Can this thing also be contained?
Looking at the system prompt in front of him, Arthur felt a bit speechless. He truly hadn't expected the system to classify all of Terraria's bosses as Anomalies.
Even if they could be contained, he would absolutely never try to catch something like the Moon Lord as if it were a Pokémon and drag it back to Lobotomy Corporation.
After all, a boss like the Empress of Light could certainly produce enormous amounts of energy—she would be a dream Anomaly for Lobotomy Corporation, an energy-focused Wing.
But…
Collecting energy to launch the Light Seed was Angela and Ayin's responsibility. It had nothing to do with him.
He was just an employee—why should he be so considerate of the company?
What's more, even setting aside how they would capture and contain these godlike bosses…
If Lobotomy Corporation actually tried to house them all in Headquarters, he was a thousand percent certain the place would explode.
Fortunately, Arthur didn't voice any of this. As long as nothing went wrong, such a scenario was essentially impossible.
And the junior in front of him had no idea what he was thinking—she only felt relieved after receiving her senior's answer.
"Besides these… what are those other things?"
Having finally relaxed a little, Komini still held the Cthulhu Shield tightly in her hand as she turned to look at the scattered crimson ore on the ground.
Only now did she realize that the strange, chilling aura in the area didn't come solely from Cthulhu's Eye. Part of it was emanating from these ores as well.
Under the moonlight, the ore glowed faintly red, as if it had been condensed from countless fragments of blood and flesh.
Arthur followed her gaze and recognized it immediately.
As a Terraria boss, Cthulhu's Eye didn't just drop the Cthulhu Shield—it also dropped something else.
Crimson Ore.
A famous special ore in Terraria, found only within the Crimson biome, it was often one of the first rare materials players encountered.
Crimson Ingots refined from it were the primary material used to craft Crimson-tier equipment.
"Put these away."
Arthur bent down and began collecting them.
"Be careful to distinguish them—don't pick up the red seeds."
They weren't able to repeatedly farm bosses like Cthulhu's Eye yet, so even this small amount of Crimson Ore was valuable.
"What are these used for?"
Komini picked up a small chunk of ore and examined it. A faint scent of blood drifted toward her.
"To craft EGO Equipment."
Arthur soon finished collecting the scattered ore and took out the Magic Mirror.
With the task complete, it was time to leave.
One minute later, two teleportation sounds echoed inside the oak house.
The Guide watched the blood-soaked guests return. He showed no disgust, merely asking—despite already knowing the answer—
"Did you obtain what you needed?"
"Yes. I suppose you could say I defeated the first boss."
After a brief exchange, Arthur walked past him and headed straight for the furnace.
He tossed all the Crimson Ore into the blazing heat and waited.
Only after pulling the dark red ingots from the flames was the final step complete.
[Item Obtained: Crimson Ingot ×21]
"You won't be able to synthesize Crimson Armor without Tissue Samples," the Guide said as he leaned over, offering a gentle reminder.
"Though you can make the Blood Butcher—but I wouldn't recommend it."
"Hmm…"
Arthur nodded and put the Crimson Ingots away.
Every boss fight was a life-or-death ordeal. There was no reason to take further risks for equipment that wasn't essential.
His current weapon was still usable. Wasting precious Crimson Ingots on an easily replaceable Blood Butcher would be foolish—it was better to save them for Crimson Armor.
[Work completed. Work result: Excellent.]
As usual, the notification sounded the moment Arthur stored the ingots, and the gate behind him opened immediately.
What was different this time was that he wasn't the only one who received a notification.
"Arthur, Training Department Level 3 employee. Please proceed immediately to Training Department Human Resources Center, Hall 3, to complete new employee training."
The communicator at his collar activated, and the gentle female voice belonged unmistakably to Angela—the current head of the Training Department.
Huh?
Arthur's foot, which had just been about to step through the gate, froze in place. His expression stiffened completely.
"Senior?"
Komini looked at him with concern, noticing the fatigue written plainly on his face.
Angela's announcement had gone out over the Training Department's shared channel—Komini had heard it too.
After all, her senior had already been fighting in the Terraria world for hours. Assigning more work now seemed excessive.
"Arthur, Training Department Level 3 employee, please proceed immediately to Training Department Human Resources Center, Hall 3…"
Angela's voice rang out again, calm and merciless, as though fully aware that his Anomaly work had just concluded.
Arthur didn't remain frozen for long. In the end, he could only let out a helpless sigh.
After all… here, others were the knife, and he was the fish.
If the supervisor's secretary ordered overtime, could he really refuse?
He didn't yet know what task Angela had arranged, but since it involved new employees, it probably wasn't urgent.
"Komini, work's over. Go back to the dormitory and rest first…"
Rubbing his temples, Arthur forced himself to straighten up and walked toward the corridor.
Then, unexpectedly, someone spoke from behind him.
"Arthur, you should remember—danger doesn't exist only in the world of Terraria."
He turned around, surprised, to see the Guide standing there.
The Guide seemed to know something, but he merely smiled faintly and said,
"Be careful over the next few days."
This was the first time the Guide had ever warned him about the outside world.
Arthur's expression grew more serious. Whether or not this was merely unusual behavior, a warning from someone seemingly omniscient wasn't something to ignore.
"...Thank you."
After a brief silence, Arthur thanked the Guide—for the first time.