Chapter 67: 67 | Preparations!
The tall young man frowned immediately.
"What the hell? Why did they assign an F-rank to our group?"
He stood up slightly from his chair and stared at Dexter as though looking at a stray animal that had wandered into the wrong room.
"Seriously? Out of everyone they could have picked, they sent us an F-rank?"
His expression twisted with annoyance.
"Great. Looks like we’ll have to babysit dead weight."
Before Dexter could respond, the young woman with the daggers suddenly stood up.
"Ignore him."
She walked over with a smile and extended her hand.
"Hi. My name is Fiona Chen."
Dexter shook her hand politely.
She pointed toward the tall young man.
"That grumpy idiot over there is Marcus Webb."
Marcus snorted. "I’m sitting right here."
Fiona ignored him completely and pointed toward the muscular giant.
"The mountain of muscles is Gregor Halt."
Gregor opened one eye, glanced at Dexter for a second, then nodded before closing it again.
Finally, Fiona pointed toward the quiet girl in the corner.
"And the silent one over there is Lena Park."
Lena glanced at Dexter briefly before returning her attention to the floor.
Fiona shrugged helplessly.
"She’s not very talkative."
Dexter nodded.
"Nice to meet all of you. I’m Dexter Ashford. "
The moment he said his full name, however, the room became noticeably quieter.
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
"...Ashford?"
His expression slowly changed.
Then he smirked.
"Oh."
Realization flashed across his face.
"So you’re that Ashford."
"The bastard son of the Ashford family."
Marcus laughed heartily.
"I didn’t expect to meet a celebrity here."
Dexter remained silent. His expression didn’t change one bit.
Marcus leaned back in his chair.
"I also heard you recently married three beautiful women."
His grin widened.
"The three crippled daughters from three famous families, right?"
His eyes carried obvious mockery.
"So."
"How do they taste?"
The room instantly fell silent.
"I’m sure you’ve been enjoying yourself the past two weeks. "
Marcus laughed.
"After all, they’re crippled, they can’t exactly run away from you."
Fiona’s expression darkened instantly.
"Marcus!"
She slammed her hand onto the table.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Marcus merely shrugged.
"What? I’m just asking questions."
"Sit the hell down and shut up."
For the first time, genuine anger appeared on Fiona’s face.
Marcus stared at her for a few seconds before sneering.
He looked back at Dexter.
"Just make sure you don’t slow us down in there."
"If you get yourself killed, don’t expect me to save you."
With that, he sat back down.
Fiona turned toward Dexter apologetically.
"Sorry about that."
Dexter shook his head.
"You don’t have to apologize."
"It isn’t your fault."
He calmly walked over to an empty chair and sat down.
Marcus’ words didn’t bother him.
Compared to everything he had experienced over the last few weeks, it was nothing.
He had been looked down on his entire life. One more person looking down on him was just another drop in an ocean.
Fiona sighed in relief before glaring at Marcus one final time and returning to her seat.
The room gradually fell silent once more.
All five candidates waited quietly for the arrival of the proctor.
Five minutes later, the door opened.
A middle-aged man wearing an expensive suit entered the room. His hair was graying at the temples and hw stood with straight posture.
His eyes were sharp despite his age as he smiled at the group.
"Welcome, candidates."
His smile widened.
"Or should I say."
"Welcome, future heroes."
Several of them straightened their backs immediately. Because they were a reminder of why everyone was here. To become heroes. To protect people.
The man activated a holographic display.
A map appeared in the air.
"Your examination will take place inside a controlled dungeon environment."
"The monsters are real."
"The danger is real."
"Only the environment itself is controlled."
The room grew quiet.
"The dungeon currently contains monsters ranging from One Star to Six Star."
He glanced at the candidates.
"Our strongest participant today is a Third Rank Superhuman."
He turned to look at Marcus.
"Therefore, the Association has limited the highest threat level accordingly."
The candidates visibly relaxed.
The instructor continued.
"There will be three monster waves."
"Clear Wave One and you earn your F-Rank Hero License."
"Clear Wave Two and your rookie ranking score increases significantly."
"Clear Wave Three and your name enters the Association’s Novice Leaderboard."
Several candidates became excited immediately. The Novice Leaderboard was where every rookie dreamed of appearing. It was the first step toward recognition. Toward sponsorships. Toward the kind of career that turned names into legends.
The instructor nodded.
"High rankings bring benefits."
"Higher mission priority."
"Higher dungeon invitations."
"Emergency response opportunities."
"Sponsorship offers."
"Resources."
"Training recommendations."
Then his expression became serious.
"The Association tracks every participant individually."
"The more monsters you kill, the higher your score."
"Cooperation is encouraged but not required."
"If a candidate suffers fatal injuries, emergency extraction protocols will activate immediately."
"Death inside the testing dungeon is extremely unlikely."
He paused.
"However."
"Injury is very real."
"Broken bones are common."
"Severe injuries are not uncommon."
The room became silent once more.
The instructor smiled.
"If you’re afraid, now is the time to leave."
Nobody moved.
"Excellent."
The instructor turned toward the exit.
"Follow me."
As the group stood and followed him toward the dungeon entrance, Dexter listened with only half his attention.
The other half of his attention was busy calculating.
Because among everyone present.
He could already roughly estimate their strength.
Marcus was Tier 3 Superhuman. But his arrogance would make him predictable.
Gregor was Tier 2.
Fiona was Tier 1.
Lena was also Tier 1 and for himself, his actual cultivation was Tier 3 Superhuman but because of his bloodline, he could actually control the energy wave his body releases, making himself a walking Tier 1 Superhuman.
But his real combat strength far exceeded that.
Following the instructor, the group headed deeper into the Hero Association headquarters.
They eventually arrived at a large elevator located at the end of a heavily guarded corridor.
The instructor stepped inside first and the six candidates followed behind him.
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