…
Seoyeon and the others stepped out of the grillhouse as they began walking to the nearby World Association building,
Cars and trucks passed by as they saw a wide, modern building, with "World Association" written on the side.
They went up the stairs, passing by trees and benches, as a massive statue reached out with a marble sword.
Going up more stairs, they finally reached the entrance of the World Association's main building in Laures City,
"The World Association's central headquarters in Laures City and the surrounding regions… This place is far larger than the small World Association station I met Roderick at."
There were crowds of players outside the building, all ready to recruit newly-evaluated players into their guilds.
…
Seoyeon and the others overheard some shouts here and there;
"The Excalibur Guild is hiring any players ranked C or above! We have a competitive spirit, daily dungeon raids, and thousands of members!"
"The Nightwing Guild is your best choice for a guild accepting D-Rank players! We offer a wide range of weapons for our guild members! We have hundreds of characters and hundreds of players in our guild!"
"The Crimson Guild is hiring B-Rank or above players! We're one of the top 100 guilds right now! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Come join us now!"
Then, Gorou glanced at some commotion in the sidelines,
"Hey! He agreed to join our guild first!" A woman yelled out,
"Nonsense! We already talked with each other and he said he'd join our guild!" The man that the woman was arguing with replied,
The two exchanged arguments as a man wearing an iron chestplate and with a sword on his waist nervously smiled in the middle of them.
"Looks like this place is still as lively as ever." Gorou grinned as they walked through the glass doors and into a grandiose and modern lobby; with sleek, shiny, marble tiles, a magnificent chandelier, tall pillars, metal seats, and a hologram in the center displaying the World Association's logo—a shield with a sword going vertically straight through the middle.
Many other players were scattered about in the lobby, some conversing with each other, some sitting in silence, some simply watching from a distance.
Seoyeon approached the main desk with Fritz, Roderick, Alice, and Gorou behind him.
The receptionist greeted him,
"What can I do for you today?"
"I'd like to request a player evaluation." Seoyeon replied.
The friendly receptionist typed something on her keyboard, looking at her computer screen.
"May I have your name, gender, birthdate, age, how long it has been since you were transported here, and contact number, please?"
Seoyeon nodded, then he asked,
"By birthdate, do you mean…—"
The receptionist interrupted him as she nodded her head,
"Yes, your birthdate on Earth before being transported here to Eioth."
He smiled,
"Oh. Yeah, sure. My name is Han Seoyeon, I'm male, my birthday is on March 9, 2007—I am 18 years old, I was brought to Eioth yesterday—and my phone number is *****"
…
The receptionist finished typing in Seoyeon's information as she looked back at him and gestured towards the seats, "Please have a seat, we'll call your name when it's your turn."
Seoyeon and the others all walked away from the counter, taking their seats.
Fritz and Roderick bantered with each other about the deal they made regarding Seoyeon's evaluation.
Seoyeon fidgeted around with his fingers as Alice and Gorou reassured him,
"Hey, no matter your evaluation, you'll still always be a member of our party, alright?" Gorou said to him.
Seoyeon laughed,
"You idiot! I'm not nervous. I'm just impatient!" He yelled out as Alice laughed.
…
"Florela May—"
…
"Augustine Sandral…—"
…
"Arjun Akharata…—"
One by one, the intercoms said the names of players out loud, as Seoyeon sat in silence—anxiously awaiting for his name to be called.
…
Then, he heard a lot of commotion at the entrance, Seoyeon and the team all turned their heads as reporters shouted, players scrambled, and camera clicks echoed throughout the room.
"It's Alicia Mayen!" Gorou overheard a reporter yelling,
"A-Alicia Mayen!?" Roderick exclaimed,
Seoyeon tilted his head—his face full of confusion—asking the others,
"Who's Alicia Mayen?" With an unenthusiastic voice.
"A-Are you kidding me?! She's the leader of the Golden Valkyries Guild! The 22nd most powerful guild in the world, and the 5th most powerful guild in the Republic of Ferausier!" Alice replied.
Only then did Seoyeon understand how famous she was,
"Ooooh!" He said with a slightly sarcastic voice, "Is she powerful?" He asked Alice.
"Is the sun hot? Is the grass green? Is the sky blue? Of course she is!" Alice replied in an exaggerated voice, grinning ear to ear with sparkles in her eyes.
Several players tried approaching Alicia only to be stopped by her hulking bodyguard who stood taller than every other player in the lobby,
Seoyeon finally saw her—a beautiful woman wearing elegant, stylish armor of gold and silver, with the crest of the Golden Valkyries guild on her chestplate, with a red cape, and powerful-looking sword strapped to her waist.
Her steps were soft but imposing as she walked past the front desk, the receptionists bowed.
Seoyeon smiled,
"So that's the leader of the 5th most powerful guild in Ferausier, huh?"
…
The commotion died down as the crowds began talking about Alicia.
Then, suddenly,
"Player Han Seoyeon, please proceed to the front desk, you will be accompanied to the player evaluation area."
The time had come, Seoyeon stood up and walked over to the front desk, smiling nervously, the receptionist greeted him as she guided him to the main hall, the main hall was sanitary and modern, plain white walls with a gray baseboard, and dull, fluorescent tube lamps on the concrete roof with exposed vents and pipes—a stark contrast to the luxurious lobby—it was like a simple office building.
The receptionist stopped at a metal door, she knocked and opened it, a woman and a man—both wearing lab coats—greeted Seoyeon as the receptionist left.
Seoyeon shook their hands, "Now, let's get you ready for the evaluation, please enter the main chamber." The woman said.
He went through a reinforced glass door into a simple 10 meter by 10 meter room.
The intercom in the room began to flicker, then, the voice of the woman returned,
"We'll now begin the testing of Player Han Seoyeon."
Meanwhile, in another room, with cameras watching Seoyeon in the testing chamber,
Alicia and another man in a business suit watched closely,
"It's been a while, Alicia."
"I can say the same thing, Director Ian."
Ian Redcral—his golden nametag said—as he spun his swivel chair around to face Alicia,
"Ian Redcral, managing director of the World Association's Laures City branch. I see you still have your habit of watching player evaluations." Alicia teasingly voiced her thoughts,
Ian laughed it off, "Well… There's a lot of promising talents after all." He stated as he turned back around to watch the cameras.
Alicia looked closer at the live video of the test chamber, she commented; "Who is she? She's beautiful. I like her already."
"That's Player Han Seoyeon, he's a man, firstly. Secondly, according to the reports, he was transported to Eioth just yesterday."
She got closer to the screen, "He's very beautiful, I'll give him that… But I respect powerful people more."
Ian shrugged, "Well, maybe another player will pique your interest, there's this player named Kharl Seufred, he's a promising player with a talent for ice magic…"
Alicia didn't reply and kept observing Seoyeon.
Meanwhile, in the testing chamber,
A mid-level golem appeared in the middle of the room as Seoyeon smirked and put his hands out of his pockets,
"Please do your best to subdue the golem, it is only a basic summon, we will immediately dispel the summon if you are in immediate danger."
Seoyeon brought out his dagger,
"I shouldn't release Voidstar just yet… So I'll only strike its weak spots and aim for an E-Rank at least."
[
The golem's weak spots appeared in Seoyeon's vision as he dashed forwards to subdue the golem with his dagger in hand.
*Swoosh* Seoyeon lunged at the golem, hopping onto its back as he swung at its neck with his dagger, *Cling* The dagger simply bounced off, barely scraping its rough, stone nape.
*Woosh* The golem spun around to shake Seoyeon off,
Seoyeon ran forwards and slid under it—going in between its legs—as he swung at its feet.
*Crash* The golem fell down, crashing into the ground as debris spread across the room.
However, it soon got up.
Before it could fully regain its composure, Seoyeon jumped at it once more, piercing its right eye with his dagger, as he jumped off and dashed forwards—landing a final critical strike at its stomach, as it crumbled into pieces and chunks of rock.
Inside of Ian's office, Ian simply applauded, "I guess we still have some physically gifted players." He said.
But Alicia noticed something awry, feeling a much more intense pressure from Seoyeon than she'd care to admit, she knew he was hiding something…
…
Back in the testing chamber,
"Very good, Player Han Seoyeon, you may now leave the chamber and proceed to the next step of the test—stat testing." The intercom echoed throughout the room.
…
"Right, that was easy enough. Let's get this over with—"
Right as Seoyeon was about to leave the door, the intercom flickered once more, but the voice of the woman nor her assistant didn't come out. Instead, it was Alicia's voice.
…
"Player Han Seoyeon, please perform the golem test once more…"
"...And this time, don't hold back."