CHAPTER 1

Ouroboros Guild. Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

A week before the culling, Anastasia was already up on her elbows reviewing stacks over stacks of balance sheet and financial report. Her job title was an illusion. A facade. It might appear special to an outsider, but in reality, Tasha was just a glorified book keeper. An analyst. She was not THE boss. She was just a mini-boss that handled money.

It has been three weeks since Helion went up online. And for three straight weeks, while the guild's core team wrestled through the Forest of Thorns, she remain hauled up inside the right wing tower of the guild castle… alone… and slowly drowning under the sea of parchments surrounding her.

I wanna have fun too, Nyah. She pouted.

Not like she was complaining. But what Tasha was really trying to say was that once in a while 'work+life' balance would have been nice too. Then of course, what she was wishing for was the exact opposite of what she had signed up for. She was hired to do clerical work inside the expanse of Helion. Not play and fart rainbows. She was, in a sense, no different from the several hundred gold farmers that they have enlisted to help them win the game. The only difference between her and them was that she was being paid twenty times over. Contractors paycheck were basically bread crumbs compared to hers.

Scanning and breezing through over one thousand names in a glance was by no means an ordinary feat. However, Tasha did it passively like it was nothing. From what she could analyze, 76 percent of the guilds overall workforce were already meeting the contract metrics. Considering the start up cost during the initial stages of the game, these workers were surprisingly good with their math. Potions, teleportation fees and food were all part of farming. And while those costs were to be accounted for as an expense, Tasha had to give it to them for not falling behind. Some of these farmers even managed to get a leg up, going above and beyond their mandated deliverables, which was amazing. Not the easiest thing to juggle, but these farmers did it with efficiency.

And although a good 23 percent of the roster were still struggling, Tasha was optimistic. She had a feeling that these workers would turn things around before the end of the month.

"Except for this guy." She said while pointing at the name of the player at the very bottom of the list. "This guy is hopeless, nyah."

Tasha quickly pulled up all the related data pertaining to Employee ID 00019348. The data were written as follows:

IGN: Cruel

Base Level: 1

Race: Synthetic Droid

Class: Medic

Job: Heal Bomber

Gold remittance: 0

Tasha clicked her tongue in disbelief. This is unacceptable! She groaned as she flipped thru the data sheet. It was to find out whether she missed anything out. Clearly, she didn't.

"Is this guy for real? Three weeks and still at level one? Wow. And he's a support type too. Hmnn. How was he suppose to farm with his skill set. Does he have a party? He's still level one though so that can't be it." Tasha speculated.

"Also, what did he do with his time within the three weeks when he wasn't farming? Was he sightseeing, nyah?" The loli couldn't help but be dismayed. "I hope the sights were worth it coz he's not getting his two hundred dollar bond back. Nyah-uh! That and his subscription too, Nyah! "

Rolling over to the corner, she quickly drew the intercom from the velvet wall, placing one tube piece near her left ear, and the other near her lips. "Wicka. You there?... I need help with something. Could you come up here for a second please? We're downsizing."

In less than a week time, heads will roll. Figuratively… at least. Anastasia might look like a sweet little ball of fur, but this kitty doesn't play games when it comes to managing the finances. She'll cut anyone as long as the guilds funds were concerned. "There will be no mercy, Nyah!"