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Chapter 540: The Military Recruitment List

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Still, you have to give her credit for being a pro at her job because at the very final moment before her opening speech, it’s like a different person is standing in that stage gazing jovially at her crowd.

{Ladies and gentlemen… handsome and pretty ladies… geniuses and nobles of the world… it is my deepest pride and greatest pleasure to welcome you tonight…}

The way she spoke gathered ears and her voice is enough give the impression of her being a real “beauty” as all her actions were practiced, relaxed, and natural —she was indeed a different person when working. She was a total entertainer.

*****

‘Cortana, can you scan the entire venue for any guy resembling Zaza and Redeye’s description of that Afro Samurai, Hijack?’

[I’m on it sir.]

‘Don’t let up with the communications monitoring.’

[Affirmative.]

*****

{You can simply call me Mousse and I will be your host for tonight’s small gathering event!}

The crowd’s eyes and ears were now gathered to her direction and for those who had shallow ability to concentrate, they’d be roused into hearing and looking at her with her energetic welcome. Who wouldn’t want to hear and see a beautiful lady like her hosting in that spot light?

Then again, this year’s theme was rather odd, if it was put into words.

Supposedly, it was a medieval masquerade ball in a slightly modern setting as there were servers in white tuxedo running about, carrying trays of food and drinks, attending to the guests, making them feel good with their services.

But then, there were the “rule breakers” —those World Nobles and their retinues. They were a few of them around and although they wore masks as they suited and princely and elegantly, they were still a little far off to the actual theme of the party.

It was supposed to be a medieval night where the men have knightly capes and plastic swords, with embroideries of different colors, decorations, and ranks, shoulder paddings and laces, and all ladies should have been conservative; yes, perhaps a bit flirty with their fans from their handkerchiefs to their gloves, but all in all, because they were too eye-catching, the theme of the night was broken and here came the reconnaissance dress codes where everything and everyone else battled for attention on who’s dress and presence was best.

To add something more broken to this theme, the host of the night was a celebrity from Hollywood who was either ordered to wear something sort of post-reconnaissance noble gown; with the flowing one piece navy-blue dress and revealing cleavage with a pair of elbow-long gloves.

She looked broken for the night’s theme, but still beautiful nonetheless. If something, she actually looked like some princess of a country who once froze their lands in the middle of summer.

POOM—!!

After her opening speech, [email protected] renderings of magical lights like that of aurora sparkled above and around her, scattering and spreading towards the entire crowd to engulf the entire venue like a spiraling color of a galaxy with her at the midst.

Many people expressed their amazements with a cacophony of differing reactions, drowning them all with a spreading excitement at the sight.

{Tonight… is a gathering of talents! We’re here today to witness the future leaders and innovators of our civilization! We are gathered here to be a part of this annual historic gathering of the world’s premiere talents that, one day, can shape where the world will be heading to!}

POOM! POOM!! POOM!!!

Explosions of “magic” followed her words and the crowd bathed in the ecstatic atmosphere. Stars as big as a fist or as small as a grain of sand shined around her, not one of the crowd frowned as they relished the merry atmosphere spreading in each of their hearts.

{I don’t want to delay this any further so let me start by introducing you to this year’s Grand Event that is much… much… MUCH anticipated for the past years that this gathering was held.}

For the World Nobles, the Conclave is but a lowly gathering of talented individuals who they could use for their own ends. But for these geniuses, it was a chance to step on that ladder that could be the spark they were looking for to change their very lives. Majority of them were actually talented enough that many Noble Factions will fight over to get their hands on them but mane were, although they were invited in the Conclave, was still just a mundane individual who was nothing more than but an above-average guy in the streets.

In this regard, the “Annual Grand Event” is held in hopes for these individuals to showcase all their achievements, a chance for them to get the eye of a patron, the only chance to actually belong to the higher echelon of society.

Geniuses like them are proud and the Conclave is the only legit and accepted gathering of geniuses in the planet so it was a given that competition is fierce amongst them.

Perhaps it was for the sake of their futures, but more than that, it was about personal pride!

Being entitled as a “genius” after the founding of the World Government carried with it both pristine glory and unimaginable prestige.

And the invitation to the Conclave was proof of its credibility as, even if they aren’t accepted by the World Noble Factions, the “invitation” alone could be attached to their resumes and this will still put a gold shade on their names.

But of course, being recognized by at least one of the World Noble Factions, or even just one of their vassal countries, is still the best form of the glory available for them in this gathering.

As such, competition is sure to spark animosity to these geniuses who bore pride upon themselves.

To properly manage these geniuses and to avoid the unnecessary spreading of enmity to these future prospects, these Grand Events are held to give fair chances for everyone to show them what they are capable of and showcase their abilities.

{The rules are the same. We will be opening the opportunities for you all to choose from and it will be your choice to where to enlist your names and stake your prides in. One candidate can only have a maximum of four entries and no one is allowed to enter their name on a single opportunity twice.}

Rex wasn’t exactly aware what the “opportunities” are but from the information available in the Net and the things he’s hearing now from whispers of the crowd, it was easy to re-create the structure of how this “Grand Event” was actually working.

At the very least, there’re 100+ “opportunities” for a single person to choose four from.

The reason why there are a maximum of four to a person is because it is both to limit one’s vanity as well as to make them focus only to their strengths and not dwell into the chasm of conceit.

For geniuses, it was normal to have many things you are good at but it’s not always sure that one’s talents are always accepted no matter how good he or she was in a certain field. As such, four is the limit for a single person so that they can focus their talents into specializing other fields of work.

Last year, there were 200+ geniuses but only 20+ people were actually accepted by World Nobles to join their families. The rest… 70% of them came back this year’s Conclave with the other 30% now either over the age cap or decided that they don’t want to experience the shame of the failure and so chose to live a normal civilian life.

This year, there are at least 200+ geniuses but to divide them from the old attendees to the new will make up of 80% or so being the old attendees.

For them, giving up is not an option. While they’re not over the age cap, they will try again until they are either accepted by a World Noble or they are too old to attend.

Rex understood this as he listened. And just as he thought that it was about to begin the actual Grant Event, Mouse smiled playfully and spoke:

{However… this year, is special. Our organizers, the World Government, decided to add a little flair to our Grand Event in the form of……..… a battle simulation.}

There was a momentary pause after she spoke but on the next moment, the entire hall felt like it was put into hot oil as the crowd burst into a loud clamour of cheers and happy exclaims.

{That’s right! You heard me! This year, we’re glad to announce that the World Government will hold a unique recruitment for you all to join the Military Department as, take this, a direct recruit with the Corporal Rank from the get go! That’s right! It’s a direct leap three ranks from below!}

Military, in the current era, was the most glorious of all professions one could possibly dream of.

High salary and free specialization trainings, with a lifetime of benefits and medical privileges… the life of a country’s military force is incomparable to an actual member of the UNICORN Military Unit.

Those who had failed from last year and even the years prior couldn’t help closing their eyes while they let tears flow down their cheeks.

Attending again this year was worth it!

Yes, even if they cannot be accepted by World Nobles into their care, they could at least use this chance to sign up to join the World Government’s Military Unit. After all, the world is relatively in the peaceful era so it was sure to be NOT a dreadful experience being recruited in this place. Besides, this is the World Government. Nothing beats the fact that they will be working for the UNICORN.

{To explain it further, the battle simulation will be modern warfare. Treat it as a game, as you will, for the enemies aren’t just the bad people but also scary monsters you see in RPG: Terroa!}

The excitement was yet to die down but her next set of words immediately rekindled the fire that the crowd was burning from.

{Aside from the four maximum chances given to you all, there will be a fifth chance for you to try to enlist into our Military. But take note of this. It is obviously clear that not everyone who enlists to the unique recruitment will be eligible. Regardless of the number of candidates, there can only be a total of 30 people that will be recruited.}

These words served like cold water dousing the fire but irrespective of its strict message, the men and women in the hall —especially those who are NOT part of the World Nobility— were still excited to the prospect of being one of the 30 that will be recruited by the World Government.

{Choose your weapons! Choose your style! This year, we will be choosing who among you are also qualified to be part of the World Nobles or that rare chance to be part of the Military! Wohoo! I’m so excited! Are you excited? I am! So let’s not pull the ropes any longer and let’s open the gates! It is my honor to present to you this year’s selection list so everyone, start writing your names...NOW!}

After she spoke, the dark room remained dark but the spotlight lighting her went off and replaced by a floating bluish [email protected] rendering of a list above her former location.

There were 124 “opportunities” in there and not even a minute passed, the “opportunities” given to these geniuses were already stock filled with names —entries submitted by those hopefuls for recognition, prestige, and glory.

Rex watched it all happen and just as he turned to look at the names in the “Military Recruitment” list on the far right…. he saw an entry that made him narrow his eyes and scan the crowd.

Amanda was beside him and she noticed this.

“What is it?”

“That guy’s here.” Rex cocked his head indicating the right side of the updating list of names.

Amanda scanned the list and true enough, she also saw the name that made her frown as well.

—Angus Gregory.

“He’s so persistent. I don’t like him.” Amanda said and lowered her head. Then, a hand reached for hers and held it tight making her blush but still did hold his hand in return.

“You’re mine. I won’t let anyone have you.” Rex’s voice sounded stern and assuring. The blush on her face deepened and Amanda bid him a nod as a reply while she grits a fist in front of her heart.

From the moment he arrived and until now, it has been a little more than two hours or so. Time flew fast when you were enjoying the moment and for the Asgardians, it was a relative luxury.

By his advice, no Asgardians registered on that large list. They knew their priority and though one of them, Tash, is already part of it, it won’t matter largely for they made sure that they’re careful not to leak out the fact that their (scattered) circle is actually just one group. Besides, it was fun trying to play spy-alike, talking secretly over their Comm Channels while pretending to enjoy the gathering while being with the other guests.

But perhaps aside from the World Nobles, they’re the only ones that actually didn’t join the race for being first in the list of names.

As attractive as it was being in the list of names of the World Nobles, they already have Amanda for that purpose so they don’t need to join the fray.

Five minutes pass by and the majority had already chosen their own “opportunities”. And with a total of ten minutes since the prompt, the list of names on each profession or specialization finally came to a slow stop from adding in more.

The entire time, Rex was watching the names in the list and referencing them all in the Net to look for the people who attended this year’s gathering.

Some of the names were World Nobles but the majority of them were the geniuses invited to join the Conclave. Among the names, there are those notable individuals. Rex even pondered over the choice of inviting them himself for the sake of his own Black Label Company.

—should we proceed or should we stay?

Honestly, rex had no interest in this gathering and as much as possible, he wanted to escape from here to avoid meeting those old men above.

But he also needs to find out the Legionnaires in this location. He already found one, he only now needs to find the last —Hijack.

Yet, at the same time that he was thinking of this, Cortana sensed something and told him: [Boss, just now, Old Chronos ordered to put your name in the Military Recruitment list.]

‘What?!’

[He said he wants to see how you fight.]

Rex narrowed his eyes at this, ‘Show me the full probability chart.’

The [Probability Chart] was rex’s simple prediction guide of things that might happen, complete with percentage ratings, to a situation dependent on the choices he makes on the circumstances.

Cortana displayed a chart in front of Rex and he studied it until he saw his name blink in the slot at the very bottom of the list in the [Recruitment].

It was a single name, unique from the rest, Mitra, igniting a few topics of discussion in the crowd of youngsters around him.

‘If I perform good, I’d be recruited or forced to be recruited. If I perform bad, I’d still be invited and the meeting between me and Chronos will be the deciding factor on what will happen next. There’s also the probability that I will be absorbed into the Abraxas Family by his own whim.’

Either way, it still won’t end up with him getting out of Lausanne without meeting the old man.

Should he use this chance to attack, or should he hypnotize the old man instead?

There were so many things to consider to what seems to be endless possibilities this might end up doing. He couldn’t help cursing.

But the fact still remains: his name was on the list.

If he erases his name in that list through Cortana, it might only gather unwanted attention to himself so he restrained from impulsive decisions.

PLANG!

With a dim spotlight, as Rex was deep it thought, Mouse appeared in the middle of the stage on the high podium at the fore of the large hall.

{Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the last minute of your registration in the enlistment. After this, we will immediately begin our assessment of your skills and abilities. I wish you all good luck!}

After her announcements, a countdown appeared on the long list but only one or two names added in it before totally stopping until the time ran out.

{That ends our registration. Alright then, may we invite our beloved judges to please go into your designated stations so that we can begin the first stage of our assessment of the candidates?}

*****

At her prompt, Tash from behind coughed once as he made his exit from where he was standing.

“I thought you’re going to party with us?”

“Well, I was actually thinking you’d be joining the program since I was part of it, but….”

It was funny seeing how Tash’s mustache moves while he talks. You couldn’t even see his mouth even if you’re close to him.

“Don’t worry about it.” Anthony waved at him.

“Go on. Don’t worry. We’ll never start without you so just do your job until it’s done.” Rex added.

“Then I’ll meet you guys after the program.” Tash nodded.

He bid his temporary farewell and entered a small opening in the large hall. He was one of the judge in the [tests] and from the looks of it, Rex only now realize that it may have something to do with the Military Recruitment.

Although they were friends, Tash still dutifully did his job and kept from betraying his profession as a Military Man.

For what it’s worth, at best, he was currently on a neutral stance between Rex’s obvious enmity with the World Government against the real people behind the fate that threatens Baron at the throat.

Rex had to at least respect the man.

Tash had his circumstances and Rex silently gave him his salute.

At this junction, people began to swarm the hall carrying small boxes with an NLD in it. The noob-crowd was skeptic at what it was used for but the veterans all knew what the NLD was going to be used into.

*****

{Now, ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats anywhere you like inside the hall and take with you one standard issued NLD from the rows of assistants bringing them. The assessment will take a lot of time, under normal circumstances in the outside, but through our private servers, the NLDs in your hands will connect you into that server with an accelerated time rate of 100 so a single second lasts 100 and a minute more than one and a half hour. This way, we will be finished within a matter of minutes and you will know who amongst you are the chosen ones as well as who are those that needs to study and train more. As for those who wanted to watch the fun, please put your attention to the screen in front as it will display he current happenings on each of all our dearest candidates.}

*****

Rex had a portable NLD in his body —an edited one he built from the NLD back in his townhouse.

It was compact and more secure because it was a reprogrammed one using [Cortana Security].

Furthermore, he didn’t trust this issued NLD that was given to him specifically along with a note of a few hand-written words —from the Queen.

‘Hell if it’s from the Queen. Cortana.’

[Scan complete. There is a small scanning setup built in the module and checking the other ones issued in the vicinity, only yours is built specially this way.]

Rex narrowed his eyes. So those two old bones wanted to check up on my condition, eh?

After all, it was them who made him this way and Rex had enough reason to suspect that he was a part of this so called [Project Salvation] that John Bryn, the Margrave of Christiana Monarchy, was actually talking about.

‘Hack into its software. Give them the information they would think about deeply.’

[Yes sir.]

—they wanted to see if I am different so let’s put a red pill for them to make them realize I AM NOW truly different!

Rex’s smoldering hate swelled in his chest. These people… they think he was some kind of lab rat they could experiment upon? They think they can mess with his entire life and ruin it according to their own schemes? Just the thought of it all was making him want to crush their skulls.

*****

{Please make sure you are comfortable when you sit on the chairs. Don’t worry, they have a support function built in on the frame so you won’t fall no matter your position. Still, for the spectators in the vicinity, please refrain from moving or even as much as touching our candidates so that no kind of accident will occur. Rest assured, in case of an external tampering, you will immediately log-out of the private server and no harm will befall on your physical and mental constitution.}

*****

[Software alteration complete. Modified functions are working. Scan results will be made according to your specifications, sir.]

*****

{Last two minutes before our final countdown. I insist that all candidates immediately finish setup as we will now proceed to the assessment.}

*****

‘Show them I’m dormant. Tell them my physical constitution is improving to at least twice of what I was from the NLD scan data from the ones found in our house.’

[Confirmed.]

*****

{Are you ready? Remember that the environment in the private server for the assessment is just like that of RPG: Terroa so if you’re a player of the game, you’ve got a bit of an advantage as you already know what it feels like inside.}

*****

‘I have this feeling that I’ll be sent into a different place than the private server for the assessment so I need you to keep an eye out and trace the location where we’ll be sent. If you’re to lose any contact with me, cut the connection. I am willing to take the brunt of a temporary headache than to lose my mind entirely and become of them NPCs and imprisoned in an unknown world.’

[Yes sir.]

‘And don’t forget to back up my memory.’

[Memory backup is ready.]

‘Good. How’re the old men above doing?’

[Old Chronos is making his exit. Old Goldwyn has already bid his goodbye.]

‘Hmp. Don’t try to follow the Godfather. He’s got an impressive AI as his guardian. You might get exposed. I can’t afford to let your existence get known this early in my plans.’

[Old Chronos has entered a room with an isolated server system separated from the Hotel’s sir. But it was connected to… ah! Its IPLINK is connected to the NLD they gave you.]

‘I see. So is this how he meant to meet me?’

*****

{We’re entering the last twenty seconds. Please take note that this is not an online server and just a local Net so you are assured to not connect to Terroa in any way from this location.}

*****

[Tracing Source Code… tracing failed. There’s a tough firewall on the way sir. Don’t worry, I was not discovered. I disengaged before the installed auto-scan function on the wall even activated.]

‘Don’t proceed any further. Just watch over and prepared to disconnect me when you notice my abnormal readings spike up.’

[Affirmative.]

*****

{Ten seconds! The pass phrase is…..}

*****

[Establishing backup connections. Extricating all external processes. Disconnecting to game. You will need your full attention here, sir.]

‘Thanks for the trouble.’

*****

{Alright everyone. Log in to the server and begin your assessments. Good luck to you all.}

““““Link…………. Start!””””

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Are they really meeting or…

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