"This watch…"
Under the staff member's gaze, Qingshui gently twisted the watch on his wrist once and pressed a button.
The fine needle embedded inside the watch immediately pierced his skin, drawing a drop of fresh blood.
As Qingshui's Chakra was infused, the small Summoning Seal at the bottom of the watch activated, summoning the modular Black Warrior and connecting it with Chakra Threads.
In just a few seconds, Qingshui was clad in a sleek, shiny black form-fitting exoskeleton battlesuit, covering him from his feet to his neck.
"Is he a technology-based hero, similar to Drive Knight or Child Emperor? Heroes with special abilities also take their tests here. Don't worry, the maximum strength our equipment can test is based on the data of S-class heroes in the Hero Association."
The staff member explained.
However, seeing Qingshui's attire, he paid a bit more attention.
He therefore focused more on Qingshui.
Most of the candidates participating in the selection were ordinary people who had trained, were physically strong, or knew some martial arts.
But those who could transform and don high-tech armor immediately, like Qingshui, were rare. Most of them had good combat power, and their selection should not be an issue. Generally, the level they could achieve in the end would not be low either.
Soon, it was Qingshui's turn in line.
The first test was agility, measured by thirty lateral steps left and right.
The foot pedals were of good quality and didn't break under his weight.
The second test was a 1500-meter long-distance run.
Only a few seconds after the starting line was drawn, Qingshui had already crossed the finish line.
The third test was weightlifting, full load; the fifth was shot put, throwing it out of the venue; the sixth was high jump; the seventh was the punch machine…
He didn't break every record like Saitama, but he was close to a perfect score in all of them.
By the time the written test was over, his scores directly alarmed the branch manager, who then forwarded the news to the headquarters.
"Physical test score 48, written test score 49, total 97. That's a very high score. Who was the last applicant in the Hero Association to score over 90 points?"
In the Hero Association headquarters in City A, Sitch looked at the test data sent from City D on his computer and asked a staff member next to him.
"That would be Smile Man, currently rank 29 in A-class. He had two confirmed victories against Tiger-level mysterious beings and eleven pacifications of Wolf-level mysterious beings before joining the Hero Association. So, based on his test scores and previous achievements, he was ranked 30th in B-class upon joining and raised his ranking to his current position within half a year."
The staff member, wearing a suit and with stubble on his chin, pulled up past records and replied to Sitch.
"And his test score was…"
"92 points."
"Then it seems this Qingshui at least has the potential to become an A-class hero, or even a top-tier A-class or S-class. But… his file shows no record of any past heroic activities?"
Sitch pointed to the large screen in front of them.
According to the information displayed, Qingshui had been an ordinary office worker for all these years.
Generally, someone with such strength couldn't have remained unknown for so long; they would have left some traces.
Unless it was like Saitama, who resolved battles too quickly, defeating anyone with a single punch, and lived in the uninhabited area of Z-City, lacking social interaction, so his deeds couldn't spread. But even so, Saitama's various achievements were concrete; they were just conveniently claimed by some incredibly lucky man, the strongest on Earth.
"In this situation, City D must have interviewed him, right?"
"Yes, the City D branch of the Hero Association just sent the interview transcript. Please take a look!"
A female staff member sitting at the console immediately brought up the interview records.
"The reason he hasn't engaged in any heroic activities in the past is because he's been a workaholic, constantly working overtime with high intensity, lacking spare time.
His reason for becoming a hero, besides wanting to uphold peace and justice, is also to find a high-paying job after unemployment. That's… quite honest."
After some thought, Sitch felt it was a bit difficult to handle.
With such strength, he theoretically had at least the combat power of an A-class hero.
However, when the Hero Association evaluates hero ranks, while test scores are important, practical combat achievements are even more crucial.
Heroes must always confront mysterious beings.
Every mission after joining the Hero Association will be considered a merit, used to re-evaluate whether a hero's rank increases or decreases. And any verifiable achievements before joining the association will also be used as part of the evaluation criteria for admission.
In the original story, Genos was immediately ranked S-class as an exceptional promotion. The basis for this exceptional promotion was Genos's investigation over several years, during which he destroyed many evil organizations and killed a large number of mysterious beings, having already garnered significant attention from the Hero Association.
Most importantly, the House of Evolution, which the Hero Association had originally planned to send one to two S-class heroes to deal with, was believed to have been eliminated by Genos single-handedly. Afterward, the terrifying traces left by the battle were photographed.
Sitch thought for a moment, then printed out the file, wrote down his opinion, and took it along with the dozens of other qualified candidates' names to the conference room to discuss with the Hero Association executives awaiting the selection results.
Less than an hour later, the City D branch of the Hero Association received the evaluation results from headquarters.
"A total of 8,491 candidates participated in this selection from the City D branch. Three candidates passed the selection. After being certified by the Hero Association, two are C-class, and one is B-class. These are the three of you here today."
In the conference room, the head of the City D Hero Association branch stood at the table, addressing the three newly appointed heroes sitting opposite him.
A staff member also placed three sealed report cards in front of them.
Current Luck Value: 21.82%
Seeing the luck value on the panel fluctuate, Qingshui already had a rough idea.
He opened the envelope, took out the report card, which displayed a large, bold "B," and above it were his physical test score and written test score.
"Based on the Association's evaluation, Mr. Qingshui has been ranked B-Class 10th, Ms. Lily C-Class 334th, and Mr. Kawada 327th. Your hero ranks and classes are determined by your test scores and verifiable past experiences. If you have any objections, you can improve your hero rank and class by engaging in relevant hero activities.
Similarly, if other heroes improve their rankings through missions, and your mission merits are insufficient, your own hero ranking will also decrease accordingly..."
B-Class 10th. It was a decent rank, slightly lower than he'd expected, but still within Qingshui's acceptable range.
After all, his original body was just an ordinary office worker—no connections, no combat record. To climb directly to B-Class 10th based solely on an afternoon's test was already a testament to his demonstrated strength.
The two newly promoted C-Class heroes beside him looked at Qingshui with envious gazes.
"B-Class 10th, total score 97, that's amazing... If I had that hero class, I'd probably be able to join the Blizzard Group, right?"
Lily stared at the score sheet in Qingshui's hand, her beautiful big eyes wide, muttering to herself.
She was an energetic girl with a touch of blue-green highlight in her bangs, looking very lively.
Compared to her, Kawada, standing next to her, appeared rather lewd. Although he wore a white lab coat, sported a distinctive afro, and wore glasses.
Unfortunately, his appearance was indescribable, perfectly fitting the idiom "shifty-eyed," making the mad scientist attire he wore seem out of place and greasy.
Qingshui had chatted with them a few times on the way here and learned that Kawada used to be a doctor, even a medical doctor. He was skilled with a scalpel, but due to his lecherous nature, he frequently harassed female patients and nurses with his words, leading to numerous complaints and ultimately his dismissal from the hospital.
Qingshui felt that his ugly appearance was also a significant reason for the complaints. If Kawada had looked like him, coupled with his respectable profession, he would undoubtedly have been a highly sought-after catch. When going out to flirt, it might not always be successful, but it certainly wouldn't have led to such a result.
Lily, on the other hand, was a girl who had just graduated from middle school. She enjoyed using nunchaku. Because she was saved by Hellish Blizzard, the B-Class No. 1, during a monster attack, she developed an admiration for her and wanted to join the Blizzard Group, which is why she came to participate in the hero selection.
Both of their scores were in the seventies. Kawada's written test score was very high, just like Qingshui's, only one point shy of a perfect score, but his physical test was poor, only in the twenties.
Lily was one point lower than him; her written test score was average, but her physical test score was significantly higher than Kawada's, despite him being an adult male.
"Hehe, Mr. Qingshui, and little sister Lily, all three of us are from D-City. I think from now on, we should stick together and cooperate, shouldn't we?"
Kawada looked at Qingshui's score, then at Lily's physical test score, and immediately sidled closer with a smile.
Even though he knew Kawada meant well, seeing that lewd face still made one feel he had ill intentions.
"Uh...no, thank you."
Qingshui raised a hand to decline.
Sorry, no thanks.
"Then Lily, you..."
"Ah, me neither."
Lily immediately covered her eyes without hesitation.
She was afraid she wouldn't be able to resist pulling out her nunchaku and giving this obviously perverted doctor a good whack.
"Ahem, heroes, if you wish to converse, please wait until after the meeting. We will be taking your official portraits and full-body shots shortly. The relevant photos and information will be uploaded to the Association's official website. Additionally, here is a copy of the Association's employment contract. Only after signing it can you officially become professional heroes of the Association and receive your salaries and bonuses."
The head of the D-City Association branch coughed twice, signaling for the three to listen, then continued:
"Furthermore, the contract will also require the allocation of image rights with the heroes. The Association will cultivate your hero image, build personal IPs, and generate revenue through advertising endorsements, merchandise sales, media exposure, game revenue sharing, and distribute profits with the heroes.
According to the contract, C-Class heroes retain forty percent of their image rights, B-Class heroes fifty percent, A-Class heroes sixty percent, and S-Class heroes seventy percent..."
With the business-like drone of the Association branch head echoing in his ears, Qingshui picked up the newly issued contract in front of him and meticulously looked it over.
The Hero Association's professionalization of heroes and its commercialization operations were even more extensive than he had imagined.
They were building hero IPs as brands, conducting market operations, and using this to accept sponsorships from all sectors of society.
Considering that the Hero Association was an organization founded by Arunig, the world's richest man, who rallied various forces, it was not surprising that it had commercialized to this extent.
When the head finished explaining these details, Qingshui had also roughly reviewed the contract and signed his name.
The treatment for B-Class heroes was quite good. The basic monthly salary was 400,000 Japanese yen, plus a share of the Association's commercial operations and bonuses from hero activities. As long as one wasn't too lazy and didn't have too poor an image or too low popularity, the actual income could generally double the basic salary.
For someone like Hellish Blizzard, the B-Class No. 1, whose strength could rival the top few A-Class heroes and who was very popular, her income was probably many times higher.
After signing the contract, the subsequent steps were naturally the official portrait and image photo shoots as previously requested.
By the time all of this was done, it was already evening.
The next day, in the afternoon.
Inside a hotel near the gym.
"You're just leaving already?"
Qingshui got up from the bed, a hint of dissatisfaction on his face, as he fastened his belt.
He hadn't had enough fun yet!
"I just received a text from home; there's an urgent matter, and I need to go back to my hometown in M-City. I'm rushing to catch the bullet train, and I'm afraid it'll be too late if I delay."
Reiko hastily put on her clothes, an apologetic look on her face, but her heart was filled with lingering fear.
Is he crazy?!
She had been attracted to this man and wanted a casual relationship because she saw his powerful physique and his potential to be an excellent "pile driver."
But to keep "driving" from after lunch until dinner, without even a break, was just too outrageous!
Even the most delicate rose, after prolonged external impact, would be crushed!
Reiko was scared and wanted to escape.
Of course, that was only part of the reason.
During their recent conversation, Reiko learned that her newly acquired temporary fling was now a hero with the Hero Association, and what's more, he had directly become a top-ranked B-Class hero immediately after passing the assessment.
And her own hidden identity was something that couldn't see the light of day.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have suddenly wanted to flee from City D, located at the northernmost tip of the Super Continent, all the way to City M at the southernmost tip.
(Image: Map compiled by a Bilibili UP based on maps appearing in the original work and interviews with ONE.)
"Is that so? How about staying for dinner and resting for the night? You can leave tomorrow," Qingshui said to Reiko as he put on his clothes.
This girl really has an amazing figure, as soft as a cat, capable of many positions. He quite wanted to continue.
"No, no, my family is rushing me. I'm leaving now!" Reiko hurriedly pulled on her jacket and hobbled out the door, clearly in a desperate flight.
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