Chapter One: POV: ????

Far beyond the frontier of what is known, two old friends sit quietly, overlooking the cosmos.

“What has you looking so frustrated?” The larger of the two asks his companion while he sits contently observing the large window they both share.

A dimly lit screen floats mere inches from the nearby woman’s sapphire blue irises, highlighting her stunning beauty as well as her furrowed brow.

“It’s these difficulty selections for this round of poten-”

“Players.” He corrects her, a small smile now on his face. His friend rolls her eyes, focusing on him for a moment.

“This round of players. I have most of them figured out, but one keeps stumping me.” The annoyed friend grumbles sarcastically, turning her attention back to the screen before continuing.

“They were all fairly difficult to begin with. This round has more outlier players than normal, and I have already spent too much time trying to figure out proper placements and sorting the possible skills for them all.” She huffs as her nail clicks against the chair beneath her, slightly cracking the likely priceless material it is constructed from.

“Perhaps you should allow the System to sort out the player as it deems appropriate. I have relied on this method for almost all of the players in my previous groups and have never felt like it negatively impacted their performances.” The smiling friend says calmly, already knowing his suggestion would fall upon deaf ears.

“Drop the act, you know damn well that I want this round to be different,” she grumbles. “I’m so tired of His group coming out on top every time we do one of these.”

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A moment of hesitation passes before she finally concedes and shows him the screen in front of her. The ensuing grin only annoys her further, and she crosses her slender arms and sits back in the chair with a huff.

“I don’t really see the problem here, honestly.” He notes, dropping the joking demeanor. “This seems like an easy decision to register them as a LOS difficulty player. Their condition upon entrance will be best addressed in the lowest level of difficulty.” He explains in a technical tone.