Chapter 4. Enforcer
"The corresponding treatment, authority, responsibilities, obligations, and regulations are all in this manual. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
Viya said in a strictly businesslike tone, handing Lloyd a small manual.
"Got it. I'll read it carefully."
"Then, welcome aboard, Enforcer Lloyd. May the Radiant Light bring you good luck and help you adapt to this place as quickly as possible."
Viya spoke in a formulaic manner, stood up to shake hands with Lloyd as a formality, and handed him a black card, introducing it:
"This is your identity card. The number is 514, which will also be your operational codename from now on."
This number... why does it feel a bit strange?
Lloyd muttered inwardly.
Having handed over the manual and the identity card, Viya concluded her part of the procedure. She immediately went back to work, showing no intention of chatting with Lloyd a bit longer, displaying a thoroughly "forgetting old ties" attitude.
Lloyd stood up and said very formally:
"Thank you, Inquisitor Viya. You saved me last time, and I never had a chance to properly thank you... Please accept this small token of my appreciation. I sincerely thank you for your previous help."
With that, he fished a small gift out of his pocket and placed it on Viya's desk.
It was a spring-loaded puppet with a crude sketch of a little bear glued to the top—
ヽ(○^^)
A line of small characters reading "Thank you" was written underneath. If you reached out and flicked it, it would sway from side to side, looking like the little bear was dancing.
The workmanship was somewhat simple, but showed genuine care. It was clearly handmade by Lloyd, enough to express gratitude without making anyone feel awkward.
"No need for formalities. That was my duty."
Viya remained as cold as ever. She merely raised her head to glance at the small gift before lowering it again to continue working.
No comment, but she didn't refuse it either.
Lloyd took his leave then. When he reached the door, Viya suddenly spoke up with a reminder:
"Here, rather than learning knowledge and skills, what's more important is mastering those crucial habits and awareness. And the very first thing you must learn is—
[Do not overthink, do not ask too much]—
We call this the 'Rule Zero' of the mystical and transcendent realms."
Lloyd was slightly startled, then nodded firmly.
"Thank you, I'll keep it in mind."
……………………
As soon as he stepped out of the office, Lloyd found a random place to sit down and began to carefully flip through the small manual.
The very first sentence in it was the supreme dogma of the Cult—
"Humanity shall ultimately shine brilliantly!"
This was also the ultimate faith of the Cult, and the remaining various dogmas revolved around this point, such as "Strive hard for a common better future" and "Be positive and optimistic, life will get better."
The Radiant Cult did not worship any deities or other powerful beings; they only believed in these ideals, treating them as the meaning of their existence and their goal to strive for.
Aside from sounding a bit too much like motivational chicken soup, there was nothing wrong with it, right?
Lloyd continued flipping further. It introduced in meticulous detail what he was supposed to do next and what he was capable of doing.
His position in the Cult was an "Enforcer," similar to a recruit or a trainee. The pay was very low—worse than working in a factory assembling screws—but the treatment in other aspects was quite good, and the room for advancement was vast.
After serving a full year, passing the evaluation, and completing transcendent Enlightenment to become a Transcendent, one could be promoted to a formal "Cleric," setting one's life on the right track from then on.
Therefore, one of his main tasks going forward was to study hard and improve himself.
Another primary task was to help frontline combat personnel share their mental pressure—
Any contact with Monsters would incur [Mental Pollution], and the pollution suffered when completely killing them was the most severe. Moreover, this pollution could ignore distance and accurately fall upon the "culprit," much like some kind of potent and evil curse.
Therefore, when conditions permitted, frontline combat personnel would not directly kill Monsters; instead, they would capture them, transport them back to the rear, and leave the final "finishing blow" task for the Enforcers to complete.
On the one hand, this reduced their burden and risk; on the other hand, it allowed Enforcers to better understand Monsters and grow more rapidly. By the way, it also allowed them to salvage valuable organs from the Monsters. It was a shrewd arrangement.
Of course, this entire procedure had to be established on the premise that "conditions permit." The time Lloyd encountered Viya was clearly a situation where conditions did not permit.
"This task is practically tailor-made for me!"
Lloyd muttered softly to himself, a wave of wild joy surging in his heart.
As for the studying part, he was even less worried. Having already been a test-prep machine for two lifetimes, his academic prowess was definitely up to par, not to mention he now had the [Efficient Learning] skill as an auxiliary.
However, the learning method here was relatively casual and free. There were no fixed teachers or classes, no quizzes, no attendance checks. Everything relied on self-study in the library or attending various public lectures, emphasizing complete self-discipline.
In fact, as long as he could pass the final evaluation after a year, skipping the studies altogether was not a problem.
However, the Tribunal did not keep idlers. It granted a maximum of two years; if one failed to become a Cleric, they would either be reassigned as a handyman or transferred to the Crusaders, equivalent to the trade of a foot soldier.
Leaving the Cult altogether was out of the question—one had to make sufficient contributions to humanity.
"As a progressive youth who has received higher education, of course I must study hard. I cannot rely solely on the panel."
Lloyd muttered to himself, then shouted inwardly:
Panel! Allocate points!
During that previous time, the Madness Value he gained through breathing had accumulated enough for four point allocations, yielding 20 points. Continuing with the system's recommended format of 3 points to [Sanity] and 2 points to [Cognition], he went on a spending spree. The Attribute Panel had now changed to this:
[User: Lloyd]
[Status: Normal]
[Madness Value: 0/500, Upper Limit: 1700]
[Sanity: 17]
[Spirit Power: 1]
[Inspiration: 3]
[Cognition: 14]
[System: Incomplete Enlightenment]
[Acquired Skill: Efficient Learning]
After this round of allocation, the beginner perks were completely gone. Not only did the Madness Value required for the next allocation skyrocket to 500, but he could no longer acquire Madness Value simply through breathing.
Extracting too much Madness Value from the same source had created adaptability in him, much like playing gacha games too much makes one used to microtransactions.
With the cheap source of Madness Value gone, Lloyd would have to figure something out on his own from now on.
"Alright, let's go pick up my supplies first, and then take a look at the library. With 14 points in [Cognition] and [Efficient Learning], I should be able to enter 'Honor Student Mode,' right?"
With that, Lloyd found the "Quartermaster's Office" on the first floor and collected a set of light blue standard Cult uniforms. After changing into them, he looked much more handsome and upright, definitely boosting his sense of immersion.