Ren studied the rumpled black and white image of him and Gao Ming closely; the chains in the photo were starting to pulse and slowly move, but that wasn't what concerned him. Instead, it was that he could summon Gao Ming's powers later in the future if he completed the checklist.
He went to his knees in joy as he finally had something to use against future scenarios, better than hoping for Renu. But what were Gao Ming's powers? Whatever it was, Ren knew it would make his life a lot easier than it was before, seeing that he had nearly died on multiple occasions already.
He was interested in what happened to Renu in Gao Ming's room. He shoved the pictures into his trouser pockets and limped into the apartment, the pain reducing, but it was still there all over his body, plus it didn't help that he was covered in him. Gao Ming's blood and fluid, he huffed all the way upstairs to Gao Ming's room as the corridor lights were back to full brightness, and there was zero presence of any scenario that took place in here. He felt he did a good job.
He reached Gao Ming's room 2222 and saw that the door was left slightly ajar, with a commotion going on inside. He opened the door fully and saw Eli jumping on Renu to put on a submission of some sort that involves wrapping her arms around Renu's head. Before he could say something, Renu fell forward with Eli, while adjusting her head and grabbing Eli's wrist of the arm that choked her. Renu turned her head sideways as she slammed Eli down to reduce the impact of her face. Eli let go and groaned in pain.
Renu sensed an opening and was about to pounce onto Eli, but Eli's legs wrapped around her, and Eli had an UFC triangle hold on Renu, who was trying to escape.
"Renu, for God's sake, where have you been?" Ren asked, causing both of them to stop and look at him in surprise. He really wanted to know where Renu had been all this time and why she had appeared now.
Renu forced herself out of the submission hold while Eli was distracted.
"Who is she?" Renu asked, pointing at Eli, who got up and was dusting her body while at the same time being shocked at Ren's appearance.
Ren didn't answer and entered the room, closing the door and double-locking it.
Ren turned back to look at Renu; his eyes were barely open due to stress. "You missed the whole event. This woman is Eli, and she is part of the help I had to pass the scenario. That's the summary I can give."
Ren limped inside as Renus assisted him to a stool to sit on.
Eli, who was rubbing her back, brought out an identification card. "Eli from the Bizarre Events Investigation Bureau."
Renu frowned upon hearing where Eli was from and looked at Ren for explanations.
Ren had actually forgotten that Eli was from a secret agency, just realizing that he had essentially told and shown an investigator a lot of things a normal person shouldn't have.
He looked at Eli with concern. "What happens when you get back to your Bureau to report back?"
Eli shrugged. "I will report, of course."
Renu took a step forward. "Report what exactly?"
Eli's face remained stoic. "What I saw."
Ren didn't like where this was going. "And what did you see?"
"Everything I saw and heard," Eli responded.
Renu took another step forward. "I don't like where this is going, and we all know that if you do that, then Ren is going to be packaged and shipped to a surgical table of an abandoned lab."
Eli shook her. "That won't happen. At this point, we are looking at the bigger picture of trying to prevent an abnormal activity from getting dangerous and violent. Which is why I have an offer."
Ren already knew. "You want me to join the bureau."
Renu's face squeezed in confusion. "No, why would we do that?"
Eli had already thought of that. "You can help a lot of people, you will receive resources that will help you, and you will be a big boost to us in taking care of whatever levels we would encounter."
Renu hissed. "No."
Eli didn't respond to her, but was looking at Ren for his response.
Ren shrugged. "I will think about it."
Eli received a positive response, giving a slight nod.
Renu looked back in shock.
"It's not like they are giving me a choice?" Ren explained to her.
Renu turned back to Eli. "If he joins, I am also joining."
Eli looked at Ren.
Ren gave a bittersmile. "She has been a lot of help to me."
Eli nodded. Renu was curious about something Eli had said before.
"What do you mean by levels of abnormility?" She asked, and Ren too was interested.
Eli was very sure that Ren would join her, so it wasn't a big deal. "We have scaled abnormal activities into seven levels. Level 0 to 1 is where the abnormality occurs, but nothing happens to anyone; it simply exists within those levels. Level 2 is where the behaviors of people are affected, as the abnormality brings out the unexpected in individuals. However, this effect only occurs when the abnormality is confined, and the victims find it easier to wake up. Level 3 is when a ghost being appears and brings the worst of people while harming them. Level 4 occurs when the abnormality spreads, and the ghost becomes stronger due to a negative environment. Level 5 is where the ghost has fully matured and is hard to kill, and the abnormality has spread to a large area. Level 6 is where he spread is wider, and the ghost has reached full potential. At this stage, we are better off jumping off a roof, which is why the goal is to ensure we never let an abnormality reach level 6."
Ren nodded. "So what we went through is like a 5? That's not bad." He felt Gao Ming was on a big scale.
Eli shook her head. "We went through a level 3 Ren."
Ren was shocked at that revelation. "And we nearly died."
Eli nodded. "You see why I want all hands on deck to solve these abnormalities early."
Eli unlocked the door and walked out, throwing a long card at Renu that contained a phone number for her to contact.
Ren was now realizing that he had never considered how high Eli is in the hierarchy of the bureau. Being close to her would really help both him and Renu.
He stood up, and Renu went to hug him. "I was repelled outside. I think we underestimated this game scenario. How did you clear it?"
Ren didn't want to answer the question as the memory of what happened throughout the Gao Ming quest wasn't pleasant.
Ren got out of the hug and stared at Renu. "I am still alive, and have a lot of things I need to tell you."