This old man looks like he’s quite powerful. This crater is at least several kilometers in diameter. Such an attack range is quite frightening. Blue Maple stared at the enormous crater with the old man and himself at the center as he thought to himself in shock.

What was important was that Blue Maple was at the center of the old man’s attack, but was completely unscathed. How powerful did he have to be to achieve that?

Such destructive power was very common on Earth, so he shouldn’t be surprised, but Blue Maple was shocked because the old man did this all by himself. The old man had such immense control that Blue Maple wasn’t hurt at all, and had cut the ground’s surface so smooth.

But after a moment he realized that this was just a game, so everything could be explained.

Just as Blue Maple was immersed in his own thoughts, the old man suddenly asked, “So, what do you think about my power?”

The old man seemed displeased when he saw Blue Maple’s relatively unsurprised expression. The old man was a little shocked as he thought to himself, This kid seems extraordinarily calm and composed.

Blue Maple glanced at the old man plainly and said, “Stop acting. Where’s everyone else?”

The old man raised one eyebrow. He knew that he had given something away, but he still tried to act. “I sent everyone away when I started my attack. I can’t believe that you’d think about something like that… haih! Eh, don’t go, I’ll stop pretending.”

Blue Maple turned around and started to leave before the old man even finished his sentence. He was annoyed, because this old man was just a disrespectful old man, yet he still wanted to put up a pretense.

Blue Maple stopped in his tracks when he heard that the old man revert to his normal tone, and turned around to face him.

The old man was a little exasperated as he said, “Damn, don’t walk away just like that! That’s so rude! You should at least wait for me to finish what I want to say.”

Blue Maple gestured that his ears were open, and he also gestured to the old man for him to continue as he listened.

“I shifted all the living beings away when I started my attack, with the exception of trees and insects. However, I have destroyed all those things who wanted to attack humans. The village that isn’t too far away is fine, but some of the village’s citizens will be shocked about what has happened. But I don’t think you’re as cold as you look, and that you care about others…”

The old man knew he shouldn’t continue with that when he noticed that Blue Maple’s expression wasn’t right.

“Ahem…”The old man cleared his throat awkwardly before he continued, “I can make you stand out among the crowd, but you have to answer some questions of mine first.”

“Ask away.”

He’s still so cold, the old man thought to himself before he continued, “What do you think battles should be like?”

“I will try to finish off my adversary with quick attacks, and minimize the possibility of any unforeseen circumstances.”

The old man’s eyes sparkled as he continued asking. “How do you think you can defend yourself better?”

“Defense is not a word that is in my vocabulary. If I am to follow what you mean, then I will vanquish all enemies who are a threat before they can even threaten me.”

The old man frowned slightly as he thought to himself, Defense is not in his vocabulary? Seems like this fellow has some stories in another world.

But his thoughts remained thoughts, and he was satisfied with one out of two answers.

I am satisfied with his other answer. My decision will depend on his last answer, then, the old man thought as he asked his next question.

“Imagine that there is a young girl who is being bullied and violated, and she needs your help, but you have to head to another village to save the village’s entire population. The person that is bullying the young girl isn’t someone that you can deal with immediately. How will you choose?”

Blue Maple thought for a few moments before he answered, “I don’t care even if the entire world is at stake. I only care about whether there’s anything I want to do right now. Both the village and the girl have nothing to do with me, so to save one party is enough for me. I will pick whichever is nearer. As for whether I have the power to save both parties, that will depend on how much I can learn from you.”

The old man stared at Blue Maple, whose expression was still as plain as ever. His expression sank a little as he thought, Seems like this kid is very cold, but he isn’t completely without feelings. The way he thinks is different from the average person, but it seems like he’s going in a good direction.

This question doesn’t have a fixed answer. It all depends on how you answer it, but it seems this fellow appears very interesting. He did mention about learning from me instead of how much I can give him. Even though the result is the same, what he said suggests that he will rely on his own hard work to become stronger. Very good, very good...

I think he’s passed these idiotic programmed questions. The answer he’s given is better than taking a vow to protect every human in the world...

The old man gathered his thoughts before he turned to Blue Maple and said, “I can make you into the most powerful and quickest individual, but there is a prerequisite. You have to be able to pass my test. Are you willing to be my protege?”

“Alright,” Blue Maple answered without any hesitation.

“Okay. Uh… right, what’s your name?” the old man suddenly asked a little awkwardly.

Blue Maple glanced at the old man a little contemptuously. Clearly, you want to take me as your disciple, yet you haven’t asked me what my name is. He still answered the old man, “Blue Maple.”

“Ahem…” The old man cleared his throat awkwardly before he straightened his expression and said, “Alright, Blue Maple, I will send you to the place where you have to complete your test. You will know what the test is about once you’re there. Now, you need to close your eyes and get ready.”

Blue Maple closed his eyes, and the same piercing light from before suddenly glowed around him. He could feel his body grow lighter, like he was floating, and his feet touched solid ground again moments later. This feeling was similar to when he had first entered the game.

Blue Maple knew that he had arrived, and opened his eyes.

The enormous yellowish crater wasn’t around him anymore. Instead, there was an European-style structure, which looked grand and had a very simple but gorgeous appearance. It was about thirty meters tall, and it had a domineering air, shaking the hearts of onlookers. There was a flag atop the building, and with a picture of a broadsword against a backdrop of blood-red.

Blue Maple had seen this symbol before in the introduction. The symbol represented the Mercenary Union!

There were two guards standing outside the Mercenary Union’s main entrance. They both appeared very fierce, and radiated with killing intent. They didn’t seem like they were hired from normal soldiers.

As Blue Maple was examining the Mercenary Union’s building, the old man’s voice suddenly appeared in his mind. “Enter the Mercenary Union and accept the 23rd quest from the D-Rank Quest Board. Complete that first.”

Blue Maple didn’t think about it at all, completely ignoring the fierce-looking guards and striding towards the Mercenary Union’s main entrance. The two guards didn’t stop him, and Blue Maple stepped right through.

The first thing that appeared before his eyes was an enormous quest board filled with words. There was a service desk beneath the board, and a beautiful young girl was sleeping on the desk. Her cute demeanor made people reluctant to disturb her.

This young girl should be the NPC who will be issuing quests, but she looks like she’s fallen asleep because her job is too boring. She probably can’t help it, because the players are still at Newbie Village, so there naturally isn’t anybody here. The entire hall appears empty, and it isn’t surprising that a job like this is so boring that it’s sleep-inducing.

Furthermore, this was a game that was half-virtual, so they had to make it a little more realistic. Otherwise, if the game was full of boring and rigid conversations, Blue Maple might as well choose to leave the game and go into a deep sleep for five years instead.

There was a rumor that some of the most important NPCs in the game were played by humans so that the game was more realistic. Blue Maple seriously suspected that the old man was one of those NPCs played by humans. The old man felt like a real living person.

Blue Maple didn’t think too much into it, as those affairs didn’t have any real meaning. From his perspective, completing this so-called “special profession” was more interesting.

Blue Maple hesitated when he saw the young girl sleeping soundly, but he decided to walk over and wake her up. Blue Maple wasn’t very chivalrous, because women had involved themselves in the war, and chivalry seemed to disappear from people’s minds. This was especially true for people like Blue Maple, who lived in lawless regions.

Furthermore, Blue Maple knew that this was the girl’s job anyway, so waking her up wasn’t overstepping anything.

Blue Maple took a step forward and asked, “Can I accept a quest now?”

He wasn’t very loud, but it should be sufficient to wake the girl up in such a quiet environment.

Indeed, the girl opened her eyes groggily. Her eyes were still in slits, and her sleepy looks coupled with her cute features were enough to make anyone’s heart skip a beat. Blue Maple seemed like he was immune as he waited quietly for the girl to wake up.

“Eh? It’s time to leave work? That was quick!” The girl rubbed her eyes gently as she glanced around at the spacious hall. She mistakenly thought that this youth in front of her was calling her to get off work, and she even stretched lazily as she spoke. Her perky chest seemed even more full and supple, but her looks that could make men go head over heels only drew a gentle cough from Blue Maple.

“Ahem, it’s actually time to get to work.”

“Ah! I’m sorry. I’m very sorry, I fell asleep.” The girl suddenly jolted awake after she heard him, and her cheeks flushed red in the next moment. Her cute and tender cheeks were just so adorable.

She was blushing because not only did she not do her job properly, a boy about her age had just witnessed her waking up. She was blushing so much that she forgot what she had to say, so she ended up lowering her head and fiddling with the corners of her clothes.

Blue Maple could guess a little about why she wasn’t talking, so he took the initiative. “I’m here to accept a quest?”

“Oh, oh… which, which quest?” The girl answered panickedly when Blue Maple spoke first.

“I wish to take the 23rd quest from the D-Rank Quest Board.”

“Oh, okay. Quest D-23.” The girl hurriedly found the right card for Blue Maple. “Please keep that carefully.”

Ding! Announcement: You have accepted your Hidden Class’ first stage, and your quest has a D-Rank difficulty. Because your level completely doesn’t match the quest’s designated rank, the quest’s contents won’t change, but the difficulty has been raised to S-Rank.