ritual.

Exclusive Privileges:

- Rental of a corporate AVI Model 9.2 until successful evacuation.

- Access to all equipment and weaponry up to floor 150 (must be agreed upon and included in the mission plan).

- Requesting assistance from authorized personnel and Path-users during the planning and evacuation phases (terms of agreement must be specified and recorded).

- Access to experimental equipment: two Nanosuits v4, codenamed Red-Eyed Stalker.

- Bomb (details classified — Access Level: Santiago).

"Whoa..." He whistled in admiration, scrolling through the projection from his bracelet almost to the very end.

Compensation Tier for participant Mr. Nobody:

- Solitium level mercenary rate x1.6.

Special privileges or rewards for participant Mr. Nobody upon mission completion:

- Official promotion to the second sub-rank of the Diamond level — Refined Diamond.

- Permanent access to one item from Floors 1–150 (subject to cost and clearance limits)

- A Spaceport Ticket. Can be used on a flight to the OSCSA (Orbital Station of Concord Space Area) destination as a civilian route.

"I think I’m starting to understand why Noir might not mind working with the wolves..." He scratched his cheek and asked Paymax to remove the projection. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He sent Noir a message saying he agreed to the contract, and in response, he received this letter with the details.

To say the least, it was impressive. In many ways.

*Ding* The elevator arrived on the 125th floor just as he finished reading.

"Meow," the cat called, her cloak fluttering with the movement. He was lucky he’d managed to convince her to put it on again after ignoring him all day yesterday.

"Guess that bike was too fast, kitty."

He checked the remaining time displayed by Paymax.

"5 minutes and 56 seconds left."

"I don’t like to arrive early..." he drawled, stepping out of the elevator. "Wow. Looks like it’s not for nothing that this place is considered special and the planning hub."

The atmosphere on this floor made a much greater impression than the one where Noir’s office was located. There was a subtle pressure in the air, as if the place itself demanded silence and precision from anyone who stepped inside.

First of all, it seemed spacious and was decorated in dark tones.

To the left and right were lined with dark glass walls overlooking the city, through which one could see all of Concord and what lay beyond it.

However, the most striking feature was the black wall that seemed to divide the floor in the middle. It was long and extended all the way to the windows.

It had five evenly spaced black doors, apparently leading to the planning rooms.

It looked unusual and even somewhat ominous.

Paymax suggested that he needed the second door on the left.

Wondering what he should do for those five minutes, he slowly made his way toward it.

His posture remained perfectly straight, and he didn’t give much thought to the impression he was making. The revolver was always at hand, and the cat was on his shoulder.

*Click* At that moment, the fourth door suddenly opened.

A man in a formal suit—a black jacket, white shirt, and black tie—stepped out. He immediately glanced at Mr. Nobody.

Behind him came another man in the same suit, but wearing dark glasses. After him came yet another man in a suit.

Another stepped out, another.

Then another...

And another.

Mr. Nobody managed to count eight men in suits, and each carried a slight but noticeable difference. He didn’t know why, but it led him to believe that they were all at the First Step of Concord.

And now they were all silently staring at him, their faces devoid of emotion. Not a single one of them blinked.

It seemed strange. Looks like they were communicating via Neodecks.

"..." He didn’t react at all, keeping his hands behind his back and merely looking back at them.

It felt like he was surrounded—despite none of them moving, even though they hadn’t moved an inch.

Suddenly, another person emerged from that door. The ninth.

It was a girl with short black hair, with several strands dyed white. She wore a baggy black outfit, a baggy black outfit, vaguely reminiscent of a clown’s—only completely patternless. Solid black.

Notably, one of her eyes was black, and the other was gray, almost completely white, with a small black dot inside.

She stepped out, yawning, then rubbing her eyes, barely acknowledging him.

Only her pale eye turned toward him, and she asked:

"What are you looking at? Got a crush, or a problem?"

’We are not going to get along,’ crossed his mind instantly.

"At someone amusing. Looks like the circus is in town, and you’re the head clown?"