After Karasu vanishes into the night, leaving behind an awkward silence, I turn to Xiaolang and Kaito. Business is business, after all.

  "Alright," I say, clapping my paws together to restore some sense of normalcy.

  "Next task: find twenty-seven more Sensitives to fulfill the contract with Takama-ga-hara Ventures."

  The moment the thought forms in my head, a wave of exhaustion washes over me. Haggling over every quality Sensitive with those old foxes from Takama-ga-hara? Persuading them to sign an exclusive contract? Explaining the FP system and all the tedious regulations? Oh, dear gods, I feel faint just thinking about it.

  I pull out my device and open the Relations Team’s group chat. My claws dance across the virtual keyboard.

  [@All] - "Listen up, team. We have a new contract in the Japanese market. Need to recruit more 27 Sensitives, ASAP. Alethea has already sent the list of potentials to the shared drive. Divide the work amongst yourselves. Xiaolang will bring you the seal. Report back to me when it’s done. That’s all."

  I send the message, feeling a great sense of relief. Having subordinates is truly a wonderful thing.

  "Xiaolang," I turn to the young wolf god,

  "If you would, please take this ornate box to the Tokyo Outpost and hand it over to my team. They'll know what to do."

  "Yes, Itsuki-san!" He takes the box, gives me a formal bow, and zips off into the sky.

  The moment his silhouette disappears, my device buzzes. A new message on GodChat.

  [Zhen Shan]: "Why do you always boss my people around?"

  I glance at the message, sigh, and toss the device into the dimensional space of my pocket. I'll deal with that later.

  The aches from my battle with Karasu finally start to catch up with me. That Dark Nether Lightning technique is no joke. I stumble towards Kaito’s apartment building.

  "Hey, kid. Mind if I crash at your place for a bit?"

  "Ah, yes, of course!"

  I slip into Kaito’s room through the window and immediately collapse onto his leather gaming chair. It’s surprisingly comfortable.

  "That last fight overloaded the circuits in this old fox body of mine. Just need to rest here for a bit."

  "Please, make yourself at home!" Kaito says, his voice buzzing with excitement.

  "You are my direct superior now, after all!"

  "Ah, about that..." I hesitate.

  "Huh...?"

  "That's not exactly how it works," I explain.

  "The direct superior for all contract Sensitives in Sector 1031 is Director Ariel. We don't really have the authority to give you orders. Everything goes through the system."

  I take Kaito’s hand, where the contract seal has left a faint, shimmering tattoo.

  "This is how you'll receive your missions. Try pressing it."

  Curiously, he does as I say. The tattoo glows, and a sleek, translucent smartphone materializes from it, hovering in his hand. It's an elegant device with a silver trim, far more advanced than anything in the mundane realm.

  "No way!" Kaito gasps. "What company makes this? This is incredible!"

  "A custom job from the dwarves over at Asgard Industries," I reply with a yawn.

  "It charges using your own spiritual energy, so you'll never have to worry about the battery. It only requires a tiny fraction to operate."

  I show Kaito how to open an app called "Solak." Its interface looks quite similar to a human corporate messaging app, only much more sophisticated.

  "This is Solak, the exclusive version for the Jade Palace Conglomerate. The other corporations have their own versions, but they don't connect with each other. Security reasons, you know."

  "This is my Solak handle: @ItsukiK," I say. "Add me so we can chat."

  "You can access the main group chat for Sector 1031 to see and update information. There are also private group chats for contract Sensitives. Most of them are from China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. If you don't understand something, just go into the settings and select ‘Adaptive Language.’ It’ll translate everything for you."

  "Whoa, like Google Translate?"

  "Mmm, not quite," I say lazily. "This uses the Law of Comprehension, so it translates with 100% accuracy, even if you're using wordplay, idioms, or slang."

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "That's amazing!" Kaito exclaims, his eyes glued to the screen.

  "It has GodMap, too! It’s showing a detailed map of the world... Huh? Why is the map of the Nexus locked?"

  "Trying to process the map of the Nexus would cause a mortal brain to short-circuit and descend into madness," I explain. "So, for safety reasons, we've locked access for all Sensitives."

  "There's also GodBook and Instagloriam! But why can't I log in?"

  "You can't open a social media account for gods without a ‘Nexus Labor ID,’ kid."

  "That's no fun!" Kaito pouts. "I want to see the gods' drama!"

  I smirk. "Maybe I'll send you a few screenshots sometime."

  "REALLY???"

  "As long as you don't go spreading it around."

  Watching Kaito's jaw drop and his eyes go wide, I can't help but find it amusing. He keeps swiping through the apps on his new spirit-phone, constantly letting out exclamations of "Woah!" and "Sugoi!". He probably feels like the protagonist of some isekai light novel right now. Well, I might as well let the kid enjoy his moment before I pour a bucket of cold water on his rose-tinted dream.

  "Don't get too lost scrolling through GodMap," I say, my voice laced with laziness.

  "There's still a lot you need to learn. For instance, what our job here is really about."

  I clear my throat, launching into my "New Employee Orientation" lecture.

  "As you've seen, Zhen Shan's Security Team is mainly responsible for eliminating Anomalies and maintaining spiritual order. But that's not all. They also have to deal with human sorcerers—Sensitives who use their spiritual powers for malicious purposes. Lately, for some reason, controlling Anomalies to harm others has become a trend."

  Kaito's eyes widen.

  "Does that mean... humans can... use Laws too?"

  "Not a chance," I chuckle. "Divine Laws are a privilege of the Gods. Humans and Anomalies command their spiritual power using a more primitive method called 'sorcery'. You can do it too. Try checking the 1031 Sector's general chat group; look for the pinned file named 'Introductory Manual for Contracted Sensitives'."

  Kaito immediately follows my instruction. He scrolls while reading aloud, his voice growing more excited by the second.

  "Let's see... 'Basic Guide to Astral Projection', 'How to Communicate with and Control Low-Level Shades (Anomalies)', 'Methods for Spiritually Connecting with Deities'... ah, this one has a note: 'outdated tech, just call their phone now'..."

  He keeps scrolling.

  "...'Reinforcing the Physical Body with Spirit Energy', 'Introduction to Yin-Yang and Five Elements Sorcery', 'Elementary Elemental Control'... Holy crap! This is just like in manga!"

  "That's just basic training material to help Sensitives defend themselves when a God isn't around to help," I interrupt him.

  "Your main job, most of the time, will be to 'lend us your body' to carry out tasks that require physical interaction. Quick, clean, and efficient."

  The excitement on Kaito's face deflates instantly.

  "That's boring... I want to try fighting and defeating those monsters myself."

  Another naive kid who thinks this world is a superhero story.

  "You think this job is about playing hero?"

  My tone becomes more serious.

  "Listen, Kaito, you need to understand something. Our greatest enemies aren't those mindless Anomalies. They're the rival corporations. They constantly play dirty, directly targeting each other's Sensitives. The lives of contracted individuals like you are, at times, hanging by a thread. A god from a major corporation can easily 'borrow the hand' of a Sensitive under their command to eliminate one of ours."

  I pause, looking straight into the boy's eyes.

  "Kid, sometimes, I find those Anomalies quite adorable. At least their actions are still somewhat predictable."

  The glamorous, cool shell of the divine world he just witnessed seems to be cracking apart. He unconsciously places a hand over his chest, his face showing a mix of confusion and fear. This time, it isn't the fear of a scissor-wielding monster.

  "I... I'll have to face other gods?" he asks, his voice trembling. "Alone... when no one can get to me in time?"

  "That scenario is rare, but not impossible," I say honestly.

  "Usually, the ones who target you will be other Sensitives working for the competition. And believe me, they aren't as nice as you are."

  After lounging on the chair for about fifteen minutes, I feel the Divine Energy finally flowing steadily through my meridians again. I jump up and stretch my body refreshingly. My white fur fluffs up slightly and then settles down softly. My tail wags gently, creating a small breeze in the cramped room.

  "Let's go, Kaito," I gesture with my snout towards the window.

  "To the Sensitives' Hub. We need to complete the HR procedures, most importantly, registering your payroll account."

  Kaito is busy putting away the ethereal phone, but his eyes light up the moment he hears the word "payroll." The kid asks hesitatingly, his face full of anticipation:

  "Huh? Payroll? So... so will I get paid in FP? Like in games?"

  I almost burst out laughing, giving a slight snort.

  "You silly brat. Do you think your mortal body of flesh and bone can handle raw FP? Charging that stuff into you is like plugging a AA battery into a nuclear reactor. You’ll explode."

  I pat his head gently with my paw.

  "We pay real money. Real, hard cash of you humans. Stop dreaming."

  Kaito blinks, looking a bit disappointed but still curious.

  "Real money...?"

  "Of course," I say, pulling a holographic sample contract out of my pocket dimension as I scan through the terms.

  "Let's see... According to the current regulations of Sector 1031, a fresher Sensitive like you, with no combat experience, receives a starting salary equivalent to 30,000 USD a year. Of course, this doesn't include risk allowances, mission bonuses, and occupational accident insurance. If you do well and get promoted to a senior Sensitive, that number doubles or triples."

  The kid stands frozen on the spot. His lips move rapidly; it seems his brain is trying to perform a complex currency conversion at the speed of light.

  "Th... thirty thousand dollars a year..." He mutters, his voice trembling. "Current exchange rate... Converted to Yen is..."

  "About 4,663,845 Yen," I answer quickly, the calculator in my head crunching the numbers instantly.

  "Ah, sorry. Since we work multinationally, we usually use human USD as a standard for easier accounting."

  Just as I finish my sentence, I hear a soft thud next to me.

  I turn around. Kaito has fallen backward onto his spring mattress, eyes rolled back, foaming slightly at the mouth. His consciousness has clearly flown far, far away.

  "Hey..." I startle, my fox ears shooting straight up.

  "Hey there... What is wrong with you?!"

  ***

  It takes five minutes of cheek slapping, soul calling, and transferring a tiny bit of spiritual energy to drag the kid back to reality. Kaito sits up, but his eyes are still blank like a lost soul, his hands gripping the bedsheets tightly.

  "Four million six..." He chants like a monk.

  "I'm only a high school freshmen... Four million six a year... How many Gundam sets can I buy? I can upgrade my PC rig... I can treat the whole class to ramen..."

  I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest, my tail wagging impatiently behind me. Kids these days, never seen big money before.

  "Come on, snap out of it," I click my tongue.

  "Why are you so shocked? That price is just the market average. Honestly, we even find that price a bit cheap."