An Onboarding Ceremony.
A New Employee Benefits Q&A Event.
The conversation ended, and Kisaragi Rin and Shikanoko Noko had quietly leaned against the railing.
Although he still had many questions, they seemed less important compared to the previous ones.
...This must be the meaning of becoming an S-rank, finally gaining some understanding of this world.
Yukinoshita Yukino's older sister, Yukinoshita Haruno, could be considered a senior player, but Kisaragi Rin had never thought of approaching her to ask these questions before.
The reason... their level was too low.
No matter how eccentric Shikanoko Noko was, she was undeniably the Deer Horn Great Sage of Chiba Zoo, and only she could reveal so many secrets without batting an eye.
Hmm... when Shikanoko Noko was recounting that history, Takamagahara's space-based weapons locked onto them, which truly made Kisaragi Rin feel a bit helpless.
Helpless about the long road he still had to travel to catch up with these top players.
Fortunately, he had Shikanoko Noko, this Great Sage, willing to be his protector.
"Shikanoko Noko, where is Chiba Zoo's internal shop?" Kisaragi Rin asked her; this was his second main objective in coming to Chiba Zoo.
Mr. Tsunoda had already said that Chiba Zoo's reserves were superior to the Paradise Mall in some aspects.
Kisaragi Rin still had 25,000 Paradise Coins, and various Items could also be bartered, so he wanted to see if the zoo had any powers he was interested in.
"Internal shop?" Shikanoko Noko thought for a moment and said, "Before that, you haven't received your new employee benefits for joining Chiba Zoo yet."
"New employee benefits!!!"
Kisaragi Rin was very interested in this.
In cultivation novels, newly recruited disciples would receive dust-repelling robes, azure shadow swords, and Qi-replenishing pills.
Chiba Zoo was a big enterprise; even if they didn't give a hundred draws at the start, there should at least be a guaranteed Golden Skill, right?
...Soon, Shikanoko Noko led Kisaragi Rin and Medea to a lion.
Or rather, a Sphinx.
Its features were masculine and profound, and its pair of eyes, like the sun hanging in the sky, appeared righteous and incorruptible.
Its body was the color of earth and stone, and it had nine tails of varying sizes on its back, currently using a claw to braid the mane around its neck.
"Yo, Mimi."
Shikanoko Noko greeted the lion, pointing at it and introducing it to Kisaragi Rin and Medea beside her: "One of Chiba Zoo's current S-ranks. Gecko Man just calls it by its player nickname, Mimi."
Kisaragi Rin: "Yo, Mimi."
Medea: "Mimi?"
Shikanoko Noko had already said it was an S-rank, and S-ranks had the opportunity to change their player nicknames.
Since its player nickname was still Mimi, it probably liked being called that.
It indeed didn't mind the address; instead, its gaze turned to Kisaragi Rin with confusion.
"You must be the new S-rank."
"Is the sublimation of becoming an S-rank anti-Prophecy? Why can't I see your future?"
"Uh... something like that."
Kisaragi Rin really wanted to complain about why these guys all loved to see other people's futures.
As for predicting the future, who would know if the prediction was correct until that moment truly arrived?
Mimi sniffed Kisaragi Rin again, ignoring Shikanoko Noko beside them, and one of the braids it was weaving around its neck suddenly broke.
Wrapped in golden light, it floated in front of Kisaragi Rin in the form of a golden lion.
"If you encounter a powerful enemy that you cannot handle, raise this mane towards the sun and shout my title [Sevenfold Rebirth, Devourer of Heavens], and I shall descend."
Mimi introduced simply, then stood up to reveal the door that had been blocked by its body.
It read: Director's Office.
Kisaragi Rin picked up the mane, thinking only, "Please, do look more closely."
What was this?
This was the warmth of a major power!
When you're out in the world, you need a background, you need influence. I'm with Chiba Zoo.
"Thanks, Mimi."
"Remember, this can only be used once."
Shikanoko Noko led Kisaragi Rin and Medea into the Director's Office.
There was nothing special inside; it just looked like a normal office.
"By the way, how many S-ranks are there in Chiba Zoo?" Kisaragi Rin asked Shikanoko Noko.
Hmm... Mimi outside was so generous, so other S-ranks probably wouldn't be stingy with such a welcome gift.
"Including you, there are six."
Shikanoko Noko introduced: "One is me, one is the guy Medea's Demonic Eye saw, Mimi outside is one, and there's a spider that entered Paradise more than ten years ago and we don't know if it can return, and finally, a newcomer who just transformed into an S-rank last year. Besides Mimi, the other S-ranks can't give welcome gifts right now."
"So many?"
Medea had a question: a single Chiba Zoo had six S-ranks. Did that mean there were at least dozens of S-ranks alive in Japan?
Of course, 'dozens' was relative to the difficulty of becoming an S-rank.
"Not many at all. These six S-ranks are the accumulation of Chiba Zoo since its establishment."
Shikanoko Noko sat in the director's chair, detached her head, placed it on the desk, and began rummaging inside it.
"So Chiba Zoo's accumulation was originally in your head?"
Kisaragi Rin took out a white letter from his Workshop and placed it next to Shikanoko Noko's head.
This was their agreed-upon onboarding obligation: submitting one white letter annually.
"No, the zoo's accumulation is right here in this Director's Office. I'm just connecting to that space through my head to retrieve things."
"Doesn't that sound even stranger?"
"A so-called deer is a creature that can do anything without humans finding it strange."
"I find it very strange, so am I even human?!"
After a while, Shikanoko Noko finally pulled out the new employee onboarding benefits from her head.
They were a Jade Bottle, a stone, and a Bone Whistle.
"Some things you won't need, so I picked out some decent ones for you."
Kisaragi Rin had already begun to examine them.
Cuisine - Elixir - Great Strength Pill
Description: Come and see, come and behold, this Great Strength Medicine guarantees your martial arts exam will be as simple as 'stretching legs and rolling eyes'.
Effect: Increases Strength attribute to 30 points with no side effects.
Usage Condition: Innate Talents is not something you and I can decide; the amount of postnatal medicine guarantees you will receive bad news.
...what?
Kisaragi Rin asked Shikanoko Noko, "Does our Chiba Zoo have alchemists?"
"Of course... no."
Shikanoko Noko spread her hands, "Unless they have an innate Talents, what animal would go and concoct medicine? This bottle was snatched from another world."
...
Kisaragi Rin chose to swallow this small mud pill.
Although the taste was terrible, the thought of his Strength directly increasing from 21 to 30 made him so happy he could 'stretch his legs and roll his eyes'.
[You have consumed Cuisine - Elixir - Great Strength Pill. Your Strength attribute has reached 30 points]