The State of the Industry

The State of the Industry

Pei Renli came from Earth's information age. He had seen this sort of setup in plenty of works before, so it was nothing strange.

Next, the buff that came with being a transmigrator should have appeared. Amid earth-shaking phenomena of roaring tigers and chanting dragons, he should have won astonished cries from everyone present.

—That was how it should have gone.

When he placed his hand on that "globe," it did indeed light up with a hazy glow like a lightbulb. But aside from that, there was nothing remarkable about it.

The staff member could not even be bothered to give it a second look. Seeing the light come on, he merely said:

"Please provide your proof of enrollment."

The proof of enrollment was the parchment scroll. After receiving it, the staff member untied the binding, spread it flat, and fed it into a slot in the "typewriter." With a soft series of clacks, the parchment emerged from the other side.

"Take your document and wait over there. Once everyone has completed registration, we'll head to the school together."

After saying that, he gestured for Pei Renli to get moving and not hold up the people registering behind him...

This was wrong. Shouldn't my talent be heaven-defying?

Looking utterly baffled, Pei Renli walked to a sparsely populated spot beneath the city wall and lowered his head to inspect the parchment in his hand.

Besides Pei Renli's name, gender, and age, it also contained basic information like the place of origin that Lavna had made up.

That was right. The local staff were just that competent—they did not verify household registrations at all...

But now, another line of text had appeared at the bottom of the parchment. It listed strength, constitution, agility, and magic power, marked respectively as E, E, E, and C.

The letter ratings were probably the result of translation, but even accounting for minor differences in translation, Pei Renli knew that an E rating was obviously nothing impressive. It stung a little.

Weren't transmigrators supposed to all be overpowered protagonists...

"Your Majesty, please do not be discouraged."

Lavna comforted him:

"This test measures your current abilities, and it only works on people below level twenty. It is merely an evaluation to help you understand your own condition. There is no need to take it too seriously."

That was easy to say, but he still felt somewhat wounded.

As he used the binding to tie the parchment back up, muffled cries of surprise came from the crowd waiting to register.

Looking up, Pei Renli happened to see an intense light flare beneath the tent, bright enough to sting his eyes.

When Pei Renli had taken the test, it had been ordinary—so ordinary that no one had spared him a second glance. This time, however, it was clearly anything but ordinary.

He hurriedly stood on tiptoe and craned his neck, wanting to see who had stolen the scene that should have belonged to a transmigrator.

As the somewhat blinding light dimmed, the first thing that entered his sight was a mass of flame-like red.

Exaggeratedly gorgeous long red hair gradually emerged as the brightness faded. The fine, soft strands made one want to reach out and touch them.

That hair alone was enough to make people's eyes light up.

She wore a fitting beige top and trousers that perfectly showcased her curvaceous figure. She was also quite tall, which further emphasized her long, slender frame.

Perhaps dissatisfied with the reactions around her, Pei Renli saw her keep a stern, expressionless face as she took her parchment and turned away.

Her features were indeed delicate and beautiful, stunning at a single glance. Yet her aura was nothing like that of a delicate young girl. Rather, she resembled some savage beast that warned strangers to keep away.

Not wanting to invite trouble, Pei Renli quickly looked elsewhere after just one glance. The moment he turned his head, another burst of intense light struck his eyes.

Compared with the last one, this light was a dazzling gold and seemed even more outrageous.

Standing beneath the tent was a young man who still looked somewhat boyish. Even by Pei Renli's standards, he was a handsome blond. Forget being a playboy—he could at least make a decent catch.

People around him murmured in amazement. Even the staff member could not help standing up and excitedly shaking his hand, making the young man wear a slightly embarrassed expression.

This is ridiculous. That should have been my treatment!

Because Naspar was so remote, not many people had come to enroll. Pei Renli roughly counted while standing nearby. Excluding attendants, there were only fifty or sixty actual students. Yet only the red-haired girl who looked difficult to get along with and that handsome blond had made the "globe" shine brightly. Most were about the same as Pei Renli, which made him feel much better.

It was not that I was too weak. A few people were just freakishly overpowered!

Once the last person had finished registering, staff members led them into the city.

The buildings were all sturdy brick-and-stone structures, with almost no wooden buildings in sight. The roads were paved with neat stone slabs and extremely broad, making rapid passage easy. The scenery differed greatly from that of modern society, and Pei Renli could not help looking around.

Come to think of it, although Pei Renli had heard Lavna describe Naspar's situation, only after truly entering the city did he deeply understand just how far it had fallen into decay.

More than ninety percent of the shops along the streets were closed. The occasional open shop had scarcely any customers, and even pedestrians were few and far between, leaving the place empty and desolate.

When the Demon King of Tyranny had existed, the adventurers who came here had created considerable demand, and where there was demand, there were business opportunities.

But with the disappearance of the Demon King of Tyranny, adventurers stopped coming, and the demand naturally vanished as well.

Large numbers of supporting weapon shops, armor shops, potion stores, magic item stores, inns, and taverns rapidly went bankrupt and closed, causing once-prosperous Naspar to decline.

More than that, with the Demon King gone as a target, the large number of adventurers specially trained and recruited to fight him had become utterly redundant.

The market had proven that when supply exceeded demand, competition would begin to spiral.

Adventurers were no different. Amid a series of frenzied rat races, huge numbers either could not survive the competition and were forced to change professions, or gritted their teeth and barely scraped by on meager incomes.

Driven by risk and pressure, many developed drinking problems. There were also public security issues caused by large numbers of adventurers having nothing to do, among other things.

It could be said that the disappearance of the Demon King of Tyranny had not merely meant one person was gone. It had also destroyed a once-mature industrial chain and the large number of jobs dependent on it.

That was also one reason why, during the twenty years since the Demon King of Tyranny disappeared, people had so often claimed to be Demon Kings. Many truly missed those golden days.

Even now, the impact was only gradually fading and had not completely disappeared. Thus, the small number of people coming to Naspar to enroll was not just because of its remote location. It was also inseparable from the collapse and brutal competition within the adventurer industry and its supporting sectors. Not many people were willing to enter this line of work anymore.

Of course, even though Pei Renli understood this clearly, he had no intention of publicizing himself directly.

The Demon King of Tyranny could support an entire industrial chain because he had been absurdly powerful. Pei Renli was currently at the level of a complete weakling. Publicizing himself rashly might indeed bring in a great deal of reputation, but it was even more likely to get him killed by combatants from various countries who came after hearing the news...

Naspar's streets had been designed with wartime considerations in mind. From the outset, they had been intended for rapid troop movement and deployment, so they were broad, straight, and laid out in a grid, with little need for detours.

Following the main road straight ahead, they soon saw an even taller wall, resembling a castle in the center of the town.

This was Naspar's Adventurer Training School.

It was said that during the battle against the Demon King of Tyranny, the various nations had even undertaken massive construction beneath the school, building numerous secret magical research facilities and similar places. They studied useful things such as new weapons and equipment nearby, ensuring they could be supplied to adventurers as quickly as possible.

But now, of course, it had all been completely abandoned. There were not many people in the entire school.

At that moment, the gate beneath the wall stood wide open. Having reached this point, Lavna, who had been hiding in the shadows all along, said softly:

"Your Majesty, this is as far as I can accompany you. Most areas within the school are protected by barriers that are highly sensitive to the former Demon King's power. They may detect me. From here on, you can only act alone. Please be extremely careful."

The barriers had been designed specifically to deal with the Demon King of Tyranny, and Lavna was a being created by him, so naturally she could be discovered.

Pei Renli, on the other hand, was the new Demon King and had no connection to the Demon King of Tyranny, so he did not need to worry about being surrounded and beaten the moment he entered.

"Yesterday, I searched through the former Demon King's armory and found this item."

As she spoke, while no one was paying attention, a fair arm extended from Pei Renli's shadow and placed something in his hand.

Looking down, he saw a short spear that appeared to have been carved and polished from ivory.

—Why are they all spears?

The so-called Demon King's armory was really just a storage room in Pei Renli's eyes, and there was not much inside.

The crystal ball that had transported Pei Renli possessed a special trait. On stormy nights, tossing valuable items into it could possibly return items of even greater value. It felt much like spending money on a gacha draw.

The Demon King of Tyranny had originally left behind quite a few treasures. But over those twenty years, Lavna had always tossed some in whenever there was a stormy night. By the time Pei Renli arrived, all that remained were a few simple weapons covered in dust and nearly rusted through, such as the short sword now hanging at his waist.

And the result of twenty years of persistent spending was Pei Renli's arrival...

This drop rate was such a scam.

The short spear Lavna handed over had probably been one she overlooked. Pei Renli casually hung it on the loop beside his short sword. Hidden by his broad cloak, it was not particularly conspicuous.

"It is called the Spear of Blessing. Though it can only be used once, striking a target will trigger the powerful spell Solar Flame Burst. Please use it with caution, Your Majesty. I hope it will lend you a helping hand."

After she finished speaking, an almost imperceptible shadow leaped from Pei Renli's shadow, slipped into the shadow beneath the city wall, and vanished in the blink of an eye without drawing anyone's attention.

"Boarding students, follow me. Everyone else may go look at the classrooms and confirm your seats first. The principal will soon begin the enrollment speech, so make sure you are not late."

The staff members split the newly enrolled students into two groups. After securing the Spear of Blessing, Pei Renli followed the boarding students.

From here on, he truly could only rely on himself.