“Hmmm, bah! This one is so boring, I give them a feasible challenge to overcome and yet they couldn’t even handle that much.” Ven said to himself, sounding very disappointed.
He was inside his own work office which was essentially a monitoring room with lots of floating visual channel screens observing the contestants he was put in charge of back on Earth. The duty of a moderator was not just to spectate the contestants that were chosen from different worlds, but to also provide them challenges befitting of those being observed. From what the contestants know or were told, they were merely toys or playthings meant to entertain the gods watching from the great beyond. Purely for the sake of the enjoyment and amusement, a cruel and inhumane act brought upon them from what the majority of contestants thought. And though it seemed like there wasn’t any other true purpose behind this ‘divine punishment’ some may call, the moderators could only assume because even they were not told by the gods. They were simply told to do what they were told and nothing more, wealth, fortune, and all will be provided to them in the end for keeping things entertaining for the gods.
“This one has no grit, he falters too much when overwhelmed by too many enemies. Same thing goes for this contestant, she’s so scared to fight a couple of child-sized bats.” Ven continued to judge his contestants with great distaste. “Oh how I wish I was put in charge of a tougher and more talented division of contestants. I would be basking in compliments and popularity by now!”
His eyes then landed on one specific screen in the room, this particular screen was highlighted with a gold neon color and blinking stars. His expression of disappointment quickly changed to one of happiness and hope. “Luckily out of all of these lackluster souls, I was able to find a diamond among them. Along with some trinkets that show some potential…”
On the screen he was referring to was running a playback of Barry soloing a giant leech monster inside Ms.Epple’s home. The way he fought against the monster with eyes of conviction and focus, never wavering despite being locked inside by himself, Barry was determined to come out on top. In the end, Barry suffered some wounds from the bites of smaller leeches and the punctures of barbs fired at him from the leech monster but walked it off before moving on to help free the victims of Ms.Epple’s prison. The screen shifted to the rest of Barry’s group who were just about done wrapping up their enemies, concluding their challenge.
“Aaaaah, Barry, Barry, Barry, if I had 10 more people like you, I wouldn’t be stuck at rock bottom for so long. But that’s alright, in time you will become a mass favorite and outshine the rest of the other contestants from my colleagues. And I’ll-” There was a knock on Ven’s door, his face then turned blank with annoyance. “Ugh, who could it be now?”
Ven went up to the door, and before opening it, put on his usual happy face that everyone saw. “Hi! How’s it going!” He greeted politely, seeing that it was one of his female colleagues, a human, with a tablet in hand. “Need something?”
“Conference room. Meeting in ten minutes. Just thought I’d come to remind you. You’re in charge of the 82nd division of Earth. Correct?” The moderator replied in a professional and studious manner, her expression telling him that it must have been a long day.
“Yes, indeed I am. I was just about to head there actually. But thank you for notifying me in case.” Ven continued to maintain his affectionate smile, he had been practicing it everyday that it looked natural. “And let me say, I love the color scheme you're going for, it really brings out your eyes.”
The woman was chewing on gum, she merely blew a bubble from her gum which popped and resumed chewing, ignoring his compliment entirely. “Make sure to be there on time unlike before. Teskal will be there, one of the directors overseeing the world of Scion. I’d advise taking this meeting seriously, instead of loosely. He had hot coffee spilt on him recently by an associate, that person just received a…concussion.”
Ven made an exaggerated expression of surprise with a hand covering his face. “Really!? Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be sure to come in with my A-game. Data, statistics, and my joyful looks! You can count on me to brighten his day!”
One eye roll was all the woman gave him before strolling away with a few words. “Ten minutes. Don’t be late.”
He watched her walk off for a bit and as soon as she turned the corner down the hall, he shut the door and leaned against it inside his room. His facade dropping immediately, turning to one of annoyance. “Of course, there had to be someone to piss in Teskal’s cheerios. I hope he’s not in a wrecking mood when I get there, it’ll be a while for him till he simmers down.”
Quickly getting his things together and making sure to put his channel on commercial break for the gods watching, Ven started to make his way to his meeting. Donning his mask once more as he walked down the halls. Glances from other moderators drew on him, some smirking and whispering to their work buddies' ears, he knew what they were talking about yet smiled and waved. ‘Keep gossiping all you want, I’ll get my promotion sooner than all of you…’
There was one specific individual that was a part of a crowd walking from behind who locked their sights on Ven and told his group bye before storming ahead towards him. It was a fox-like humanoid with orange-black fur. “Ven buddy! How’ve you been?” He asked, bringing an arm over Ven’s shoulder.
Ven maintained his cheerful composure as he side-eyed his arm. “Wonderful Coot! I’ve actually been-”
“Oh I know it must be hard for you, there’s no need to hide your pain. Not everyone is fortunate to have an interesting group of contestants.” Coot cut him off in what Ven could only assume was in a sincere, yet passive aggressive manner.
They entered an elevator together, Ven being a bit irritated by Coot’s comment but not something he couldn’t take to shake his smile. “Well, it hasn’t been that long since we’ve started working on this whole game of the gods. I’d like to believe my division has yet to bloom.”
“I suppose, I suppose, but don’t you think your overall number of viewers are much lower when compared to the rest of us? I don’t mean to belittle you or anything, after all, it’s not your fault that you’ve been dealt a poor hand.” The way Coot was trying to reassure Ven made him want to vomit, Coot’s disrespectful aura was literally oozing out of him.
Upon exiting out of the elevator, the two resumed walking down the hallway where their meeting room would be a minute away. “No offense taken, I know you’re just looking out for me. And I’ll be honest, it’s hard for me to find supportive colleagues like yourself to confide in. So thank you for understanding Coot.” Ven said, when really he wanted to deck him deep inside.
“Of course Ven, I’m your best bud afterall! There’s none other like me.” Coot tightened his hold around Ven, squeezing him as a sign to express their ‘friendship’. Ven kept calm, waiting till he returned to his room to crash out ranting about how disgusting Coot was.
After entering inside their meeting room which was a seminar, about 20 other moderators were seated already, waiting for the arrival of Teskal. Ven broke away from Coot’s friendly hold and went off to get himself a seat somewhere in the center of the room. ‘Finally some peace to myself before we get this meeting underway. I want to buzz all his fur off to see him in total humiliation.’
The last few minutes till the meeting started went by and their superior Teskal had yet to show up. Five more minutes zoomed by and that was when the entire room started to wonder what was going on with Teskal’s absence.
Suddenly, it began with light tremors coming their way, the atmosphere of the whole room started to tense up because they’ve experienced this strange phenomenon before. ‘So it’s going to be one of these days, huh? Why did that idiot have to rile him up today of all times…’ Ven took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
Closer and closer, the people knew what was the cause of these quakes as they intensified. Everyone fixed their posture, tidying their desks, getting themselves prepared for the madness that was about to walk through those doors and rain hell on their corporate lives.
And to everyone’s expectations, the room doors blasted off their hinges, clashing against the wall on the other side with enough force to make break through them. The first thing that entered the room was a thick-fat lit cigar, puffing smoke that wafted through the air. “I just got that shirt from my grandmother…”
Stepping inside the room that everyone feared so much was Teskal. A large, bulky, potbelly, pig humanoid with tusks, donned in a debonair suit. He puffed on his cigar as he grumbled to his seat in front of the entire moderators. “If staff didn’t stop me, I would have made lunch meat out of that vegetable and served him to the cafeteria.”
The room was dead silent, no one wanted to say anything, not even a simple greeting was given because of the fear of being Teskal’s next target. However, because no one was saying anything, Teskal was self-aware enough to know that his presence and current mood was the reason. “Wow! No, ‘Hi’ from either of you!? No, ‘How was your day so far?’, huh? Is this how we want to start our meeting!? HMM!?”
Everyone knew that this could be a trap of Teskal’s, their boss wanted a chance to explode on someone as an excuse to let off some steam. No one from the audience would ever dare to fall for his plot, no one…except for one optimistic looking bastard that was Ven. “Good afternoon, Teskal! I just wanted to give another person the pleasure of doing so, since I’m always the one!”
Teskal snorted out puffs of smoke, leering at Ven for a moment, as if he was going to take this as an opportunity to let out his anger. “...sit your ass back down. I would have clobbered you if not for your goofy face. The fuck is there to be happy about.” He decided to spare the room of his wrath after looking at Ven’s dumb look.
Ven did as told with delight, his hands clasped together, still radiating his positive attitude to everyone in the room. The rest of the moderators saw Ven as an idiot for saying something all the time because of the possibility of Teskal going mad and knocking the lights out of them all.
Their boss took one more puff from his cigar before setting it down on a holder. “Entertainment, that’s one of the things we’re responsible for providing for the gods. Views and ratings follow suit after, along with profits. We have one of the easiest jobs compared to the other positions of Voidcast Nexus. I called for this meeting to…stimulate the creative minds of everyone. Ensure that the lot of you aren’t becoming stale. So who would like to share one of their recent challenges enforced on their contestants.”
No one immediately raised their hands, not even Ven because he knew that the vast majority of his contestants compared to Barry were soft. The types of encounters and quests that he gave to his contestants were all apparently too difficult to overcome, which was why his number of views and ratings were tragically low in comparison to the rest of his colleagues. No matter how interesting Ven wanted his contestants' challenges to be, he could never do them out of fear of killing them all off. The only one with true potential was Barry.
One hesitant moderator volunteered to voice one of their challenges they’ve done and that got the ball rolling as everyone else began to take part in the discussion. Ven kept his presence low to avoid giving his own experience, instead being an active listener and giving some opinions of his own.
However, his buddy Coot felt like Ven was being very passive today unlike his usual self and thought it’d be encouraging of him to bring the spotlight on Ven. “Ah! I recall Ven pushing out a juicy quest to one of his contestants the other day. Say Ven, why don’t you tell us about one of your challenges? I’m sure everyone would benefit a lot from your ideas.”
Coot’s yapping reignited Ven’s hatred for him. Still, this scenario was likely unavoidable from the start and Ven had something prepared to say just in case. “Oh, I appreciate you for thinking so highly of me, Coot. It warms my heart. And since you asked, I think a challenge involving high-stakes and moral choices should always be one of the core aspects when making one. Based on the data and statistics of this week’s recent events, 65% of our viewers tend to stick to a channel that involves a lot of action rather than meaningless drama.”
To add to this piece of information, Ven snapped his fingers and manifested his personal work tablet. He then began literally swiping his proof of references and data charts off his tablet, watching them float and enlarge across the seminar. All eyes were on them, analyzing everything that was being shown. Ven resumed spitting some knowledge. “However, bombarding contestants with challenges can become stale overtime. So letting them have some downtime isn’t bad at all, it actually opens up the opportunity for them to show what kind of person they are. Which is what a lot of gods really seek when watching, to know who exactly they are rooting for. And remember, there are still gods without anyone to sponsor because it’s too early to decide.”
The way Ven spoke and presented himself was very professional and captivating, his outward high-energy appearance kept drawing in his audience. Even after Coot’s attempt of making a joke out of him, Ven remained calm and collective, negating Coot entirely. Teskal was actually impressed by Ven’s sudden presentation and show of effort. “I see you’ve put a lot of thought into all this and not just that disgusting optimistic smile of yours.”
“Of course, sir!” Ven replied cheerfully, with a bit of a bow. “We may play a simple cog of a machine, but I still believe that we should set the standard when compared to other branches of our job line. And that standard should be extraordinary, never ordinary.”
Although everyone hated Ven for his happy-go-lucky attitude and infectious smile, they would never admit that he would be better suited elsewhere in an upper position rather than where they were right now. Ven basked in the silence, not needing any praises from his colleagues because he knew how much better he was than everyone else.
That silence soon came to an end because of one moderator that decided to drop something embarrassing about Ven’s performance related to his own contestants. “Sure, all this data you’ve collected looks legit. But what about your own streams? Last time I checked the rankings of highest performing moderators, you were never on there. Why's that?”
Laughter and smirks spread from all around, everyone was on the same side since it seemed to them that Ven was trying to score some brownie points from Teskal and making them look bad. “I’ve been providing sufficient challenges for my contestants for the time being. I prefer studying what works and doesn’t from other moderators before applying them.” Ven replied, not trying to break character.
“Ah, that makes sense. He’s too afraid to make his streams thrilling. No wonder his channel is in the dumps.” Another moderator mocked, followed by another who chimed in saying. “You know what, I think he is on the list of lowest performing moderators. People are making bets on whether he’ll still be active after the main quest for Scion is over.”
Their attempts of humiliating Ven were honestly getting to him, not enough to make him drop his facade but still irritating to get his heart thumping with anger. Teskal did some research of his own to inspect Ven’s performance so far, he had heard a few opinions about Ven but with how everyone was speaking ill of him, he decided to skim some info himself.
“Hehe…” Teskal puffed his cigar, flicking it as he was looking over Ven’s results from his computer. “This is funny. Ven! How is it that you are able to maintain a positive mood every time I see you with nothing to be happy about? It makes no sense to me! Explain!” He pounded a fist on his desk, exuding an authoritative aura directly towards Ven.
This did not phase Ven on his outward appearance, but it did shake him up inside. He was about to give his defense to Teskal in a calm manner but didn’t get the chance due to Coot’s intervention. “Oh please, Teskal, have mercy on my friend Ven. He’s very dedicated to his work despite what it all seems like. We’ve all just seen how enthusiastic he is based on his research.”
Ven didn’t say anything at all to add on, everyone's attention was now on Coot which gave him some breathing room. But one thing was for sure, Ven knew that Coot wasn’t taking his side for no reason at all. ‘Come on you snake, I know you’re still going to make fun of me some how…
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“Let’s not ridicule Ven for his numbers alone; clearly his talents can be used elsewhere should he be removed from his position as a moderator. I’m thinking the marketing team might be a good fit for him with his creative mind. But that’s just a thought of mine, I have faith he will stick around…” There was no descending tone in Coot's voice as he spoke, saying it all cutesy.
Ven didn’t like the idea of moving to the marketing team, he applied for the position as a moderator because it would give him a lot of exposure and publicity in order to reach his dream riches and stardom. Coot resumed to speak, what he said after would press Ven’s buttons. “And if he does get removed, then I can take over his contestants and make sure to keep things interesting. But again, IF, by chance. Which I don’t think will happen. Hehe.”
People were snickering, amused by the thought of Ven’s failure and how he’d react if he did lose his position. Ven experienced some difficulty controlling his anger, one of his toes now tapping on the floor as a way to vent some frustration. But that would not be enough, keeping his composure, Ven took a deep breath and decided to get back at the entire room. “Teskal. Can you tell me what were the results of McGuinness's raid on the water castle. The viewership and ratings were the highest they’ve ever been on Scion. Correct?”
The room went silent, the moderators were trying to understand where he was getting at. “Uh, yeah. The whole board of Scion was talking about it, actually, some other branches were chatting about it too. How it was insane and hilarious that McGuinness was defeated. Some contestant with a boring name defeated him…can’t think of his name.”
“Barry.” Ven reminded, his smile brighter than ever before. “His name is Barry. I am the one in charge of nurturing him. He’s quite something am I right? I like the parts where he keeps making fun of McGuinness.”
Everyone’s eyes were now on Ven, they found it very hard to believe that Ven was the one in charge of overseeing Barry. Teskal did a quick check to see if Ven was really Barry’s caretaker. He was surprised to see that he was telling the truth. “So he is one of your contestants…an’t that a shocker.” Upon hearing this confirmation, the rest of the moderators were stone cold.
“I know! I won’t deny it, but I’ve given him more love and attention than the rest of my contestants. He’s someone I treasure the most. And actually, if we’re going by numbers, I think I recall seeing Barry as the most viewed contestant in Scion.” Ven’s mind started to fill with numerous feats that Barry had. His anger inside slowly began to die down the more he thought.
Everyone fact checked Ven one more time and saw that he wasn’t lying. Barry was one of the most watched contestants on Scion currently, individually that is. The comments, opinions, and threads about Barry was a mix of amusement, interest, and even hate. Overall, Barry was in almost every discussion no matter if he was liked or not. And the fact that he had no sponsor backing him up, added on to his uniqueness that kept his viewers wondering how he was able to do the things he does.
“Hmm…seems like he’s the only person keeping your channel afloat. That must be your saving grace for why you’re still active.” Teskal was trying desperately to search Barry’s profile for something to throw shade at. He decided to point out something questionable. “You know, as impressive as it is for this contestant to make it this far without a sponsor. I believe his feats and accomplishments were solely done based on luck and not skill. He’ll crumble soon.”
Ven cackled inside his mind, he found it hilarious that Teskal and his colleagues were doubting Barry’s capabilities. “I wouldn’t call this particular contestant lucky. Quite the opposite actually, he’s gone through a lot of rough patches himself. He’s the hard headed type that knows no fear. Strong-willed is what I believe best describes him.”
Teskal was irritated by how Ven was defending this Barry guy so much, he hated it even more that Ven was in charge of him and not someone else with better overall numbers. “Well, his Class is boring just like his name. ‘Hardcore Fighter’ really? There are plenty of other contests with more flashy and interesting abilities than this bland muffin.”
‘Hardcore Fighter’ wasn’t Barry’s true Class since for some reason Barry wasn’t able to unlock one himself. Ven couldn’t figure out why so he had to put something there as a place holder in order to steer suspicion. He was also confused as to why Barry couldn’t recall any of his past memories or even see what his real name was when it was literally spelled out on his profile window. In any case, Ven had to edit Barry’s profile in the system's databases to make it look natural. He kept Barry’s original profile the same for himself and Barry’s own personal profile window.
Ven replied back to Teskal’s uninterested remark. “As boring as his Class and name is, I think building up a reputation should always be important. So I ask, which is more interesting, a contestant with an edgy name that vanquishes evil with a wicked blade, or a bland muffin by the name of ‘Barry’ who’s capable of squashing evil with his fists alone. I’d pick the latter, as do the rest of the viewers watching him.”
There was tension between Ven and Teskal was tense, even though Ven was still being the goodie-two shoes he was in a polite manner. “You just know what to say, do you…” Teskal said, taking a long drag of his cigar. The moderators felt like Teskal was about to get ready to throw down and strangle Ven like a goose.
“Not at all. I’m just really confident in Barry, is all. And I’m sure he’ll become an all-time favorite amongst the divine ones.” Ven praised, continuing to beam his enthusiasm at everyone in the room.
Teskal took one more fearsome look at Ven, trying to get a rise out of him but saw no sign of nerves shaking inside him. He then released his cigar, snuffing it out and blowing a hefty puff of smoke in the air before standing up from his seat. “Meeting’s over. I’ll see you all in a couple of weeks or so.” The pig then begrudgingly exited the room, leaving his employees alone in dead silence.
No one was sure how to react to what just happened, they were utterly stunned how Ven survived Teskal’s continued attempts of tearing both his self-esteem and Barry down. Even Coot was astonished to witness Ven was able to deflect everything back at their snappy boss. Not only that, but everyone was surprised to hear that Ven was responsible for Barry’s progress.
“Welp, that ended on a high note! Haha!” Ven commented, trying to lighten the mood with his radiant aura. “I think this is the perfect time to go get some iced coffee. Pumpkin spice sounds amazing right now! Hmmmm.” He then made his way out of the room, being the first to leave behind his insolent co-workers.
As he walked farther away from where he left, he slightly increased his pace by a bit. ‘Pumpkin spice! Pumpkin spice! Oh that felt so fucking good to shut them all up as soon as I mentioned by prized possession. As much as they love bringing up my failures, they can’t deny that you are a hot topic in almost every discussion.’
While he was daydreaming about how superb it would be to reach his goals, Ven had noticed that there was one person following him ever since he left his meeting room. Still, he did not stop to confront them as he made his way to one of the coffee shops in his building. ‘Who is this person stalking me? Better not be another nuisance…’
When he arrived at his usual coffee shop, Ven immediately went up to place his order. “Hello! I liked to have an iced pumpkin spice latte with extra whip on top. A Venti please.”
The moment he finished ordering, another person emerged out of the corner of eye. “Add a cookies n’creme frappucino to that order as well. I’ll be paying for him. Put it under Lily.” It was a cute blonde priestess, as she went ahead to pay for him before Ven had a chance.
‘Now why would you do that for me…’ Ven wondered as he walked away from the counter to wait for their coffee. He simply kept smiling at her with his never ending positivity. “Thank you for paying for me, I wasn’t expecting someone as generous as you to appear. My name is Ven, and you are…Lily? Correct?”
“Yes! You can call me Lily. I know it seems strange for someone you’ve never met to pay for you, but I wanted to take it as an opportunity to…get to know you.” Lily returned a small smile and nod to him.
‘She clearly wants something from me. I really want to go back to my office so I’ll go ahead and get her to spill it…’ Ven accepted her kindness by offering a handshake, which she took. “Pleasure to meet you, but as much as I would love to share my deepest interest to someone as curious as you. I can’t help but feel like there is some…ulterior motive for your kindness. I apologize if I’m sounding mistrusting of you, I do hope you understand.”
Lily looked genuinely shocked at his response, mainly because she believed that she was in fact coming off as someone shady to Ven. “O-Oh no, no, I’m so sorry if the way I’m introducing myself to you is weird or creepy. That’s the last thing I wanted to do.” She figured it was better if she just said what she came to him for. “The truth is, I’m a moderator from Scion’s division of people. One of my contestants is traveling with one of your contestants named Barry and-”
“One pumpkin spice latte and one cookies n’creme frap for Lily!” Lily’s explanation was cut off by the call of their order being ready for pick up.
Ven raised a finger to put a pause on Lily’s before receiving and returning with their drinks. Lily then resumed finishing what she was trying to say. “So anyways, I came looking for you because-”
“So you’re from one of Scion’s branches. Did I hear that right?” Ven cut her off again, she nodded in response. “And you came all the way here because apparently one of your contestants is travelling with one of mine?”
The priestess silenced every time Ven spoke, always giving him her full attention. “Y-Yes. One of my contestant’s name is Ron and-”
“Follow me to my office. Let’s discuss what you came here for when we’re there. I’d feel much more comfortable speaking freely there rather than out here with prying eyes.” Ven advised, as he strolled away to his office. Lily understood what he meant and tagged along.
When they reached Ven’s office, he allowed her to be the first inside before making sure that there was no one else stalking and shutting the door behind. Lily took a sip of her drink and looked at Ven to ask if it was fine for them to talk now. “So yeah, I came here to-”
“Quiet! Quiet!” Ven demanded, he drank some of his latte, set it down and took a deep breath while closing his eyes. He had just seeped out a bit of his true character in front of Lily and he was about to break his whole cheerful and jolly facade moments after.
Lily was worried if she might have done something to upset him after seeing his radiant personality vanishing. “U-Um…did I do something wrong-”
“FUCK YOU TESKAL! FUCK YOU COOT! FUCK EVERYONE WHOSE EVER LAUGHED AT ME!” Ven started going off on a long rant, cussing out all the people he could think of that made fun of him for how unpopular his channel was. This side of Ven was a total shock to Lily, she was never expecting Barry’s personal moderator to be so…wraithful.
Ven’s office was soundproofed to his liking, so he had no worries about being too loud when it came to his outbursts. His hate would soon reach its end with one final say. “YOU ALL JUST DON’T SEE IT YET! BUT BARRY WILL BE THE ONE TO BRING ME TO THE TOP ALONE! AND I’LL BE THE ONE CACKLING FROM HIGH ABOVE! HAHAHAHA!”
Lily stood frozen in place, unsure if he was finished monologuing or not. Ven turned around and saw how unsettling he must have made Lily feel. He let out a sigh and put a smile on his face again as a sign that he was ready to speak now. “Now then. You mentioned one of your contestants, ‘Ron’, travelling with my precious Barry. Yes?”
“U–Uh huh. C-Can I s-speak n-now?” Lily spoke with caution, she didn’t know if Ven was going to suddenly start ranting any second.
“Please, speak about what you came here for. I’ve just finished venting so I’m all ears.” Ven reassured her, though the mood he had set was still uneasy even with his happy mask put on.
She hesitated to talk for a moment but soon did after relaxing her nerves. “A-Alright, so I came here to talk about our contestants working together. So far they’ve been doing great, amazing actually compared to the other contestants on Scion. I was curious who Barry’s moderator was and wanted to thank him personally, well, Barry also indirectly, for sharing his spotlight with Ron. My channel’s been growing consistently due to Barry’s presence and influence on Ron’s stream.”
Hearing her say such nice things about Barry, as well as receiving a thank you made Ven’s heart warm up inside. “Awwww, that’s so phenomenal of you to make the trip here to show your appreciation! I’m so touched, really.” Ven acted overly emotional and dramatic, his eyes tearing up to show how moved he was. “You’re the first person to ever say something kind to me. I’ll remember you when I make it big, I promise!”
Lily gave a slight smile. “Hehe…I…take it that your branch had never complimented what a good job you’re doing?”
“Fuck no.” Ven denied, his expression turning back to one of frustration and annoyance. “You’ve heard my spiel. I hate everyone here because they enjoy picking on me for my poor performing channel. The rest of my contestants aside from Barry are meek and soft, they have difficulty reaching double-digit views. I was given the low end of contestants. But I’m positive that Barry alone will be enough to let me keep my job and give me a promotion.”
The priestess saw potential in Barry, he was the cream of the crop. Even so, she figured that Ven was probably struggling to maintain afloat with just Barry carrying him. “I’m confident that Barry will help you get what you want as well. But aren’t you worried that your overall ratings will drag you down before seeing your dream happen? Would it help if I give a shout out to your channel on my streams? Maybe we can do a collab or something, mainly to keep you in business for peace of mind.”
Ven’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. “Really!? You’d do that for little ol’me!?” He then quickly grasped Lily’s hand who started getting flustered as he shook it with excitement. “That’s so generous of you! Ah, you really are a benevolent priestess! You're a ray of sunshine after a long day of bleak clouds and gloomy weather, you’ve just made my day!”
“Haha, y-your welcome. But, um, I do have a favor to ask of you…that is if you are willing to accept my request.” Lily started fidgeting her fingers while she thought about the favor she was going to ask.
“Of course I can do you a solid, now that we’re friends. What is it that you want me to do for you? You look nervous, is it a big ask?” Ven hoped it wasn’t something too troublesome to take on.
Lily thought about how to express her concern. “M-Maybe…or maybe not? Okay, I’ll be upfront and say…theres someone else from my group of contestants that’s stalking Barry and his group. And one of his priorities is taking Ron away from Barry. I don’t want that to happen.”
“Hmmm, I see. And have you tried telling this contestant not to kidnap Ron?” Ven figured that wasn’t the case or even possible, given how clumsy and timid Lily looked to him.
“I-I have, but he refuses to listen to my request.” Lily recalled her short conversations with her contestant. “He doesn’t care what I say, I even suggested partying with Barry as a means to be near Ron but he declined. He said that he’d rather peel off his nails than work together with a human.”
The more she talked about this guy, Ven was thinking how similar him and Barry were in that they were defiant of listening to people like them or others wants. “And so you didn’t just come here to show praise to me. When actually…you wanted me to tell Barry to keep Ron by his side no matter what. Is that what you truly wished to say? I’m actually a bit hurt if that was the case…”
“No! No! I-I did want to meet you in person because I was genuinely curious about you. I would have messaged you online if I didn’t care enough.” Lily took a breather to calm down. “I’m sorry for looking shameless and asking a selfish request of mine when I’ve been relishing in Barry’s popularity by just tagging along…”
After hearing Lily express her honesty, Ven couldn’t help but smirk, feeling great about himself. “Now, now, there's no need to feel so sorry about asking me for a favor. You promised to help grow my channel and that sounds like a good enough deal to me in exchange for taking your request in consideration. You help me, and I help you. That’s what friends are for.”
Lily felt relieved, she was happy to know that Ven was understanding. “Y-You’ll really help me!?” Ven nodded in affirmation. “Thank you! Thank you! That takes a load off my chest. But um, I should warn you that this particular contestant is very strong. He has magic like none other, he’s not to be taken lightly if Barry and him decide to fight.”
“Haha, is that so? Well I’m not worried in even the slightest for Barry’s safety.” Ven meant that with every fiber of his being. “Barry’s skills and abilities might be generic in contrast to others; but that’s also the appeal of what makes him great. He doesn’t need any crazy superpower, or hocus-pocus magic. Sure he may have good items, but do you know what truly makes him stand out from the rest?”
Lily tried to think about what it exactly was that made Barry so great. “He’s very determined to get through his challenges. He doesn’t give up in stressful situations, he doesn’t know defeat, he’s doesn’t-”
“He doesn’t give a fuck.” Ven flat out said with a joyful look on his face. “Unlike anyone else, Barry doesn’t care what he faces. He’s simply willing to, as he says, ‘Get shit done’. And I love that about him.”
The way Ven praised how great Barry was made Lily think how obsessed he was over him. It was likely because Barry was the only high-performing contestant amongst Ven’s other lackluster ones. Ven flicked on one of his specific monitors exclusively for Barry, his eyes drawing to it. “Let that contestant of yours come. I’m sure he’ll find it difficult taking your delicate Ron away from Barry even without me telling him. Barry may not look and seem like a nice guy, but I know deep down he has something inside that encourages him to do the right thing.”
They then watched as Barry was currently training with Puck and Luna in Abe’s biome room. How he was giving advice and assisting with your movements and techniques. “That’s my diamond in the rough, right there. My golden ticket to obtaining my position of power…”
And as they observed Barry’s screen, Lily glanced at Puck which made her remember something back at her office. “That Kobold, Puck, where did Barry find him?” She asked, wondering if he knew himself.
“Him? I have no clue actually.” Ven tapped his chin and he thought. “There were some technical difficulties when my department sent our contestants to Scion. Barry was still able to receive a quest that must have brought the two together without me being able to monitor him. I’ve tried asking him before but he won’t tell. In any case, the Kobold’s been pretty useful. Though, he is childish. Are you saying you don’t know either?”
“Yeah…” Lily was curious about Puck herself one day and tried researching Puck’s history and powers, which turned out to be a strange and bizarre discovery. “Even though I’m a part of Scion’s branch…our files don’t have anything about Puck. It’s like…he’s an anomaly.”
This piece of information was surprising to Ven. He looked at Puck, watching him goofing around and being happy around Barry as they decided to play tag as a form of training. Ven had always been curious about where the little guy came from, and after hearing additional news from someone working at Scion’s branch, he was bewildered. “What!?”
