A white-hot searing pain envelops your mind as something is forced to replace your head as you lay writhing on the cold grass of the dark forest. You can barely make out the mocking chatter of your assailants.

The sudden horn of a bus cuts through your daze, and then the thump of a body. The white-haired mercenary flies into a tree, slumping bonelessly against it. Her comrades stare in disbelief as 12 comedically unique individuals descend from the bus clumsily.

In a chain of events you're far too dazed to follow, there's a short fight- no, a bloodbath- that results in the bus-driving maniacs laying on the ground, dead. You curse your luck inwardly, preparing to die as someone draws a blade on you, ready to kill.

Suddenly, from within the bushes comes a terrifyingly tall man, his eyes glowing a menacing bright red. He dismembers two of your assailants, mocking the third to tell him he needs one person unscathed to carry the other two back. After, he turns to you, and regards your question of his identity impassingly.

Outis leans forward and pokes at Gregor. "You saw it too, huh? V-G-W-J... this guy's someone you should listen to." She stifles a yawn. "Don't mind him. He doesn't mean anything by that."

"Well, I can't say that he's wrong... you should listen to this guy," Gregor agrees with Outis as he looks at Viki. "He has a name tag and everything." He pats the Sinner on the shoulder in mock consolation before clapping his hands together cheerfully, gesturing at the bus behind him. "C'mon, let's get you all aboard! The boss would kill me if I let any of you wander around like this."

"Sinner," Outis answers plainly. "At least that's what they call themselves." She grins. "And I'm Outis, by the way. Just call me Oughty-six."

"Well I'm called Yi Sang, but you can just call me Viki," the one called by Outis volunteers as they all begin to file back onto the bus. "And yes, this is Gregor here," he continues, gesturing at his brown-armed friend. "But who are you lot?"

Outis rolls her eyes and plops down into a seat, yawning loudly. Gregor frowns at her before turning back to Viki with a smile. "You're probably wondering what the hell is going on, huh? Well, we're Limbus Company- or the LC for short."

"And we're the only ones who can save the world," Gregor finishes for her, nodding emphatically. "Well, you know what they say! With great power comes even greater responsibility!" The little bug-arm man flexes his arm proudly before realizing how that probably looked and shrugging sheepishly.

Charon snorts at the question before pausing to think about it. "Hmm...you could be our manager. Or something like that," she decides with a shrug, flicking her fingers dismissively as if it's no big deal. Outis perks up slightly at this, a grin spreading across her face.

"Or you could just be the guy who makes sure we do our jobs right, keep us all in line and out of trouble," she says with a wink. "You know, help steer the ship." Vergilius rolls his eyes from his seat up at the ceiling.

"Hmm...," Outis muses at Viki's comment before shrugging. "I guess that works too. We're all just glad to have you along for the ride, boss." The Sinners chuckle and nod in agreement as Vergilius clears his throat loudly.

"You should probably think carefully about what you'd like to be called by us, Manager," Vergilius says coolly. "The name 'boss' doesn't sit well with some of them." He glances meaningfully in the direction of Yi Sang and Faust, who shift uncomfortably in their seats.

"Call me whatever you want, really. Just let me do my job," you reply easily, deciding not to bother with their petty squabbles. You take a seat at the front of the bus, next to Charon, and wait for her to get the engine started. "So, how does this all work? This Limbus Company thing?"

Outis glances at Vergilius before shooting the man a smile and leaning forward in her seat. "Ah, you're just full of questions! Well, Limbus Company is sorta like a bus department, but instead of driving people around, we drive this thing," she gestures at the LC bus Mephistopheles with a dramatic flourish. "Our job is to go from district to district and fetch these things called Golden Boughs- they're basically endless sources of power. The other company who had them collapsed, and now their Golden Boughs are scattered across the city."

"We retrieve those boughs, you see," Outis continues, pointing at Viki before flicking her hand dismissively back towards herself, "and bring 'em here to our boss. Then she does whatever it is she does with them and it all just works out." She shrugs,

Outis nods at your request, then grins wickedly. "You can call me 'Oughty' then. Well, you see, our boss here," she gestures vaguely to Vergilius and the back of his head, "...he's really something else. He can turn back time." Her eyebrows shoot up, emphasizing her point. "So he uses that to help us out when things get rough. And it gets pretty rough sometimes." "But we don't just take Golden Boughs from whoever we find them lying around! We need someone... special," she says with a dramatic pause, "someone like you, but without the 'you' part." She smirks, seeming satisfied by her own cryptic remark. "That's where we come in. The Sinners and I: Limbus Company's finest."

Rodion snorts loud