Chapter 36

Carl and Donut meet Zev, a kua-tin Borant Corporation assistant who serves as their newly assigned PR agent. After an initial confrontation over the forced interview schedule, Zev reveals critical information about Borant's financial desperation and the government's pressure to end the game quickly. The chapter ends with an ominous discovery when they exit the safe room.

Carl's HUD disappears as a small kua-tin woman in a water-filled space suit enters the safe room. She introduces herself as Zev, a Borant Corporation Communications Representative and Dungeon Admin. She explains that Carl and Donut have been assigned to the Crawler Assisted Outreach Program due to their popularity, making her their PR agent who will coordinate interview requests. She informs them they are locked into Odette's show for each floor opening and must participate in at least one additional interview per floor, though they can choose which show. Zev schedules their next interview for forty hours away on a round-table discussion show with a parting gift. Carl erupts in anger about being forced into interviews while fighting for survival, but Zev responds by revealing that everyone—including herself—is trapped in the same system, and that her cooperation serves both their interests. The conversation shifts when Donut and Zev bond over the TV show Gossip Girl. While they talk, Mordecai pulls Carl aside to warn him about his temper and explains the political situation: the Bloom party now controls kua-tin government and has forced Borant to accelerate the game's completion despite its profitability, as the company needs the final payout urgently to avoid financial collapse. The government is actively working to get players killed through manufactured difficulties. Zev departs before they can exit, and as Carl opens the door to leave, the minimap changes color and a waist-high pile of grubs tumbles into the safe room.