The Over-Break System

-Roughly Two Years after the Collapse of the DPZ-

"Breaking news as we come on the air this morning: President Lallinstien will unexpectedly address the nation in a few short minutes.

While we don't know for sure what our President will be speaking about, the announcement came as a surprise, and according to our sources in the Presidential Manor, we believe it may have something to do with changes in the Incident during this year's Competition Award Ceremony." An average Caucasian middle-aged news anchor stated while sitting at a typical news desk.

"Fuckers," Cynrik grumbled as he threw himself onto his recliner in the living room.

Adding to their Papa's evident disapproval, Sie and Vii chirped their opinions, joining him in the sentiment before landing on either side of the recliner's back, on what they had long since claimed as their spots.

"I wonder what that old bastard is going to say this time," joining her Maður on the recliner by gracefully falling into his lap; Selene mused while reaching up and petting her two bird children under their cute yet fierce beaks.

"If the anchor's sources are correct, it may have to do with us… I don't know how to feel about that." Having received a call from their mother, Brance quickly notified all of MyrkLys about the special broadcast.

"Oh, I see Big Bro Cyn set up the second trophy on the opposite side of the holo-tv; it looks good!" Being the bright ray of sunshine in the group, Gabby quickly diverted the depressing mood by drawing everyone's attention to the newly placed Championship trophy from this year's Competition.

"Not gonna lie, I saw it coming after the stunt Big Bro pulled during the award ceremony. I'm shocked they even let us walk out of the arena with the trophy at all." Making his way into the room while holding Melody's hand, Benny stated before falling in line and finding his usual spot with his now fiancé on the couch.

After over two years of dating, Benny had finally manned up and popped the question, much to the excitement of Melody, who had long since been madly in love with the beefy boy.

"Tsk, listen, all I did was shed some light on how we are being proverbially attacked by the higher-ups and forbidden from growing stronger. How was I to know that it would piss everyone off?" Glancing at the shiny ring on Melody's finger, Cynrik's eyes narrowed before glancing at the naked finger of Gabby's left hand.

'Funny how Benny-boi beat Brancie to asking his girlfriend to marry him.' Cynrik thought, causing Selene to pinch his side.

'You know he will get around to it; I mean, with how thin the walls are here, you know they mess around every night; although they are both still virgins, they sure are frisky." Selene replied as she watched a sleepy Kurza emerge from the kitchen with several floating mugs of coffee behind him.

"Morning…" he groaned before using his Mana to hand everyone their specific mugs. While Gabby had gotten way better at waking up, thanks to sharing a room with Brance now, Kurza had become the team's residential "Sleepy Head" who had a tough time waking up in the morning.

"Thanks, Kurz; like I was saying, Big Bro, you are probably to blame; no one told you to up and punch the Minister of Resources in the face on live TV." Taking a sip of his coffee, Benny thought back to that moment and cringed.

Initially, things were going as per the previous year. MyrkLys steamrolled through every team they faced, broke as many records as possible, even the ones they put up the year before, and ended up back on the podium for the award ceremony.

That was where things shifted for the worse, as the present of awards this year was the man who had been blocking the necessary resource allocation that MyrkLys desperately required to reach Tier-4.

If his presence alone wasn't bad enough, fitting of his previous actions, the Minister, who felt totally untouchable thanks to his Early-Tier-5 strength, title, and office, took several apparent digs at Cynrik during his speech and ended up pushing things too far when it came time to hand over the trophy.

Between the smug look and his cocky words, Minister Yaavin hit one too many wrong buttons and ended up getting sucker punched so hard that his ocular bones shattered, along with his nose and several of his teeth.

Frankly, he got off easy as if it weren't for Cynrik holding back, there was no doubt the Early-Tier-5 Minister's head would have popped like a fruit, especially since Cynrik had a knack for reinforcing his attacks with both Divine Particles and Multiple Elements.

His advancement in Divine Particle control had taken him two whole years to master. Still, after much Hellacious self-training and experimentation, Cynrik had finally begun gaining ground on Brance when it came to dealing with Divine Particles.

Of course, Selene quickly shared his achievements; however, they still had a long way to go if they wanted to catch up with the LightBringer.

"No one told him to be so weak. If you are going to talk shit, you better have a way to back it up. Clearly, that moron's Tier is all for show." Receiving Selene's coffee mug first, then his own, Cynrik snapped his fingers, retrieved some homebaked snacks from his inventory, and gave a morning treat to his birds before sipping at his coffee.

His words caused an audible sigh to release from the other members of MyrkLys' lips, well, minus one person.

"The fat fuck deserved it. How dare he talk down to my Darling as if he was some higher being. I still say you should have killed him, HMPH." Selene's words turned the other members of MyrkLys' sighs into groans of displeasure.

"You know, for someone who always calls Benny and I meatheads, the two of you sure resort to violence more frequently than we do," Brance muttered.

He had long since given up trying to change the two crazies and instead took more of a damage-control approach to their actions. If the past three Competitions had taught Brance anything, it was sympathy for Geralt, who was constantly forced to clean up after Cynrik.

"Tsk," Sucking his teeth, Cynrik ignored Brance and focused on the Holo-Tv as a ticker tape scrolled across the screen, and the image changed to the empty Presidential podium.

"Hmph, says the guy who is too scared to do something that Even Benny was brave enough to pull off," Selene whispered, causing Brance to glare at her and generate a collective giggle chirp from Sie and Vii.

"GAO," at that moment, a sleepy cat lumbered into the room, causing Brance's frown and embarrassment to shift rapidly.

"Morning, Milo," Gabby cheerfully greeted her now housecat-sized pet as he flashed across the room and stretched out between his parents, demanding good morning scratches.

At that moment, the sound of multiple camera flashes came from the Holo-Tv, as an impressive-looking man in a sharp blue suit stepped up to the podium before staring directly into the camera and inadvertently at the Members of MyrkLys watching from their dorm living room.