The atmosphere at Hope’s Memorial had improved dramatically after the last of the invaders had been captured or otherwise indisposed. Unfortunately, a large portion of the staff working near the back and the courtyards hadn’t had a chance to relieve some of their stress, but everyone took it in good strides either way; just knowing that some of their friends and colleagues were able to exact revenge on the people who plagued their workplace for years was enough for some.

  Everyone was looking forward to the next wave of invaders to strike… yet it never happened. Now, part of that might be because I had severely underestimated Noel’s ability when I gave her that first assignment. I had expected her to sow some discord and confusion among the ranks, maybe eliminate a few stragglers here and there, but she’d somehow, much to me and Vadeem’s disbelief, managed to take out close to half their number. Her subsequent raids to their encampment only made their already miserable condition worse, so it wasn’t a surprise that the frontal assault had halted for a solid few days.

  Of course, Noel wasn’t the only one having a blast with the invaders. Vadeem had taken his bouncer gig quite literally; he was using some of the hardier Aspirants as makeshift sports equipment. Who knew that the human body could bounce so well? The few dozen Aspirants who did make the decision to try their luck with the exit had found out in any case. Vadeem barely had to make an effort to defend his position, the people who were able to make it through the hellscape of rules were so exhausted and mentally fatigued that they could hardly fight back.

  All in all, what that meant was that we were now bored out of our minds. All three of us were just sitting in the office, half watching the monitors in case things did change, but otherwise just doing a whole lot of nothing.

  “You know,” Vadeem mumbled as he ate another mouthful of fried goodies - the cafeteria food didn’t sit well with either of my friends. “I would have imagined that this would be a lot harder, what with those assholes in charge sending us here.”

  Noel nodded vigorously, stealing a piece of chicken in the process. She’d grown a lot more lax and, uh, Noel-y again since we’d been doing next to nothing in the last two days. “You’re right for once, Vadumb! Maybe the stupid guy in charge didn’t account for how awesome we are. I mean, I thought these parallel Earth guys would be a lot stronger, but they’re nothing special.”

  “Or,” Vadeem said with a shake of his head, “I think it’s more accurate to say that the guys in charge didn’t account for Walter doing… whatever it is that he’s doing here. I got rid of, what, maybe like 50 - 60 guys? Noel did a fair bit more-”

  “Thousands, Vadumb! Ha!”

  “-but I think the vast majority of the casualties were due to Walter and his, uh, unique way of waging war.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Noel raised an eyebrow. “Little bro, are you serious?”

  “With… not knowing what you guys mean?” I asked, still confused. “Uh, yes?”

  Noel tutted. “You know, you’re a little clueless at times, little bro.”

  “It’s a part of his charm,” Vadeem added. “It wouldn’t be Walter without that tiny hit of naivety.”

  “Uh, thanks, I think? Still don’t quite know what you’re talking about though.”

  “It’s all good, you beautiful, scary soul, you.” Noel said, patting my arm, “Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m just glad you're on our side!”

  Vadeem chuckled wholeheartedly. “Imagine what it’s like being the poor fools getting sent up against our Walter here. Fucking nightmare!”

  Noel shuddered. “Have you seen what they do to the guys my little bro sent away? And I thought I could be ruthless!”

  I frowned again. I remember seeing the staff take the new patients away, and some of the treatments that they were performing, but it wasn’t that bad. By now, a little bit of pain wouldn’t be anything new to an Aspirant, and it’s not like the surgeries didn’t help. Plus, unlike if they were caught by Noel, these guys had a chance of getting out if they completed treatment. The Regressor made it through just fine.

  “Your standards have been greatly affected if you use Kim Jae-Hyun as a basis for what is normal, my Host.”

  Come on, not you too, Noe.

  I sighed. “You guys make me out to be some kind of monster, you know.”

  Noel rolled her eyes. “Aw, there’s that naive bit showing again. Kind of cute.”

  Vadeem chuckled. “He really doesn’t know.”

  I sighed again and ignored the two. I can never tell when those two are serious in situations like this, although I guess that was the nice thing about Vadeem and Noel as well. Sometimes you needed a bit of laughter and silly fun to cut through the gloom of the Trials.

  “Oh, oh!” Noel said, jumping up from her position, “They’re starting to move!”

  I sat up straighter and fiddled with the surveillance systems. “The invaders are finally making a move? Where are they coming from?”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The only footage I had access to was a grainy CCTV feed of the courtyards - my connection with the Hospital didn’t extend too far past the building itself - so I had to rely on Noel to keep track of the Aspirant’s activities outside the hospital grounds. Her little fire trick allowed her to see the positions of the whole squad, a useful tool.

  Noel frowned. “They’re grouping and moving out now. They’re… they should be approaching from the south. It’s a rough group of about 424 Aspirants.”

  I nodded and swapped over to the right screen. There was still nothing I could see on my end, but I trusted Noel’s intel. I made the necessary calls to get the staff in place and ready for anything. A few seconds later, the first of their numbers could be seen on the screen. I saw some of the man-sized rats already starting to act up, but those were quickly bashed aside from the fast-moving Aspirants.

  Vadeem got up and prepared to act as well.

  “They’re headed to our position,” I said, “Bypassing the main entrance and beelining it straight here. Hm, looks like they’ve learned a thing or two since the first assault. They’re going straight for the offense before I can do my magic.”

  And it was true. This small group had adapted, at least a little, from the first assault and decided that speed and overwhelming force were much more effective than letting themselves get bogged down by the rules and other bullshit I could fling at them. I believe they thought that they would only have to follow the rules if they entered the building normally since I did emphasize the guests' part quite a lot in my speeches. Too bad for them, it didn’t work like that.

  They were stuck with that designation regardless of what approach they made, and if I really felt like it, I could halt their advance almost immediately. They were breaking so many rules by rushing into the building improperly that I could directly step in and erase them from existence, but I didn’t choose that approach. No, I promised the Director that she could have some fun when she’s back, and I couldn’t in all good conscience deny her the fun when she comes back early. There was just one day left, so let’s buy ourselves a bit of time.

  Noel giggled. “Guess they’re finally fed up about our little bro here and decided to go for the kill. Can’t honestly blame them.”

  “Can they breach the walls?” Vadeem asked.

  “I don’t think so, but I wouldn’t count them out,” I muttered, “I wouldn’t put it past them to use some kind of rare item or one-off ability to get in.”

  Vadeem nodded. “What’s the plan, boss? Just vaporize ‘em like last time?”

  I shook my head and a smile started to creep up. “No, I have a different idea…”

  “There he goes again! There’s that smile!” Noel whispered, “My little bro’s cooking! These peeps are fucked!”

  Vadeem laughed. “I almost feel bad for them now.”

  I rolled my eyes and ignored the two. “Focus, please.”

  “Aye aye, boss!” Noel saluted. “What’s your plan for these poor invaders?”

  My smile widened. “I got a little surprise for them once the day ends, so let’s stall them as much as we can for now. Put on a little bit of a show for them.”

  “Right, that Director’s supposed to come back,” Vadeem nodded. “Don’t think we’ll need their help now though.”

  “We probably don’t,” I admitted, “But it’s still a good idea to allow the Director to have her fun, we are using her place, and she’d make a good ally if things go well.”

  “An ally?” Vadeem asked, “What do you mean?”

  Right, my friends at the Abyss guild didn’t know about my relationships with the others outside the Trials.

  “Sorry,” I muttered, “I forgot you guys weren’t there when the Admin guy explained everything.”

  “No worries, little bro, so what’s the deal?”

  “Well, without going into all the details, the admin made me sign that contract because he wants me to work under him to fight against his competitors. Uh, like, other people working in Central that is.” I shrugged. “Apparently there's a lot of infighting among the workers, and not just the normal kind of office bickering. These Central people are a ruthless bunch, but hey, if they want me to damage the organization that kidnapped me, even if it's from the orders of the same organization, then I can’t complain.”

  “Fair point,” Vadeem grumbled.

  “So I’ll be doing stuff like this more often in the future,” I continued, “and I figured it’s best to establish reliable people - er, or whatever it is these hospital residents are - to help me out in the future. I don’t know if they’ll always allow Aspirants from our guild to help out, so it doesn’t hurt to build those relationships early.”

  “Aw, there’s our little evil supervillain recruiting his first wave of minions!” Noel said with a smile. “Okay, Vadeem, let’s do our best in that case! We can’t embarrass Walter here!”

  “Right,” he grumbled. “Let’s go greet these so-called invaders.”

  “Uh, actually,” I interrupted before the two could rush out, “I need you guys to act in a bit. Like I said, we’re stalling for time right now, I have something in mind for the Aspirants right now.”

  I got up from my seat and quickly stepped out of the office. “Give me a sec.”

  “Uh, okay…” Vadeem said, taking a seat again.

  I all but ran down the corridor and into one of the spare rooms where the two weiner dogs were kept. They were sleeping peacefully on a rather large dog bed, but the pair got up the second I came in. Given the tense expressions of the solitary guard in charge of their well-being, I knew that they were dangerous. Hell, even the Director herself assured me of their ability to guard the hospital, but… these little tubes of flab and blubber were the opposite of dangerous no matter how I looked at it.

  I shrugged. Eh, I’ll see firsthand what they’re like soon enough in any case. I scooped the two up and brought the pair of them into the office. My two friends winced the second I released the little dogs, inching backward when they sniffed the air. Seriously, why was everyone so scared of these things? They were like, half a foot tall and their loose skin would jiggle whenever they moved. A golden retriever would be more threatening than these two.

  “They’re friends,” I said, scratching the lead puppy on her oblong noggin. “Be nice to those two.”

  They barked contently, licking my fingers and exposing their soft bellies for more scratches. Aw, I think they like me.

  “You’re… you’re using those two?” Vadeem asked, his voice oddly tense.

  I nodded and started to scratch the pup’s exposed bellies.

  “They’ll be eviscerated,” Noel added.

  “These two are tougher than they look,” I said, “Aren’t you! Yes you are! Aw, who’s a good girl!”

  “No, I don’t mean the, uh, ‘dogs’,” Noel muttered, “The Aspirants will be destroyed.”

  “They’re smart,” I assured, and addressed the two dogs. “All right you two, I want you guys to go out there and play with the bad men. Don’t go overboard though, we want them alive for when your owner comes back tonight, you got that?”

  A pair of happy barks answered me. I’ll take that as a yes.

  “See Noel, they’re smart.” I said with a smile, “Now go and greet those invaders, puppies!”

  Another pair of excited barks and the sausage dogs zoomed out of the room. They instinctively rushed to greet the coming Aspirants.

  “Yeah…” Vadeem muttered under his breath, “Those Aspirants are fucked.”

  Want to read ahead? Check out my Patreon!

  20 chapters ahead!