To Live Again, For the First Time!

Cassie put his phone in the front pocket of his black suit looking around at everyone before determining that all the people who had watched the clip were present. 

He coughed lightly into his fist to attract everyone's attention to himself before informing everyone of the situation, or at least part of it.

"Everyone, attention." 

Two words were enough to make the whole scene as silent as a room filled with unnamed Pokémon.

"It's all been a misunderstanding, there is no hacking involved in this last incident so everyone can go back to their seats and quiet down."

"Everyone who has a file of the clip is to delete it immediately, and when you are done, come sign this non-disclosure contract. "

"This is most likely someone that even the higher-ups are not to mess with. Even I don't know much so it's best if none of you act outside of your positions, or even I won't be able to promise anything."

The moment Cassie finished his part, the whole room broke out into an uproar.

Person one: Isn't this a little too much? A non-disclosure contract?

Person two: Who's this big shot? 

Person Three: Not hacking, who do you take us for. We all work under the IT department (though it's a subsidiary department with no actual relations) and you tell us that this person is not hacking?

Person four: Is this guy playing a different game? It can't be the same one we're working on, that's the only reasonable explanation.

Person five: Eh, why do I have to delete it?

Cassie only opened his mouth after everyone vented a little, it was ok to gossip a little here, but once they were outside, the situation wouldn't be as simple. It was best if they all got it out of their systems as soon as possible.

"I can tell that many of you are not satisfied with this outcome, so I'll give you guys two choices, you can sign the contract, and make sure to not violate any of the terms, or you can get fired and be sure that you won't be able to get a better job." He paused to give everyone some time to process before continuing.

"In the future, when you are pondering on why you ended up in the situation you are in, you will realize that it was all because you wanted to be a gossipmonger. Then, all you have to do to complete the script is to regret this moment for the rest of your life."

Though Cassie said all of that with a face filled with smiles, there wasn't a single person who didn't take him seriously.

Even so, with his face and the tone of his voice, they didn't feel like they were being blackmailed at all, in fact, it was the exact opposite.

It was as if an angel had descended.

His threats were more like a chance.

They were given a new lease on life.

Thankful that they hadn't made any hasty decisions, the people who were just complaining and weren't actually planning to spread the news about any of this quickly signed the non-disclosure contract while the people who were previously somewhat hesitant also grit their teeth and solidified their resolve.

It wasn't as if this contract was going to change much, they just had to be more careful with their mouths in the future. Plus, there weren't many people who were reluctant in the first place.

In this aspect, Cassie's small speech as well as the hacker's mysterious background had a rather large impact.

Issac, who had moved in, getting closer to his pal Cassie felt a chill crawling down his spine.

'How did no one else realize how threatening my man's speech was? Or did they all notice, but not comment on it?' Issac showed how puzzled he was on his face as he furrowed his brows and tilted his head to one side.

It was only a matter of seconds before he reached his good friend's side as everyone else was filling in papers.

"How do you do it?" When Issac saw that Cassie didn't seem to understand his question, he elaborated.

"How do you simply threaten people like that and then have everyone just go with it?" He added, to which Cassie just chuckled.

"Who knows? Perhaps it is my charm, or maybe my strong charisma." Cassie responded with a bright, yet elegant smile.

"Charisma my ass," Issac muttered, but seeing as he couldn't exactly respond otherwise, he didn't question him any further, changing the topic to what really mattered.

"Was this player really not hacking? Is the source reliable?" He was still stuck on the fact that Doorii's crazy moves were legit.

In front of his friend, Cassie didn't hide his thoughts.

"I'm also not sure either, but one thing I'm sure about is that he is most definitely not a figure to be messed with. As for why he was playing in such small-scale games, unknown to the public, we probably shouldn't dig too deep into any of it." He sighed helplessly.

"Even the Deputy Department Head seems completely helpless to him."

"I was talking to him through messages and even so, I felt like I was talking to someone completely different from the Deputy Head I know of. It felt more like he was a subordinate, trying to clean up for a willful boss or a collaborator's second-generation rich spoiled son." Cassie's brows furrowed the more he thought about it.

'Just who could this be?' 

Even if he said that they shouldn't think about it too much, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander, after all, curiosity was the death of many and for a good reason too.

Still, even after a saying as depressing and alarming as 'curiosity killed the cat', a line as amusing as 'but satisfaction brought it back' followed.

"It is quite interesting. I'm sure as you climb the ranks, you'll figure it out one day. As for right now, we definitely shouldn't think about it." Issac ratified.

The more he thought about it the stranger it was. This person was clearly either hacking or taking advantage of a big loophole, yet the higher-ups didn't sound like they were preparing to change anything.

This was simply inconceivable.

If this came out, the outcome would be unimaginable. 

Would the people curse the game for being too much or would they curse the company for not disclosing this? Adding this to the fact that clearly, close to no one would be able to achieve these same feats again, the ending didn't seem particularly pretty.

"I guess so." 

After Cassie finished speaking the air around the two of them seemed to freeze for a instant, but no one noticed. The conversation ended there as the two of them went back to a state of contemplation.

***

Meanwhile, the person who caused this large commotion was not nearly as worried or preoccupied.

After shaking off some questions from Gen, no one else asked too much about how Theodore had done it or anything of the sort. These were a group of smart people. They could tell when it was the right time to ask about something and when to give up.

As for what Theodore and Kayden were doing now, they were already heading out to their next lecture.

"Hey, pal. Why are you guys all waiting outside?" Kayden tapped a random person waiting outside of the lecture room after double-checking that he was in the right place.

The person who was tapped turned around and responded after giving Kayden a good look and determining that Kayden was most likely a classmate based on the paper with his schedule he was holding. 

"I don't know man, but from what I heard, the earliest people who came had already sat down in the lecture room and the teacher was also already there. Then it seems like when another professor came in our professor asked everyone to wait outside."

It was then that another person standing to the first talker added.

"Yeah, and now we're speculating who this other identity is. He might even be one of those legendary honorary teachers (Chapter 16 for reference)."

They didn't have to ponder on it for much longer as the door for the lecture room opened and the students outside quickly shuffled in, everyone finding a vacant seat. 

It seemed like everyone's jitters were left outside by the door because everyone's movements were incredibly swift and seemingly coordinated. It was almost as if they had agreed on who was going to sit where beforehand.

Especially when they saw the two professors standing at the podium, with who they believed to be their own teacher standing behind the new figure, in a somewhat subservient manner.

"Since everyone is seated, it seems we can start today's class."