If you asked 922 about any of his good traits, he'd probably say that he was good at cooking... and maybe was a little charismatic. He got along well with people, made friends easily, was generally pretty easy-going...
But neither of those skills were essential to being an invigilator, so he couldn't help but be a little surprised when he was picked to become 001's direct subordinate.
After all, there were a lot of invigilators who were under Qin 001, and many of them were in the two digit range or even early hundreds or two hundreds... and he only had a rank of 922; quite close to the bottom, actually.
So why him?
It wasn't 922's place to question his boss; after all, he only knew his boss back when they were still examinees.
Of course, at the time, Wen Yuan had no idea who Qin Jiu was... but apparently, Qin Jiu knew who he was?
It was definitely quite the honor, now that 922 looked back on it. Qin Jiu had been a very difficult examinee, and Wen Yuan had seen his strength first hand, back in that exam at that military base.
And that was only one exam. Legend says that he almost broke the examination system... just what had he done in all the others?
"It's not easy meeting in such a big examination center so you can be considered a friend. What is your name?"
922 remembered saying... something along those lines, when they had met. Qin Jiu had seemed a little taken aback by his statement... and he had also said something that made Wen Yuan pause.
"You don't know me?"
"I... should I know you?"
His memory of the exams he had taken in the past was quite a bit fuzzy, but this exchange was something he remembered quite clearly.
Had he met Qin Jiu in the past before?
Qin Jiu certainly didn't seem like the type to misremember someone, and from the tone he had been using back then, Wen Yuan was quite confident that, yes, Qin Jiu did know him, and they might have been rather close as well.
Was that why, out of everyone else 001 had at his disposal, Qin Jiu would pick him, someone he knew in the past, to be his direct subordinate?
922 would say that was the case... except that when he met 001 for the first time, after he had been picked to be a direct subordinate... there was no recognition in 001's eyes.
001, Qin Jiu, did not know who he was.
922 would have asked... but he didn't dare. Not with that kind of gaze...
It was nothing like the look he remembered from Qin Jiu the examinee. Even if Qin Jiu didn't seem very happy about the fact that Wen Yuan didn't remember him... at least, he looked far more alive, more spirited.
The 001 he had met... gave off that kind of aura; full of sadness, melancholy. Like he had lost something he'd never been able to get back.
Like he'd never be able to be happy ever again.
The smile he constantly wore on his face, while full of jest, was just... fake, like a mask.
It was almost like Qin Jiu and 001 were completely different people, despite sharing the same face.
The duality was a little unsettling, if you asked 922. (Not that he'd dare say that to 001's face.)
Though, to be honest... 922 was a little surprised that he had even become an invigilator in the first place.
He was a little (read: very) clumsy, and after he passed the exams, he had gotten severely injured again and had been allowed some time to recover at the Rest Stop before he officially became an invigilator.
The time before that... 922 wasn't too sure what had happened; he no longer remembered, so all he knew was hearsay from the others. Apparently, he had violated a rule in an exam, and had been punished to clean out another exam at Twin Towers, but had encountered an accident that robbed him of his memories.
Coincidentally, that accident occurred before he met Qin Jiu in that military base, so it wasn't too far-fetched for him to believe that he might have known 001 in the past, before he lost his memories.
He didn't remember anything from before the System, or heck, even that accident... but there had always been some... nagging feeling in his gut, telling him to become and invigilator, get close to the System's core...
And then, what?
He didn't know.
But without his memories... those times were now rather meaningless to him.
Apparently, according to some other invigilators he's talked to, this kind of memory loss was quite common, so 922 didn't bother asking too many questions.
There was no point in him stressing over something he had absolutely no control over; if he did, he might as well just be bashing his head against the wall, trying to fix an issue that was unfixable.
There was no point in living in the past; he'd just drive himself mad.
He still had his present and future to think about. Once everything settled down... maybe he'll find some time to investigate his own past.
...
But still, he couldn't help but wonder. There were many other invigilators with far higher ranks than himself...
For example, the other invigilator who answered directly to 001, codename 154.
It was a very good rank, especially compared to 922's own pitiful rank, but in the grand scheme of things... it was pretty average.
He's never met him before, 001 seemed to quite like this 154, so 922 was confident that his colleague wasn't too bad.
...
Or at least, he wouldn't think that 154 was too bad, if not for the rumors.
Invigilators were often rather busy with watching over examination centers, so it was very rare for them to meet up, but they often came and went.
In addition, they did spent a lot of time invigilating exams, especially with large-scale exams, where invigilators under several Head Invigilators could come together and interact, rumors often spread as quickly as wildfire.
And with 922 being a rather friendly, charismatic guy... other invigilators didn't mind him too much, and didn't hesitate to blurt out any anything they knew, as long as it wasn't sensitive information that the System would punish them for, especially during examinations, where invigilators had nothing better to do while being stuck in their invigilator's quarters, waiting for some kind of announcement from the System to pick up some rule violating examinee.
For example, 1006, originally Invigilator D, had been one of the first invigilators to enter the System, and by right, should have gotten a very high rank, like 009, another Head Invigilator.
However, due to being drunk after some accident that caused all the invigilator codes to be reshuffled (922 didn't know what that was about, having joined the invigilator ranks too late, and no one wanted to talk to a newbie about it), he had apparently cause a commotion inside an intensive care unit, which resulted in his abysmal rank.
There was also another rumor that Qin Jiu and this other invigilator, Invigilator A (922 had never met him before, but he had taken the exams when invigilators still went by letter ranks, so learning that used to be an Invigilator A didn't seem too far-fetched) had gotten into some kind of fight... but no one ever answered his questions about that whenever he asked.
922 gave up after the third time of asking, only to be met with agitated, or sometimes, even angry and agitated looks.
Nope, 922 valued his life. He wasn't going around pissing off other invigilators just to satisfy his own curiosity.
And then... there was 154.
And unlike Invigilator A, who was seemingly nowhere to be found and that light on his finger beeped way too much every time 922 tried to investigate on his own or asked too many questions, 154's presence was rather common knowledge.
Plus, being one of 001's direct subordinates, naturally, 922 heard a lot more about 154.
Apparently, 154 was a very recent examinee, but unlike Wen Yuan, hadn't gotten injured, and didn't have to spend half his life recuperating at a Rest Stop. He had actually become an invigilator some time after Qin Jiu gained the rank of 001, and soon after, became one of 001's subordinates, only really having to answer to him, and maybe some of the other Head Invigilators, should 001 not be around.
Whatever 001 needed him to do, 154 would always do them flawlessly, should it be taking meeting notes, completing paperwork about a bug or a broken examination center or whatever, or anything else that came with being 001's personal subordinate.
154 had an amazing work ethic. Good handwriting, always early to meetings or invigilating exams, always submitted his documents on time, even took over some of 001's own paperwork, should 001 not be in the mood to complete it...
But not all the rumors were so positive.
For one... some invigilators thought that 154 wasn't human.
He was stern, serious, took his work seriously...
Maybe a bit too seriously...
He just... never smiled.
Someone (the rumor had apparently been around since the very beginning of the System, so no one knew the origins of this quip) had joked once that if the System were to have an avatar... it would have an unsmiling poker face; emotionless, expressionless.
922 pretty much brushed that off.
Being in the System... really was a depressing experience. He's had quite a long time to come to terms with it. As for 154... he didn't know how long ago he'd taken the exams, but maybe he was still getting used to all this.
Or maybe he just had some kind of social anxiety, and suddenly being in such a powerful position as 001's direct subordinate just made him short circuit.
Ever since he had become an invigilator, 154 also never once broke the rules.
Heck, the rare times that anyone's seen him eat, the guy wouldn't even speak while eating, unlike everyone else, who would be having merry conversations as they ate.
No, if someone wanted to talk to 154 while he was eating... that conversation would take quite a bit of time because 154 would chew up all his food, swallow, before answering. He just refused to talk with food in his mouth.
922 didn't think that was too bad, in all honesty. It was a very good habit to have.
But when 922 said rare, he meant rare.
If he talked to every single invigilator that was remotely close to 154... he could probably count the number of times anyone saw him even drinking something other than coffee on one hand... and that was even considering the fact that others had invigilated super long exams with 154, when 001 was busy.
Not only that, his presence just... gave everyone a familiar sense of anxiety, like they were being watched by some omnipresent force. Like they had been thrown in the exams, once again, forced to fight for their lives and solve questions to save their own hides.
It was even said that he might have eyes on the back of his head, being able to keep track of whatever was going on in his near vicinity...
Now that was a little creepy... but 922 though that was also a huge exaggeration.
The System was all around them, and 154 was one of the 001's subordinates. Given how troublesome 001 had been, maybe the System also wanted to keep a closer eye on his personal subordinate, to make sure 001 wasn't going to stir up more trouble.
That was entirely possible as well.
There was also another issue that regarded 154's amazing work ethic... and it was because the poor guy was so busy, no one's ever seen him sleep before.
If someone had to find him in the middle of the night at his apartment in the Invigilator's District, or the room assigned to him in the invigilator's quarters during exams... 154 would probably open the door the second they knocked.
And if he ran out of the work to do... some invigilators had seen 154 reading books instead of sleeping.
Some invigilators were scared of 154... while others feared that he might work himself into his own grave.
922 had to admit; he was also very concerned for 154. He had a feeling that 154 may not be very good at taking care of his health...
Poor guy. Had the examinations really shaken him so badly to the point where he was working himself to death?
922 wasn't the kind of person to judge someone without knowing them first; after all, rumors were just rumors.
He was pretty sure that this 154 wasn't really as bad as everyone made him out to be. Maybe everyone was just too scared of 001 and were projecting on 154?
Either way, now that he was officially 001's new subordinate... hopefully he could help alleviate some of that burden.