Upon arriving at the operator room, Rhaze greeted them warmly, especially Frima and Hina.
"Welcome back, Frima, Hina," Rhaze said with a smile.
Frima then pulled the dimensional key from his pocket and handed it over to Rhaze.
"Here you go, Chief Rhaze. The key," Frima said as he passed it over.
Rhaze took the key and gave Frima a proud pat on the shoulder.
"Well done, Frima. Since you've completed an E-rank mission, you're now officially promoted to level two."
"Really?" Frima's face lit up with excitement. "I'm level two now?"
"Yes," Rhaze replied with a warm smile.
Meanwhile, Ray, who was sitting in a chair nearby, turned his head away. His body trembled slightly, trying to hold back laughter after witnessing Frima's earlier battle.
Frima glanced at Ray with a cold stare, then turned to Rhaze with a scowl.
"Chief, what's with Ray?" he asked, pointing toward him.
Rhaze casually placed both hands on Frima's shoulders, turned him around, and answered calmly,
"Ah... it's nothing."
Then Rhaze continued, bringing up the announcement of Frima's level-up.
"Now that you've leveled up, I usually announce it to the rest of the members."
"Announce it?" Frima tilted his head, curious.
"Yes. Whenever someone levels up, I always make an announcement," Rhaze explained.
Frima nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see."
"Yeah," Rhaze went on, still smiling. "But for now, I won't do it through the earpieces—it could distract those still on missions."
"So for the time being, just get some rest in the lounge while we wait for the others to return."
Frima nodded again. "Alright."
With that, Frima walked off toward the lounge to rest.
Meanwhile, Hina, still in the operator room, approached Rhaze and spoke.
"Ne, Chief, may I take on an A-rank mission?" Hina asked.
Rhaze turned to her and replied,
"Of course you can. But... aren't you tired after helping with Frima's mission?"
"Not at all. I'm not tired in the slightest," Hina answered casually.
Rhaze gave her a small smile and handed her a new mission.
"Very well. The dimensional door is in Dimension 99, connected to Dimension 1001."
Without hesitation, Hina accepted the mission and quickly made her way to the dimensional door room.
Meanwhile, Ray, who had been sitting nearby, raised his hand and asked Rhaze for permission.
"Chief! Mind if I head back to the lab? I still have some unfinished projects."
Rhaze nodded. "Of course. You've already helped me type up the report for central. Thank you, Ray."
"My pleasure, Chief," Ray said as he stood, stretched briefly, and walked off toward the laboratory.
Then, Rhaze muttered in his mind, "Ah, the lab... I forgot to introduce it to Frima. Well, he'll find out eventually."
Back in the lounge, Frima was slumped on a couch, staring at the ceiling.
Huff... he let out a long sigh.
He then looked down at his sleeve—melted and torn, a result of being swallowed by that giant earth slime during the last mission.
"Jeez... This was only my second mission and my uniform's already trashed," he mumbled, looking back up at the ceiling.
A few minutes passed, and fatigue finally overtook him. Frima drifted off to sleep on the sofa.
Two hours later, Hina completed her A-rank mission and returned straight to the operator room to report to Rhaze.
As usual, she handed the dimensional key over to him. Then, she asked about Frima.
"Ne, Chief. Is Frima still in the lounge?" Hina asked.
"Yes, he's still there. Why do you ask?" Rhaze replied, slightly intrigued.
"Ah, no reason," Hina responded quickly.
Seeing her reaction, Rhaze gave a mischievous smile and teased her.
"Heh~ are you interested in Frima or something?" he asked with a cheeky grin.
"N-no!" Hina blurted out, quickly turning away and heading toward the lounge.
Rhaze just chuckled at her reaction before turning his attention back to the monitor.
Meanwhile, back in the lounge, Hina found Frima fast asleep on the couch. She walked over quietly and leaned in—bringing her face very close to his.
When Frima opened his eyes, he was instantly startled to see Hina's face so close to his.
"Ahh!" Frima instinctively pulled back. "Hey, Hina—why is your face so close to mine?!"
"Oh, no! I was just curious. Rezha sometimes sleeps with his eyes open," Hina replied innocently.
Frima frowned in confusion. "Huh!?"
He let out a sigh. "Come on, don't get that close to people's faces out of nowhere."
"Alright." Hina bowed her head apologetically. "Sorry for startling you."
Frima gave a faint smile. "Huff... it's fine."
After apologizing, Hina asked if she could sit.
"Ne, Frima. Is it alright if I sit next to you?"
"Yeah, go ahead," Frima said casually.
Hina sat down beside him, then asked with a bit of curiosity,
"Ne, Frima. I wanted to ask you something about yesterday."
"About what?"
"Well… when I was about to get hurt, you shouted 'truck'. What's a truck?" Hina tilted her head.
Frima paused, thinking to himself.
Right… Hina's from a fantasy world. Of course she wouldn't know what a truck is, he thought.
Then he explained,
"A truck is a big vehicle used for carrying things like rocks, sand, wood, and that kind of stuff."
Hina nodded, looking like she understood. "Oh, I see."
"Yeah."
Then Frima switched and asked her a question in return.
"Hey, Hina. I've got a question too."
"What is it?" Hina turned to look at him.
"How long have you been a member of the Keeper of Dimension Door?"
Hina put her finger to her lips, thinking.
"Hmm… I was rescued by the Chief when I was sixteen. Now I'm twenty-three. So I've been in the organization for seven years."
Frima nodded. "I see."
Then it was Hina's turn again. "Ne, Frima. By the way, how old are you?"
Frima stared at the ceiling for a second, then looked at her.
"I'm twenty-four."
"Twenty-four?!" Hina gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. "I thought you were younger than me!"
"Haha, I didn't expect you to be that young either," Frima replied with a grin.
Hina tilted her head, curious. "What's wrong with being young?"
"Oh, nothing," Frima answered, staring straight ahead.
Hina gave a soft smile, then said, "Ne, Frima. Speaking of age, did you know the Chief is already over a thousand years old?"
"Oh, he's a thousand, huh?"
"Yeah." Hina tilted her head again and continued, "I thought you'd be shocked to hear that."
Frima simply shrugged. "I know elves can live over a thousand years. So what's there to be surprised about?"
"I guess you're right," Hina said with a slow nod.
After about half an hour, the other members completed their missions and returned to HQ. As instructed by Rhaze, everyone gathered in the meeting room for Frima's level-up announcement.
Frima and Hina quickly made their way to the meeting room. Once there, and after everyone had taken their seats, Rhaze began the announcement.
"Alright, good evening, Doorkeepers. Today, one of our members has leveled up, and that's why I've gathered you all here," Rhaze said with a smile.
"It's our new member, Frima. Let's give him a round of applause!" he continued, pointing toward Frima.
Everyone clapped in unison. Frima scratched his head with an awkward laugh, feeling a little embarrassed.
Then, Frima spoke up with a slightly uneasy tone.
"Chief, do I really need all this praise? I only leveled up to two, and it was mostly thanks to Hina."
Benn, one of the members, casually threw his arm around Frima's shoulder and said,
"Yo, brother! No need to be shy. We all got applauded when we leveled up—even just to level two."
With a wide grin, Benn continued,
"Relax, I got help from Rezha and Rachel when I started too."
Frima, who had been feeling shy, regained his confidence. Rhaze then offered Frima a reward.
"Alright, Frima. Since you've leveled up, I'll grant you one request," Rhaze said with a faint smile.
Frima smiled softly and politely declined.
"Sorry, Chief. I can't accept anything from you right now."
Rhaze raised an eyebrow, surprised by the refusal.
"Why not? Is there something else you want instead?"
Frima shook his head and chuckled.
"No, I don't really have anything I want right now."
"Hmm, I see," Rhaze said, putting his hands in his pockets. With a light smile, he added,
"Well, no problem. I'll save that request for later."
Frima then raised his right hand and asked,
"But, Chief, could I ask for a new uniform? My sleeve got damaged by a slime."
Suddenly, Ray entered the meeting room, holding a device that looked like a barcode scanner. Without saying much, Ray grabbed Frima's right arm.
"Hey, Ray! What's that thing? What are you trying to do with my arm?" Frima asked, confused.
Ray glanced at him calmly and replied,
"Shut up. I'll explain in a second."
He then powered on the device, which emitted a green light that shone over Frima's damaged sleeve. In an instant, the part that had melted returned to its original state, good as new.
Frima was shocked and amazed. He examined his sleeve closely, then exclaimed,
"Whoa, incredible! My sleeve's completely restored!"
He turned to Ray and asked,
"Hey, Ray, what is that thing?"
Ray proudly tapped the device and said,
"This… is my creation—the Visual Printer."
"Ohh, like a 3D printer?" Frima guessed.
Ray nodded.
"More or less. But the Visual Printer is way more advanced. A 3D printer takes time to build something, but this one just scans and instantly recreates it."
Frima nodded in understanding.
"Oh, I get it now."
Ray grinned with pride and added,
"If you want to know more about how it works, just swing by the lab. I'll show you all kinds of cool tech!"
After Ray finished explaining the Visual Printer, Rhaze clapped loudly to get everyone's attention and spoke up.
"Alright! Since you've all completed your missions, let's get ready for a group dinner!"
The atmosphere in the room instantly shifted. Everyone froze, and a few even shuddered at the words "group dinner."
Rezha glanced nervously at Rhaze and asked,
"Chief… are you sure you want to cook again… like last month?"
Rhaze frowned in confusion.
"What? Is there a problem?"
Rachel sighed heavily and chimed in,
"Huff… Chief, did you forget that last month we almost died from your cooking?"
Rhaze chuckled and scratched his head.
"Ah, that. Sorry… I accidentally used the wrong ingredients. That's all, hahaha!"
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY, CHIEF!" Rachel snapped, her face flushed with anger.
Frima, seeing the tension rise, tried to calm Rachel down.
"Uh, Rachel, it's okay. Maybe the Chief just… made an honest mistake—"
But before he could finish, Rachel turned to him with a piercing glare, freezing him in place.
"SHUT UP, HUMAN! I told you not to get too familiar with me!" she barked sharply.
Frima could only close his eyes, wearing an exaggerated expression of silent crying.
"What did I do wrong..." he muttered under his breath.
Rhaze then tried to calm everyone down.
"Relax. This time, I won't be the one cooking," Rhaze said casually. "I've already recruited someone for the job."
Instantly, the room went silent upon hearing the words "recruited a new member" from Rhaze's mouth. The members exchanged curious glances.
Rhaze gestured toward the door.
"Alright, come in," he called, turning his head toward the entrance.
Moments later, a woman entered the meeting room. She had long brown hair and bright blue eyes. With graceful steps, she stood before everyone and introduced herself.
"Hello, good evening, everyone. My name's Lily, I'm a spirit," she said cheerfully, then added with a wink and an idol-like pose, "I'll be your new chef in this organization. Nice to meet you all!"
The members stared at her in silence, squinting suspiciously. Then Ray turned to Rhaze with a half-doubtful look.
"Oi, Chief, where did you find this creature?" Ray asked bluntly, pointing at Lily.
Rhaze shrugged casually, his tone playful, glancing to the side.
"Well, I found her on my way back from my dwarf friend's place. He had just finished forging a katana for Frima."
"Then… she suddenly appeared, clinging to my leg and begging me to take her."
Rhaze pouted a little, then continued,
"At first I said no. But when she told me she could cook, I figured—why not? So I brought her here."
Ray just stared at him silently, one eye twitching, wearing an expression that was somewhere between confused and resigned.
Without wasting more time, Rhaze told Lily to head to the kitchen and start preparing the food, while the others got ready to move to the dining room.
However, just as everyone was about to leave the meeting room, Frima raised his hand, asking for Rhaze's attention.
"Excuse me, Chief, I don't think I can join the group dinner," Frima said, bowing respectfully.
Rhaze turned with slight concern, "Hey Frima, why not? Is something wrong?"
Frima explained,
"Well... I'm afraid time here moves differently than in my own dimension. Maybe it's only been a few hours here, but it could be days over there."
"I'm worried my parents might be getting anxious. I still live with them," he added, bowing once more.
Ray, overhearing the conversation, chimed in.
"Hey Frima, you've got a phone, right?"
"Yeah, I do. Why?"
"Check the time on it. Didn't you arrive here around 9 a.m.?" Ray said, pointing at Frima's wrist.
Frima quickly pulled out his phone and was surprised by what he saw.
"Huh? The time… it hasn't changed?"
Ray gave a relaxed smile and snapped his fingers.
"Yup. Let me put it simply."
"As long as you're here, time in your dimension is frozen. But once you return, it'll resume normally, adjusting to how long you've been away. It's still just a theory of mine, but it's worked so far."
Frima nodded, now understanding. "Oh, I see..."
Rhaze approached Frima and patted him on the shoulder with a wide smile.
"So, you don't need to worry about time. You can return to your dimension like nothing ever happened."
Hearing that, Frima finally felt relieved. He joined the others and headed to the dining room to enjoy dinner together.
After the meal, everyone returned to their rooms to rest. Meanwhile, Frima made his way to the dimensional door room, preparing to return to his world—Dimension 135.
Just as he was about to open the door, a voice called out from behind.
"Frima, wait a second. I have something for you."
Frima turned to the voice and asked, "What is it, Chief?"
Rhaze approached and held out a dimensional door key.
Frima looked puzzled as he accepted it. "Chief, what's this key for?"
"That's the key to this base's dimensional door," Rhaze said with a warm smile. "With it, you can access this headquarters anytime, from anywhere."
Hearing that, Frima grinned. He gladly accepted the key and gave a polite bow in gratitude.
"Thank you very much, Chief."
"You're welcome," Rhaze replied with a smile.
With that, Frima bid farewell to Rhaze, opened the dimensional door, and returned to his world.
Upon arriving in Dimension 135, Frima realized Ray was right—time in his world had remained perfectly in sync, as if he'd never been gone. Relieved, Frima walked back home, ready to help his parents, carrying with him a renewed spirit from the journey he had just begun.