In one of the capital buildings, the sound of rumbling footsteps echoed down a polished hallway.
"Sir! Right now, we have a problem!"
The shout came out of nowhere, sharp and panicked. š§š³š¦āÆšš¦š·šÆšš£š¦š.šøš°š
The man in the suit didnāt even look up. He was already rubbing his temples while glaring at his terminal filled with shouting faces and flashing complaint alerts.
"What now?!" he snapped, jabbing a finger at the mute icon again just to be safe.
The shareholders were already furious.
They couldnāt understand how the capitalās leading news company had failed to secure interviews with the most talked-about people in the Empire. Worse, they couldnāt understand how the Solaris Times had completely missed sending people to do a backstage coverage of that guildās parade!
And they were taking it out on him.
But he was an Editor, not a fortune teller. How was he supposed to predict this? Every scrap of information they had gathered said that the guild members hadnāt shown themselves in public since they got back from Zone Four, so what did they want him to do?! Hunt them down?!
And now there was another problem.
The assistant rushed to his side and thrust a tablet toward him. "Sir. Please look."
He frowned, irritation already primed, and glanced down.
It took a second.
Then another.
His expression froze.
There were over seven million live viewers.
"?"
The Editor leaned closer. Plants filled the screen. Greenery. Water. Glass. A chat window scrolling so fast it looked like static.
Then his eyes caught the title.
"DGās Annual Expo Booth."
"!!!"
He shot to his feet so fast his chair nearly toppled over.
As someone who had just been berated for collective incompetence, there was no way he was letting this go. He immediately unmuted his terminal.
"I am postponing this meeting," he announced flatly. "There is an emergency development we need to cover."
Dissatisfied screeching erupted from the other side of the call.
He didnāt care.
This was a chance. A very big chance.
He turned to the assistant. "Divert our people to DGās booth. Now. We need this scoop immediately."
The assistant did not move.
Instead, they stood there, shoulders tense, wearing an expression that made the Editorās stomach sink.
"But, Sir. Thatās just it."
The Editor narrowed his eyes. "Just what?"
"That stream," the assistant said carefully. "Itās from one of our interns."
Silence.
"...What?"
The assistant swallowed. "He was assigned to cover a different booth."
The Editor stared at the tablet again, then at the assistant. "An intern?! Then he canāt possibly cover everything. Get a senior correspondent inside right now."
The assistant hesitated. Then slowly turned the tablet around.
"Thatās the problem."
A string of forum titles filled the screen.
[ENTRY IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT INVITATION, EXTREME LUCK, OR PRAYER.]
[So... Has Anyone Else Actually Gotten Past DGās Wheel Yet?]
[Does Spinning at Exactly XX:00 Increase Your Odds]
[Why Are Kids Winning and Iām Not]
[Wheel Said "Try Again" and I Felt That Personally]
[At What Point Do You Start Negotiating With It]
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