On the selection day of Intelligence for 'Airburst Assistant'
Ravyn arrives in front of the only elevator with the logo "AB" in the mall. She placed the application form onto the scanning position of the elevator platform as described in the flyer instruction. When the scan was completed, the screen on the pedestal popped up a text like a date she came over to register. But this time, the elevator door opened with a welcome message.
[Identity matched: Registrant #018
Your trial will begin in 10 minutes.
Good luck with The Assistant Selection, Ms. Ravyn Nipha]
The purple-haired girl who had seen this platform for the second time was still thrilled with the technology that was considered cutting-edge in this era, like a child seeing a new toy.
…This thing isn't just for show then…
After she entered the elevator and the door was completely closed, the elevator lit up and a digital letter appeared above her eye level indicating the destination.
[Mr.C interview room]
Below it, there is something similar to a mirror but with a digital screen that detects signs of life in the elevator, making the scanning platform that fascinates her look completely dull. The girl sees her reflection in a color temperature scale, as if looking through an infrared camera with heart rate data, air & gas ratios, humidity levels, and much more on the side. She looked around perplexed but attempted to calm herself.
…As long as this elevator continues to descend normally like this, everything should be fine…
After a moment, the elevator slowed down and stopped.
*sigh*
Ravyn sighs with relief. But suddenly its direction changed to moving sideways and accelerating rapidly. She quickly grabbed the handrail and held it tightly.
"Woah! Wasn't that supposed to be arrival already?"
The girl exclaimed in amazement. She was moved further horizontally before the elevator moved upward again. The front of the mirror shows the pounding heart rate of the one person it can detect.
… One Pim, Two Pims, Three Pims! Four Pims!...
Ravyn prayed in her mind, hoping she would reach the destination safely.
Finally, the elevator stopped and the door opened. In front of the girl was a discreet middle-aged man sipping coffee in a western-style office room.
"Hello, please take a seat."
"Hello, and pardon my interruption."
Ravyn stroked the disheveled hair from the elevator ride and sat in front of the man who interviewed her.
######
On the roof of a skyscraper
"What?! She applied for an AB Assistant, you say? " asked a young man in a leather jacket.
"Exactly, Mr. Jae, we thought that you dedicatedly scouted a suitable person for us to the point that you were sent to jail. Head Charles even came down especially to test her himself."
The woman's reply rang into the communicator in his ear.
"I might have disappointed him. As for being arrested, it was just an accident…"
Jae tries to make amends before getting back to the topic.
"…By the way, when the results are announced, leave a message for her about that as well."
"Okay."
"Thank you."
The man in the jacket hung up, losing a little of his self-esteem.
…How come my splendid invitation lose to that small Assistant column in the application flyer? So, this is the path you chose... But for the Assistant Department of Intelligence, great profiles or good-naturedness won't be enough to get you in...
######
In the interview room now, there was a middle-aged man who burst out laughing, completely contrary to what Jae imagined.
"Exactly, Exactly! Haha, you are so well-informed. Don Helter and the Prism crew really gave us a hard time. So what next? Keep it coming, Miss Ravyn!"
"Even though Themeise is a port city full of big shots, almost all of them were under you guys' thumb. The group that appears to make Airburst's hand full is only the Donkey. I know where to find them."
The purple-haired girl looked straight at her listener with determined eyes. At the same time, Charles halts his coffee-sipping briefly when he hears the name of the gang that is this city's deadly shadow.
"I'm all ears."
He began stroking his golden goatee.
"Ly Company. They produce environmentally friendly products and packaging, do many social service activities regularly, and never have any dirty files. It seems breathtakingly clean, but take a look at this."
Ravyn took out the documents and news columns she had gathered, arranged them on the table, and took out a marker.
"Allow me…"
As Charles nodded, she began to schematically link them.
"On the surface, Donkey's movement is likely to be a formless and random pattern. But if you compare the occurrence of accidents with the trace of a strange power that Donkey used…"
She draws a line.
"…with the time of the attack during Ly's public statements, you'll clearly see the relationship, which was ingeniously plotted, using the people who participated in the company's events as bait. So I'm sure they are secretly working together. We can start tracing them from this point."
Charles thought for a moment, then replied.
"…This possibility analysis is not half bad. All of your information since we talked impressively matches with ours. If considered only the news and documents, for ordinary people who have very limited access to the media, you have my respect for being able to come this far."
*Click*
The interviewer put down the coffee cup before he continued.
"But it's a little too quick to conclude that it doesn't take the motives or interests into account. Of those, none of them has yet to appear from where we are constantly guarding and observing the Ly Company."
Ravyn realized how amateur she was and then thanked Mr. C for his criticism.
"There's one more thing I want to ask, Miss Ravyn. But you don't have to answer me if you don't want to… That time when you are about to be a famous artist, why would you give up such a great opportunity?"
…Scarily know the in-depth details of the applicants, I'd expect nothing less from this organization…
Ravyn wasn't too happy with the question but was impressed with the unfathomable potential that this place displayed.
"At that time, I wasn't being professional enough to get on the stage. So I paid for that lesson and learned it deeply in my heart. But what I thought was important was not me, who made mistakes, but who I am now that has chosen to step over those mistakes without falling into them again. And I am confident in showing my readiness from now on."
"It's a good spirit you have there. But that chance will only be given to the most suitable…"
Charles stopped his hand that writing in the notebook since the beginning of the interview.
"All done… Thank you for your good cooperation. We will contact you again later."
The purple-haired girl could guess the outcome of this selection from that response. She had some regrets, but her face was still far from being lost. Ravyn bowed to the interviewer in front of her before leaving.
... Abilities and determination are exceptional. As expected from the one scouted by that boy. But the fury that radiated from her after the first "Donkey" came out of her mouth was so intense that it was dangerous… If there's a time that this anger can't be pressed and affects the analysis or decision, she will create a huge problem for us…
The goatee Charles silently evaluated the latest entrant, staring at her back that was slowly moving away until she stopped. Ravyn sighed again before walking back into the same elevator that she had entered.
"Woaahh!"
Soon after the door closed, a scream echoed through the room, causing the goatee man to smile affectionately.
######
Charles sat contemplating the interviewed applicants and the information others had sent in the same room until the evening.
*Knock**Knock*
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
An employee who appeared to be from the same department opened the door with an envelope in her arm.
"Sorry for bothering you. Mr. C…" she said in a friendly tone.
"It's okay, I'm just finishing up here and there."
"This is an urgent document summarizing the reports of Ly Company that relate to Donkey"
The employee handed over an envelope of documents.
"Hmm... so they are not only just related, but also need to depend on each other too… They are hiding right under our nose all this time."
Charles thanked her before he chuckled lightly.
"Huhu… This is really getting interesting."
The middle-aged man got up and walked out. On his desk were piles of applications from experts around the world with X-marked on their corners. There were only two intact sheets stacked under a paperweight engraved with the words 'Approve'. The top sheet of the shortlisted application provides a brief overview of candidates from Airburst Assistant's investigation and screening:
[#018
Name: Ravyn Nipha
Age: 19 years
Work history:
-Used to work in the Lotus Herbal Store that had just shut down since a fire accident 3 months ago.
-Currently manages the stock of ingredients at Gentle'Sand Sandwich Shop.
Skills in the applied field: No data
Educational background: Pass the Tests of General Educational Development with outstanding scores in all subjects at the age of 12.
Notable Remarks:
-Physical abilities and body flexibility are at a level that is capable of dealing with Lost Wisdom users if proficient in using AB's Airtech (According to: 'Fusen')
-Remarkable guitar playing skills
-Almost got debuted with the duet group 'Pop Purple', but because of the fire that caused the loss of her only parent, she refused to go on the first stage and all activities until disbandment.]
In the early morning, when two moons can be clearly seen in the sky...A shadow of a young girl walks down from the second floor of a sandwich shop that has a sign "Open at 11 o'clock". The shopkeeper's low voice and the torch that shone towards the shadow stopped her."Are you leaving now?... No matter how early you have to go to your new work, don't forget to eat breakfast."He handed her a lunchbox."Thank you, Gentle."The girl whose hair reflected the deep purple from the flashlight took the box and put it in her shoulder bag."Don't push yourself too hard and good luck, Little Vyn."The shop owner sent her off after they walked out to the storefront. Ravyn, shoulder-length hair neatly attached barrette in a black long-sleeved suit with her favorite black jeans, bowed to him once before leaving."Look who's privately sending her off without inviting me, even though you were completely against it before."Pierret, who followed a step later, teased her father."Huh, I never thought
Both the superpower user and the big man focused on the source of the strange sound and rushed into that dark corner.…This is bad…Ravyn, in a desperate situation, crouched down to retrieve the gun. But before the girl touched her shoe, a hand grabbed her from behind first.*Meow!!*A cat shrieked in shock, leaping through a fist and a blade that had stopped in front of it."Just a cat?"The unkempt-haired man said this before pulling two sickles from his trouser pocket that appeared too small to fit and hurling them at the warehouse wall in front of him.
"Wait, Ravyn!"Yu shouted to the purple-haired girl who was again running outside the department."You can't just go out whenever you want, like that!"…Why is she in a rush? The Airburst is about to carry out the bomber capture operation in just an hour…This time she decided to follow Ravyn.######A few minutes ago…"Returned from that situation all in one piece like this, aren’t you interested in moving to work at the building next door?"With slight
*whish..* A sound of a gentle breeze emanates from AB’s Airtech cannon. "The wounded have already reached the hands of the doctors. The research department reported that the gas chromatography analysis will be conducted again in 5 minutes at the secondary lab with the level of sensitivity adjusted to the highest level… What a terrifying destructive power it held?" Idorund, entitled "Airburst of Themeise," showed concern after the assistant’s building fire was extinguished. " Good job, Idorund. Standby ensures the reparation team security there. Your current mission is in good hands, so rest assured." The branch chief answered the Airburst before h
"Why isn't there any word from him yet?"One of Donkey’s minions stationed in the hospital is waiting for further orders from Drew.*bwok*The spectacled girl’s slender hand punched him in the chin from the side, knocking that bombing accomplice down."Six down, one floor left to go. Ravyn’s reinforcements have arrived.~"Yu sang before walking towards the ladder to the top floor of this building. All of a sudden, she heard a voice cry out in fear from above her."Gah!"That was followed by someone falling down the stairs
A young purple-haired girl was vigorously jumping rope in her room on the Lotus Herbal Store's second floor."3989..3990..3991…"Then she stopped her hand after completing the number of repetitions before turning, with anticipation, to ask the opinion of the middle-aged woman sitting on her chin on the sofa."How was it? Pim? My new record!""Well, that's pretty okay."Pim replied as her eyes focused on the TV show and her hand reached for dried fruit snacks."So how many reps to make that great?"The little girl inquired.
"Idorund?!" Yu let out a shout of admiration when she saw the sudden appearance of the golden-haired, blue-eyed Airburst. Idorund greeted them briefly while carrying a pillar-like cannon with a glowing green light mechanism pattern on his shoulder. "I’ve heard quite a bit about your heroism on your first day, Ms. Ravyn. I informed Mr. Charles about the escort and investigation mission and it was approved. I’ll be your partner in this field mission." …He chose me over Yu, who used to be an Airburst trainee of the same generation as him?... He probably didn’t want to interrupt Yu on her secret Q-level mission… The purple-haired girl is thinking. "It
Kanji invites the purple-haired Ravyn to go for a walk. She didn’t particularly care about anything until one medicinal root caught her eye. Ravyn walked in to get a feel for it. *tap* The other hand touched the same root as Ravyn at the same time as her. That person was a woman in black with falcon-like eyes and a small mouth with bright red lipstick that matched her face perfectly. "You have good taste, little girl." She took her hand away from that root after complimenting Ravyn. "You touched it before me." Ravyn told her, but she seemed to have lost interest in it. &n