Just as they both caught their breath, the same words came out of their mouths: "What are you doing here?"
Vedant's friend, Ron, realized they knew each other and stepped outside to give them some space. It turned out the woman was Vedant's English teacher. While she didn't teach his specific class, she often filled in for his usual teacher. She was a friendly, young woman who, like Vedant, loved reading novels.
"Let's get straight to the point," she said.
Vedant quickly explained his journey and how he ended up in this strange place. She listened with a smile, then laughed. Vedant felt both embarrassed and annoyed. "Would you mind telling me what you're doing here?" he asked, a bit loudly.
She was an adventurer, not the kind from stories who hunt monsters, but a person who loved to travel. She had explored lakes, beaches, and mountains, and had even journeyed into the Himalayas.
"Well," she said, "I love going on adventures."
"The flights to Brazil were cheap, and I had some free time since school was out," she explained. "But Brazil is expensive, and a teacher's salary isn't enough. So I had to find a way to make more money. I did some research and joined this place. I get paid well here, and I still get my teacher's salary."
She let out a wicked laugh, her eyes as dark as the money itself. Vedant felt a little scared. He excused himself and asked Ron to show him the rest of the facility.
Ron took him to the mission hall, where tasks were assigned based on a person's rank. After that, they went to the Archeological Lab, a place rich with history. The room was filled with thousands of books—so many that Vedant lost count trying to count them. He was surprised to see his teacher there.
"I thought you were a scientist or whatever," Vedant said.
"It has a proper name, you can't just call it 'scientist whatsoever'," she said, grabbing his ear. Vedant yelped and begged her to let go.
Ron saw this and smirked. "I see you two are close," he joked.
She immediately grabbed Ron's ear, too. Vedant laughed as his friend screamed. She finally released them. "You see, I work in every field," she said.
"But why?" Vedant asked.
"For money," she answered simply.
Ron leaned in and whispered to Vedant that there were rumors she would make a deal with the devil for money.
Just then, an alarm blared. A woman rushed toward them and handed them a document. It was an emergency task. The location was listed in a strange way—using hours and minutes. But being well-read, Vedant knew how to read the latitude and longitude coordinates.
"It's an emergency," the tired woman said. "A pack of tapirs is heading toward the base. It's a weak pack, a low-level 'C' rank mission. You should take the new guy with you."
Vedant was a little embarrassed to be called "the new guy," but he knew this was his moment to prove himself.