Kiera stared into his vivid green eyes. "Hey, teach. Why do you always talk like people will get pwned tomorrow for their actions?"
The emperor rolled his eyes. "You almost killed someone a moment ago, yes?"
Her eyes trembled, and she turned away. "True, but your language implies something greater."
"I'll communicate my actions when you communicate yours." He replied with a mocking smile.
"Jerk." Kiera huffed, turning away cutely.
Kaze chuckled and continued walking. She quickly followed him in confusion.
"Hey, quick Q. You're gracing me with your valuable time to save my life, so why aren't you chastising me for being so derisive?" She asked with her best Kaze impersonation.
Kaze looked to the sky, praying for the divine record to grant him the pressure not to kill the woman.
"The greatest survival mechanism in the world is becoming to valuable to hurt or kill." He explained after a deep breath.
"You have potential that few people here have; therefore, I must tolerate your detestable eclectic mindset, as it's the reason for both your detestable behavior and skill."
"Do you have experience with someone like me?" Kiera asked, studying his facial expressions.
"I do." Kaze replied dryly, "I've met many people over my years, and your kind is the most troublesome. Obscenely talented but obnoxiously sensitive to negative feedback."
"Hey! That's rude." She huffed in disdain, "I'm not obnoxious, Mr. Ego. People love me so much I have stalkers. "
"Exhibit A." He replied dryly, "Take solace that I'm complimenting you, as it's rare. Now, I have work to do, be quiet if you wish to join me."
Kiera's face heated up, but her eyes widened in shock when he picked her up and flew in the air to the building to get back into place.
She looked through the warping concealment wall at the students with wide eyes. "So this is where the puppet master resides."
"Good puppet masters stand next to their puppets." Kaze replied mockingly, sitting on the ground.
"Wooooooow. Did your mother read you Machiavelli to put you to sleep, or are you one of those genuine, charming psychopaths?" Kiera giggled, "Asking for a friend."
The emperor chuckled in amusement. He finally understood what it was like to be Evalyn and to find a person obnoxious but impossible to hate.
"I prefer charming and hyper-rational." He smiled.
"I'm sure you do." She giggled.
"Okay, enough of the jokes. Let's observe; it's almost time." Kaze chuckled.
"For what?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
"There is one minute left. Once it hits fifteen minutes before the eight-hour mark, everyone will panic." He asserted.
"They're both extremely powerful psychological resistance levels."
"Psychological resistant point?" Keria asked, "You mean like making something $9.99 as if it changes the fact that something costs ten dollars?"
"Exactly, but it's more serious." Kaze laughed, "But investors will dump millions instantly if a stock at $101 drops below $100, instantly wiping out a billion in value.
Exceeding or falling below that number can make or break a multi-national corporation."
She gave him a mocking smile. "That's right; you're rich."
"You're incorrigible." He scoffed, "Psychological levels are about confidence signals, not money.
If something gets 100 votes instead of 99, people are [exponentially] more willing to join a discussion, take action, or stand behind it.
One vote, second, minute, like, sale, share, read, review, dollar, or view can make or break something. It's a general psychological concept."
"Drrrrraaammmatic." Kiera yawned, stretching her arms dramatically.
Kaze checked his watch in annoyance. "Say that again in 13 seconds."
Her eyes widened. "That's an oddly specific number."
"What part of [one] do you not understand?" He scoffed in disbelief, rolling his eyes, "Psychological resistance points are instantaneous."
"You mean to tell me that one—"
"There's only one fifteen minutes until our eight hours are up!"
"He didn't give us a time! Calm down."
"Eight hours is a normal time. Since Faction Leader left, it's clear he left us an implied time that we should assume!"
"That's ridiculous."
"What? Do you think he'll give us eight hours and forty-three minutes? He shows up at nine am sharp!"
"You're right. It's eerie how punctual he is."
"Right? Plus, it'd be strange to give students a twelve-hour training session."
"That's a good point. Gah! I'm so stressed!"
"Can we stop talking about this and start moving? We're running out of time!"
"Group vote! Who thinks we should let those who haven't gone more than once go again?"
"You're saying that because you're in the back, and it benefits you!"
"You're refusing because you're in the front, and you've gone more than once!"
They exploded in pandemonium and chaos instantly.
Kaze watched with a smug smile on his face, observing everyone present.
"Yeah, yeah. You win." Kiera huffed, "You set this up, so it's naturally working out to your evil schemes or whatever.
So, what's next, Mr. Shades? Are you showing up at eight? Or are you waiting till everything explodes and then swooping down to rescue people from yourself?"
"Neither." He grinned, "If I showed up at eight sharp next time. This time, I have a timer that will go off randomly in the next hour."
"Random?" She asked in confusion, "I don't even want that sketchy rationale for that."
"As you wish." Kaze replied, watching how people handled the pressure.
She watched in silence with a twitching expression for a minute. "Okay, I want to know."
"Hoh? You can communicate your real beliefs?" He mused.
"Can you just tell me already?" She huffed in annoyance, crossing her arms.
"It's called variable reinforcement operant conditioning." Kaze replied, not mincing words.
"Human speak, professor." Kiera requested in annoyance.
"Slot machine." Kaze grinned, "People become addicted when rewards come randomly and paranoid when punishments come the same way.
If people quickly learn that the amount of time is random, they'll think faster and push harder."
"What is this, the Iron Curtain?" She scoffed breathlessly in disbelief, "Minus ten points on the cool chart."
"Slot machine." He reiterated in annoyance, "People punish themselves by spending copious quantities of hard-earned money for minuscule random rewards.
I'm recreating that to make them addicted to improvement, but the [punishments] improve them, and the random rewards are free.
The goal is to improve members, make them useful, keep order, and build prosperity, not be [cool] or manipulate people like toy soldiers."
Kiera stared at the members with a pensive expression. "You make manipulating people like tools sound so benign."
"All things are benign when they provide positive value." Kaze argued, "Watch what happens."
"WE'RE TAKING NOTES OF WHO TO ISOLATE!" A woman yelled, "WE MIGHT ALL FAIL AT BECAUSE OF YOU!"
Everyone fell silent and trembled.
"Does someone have something productive to offer that doesn't screw people over?" A man asked, triggering a psychological fear it might be Kaze.
"Why don't we make all 44 lines a place for one attempt? That way, people can move quickly and we can get people moving through and doing things once."
"I'm okay with that!"
"Me too."
"Works for me."
Keria watched with wide eyes. "Wait, that woman's punishment…."
"A social control tactic." Kaze smiled, "Everything we're doing promotes growth and prevents serious problems that hurt people."
She watched everyone in surprise.
"Figures that everyone agreeing is at the back." Someone scoffed.
A man at the beginning of the line scoffed in exasperation. "I don't want to fail because people are bitching, so you can take my space!"
"You can take mine too. If you're at the front, you may consider doing the same. You might get rewarded."
A dozen people left the lines from the front and filed out, following them once there were ten.
Once twenty people left, another fifty left the lines, and then it picked up the speed until hundreds left in protest.
"Do you understand now?" Kaze smiled, "Once one person left, another followed. Once ten people left, it sped up to a couple of dozen; then, it picked up the pace exponentially.
That's a psychological level. They're the key to controlling millions of subjects with words alone."
"It's impressive." Kiera said in awe, "Are you secretly an old wise man or something? A cultivator who was doing it before it was cool?"
"That's a reasonable way of explaining my behavior." He chuckled, "It matters not. It's almost time, so join the others. Be here at 6:00 am sharp tomorrow."
"Wait, what? Why—"
A warp gate opened behind her, and he pushed her through it unceremoniously. She hit the ground on her butt with wide eyes.
"That jerk!" Kiera cried, getting up and staring at her environment. She was behind the preparation building. "Whatevs. Better get into character.."
She walked over to the line, wearing a faux smile that hid her wrath. When people asked where she was, she told them she went to the bathroom with a fake shy expression.
Kaze grinned in amusement, watching her. "That once is a force of nature."
He looked down at his phone. "Looks like fortune is on their side today."
Twenty minutes were left, and he waited with a slight smile, counting down the minutes. When the time was over, he walked out of a spatial rift and walked to the group.
The emperor clapped, getting everyone's attention. "The exercise is over. You're free to stay or leave.
However, pick up the earth-grade cultivation technique on your way out. Everyone gets one copy."
"F-Faction leader. Can we have ten more minutes?" A woman asked nervously, "Everyone will get to go once if we do."
"While it's impressive you almost pulled it off, the people that haven't gone were the slowest to learn the technique, yes?" Kaze asked with a slight smile.
The woman fell silent.
"Moreover, did anyone that hasn't gone participate in the discussions to create new systems without yelling or complaining?" He mused.
Those who hadn't gone smiled bitterly.
"Even then, you all stayed silent until you started panicking." Kaze explained, "You've failed on both fronts. You have a chance at redemption tomorrow, so come prepared.
Those victorious today may fail tomorrow, so you're not out of the running."
Everyone gulped nervously, understanding the connotation.
"Be here at 8:50 sharp tomorrow for training. That's all." Kaze announced boldly before walking away.
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