Rhodes Island's Psychologist

Ch 83: The Price Of Free Lunch

When he sees Amiya, Lin Yie is really surprised. After all, she is the game's protagonist, the only character he knew before his death. And now, she is standing in front of him.

He can almost recall the game's promotional video featuring her.

"You seem really surprised." Amiya says, "Kal'tsit-sensei should have mentioned me before, right?"

Lin Yie nods, "Yes, I know about you, but I didn't think you are back yet."

His eyes wander around her ears.

Do those belong to a rabbit or a donkey?

Amiya does not know what Lin Yie is thinking about. Her ears shake slightly. She smiles, "Yeah, I just came back, but I will have to leave soon."

She continues, "Rhodes Island is still developing. There are many things for Doctor and me to do."

"Doctor is back too?"

"Not yet." Amiya shakes her head, "Just me."

Lin Yie has really wanted to meet this Doctor, but he never got the chance to do so. Still, if he stays in Rhodes Island, he will have his chance, right?

"Did you assign this office to me?"

"Yeah." Amiya nods, "Actually, Kal'tsit sensei has the authority to do that too, but she let me decide instead."

How did I offend you to make you put me in this place...

Lin Yie complains internally.

Amiya walks past him and pulls the curtains back. When the sunlight hits the room, he can almost see the dust particles in the air.

"It hasn't been cleaned for a very long time, but it's still a good place." Amiya says, "Kal'tsit-sensei actually wanted to give Orchid's office to you, but I chose this floor for you instead. Since I just made the decision, I didn't have time to ask people to clean this place for you."

"But why bother putting me on a separate floor?"

"Um, you don't know?" Amiya tilts her head, "It's actually one of Rhodes Island's policies. Because Doctor, Kal'tsit sensei, and I have a lot of things to do, we set up some special positions, such as yours." Amiya taps her boots on the floor, "Every floor, we have an administrator, and the administrator, on top of their usual responsibilities, takes care of everything on their floor, although it's mostly trivial."

Lin Yie understands now, "So you want me to be the janitor?"

"What? No." Amiya shakes her head, "Of course not. We have drones for cleaning."

"I made the decision." Amiya looks at Lin Yie, "Your talent is really mysterious. If there is time, I would like to try it myself."

"Uhm."

Amiya walks past Lin Yie out of his office. She stops in the corridor and turns around to face him again.

"What do you think about this floor?"

Lin Yie frowns, "It's old. It's broken-down. I guess it was idle for a long time."

Amiya sighs, "Actually, this floor has always been used."

Lin Yie pauses and feels a chill down his spine.

It's used, but there's no sign of people. That's a classic setting for horror films, alright. I'm just a harem protagonist. How did I transmigrate into a horror film?!

Amiya tilts her head at Lin Yie's sudden change of expression, "What's wrong?"

She points at each room on the floor, "This, this, and this has people living and working in them."

Lin Yie's face turns pale, "They, they are inside? Are, are they watching us right now?"

"Of course not." Amiya is confused,

"What are you talking about? They are running errands outside, and they rarely come back, certainly not now."

She has no idea what is going on in his mind.

Is this normal for psychologists?

Amiya continues her explanation, "Rhodes Island's demographics are a bit complicated."

"Complicated?"

"Uhm. You should know that our operators came from different parts of Terra. There are different races and bloodlines. Before they joined us, they also had different identities. Because of that, there are often barriers that affect the relationships between operators. Doctor and I have been trying to erase the barriers, but we haven't been successful."

"So?"

Amiya sighs, "So, there are some operators that are demonized and discriminated against because they are antisocial. Even though I know they are very good people, I can't convince everyone, so these operators aren't willing to stay in the dorms."

"That's why they live here? It's so messy..."

"The people living here are mostly socially withdrawn, and they only want a place to sleep. On top of that, their abilities are outstanding. We need them to complete missions that others can't do, so they don't spend much time in Rhodes Island." Amiya looks somewhat lonely,

"I've always felt indebted to them because I couldn't make them part of the group."

Lin Yie asks, "So you want me to approach them?"

"Um." Amiya says, "But of course, you make the final decision."

She takes out a card.

"It's not an easy job. This's 3C's keycard. Kal'tsit-sensei wanted to give this to you instead. So, which one do you choose?"

Lin Yie's mouth twitches.

There's really no free lunch.

In his eyes, Rhodes Island's operators are just a bunch of "crazy people," and what kind of people can be considered "crazy" by "crazy people?"

He doesn't have the courage to delve deeper into it.

But...

"I think this floor is pretty good." Lin Yie says, "I'll stay here."

........

Translator's Notes:

I know the title is an oxymoron. Don't kill me, please.

There are several internet slangs in the chapter, such as the term for admin of online forums, which was used as a metaphor for floor administrator. I simply removed them in the translation for convenience.

I thought about using "floor guardian" instead, but that would be an insult to the great Nazarick. :P

I am going to use "Doctor" instead of "the Doctor." If it doesn't flow well with the writing, I will change it back in future chapters.