"What's wrong?" Karl with his low EQ couldn't understand why Sarah was hiding from him or why Melissa had that peculiar expression on her face.

"Mr. Karl, I'm sorry about the fish, I-" Melissa didn't understand that Karl was confused by their actions and quickly started to apologize.

"It's okay" he had low EQ but was smart enough to tell what was wrong with himself after Melissa started to apologize.

"Why didn't you join her?" he asked stepping in to touch the wall beside the dining table. It opened to reveal a refrigerator and he took out a bottle of water from amongst the many assorted drinks in it.

"The Association Staff Members are not allowed to eat anything until the Explorers are gone for the day" Melissa explained while Sarah crawled back up from under the table and waved at Karl with a smile on her face.

"Doesn't that mean the Staff only eat twice a day?" Karl asked and Melissa blanked. Didn't everyone eat twice a day? It took her a while to realize she was talking with Karl, a First Explorer.

"Ahem," she coughed.

"With the threat of food shortage, the Association has announced a new law for everyone to eat twice. Your family and a few other privileged families are exempted from this rule" she explained and it was Karl's turn to wear a peculiar expression on his face. He couldn't help but feel complicated, he and his wife were eating well while everyone else had to eat carefully yet he was requested to go out to help find a new source of food and he kept on refusing.

"Do you have a Hunter in your family?" he asked Melissa.

"No Sir" she shook her head, she knew why he asked. Hunters could feed their families well since there was no rationing of food one brought in from the other side. Only the food purchased from any source, be it another hunter, the Hunter's Association, or malls was rationed.

"What about all this food?" he asked gesturing with the now half water bottle in his hand at the food on the table.

"The Staff eats the leftovers or shares them with some other families around the Association if it's too much," Melissa replied with a warm smile on her face, she found the awkward and guilty expression on Karl's face very interesting.

"Dig in then, don't mind me," Karl said to her.

In the past, eating leftovers would be considered something lowly but the Survival Area had long developed beyond that surface of baseless pride and they didn't find anything wrong with it. It also helped that the left over of whatever one dished on their plates were thrown away and only what was left in the platter or bowl was shared among the Staff or reheated for the next day.

"Uh- thank you, Sir Karl, but I can't" Melissa didn't expect the conversation to take such a turn but she turned down his offer after all she would be reassigned after that day and probably punished if she ate from his food when it was not yet dinner time.

"Melissa, just eat" Karl insisted before leaving the dining room and this time closing the door behind him. He sat in his office chair and sent a request to the Association service page to have Melissa permanently assigned to him. His request was accepted almost immediately and he smiled before focusing his attention on what he came for, the exploration progress.

Melissa was still conflicted in the dining room after Karl left. She was very hungry as were other Staffers, they only ate twice and even then they were unable to eat to their satisfaction because the association wanted them to set an example for everyone else on how to manage food. The situation wasn't bad yet but she could only imagine how it would get when the food sources continued to reduce or the population increased. Just as she was about to walk out of the dining room her tablet which Sarah was using to watch cartoons chimed and she reached out to pause Sarah's cartoon and check the notification, after all, it was her work tablet.

Her eyes widened when she saw the information on the tablet. He was given a two hundred percent raise and permanently assigned to attend to Karl at the same time because of his Hunter status she was also assigned a hunter to provide her with meat and vegetables once every week. The greatest benefit she got however was the authority to post missions to the hunters association!

Many wealthy people were unable to eat well because of the rationing despite their wealth. Of course, the rations for civilians unlike the association workers were very generous but the more money one had, the more they would want to indulge. Wealth in the Survival Area could get one anything else other than food, it could probably get them fresher healthier foods but it wouldn't be much different than anyone else. That was why many wanted the authority to post missions on the Hunter's Association page because they could then request as many food supplies as they wanted as long as it was meat, fish, vegetables, and anything food source that could be found in the Other Side. It was an elevation of status and what separated the upper class from the lower and middle classes. This separation wasn't strict though because hunters could get as much food for their families and their diet was healthiest too.

If Melissa didn't know that Karl wasn't the kind of person who would feel the need to be appreciated, she would have rushed out to thank him with her knees on the ground. But if she did that, she would only end up offending him for no reason. She would however still express her appreciation but in a controlled way.

"Wow. Melissa, you must treat me" Sarah also happened to see the notification so she exclaimed.

"Not just treat you, you can tell me anything your family needs and I will post a mission for you!" Melissa excitedly pinched her cheeks and sat down to eat with Sarah no longer feeling skeptical. Even if she lost her job for whatever reason, as long as she didn't break any laws that attracts the military, her authority to post missions would never be revoked.