Rules of the Power Game

"Lawful illegal acts?" Inside the research institute's bar, the crowd looked utterly bewildered. Someone asked, "Aren't those contradictory terms? How can a coin be heads and tails at the same time? How can a person be both male and female?" "Are you discriminating against me?!" An androgynous human slammed the table and shot up. "To mock intersex people in public like this?! Intersex is the new mainstream culture! You get to enjoy the best of manhood and feel the wonders of womanhood—this is clearly the most perfect state of being! How can an obstinate, backward relic like you still exist in this day and age—" "I'm sorry, a slip of the tongue! I sincerely apologize for offending you," the former speaker hastened to apologize. Lorence scratched the fish scales on his cheek, turning to Boss Snake. "Boss Snake, do you know what he means by lawful illegal acts?" "Hiss... I can probably guess." "Oh? Care to elaborate?" Boss Snake smiled faintly and suddenly asked, "Hiss, Lorence, have you gotten used to life at the institute? How are things over at the laboratory?" "Pretty good," Lorence answered casually. "The experimental research is going smoothly too. We have plenty of materials lately. With necromancy, the more materials you have, the faster the progress. Wait, Boss Snake, don't change the subject. What are lawful illegal acts?" "Hiss... look at the light screen. Someone's about to speak." Lorence turned his gaze to the light screen, a faint sense of unease stirring in his heart. He could tell that Boss Snake didn't want to continue talking with him. And this reluctance felt intimately familiar. Just like after he passed the entrance exam for middle school, his human classmates had asked why he took part-time jobs after school instead of going back to the rearing institute to study or have fun. Lorence had been unwilling to answer such questions back then, because he knew humans could never understand his situation. Different backgrounds, different environments—saying more was pointless. Yet here, everyone was supposed to understand one another, because they had discarded their status as inferior races to become something far more noble... Wait, was Boss Snake really of the Blood Saint clan? He always kept his eyes narrowed; Lorence couldn't recall ever seeing his blood-red pupils... At that moment, a voice from the light screen cut Lorence's thoughts short. ... "The 1659 municipal civil service examination, operator recruitment for the West Wave District Market Supervision Administration." The speaker was still Edmond Mencken. Enduring the excruciating agony of his scorching skin, he ground his teeth and said, "Financier wanted his classmate to obtain this position, but his classmate wasn't competent enough to test into such a popular opening. So, he came up with a scheme. "First, he found a scholar who was thoroughly qualified—overqualified, even—in every respect, and instructed him to take the operator exam and secure the post. Meanwhile, the classmate took the exam as well, but naturally failed to place. "A month after being hired, the scholar voluntarily resigned. This left the administration with a temporary quota, giving priority to selecting a temporary operator from the applicant pool. Because a month had already passed, most applicants had theoretically found work, so there was no strict requirement to go down the list for the second-ranked or third-ranked interviewees. Anyone who had sat for the exam would qualify. "And that was how Financier's classmate entered the Market Supervision Administration." Mencken continued, "Of course, that was how Financier operated back when he was only a councilor. Once he became the mayor's secretary, he didn't need to go through so much trouble. He would tailor the job requirements to match his chosen candidate. For instance, if his candidate was a thirty-year-old human male with a university degree and a silver degree in earth arts, he would set the job requirements to a male human, aged thirty to thirty-five, holding a university degree and a silver degree in earth arts. In fact, these conditions could be narrowed down even further, guaranteeing that his candidate would make it to the interview stage with complete certainty. Once they reached the interview stage, the position was practically theirs—and the entire procedure was wholly lawful and compliant. "While the Administrative Hall requires everyone to pass the civil service exam to be hired, the specific screening criteria are controlled by each individual department. As long as one forms political alliances with department heads, an immense amount of leverage can be exerted with ease." He looked toward the ogre. "Half the members of the Gallery in the Woods entered the Administrative Hall system this way. Many operators also succumbed to Financier's threats or inducements, becoming his accomplices." Mencken paused, then added, "Oh, some might not know this, but the Gallery in the Woods is an art gallery opened by Financier, filled with his self-indulgent work. Members of his faction usually gather there, which is why Financier's faction came to be known as the Gallery in the Woods." Financier responded coldly, "Aren't the members of your Wine of Immortality Club occupying an eighth of the posts in the Administrative Hall through the exact same means?" An eighth didn't sound like much, but spread across various departments—and including several department heads—it formed a massive intelligence network and political force. Andere was regarded as a formidable contender for the mayoralty precisely because the Wine of Immortality Club had enough clout to challenge the Gallery in the Woods. *Thump!* With a dull thud, the stone pillar beneath Financier suddenly began to writhe. The moonlight illuminating the pillar coiled like a serpent, morphing into ferocious chains that surged upward toward Financier! Even without looking at the light screen, Financier knew this phenomenon meant the citizens were casting their votes against him. The ogre's mind raced, yet his face remained calm. "You don't need to speak as though I was the one who pioneered this 'tradition.' Long ago, this had already become an unspoken, unbreakable 'rule.' Everyone climbed the ranks this way. "Without joining a faction, you can never secure a decent 'starting position.' If you wish to be promoted, you need not only a department head's recommendation, but also the favor of higher leadership. Being 'pushed from below and pulled from above' is the only path upward. If you don't join a faction, even if you're lucky enough to become an administrative operator, a lifetime of bottom-tier grunt work is all that awaits you. "Every councilor and politician here is both a beneficiary of the factions and an accomplice in maintaining their existence. Beyond the Wine of Immortality and the Gallery in the Woods, the Administrative Hall has countless smaller factions, all woven together like spiderwebs. If you want to climb, you have to crawl onto the web. These are the rules of the power game. "All of this is nothing more than the ordinary, everyday, 'minor whims' of power." ... In a bar somewhere in the lower district, a middle-aged orc patron suddenly buried his face in his hands and wept aloud, his snot dripping into his glass in a spectacle so unsightly it was an eyesore. He recalled the civil service exam thirteen years ago. He had placed second in the interview, and the one who took first place had been an elven scholar whose qualifications completely crushed his own in every single aspect. ... Inside an affiliated apartment of Kaimeng City's Food and Nutrition Bureau, a middle-aged man in his forties sank into a soft armchair, clutching a tub of potato chips. Gazing at the light screen, he pushed up his glasses and recalled the high spirits of his university graduation, followed by more than twenty years of wasted obscurity. A somber dejection quietly washed over him.