Il Ji walked out Adele's front door and bid goodbye to the other shop owners. From there, he began the longer trek back to the Chrono Federation Beast Association Headquarters.
Popping his headphones in, he began to listen to music. Bobbing his head up and down to the beat, he quickly made his way.
Upon arrival, he met up with the ever-smoking Agnes. She held out a finger.
"Yeah, Marge honey, I know it's not right. But you know that do deal with it, you have to deal with him. Yeah. Uh-huh. I know that. I've known that for years. Yes. You should. No, don't do that. Alright, honey. Take care. Bye. You too. See you at Bridge on Sunday? Okay. Bye."
Setting her phone down, she turned to Il Ji. "That old man gave you a badge. It's on the desk to your right." She pointed over her shoulder.
"Actually, I'm here to use a Contraband Absolution Ticket."
She looked him up and down. "Well, aren't you lucky?"
"Take the elevator on your right to the 15th floor. Show the guard your ticket, and he'll give you entry."
At this, she lit another cigar and went back to her phone. "Hey Dirk. Yeah. Guess what Marge said. No, she didn't. Oh yes she did! Isn't that crazy-"
Il Ji quickly scooped up his new badge and took off for the elevators. Any more time spent here, he felt, would shorten his lifespan.
He shortly arrived on the fifteenth floor.
Ahead of him was a guard sitting behind both a metal fence, thick crystal, and what appeared to be some form of hazy forcefield.
Not wanting to get close, Il Ji gave a short cough and waved his ticket.The guard pointed to the wall.
A small canister sat upon it. After reading the instructions next to it, Il Ji placed his ticket into the canister and watched it fly along the wall through the field and over to the guard.
The guard put it into a small tray. Confirming that it was, indeed, a real Contraband Absolution Ticket, the guard sent it back.
Once Il Ji once again had it in hand, the guard opened a small door off to the side and temporarily deactivated the force field in that area.
Il Ji quickly passed through to the other side.
The guard was waiting for him. He pointed to a sheet of paper. "Put down your name and your contact information. Once you've filled it out, you can walk around and select your chosen contraband."
"The computer in the middle has a list of everything here should you want to save time by using it. Keep in mind that there are hidden cameras throughout the entire area, and that stealing from the federation government is considered a possible grade 10 crime."
"I'm not a thief."
"So be it. If you need any help, come find me."
Il Ji nodded politely and left to find the computer.
He made several searches. First, the computer showed that no eggs of Platinum Bloodline or higher were available. Next wanting to help his cultivation speed, he looked at the available Treasure-type items.
Unfortunately, none of them were at a high enough grade to be put in the treasure space. He continued looking through the list but he didn't find anything he needed.
Frustrated with his search, he finally decided to do a search based on the items' highest estimated prices.
"NO. WAY."
At the same time, a short man and a man three times his size and just as wide reached the fifteenth floor. The short man was on the phone.
"You're sure the trial is finished? Once I go in, I can't come back out unless I use it. I'm only getting one of these, you understand? Alright. I'll go in. But mark my words, if you're wrong… Alright. Goodbye."
The short man walked through the open elevator doors and flashed a Contraband Absolution Ticket. Placing it in the drop spot, he waited for the guard.
The guard's voice came over the speakers. "Please wait one moment before I can attend to you."
"Sure, why don'tcha? I'm not on pind and needles here."
It was at this time that Il Ji finished writing on the sheet of paper. Handing his ticket over to the guard, he voiced his thanks.
"You're welcome." The guard replied. "So you know, we have some… Darker elements walking around up here trying to turn in another ticket. To be on the safe side, I'd like to send you downstairs using the building's spatial array. Is that okay?"
"Fine by me."
"Alright, stand on that pad."
Il Ji moved over.
"Is this good enough?"
"Aye, it's good. Prepare for spatial repatriation in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…"
Il Ji shook himself awake. He was standing on a similar pad on Subfloor 2. Patting his jacket pocket he smiled. It was still there. Grinning from ear to ear, he walked over to the small stage holding the area's various sub-bosses.